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“Alright, who wants to go?” Clint looked up from where Phil was helping him correct his history homework, wincing every time Phil erased something, to see Tony and Steve taking their usual seats at the lunch table.
“Go where?” The last time Clint had agreed to go anywhere with Tony without asking, where, it had ended with them having to apologize to Principal Fury for being on his land after dark. Clint’s foster mom, Peggy, was pretty cool and understanding about most things, but had grounded Clint for two weeks after that stunt. All Clint wanted was to get through his last two classes and go out with Phil later.
“It’s Halloween, Barton! And it’s a Friday! Halloween Haunt at the amusement park! We go, eat ourselves sick, ride the rides and then spend the rest of the night being scared. There are a couple haunted houses, and this year they’ve even got guys walking around scaring people.”
An amusement park, that would be safe. Clint could deal with a few underpaid college kids scaring him if he could ride some rides, he would just avoid the haunted houses. He could also use the scared excuse to stick extra close to Phil too. Shifting closer to his distracted boyfriend, Clint laid his hand on his thigh. “What do you say, babe. Do you want to go?”
Phil finished erasing another wrong answer and leaned over to kiss Clint on the cheek. “Sure, why not.” He handed back the now very empty worksheet and turned his attention across the table. Blue eyes met brown and Phil smirked. “We’re in. Can’t wait to see how high-pitched you can scream, Tony.”
Tony’s eyes widened and leaned into his boyfriend, Steve. He stared Phil down and added a little challenge to his voice. “I think it’ll be you who’s screaming, Coulson.”
Both Clint and Steve cringed. No one would have ever guessed it would be Tony Stark and Phil Coulson who loved to challenge each other like this, but it was a small town, and they’d pretty much grown up together and had always shared a friendly little rivalry. Thankfully, it was usually just harmless wagers and a few mild prank wars.
Clint quickly scribbled in his corrections and passed the paper back to Phil to try and distract him before any actual bets could be placed. The last bet had ended with a draw and both Tony and Phil with colorfully neon hair.
He leaned back and flicked one of Phil’s M&M’s at Steve, hitting him on the nose. “I am not going to any haunted houses when these are two are like this. Wanna ride some rides? See how long before we’re kicked off the games for winning too much?”
Steve’s grin was both relieved and grateful. “Yes, please.”
“Awesome.” The bell rang, and as they all got up, Clint called out to Steve. “We’ll text you when we get there.” Steve gave a thumb’s up as he pushed through the crowd to get to gym. Tony hurried off to one of his AP classes with a spring in his step, leaving Clint and Phil to wade through the crush of students to history, Phil checking over Clint’s homework one last time.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
After school, Clint did his chores and then started on dinner. He really liked living with Peggy and he enjoyed cooking, so it always felt satisfying to make dinner when she was working late. She was tough, but fair and, as more time passed, Clint began hoping he could make this foster home last until he could go to college.
Clint heard the rumble of Phil’s car in the driveway as he stuck Peggy’s dinner in the oven to stay warm. Phil honked once and Clint quickly jotted a note and left it on the table where he knew Peggy would find it. He hurried outside and dove into the car, smiling the whole time.
“You know if Peggy were here she’d come out and lecture you about the honking.”
Phil rolled his eyes and pulled Clint across the bench seat for a kiss. “I honked once. And Peggy loves me, she’d pretend to be mad and then roll her eyes and tell us to have a good time and not be out too late.”
It was after he’d stolen a second kiss that Clint finally clued in that they weren’t actually in Phil’s car. “Phil, does your dad know you took the Challenger?”
The corner of Phil’s mouth quirked up in a sly grin. “Nope. Did you know you left the house without a jacket?”
It was Clint’s turn to grin. “Yup! How else am I supposed to get you to let me wear yours?”
They continued to tease each other as Phil drove. They made it to the park just as the sky was beginning to darken. Clint took a few pictures of the decorations in the fading light and sent Tony a text as they walked to the box office, snug and cozy in Phil’s leather jacket.
Once they had their tickets, Tony grabbed Phil’s arm and dragged him to the first haunted attraction. Steve and Clint called after them to meet up for food later and then turned in the opposite direction, heading for a roller coaster.
Steve and Clint managed to ride most of the open rides before their stomachs started rumbling. They sent quick texts to their boyfriends about where to meet them and started walking toward the scent of food.
They were still feeling exhilarated and giddy after the last coaster and were trying to ignore the delicious smells of fried food when they finally spotted Tony and Phil. Both boys were looking a little green, but they were smiling and laughing, so Steve and Clint weren’t worried.
Phil spotted them first and waved. “Clint! Steve!’
Clint waved back and gave Steve a little nudge as their boyfriends’ paces quickened. “I think they’re happy to see us.”
Before Steve could retort, Tony crashed into him, wrapping his arms around the blond’s neck. Steve held onto his boyfriend and gave a look at Clint.
Phil’s approach was much slower, but when he slipped his hand into Clint’s, it was clammy. Clint gave Phil’s hand a squeeze and looked him over. “Phil? Are you alright?”
Eyes darting over to Tony and Steve, Phil tried to smile, but it was forced. “Of course! The haunted houses weren’t even that scary.” Phil shivered and jumped when a leaf blew over his shoulder. He pointed toward the stand and nudged Clint. “Should we eat?”
Detaching himself from Steve, Tony bounced on the balls of his feet. “Yes! Food. Food is good, Cap. Let’s do food.”
“Tony and I will grab food while you two find us a table?”
Happy to have some time alone with Phil, Clint quickly agreed and dragged his, not scared, boyfriend away. He found a table that was a little secluded and away from some of the louder groups and pushed Phil down onto the bench. Clint took a seat next to him, close enough that they were touching from knee to hip. “Phil, are you really alright?”
Phil grimaced. “Mostly. My heart's still beating a little fast from the last haunted house.
“Aw, babe. Maybe after we eat, you and Tony can take a breather and watch me and Steve beat some games. I’ll even win you a stuffed Frankenstein or something. I know Steve wants to try for the killer robot.”
“Frankenstein wasn’t the name of-”
Clint covered Phil’s mouth with his hand and grinned. “I know.”
When Clint took his hand away, Phil grabbed it and laced their fingers together. “Win me a Zero, instead?”
He remembered the game that held the stuffed ghost dogs and knew he could beat it. “Zero will be yours.”
Steve and Tony returned with a couple trays of food and after they’d all eaten and both Tony and Phil started looking less pale, Steve and Clint dragged them to the row with all the games.
By the time they were finished, Phil had his Zero, and Tony was clutching a stuffed robot to his chest and looking adoringly at Steve. Clint and Steve, feeling proud, took their boyfriend’s hands and started to maneuver them to the exit. It was starting to get late and they both had plans for after the park.
They had just about made it to the entrance when they were forced to take a short detour due to a horde of zombies coming out of the bushes when Tony and Phil stopped short. Jerked back, Clint looked over his shoulder at Phil. “Babe?”
“There’s one more haunted house.”
“Okay?”
Tony chimed in, then. “We saved it for last because it’s near the exit.”
Steve tilted his head to the side, confused. “And you want us to wait for you out here?”
Phil shook his head. “We were hoping you’d go through it with us.”
“Why? Are you both scared?” Clint hoped maybe the teasing would mean he and Steve could wait outside.
Instead, Phil squared his shoulders and stared Clint down. “None of that stuff scares. I just want an excuse to hold you close.” He winked and tugged on Clint’s hand until Clint shuffled forward a few steps and into Phil’s arms. “Please, Clint?” Since Clint was close enough, Phil lowered his voice and whispered in Clint’s ear. “On the way home, we can pull over and I’ll blow you in the backseat.”
Tony was trying the same cajoling on Steve, who must have also been promised certain dirty favors going by the way he was blushing, and when they both looked at each other, they knew they were going to cave.
“Fine, but you do not let go of my hand the entire time. And, Stark? I swear to God, you try and scare me I won’t feel bad about punching you.”
Phil and Tony looked at each other and nodded. “Deal.”
Following their boyfriends into the creepy looking house, both Clint and Steve took a few deep breaths. Clint squeezed hard on Phil’s hand and tried to keep his eyes on the ground, determined to just move forward and get through the house.
The beginning was not too bad. Nowhere near as scary as Clint had expected. Dim lighting and a few ghosts and unearthly moans. The dining room looked like something straight from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, including an actor in a Leatherface mask yelling unintelligibly and pretending to chop up a helpless victim.
Clint was feeling a little better about the whole thing and more than a little brave until they started to go through the bedrooms. There were a ton of creepy dolls and the soundtrack was full of kids voices saying nursery rhymes. The part Clint hated were the hallways. They were definitely getting narrower and Clint could feel his breathing speed up as he tried to remind himself it wasn’t real.
He held tight to Phil’s hand and felt even better when Phil squeezed his hand and looked back at him. “I think we’re almost at the end.”
“Thank God. I don’t think I could take any more dolls.”
Altogether, they entered the last room, and the soundtrack changed to slowed down organ grinder music. The walls were painted with white and pink stripes and there was red paint thrown around to look like blood splatter. The floor was covered in sawdust and there were mirrors places all around the room making it seem bigger than it actually was.
Clint just shrugged it off, he knew it wouldn’t be long before some clown would be jumping out at them, but that didn’t scare him. The whole scary carnival, killer clowns thing had never really been all that scary to him “Come on, Phil. I see the door.”
Steve and Tony were a few steps ahead of them and Clint could see Tony was not looking so good. He turned to tell Phil and saw his own boyfriend was looking just as scared. “Fuck. Steve?”
“Yeah?” Steve’s voice was strained and he was completely focused on Tony.
“Tony scared of clowns too?”
“Apparently.”
“Great.”
“Phil?”
“Yup.”
“Fuck.’
“My thoughts exactly. How do we get them out? I really want to go home.”
Steve looked at the door and walked Tony back to Clint and Phil. “We put them between us and rush through the door? We both know a clown’s gonna jump out, but maybe this way it’ll be at us and not them?”
“I think it’s the best idea, we’ve got.” Steve and Clint arranged themselves on either side of Phil and Tony and put their arms around their boyfriends’ waists. “Ready, Steve?”
“Don’t really have a choice, do I?”
Clint had to laugh a little at that. “Nope.” He got a tighter grip on Phil’s shirt and bent his knees, ready to run. “Go!”
They rushed forward as the sound of loud, raucous clown laughter came over the speakers, and Clint couldn’t even remember if anyone actually jumped out because before he knew it, they were outside in the cool crisp air. He saw a bench nearby and walked Phil over, knowing Steve would either follow with Tony or find another spot for the two of them.
He slid his borrowed jacket off his shoulders and wrapped it around Phil. “Phil? Are you okay?”
Phil was quiet, one hand still holding the stuffed dog Clint had won him, the other playing with the zipper of his jacket. “I’ve been better.”
Taking a seat, Clint nudged his boyfriend with his elbow until Phil stopped playing with the zipper and let Clint tangle their fingers together. “Never would have guessed it would be me and Steve who handled the haunted house the best.”
Phil gave Clint a little shove and buried his face in Clint’s neck and mumbled. “Didntknowbouttheclowns.”
Snickering, Clint kissed the top of Phil’s head, glad his boyfriend seemed to already be doing a little better. “One more time for the hard of hearing?”
Sitting up, Phil pouted. “I didn’t know about the clowns.”
Clint had to kiss the pout off Phil’s face because it was too cute. “It’s okay, Phil. We all have our things. Tony was just as scared. And look,” Clint pointed to where Tony had his arms wrapped around Steve’s waist while the blond rubbed his back. “Honestly, I think Steve and I were a little glad we got to be your heroes. It’s not every day, genius, Tony Stark and bad boy Coulson are the ones trembling with fear. We didn’t like seeing you both so scared, but we definitely don’t mind providing comfort after.”
Phil leaned into Clint a little more and nipped at his neck. “Bad boy Coulson? Really?”
“Like you don’t know it’s true. With the badass leather jacket, the hot car, and the ‘too cool for school’ attitude. When you sat down next to me and offered to help me pass history, I was so nervous. One because I didn’t actually know you were paying attention in class and two because you chose to talk to the new kid.”
Phil snorted and pulled Clint off the bench to join Steve and Tony. “Tell me more over milkshakes at the diner?”
“You still owe me a blowjow in the backseat, but I’ll trade it for a milkshake and some pie with you tonight.”