"Tony!" Sam hissed, "Knock it off!" She whacked his hands away from her body with the towel she was using to dry her hair. Her attempts at getting him away failed as he grabbed her hips and pulled him to her, crushing his lips against hers. Despite their recent triste in the shower, Tony was still incredibly turned on. Sam reluctantly pulled away, "Babe, if we continue on like this I'll never get out of your apartment before Sarah wakes up."

"Who cares." Tony's husky voice nearly made her change her mind but she managed to slip her hand between them and press it to his mouth before he could make his move.

"I'm serious," Tony gave her his best pout but she just rolled her eyes and pushed away from him, "And put a towel on or something." Sam walked out of the bathroom.

"Why don't you just give me yours?" Right after his request he was greeted by a towel thrown over his head. He groaned as he watched Sam's naked retreating figure.

"Hey, you asked for it." Sam was out of view and Tony just shook his head and wrapped the towel around his waist. He loved how confident Sam was when it came to her body, it made her even more sexy than she already was to him.

--

Tony finished shaving his face just as Sam re-entered the bathroom wearing the dark jeans she had on the night before but a different top.

"Where'd that come from?" He pulled her to him by the hem of her long sleeved fitted green tee.

"This?" She looked down at her top and then back at Tony. "Oh, I had it in my bag." He lifted an eyebrow at her and she pulled away to grab his aftershave. "Well, this way I can go straight to work without having to stop at home to change." She squeezed some of the aftershave into her hands and placed them on either side of his face, rubbing the soothing gel into his skin.

"You know, you make a valid point." Tony spoke thoughtfully.

"Yeah? And what might that be?"

"Just that you've been spending quite a few nights here, I mean you even said it yourself. I wouldn't mind if you kept some of your clothes here." He smiled at her as she wiped her sticky hands on his towel clad hips. "That way we can go to work together, and you wouldn't have to ride the L all by yourself." Tony gently placed his hand on her cheeks and kissed her.

"Oh, big macho man wants to protect me?" Their faces were inches apart as she spoke and he kissed her again before pulling slightly away.

"Yeah, something like that." She just rolled her eyes at him. "Sam I'm serious," he gave her an offended look as she turned to the counter and plugged the hairdryer in, "I worry about you." Sam shot him a look that said 'Are you serious?' through the mirror. "Yeah, I know you can kick ass, but I want to kick some ass for you." Tony finished his sentence sweetly and rubbed her shoulders from behind.

Sam sighed and let her eyes lightly shut. She loved how he pampered her, and didn't treat her as if she were made out of steel as some of her boyfriends had. Her tough exterior often made guys think that she liked to be treated roughly, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Tony kissed her neck and she tilted her head so he could have better access.

"I want to protect you." He whispered into her ear and then gently tugged at the bottom of it. Sam felt chills go up her spine.

"Tony," She broke out of her reverie, reluctantly, and looked at him in the mirror, "Aren't you moving a little fast? I mean, Sarah doesn't even know about us yet." Tony straightened up and ran a hand through his damp hair.

"You think this is fast? Sam, we've been dating for two and a half months. It's not like I'm asking you to move in, I'm just saying you can leave some clothes here so we don't have to wake up so early just so you can go back to your place to change." Tony stalked into the bedroom and pulled on a pair of jeans and threw a white undershirt over his head. Sam counted to ten before following him.

"Tony, this is serious here. I don't just mean this conversation, but us." He had his arms through a navy blue shirt and stopped to look at her when she said this.

"You know, the last relationship I had, It took us almost a full year before we said I love you. And here I am. With you." She trailed off and looked down at her hands that were knitted together. When she finally looked up again, her eyes were wet and her voice struggled to hold back the tears. "I just, feel so much. I don't..." Tony pulled his shirt over his head and moved to her.

"Hey." When Sam didn't look up at him he lifted her chin. She blinked and a single tear made its way down her face. "Hey. I know you're scared. But don't you think I am too? I'm not used to this either, but I just find it reassuring that we are both experiencing the same feeling. Sam, we're in this together, alright?" She just nodded and let out a shaky breath. "Come here." Tony placed one hand on her head and his other on her back as he pulled her to him. "And as for Sarah, I'll tell her about us tonight."

"Ok." Sam's reply was muffled as she pushed her head into his chest. After a few moments they broke their embrace and Tony wiped the tear streak from her face with his thumb and kissed her.

"Now finish up." He playfully told her and slapped her butt which caused her to skip back into the bathroom.

Minutes later, she re-emerged, dry hair and pink tinted lips. Tony handed Sam her bag and they made their way down the stairs.

"So tonight, I'll tell Sarah about us. Then how about you come over and join us for pizza and a scary movie?" He looked up at her as they both descended the stairs.

"Well pizza sure, but I don't think you need to tell Sarah about us anymore." Tony gave her a quizzical look and Sam nodded towards the kitchen. All of his confusion melted away when he saw Sarah leaning against the counter with a glass of juice in her hand.

"Sarah, what are you doing up so early?" He asked her as he checked the time on his watch. It read 6:15 am, definitely too early for her to be up.

"I just heard you two talking and then I couldn't fall back asleep." Her tone was light but sleep laced.

"How long have you been in here?" Yet another question.

"I don't know, like two minutes, does it even matter?" Tony just shook his head. Sarah took a sip of her juice and sized up Sam over the top of the glass. Sam blushed and shifted uncomfortably under the 15 year olds stare. Sarah then looked to Tony, "Are you even going to introduce me?"

"Oh, yeah. This is Sam. Sam, Sarah." Sam walked over and shook her hand.

"It's nice to meet you, I've heard only good things." Sam smiled at her.

"Well that's good, but I can't say I've ever heard anything about you." Sarah looked at Tony as she said this and he mouthed an 'I'm Sorry' to her just before Sam turned to look at him.

"Sam's my... girlfriend. We're dating." This was not the way he had been planning to break the news.

Sarah poured the rest of her juice down the sink and walked back to her bedroom.

"It's about time," she said just before closing the door.

Sam just looked at Tony, "That went... well."