"I had to re-shave my legs for this," Piper said through her smile as Harry walked her through the lobby.

"You're helping out a friend in need," Harry said.

Piper had to admit that it was nice to see Harry again. It had been too long – what with him taking over Oscorp, and her super-secret-superhero-duties, there hadn't been much time to chat.

Still, she nearly hadn't come out tonight. A night off, when she had to find out where this advanced weaponry was coming from? No way, José. The only reason she was standing in what looked like a friggin ballroom was because she had promised Harry months ago that she would be his date.

"People are gonna wonder what you're doing here without a supermodel," Piper murmured, looking around the room filled with important-looking men and intimidatingly elegant women.

"Relax – you look great. The dress is a total win."

Thank God, Piper thought. The dress had belonged to her aunt: a black and slinky number, boasting a Bardot neckline and a slit that travelled halfway up her thigh. It had better look good.

"Plus," Harry continued. "I bet half of the people didn't even re-shave their legs."

"Half of the people here are dudes. Women like this probably don't even grow body hair. Or if they do, it's like… blonde."

Harry raised his eyebrows. "Look, you know how much I love to talk about body hair – but maybe we should lay off the topic for a second, because –"

Harry didn't have to finish his sentence; a balding man had approached them and begun to eagerly congratulate Harry on Oscorp's latest brainchild, for which the gala was fundraising.

Piper wished she knew more about what was going on, but Harry had said he was too nervous to talk about it, and after he'd called her two hours ago, she'd barely had time to get ready and –

Something out of the corner of her eye made her freeze. For a moment, she tensed, sure that her spider-sense had picked some kind of danger up…

She whipped her head around so fast that she felt Harry jump.

"You okay?" he muttered while the man he was talking to raised his eyebrows at Piper.

"And who might this be?"

"Piper Parker," Piper said, a little absently, hardly glancing at him. Mr. Stark was standing not twenty feet away. Even in the sea of people, she could clearly see he was talking to two incredibly beautiful women, who were smiling at him like he was God's gift to earth.

Piper frowned, no longer hearing words of the balding man who was trying to make polite conversation, nor seeing the confused look Harry sent her way. One of the women, the one with the choppy bob, had draped her arms over his shoulders, leaning in to whisper something in Mr. Stark's ear and Piper tore her eyes away, seething –

"Piper," Harry said, bemusedly. "What's up?"

"Sorry," Piper smiled brightly, even though she could practically feel her blood boiling. What was up with her? Was it PMS? Or maybe she was just hangry… that had to be it! She hadn't eaten since… what, this morning?

"Where's the food?" she asked, and the bald man raised his eyebrows. Harry cleared his throat, plastering a fairly realistic looking smile on his face as more people came to congratulate him.

"Stick with me for five minutes, please, and then we'll find food."

Nearly half an hour later, Piper's cheeks hurt from the nonstop fake-smile marathon that Harry had treated her to. She wandered out from the huge ballroom and into the ever so slightly less packed gardens, massaging her face. Food, food, food, where is the food?

Defeated, Harry had finally been led away by an old acquaintance of his father's. Piper had wondered whether to accompany him, but the woman had barely even turned her head in Piper's direction.

So instead, she was desperately searching for food, trying to ignore the fact that she was angry for no reason. They have a bar out here, but no snacks?

Why did they even need a bar? This was totally the kind of event where waiters walked around with trays of champagne. Piper had already had a little, and didn't really mind it. It wasn't like she'd never had a drink before.

Maybe Harry hadn't wanted her to leave him alone. She sighed, feeling lightheaded. Okay, Parker, stop thinking about the food, start thinking about your friend.

She walked towards the bar, figuring she could at least bring him back a drink to compensate. Sure. She'd bring him a drink, they'd find food together, everything would be fine, and she could still see that girl with her choppy bob and her willowy limbs and what? What does that have to do with anything? Piper thought as she sidled up to the chrome white bar, grabbing a drinks menu and perusing it absently.

What would Harry like, what would Harry like, she thought, more to distract herself than anything else. She wasn't angry. She was not angry.

"Piper Parker," said the person next to her and Piper nearly dropped the drinks menu in shock. She looked up to see Mr. Stark standing to her left – only something seemed different. It took Piper a second to realize that he was actually looking at her, not somewhere else, and – not only that – he was smiling ever so slightly.

Her stomach squirmed, but not unpleasantly. How does that even make sense? she thought, flustered.

"Mister Stark –"

"How long have we known each other for?" he interrupted, cocking a brow.

Three months. For two and a half of those months, you actually talked to me, and were a likable, attractive human. But for the last two weeks, however, you have been grumpier than that grumpy cat. But hey. Not that anyone's counting.

"Long enough," Piper said vaguely.

"Long enough for you to start calling me 'Tony'?"

Piper stared. Not only was Tony Stark, a) looking her right in the eyes, b) not irritated, but he was also, c) joking around with her? Was there something in the water?

This was weird – but, Piper reflected, not a bad weird, by any means.

Boundaries, boundaries, boundaries, danced through her head, but she pushed it away.

"Gee, I don't know," she said, wondering if maybe she'd been hit on the head and was now hallucinating. "It sounds pretty risky. I don't know if I can handle the pressure…"

Tony's smile flickered into a grin. "I know it's a lot to ask, but I figured you could take the heat."

Ignoring the fact that her stomach felt like it was on a rollercoaster, she held out her hand, immediately regretting it because oh no what if her palms felt sweaty –? "Hi, Tony."

"Hi, Piper," Tony replied evenly, taking her hand in his larger one, and it was warm, and she could feel the calluses on his palm.

He let go, turning back to the bar. "What do you want?"

Piper frowned, drawing her attention away from his hands. He had nice hands. "You don't have to buy me a –"

"Sea breeze? You seem like a sea breeze kind of gal."

"Do they have snacks?" Piper asked keenly, squeezing up to the counter between Tony and another suit.

"No, this place has waiters that come around with the little trays of – Piper, what are you do –?"

"Do you have snacks?" Piper demanded of the barman, trying to climb over the counter in her quest for food. She felt an arm wrap firmly around her waist and pull her back to the ground, against a very warm body; suddenly, her skin felt too hot, and she felt all tingly, and –

"Honey, climbing over the bar is a good way to get kicked out," Tony said lightly, steering her away and he really wasn't moving his arm from around her waist and –

I need snacks to stop feeling angry – and light headed – and my stomach needs to stop flipping – and – and boy oh boy, he is warm –

"They can't kick me out – I have an Avenger to back me up," Piper found herself saying, looking defiantly up at Tony, who grinned and good God what was up with her stomach and the butterflies?

Am I drunk? Sure, yeah, that must be it!

"So maybe I shouldn't buy you a drink."

"Probably not," Piper said, shaking her head. "I swear, I've only had one drink… but I don't usually drink champagne…"

This was really not the impression she needed to be making if she wanted to convince Tony Stark that she was a hands-on, in control superhero. This probably confirmed all his doubts about her. But instead of lecturing her, he was steering her through the crowds, supporting her by keeping his arm around her… although, she could walk fine… surely he could see that… then again, who was she to complain?

"Hey, no judgement," Tony said, and she could hear the smile in his voice. "You want a list of all the dumb things I've done with one drink in my body?"

"Speaking of which, what happened to those girls?" Piper asked lightly as Tony sat her down on an elegant wire bench by the gardens.

He crouched down in front of her, looking up at her with an appreciative kind of shock. "Miss Parker, I did not expect that kind of sass from you. You sure you only had one drink?"

"I didn't even finish it," Piper said, with a note of mock pride in her voice.

"Bravo. What girls?" Tony asked, cocking an eyebrow. He had very dark eyebrows… and eyes… and lashes…

"The girls, the ones you were with earlier," Piper said. Unless there had been more than just the two he'd been with earlier. She hoped not.

"You're not spying on me, are you, Piper?" Tony asked, and his voice dropped conspiratorially.

"I'm not spying," Piper said firmly. "Just observing. Anyway, I know, they were probably really cool girls, I shouldn't be hating on them. You smell nice," she declared.

Tony's lips quirked back into a positively radiant smile as he let out a quick bark of laughter.

"Oh God, this is so embarrassing," Piper blanched.

"It is," Tony agreed and she laughed, covering her face with her hands. "It's also the best thing ever. But y'know, we'll laugh about it later, so –"

"No, we won't," Piper said, her voice muffled from behind her hands. "Maybe a couple of weeks ago, sure, but now? You don't even smile at me anymore." This was awful. What was she doing? Why was she saying every little thing that popped into her head?

"Yeah, I've been kinda backwards lately," Tony said, gently tugging her hands away from her face, "which is why I was going to buy you a drink as an apology, or at least as the start of an apology –"

"Whoops. Any other plans of attack?"

"Uh, yeah. I was also gonna compliment you a lot."

Piper nodded approvingly. "Always good."

"But not, like, too much. Like, not to the point where you're uncomfortable."

"Right. So unlike how I made you uncomfortable when I accidentally sat on you?"

Tony looked startled – perhaps he hadn't expected her to ever bring it up again – before his face cracked into a grin. Piper covered her face again. "I'm breaking the ice. We've acknowledged it. Now we never have to speak of it again –"

"Was it an accident though?" Tony asked in an exaggeratedly serious manner, and she giggled. "It seemed kinda staged to me. You just didn't hear me come in –?"

"Oh, my God, I was in the zone –"

"– walk all the way to the desk, and take the chair? Come on. I'm asking for a friend."

"Why'd you have to sit in my chair?"

"No, that was my chair. I distinctly remember it being my chair."

"Remember how you said you were going to compliment me?" Piper asked, resting her chin in her palm. She was trying to hide how delighted she felt. She had missed this.

"I got distracted. I guess I was just in the zone –"

"Tony," Piper said insistently.

"Hm? Oh –" He snapped his fingers. "Right. I was gonna tell you how amazing you look in that dress."

Something, she noticed, was a little different. She could see it in the pause that hung between them, the stiffness in his shoulders, the way his brow furrowed; he was not as easygoing as he was playing this.

She nodded slowly, but she knew she was smiling like a dope. "Okay. That would definitely help. And after that?"

"What's the rush? You got somewhere else to be?" Tony said, smiling back at her, only nowhere near as dopily; in fact, it looked downright adorable (but there was still something so tense about him). She hoped that he'd stop looking so nice sooner rather than later, because if he didn't, she was going to do something dumb, like touch his hair, or his stubble.

Wow, she was never drinking again.

"Nope. I like it here," Piper said easily. She thought she saw a flash of what looked like relief cross his face.

"So, Miss Parker, I'm gonna get you some bread –"

"– I love bread –"

"– so you can sober up. Or whatever fancy, tiny portions of food they have here."

"I'm fine," Piper said, waving a hand in disdain, "I'm really fine, this is a total one-off, I swear –"

Tony caught her hand with his. "Don't go anywhere, Piper," he said firmly, and the intensity in his gaze made her stomach swoop.

"Piper!"

Piper jumped and her head swiveled over to see Harry walking towards her, looking relieved. "Pipes, I've been searching for ages, what happened to –?"

Harry froze; Piper turned back to Tony, only to find that he was no longer crouching in front of her, but standing up straight, and now a certain part of his anatomy was quite close to her eye line.

She stood up, clearing her throat. "Harry," she said, her voice sounding a little high, "this is –"

"Tony Stark," Harry said, practically in awe, holding his hand out. Tony shook it, the smile still lingering around his mouth but Piper saw that it was completely gone from his eyes. Black coffee, she thought. That's how dark they are.

"It's a pleasure," Harry was saying. "Harry Osborn, I'm the head of –"

"I know," Tony said nonchalantly. "Pleasure's all mine." His eyes flashed back to Piper, who was feeling very sober all of a sudden.

"How do you two –?" Harry began.

"I had an internship," Piper said quickly, "at Stark Industries."

Tony didn't so much as nod but Harry looked stunned. "Jeez, Pipes, you kept that quiet!"

"Yeah," Piper shrugged. "I –"

"How do you two know each other?" Tony interrupted, and Piper turned to answer him, but Tony was looking firmly at Harry.

"Piper and I have known each other for years now," Harry said fondly, smiling at her. "We went to high school together and, uh, I think she's the reason I even graduated."

"That's not true," Piper said, frowning.

"Come on, I couldn't have done it without you," Harry pressed, winking at her.

Tony cleared his throat. "Look, it was great to meet you, Harry, but I actually have some, uh, important business to attend to –"

"Of course," Harry said graciously, "of course, we won't hold you up."

Tony barely raised his eyes to her face. "Have a good night, Piper," he murmured, before disappearing into the crowd, leaving her to ponder his confusing change of demeanor.

Piper knew she was dreaming because Scott was kissing her.

She let her fingers trail through his hair, murmuring his name occasionally, but her mind was elsewhere. What the heck had happened with Tony tonight? Had he gone mental for a second? Or had he had a little too much to drink as well?

Piper's cheeks burned with embarrassment but she managed to forget it as Scott began to kiss her neck. In her dream, they were lying on a couch in Gwen's apartment, victorious from – well, from what, Piper wasn't sure, though she vaguely thought it had something to do with a giant banana.

That wasn't really important though, she thought, as Scott's hands tugged her closer, and he moaned her name.

But what was Tony's problem? Why had he pulled a complete one-eighty at the sight of Harry?

Scott was doing something to her neck that felt fantastic, letting his teeth graze across her skin, sucking just enough that she wondered if it would leave a mark (even though it definitely couldn't because she was dreaming); she could feel her toes curling, and she ran her fingers through his hair again, much more appreciatively, as he pulled back and –

Tony?

Piper gawked at him, beyond confused.

He just smiled lazily at her and the butterflies filled her stomach again, and suddenly they weren't on the couch, they were in a bed, and Tony, dark hair rumpled, skin a gorgeous shade of toast, clad in nothing but a pair of black Calvin Klein's, pulled her onto his lap, where she could feel the heat of him, his hands making quick work of her t-shirt and his chest was so damn warm, and as he bit down on her neck she felt a throbbing in the pit of her stomach –

Piper woke up in her own bed, the sky still dark, feeling far too warm.

I'm never drinking again, she vowed.