Shout out to titemeli13: I've got plans to do that! You read my mind!

"You're up early," Maria said, teasing her son as she saw him make his way downstairs.

"I couldn't sleep," Tony mumbled, opening the refrigerator.

"There's donuts."

"Where," he asked, turning around.

Maria answered by pointing to a box inches away from her. "If I knew you'd be up, I would have gotten the ones you liked."

He smiled. "Doesn't matter."

He went to the cupboard and grabbed himself a glass to fill it with milk. Once he finished, he walked over and took a seat across his mother, bringing the donut box to him.

"Not that I'm complaining, but shouldn't you be at work?"

Maria could sense the resentment in his voice. And normally she wouldn't put up with that kind of tone, but what could she really do? He was right. She worked too hard. Howard worked too much. They practically ignored their son.

"Your dad's in New York for the week so I thought I'd work from home. Maybe you could run Stark Industries on the days you're free. I heard you're doing quite well," his mother praised.

"Who said," Tony asked, the compliment intriguing him.

"Several people. There's your dad's secretary, Joan. A few of the board members think so, too, even though they wish you didn't belittle their work."

"Their concepts were pointless," he reasoned. "I was saving them from embarrassment."

"It doesn't matter. You need to watch your words, Tony. They'll still be there when your father retires. If you don't show them respect now, what makes you think they'll respect you once you're CEO?"

"Alright," he muttered, taking a bite of his maple bar. He got her message: don't be a smart ass.

Nonetheless, Maria gave him a way out. "Obadiah is more than willing to take over if you don't want to." More than anything, she wanted Tony to live a normal teenage life. Running Stark Industries wasn't part of that.

"Just don't let him near me." He wanted to prove to himself and Howard that he was responsible, and to do that, he had to get the Executive Officer out of the way.

"Consider it done." She took a sip of her coffee before continuing. "Your dad thinks you're doing a good job."

"That's because I haven't screwed anything up," Tony said, rationalizing her statement. Like he'd ever think I was good at anything.

"He does care about you. Even if you don't think so."

"Yeah, well, good for him. But until he actually tells me himself, it's never gonna mean anything to me." He hated having this conversation. He learned long ago to not expect anything from his father. "I'm gonna try and sleep again." He didn't want to be downstairs anymore.

"Upstairs," Maria asked, going into the kitchen and taking out a plate.

"Yeah. My room is upstairs," Tony replied, confused.

"Well, in that case, before you go, I want you to bring something up," she told him, handing her son the plate, which now had a donut in it.

"Uh," he muttered, taking it.

"It's for your friend," Maria said, a disapproving look on her face.

"What are you talking about?" He was legitimately lost. He wasn't even trying to act stupid.

Maria sighed. Unbelievable. Her son had one of the highest IQ's on the planet and couldn't put a simple thing together. "I know there's a girl in your room, Tony." His eyes bulged. "I don't care what you do outside the house, but you don't bring them upstairs."

"Nothing happened." He should had said that less defensively. Now he looked and sounded guilty.

"I can't believe I actually bought the 'lab report' act," Maria said, using air quotes for the appropriate words.

"Nothing happened," he repeated, his tone elevated.

"Don't raise your voice at me."

Tony sighed. "Nothing happened." He was calm this time and was looking her in the eyes.

Maria stared at her son, waiting for an explanation. Even though she wasn't a hands on parent, she did still make it a point to keep her eyes on him.

"The PCH was closed last night and Rhodey's stuff was in the other room so I let her sleep in my bed. I slept on the couch."

She knew he was telling the truth, but he still violated her rules. "Keep your door open once you're up there." Her voice left no room for negotiation.

"Okay." He put the donut in his mouth and left to go upstairs.

"That was for Pepper!"

"She can have the leftover ones in the box," he yelled back. Besides, he was hungry. If she was awake by the time he got upstairs, he'd take her out for lunch.

The place was crowded and Tony was starting to wonder if coming here was worth it. He had decided to forgo reservations, and judging from the look on her face, she was as shock as he was at the amount of people.

"Maybe this was a bad idea."

By the time he had gotten up to his room, she was dressed and ready to leave. It took a lot of convincing on his part to get her to agree to this. She wasn't going to back out now.

"Pep, quit worrying." She expressed concerns about being photographed with him, but he couldn't understand the reasoning behind it. He asked why, but Pepper wouldn't tell him. They weren't on a date or anything, so what was there to be worried about?

Pepper watched as he went up to talk to the hostess. She hadn't wanted to go to a place like this. Not this upscale. If she were photographed with him, it'd be all over the news...which meant Robert. He had called around eleven and asked where she was. She told him about the rainstorm and how Malibu lost power at six. She told him about sleeping at Tony's, but omitted the fact that she had slept in his room, in his bed. Telling him wasn't a problem. He wouldn't think much of it, but that didn't mean he wouldn't be upset. She was pretty sure it'd lead to a fight. Omitting the detail was the best for the both of them.

"I got us a seat," Tony said, breaking her train of thought.

He shoved his hands in his pockets as they followed the hostess in silence.

Last night was still fresh in his mind. He thought over his dilemma in the shower and decided to leave everything be for now. If he did like Pepper, and not in the friend way, he wasn't ready for it. Acting on his feelings meant another thing: relationships. Relationships scared him. It meant trusting someone and giving her the opportunity to break through the barricade he'd built around his heart.

"I don't know what to get," she told him. They had been seated and were now going through the menu...or at least she was.

"Try the Smokehouse Bacon Alfredo Pasta. That's what I'm ordering."

Pepper shook her head in disagreement. "Sounds fattening."

Tony raised his brow. "Seriously?" He didn't realize she was one of those girls who watched their weight.

She glanced his way. "Seriously."

"Then what do you want?" This was why he didn't take girls on dates. They were picky with everything.

"For you to not stare at me while I try to decide what I'm gonna order," she said, feeling his eyes still on her.

"Fine," he said. He looked out into the ocean instead. The tides were high. Maybe he'd go out later today. He hadn't been surfing in forever.

"Tony!" Hearing her voice, he turned his attention back to Pepper. That was when he noticed a waitress smiling at him.

"Right. I'll take the Smokehouse Pasta."

"Salad or baked potato?"

"Both." They both sounded great. That and the fact that he was hungry.

"How long did I space out," he asked once the waitress left.

Pepper softly laughed and shrugged.

"Gee, thanks for helping me out."

She looked behind her. "What were you even looking at?"

"Just surfers falling on their asses."

"Isn't it hard to surf when it's this windy?"

"It wouldn't matter if they were any good. Do you have plans after this?"

"Not really. I just have to go over the lab material because we have the-"

"Pepper, seriously, I don't want to hear about that."

"Fine," she said, leaning back in her chair. What could she tell him? "What do you want to know?"

Tony rolled his eyes. She was incredibly stubborn at times. He just wanted to get to know her and she was making things difficult. "Anything. What do you like to do for fun?"

She took it from there. Before they knew it, a conversation had finally started. "So we're thinking about seeing the new Spiderman movie."

"I thought you didn't believe in superheroes."

"I don't. But that doesn't mean they don't exist in an alternative universe," Pepper replied, thanking the waitress as she placed the lobster ravioli dish in front of her. "Are you that hungry," she asked, seeing him eye her food.

"You have no idea," he replied, smiling when he saw his own food arriving.

As soon as the waitress left, he attacked his salad.

"You might want to slow down," Pepper cautioned.

He mumbled through a mouth full of lettuce. "Just eat your food."

And she did. The both of them ate in silence for a couple minutes before Tony decided to speak up. "Your hair's the same color as your food." She looked down at her raviolis and tried to follow his logic. "The filling."

"Right," Pepper agreed, silently hitting herself upside the head. Why didn't she see that? That thought was momentarily replaced by the sight in front of her. Tony had just shoved a forkful of pasta into his mouth.

He acknowledged her stare. "It's so good," he mumbled.

"Do you have any manners?"

Tony swallowed his food. "Why? Am I embarrassing you?"

"You don't see me shoving lobster meat down my throat."

"Lobster isn't meat," he corrected. "It's seafood."

"They're both animals."

"Yeah, but that doesn't solve anything. Meat consists of warmblooded animals. Lobsters aren't."

"Just be quiet," she said. If Tony was going to be a smart ass, he could at least act coy about it.

Silence fell over them as they continued eating. He'd look at her occasionally, probably wanting to say something but afraid to knowing she was upset at him. He looked like a puppy at the doorstep waiting to be let in. She felt guilty. After all, she ruined lunch.

"I'm sorry I snapped at you," she smiled apologetically.

Tony shrugged and shot her a lopsided smile. "Don't be." He ate his last bite of pasta and frowned.

"What?"

"I'm still hungry."

"What?" She couldn't believe it.

"Yeah. You?" The ice cream that had just passed by seemed good.

"I didn't even finish this," Pepper said as he flagged their waitress. "You're serious, aren't you?"

"Yep."

The waitress smiled as she approached them. "What can I help you with, Mr. Stark?"

"What's for dessert?"

"Oh, that's already been taken care of," she replied with a smile. "Compliments of the chef. Two strawberry shortcakes."

"Oh, I can't have that," Pepper spoke up.

"Why not," Tony asked.

"I'm allergic to strawberries."

"Well, we have ice cream. We're also featuring a molten lava cake."

"Thanks, but I think I'll pass."

"No problem," the waitress said, moving to the side as someone brought in the dessert.

Tony grabbed his fork and speared into a strawberry. "How bad is it?"

"My allergy?" He nodded. "Bad. My airway will constrict once it's in my mouth."

"So you have to carry an Epipen around?"

"Most of the time."

"That sucks," said Tony, taking another bite. He actually felt bad for her. At least, for a little bit. "You have no idea what you're missing out on."

"Do you need a couple minutes alone with it," Pepper asked, referring to the moan that escaped his lips.

"You should try it."

She sighed. "Really? Have you seriously forgotten what we just talked about?"

"Don't worry. I'm pretty good at the mouth-to-mouth thing," Tony said, waggling his brows.

"I'll pass," she replied, ignoring his inappropriate comment.

"At least try the whipped cream. It's no where near the strawberries."

"I'd rather not."

"Pepper, it's on a separate part of the dish," he said, pulling his chair around the table so he could sit next to her. "And if you tell me you can't because you're watching your weight, I'll flip out."

She let him take the fork out of her hand. "Tony," she warned.

"Pepper, really. You'll be fine."

"Alright," she snapped, grabbing the fork which now had cream on it.

"Awesome," he said, a smug smile on his face as he watched her cautiously take a tiny bite. "Good, right," he asked, a expectant look on his face.

"It's not as sweet as I thought it'd be," Pepper replied. She did not want to stroke his ego.

He smiled, this time more smug. "You totally like it. I'll tell them to make another one, but with different berries."

Overall, she had a good time. The blueberry shortcake was delicious and she absolutely regretted the fact that she told Tony it was.

He kept his eyes on the road the entire drive, but that didn't mean he couldn't see what Pepper was doing. She was on her phone, and occasionally, she'd let out a smile before her fingers flew across the keyboard. It was guy. But who? His mind went back to the night when he'd driven her home. It couldn't be him, unless she gave him another shot. And if she did, he had to admit, it hurt. He didn't need some guy taking her before he had his chance.