High school wasn't as bad as some people made it out to be. In fact, you rather enjoyed it. You had a few good friends, did well in your classes, and even had some after school activities. There were only a few stains in your otherwise pristine high school experience. One of those was group or paired projects.

You hated group projects with a passion. You always ended up doing most if not all the work with the rest of the group taking credit. It had happened every single year at least once. You were hoping for a break your senior year, but it seemed that was out of the question too.

Stifling a groan, you laid your head down on your desk with Mr. Coulson announced that he would be pairing the class up for projects. You closed your eyes and prayed to whatever deity there was that you would be paired with someone like Natasha, Bruce, or Wanda. At least they did their work.

"Miss Y/L/N." Your head popped up at the sound of your name. Coulson smiled at you and continued on, "Miss Y/L/N will be paired with...Mr. Stark." Your eyes fell closed again in exasperation. As a person, Tony Stark was alright. You didn't mind him. As a student, you would have rather bungee jumped off the Empire State Building than have him as your partner.

Tony Stark was genius. He knew it. You knew it. Everyone did. Unfortunately, because he didn't have to try as hard, Tony was often distracted. It seemed he couldn't focus on the work. Not only that, but he flirted. Relentlessly. Most girls in your school swooned and fawned all over him. You didn't and that seemed to egg him on. Like you were some kind of challenge. You hated it, but now you were stuck with him.

The bell rang and you gathered your belongings. As you stood up, you found Tony standing at your desk. "So, where you would like to work?" he asked. You narrowed your eyes a bit. So far so good and that worried you a little. "I like to work in the park when it's nice. I concentrate better."

"After school?" At your nod, Tony grinned and started to walk out of the room. "See you then, sweetheart. I'll bring the food. You bring the books and you beautiful smile." And there it was. The beginning. You let out a soft sigh. You could only hope this wouldn't be an issue.

*time skip*

Weeks. It had been going on for weeks. How you managed to get any of the research for your project done, you'd never know. Tony was not helping. He wouldn't focus! Instead, he chose to flirt with you, leaving your face hot and your own concentration gone. After three weeks of this, you called your friend, begging for advice.

"Give a taste of his own medicine," she'd said and you groaned. You were good at a lot of things, but flirting wasn't one of them. However, you were running out of options to get Tony to concentrate and help you. Biting your lip, you looked to your closest. You were sure you had something that you could make a little bit more enticing. When you picked something out, you got to work.

The next day, you invited Tony over to start putting the project together. It was due to rain and neither of you wanted to risk your computers if the rains came early. You had put a little more effort into your appearance and psyched yourself up to flirt. You couldn't believe you were going to do this.

The bell rang and you took a shaky breath. A moment later, your mother came into the room with Tony following behind. "Y/N, your friend is here." You thanked her as Tony's eyes landed on you. They practically bugged out of his head, which you didn't understand. You weren't dressed much differently than you did at school. Maybe it was the make-up? Or the fact that you took a little extra time with your hair? You didn't know, but your face grew hot again all the same.

You mom left the room and Tony cleared his throat. "You, uh, you look nice." You smiled. "Nice? Babe, I look stunning, although not as good as you." For a moment Tony just stared at you. You struggled to keep your eyes on him rather than look away. Tony smirked a little, but changed the subject for a second.

That was how it went. You flirted, Tony flirted, and nothing got done. Your plan was backfiring, but you found yourself caring less. You realized that you kind of liked flirting with Tony. Only with Tony though. You knew you were blushing, but you couldn't deny you were having fun and before you knew it, two hours had gone by.

"We really should work on this project. It's due next week," you said. Tony scooted a little closer to you. "Let me take you to dinner?" he asked as if he hadn't heard you. You asked him if he'd heard what you said. He nodded. "Yeah. Project due next week. Come on, Y/N, at least answer my question." You thought for a second.

"Help me finish this project and I'm all yours," you said with a wink. Before your very eyes, you saw something you never thought you'd see in a million years. Tony's face began to turn bright red. You had done that! You couldn't believe it. It didn't last long though. Tony cleared his throat. "Oh really, Sweetheart? I may just take you up on that." You laughed lightly for a second.

"Why me?" you asked without meaning to. The question had been weighing on you. With all the other girls, why would Tony focus his flirting on you. Even if you were a challenge, you would have thought Tony would have given up by now. Tony hummed and sat back to think for a second.

"Because you don't treat me like the others. You treat me like an equal. You don't treat me like I'm the playboy reputation I have. You know, I've never actually dated anyone. Like...really dated I mean. I want to date you." You smiled again. "Then I suggest we finish this project. I need time to get ready for dinner." Tony reached over and slowly placed his hand on yours.

"You don't have to do anything. You're beautiful." Once again, your face was on fire as you looked down at your joined hands. Maybe Coulson had known what he was doing when he paired the two of you up. You hoped this was the beginning of something between you. After you finished your frickin' project, of course.