"What kind of question is that?"

"You just wasted one of yours."

If she'd known Tony would be this way, she would have never agreed to this. "What? No, I didn't!"

"That's another," he pointed out, smirking.

Pepper sighed, giving him an exasperated look before answering his question. "I don't like pickles."

"Why not?"

"They smell bad and taste weird."

"Mushrooms?"

"On pizza."

"Superhero or mummy? What would you rather be?"

She considered it for a second. "Mummy."

Tony frowned. "Seriously? Mummies are dead."

"Mummies are in the realm of possibilities. Superheroes are not."

"You're so gonna wish they were when you're attacked by zombies."

"There are no such things as zombies."

"Yet," he told her.

"Your imagination leaves a lot to be desired."

"At least I have one," he muttered, thinking of a new question. "Are you scared of any animals?"

"Frogs," Pepper replied instantly, a chill running down her spine.

"Frogs? Really," Tony asked.

"Yeah. They're ugly, slimy, and everywhere."

"What if I told you I had frogs," he asked, keeping a straight face. Of course he was kidding. He only brought it up to toy with her, and not surprisingly, it worked.

"You wouldn't." Her face was serious. She wasn't playing around.

"Relax," Tony said, laughing. "The only animals near you are fishes swimming in a tank behind four inches of solid, unbreakable glass."

"Really," Pepper asked. She hoped it was true.

"Really," Tony confirmed, a sincere smile on his face. Finally her shoulders relaxed. "You hurt my ego. I had to get you back somehow."

"Please. We both know I barely scratched its surface."

"True. So just real frogs, right? You wouldn't run across the room if you saw a stuffed one?"

"Of course not," Pepper responded, sitting back in her chair.

"Now I know what to get you for your birthday."

"You don't even know when that is." And she'd never tell him it.

"Right," he thought. "When is it?" He smiled when he saw hers disappear. "You can't lie, remember?"

She sighed, having forgotten they were in the middle of 20 questions. "October 16th."

"Really? That's less than a month away. I'll get you something."

Pepper immediately took that as a bad sign. "Tony, I swear to God, if I find a frog sitting on my desk when I walk into class, I will..."

"I was thinking about a stuffed one!"

"...literally kick you in the ass," she finished. She didn't care if he was kidding or not.

"Relax, Pep. I'd never do that to you. You're like..." He trailed off, stopping himself. What the hell did I just say?

He looked up and saw that she was waiting for him to finish his sentence. Thankfully, before he said anything, her phone rang.

Pepper glanced at the caller ID, then looked at him apologetically. "I have to take this."

"Yeah, go ahead," he responded, waving her off. He watched her walk into the living room.

"Hi, dad. I'm fine. No, we got away from the storm before it turned serious. I'm at a friend's house. Um, no. I don't think so. I did try calling the house, but there was no a signal."

Tony listened in. Her dad was worried about her. Wonder what that feels like.

He sighed, mentally slapping himself in the face. He wasn't sure why he had said that. And, more importantly, what did it mean? He had spoken on autopilot and it wasn't until he heard the words come out of his mouth that he realized what he said. "Relax, Pep. I'd never do that to you. You're like..." He was happy to had caught himself mid-sentence. Maybe Rhodey was right. Maybe on some level he liked Pepper more than he realized.

Until now, he had used his libido as an excuse. If he looked back on the past two weeks and this night, the writing was written clearly on the wall. He invited her to his house, talked to her more than any other girl he'd known since high school, and he even gave her a cupcake - which was a huge deal since he didn't share food. Or, he thought, maybe I consider her a friend?

"Tony?" Great. Now she's in my head.

"Tony!" Her voice called his name again, but this time, he looked in the direction of the sound to see Pepper staring at him.

"JARVIS is trying to get your attention."

"What'd he say," he asked, shaking Pepper out of her thoughts.

"A tree collapsed on your Audi."

"What?!" She chuckled at how wide Tony's eyes had gotten. She would never understand the bond men had with their cars. Maybe it was like what women had with shoes?

Pushing past her, he made his way to the front door. "Son of a bitch! I just bought that car!"

She walked up to him. "Maybe it's fixable."

"Pepper, look at it." Tony grabbed her by the shoulders and forced her in front of him so she could see the damage. It wasn't fixable. Not in the slightest.

"At least you have a real reason to buy another car," she told him, turning around and giving him a sympathetic smile.

"Whatever." He sighed, averting his gaze from the glass window and back to the girl in front of him. "What did your dad want?"

"Oh, he was just worried because he couldn't get a hold of me. I told him I was okay, but there's something I have to ask you."

"What," Tony cautiously asked, sensing the hesitation in her voice.

"When I told my dad that I was at a friend's house, I couldn't say it was yours because...well, he'd kill me, so I lied. He bought it, but when I told him you'd be driving me home soon, he said the PCH was closed and that whoever tried to drive across it would be told to turn back around."

Pepper said all she had to for him to catch her drift. Honestly, he wasn't sure how to react.

"Huh," he replied, sounding indifferent.

"Look, I know it's..." Unbeknownst to her, Tony wasn't paying attention to anything she was saying. His mind had wandered back to what he realized moments ago.

"Pep, it's no problem," he said, interrupting her train of thought.

"Really?"

"But I have two conditions," Tony stated, holding two fingers up as he said so.

"What," she asked, knowing she had no other choice.

"You can't roll your eyes at me for a month."

"Fine," Pepper said, folding her arms and looking at him.

"Two, you owe me a favor."

"What kind?" He shrugged. "They're not negotiable?" He shook his head in a no. With a sigh, she caved in. "Fine."

"Wow, I can't believe you agreed to that," Tony said, laughing as he walked off. He was going to have fun coming up with something.

"My mom's probably asleep," he said as they walked up the stairs.

"I'm usually in bed at this hour, too." It was almost 2am and they had just finished watching The Purge.

"Really," Tony asked, looking back at her. "Do you even know what it's like to have fun?"

"I have plenty of fun."

"Watching Pokémon on Friday nights does not constitute as fun."

"Neither do Saturday morning hangovers."

"They're actually the best part. Which you would know if you ever had one."

"Wow," Pepper deadpanned. "Did you just imply that I'm a prude?"

"I don't know." He turned around and started walking backwards so he could face her. "Did you roll your eyes?"

"No," she said, following him down the hall.

"Then I didn't imply anything," he said, smiling at her. He then turned back around and opened the door to his room. Now, that time, she really did want to.

To say she was floored when she walked in was an understatement. His room was bigger than hers and her parents combined.

"Here," Tony said, his voice snapping her out of her thoughts. "I don't think you want to sleep in pants." She nodded in agreement and grabbed the shorts from his hands. "Bathroom's here," he told her, walking over to show her. "There's towels on the shelf, so feel free to use them if you want."

"Do you have a toothbrush?"

"Yeah. Somewhere," he muttered. He walked inside the bathroom and pretended to look around. "You're just gonna have to find them yourself," he said seconds later. He honestly had no clue where unused things were at.

"You don't mind me going through your stuff?"

"Not really. But if you need help changing, I'm more than willing to help," he said, making an attempt to grab his shorts.

"I'll be fine," Pepper replied, holding back a roll of her eyes. Instead, she slammed the door.

At least he hit a nerve. He went into the closet to find an extra blanket and pillow. He was going to set Pepper up in the room next door, but ultimately couldn't. It was the room he took girls to and she deserved better.

"Fuck," he said, leaning against the wall. He hated being alone with his thoughts.

He couldn't think much of his problem because his bathroom door had crept open. Turning around, he saw Pepper dressed in his shorts and a camisole.

"Where can I put this," she asked, holding up her clothes.

"Just set it on the window seat." She nodded and did so. "So I was thinking you could take my bed."

"Tony, that's not necessary." She had imposed herself on him. The last thing she wanted was for him to kick himself out of his own bed for her comfort.

"Can you just once let me be nice to you without fighting me on it?"

"I'm not fighting you on it," Pepper explained. "I don't want to impose."

"You aren't. And the couch is actually really comfortable, so I'll be fine."

"You're sure?"

"Yeah. Relax." With that, Tony left.

Pepper shook her head and looked around his room once he closed the door to the bathroom. His bedroom was decorated in a grey, silver, and black color scheme and it matched his pillow and comforter set on his king sized bed.

Walking around, she noticed some things that stuck out: model cars, circuit boards, engineering books, an X-box and Playstation, junk food, video games, a signed soccer ball.

She quickly headed over to the bed when she heard the water shut off. Setting her phone on the side, she pulled off the covers. What she saw in the center of his bed was unexpected: a teddy bear.

Leaning over, she retrieved it. She could tell that the bear had been through a lot, but even with its scars, it was adorable.

"What are you looking at," Tony asked, walking out the bathroom.

"This," she replied, turning to show him his stuffed bear and not bothering to hide the smile on her face.

"Hey. That's mine," he said. Before she knew it, he had gone over to her and grabbed the bear out of her hand.

"I think it's cute that you have a stuffed animal," Pepper said, watching as he placed the brown bear next to his blanket. "What's his name?"

"Waffles."

She thought about the name as she got on top the bed. "It fits him."

"Of course it does." He laid down and told JARVIS to turn off the night. He was exhausted.

"Tony?"

"Yeah," he tiredly asked, keeping his eyes closed.

"You don't sleep naked, do you?"

His eyes instantly snapped open. "What?" Shocked at what he just heard, he sat up and looked at her.

"Well, I don't think I'll be comfortable sleeping in your bed if you-"

"You know what, Pep? You shouldn't complain. A lot of girls would die to be in your position right now."

This time, she sat up. "That's disgusting."

"Doesn't make it less true," Tony smirked.

"And?"

"And what?"

"Are you gonna give me an answer?"

"Oh, right. No."

Pepper said nothing, shooting him a dubious look.

"I swear," he said, putting his hands up.

"Okay then," she mumbled, still hesitant, but deciding to lay back down.

"Night, Pepper."

"You too, Tony."

It didn't take long for both of them to fall asleep.

Glad you guys like Maria. I thought it'd be fun to write from Tony's point of view, especially when he realizes he has feelings for Pepper! :)