"Ugh," Pepper said, throwing her Cosmo magazine onto the floor. She had been reading the same line over and over, not able to concentrate on anything except her new found problem.

She had always had a bit of a crush on Tony. What girl didn't? But it seemed as though her feelings might have jumped ship during the past two months without her knowing and it was frustrating her. Something was different. She was more succumbed to his flirting, his charm that wooed over so many girls her age. Tony was being extra nice to her, it was the only thing off about him, but other than that nothing. Maybe she missed Robert and Tony was a substitute for him...which seemed ridiculous. It didn't make sense.

"What's wrong," Richard Potts asked, seeing his daughter sulk into one of the dining room chairs.

"Nothing," Pepper responded.

There was something wrong and he was going to get to the bottom of it. "What's bothering you?"

She shrugged. "I just have a lot of work to do."

"Well, Atlas High is a private school. But you know that's not what I meant."

"What do you mean," Pepper asked.

"You look like you're in a rut," he replied, taking a seat next to her. "I haven't seen you like this since you had to say goodbye to Robert."

"Robert and I are fine."

"Then it's something else," Richard concluded.

"It's just that..." Pepper trailed off, trying to find the best way to put what she was thinking into words. She sighed. "It's Tony."

"Okay," her dad cautiously said, to himself in particular. He wasn't expecting that.

"He's annoying me." It was the closest thing she could say to the truth. Her dad would flip out if he knew she liked Tony even the slightest bit.

"Isn't he helping you in class?"

"Yeah, but he always steers off topic."

"I'm sure you can handle him."

Pepper sighed. "But he doesn't listen. I'm convinced he's a kid inside. And that's not even the worst of it."

"Well, I can't say I agree. Every time I see him at Stark Industries, he's polite, hard working, does everything he's required to do. He's-"

"Whose side are you on?" She did not like her father praising him.

"Wouldn't a lot of girls want to be in your shoes?" He knew a thing or two about Tony Stark. It was girls and fast cars.

Pepper could not believe her father had said that. "Well, they can have them. He's driving me nuts."

Richard shook his head, hiding his smile. He couldn't believe how much Tony had gotten under her skin. He remembered his daughter being the same way with Robert when she first met him. Was this just another version of that? "So what does he do," he asked, throwing her a bone.

She rattled the things off the top of her list. "He's a smart ass. He's irritating. He doesn't know how-"

"Isn't that common knowledge?"

Ugh. Why couldn't her dad help her out? "Can't you just go up to him at the office and go all psycho dad on him?"

Richard chuckled. "Sure," he humored. "Just let me pack up my office."

"Right. Not the best idea."

"I think you tolerate him more than you realize."

She sighed again. "Dad, did you even listen to a word I said?"

"Yeah, I did. It's funny how you're not denying it."

"You're not helping."

"You'll figure it out. I have faith in you. But I gotta head into work. I've got a conference at two. I'll tell Tony you said hi if I see him."

Pepper stared pointedly at her father. "You wouldn't."

Richard shrugged and walked out the kitchen. She didn't need to know if he was kidding or not.

Pepper sighed as she tried to focus on her notes. Tony was to her left, head bent into the crook of his arms atop the table, fast asleep. She told him to leave, but he wanted to stay until she got the material down for tomorrow's test. He'd been waiting for her to finish the practice test before he drifted off.

The ringing of the doorbell suddenly jolted her out of her thoughts. Seeing that he hadn't woken up, she got up to answer it.

"Oh my god!" Her voice cut through the kitchen, waking Tony from his unconscious state. "What are you doing here?!"

He couldn't hear the other voice, but could tell she was happy to see whatever it was. He sat up, rubbing his eyes. When did I fall asleep, he asked himself.

"I thought I'd visit you. Big weekend, right," he heard a guy ask.

"You didn't have to, Robert."

Robert? Who the fuck is that? Suddenly, it hit him. "Oh." He quietly got up and walked over to where the kitchen met the living room.

The guy was tall, nicely toned. He looked athletic and spent too much time styling his hair.

"I got here an hour ago. Did you guys get a new car? It's awesome."

Pepper laughed softly, then shook her head. "Uh, no. We didn't. It's-"

"It's mine," Tony interrupted, making himself visible to the couple.

"You're awake," Pepper said.

"Yeah, it's kinda hard to sleep when you're shouting."

"Sorry about that," Robert spoke, taking his hand out to shake Tony's. "Nice to meet you. I'm Robert. That's a cool car."

"Yeah, I just brought it. A tree took out my last one. Pepper knows about it."

"Really," Robert asked, looking Pepper's way.

"Yep," she simply responded. "It was during that rainstorm I told you about."

"Right," he acknowledged. He knew they had become friends, but there was something about Tony's current demeanor that rubbed him the wrong way. He felt bad putting Pepper in the backseat of his life right now, and he felt worse knowing she was spending time with Tony. Time that was supposed to be his. "Are you guys done with whatever you're working on? I'm starving."

"Could we order in? I have a test tomorrow."

Tony watched their interaction. He could tell Robert didn't like him on some level, which was great. He wouldn't argue against it.

"He's tired."

"Speak for yourself. You're the one who got off a flight. The time difference must be killing you."

"I'm fine. And I can help. I'm just as smart as him."

Tony scoffed, not that he did it intentionally. It was a conditioned response to what Robert had said.

Robert looked at him. "What?"

"You really think you're smarter than me?"

Oh no, Pepper thought. She stepped in before things got ugly. "You're both smart."

"Pep, come on," Tony urged. "I'm smarter."

Robert was about to respond, but hearing him say 'Pep' caught him off guard. "Wait. Why does he call you that?"

"It's just a nickname," Pepper answered. Great. She was certain they were going to fight about that.

"Look, if he wants to help you that badly, I can go," Tony said, taking a few steps to the door. He wasn't going to argue with him. Robert wasn't worth his time. Besides, this way, he'd come off as the better person.

"Wait, could you at least explain the diagram? You dozed off before I could ask you what everything meant." Then she turned her attention to Robert. "Maybe you can take a nap or something. My parents will be back in four hours."

"Sounds great," Robert replied, leaning down and giving her a quick peck on the lips before kissing her harder.

Tony looked away in disgust. He wasn't the jealous type, but seeing the two of them together was definitely not a good feeling.

"Go," Pepper finally said, pulling away.

"Fine," Robert chuckled, leaving and making his way upstairs.

"I didn't know you had a boyfriend," Tony said, following her into the kitchen.

"You never asked."

"That explains a lot," he told her, sitting down.

"What?"

"Why you were so impossible."

"Oh, really?" She turned to look at Tony, who shrugged. "Did it ever occur to you that I just might not be interested?"

"Please. Look at me," he pointed to himself. "I'm irresistible."

"Alright, Mr. Irresistible," she humored, but just for a second.

"How long have you guys been going out?"

"That's none of your business."

"Come on. I'm curious."

"If I tell you, can we get back to work?" He nodded. "Okay. Almost two years."

"Seriously?" He was genuinely surprised. The most he expected was a couple months.

"Yeah. So this picture you drew for me," Pepper transitioned. "What do the dashes mean?"

"Anterior vena cava."

"Alright. What about the vertical lines?"

"The posterior ones," he answered, his mind somewhere else. Two years? Really? He didn't even notice when Robert came into the room.

"That actually makes sense," Robert said, looking over Pepper's shoulder.

"Well, it doesn't to me, so could one of you explain it?"

Of course Tony wanted to explain it since it was his drawing, but he also wanted to know what Robert was made of. "Go ahead."

Robert did, and in doing so, exaggerated it. I could had summarized it five minutes ago, Tony thought to himself. But, he had to admit, the guy knew his stuff.

"I'm gonna watch TV," Robert said an hour later.

Tony looked up, relieved.

Pepper smiled. "Okay. Tell me if anything good's on. I need a break, too."

"Will do." Robert smiled, walking out of sight. He decided to come early so they could spend extra time together, but clearly, that wasn't going to happen.

"Thanks for explaining it to me after Robert did. I couldn't understand a word he said."

"Seriously, at one point, I got confused."

Pepper laughed. "You could have stepped in."

"He thinks he's as smart as me so..."

"You know he isn't."

"So did you, but I didn't hear you telling him."

"I wasn't gonna put myself in between the battle of egos."

"So you lied instead."

"I didn't."

"Admit it, I'm smarter."

"So you can go in there and brag about it? I don't think so."

"Fine. Whisper it. It'll be our secret," Tony said, leaning closer to her.

"You're in my personal space again," Pepper told him, trying to push him away.

"Your point?" He held his stance, refusing to budge.

"It makes me uncomfortable!"

"Because your boyfriend's here? I'd be uncomfortable too if I were him."

"Wow, I didn't know you could be this self absorbed."

"It's true. He hates me."

"You're being ridiculous."

"Pepper, trust me. It's a guy thing. He wants to punch me in the face."

"Well, if you stay in this position, he just might." She tried once again to shove him aside.

He laughed when she failed again. "I'll deck him if he does."

Then she gave up. "Why are you being so difficult?"

"Come on, even you have to admit, he's been trying to get me out of here."

Pepper sighed. He had a point. But why bring it up? "What's your point," she asked.

"Nothing. It's just that-" He cut himself off, seeing Robert coming in.

Pepper quickly got up and went over to him. "Nothing?"

"Nah. Game of Thrones is almost ending."

"Oh, don't tell me what happened. I'm only halfway through the season."

Robert chuckled. "I won't."

"I think I'm gonna go home," Tony spoke, getting out of his seat. "I'm really tired." He didn't want to be here if he was going to be subject to their relationship. The last hour was enough.

"Okay," Pepper responded.

"Later," he told Robert in passing.

"Drive safe," she told him as they got to the front door.

"I will," Tony said, leaning against the frame. "And don't study too hard."

"I won't. I'm thinking about calling it a night."

"Then don't do things I wouldn't," he told her, making his way out the door. That obviously meant more than he let on.

Pepper laughed slightly and closed the door behind him. "So what did you..." She trailed off, noticing Robert behind her with a less than amused look on his face.

"We need to talk about that guy."