Chapter 31

With an unfocused gaze and an almost wandering mind, all while rummaging inside her locker, Pepper felt yet another light squeeze on her left shoulder as one of her peers walked by behind her. She did not even bother to ask why the gesture was being extended to her, as she already knew the origin of it: it was the silent way some students at the Tomorrow Academy had been sympathizing with her now-known brutal past. It had been happening all day, anywhere she had been at school. Someone had even handed her a piece of toilet paper under the stall she had been in during lunch, with a note written on it saying: I'm sorry this happened to you. Let me know if you wanna talk.

All in all, from all the things that had happened to her upon her return to the academy from her one-day off from school, the shoulder squeezes and the inappropriate bathroom stall exchanges had been the least painful events. These random tokens of empathy had been a walk in the park compared to what other students had been doing to her. The students that were happy to find out bad things had happened to her, up to and including her sudden breaking up with the blue-eyed boy.

Pepper had expected at least a few days for the school to figure out she and Tony had broken up. However, she should have also expected her very own sister to help spread the word.

How Samantha had figured it out, it was beyond her.

In the end, it did not matter to Pepper how the school had found out. What mattered to her was how these other people were treating her because of the news. What mattered was that she still had thirteen long school days before her senior year in high school ended. What mattered was that she had to figure out how to survive all thirteen of them without getting herself into a fight with the set of students that had made it their job to insult her with lies when she walked near them.

And, oh, did the insults hurt. Heaven's sake how much did they hurt!

"Tony probably left you because you're damaged goods. You were abused, right?"

"I wasn't abused like that!" She had told them.

"Tony left you because he couldn't let his reputation be ruined by being with someone like you."

"Tony knew about it before the show!" She had begrudgingly spat back.

"I guess your father isn't such a good investigator if he didn't know his wife was abusing his kids like that. Maybe he should look for another job."

"My dad worked long hours and I never said anything to him!" She had feebly defended herself.

Back to back, variations of these phrases had made their rounds wherever she went. Some people had said them amongst themselves, though loud enough for her to hear. Some people had been daring enough to tell her to her face without remorse. Yet, the one statement that had hurt the most – the one that she had feared being true since Samantha had come back to her life and the risk of Tony learning about her past had become possible, was the one statement that she had been unable to refute.

"Tony only chose that charity because he feels sorry for you. Dating you is probably nothing more than his good deed for the year."

A slack jaw and wide eyes had been her only response.

That had happened just two minutes ago – just moments before she was to leave for the day. The wound was open and raw. She was not sure how she was managing not to cry herself home.

Pepper closed her locker, rested her forehead against the cold metal door, and then sighed, her eyes closed.

They don't know him. They don't know me. They don't know us. What we used to be.

Then again, to be fair, neither had she cared to know. She had let her emotions guide her that night and she had not allowed Tony to say his piece. She had not given him the benefit of the doubt. She had acted as if she had not already known that the inventor would have never ever done anything to hurt her on purpose or just because.

Everything he had ever done for her after all this time, she had thrown back in his face without thought. He had deserved so much better from her that night. He had deserved a moment to be heard. Hell! He had deserved to not be made the villain of a story where he was merely a character caught in the middle of her crazy past. He had been clear about what he thought about the whole thing. He had told her it was OK, with his words and his actions. She had simply refused to see what had been right in front of her.

And now, after all of that, it was probably too late.

Or was it?

"Pep?"

The voice behind her surprised her – pulled her from her daydreaming in a way that she was not able to react to it immediately. Had she still been holding on to her books, she would have dropped all them over the floor.

Her heart pounded hard against her chest and temples at the possibility of Tony standing behind her, willing to give them – give her – another chance.

Why now, however, a small voice in the back of her mind wondered. He had been avoiding her like the plague all day long! Sunday, he had given her space after their fight. Yesterday, when she had skipped school, he had called her at her house and emailed her non-stop, even if she had never replied to him. Today, though, it had been as if he did not even know her at all.

Maybe, he had heard the horrible things people were saying about her. Maybe, he also wanted to give it a shot one more time. Maybe, he missed her as much as she missed him.

Or maybe, she feared, he was just here to console her as a friend. Maybe he was just here to lend a shoulder to cry on. Maybe, he was just here to tell her that he was moving on… without her.

Her lack of reaction as her mind bubbled with thoughts gave him the opening that he had been hoping from her. She was not saying yes. Yet, she was also not saying no.

She felt strong arms surround her waist, holding her as if she were the most delicate thing in the whole wide world. She closed her eyes as he turned her in place to face him and, before she could react or open her eyes again, his lips landed on hers.

xxxXXXxxx

The things that Tony Stark did to achieve his goals.

He had, in the past, on his quest to finding answers or getting what he wanted: dated Whitney, lied to Rhodey, lied to Pepper, pretended to get along with Obadiah, injected himself with a virus that could have killed him, and countless other things that he was not proud of at all.

Yet, from all the cheap moves he had ever executed in the name of success, his current plans were the lowest of the low.

Tony Stark: billionaire, genius, and philanthropist, was doing exactly what he had been told he was when Samantha had joined the Tomorrow Academy. He was being a playboy. On the roof. Alone with his ex-girlfriend's sister.

Yes. He was surely toying with the younger Potts as much as he knew she was toying with him. However, Samantha Potts did not need to know she was being equally played.

She was smart enough – she could see beneath his lies. However, the stakes were high enough that he was willing to make it work and do whatever it took to get what he needed from Sam. He was willing and able to toe the line of lies and deceit to get Pepper back – to get Sam to admit what she had done behind their back.

"So," Tony began, while staring at his Stark Pod, "How long am I supposed to continue this silent treatment, again?"

Samantha rolled her eyes. "I told you: until she talks to you again."

"And how long do you think that will be?"

The girl shrugged. "I don't know. A day? Two days? A week? Never?"

"Never?" Tony narrowed his eyes at her and pointed at her with his Stark Pod. "That is not one of the choices you listed for me when you said you could help me reconcile with her."

"Guess you should've read the fine print of the contract."

"We didn't sign a contract!"

Samantha rolled her eyes again and sent a dismissive wave of her left hand towards the inventor. "Just, relax, OK? Trust me. I know what I'm doing. Pepper hates being ignored. She'll come around, soon."

"And what if she doesn't?"

"Then maybe you guys weren't meant to be."

"I refuse to accept that."

"Your disbelief of facts does not negate their accuracy."

"Could you, like, not get scientific about this?"

The young girl laughed out loud. "Are you, Tony Stark, seriously telling me NOT to be scientific about life? Really?"

"Yeah, I know how it sounds, but when it comes to Pepper…" he shook his head. "It's just different, all right?"

Sam scoffed. "Yeah, you keep telling yourself that. But let me remind you that she did exactly what I told you she would do if she found out you knew about the abuse. You thought she would let it go."

"Actually, I think that, if she hadn't found out the way she did, she might have forgiven me."

Sam held in a triumphant smile, delighting in the knowledge that this had been her intent all along when she had set up the interview. "Yeah, maybe. Sadly, it didn't go that way now, did it?"

An exasperated sigh was his immediate response.

"Look, I know you know your sister. And I know that you know how girls think or whatever, but Pepper – she's different. I really don't think giving her the cold shoulder is gonna win me any points with her."

"And I'm telling you it will! You just gotta give it time."

"Time? Sam, school is out in less than three weeks. Prom is in three days. If I don't get Pepper to talk to me now, she will go to college and I will lose her forever."

"So?"

"So?! So, there must be something that can speed things up."

"Well, there might be… but I don't think you have the guts to do it."

"What?" Tony's head recoiled. "You have a better idea and you haven't told me?"

"I always have better ideas."

"Whatever! What's the idea?"

Samantha could barely contain her excitement at how well her plans were carrying out. "It doesn't matter, Tony. You'd never go for it."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Try me."

"Forget I even said it, OK?"

"No! Tell me!"

"No."

"Tell me!"

"You won't do it!"

"I will! Just tell me!"

"Are you sure?"

"YES! What is it?"

"Mmhh," the brunette eyed him up and down. "Nah, you're too scared of her."

"I'm not scared of Pepper!" the genius immediately replied, but he then lowered his voice before adding more to his retort. "OK, maybe a little bit."

"And that's why you won't do it."

"Do what? Stop playing games, Sam."

"I'm just saving you the embarrassment of saying no, all right?"

"This is nuts! Just tell me, OK?"

"No."

"Tell me."

"I said: no!"

"Tell. ME!"

"No."

"TELL. ME!"

"Take me to prom."

"I said tell—oh…wait… what?"

Sam eyed him from the corner of her eye, a small smirk on her lips. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

"I didn't say no."

"Did you say yes?"

Tony groaned. "OK, wait a minute. How does taking you to prom help me get Pepper back?"

Sam threw her arms in the air. "I knew you wouldn't see it. Think about it, Tony. Who does Pepper dislike most right now: you or me?"

"I-I… I'm not sure, to be honest. I'd say it's about an even split as of Sunday night."

"Maybe. But she definitely dislikes me a bit more than she dislikes you."

"OK. Let's say that's true. So, what?"

"What do you mean: so, what? If you take me to the prom, she will be so mad, she will talk to you, no doubt."

"Yeah, to tell me off. Or to push me off the ledge here," he added, pointing his left thumb towards the edge of the academy's roof behind them.

"You have Extremis. You'll survive."

"Geez, thanks."

Tony sighed deeply before throwing the back of his head against the brick wall with more force than needed.

Was this idea even worth pursing?

Was Samantha right that he did not have what it took to do what needed to be done?

He had been so sure that he would do anything for her. However, taking someone other than Pepper to prom just did not feel right.

What if it backfired, just like everything he had been wrong about in the past?

What if…

His thoughts were rudely interrupted by Samantha chuckling derisively next to him.

"See? I told you that you wouldn't go for it. Stop stressing about it and just keep at it with the silent treatment. It'll just take longer than prom."

Tony narrowed his eyes at her again. "I didn't say no."

"And you didn't say yes," she bit back.

Curse her to heck and back. She was not wrong, and she was winning the game.

Fudge!

He had to get out of here. He had to get away from the girl's presence this very instant. This was getting out of control and he needed some air and something to ground him. Something or someone that would help him focus again.

Pepper.

He needed Pepper. Now.

"Where are you going?" the girl asked, pretending to be taken aback by Tony suddenly standing up and walking away from her.

"Gotta think."

Samantha laughed. "You mean you gotta run away from the challenge. Told ya!"

"I DIDN'T SAY NO!" he yelled back at her as he entered the access door to the roof of the Tomorrow Academy.

"BUT YOU DIDN'T SAY YES!" he heard her say before the door closed behind him.

Curse that woman! Her hate for her sister had no bounds!

Tony ran down the stairs, Samantha's words ringing in his ears. He knew that she had a good point, but he also did not want to completely ruin his chances of getting Pepper back while trying to uncover what Sam had done to betray her sister. There was just something in the pit of his stomach that told him that taking Pepper's sister to prom would be the furthest from making amends, even if it did get her to talk to him in anger.

No. He simply could not do that to her. It would be the ultimate insult added to the injury that he had already bestowed upon her. Pepper would never forgive him for that.

No, Tony shook his head with resolve as he rounded the corner to try to catch Pepper by her locker. He was supposed to be ignoring her. However, his talk with Sam of just now had made him feel dirty. He had to be in Pepper's presence to cleanse himself of those words, even if they did not talk.

"Pep?"

The nickname he had given her coming form another man's lips took him by surprise. Yet, said shock quickly became nothing compared to the next scene unfolding before his very eyes. A scene that displayed Pepper in the arms of Rick Majors, her back against her locker, with his lips on hers.

The unbearable feeling of the world shifting on its head would be something that Tony Stark would never forget.

Not five seconds after the inventor had turned in place to take himself home and away from seeing his Pepper letting Rick Majors kiss her, Samantha received a text message with the answer she knew that her plan would yield.

"OK. Let's go to prom."

A/N: Anyone remember who Rick Majors is? Does anyone remember when this plotline was originally set up? As always, thanks for joining me on this journey, my Faithful Readers! Also, thank you for reviewing 2020 and Red Rocket! I can't wait to get my outline together for either of those!