Stark Crossed Lovers

Chapter Forty-Five

The days leading up to prom were awkward for Sam and Tony. They both tried their best to avoid each other , and made a point to talk to each other only when needed, or when someone was around. They continued to play their game of three questions, and every time it ended the same. Sam would ask to see her folder and Tony would refuse resulting in Sam storming away or slamming her door in his face. Though she had learned a lot over the last few weeks, she still felt as though she was missing the most valuable piece of information she could have. But today was prom , and she didn't want to think about that. Sam paced her room, she had roughly four hours before prom and couldn't figure out what to do with her hair. She could straighten it, but that wasn't natural, she could put some gel in it, but Peter had seen her hair like that a million times before. Sam walked by her mirror and caught her reflection and stared. She looked between her reflection and the photo of her mom holding her that Tony gave her. “We look like twins mom,” she said, looking at the picture. Most people would call her crazy for talking to a picture, but she felt like she didn't have anyone else. “I miss you...” Sam said feeling tears well up in her eyes. Taking a deep breath she pulled herself together and ran her fingers through her hair. “You could tell me what to do with this mess, I bet,” just as she finished talking to the picture she heard the floor creek. Sam jumped, turning to look behind her. To her delight it wasn't Tony, but Pepper. Sam remembered times when smiling at Pepper felt like a chore; she never dreamed there would be a day where she actually wanted to, let alone want to see Pepper more than Tony. “She was beautiful,” Pepper said softly. She had learned a lot about Sam over the last week. She had tried to pull her and Tony closer together, but all she was able to do was convince them to at least be cordial. Sam smiled back up at her, “Sometimes I wonder if she hears me, and knows that I love her.” Sam tried her best to keep her tears back but a few slipped out. “Oh, Samantha,” Pepper said sadly, crossing the room to hug her as she sobbed. “I am sure she does,” Pepper said soothingly, trying not to cry herself. “I sometimes talk to my grandmother, you know,” Pepper said, pulling away from Sam, who looked up at her with a questioning look. “I know she listens.” Pepper just wanted to be there for her and Tony during this time, especially after she realized she couldn't mend their relationship. Samantha had been lied to her whole life, and Tony had lied to do what he thought was the right thing. And they were both too stubborn to change their minds. So Pepper decided that all she could do was to be an open ear and a shoulder to cry on. She pulled a sobbing Sam back in for a tighter hug, allowing for Sam to calm down. Once calmed down, Sam pulled away and looked at Pepper. She wasn't her mom, but she was the only person in the tower that understood her. “Could you help me get ready?” Sam asked her face becoming red with emotion. “What?” Pepper asked being caught off guard by the question. “Like with my hair, and my makeup?” Sam said smiling up at Pepper. Pepper confidently answered back, "Yes, absolutely." Pepper had to calm herself down from not crying herself. She had always wanted children, but thought that maybe life just hadn't drawn that card for her. Before Tony she had dated another guy, but things didn't work out, and she couldn't get pregnant. After she started dating Tony she thought about how perfect it was that he had a kid. She of course didn't realize that Sam would take seventeen years to warm up to her, but that didn't matter. Pepper smiled at the progress they've made as she worked Sam's natural curls into perfection. "They're natural yet still different," Pepper said, putting the curling wand down. Sam smiled and admired what Pepper had done to her hair in the mirror. "I almost forgot..." Pepper said, picking up the bag she had left outside Sams room. "I got you a little something extra the day we went shopping," Pepper stated, re-entering Sam's bathroom. Sam began to open her mouth to protest, but was cut off before she could by Pepper. "Just take the gift Samantha," Sam smiled and pulled out a tiny rose shaped hair clip. Pepper took the tiny clip from her hand and said, "We can put it right here, to keep your bangs out of your face." She smiled, placing the clip in her hair, and then Pepper went to work on Sam's makeup. They were mostly silent until they heard a knock on Sam's bedroom door. They both turned to look in the direction of the bathroom door. Sam took a deep breath before yelling towards the door, “Come in.” She had a good feeling about who it might be, and when Tony made his way in her room and stood in the doorway of her bathroom her assumptions were confirmed. “I uh...I leave at seven, I just wanted you to know,” Tony choked out the words as though it was hard for him to speak. “Well I am leaving at four thirty at the latest so,” Sam said sarcastically not looking at Tony as Pepper finished her makeup. “Well I won't be home until monday, the expo is all weekend,” Tony said. Sam normally would have been bothered by this, but she didn't even bat an eye upon hearing it this time. “it usually does” Sam said almost indifferent to the conversation. Pepper tried to break the tension. “Well, I'm done how does she look?” Pepper said, looking to Tony. Tony made his way inside the bathroom and looked at Sam. She was beautiful as always, but this time something was different, it was almost as if he was seeing a different person look back at him, she looked liked his daughter but not all at the same time. He couldn't decide if it was the makeup or the situation that made him feel this way, but he smiled back at her regardless. “You look beautiful,” Tony said softly. Sam didn't say thank you, or anything for that matter to Tony. Instead she turned around to face Pepper, but before she had a chance to say anything Tony filled the air with his voice. “Samantha do you mind if we speak alone for a moment?” Sam froze. Was she required to say yes. Maybe not but the urgency and hurt in Tony's face compelled her to say so. “I guess so,” she said, the confusion clear in her voice. As Pepper got up, Sam thanked her softly and then walked into her bedroom. Sam and Tony followed her out of the bathroom, but stayed in Sam's room. “I know things have been more than rough recently,” Tony started. Sam stared back and felt the tension grow as she listened to Tony speak. He continued, “And I know that I can't do anything to fix our relationship.” Sam really didn't want to hear his excuses, but before she got a chance to argue back Tony threw down the folder on her desk. Neither one of them said anything to each other for what felt like a whole five minutes, before Tony said quietly trying to repress his feelings, “So there you go, that's your file.” Sam stared back and watched as Tony swiftly left her room, closing the door behind him. She sat silently and stared at her desk. It was all she had wanted for the past month, and now that it was in front of her she didn't know if she could open it.