AN: OK, I was going to wait a few days to post the second chapter, but I just can't!Thank you for all your reviews and favorites. Its seriously awesome. Keep 'em coming! So here ya go. Third chapter is in the works already.

-O-O-O-

She grabbed his hand and shook it. Tony just stood there, staring at her. She wasn't what he would consider gorgeous. She wasn't even really his type. She looked young, and her face had a smattering of freckles on her cheeks and nose. Her mouth was small, but her lips were full and smiling. Her chest and arms were splattered with freckles too, but lighter and fainter than the ones on her face. Speaking of her chest, there wasn't much there. Or at least not as much as he liked. But her legs were long. She was a runner. He could tell.

He became aware that he was staring. "What?" he said, coming back to earth.

"Virginia," she repeated. Was that her name? He hadn't been listening. "Or Ginny. If you like."

He released her hand.

They finished unloading the stuff from Dean's car and headed down to their prime spot on the shore. The guys shed their shirts, except for Thomas who was already showing off the body he was clearly much too proud of. They laid out their towels and stuck the food under the umbrella to keep from the sun. When Tony looked back at Ginny, her cutoffs were abandoned in the pile of t-shirts next to the ice chest. She wore bikini bottoms that matched her top. Her legs were even better in full view.

"Race you to the water, Peter," she challenged her brother.

The pair took off. Ginny was obviously the faster one of the two. She sprinted a few feet ahead and dove into the waves before her brother could. Their laughter echoed back to their spot on the shore, and Tony watched as Peter tossed her from his shoulder into the water.

The familiar snap of a bottle top made Tony turn back to the umbrella, where Thomas and Dean were seated on towels, each with a beer in hand.

He fished himself one out of the ice chest and skillfully snapped it open.

"So how's Victoria?" Dean asked.

"Who?" Tony answered, even though he knew exactly who Dean was talking about.

"Oh. That bad, huh?"

Tony shrugged. "Well, she said it was her, not me. So it isn't my fault." He threw Dean a grin and took a long swig of his beer.

Dean snorted. "Yeah. Right."

Peter and Virginia were headed back. Their matching hair was even more violently red when wet. He said something to her, and she elbowed his ribs. He swung an arm around her shoulders and ruffled her hair. When they reached the umbrella, Peter took a beer and sat next to Dean.

Virginia perched between Tony and Thomas.

"Beer?" Tony asked her, holding up his bottle.

She wrinkled her nose and he was caught off guard when he felt his heart skip a beat. "Nah. I'm only eighteen."

Tony shrugged and smirked. "So am I."

She quirked an eyebrow at him and her lips became a thin line. She disapproved. She was a rule follower. Well, wasn't that just adorable. He felt like puking. Ruler-followers always ruined the fun for everyone else.

She turned to Thomas and started a conversation.

After his second beer, Tony wandered down to the edge of the water, stretching out in the sand so the water only reached his feet. He didn't like these new friends of Dean's. Thomas was a snob. He could tell even within half an hour of knowing the guy. And he was obviously into Virginia. That was fine; it wasn't like Tony was jealous. He just felt bad for her. The guy was a dick.

Peter seemed cool, but they hadn't really gotten to talk much. He and Virginia were obviously close. And Virginia. Well…she seemed fine. She was…cute. But Tony couldn't see himself hanging out with her. She was too straight-laced, and she didn't drink, which meant she probably didn't put out either.

Suddenly, his view of the clouds above was blocked by her head. She smiled down at him. "Hey."

"Hi," he answered, bemused.

"Can I join you?"

"Ok."

She sat next to him, pulling her knees to her chin and digging her toes into the sand. He propped himself up on his elbows.

"So you're a physics major?" she asked.

Random, but ok. If she really wanted to know.

"A double major. Physics and engineering."

"Whoa. That's heavy."

Not really. "Yeah, I guess."

"I'm a business major."

"Boring."

She looked at him. Behind her aviators, her eyebrows were furrowed together. "Well that was rude."

He shrugged.

"Are you always this…unhappy?" she asked, shifting to lean back on her palms.

"Look. I don't know you. You don't know me. I don't care who you are, or what your major is."

"Because I'm not a double-D."

"Excuse me?"

"Because I'm not a blonde bimbo sorority girl with big breasts, you could care less about getting to know me."

"Pretty much. Got a problem with that?"

"No. I just think its really shallow."

"Ok, Mother Teresa. I don't really need a lecture."

She stood and brushed the sand from her backside. "Wow. You're fantastic, you know that?"

"Yep." He looked out over the water, avoiding her.

"Damn, you must have an ego the size of Texas."

"I've never been there. I wouldn't know." That was lie. He'd been to Houston and Dallas with his father multiple times on business trips when he was young.

"You know, guys like you are so predictable. You pretend to be so deep and have all these emotions pent up. You act like you're entitled to something. Its pathetic."

He didn't answer, and when he turned to look at her she was halfway back to the umbrella. He turned, looking back over the water.

Who the hell did she think she was? She had just stripped him bare of all the walls he put up, and he'd only known her for two hours. He thought his walls were impenetrable. He'd gotten so good at deflecting that not even his father's missiles could crack his fortress, and in ten minutes one girl shattered it all to rubble at his feet. And that scared the hell out of him. He could honestly say he'd never met a girl like Virginia Potts.