Chapter Text
For some reason, it takes a while for Jason to actually get around to introducing Kyle to Bucky and Steve. He wants to, he thinks, it’s just, the more he thinks about it, the more he worries.
Which is dumb.
Steve’s the nicest guy on the planet and possesses absolutely no ability to be rude or mean to anyone (except maybe Bruce). He’d like Kyle straight away, they’d probably bond over art and baseball and then Steve would just keep asking about Kyle, telling Jason to invite him to dinner or Christmas or just to move in with them altogether.
Bucky might be a little standoffish, Jason knows it’ll be in good nature though. He’ll grill Kyle on his life and his stance on killing murderous villains once and for all, then somehow corner him and threaten him into treating Jason right, something Kyle really doesn’t need threatened into, and then when Bucky decides that he’s good enough, he’ll clap him on the back and call him an alright guy.
In theory, it’d all go perfect.
They don’t hate green lanterns like Bruce so there’s no preconceptions to overcome and they’re happy for Jason, they are.
But Jason just doesn’t see everything going that way, because this is Jason and nothing ever goes right for him.
It’s not as if Kyle is begging him to meet his family, he’s somehow picked up Jason’s hesitance and is happy to wait for him to figure it all out and doesn’t ask, proving once again to Jason that he’s really punching above his weight here.
Bucky and Steve don’t care either. Sure, they’re interested in Jason’s personal life because they care and all that, but they know Jason will introduce them all at his own pace.
Jason’s got all the time in the world to figure this out, but he’s doing much better at just avoiding it all together.
That means every time the opportunity to calmly introduce Kyle to Steve and Bucky presents itself, Jason turns in the opposite direction.
He only invites Kyle to stay the night when he knows Steve and Bucky aren’t around, he doesn’t mention to them where his dates are, he won’t even let them go grocery shopping when he knows Kyle’s running low on food (which is the dumbest thing ever considering there has to be at least a million grocery stores in the whole of New York and there’s no logical reason why Kyle would even go grocery shopping in Brooklyn when he lives in Manhattan, but this is Jason and this would 100% happen to him.)
Also, Jason can’t help but feel guilty about it all. He spends too long trying to convince Kyle that he’s not ashamed of him or anything, he’s just got this existential fear that everything is going to fall apart. And Kyle gets it, and Bucky and Steve do too when he explains it to them. It’s just, why does he feel like this?
“It’s probably got something with the fact that nearly everything does go wrong in your life,” Tim explains when Jason spills it all out one night over the phone. “I mean, you get adopted by some rich guy then you die, then you come back to life but lose your mind, then you come back to us and Bruce flips his shit and scares you off. Everything good that’s happened to you falls apart. You’re just coming to expect it now.”
“Wow, way to make me feel good there Timbers.”
“But,” Tim continues and Jason can almost hear his eyeroll, “Things don’t really go wrong for you anymore, you’ve stopped it somehow. So you’ve got nothing to worry about. Except you’re still totally worrying, right?”
“Right.”
“Cool. I can’t really help you there?”
“Tim!” Jason exclaims. “You’re going to dump all this on me and tell me there’s nothing to be done? Thought you were supposed to be smart.”
“I am smart.” Tim states. “It’s just, uh, things like this, I’m kind of bad at it too.”
“Well, duh. So what would you do?”
“I just told you I don’t know.”
“Yeah but you’d figure it out, right?”
“I don’t know, maybe? Honestly at this point I’d probably just break up with him and never date ever again. That’s so much easier.”
“That’s dumb. You’re dumb Tim. I can’t break up with Kyle.”
“I really can’t help you then.”
So Jason hangs up and goes to bed and hopes that everything figures itself out in the morning.
It doesn’t, of course. He doesn’t wake up in some alternate reality where he’s already introduced his boyfriend to his kind of adoptive parents and everything is fine and great and Jason is not forever fearing something going wrong. Which is what he was really yearning for.
The morning isn’t a complete bust though, Bucky announces at breakfast that he’s taking Steve out for their anniversary for the night which means Jason can invite Kyle over without worrying the universe will somehow collapse in on itself if he were to meet Steve and Bucky.
So, Kyle comes over and Jason’s day gets better.
“How long have they been together?” Kyle asks over chinese food when Jason mentions the reason they can be alone tonight.
“Uh, eighty two years I think?”
“Jesus, they’re old.”
“They prefer the term experienced.”
Kyle snorts and flicks some rice at Jason.
“That’s a long time though, imagine being with someone that long,” he says after a moment. Jason shrugs.
“I mean, technically they were apart for like seventy years.”
“Still ,they’ve got to love each other, like, a lot.”
“They do, it’s kind of sickening.”
“You’re a dick Jason,” Kyle laughs.
“So I’ve been told.”
They go back to their food then and continue watching whatever movie Kyle had put on in the background.
“I love you,” Kyle muses later.
Jason isn’t actually as freaked out as he thought he’d be when someone told him that. It actually causes this warm feeling in his chest and makes him smile.
“Love you too Rayner.”
“Still not on a first name basis, huh?”
Jason opens his mouth to defend himself but Kyle laughs and kisses him instead.
The kissing leads to touching which leads to even more kissing, until they’re both shirtless and Jason’s leading Kyle to his bedroom.
All in all, it’s a great time.
And then Jason wakes up in the morning.
The sun is peaking lazily through the blinds and Jason is just blinking himself awake when his phone suddenly starts ringing. The harsh interruption causes Jason to groan and shove the phone under his pillow to shut it up. But it keeps going and going until Jason just drops it down the back of his bed onto the hardwood floor. That was probably a dumb idea but it’s too early.
“Finally,” somebody groans next to him and Jason shoots up. The sudden rush results in a piercing in his head and a brief moment of blindness.
“Jay? You okay?” Jason recognises that voice and realises that it’s just Kyle when his vision finally returns. He sighs happily and drops back down next to him.
Only to shoot back up again.
Because Kyle is here. Kyle is in his apartment where Bucky and Steve live and in his bedroom where Steve is going to burst in any minute and tell him to get up so they can go for their run.
“You have to go,” Jason states.
“Please don’t tell me this is a breakup.”
“What? No, no, I love you and all that, it’s just, Bucky and Steve are here.”
“I thought you said they went out?”
“Yeah, last night, but they’ll be home now. They’re old, they don’t stay out all night!”
And Kyle, bless his heart, completely understands.
He shoots out of bed too, pulling his jeans on as he stands.
“Can I take your shirt?”
“Sure, take what you like,” Jason throws over his shoulder as he rushes to dress himself. “Okay so we’ll just quietly leave my room and, like, sneak past the kitchen, you can be quiet, right?”
“I’m not the one you should be asking that Jay.”
“Okay, well fuck you, you can criticize what I do during sex later.”
“It wasn’t a criticism.”
“Shut up Rayner.” Jason still blushes though. Just a bit.
He slowly opens the door, hoping with everything he’s got that they’re going to be okay.
Once again the universe proves that it hates Jason, because Steve and Bucky are right outside his door. Except they pay no attention to Jason and Kyle standing in the doorway.
Because Bucky is down on one knee. Holding a ring out to Steve.
“What the fuck?” Jason exclaims.
Bucky and Steve’s heads snap to where Jason and Kyle stand, their eyes growing as wide as dinner plates.
“Uh, Jay -” Bucky starts but is cut off by a very loud banging at the front door. THe four of them look to the door which begins to rattle in its hinges.
Suddenly the banging stops and everyone lets out a breath.
And then, because the universe hates Jason as if he kicked it’s puppy, Batman storms in.
“What the fuck?” Jason yells again.
Batman does a quick sweep of the apartment and once he deems it safe, pulls his cowl off to assess the situation.
Steve stands dumbstruck, apparently still in shock over the proposal as well as the interruptions; Bucky, still on one knee with the ring extended, shifts nervously, apparently not caring about the interruptions but still waiting on his answer; Kyle sways slightly where he stands, taking everything in; Bruce has his poker face on as he tries to figure out what is going on, however there are cracks beginning to show; and Jason, Jason is having an internal breakdown. But what else is new.
“You didn’t answer your phone.” Bruce states suddenly.
“I was sleeping.” Jason tells him.
“Neither of you answered either.” Bruce addresses Steve and Bucky.
“We were kind of busy.” Bucky snaps.
An uncomfortable silence falls over them all and nobody is quite sure what to do.
“I’m, uh, I’m gonna go,” Kyle announces, scratching the back of his neck nervously.
Steve suddenly snaps out of his trance then, falling back into the polite and charming America’s sweetheart he’s always been.
“No, no don’t be ridiculous,” he tells Kyle and flashes him his wonder grin. “It’s so nice to meet you, granted the circumstances probably aren’t what Jason was hoping for,” he barks a laugh, “but we’ve heard so much about you. I’m Steve, this is Bucky and that’s Bruce, who appears to have knocked our door off the hinges.”
“I don’t need an introduction.” Bruce growls, as if that is the most pressing matter at the moment.
“Sure you don’t,” Bucky sighs and stands up, still with the ring in his hand. “Good to meet you Kyle, you better be treating Jason well, although I’m not sure that I’m too happy with this you being here in the morning situation.”
“To be fair Jay usually kicks me out, I think he just forgot this time.”
“So there’s been multiple occasions?” Bruce asks, and Jason thinks he might die. Again.
“Well, uh, yeah Bruce, we’re kind of together?” Kyle says.
“You are?” Bruce looks to Jason. “You’re with a lantern?”
“I’m sorry,” Jason starts. “Like, you guys getting to know each other is great and all, but are we just going to pretend that we didn’t just walk in on a proposal?”
“We’re moving past that Jay, keep up.”
“Hold on Buck, I don’t necessarily want to move past this, I was just being polite.”
“I agree with Steve, the introductions were a much less uncomfortable move.”
“Fuck you Batsy, you were the one grumbling about yours less than a minute ago.”
“That’s because I am already acquainted with Rayner, Barnes.”
“This is a mess.” Jason decides. “This is such a mess. What is going on. What are we doing.”
“I think,” Steve says, all soft and soothing, sensing that Jason is on the verge of a complete meltdown. “That we should all have some breakfast and talk this out, okay?”
So that’s what they do.
Jason’s internal breakdown takes its time to fizzle out, but over some cereal and coffee he begins to feel a little more at ease with the current situation.
“Tim told me you called him complaining about relationship trouble so that’s why I called,” Bruce explains. “He just didn’t mention that it was a relationship with Rayner that you had.”
“So this is all Tim’s fault is what you’re basically saying.”
“I should tell you not to blame your brother for these things, but honestly I’m just glad I’m off the hook for once.” Steve laughs.
“Nevertheless,” Bruce continues. “If it had to be a lantern I am glad that it is Rayner.”
“That means a lot Bruce. You know you can just call me Kyle though, right?”
“I would rather not.”
“Okay fair enough.”
“I am glad you are happy though Jason, that is what’s most important to me.”
“Thanks B.”
“Same goes for us,” chimes in Bucky. “Although if you ever break Jay’s heart you’re gonna have to deal with three super freaks.” he stagewhispers to Kyle, but Kyle just laughs.
“I don’t intend on doing that, especially after seeing Bruce break your door.”
“You’re paying for that by the way Bruce,” Bucky says at the same time Steve says,
“It’s no problem, really,” to which everyone laughs.
Suddenly Jason remembers what kicked off this whole thing in the first place.
“What’d you say Steve?” He asks.
“What?”
“Y’know, when Bucky proposed.”
“Aw yeah, sorry we kind of interrupted.” Kyle smiles.
“Oh, I didn’t actually have time to answer. It all happened so fast.”
“Had to take some time to think Stevie?” Bucky laughs and elbows Steve in the side. Steve just smiles and shakes his head.
“It’s a yes Buck, I told you that years ago.”
“Wasn’t exactly legal years ago, punk.”
Then Steve kisses Bucky and it’s cute and all, but Jason’s eating breakfast.
“Gross, can you guys save it for the wedding?”
Everyone laughs again, even Bruce, and Kyle joins in like he’s apart of this weird, weird family, and Jason gets that nice warm feeling in his stomach again and he can’t help but smile.
This is great, it is, no matter how weird it was to get here.
What was he even worried about?