A/N: Sorry for the e-mail spam. I'm correcting minor typos.

Pepper fast walked towards the bathroom, hearing every sound Tony made. It sounded awful. It sounded like he was being punched in the stomach multiple times. She rounded the corner and walked through his bedroom. She pressed her lips together and courageously turned her head to peer into the bathroom. His head was completely in the toilet. He was on his knees, holding onto the bowl for some leverage.

"Tony…" She furrowed her eyebrows, and walked towards him. "…Are you okay?"

He lifted his head up and stumbled backwards, hitting the wall behind him.

"I feel sick." He blatantly said, staring at the toilet in front of him. He felt so weak and uncomfortable. He didn't want to even get up; he was worried that he was going to up chuck again. He didn't want to puke all over Pepper, especially not on her clothes… or her sexy legs. Pepper and her legs. Those things will do me in for sure one day.

Before he knew it, Pepper was sitting down next to him. She gently rubbed his back with her palm, hoping to clam him down.

"I'm fine…" He swallowed, looking away.

"Is it something you ate?"

"Do you feel sick?" He turned his head to finally face her. Her glowing blue eyes were staring at him. It made him feel somewhat better. Hell, she always made him feel better.

"I feel fine – content, actually." She hinted towards their last activity.

"If you're fine—wait, did you eat any of my clams?" He furrowed his eyebrows, slightly.

"Nope." Pepper shook her head.

"Throw those clams out." He said quickly, feeling the rush of nausea overwhelm him. Before Pepper could even respond, Tony practically leaped for the toilet; emptying his stomach's contents.

Pepper cringed at the sound of him retching. She moved to kneel beside him so she could continue to rub his back.

"I'm sorry." He murmured, still hovering over the toilet.

"For what?"

"We could have…" He tried to start his sentence but couldn't think of words to say. "… I screwed up. Or rather, my stomach screwed up." He looked down at his stomach and cursed at it under his breath.

"What are you talking about?" She breathed a laugh, trying to make him, and herself, feel a bit better, especially considering their situation right now.

"We could've made this night so much better." He shook his head before resting his forehead against the edge of the bowl. "We could've had sex."

She endearingly smiled at his last comment. True, they could've had sex, and she even said it was okay when he mentally asked her. None of them had anticipated it, but if it had happened, it would've made their night so much better. If the clams hadn't poisoned Tony's stomach, they would have taken that extra step in their relationship. The thought about exploring each other's bodies made Pepper smile.

"There will be other opportunities." She tried to reassure him.

"But that was the opportunity. It was…" He turned his head to glance at her and saw how her lips formed that reassuring smile he was so used to seeing.

"There will be other opportunities." She repeated, and bent over to kiss him on his shoulder. "Trust me."

"This night was perfect." He leaned back against the wall, and rested his head against Pepper's shoulder. "Romantic dinner. Romantic evening. Romantic food coma." He turned his head and felt something on his face. Pepper slowly cleaned his mouth with a tissue. His eyes watched her movements. He could almost memorize them by heart. "Then…" His eyes locks onto Pepper's while feeling her hand brush against his jaw. "…this happens."

Pepper leans in slowly, almost catching Tony by surprise. Never before had he seen, or heard of, a woman kiss a man that had just vomited. She kissed the corner of his mouth and felt his arm snake towards her waist, grasping it gently. She must have tossed the tissue aside because Tony felt her hands cup his face.

Pepper pulled away, utterly mesmerized by how handsome he looked, even after his gross encounter. "We could always relive this night. We could actually relive it right now. I can light some candles in here. We can have some chicken noodle soup." She began to smirk.

"Chicken noodle soup is romantic?" He furrowed his eyebrows, pulling her body against his.

"It helps your stomach." She added in with a sly smile. "But we could always make it romantic."

"You always know what to say to me." He laughed lightly, almost forgetting about his condition. He still felt a little weak, however, the uncomfortable feeling flew out the window when Pepper kissed him.

Pepper moved to get up, but she felt his hand tug at the seam of her skirt. She glanced down and saw Tony's puppy dog eyes.

"Where are you going?" He muttered.

"I'm going to get you some water. It'll help your stomach." She walked out of his reach, feeling a little miserable for having to leave Tony in the bathroom for a few seconds.

"What about the soup?" He frowned, looking up at her; trying to keep his stomach under control.

"Did you want soup?"

"Maybe." He shrugged, and looked away, like a kid that didn't know what he wanted, but asked anyways.

"I'll make you some soup then." She smiled. "Maybe if you lay down, you'll feel better."

"I don't think I want to risk barfing all over the place." He pressed his lips together, looking over at the bed.

"Trust me, Tony." She said from the doorway in his bedroom. "If you feel the need to barf, you'll make it to the toilet. If not, drag the wastebasket with you."

It was a minute later when Pepper strolled into Tony's bedroom with a water bottle in her hand. She looked up, and saw Tony laying there, on his side, with the wastebasket right next to him. She grinned at the sight and climbed onto the bed to sit next to him. It felt exactly like those times Tony came back from a brutal mission. He would lay down in bed and try to hide his pain, but Pepper would be right by his side, pressuring him to take some medicine, or eat something, to help him feel better.

He felt the cold bottle tap his shoulder a few times. He turned his head and saw Pepper, sitting next to him, with the bottle in her hand. He scooted up, to lean against the headboard, and rested against her shoulder whilst taking tiny sips from the bottle.

"Thanks." He muttered, sighing contently. "Where's the soup?"

"It's on the stove." She responded. She laid her hand on top of his thigh to reassure him. "Soup doesn't cook itself, you know."

"Actually—" He glanced over at her but saw her glaring at him, making him change his choice of words. "—Never mind."

"JARVIS doesn't count." She told him, pressing her lips together.

"He can cook, though."

"He's artificial intelligence. Of course he can cook." She rolled her eyes at him, feeling a bit offended.

"True." He slightly nodded, feeling the negative aura Pepper was giving off. "He can cook, but I think your cooking is, by far, better. And besides, you have that motherly charm. It makes the food taste better." He widened his smile, hoping she bought it.

She sat there, looking away. They both sat there, in silence, for what seemed like a few seconds. It was only then Pepper heavily sighed and decided to give him credit. "Nice save."

"Miss Potts." The AI sounded. "The soup is boiling. I believe it is the appropriate time to take it off the stove before it over boils."

Tony grinned at the announcement and looked over at his girlfriend. She pressed her lips together and squeezed his thigh. "Don't say anything."

"I wasn't going to." He smirked. He watched her waltz out of his bedroom, giving him the opportunity to stare at her long legs. Those legs only gave him a short period of happiness.

He began to frown. He stared down at the bottle, deep in his own thoughts. Pepper and he could've had sex. Sure, he was Tony Stark, the man that used to be a chick magnet – the man that could get any girl he wanted. Any girl would pounce on him the moment they walked through the threshold of his house.

Pepper was different. No shit she's different. He thought, swirling the bottle before taking tiny sips. He didn't want to pressure her into anything. He wanted to keep things at the appropriate pace. What exactly is an appropriate pace? He furrowed his eyebrows.

His thoughts were cut off when he heard the sound of bare feet pattering along the floor. Tony looked up and saw the very red head that had him stumped. She carried the tray full of soup bowls through the threshold and placed them on the nightstand.

"Did you want anything else?" She grabbed one of the bowls and carefully handed it to him.

"I think this is fine." He flashed a small smile and accepted the bowl. Pepper grabbed her own bowl and sat next to him, on top of the bed.

Tony looked down at his chicken noodle soup before glancing over at Pepper. Just as she took a spoonful of soup, "How long did you wait to have sex?" He asked.

Pepper must've heard right, because she spewed most of the soup back into her bowl. Thankfully, none of it got onto the bed sheets. She furrowed her eyebrows, almost trying not to laugh. "What?" She smirked; glancing over at him.

"Just a question." He pressed his lips together and innocently looked at her. "Doesn't have to be answered – but I preferably would like for it to be answered."

Pepper sat there with her mouth gapped; a small smile slowly appeared on her face. "Why—" She paused, unsure of what to say. "Is this because of what happened?"

"I'm just… wondering…" He looked away.

"Tony, it'll happen. Maybe not tonight, maybe not tomorrow, but it'll happen." She tried to reassure him. Pepper saw him thoughtfully look down at his bowl of soup. "And if you must know… it was seven months."

He whipped his head around to look at her. "Seven months?" He almost seemed surprise.

Pepper took a spoonful of the soup. "I was eighteen, Tony, and the guy was very nice and polite."

"Two weeks." He abruptly stated, looking into the distance, with a small smile.

Pepper glanced over him with a disappointed look. What was there to be mad at? He's Tony freaking Stark. She reminded herself. "Was it a meaningful relationship?" She asked quickly, almost regretting it afterwards.

"Nope." He shook his head, almost feeling ashamed. "This is my first real meaningful relationship." He and Pepper both looked at each other at the exact same moment. "Which is why I asked. I didn't… I didn't want to pressure you into anything…"

She smirked before endearingly smiling. "You don't have to worry about pressuring me, Tony. You're doing just fine."

"So, can we have sex?" He blatantly asked her.

Pepper began to laugh at him. She began to sink her head, thus resting it on his shoulder. "You're not that lucky, Stark."

Tony began to smile to himself. He wasn't offended by her sly comment. He was actually a tad bit happy that she said no. In his earlier days, he would mention sex, and women would pounce on him as if he were a juicy piece of steak. No one quite understood him like Pepper – and maybe Rhodey. He cared for her enough to accept the fact that she didn't want to have sex with him yet. More like I love her. He thought to himself as he pushed another spoonful of soup through his lips. He glanced over at the person that occupied his right side and carefully placed a gentle kiss on the top of her head.

"Thanks, Pepper." He murmured. "You've taken such good care of me."

"Eat your soup." She stared at her bowl of soup before grinning.

It was the next day. Tony felt a lot better the next morning. Pepper had gotten a call from the restaurant and they had apologized. Apparently, most of the customers that ordered the clams had gotten food poisoning. Thankfully, they gave Tony a refund for the trouble they had caused and offered to give them a free meal.

The phone rang multiple times before it was finally picked up.

"Hello?" Rhodey furrowed his eyebrows, unsure of the person that had called him.

"We could have had sex!" Tony practically yelled through the phone. "Pepper and I were kissing after our dinner – the dinner was great by the way; absolutely fantastic – and we were on the couch, not paying attention to the television. Thanks to a certain restaurant, " Tony rolled his eyes, almost regretting the fact that he could have sued them for ruining such a perfect and romantic moment, " I got food poisoning. I think you already know the details since I entered this conversation stating that Pepper and I could have had sex. A bottle of water and bowls of soup later, I asked Pepper about her sex life. Do you think I should pressure her a little, or should I just let it run its course?"

Rhodey undoubtedly rolled his eyes at his friend and abruptly slapped the phone onto its receiver. Tony furrowed his eyebrows at the ringing tone that sounded through his end.

"Rhodey? Hello?"

A/N: So glad the Boston Bruins won the Stanley Cup. I'm a San Jose Sharks fan, but I did not want the cup to be in Canada. I'm very disgusted with Vancouver. They rioted downtown Vancouver after they lost 4-0 to the Bruins. Apparently, one Boston Bruins fan was pushed over the overpass during the riot and died. It's truly sad…

Good night!