When Pepper had asked Nina about what made Riley so special, Nina had just smiled while a red hue spread across her cheeks. Her explanation hadn't been very well organized; she had mumbled out words, speaking rather inelegantly, while clumsily putting away the leftovers of their Chinese food. Pepper, of course, had laughed the whole time, wondering how she was ever going to get through their marriage vows at their wedding ceremony.

"It's as simple as this-" Nina leaned against the island in the center of their kitchen, Pepper leaning against the back of one of the counters, facing her friend. "-he was my first love. Ever since we went out in eighth grade, he's always had a special place in my heart. Won't you always remember your first love?"

The first boy Pepper had gone out with was Dylan, her roommate's brother freshman year in college. However, Pepper wouldn't even call that a love; they went out for twice before Pepper started ignoring his calls.

Well, there was Chase; that was one of the most successful results of Nina's many blind dates. He was Riley's friend; a tall young man with piercing brown eyes and a knack for sports; yet again, she had dumped him when he forced himself on her without her willing.

Oh, and Pepper certainly could not forget Alec; a charming young man he was. He said all the right things, took her out to all the right places, and presented her with all the right gifts. Pepper always thought something wrong with him, though; when she caught him eyeing Riley on one of their many double dates, she finally figured it out and ended it, saying she wasn't going to continue going out with him just because he needed a cover up.

"…no."

Nina rolled her eyes. "You obviously do; I see the way you look at Tony on TV."

Pepper's eyebrows knit together in frustration. "We didn't even go out," she said, her cheeks heating up considerably, "I would hardly call that a love."

"Maybe, it wasn't a relationship, but there was definitely something between you guys. Call it whatever you like; I'm going to call it love."

Pepper glared at her friend before speaking again. Instead of taking the defensive side, she took the offensive, deciding to target her friend.

"No, I see love between you and Riley. Are you saying that what me and tony have what you guys have?" Nina was silently starring at her friend.

"Yes- just in a different form. You wonder how I have all of this-" she motioned to the ring on her finger, "figured out? You wonder how I know what we have is special?" Nina tucked one of her dark chestnut tufts of hair behind her ears.

"I married my best friend, Pepper. By the time we started to date, we already trusted each other, knew each other's pasts, weaknesses, needs, families…it was already all worked out. We started off just focusing on each other; usually couples don't get there until a few months into their relationship, and even when they do, they aren't sure they can work out. Does that make sense?" Pepper shook her head, and Nina sighed in disappointment before smiling again. "Once you fall in love Pepper, it will."

Pepper replayed that conversation over and over in her head again, trying to decipher what Nina meant. "I married my best friend, Pepper." What did that have to do with how much Riley meant to her? Before she could ponder over this anymore than she already had, all the girls were back in the room and pounding Pepper with questions.

"You know Tony Stark?"

"Were you ever more than friends? Like friends with benefits or something?"

"Spill the deats, now!"

"What was Tony like in high school?"

"Is it true he used to be a blond?"

"Girls, quiet." Lola spoke in such a cold voice that everyone immediately stopped talking. She sauntered over to Pepper; the red head nervously looked up at the girl.

"Now," She began, smiling so sweetly it made Pepper sick, "We understand that you and Tony have a…past. However, we also understand that this means you have a head start on winning this competition, which doesn't quite seem fair…"

Lola tilted her head to the side, her eyes full of hatred. "I'd watch your back, Pepper."

And then she was gone, Stacey trailing closely behind her.

"Well, she's lovely." Katie said sarcastically, kicking her feet up on the sofa. "Hey Nicole, toss me a beer?" Everyone looked at the platinum blonde haired girl before she shrugged, picking up the remote and flipping through the channels. "What? We should be celebrating; we're safe so far!" a few murmurs of agreement echoed throughout the room before Pepper yawned, stretching her arms above her head.

"You guys just get on that, then. I'm gonna head to bed. See ya in the morning." A few 'night's and 'later's were spread through the building before Pepper walked upstairs, a bubble of anxiety pooling in her stomach. So far, she did not have a good feeling about this competition.

"Wait…Pepper's on your show?"

Tony grinned. "Yes! What are the chances that she would show up on the show? It's such a coincidence…"

Rhodey smirked. "Glad?"

Tony shrugged. "I dunno man. She seemed just as happy to see me as I was to see her. But oh my god, there's some pretty gorgeous girls on this show. If I don't pick her, do you know the toll that could have on our friendship?"

Rhodey spit out the coffee he was drinking. "You're planning not to pick her? Dude, no, that's awful." When Tony didn't respond, he continued. "You and Pepper are like…like perfect. Honestly. If you don't pick her I will cry. I just saw the first episode, you kissed her man! It was fucking adorable!"

"Fan girl much?"

"I'm just stating the obvious."

"Listen, I already have enough pressure on this show. It's all on live TV, I can't mess up. Plus, this show is all about opportunity; such as the opportunity to date other woman. Me and Pepper's past is tainted- I have a clean slate with all these new woman. For now, she's just another girl on this show."

"Pfft, jerk. Taylor will be pissed too."

"I don't care what your girlfriend will be, Rhodey. That's my final decision. If my feelings for her resurface, well okay then. But I want to get to know the other contestants before I start to focus on just one of them."

Rhodey sighed. "Fair enough."

"Wake up girls, right away now! Hurry up, all of you, in the living room now!" All the girls, most of them still half asleep, ran into the room, Robin's loud voice echoing throughout the entire house.

"The show works like this; every week, there will be four challenges for you to compete in; the first one, or the one we have today, will be the team challenge. Half of you against the other half, with one person sitting out this time so we can have even numbers. The winning half will have a sort of prize; maybe a spa day, or a movie night? This challenge will be evaluated by Tony." The girls became excited at this.

"Then the next two challenges will be free for all; each winner will get the night alone with Tony to go on a date. And finally, the last challenge will be judged by Tony. you will each get some time alone with him, and it is depending on how you spend that time with him that he will pick the next night who he will eliminate. The last two days of the week can be spent freely by you, having the privilege to do whatever you like."

By this time, everyone was wide awake. "Alright girls!" Robin clapped her hands together. "Time for the first challenge! We'll be heading to the local beach- please wear the appropriate clothing for so!"

After that announcement, the girls began to scamper through the building, beautifying themselves as fast as possible. Pepper laughed at this, walked upstairs to her room, and put on a light pink, plain string bikini. She slipped on denim jean shorts and a white, form fitting tank top, stepped into her yellow flip flops, and ran a brush through her hair. She then made her way downstairs, and, surprise: was the first one finished.

As more girls began to arrive in the living room, she oculdn't help but notice at how ridiculous some of them were being. Make-up, straightened hair, heels, and nice (slutty) clothes… did they not hear Robin? They were going to be competing against each other at a beach. Surely all that wouldn't matter?

Within fifteen minutes, all the girls had arranged themselves into their clothes and, with Robin leading them, made their way to the limo that would bring them to the beach.

The ride there was uneventful for Pepper; the girls all chatted happily, excited at the thought of seeing Tony. Pepper, however, starred contently out the window, pondering once again over Nina's words. "I married my best friend."

Well, Nina was her best friend. But before that, Tony had been her best friend…Pepper knit her eyebrows together in confusion.

They arrived at the beach after a short five minute ride, and they all got out and followed Robin to wherever they were heading (the host was sporting a long, white, strapless beach dress; a green bathing suit could be seen under it) . When they stopped at a volleyball court, many girls gasped.

"Were…were going to be playing volleyball?" Stacey shrieked, outraged at the thought of physical movement.

"Alright, Phil, right over there, and Darren, you go on that side, Chris, you take the other…okay, start rolling. Welcome, ladies, to our first challenge of the week!" She said, looking over at the girls. Most of them smiled, seeing as they realized they were on TV. Pepper laughed.

"Tony, come on over here." They all looked towards where she was pointing and saw Tony, sitting down on a beach longue chair in nothing but a red bathing suit, his body glistening under the sun from the sunscreen on his body…or maybe it was sweat…? Either way, it had made most of the girls, including Pepper, feel hot themselves.

He smirked at them, pulling off his aviators, and started to talk. "Welcome to the first challenge ladies. As you all know, this show is all about proving to me that you're my perfect girl. My perfect girl has a lot of qualities; one of them is being sporty and active." 75% of the girls there let out a groan.

"The teams are already split up; we've picked Nicole to sit out this time." The timid blonde let out a shaky breath she had no doubt been holding, and walked over to the bench where Robin had motioned for her to sit in.

"Lola, Stacey, Ivy, and Amber on one team, and on the other, Jade, Katie, Pepper, and Olivia. Let's get started, ladies. First team to 25 wins."

Pepper smirked; this would be the perfect opportunity to upstage Lola in something and show her she was not to be messed with. She and Jade took front while Katie and Olivia took back. On the other team, Lola and Stacey took front while Ivy and Amber took back.

"Pepper, your team can start with the ball." Tony said, throwing the ball over to her. Lola muttered "favoritism" under her breath while Pepper tossed the ball over to Olivia.

She served the ball nearly perfectly, and Amber, who's side it had been served to, missed it completely. Pepper turned around, grinning. Olivia winked. "I played on the varsity team in high school."

Amber looked at her feet. "Sorry," she mumbled before picking it up and giving it back to Olivia. She served it perfect again, and this time, Lola bumped to their side again. It came to Katie, who set it to Pepper. The girl smirked before jumping up and spiking it on the other side, her fiery red hair flying as she did so.

The ball landed in front of Stacey, stopping dead in the sand. She looked up at Pepper and then, after swallowing nervously, looked to her left at Lola, who's face was flushed red in anger.

"That it, everyone just set it to me, got it?" Lola yelled irritably. Everyone on her team nodded, and that's really when the game began.

Lola's team did as told; and, truth be told, it was a good plan; no doubt she had played this game in school. Before long, they were tied, 24-24. the game was getting intense; all the girls (minus Ivy, who had complained of an embarrassing birthmark) had taken off their cover ups, and were playing in their bikinis- for some reason, Pepper didn't doubt that Tony had picked this event for this sole purpose.

"Oh, how riveting! Both teams just one more point from winning!" Robin said to the camera. The man behind it rolled his eyes.

Amber picked up the ball and served it over the net. Olivia set it to Jade, who bumped it onto the other side. Stacey bumped it back to Katie, who set it Pepper. The girl had two options- she could play it safe, or spike it, which held the potential for a penalty. She chose to spike it-and did it perfectly. She smiled triumphantly as she sore to the ground at extreme speed-

-and then Lola, her blonde hair flying, made a dive to the ground, and saved it, sending it flying over the net-

Pepper's team had been distracted, believing that they had won because of the brilliant spike, while the ball soared overhead. As if played in slow motion, her entire team's faces fell, and they watched as the ball landed in the soft sand of the beach-

-on the other side of the out of bounds line.

Pepper team cheered as Lola yelled in defeat. The red head smirked down at the blonde, who's face was contorted in anger and loathe.

"Nice spike, Pepper." She turned around, Tony smiling behind her while the wind swept his hair to the side. A drop of sweat ran down the side of Pepper's face, and she felt herself getting even hotter as she was under the intensity of his gaze.

"Thank you…"

Tony nodded, "No problem."

"Pepper, I'm not someone to be messed with. You'd better watch yourself." Lola spit out at her before walking away, Stacey loyally following her.

But for now, Pepper had no worries. All she could do was smile.

a/n and after almost a half year hiatus, I'm back, and with new inspiration!

I'd like to thank all of you who have kept this story on your alert list, even though I've disappointed many of you. I apologize for it, I honestly and earnestly am sorry. I will try to update more, but I make no promises on how often I will. I do promise, though, that I will finish this story.

Songs used: at the beginning, shark in the water (Lola threatening her) by vv brown, and then when they're playling volleyball no sleep tonight by…uhh I don't remember.

And did any of you notice that I said the names 'Darren' and then 'Chris', right after each other? As in Darren Criss? Any of you who are harry potter fans know him from ' a very potter musical' and 'a very potter sequel', the two best showcases of all time. go look it up if you're a harry potter fan, it's so worth it(: