Sarah Rogers was an absolute hopeless romantic. Little did she know, so was her classmate Tony Stark. She had met him at church about a year ago, but they hadn't become friends until recently, when they began sharing a history class for the fall semester. She knew he had moved there with his family from Virginia, that he had an adopted sister Pepper, and that he had been homeschooled through high school. Now that he was in california and a high school graduate though, he began attending the same community college Sarah was at. She'd already been there for a year, so when she recognized Tony the first day of class she offered to show him around campus. He graciously accepted, and at the end of the tour he got her number, with the explanation he was terrible at history and would need a study partner. Three weeks into the semester, they had been texting almost every day, just getting to know each other. She had him and Pepper over for game night with her family one night, and soon after they went to get coffee to get to know each other more. That was really the beginning of their friendship. They went all over the place that monday, from meeting and getting tea at the wharf, to exploring the structure underneath the wharf and wading on the beach.
They had a long conversation walking around and sitting under the wharf, about ex boyfriends and girlfriends, about trouble with addictions, cheating and being cheated on. Sarah loved listening to Tony talk, just hearing more about who he was, why he was that way, how he had gotten here in life. And she loved how he would just quietly listen when she talked about how fucked up she was, how messed up her relationships were, everything. He just sat and listened to her and the movement of the water below them. Finally, on their way back to the beach she paused and looked at him.
"You know how sometimes your head tells you to do things even though you don't really feel like it?"
"Yeah." Tony tilted his head at her.
"My head is telling me that y'know cause you told me you're passionate and a rule breaker and all that stuff, the right move is to kiss you right now."
He laughed quietly. "Yeah.. Since Jamie I haven't really been that much of a physical person though you know." She nodded, and as they walked back he elaborated how being in the distance relationship with Jamie Rhodes, his ex of two years, he had become much more of an emotional person and less physical, and that the physical things meant more.
When they arrived at Sarah's truck much later, they agreed to go for a hike next time they hung out, although it would be a while as school and work were going to keep both of them busy. Sarah dearly looked forward to the next time. Tony was far too focused in class she thought, rapt with the learning materials. And never paying attention to her.