chapter 4
Two weeks have passed since The Marketing Department Incident™ and Peter had been slowly meeting people from the other departments. Whenever Dr Silva saw that Peter needed to get some energy out, she would send him to deliver something to another department. The only departments he hasn't been to are the ones outside of Stark Tower.
He hadn't seen Pepper Potts since the incident and was crossing his fingers to never see her ever again for the sake of his dignity. He had encountered Tony Stark, though. Peter had been in the elevator having a lovely conversation with FRIDAY when Tony Stark walked into the elevator. Peter would have expected to fangirl at the sight of the man but after having met Pepper Potts, Tony just seemed like a normal guy. The only person worthy of his fangirling was Pepper Potts.
Now though, he was busy on a big project with Silva and had maybe broken some rules and stayed at the lab late to continue working on his project. He was completely alone in the R& D department, save for a few employees here and there, but no one was in his lab.
So when the doors of the lab opened, Peter froze. He could lose his internship because of this. He slowly turned around, only to see Pepper Potts in all her glory, looking at him with crossed arms and a raised brow.
“A little birdie told me our star intern was breaking the rules?”
Panick flooded Peter's veins as he tried to think of what to say.
“I- uh. I was working on my project..?” Peter fidgeted with his hands, avoiding eye contact.
The woman once again raised a brow. “Is that a question or an answer, Mr.Parker?”
“An answer. Yep.”
She huffed a small laugh “So, really, why are you still working at,” Pepper paused to look at her watch, “11:39 on a Friday?”
“I got caught up…” he smiled sheepishly.
Pepper paused for a moment.
“When was the last time you ate something?”
“Uhhh” Peter thought for a few seconds. When DID he last eat? This morning? “This morning. Why?”
Now that he thought about it, he was really hungry. He could hear his stomach grumble.
Pepper frowned at the information.
“Follow me”
**
Pepper had lead Peter up to the penthouse and into the kitchen.
“I think we have left overs somewhere in the fridge give me a few moments”
Not knowing what to do with himself, Peter stood in the kitchen doorway as the CEO casually dug through the fridge.
When she turned around, she waved him over to sit on one of the chairs at the kitchen island. He did so.
She layed out three Tupperwares, each filled with different food.
“Okay so, we have chinese leftovers, Indian leftovers or leftover pasta. Which do you want?”
Peter hesitated. He wasn't sure what he was doing here.
“Uhm. I'll take whatever you don't want..”
“Peter. Pick what you want. I really do not care what you choose I just want to get some food in you before you pass out.” She said. Her words were… comforting?
“I'm not gonna pass out… Can I have the chinese leftovers, please?”
“You look like you're going to pass out from hunger, dehydration and exhaustion.”
Perer huffed a laugh.
“I always look like that. I should call my aunt-”
“Yes. Yes you should. Do that while i heat up your food.”
He was so confused as to what was happening right now, but he still stoof up and went into the hallway to call his aunt May.
Explaining to her that, yes Aunt May I am alive and well, and, I am in Pepper Potts’ penthouse being fed leftovers, was not an enjoyable experience. He didn't exactly know when he would be back home, so he just told her he'd update her
When the call ended, he sighed and walked back into the kitchen. Pepper was sat at the island, eating her microwaved pasta. His own plate of chinese food was across from her. He sat down with a soft thank you.
They ate in silence for a few moments before she spoke up.
“If you your guardian allows it, we have a guest bedroom you can crash in for the night. It's a bit late for you to take the subway.”
Now Peter was extremely confused.
“Why? Like that's really nice, thank you. But why? I'm an intern and-” He paused to take a breath “I'm just really confused right now.”
Pepper smiled apologetically.
“I've been keeping an eye on you for a while, asking FRIDAY to give me updates. So, when I learned you were staying late I got curious, and then you looked really hungry so i got worried. So I'm getting you food. I'm offering you to crash in one of the guest bedrooms because you look, to put it frankly, exhausted.”
“Oh.-”
“”-Wait why did you ask FRIDAY to keep an eye on me?!”
She laughed at his reaction.
“You have lots of potential. You didn't hear me say this but you've got s job offer lined up for you the moment you graduate. You're also very interesting. You thrive in every department you visit.”
Being told he has lots of potential by Pepper Potts may be one of the highlights of his life.
“I'll text my aunt to ask her if it's okay to crash here tonight…she may want to talk to you over the phone if that's okay?”
Pepper laughed
“Of course it's okay!”
**
Peter was terrified. In the short call that May and Pepper had, they seemed to get on like a house fire. Two very very powerful women, in their own respective ways, getting along so well…They could take over the world if they wanted to.
After the call, Peter and Pepper spent a good half hour just chatting at the kitchen island. Peter helped clean up the plates and wipe down the counter.
Pepper then moved on to giving him a quick tour of the penthouse, showing him where her room was incase he needed something. By the time the woman left Peter alone in the guest bedroom, he was indeed, as tired as Pepper claimed he looked. He barely took the time to take his shoes off before collapsing on his bed and falling asleep immediately.