"He's definitely not kidding around," Pepper told Morgan as she walked out of her room. "I can't believe he just fell asleep like that. It's so..."

"Unexpected?"

She thought about it. "I guess that's how you'd put it."

"He did look a bit tired."

"Yeah, maybe," she responded before sitting down at the kitchen table with her best friend. She was hoping to finish their conversation. They were in a good place, but it could be better. "It's so weird. He doesn't remember me. Not even a tiny bit, but he remembered I roll my eyes at him. He just can't connect me rolling my eyes at him to him being difficult or when he gives me some smart ass response to something I've said."

Morgan chose to see it in a positive light. "It's better than nothing."

Pepper stared at her friend and sighed. "Am I expecting too much?"

"No. You're entitled to be frustrated. It's how you handle it that matters."

"He blames himself for this, but I don't."

"Good, cause he needs someone by his side who's there just to help him."

"What if I'm not enough?" She frowned. "I'm just worried a couple weeks into this and he'll realize this is a mistake. Not me, particularly, what this is. I don't think he's fully aware that he's signed on for a relationship. I don't think it's crossed his mind and that can turn out to be a problem down the road. He said at the hospital himself he cares about me and that's the extent of it. That sorta scares me."

"Did you tell Tony this?"

"No, but he overheard." She took a small pause before changing the subject. "There was this girl. The door to the classroom was locked so I sat on the balcony and waited. Two minutes later and I hear it unlock and she's popping her head out to see if the coast is clear or not so she can head downstairs to exit the building. I can tell something happened."

"You didn't bring it up?"

"He doesn't owe me an explanation. Everything he did up until the diner, I can't hold it against him."

"But if you guys are going to do this, he does. You need to know who she is and what she is to him."

"Yeah, but knowing him, it's nothing serious." It couldn't be. This was Tony they were talking about.

"Then you shouldn't be scared."

"I'm not. I'll bring it up later, just not tonight. It's been a long day."

"Yeah; I've got homework. I'll see you tomorrow morning in class."

They both got up and headed towards their respective rooms. "Oh, don't forget to save me a seat. I might be late. It's a eight minute walk. I'm sure by the third week, the professor is going to hate me."

"I'm sure he hates anyone who decides to pick up the phone when he's lecturing."

Pepper let out a laugh and said goodnight before closing the door to her room. She kept her lights off and turned on her desk lamp before looking over at him. He was dead asleep. She turned on her Mac and sighed. Taking out each syllabus she received today she thought about which textbooks she had to purchase and which she could do without. She made a few quick purchases on Amazon before she got up to grab a fresh set of clothes. Maybe after a half hour shower, she'd try to wake him up. Since she had the master room, she made sure to close the door so that no noise will interrupt him as she did her nightly ritual.

Coming out nearly thirty minutes later as predicted, she tossed the dirty clothes in the hamper next to her. She approached her bed and gently sat beside his sleeping form before resting her hand on his arm. Shaking him, she said, "Tony, wake up." To her surprise, he unconsciously bats her hand away and proceeded to turn his body in the other direction. "Are you serious," she mumbled in disbelief. His head was now in the crook she had told him about. He made a small content sound as she frowned.

He must've felt it the second time around because he sleepily muttered, "Five more minutes, mom."

"Tony, I'm not your mom."

He still seemed a little confused of his whereabouts. "What?"

She watched him roll on his back with a small groan. She heard him mutter 'oh' a second later and assumed he remembered where he was at. He rubbed his eyes and let out a deep breath before looking at her.

"Sorry. I guess I..." He was embarrassed. "...was tired." His cheeks turn slight red.

"It's fine," Pepper responded with a chuckle. "I just did not expect this. That's all."

"Whenever I have physical therapy, it sorta tires me out. All I want to do is sleep."

"You had therapy?"

"Uh, half an hour of it. It's how much I can handle before I quit paying attention."

"Still have that short attention span."

"Hey, that's mean." He sat up with a slight hint of a struggle, which she did catch. Though she chose not to say anything regarding it. "What time is it?" He looked around for a clock, but there was none.

"About ten o'clock."

"I guess I should go," Tony said with a clear of his throat.

"You're going to walk by yourself in the dark?" Not that it was unsafe because this was the time where student life was most active.

"Pepper, I think I can protect myself."

"It's not a matter of that. I know you're new here and you're not familiar with the streets."

He furrowed his brows in confusion. "What are you suggesting?" For him to stay the night?

"Maybe you can sleep on the couch tonight."

He did not bother to hide his distaste. "The couch? Pass."

"The floor?"

"Seriously?"

"Well, what else is there?"

Tony looked around himself to nonverbally point out the obvious.

"No."

"No? Cause you're the one making me stay here. I get the bed."

"That is not a good way for you to earn boyfriend points."

"Boyfriend points?" Did Pepper make that up? Was that a real thing? "Now you're being ridiculous."

Pepper sighed at how oblivious he was.

"What? You didn't just make that up?"

"No, I didn't."

"Hmm." Tony pondered in thought as one side of his lips twitched up.

"It's like a 'get out of jail free' card for something stupid you do in the future."

Now that made sense. "Oh, so like if we have a date and I came a hour late?"

"Yes," she cautiously responded.

"Oh, okay." He shot Pepper a quick smile and got off the bed. "There."

"Just like that?" She didn't believe him.

"Yeah, you're right. I should be a good boyfriend."

"Okay, so let me get this straight: you're not giving me the bed because you want to, you're giving it to me because it gives you a score on the board?"

"I thought that was the point. Isn't it?"

God, he had a lot to learn. "I don't want you just doing things to earn points."

She was getting a little angry. Even he could see. "Uh, what did I say wrong?"

"Let's say I go to a soccer game to support you, stayed the entire time, and three weeks later, you catch me in a lie. What if I go, 'oh, remember your game against Montana State? I just went so I could use it later when something like this came up. Would you be okay with that?"

"No," he automatically said. "Because-"

"Exactly." He nodded, letting that sink in. "And I'm not doing this because I-"

"You're doing it so you can set me on the right intention and I can't get mad about that, right?" He paused and answered his own question. "Yeah, I can't. Look, I'll sleep on the couch. It's fine. You have a soft pillow or something? I still have swelling and I shouldn't lie down on hard surfaces and that kind of thing."

"Oh, I totally forgot about that." She frowned. Maybe he could have the bed.

"Or we can share the bed," Tony nervously suggested.

She thought about it, but ultimately decided he wouldn't be comfortable with that idea. "You're okay with that?"

"Not really," he honestly replied.

So she was right, but she decided to poke fun of him a little. "Oh, so you're okay with us making out, but when it comes to us sharing a bed, PG rated, it's a problem?"

He rolled his eyes at her teasing.

"I'm kidding. Come on, it's okay. You'll be fine. I call the outside. I doubt you'll be awake at 7:30am."

"Guilty. Actually, there is lecture tomorrow, right? At..." His mind was drawing blanks. "8:00? No, 9-"

"10:20."

"I totally knew that," he quipped. "I was just making sure you did."

Pepper quipped back. "I'm sure."

"Is my presence required? I need to figure that out. Wait. You're in bed before eleven? That is weird."

She chuckled. "I'm sorry if I don't have the nightlife you're used to."

"I'm not really into that stuff anymore," he confessed to her with a shrug. "Parties and all that. I mean, I still like to go to parties and hang out, but not how it was before. But, whatever, doesn't matter."

She gave him a sympathetic smile. The cloud of silence rolled in and she cleared her throat. "You want to watch House of Cards?"

"House of Cards?" He's never heard of it.

"Yup." She grabbed her laptop from her desk. "Come on, we can watch a couple episodes together. I'm on the fifth chapter of the first season and it is amazing. You'll definitely get hooked on it. Promise."

Tony chuckled at her excitement. Sure. Besides, if it meant spending more time with Pepper Potts, he was game.

She rolled onto her back with a huff as her eyes snapped open. She grabbed her phone off her nightstand and squinted at the light. 3:14. Great. She was tired and if it wasn't for the person sleeping next to her, she'd be asleep. His back was to her, but he'd been tossing and turning throughout the portion of the night, having taken the covers with him as he did so. Good thing she remembered Tony was a sheet hog because otherwise she'd be freezing as well. She can see his arms wrapped around the stuffed elephant's leg, hugging it to his chest for what she guessed was comfort. Most of the blanket had transferred down to his waist, leaving the top half of his body exposed to the cold breeze blowing in through her semi-open window. Though combined with the room temperature, it provided a more than ideal bed arrangement.

He let out a small groan and turned onto his back. She wondered what was wrong and if he was having a bad dream or something because it would explain the constant movement from him. Concerned, she placed her hand softly on his shoulder and called his name. It shocked her how quick of a response she got.

"I can't sleep," he mumbled. His eyes peered open to the darkness and he tried his best to locate Pepper's face.

"Does this always happen?"

"No, I just have trouble sleeping in new surroundings. I'm sorry if I woke you up."

"It's alright." Though it really wasn't. She needed her sleep and if she didn't acquire an adequate amount, she would get cranky in the morning.

"Maybe I should just leave."

"No," she said all too quickly, which caused him to muster a confused look. Maybe it was the selfish part of her, but having him here and seeing for herself that he was alright after weeks of not having an update was relieving. "But if you decide to, I won't stop you." Nice cover up, Potts.

"What time is it?"

"A bit after 3am."

That caused him to groan again. The thought of having to get up in less than seven more hours was excruciating. He felt her plop down next to her with a sigh. He had woken her up, but Pepper was too polite to say something about it. "Do you ever wonder what it's like to be a sheep?"

Her lips smile. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, they look fluffy and they can jump on clouds. I would do anything to get to jump on clouds. That sounds amazing. And fun."

She laughed. "You sound like you're stoned."

"My mind goes weird when it's tired. Counting doesn't work. Neither does music." Tony turned to look at her. "You know what does work? Sex."

She about choked on her next breath. "Sex?"

"Yeah." He kept his serious look in tact as he stared at her. "It's not like we haven't done it before. And I remember us almost doing it anyway."

Her breathing hitched as he leaned closer to her. She could feel his chest brush against the shirt she's wearing. His face was centimeters from hers and she could feel his breath against her ear. She had a feeling if she turned to stare at him, their lips would meet.

"No," she stated, shaking her head.

Of course he wasn't being serious, but it was fun teasing her. "Come on," he urged.

Pepper yelped once she felt his hand cup her inner thigh. Unbeknownst to Tony, his touch scared her but also ignited a certain spark within her.

"I know how to discharge a weapon. Just remember that."

"You have a gun in here? Do you have handcuffs as well?"

"You're disgusting." She turned her back to him and closed her eyes.

As she continued to lay there quietly, Tony frowned. His mind went to pause and he realized maybe he made her uncomfortable. He did not intend to do that. "I'm sorry." He was slightly embarrassed. He hardly knew her and he shouldn't have yanked her chain like he did.

Pepper turned to look at him and smiled just a bit.

"That's uncalled for. You had me think I actually-"

"What? I was just returning the favor...wasn't I?"

She knew from the beginning Tony was trying to put her in an uncomfortable position so he deserved this, but the feelings it brought out, that she couldn't had predicted in the slightest.

"I'm being serious! There's studies that prove this."

"Well, studies aside, I am not having sex with you."

"I bet you made me work hard for it the first time we slept together."

"I didn't make you work hard," she responded in a defensive fashion.

"Right," he nonchalantly said.

"It's just when we got together, I was still a..." She trailed off in hopes he can get the hint. "Unless it felt right, I didn't want to take that step."

All of a sudden, things took a serious turn and he creased his brows at her confession. "Was I your first boyfriend?"

"No. It's just the guys before-" She sighed, deciding to go another route. "I've only had three boyfriends. One was in middle school, the other two, you included, was in high school. Everyone has this one person they experiment with and that's what Brad was in the 7th grade. Nothing serious. Then I got to high school and I dated this guy that was a junior. I should have never done that. I was too young for a relationship with him, but I didn't know any better. He was really sweet and charming and he kept asking me out in class and one day I decided to say yes. We took it slow the first year and it wasn't until summer that he began pressuring me for sex and I was still 16 and I didn't feel like I could do that. He went to college, I moved to Malibu and that's when I met you. Robert, that's his name, we did the long distance and we'd always fight whenever he visited and I guess part of me was tired. I wanted out and I think I unknowingly used you to do that. Not something to be proud of, but that's alright with me. We got together because of that."

"What made you decide to take that step?"

"I trusted you," she simply said. "I still do."

He gave her a soft smile because that was all he could give her. He wished he could say the same thing to her, but he couldn't. He did however feel safe with her. Ever since their eyes met at the hospital.

Tony asked, "Have we ever done it in a Jacuzzi?"

"That is just-" She made a gross sound. "Gross."

"You'd like it," he teased. "We'll do it sometime."

"Keep dreaming, Tony."

"Dreams work for me." Once she heard that, she gave him a playful shove and giggled a little too loudly when he gently grabbed onto her wrist. His eyes met hers and time stood still. His hand is holding hers still and something inside him snaps. He gives up. He can't kiss her. He sees her inching towards him and he clears his throat suddenly and averts his gaze. He senses disappointment, but he tries to brush off it as him being unaware and lets go of her wrist.

"We should go to sleep. I don't wanna wake up all cranky."

"Yeah, sure," Pepper sadly responded. She watched as he turned to face the wall again.

With a frown, she turned her back towards him. He listened as she shuffled beside him and he berated himself. God, why did he have to make that so uncomfortable? It ruined everything.

I can't believe Tony chickened out like that! Am I right? What are your thoughts on this chapter? I'd really love to hear them :)