December 17th, 1987 -- Cambridge, MA
4:49 PM, EST

"You and Robbo seem pretty chummy." Tony stated as they worked in the lab.

Shelby laughed, almost dropping the pliers she was holding in her hands. "What's that supposed to mean?" She asked, trading the pliers for the soldering iron. "Because we went out for lunch? You and I go out for lunch all the time. How's this any different?"

Tony shrugged. "It isn't. Never mind." He stated, watching as she expertly used the tool.

"Are you jealous?" Shelby laughed, to which Tony did not reply. "Aww, Stark! Come on, you're one of my best friends. You have no need to be jealous over me making other friends."

"I'm not jealous." Tony stated. "I was just trying to think of a witty response to say so."

Shelby smirked as she set the tool down and walked over to him, trapping him in a hug. "Aww, Tony."

"Okay, now please remove your gangly noodle arms from me." Tony said, patting the skinny arm that was wrapped around his chest.

"Noodle arms? I'm hurt." Shelby laughed, moving away from him as she settled back into her work station.

"Well, lift some weights then, Noodle Arms." Tony teased.

Shelby scoffed. "I'm stronger than you might think, Stark. Remember when I punched that asshole from our circuits class?"

Tony laughed. "Yes, I remember. I don't think I'll ever forget that for as long as I'll live."

"Could someone with noodle arms do that?" She questioned, pointing the tip of the soldering iron at him.

"No, I suppose not." He replied. "Well, how about we call it a day, Shelbster? We've gotten some significant progress done, and I'm rather hungry."

"You're always hungry." Shelby replied without taking her eyes off of what she was working on.

"True, but ..." He tapped his wristwatch. "Dinner time awaits us."

Shelby sighed and finished up her work, then flipped her safety glasses up so they rested on top of her head, amongst her red curls. Tony's appetite for food was almost more annoying than his appetite for attention.

Almost.

"Okay, let's clean up, then. Lock up Mary." She said, patting the device. Tony often referred to it as a rocket, but really, she thought of it as more of a robot. A rocket-robot, maybe.

She cleaned up the tools they had laying all over while Tony put away their project. "Do you want to grab dinner?" Tony asked as they finished.

Shelby sighed. "I don't know, Stark. I should probably just head home. Save some money. I should get started on my studying, too. I also still have to get my response back to NASA." She said with a grin.

"Ahh, yes. NASA." Tony chuckled. "Don't want to keep them waiting. I'll drop you off on my way home, then."

"Well, you'd better." The redhead teased as she grabbed her backpack. "Ready?"

"Ready." Tony nodded as he lead them out to his car.

They got inside and drove off campus, headed down to the girls' house. The lights were on when they pulled up, so Shelby knew that Lisa and Donna were home.

"Thanks for the ride, Stark. See you on Monday." Shelby said with a grin before opening the door.

Tony waved. "Yeah, see you, Shelbster. Hey, wait, your glasses."

"What?" Shelby asked, turning back towards him. "I don't wear glasses."

"No, your ..." Tony reached up, plucking the safety glasses off the top of her head. He tucked one of the strands of red hair that had fallen loose because of the glasses back into place, then handed them to her. "You'll want to make sure these end up in your locker." He said. "Good night."

"Thanks." Shelby said as she grabbed her backpack and hopped out of the car. "Night, Stark." She entered the house to see her roommates in the kitchen, pouring over their textbooks while cooking some sort of pasta.

"Hey, Shelbs. How was your day?" Lisa asked as she stirred a pot of boiling spaghetti noodles.

"Fine. We're making real progress." She said with a grin as she set her safety glasses in her backpack. Tony was right. She'd need them back in her locker.

"Oh?" Donna asked, turning around in her spot with a smirk on her face. "Progress in what, pray tell?"

Shelby rolled her eyes before taking a seat next to the brunette. "Our project. Not whatever ... fantasy you have playing out in your imagination."

Donna sighed and shared a knowing glance with Lisa. "Oh, okay. How's the project going?"

Shelby smiled as she began to describe Mary. "Well, I can't tell you what it is, but it's coming along smoothly. It's going to be ..."

"Radical?" Lisa piped up from near the stove.

Shelby sighed, as she disliked most of the current slang terms. But nevertheless, that word did describe their design. "Radical."

December 17th, 1987 -- Cambridge, MA
5:20 PM, EST

"Oh, hey Stark. You're back?" Robbo took a seat next to Tony on the sofa as the latter sat in front of a piece of cold pizza and his studying materials.

"I'm back." Tony repeated, his eyes focused on his textbook.

"Hey, I've been meaning to ask you something." Rob said, sitting up straighter as he looked at his friend.

"I'm not popping the zit on your back, Robbo, I'm sorry." Tony joked with a laugh. "We're just not that close yet."

Rob chuckled and shook his head. "No no, not anything like that, I promise. It's about Shelby."

"The Shelbster?" Tony asked as his attention suddenly shifted from his mechatronics textbook to his conversation with Rob. "What about her?"

"Do you know ..." Rob cleared his throat. "If she's, uh, seeing anyone?"

Tony's eyebrows went up in surprise as he heard his friend's words. "No, I don't think she is. Why? Are you interested in her, Robbo?"

"Well, maybe. We grabbed lunch today and she seems cool. She's nice, she's funny, she's got a brilliant mind, and she's not bad on the eyes, either." Rob said with a grin.

Tony nodded. "Those things are true," He agreed, "But you spent one morning with her, Robbo. Who's to say she's even remotely interested in you?"

Rob raised an eyebrow at him before saying, "Well, I won't know until I act on it. I mean, you miss out on all the chances you don't take. If she rejects me, then she rejects me. I've only got a semester left at MIT."

The thought of Rob taking Shelby out on a date made Tony uncomfortable. Maybe it was the fact that they were his two best friends, and he didn't want to become the obsolete third wheel. Or, maybe it was something else entirely.

"I mean, you do you, Robbo." Tony sighed. "Go for it."

Rob grinned at him. "You mean it?"

"Yes." Tony lied. No, not at all, he was thinking in his head.

"Great." Rob grinned as she stood up and patted Tony on the shoulder. "Their phone number is still by the phone somewhere, isn't it?"

"Wait, whose phone number?" Tony asked, turning around. "Shelby and her roommates?"

Rob nodded. "Yeah."

Tony frowned. "Well, yeah, but you're going to ask her out now?"

Rob shrugged. "Yeah, why not? I don't work Monday night, so maybe she'd let me take her out for dinner."

"Dinner." Tony repeated. First lunch today, then dinner on Monday. He knew Robbo would respect Shelby, so he didn't need to worry about her, but he still felt uneasy about the two of them potentially being a couple. "Yeah, okay. The phone number is there."

Rob paused before entering the kitchen. "Are you sure you're okay with this? I mean, I know she's your friend and stuff. I don't want to make things weird between you two."

"No, it's fine, Robbo." Tony forced a smile towards the guy. "Really."

"Oookay." Rob nodded and gave the Stark boy a thumbs up. "Then I'm going to call Shelby."

"Okay." Tony said, forcing himself to give his friend a supportive smile. "Good luck."

Mentally, Tony was wishing Robbo all the worst luck in trying to score a date with Shelby. The thought of the two of them as a couple made his blood boil. His stomach twist. It wasn't right, it didn't feel right. Shelby didn't belong with Robbo, he was sure of it. He wasn't sure why he felt this way and he sure as hell didn't have a say in who Shelby should date, but he didn't want it to be Robbo.

Maybe that was it. It wasn't that Rob and Shelby would be a bad match — it was that Tony didn't want them to be a couple.

As Robbo disappeared into the kitchen, Tony closed his eyes and set his head in his hands. His thoughts circled back to the dream he'd had before waking up earlier that day; the mysterious redhead that had plagued his imagination. Only, she wasn't a mystery, she was Shelby.

Tony was a smart man, and he was never at a loss for words, but in that moment, he didn't know what to do, and he was so oblivious to something that was blatantly obvious to the rest of his subconscious being: that maybe, just maybe, he was falling in love with his best friend.