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The drive back to Pepper’s apartment was quieter than usual. Not awkward, not even tense—just loaded. The weight of everything they had just admitted hung in the air between them, thick and unspoken.
When Tony pulled into the parking garage beneath her building and shifted the car into park, he didn’t move right away.
Neither did Pepper.
She just sat there, fingers lightly drumming on her knee, watching him watch the dashboard.
It was rare to see Tony Stark hesitate. He was a man who moved before thinking, who threw himself into the fire and figured out how to land mid-air. But right now, he was hesitating.
And Pepper found herself wondering if she should put him out of his misery.
Or just let him squirm a little longer.
She chose the latter.
For a few long moments, she sat perfectly still, making no effort to open her door or unbuckle her seatbelt. Just… waiting.
Tony, ever the genius, quickly caught on.
He turned his head, narrowing his eyes at her. “You’re doing this on purpose.”
She tilted her head, feigning innocence. “Doing what?”
“Testing me.” He pointed at her. “I see you, Potts.”
She only smiled, crossing her legs with deliberate patience. “Oh, I don’t know, Tony. Are you being tested? Or are you just panicking?”
He scoffed, running a hand through his already-mussed hair. “I don’t panic.”
Pepper raised an eyebrow.
He exhaled sharply. “Okay, maybe I’m… hesitating.”
“Because?”
“Because we just crossed, like, the line. The big one. The ‘we can’t go back from this’ one. And now we’re at your apartment and technically I should be saying goodnight and leaving because that’s the responsible thing to do, but you’re sitting there, waiting, and it’s messing with my head.”
She laughed, shaking her head. “Tony, I’m not inviting you upstairs for some grand, world-changing moment. I’m inviting you upstairs for coffee.”
Tony leaned back in his seat, arms spread out in mock defeat. “Right, coffee. Because that’s exactly what I need at—” he glanced at the time “—midnight.”
“Oh, please. You’re immune to caffeine. You might as well be made of it.”
Tony sighed dramatically, rubbing a hand down his face before shooting her a sideways look. “Alright, fine. Coffee. But if this turns into one of those talk about our feelings conversations, I reserve the right to make sarcastic comments at your expense.”
Pepper rolled her eyes and unbuckled her seatbelt. “Come on, Stark.”