December 20, 1991 — New York, NY
12:14 PM, EST

"Well, thanks for grabbing lunch with me, Shelbs. It was great to catch up," Donna said as she and Shelby sat across from each other at a nice restaurant in Midtown. "Despite the, well, circumstances."

"Yeah, it's nice to see you, Donns," Shelby beamed at her friend. It was almost like old times -- minus Lisa.

"How is Tony doing, anyways?" Donna asked, carefully twisting a piece of pasta around her fork.

"I mean..." Shelby trailed off. "As well as can be expected."

Donna smiled sadly. "I'm glad you're here with him, Shelby. That's really good of you."

Shelby nodded. "I mean, it was about time we put our petty argument aside. I only wish ... I only wish I'd done it sooner."

Sure, she and Tony had made up, but only because of the death of his parents. How long would the two of them have gone on not speaking to each other if tragedy hadn't struck?

"I'm sure he's glad to have you here now, though," Donna said.

"Yeah, but ..." Shelby sighed. "It doesn't make me feel any less guilty about not speaking for so long."

"Shelby, you can't place all the blame on yourself," Donna replied. "I mean, Tony was a complete ass to you when you two had that fight. Not to mention that he was in love with you for a long time and never said anything, even throughout your entire relationship with Rob."

Shelby sighed. "No need to remind me."

"I'm just saying!" Donna exclaimed. "You can't hold onto this guilt, Shelby. It's not going to make it any better."

Shelby knew Donna was right. "I guess."

"So, how are things with Adam?" Donna asked, changing the subject to something that Shelby wanted to talk about even less.

"Oh," Shelby cleared her throat awkwardly. "Well, okay, I guess."

"Just okay?" Donna raised an eyebrow.

Shelby's cheeks flushed. "I mean, we were doing great, but ... he was super weird when I told him I was coming to New York."

Donna chuckled. "And that surprises you?"

Shelby frowned. "It's just ... he knows how important Tony was to me -- is to me."

"Yeah, and you were in love with him," Donna said. "Can you see how that might not sit well with your current boyfriend?"

Shelby glanced away, knowing that Donna was right once again. "I guess it's not really fair to Adam." She looked over at her longtime friend. "Are you saying I should ... I should not spend time with Tony?"

"No, Shelby, that's not at all what I'm saying. What I'm saying is, it's not fair to Adam -- to stay in a relationship with him," Donna paused. "When you're clearly still in love with Tony."

Shelby's mouth fell open, and she found herself unable to meet Donna's eyes. "Donna, I--"

Donna smirked at her from across the table, and Shelby found herself unable to complete the sentence.

"It's true, isn't it? I was right. Shelby, are you still in love with Tony?"

"I ... I think I am."

1:20 PM

After lunch with Donna, Shelby headed back to Tony's.

She felt like there was lead in her stomach, and her feet dragged during the entire walk. She was dreading having to see Tony's face — and dreading the phone call she was about to make.

She supposed she could have waited to make the call from Tony's landline, but she didn't want to risk him overhearing anything. Making the call from a payphone — in the midst of strangers — was the better option.

She slowly punched in Adam's phone number, hoping that he wasn't at work. Even though it was the weekend, and he should have been home, all of the Tenacity crew had been known to work their fair share of overtime.

As the phone rang, Shelby wondered if the conversation shouldn't have just waited until she got home. Surely they could talk in person, right?

Then, the thought of Tony filled her head, and she knew she had to do it now. Before she could tell Tony the truth, she'd have to tell Adam.

"Hello?"

So he was home.

Shelby's stomach twisted, and her heart raced. She thought she might puke — not that vomit on a payphone would be a peculiar sight in the city.

"Hi, Adam."

The other end of the phone was silent for a long moment before Adam's voice crinkled through. "Shelby." The two shared an awkward silence before Adam finally spoke again. "So, how's New York?"

"It's ... nice," Shelby replied, nervously tapping the sole of her boot on the pile of slush below the phone booth. She took a deep breath and squeezed her eyes closed for a few seconds. "Listen, Adam —"

"No, Shelby. Wait," Adam cleared his throat. "I know what you're going to say."

"Y-you do?" Shelby stuttered.

"I know we need to break up," He said, his voice firm.

"Adam, I —"

"Shelby, I knew from the moment you left that we were over. Tony's always been there, underneath everything, in your heart. I knew that the moment you two reconnected, everything would come flying back. He'll always be there, no matter what. No one can compete with what the two of you have," he said, a small waver filling his steady voice.

Shelby blinked back tears as she took in his words. It seemed that everyone was more informed about her feelings than she was herself. "I'm so sorry," she murmured.

"Don't be, Shelby. Listen, I don't believe that everybody gets a soulmate in this world, but you did, and he's not me. I can't stand in your way. You mean the world to me, Shelby Colewell, and I am glad enough just to call you my friend," Adam spoke, and Shelby could tell he was trying to hold back his emotions. "Now, go get the guy, Red."

Shelby sniffled back a few more tears before hanging up the phone, wiping at her damp cheeks with the sleeve of her sweater. She headed back to Tony's, her head held high. In that moment, she felt freer than she ever had — and she knew exactly what her next move would be.

As she raced back to Tony's, Donna's parting words from their lunch meeting filled Shelby's head.

"You and Tony — you're more connected than any two souls to come before you, but you have such a point of making things more complicated than they need to be. You just need to tell him the truth, plain and simple."

Shelby had never been good at expressing her feelings — it was never simple to her. She and Tony had danced around their entire relationship, complicating things more than ever.

She arrived back at the Starks' building and marched passed the doorman, who didn't look up from the Sudoku book he was scribbling in. Shelby smoothed her hair and straightened her shoulders as she entered the elevator, her heart thumping in her chest, racing like she was back in Houston at the Vomit Comet.

The elevator dinged, and she walked slowly towards the door. It was still unlocked, as Shelby had left it that way when she'd headed out that morning.

The apartment was dark and silent, so Shelby had almost thought that Tony wasn't there. Then, she saw light peering down the dark hallway, coming in from Howard's study.

Tony hadn't touched the room since Shelby'd been in New York.

Shelby ducked inside, watching as Tony silently rifled through the piles of paper on his father's desk. His back was turned to her, but Shelby had worked many hours with the boy to know that he was hard at work.

His stereo was propped on the desk, Def Leppard pounding loudly through its speakers.

She took her coat off, draping it on a nearby filing cabinet, before walking towards him.

"Tony?"

He turned around, an innate smile filling his face. "Hey, Shelbster. You spooked me there."

"I have to tell you something," she said, chewing nervously on her bottom lip.

Concern filled Tony's eyes. He put down the folder he was rifling through and turned down the music. "Sure, what is it?"

"Donna pointed something out to me today, during lunch. It was that you and I have always had a rather nasty habit of complicating things. Especially things concerning the two of us. I don't want that. I don't want things to be difficult, I don't want the two of us to be complicated. What I want is rather simple, actually, because," Shelby paused, glancing up into Tony's deep brown eyes, the ones she'd fallen in love with at a party back in college, without ever realizing it. "Because, Anthony Edward Stark, what I want is you."

Tony's mouth fell open, and he reached hesitantly for her hand. "Y-You mean ... me? What about —"

Shelby shook her head. "It's just you and me, Stark. Nobody else."

A grin filled Tony's face. "Shelby Colewell, you have no idea how long I've been waiting to hear —"

Before he could finish speaking, Shelby gripped his shirt and pulled him towards her, pressing her smiling lips to his. This kiss, they wouldn't regret. There was nothing about Tony Stark that Shelby would ever regret.