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Bruce stood just inside the front door of the trailer he shared with his mom. He was bundled up in his coat (slightly faded but still warm), but he waited to put his helmet on until his ride arrived. It was earlier than usual, but he heard the low rumble of Nat's motorcycle pull up. She was never late—Shield Academy, the fancy private school they'd gotten scholarships to, was very strict about tardiness. Bruce and Nat knew that the school was always looking for excuses to expel townies. Most of Shield's students boarded there, and so they only had a leisurely walk across campus to make it to class.
Bruce put on his helmet and wordlessly hopped on the back of Nat's bike. They'd had their routine down pat ever since Nat had gotten her drivers license and they'd finished rebuilding her motorcycle out of junkyard parts. Nat's foster parents worried about the motorcycle, but they liked Bruce. And anyway, nobody had time to give Nat a ride, not even on these freezing winter days when a vehicle with a roof might have been preferable.
Bruce knew what some of his fellow students thought—that Bruce was lucky to have a girlfriend like Nat, that Bruce was a little bitch for riding on the back of her motorcycle, that neither Bruce nor Nat deserved their spots at the school. He didn't care what most of them thought.
The truth was that Bruce and Nat had been friends since they were twelve, when she'd moved in with her latest foster parents in the same trailer park where Bruce and his mom had lived since his dad went to jail. They'd sized each other up and seen kinship—two kids who didn't fit in anywhere else, two kids who were queer but didn't want to call attention to it, two kids who were desperate to do whatever it took to get out of the trailer park.
And now they were both so close to getting out. It was the start of their last semester of senior year. They'd spent the fall getting their application fee waivers and carefully crafting essays explaining the important points of view they could bring to prestigious universities, if they could only spare a scholarship for these hardworking kids from the wrong side of the tracks.
They drove across town, watching as the houses got bigger and then disappeared altogether. Shield Academy was outside of town, set apart from the riffraff. As usual, they showed their student IDs at the gate and parked in the small student lot. They had plenty of time to put their helmets in their lockers and get ready. Before class, they had an early morning student council leadership meeting, their first of the spring semester.
Nat had convinced Bruce to run for student council treasurer with the following bullet points:
- Would look great on college applications
- Most of the student council meetings were in the morning, which wouldn't interfere with any of Bruce's afterschool jobs
- Nobody else was going to run for treasurer anyway
- Bruce actually liked math
- She was running for vice president and she was definitely going to win
- Tony Stark was running for president and he was definitely going to win
He'd somehow been surprised to win, even though, as Nat had promised, he'd run unopposed. And now some days he had to come to school early to sit in a small room with the boy he'd had a crush on for the last three years, while other days he had to give presentations about the budget in front of the full student council, which included representatives from each grade in addition to the smaller leadership board. All of it was painful, and he just hoped that the "leadership experience" bullet point on his college applications would get him enough scholarship money to be worth it.
Before they went into Principal Fury's office for their meeting, Nat paused in the hallway. She said, "Hey, Bruce, you've got this, okay? It's a good idea. You know that, right?"
He sighed and adjusted his tie. "Thanks."
The receptionist, Mr. Coulson, let them into Principal Fury's office. They were the first ones there, which gave Bruce a little bit of time to go over his presentation for the 50th time. Nat pulled her thermos of coffee out of her backpack and took a long sip. They were joined shortly after by Pepper Potts, student council secretary and Nat's secret girlfriend.
(If Nat's foster parents weren't thrilled about Nat's motorcycle, they would have been outraged about her girlfriend. Bruce was a terrible liar, but he was happy to let people assume that he was dating Nat if it kept her safe. Besides, it's not like anyone else was clamoring to date Bruce.)
Nat and Pepper had time to engage in a few minutes of quick, flirty gazing that made Bruce look down at his hands to give them some privacy before Principal Fury joined them. He was their faculty sponsor, but he was generally pretty hands-off. Shield Academy believed in "self-governance."
Finally, at the last possible minute before their meeting began, Tony breezed into the office, a shiny travel mug of coffee in hand. He was wearing a T-shirt under his blazer instead of the required shirt and tie, something that would earn him a uniform demerit. But it made him look so cute.
"Nice of you to join us, Mr. Stark," Principal Fury drawled.
"It's an honor just to be here," Tony replied brightly.
Pepper rolled her eyes and projected their agenda on the smartboard.
"Oh, whew, this should be fast," Tony said.
"Do you have somewhere else you need to be?" Principal Fury asked.
"I mean, since you mentioned it, I do need to grab my project off the 3D printer before class…"
Principal Fury glared at him, and Tony said, "But of course, my sacred duty as class president must come first."
Bruce wasn't really sure why Tony had run for class president. He didn't seem to take it seriously, and he certainly had enough other extracurriculars—robotics club, debate team, academic decathlon...things that Bruce would have loved to have done too, if he only had more free time. Anyway, with his family name and test scores, Tony would get into any college he wanted. And with his family business, he'd be able to pay for it too.
Bruce understood why Tony had won, though. He was so charming and likable, even though he was also arrogant and self-centered. And he was so smart. And cute. And—
"Earth to Bruce," Nat said, with a sharp elbow to his side.
"Hmm? Sorry," Bruce said.
Tony smiled at him and it did stupid things to Bruce's stomach. "You're up," he said, pointing at the bullet point on the agenda that read "Valentine's Day fundraiser - Bruce."
"Um. Yes. Right." Bruce fumbled with his school-provided laptop and projected his presentation to the smartboard. "As you all know, our Valentine's Day candygram fundraiser is coming up soon, and I was thinking it would be nice—and, um, profitable—if we added flowers this year too." He showed photos of single roses, small bouquets, and potted succulents. He put up budget spreadsheets. He said, "And, um, I work part time at my aunt's flower shop, and she said she'd help us get flowers at near wholesale price."
Tony frowned. "If it's your aunt's shop, can't she just donate flowers? It's a fundraiser."
Bruce felt his face grow hot. "It's a small local business, it's not—it's not Stark Industries," he snapped. "She couldn't afford to donate that many flowers." She could barely afford to pay Bruce, but he left that unsaid.
Tony raised his hands in a placating manner. "Sorry, just asking," he said easily, which made Bruce feel bad for snapping. He tried so hard to stay calm, even though he was constantly surrounded with reminders of the unfairness of life.
"I think it's a nice idea," Pepper ventured with a toss of her long strawberry blonde hair. "We'd be supporting a small, local business."
"A woman-owned business," Nat added. She and Pepper smiled and nodded at each other.
"Okay, okay, fine with me," Tony said. "Nat, you want to help Bruce with that?"
"What, because I'm a girl and flowers are for girls?" Nat asked, her voice withering.
"Um, no, because you two are...um…" Tony trailed off under the heat of Nat's glare.
"Why don't you help Bruce with this project, Tony?" Principal Fury suggested in a way that wasn't really a question. "Perhaps you could bring your...business sense to the endeavor."
Bruce froze. Tony said, "I—yeah, sure, okay."
Pepper wrote it in her minutes. Nat nudged her knee against Bruce's under the table, and Bruce tried his best to keep his face neutral.
"Excellent," Principal Fury said. "I look forward to hearing about your progress at our next meeting. Any other business? No? Meeting adjourned, get out of my office."
Tony practically ran out the door, presumably on his way to the 3D printer. Over his shoulder he called, "Bruce, let's talk later about the flower thing!"
"Okay," Bruce said, willing himself not to blush.
Nat flicked her eyes to him and said, "See you at lunch."
Pepper said, "Walk with me to wellness?"
"Sure," Bruce agreed. He and Pepper both had gym—sorry, wellness—class first period. Bruce actually didn't mind gym at Shield Academy. Unlike at public school, where gym always resulted in a stream of dodgeballs directed at his face, he could sign up for yoga and meditation every quarter. (Nat always took self defense.) Bruce was one of the only boys who took the yoga option, but he didn't care. The meditation was actually helpful, and Ms. Carter always took pity on Bruce if he fell asleep in savasana pose. Overworked Bruce was nearly always exhausted.
As they strode down the hall, Pepper said, her voice low, "Didn't you think it was weird that Nat didn't tell Tony that you two aren't dating?"
"Oh, um...it's your business, not mine."
Pepper made a face. "I just...I mean, I know Nat's not the type to come to GSA meetings with me or anything, but I wish she wouldn't be so quiet. She's not ashamed of me, is she?"
"Pepper! Of course not, how could she be? You're amazing."
"Thanks," Pepper said, flashing her perfect teeth.
"You know it's just because of her foster parents, right? They're...strict."
"I know. But like, when are they ever going to meet Tony? She could tell him."
"You should talk to Nat about this."
They hovered outside the entrance to the locker rooms. They were still early for class, so the hallway was deserted. Pepper said, "It's just...don't you want Tony to know you're single?"
Bruce squirmed. "It doesn't matter."
"Bruce! I know Tony has a reputation, but he wouldn't want to get between you and Nat."
"It's just…" Bruce trailed off. He thought it was obvious why he and Tony could never date.
Pepper frowned. "Are you saying you aren't interested?"
"I mean, of course, but it's just...who doesn't have a crush on Tony?" Bruce whispered.
Pepper raised her hand and then laughed. "But why would you give up without even entering the race?"
"It's just one more semester, Pepper, and then I can go to college and...and live my own life."
Pepper patted Bruce's shoulder. "Okay, Bruce, I'll leave you out of this. See you on the mat." She clicked her kitten heels into the girls' locker room, leaving Bruce alone with his miserable thoughts for a moment. He shook his head and went to change into his yoga clothes. He set up his mat next to Pepper's and they didn't speak further, letting Ms. Carter guide them through their yoga flow.
Bruce made it through the rest of his morning uneventfully, and then he slipped into the lunch line behind Nat.
Tony sidled up to them. "Hey, Bruce, why don't we go out for lunch? We can talk about the flower thing."
"Oh, uh," Bruce said. Seniors had open campus privilege for lunch, but Bruce got free lunch. "I actually need to finish up my calc homework over lunch."
Tony pouted, then grinned. "Okay, after school?"
Bruce mentally reviewed his calendar. "I have to work tonight, from 4-10? But I need time to change and get over there."
"The flower shop is open until 10PM?"
"Oh, no, the flower shop closes at 7PM but I also work at the Pizza Pit? And at the library. And I tutor sometimes."
Nat cut in, "Bruce is only free before school, weekend mornings, and, this week...Thursday after 5? Also, you're next in the lunch line."
Bruce grabbed his tray and said, "Sorry."
Tony stared at him. "Okay, wow, how about during lunch tomorrow?"
"Uh, yeah, sure." Bruce would have to make sure to squeeze in his homework at home, but he could do that.
"See you then," Tony said. He waved at some of his swim team friends and coaxed them off campus with him.
Bruce followed Nat to their usual corner table. The hot lunch at Shield Academy was actually good, unlike the cafeteria food he remembered from public school. But today it was flavorless. He pulled out his calc homework and raced through it.
"You okay?" Nat asked.
"Yeah, just, uh, busy."
"You're always busy but you don't always make that face."
He sighed. "You should talk to Pepper."
"What?"
"She talked to me in gym today but I don't want to be involved with you two."
"What did she say?"
Bruce chewed on his pencil and contemplated the extra credit problem on his calc homework.
"Bruce."
"Ugh, talk to her!" He could feel Nat staring at him even though his eyes were on his paper. "She, uh, thought you should have made it clear to Tony that you and I aren't dating."
"Wait, what? He doesn't know that? I thought he was kidding."
Bruce scribbled an answer on his homework and put it in his folder. He shrugged.
"Bruce, you gotta talk to him! Thank god Fury set you two up." Nat took a long drink of water. "Was that all that Pepper wanted to talk to you about?"
"Nat."
Nat sighed. "I know, I know. I should talk to her. And I know she wants me to be more...open...but...c'mon, Bruce, you know my foster parents."
Bruce nodded sympathetically. He and his mom didn't have much, but at least she was supportive of him. "Tell it to Pepper."
"Yeah. Okay. But you should talk to Tony."
"I'm going to have to." Bruce cleared his tray and said, "See you after school."
He made it through the rest of the day uneventfully. He met Nat in the parking lot and she took them back to the trailer park, where they both quickly changed into their Pizza Pit uniforms before getting back on Nat's bike. Bruce worked back in the kitchen while Nat strapped a box on her bike and did delivery. After clocking in, Bruce grabbed his free employee soda and slammed it, grateful for the boost of caffeine.
At the end of the night, Nat dropped him home, and Bruce connected with his mom, who'd just gotten home from a late shift at the grocery store where she worked.
"Honey! How was your day?"
"Um, good. I talked to student council about doing a fundraiser with Aunt Susan's shop, everybody seemed to like the idea."
She smiled. "Of course they did! You have such good ideas. I'm glad you're speaking up."
Bruce thought about blurting out everything that was going on with Nat, Pepper, and Tony, but instead he said, "How about you? How was your day?"
She eyed him for a moment before launching into a story about a couple of couponers who had taken an hour to check out and ended up spending less than a dollar each for their cart full of goods. "My manager was annoyed but honestly, good for them, I think."
"Yeah," Bruce agreed. "Hey, I'm gonna go do my homework. Night, Mom."
She sighed. "Hope you can get some sleep! Love you."
"Love you too."
In his bedroom, Bruce wrapped up all of his homework and was in bed before 1AM, feeling pretty good about himself. He'd be free during lunch to talk to Tony.
The next morning, he dressed in his uniform like usual, making sure to apply a bit of extra deodorant. He stared at himself in the mirror, wishing he had any idea what to do about his hair. But he didn't, so he just left it the way it always was.
He spent the morning hoping that Tony would remember. They hadn't exactly made a firm appointment, though Bruce had written it in his planner. But should they meet in the cafeteria, or the parking lot? He hovered around the entrance of the cafeteria, anxiously running his fingers through his hair and watching Nat and Pepper move through the line together.
But then Tony strolled in, looking cool as a cucumber. "Hey, Banner, ready for lunch? I'll drive."
"Sure," Bruce said, trying to sound casual as Tony led him out to the parking lot and into a very expensive convertible.
"What are you in the mood for?"
"Oh, uh, anything's fine."
"Anything except pizza, right?"
"Hmm?"
"Oh, I just figured you'd be sick of pizza, with working there."
Bruce looked at Tony to see if he was making fun of Bruce, but Tony seemed sincere. "Nah," Bruce said. He really didn't have the luxury of being a picky eater, but of all things, he was pretty sure he could happily eat pizza every day.
"That's good, anyway. I'd hate to get sick of pizza. I mean, the pizza here isn't as good as New York, but still." Tony tapped on the steering wheel for a minute and said, "Burgers?"
"Sure." Bruce was relieved that Tony hadn't suggested a more expensive cuisine. Bruce actually had a pretty sizable savings account at this point, but he was determined to save as much for college as he possibly could.
Tony pulled into a fast food place and grinned at Bruce like he was getting away with something. "You can't tell Coach Rogers about this, okay?"
"Hmm?" It took Bruce a second to remember the swim coach's name. "Are you supposed to eat with the team every day?"
"Not exactly. It's just that we're supposed to be on this low carb, high protein thing while we get ready for regionals, but man cannot survive on grilled chicken breast alone, right?"
"Right," Bruce agreed. "Well, your secret's safe with me." He looked away and tried to avoid thinking too hard about what Tony's body must look like his swimsuit. They ordered their burgers and fries and each got large sodas. Bruce took a long sip of delicious caffeine.
"So, the Valentine's Day fundraiser, what's your plan?"
"Well, it'll be pretty much the same as when it was just candy. We'll have signups in the cafeteria the week before and then on Valentine's Day, we'll deliver them in homeroom. The biggest part of it will be preparing the flowers the night before, making sure the right cards get attached and everything."
"What about marketing?"
"Uh...I dunno, we can have a sample out at the table. I feel like this stuff kinda sells itself. It's not like there's much competition on campus?"
"What kinds of flowers are you doing?"
Bruce fought a grimace. He'd showed all of this in his presentation yesterday. Had Tony even been listening? "I was thinking $1 for a carnation and $2 for a rose."
"Oh, you were serious about that?" Tony asked. "I figured that was just a template or something."
"What?"
"We can charge way more. Maybe $5 for a carnation, $10 for a rose. But we should add something bigger. I don't know, $100 for a dozen roses."
Bruce raised his eyebrows. "Are you serious? At my aunt's shop we sell a dozen roses for $50, with a vase." And he still couldn't believe people paid it.
"Sure. People at Shield like to show off, in case you hadn't noticed. And it's a fundraiser. They won't blink."
Bruce took another sip of soda and tried to keep his face neutral while he imagined spending $100 on something that would just end up in the garbage the next week.
Tony winced. "Sorry, you probably think I'm some spoiled rich kid, right?"
"Oh, um. I mean, you are rich..." Even for Shield Academy standards, Tony was rich. Most of their peers' parents were millionaires, but the Starks were billionaires and everybody knew it.
"It's okay. You're not wrong, I guess. But most of our classmates are spoiled rich kids too."
"Well...I guess it wouldn't hurt to offer the dozen roses as an option. We'll have people pay up front, so if nobody orders them, we won't waste any flowers."
"People will order them," Tony said confidently. "And I know you said flowers and candy both, but I think we should drop the candy and just focus on flowers. People can get candy anywhere. Let's let the flowers shine."
"Okay. If—if you think people will buy them."
"Definitely. So, when do you want to work on making posters?"
Bruce opened his backpack and pulled out his planner. Tony leaned forward and peered at the densely gridded pages. "Wow, Nat was not kidding about your schedule, huh? It must be hard for you guys to connect."
"Huh? Oh...she works too," Bruce said absently, looking for open times. Too late, he realized that that might have been a good time to correct Tony's idea that he and Nat were dating; he'd been thinking about all the rides Nat gave him. But now he'd paused too long and it would be weird to bring it up.
"I guess this is why you never come to any school stuff."
"School stuff?"
"You know, clubs and parties. I never see you around."
"Yeah," Bruce said vaguely, though he doubted he'd attend any optional school events even if he had nothing but free time. He and Tony pinned down a time for their next meeting.
"To be honest, since you get better grades than me and never seem to do anything fun, I figured you were spending all your time studying," Tony said. "But I don't understand how you even have time to attend classes."
Bruce blinked. Tony had noticed Bruce's grades? And his absence at social functions? He didn't know what to make of that. He managed a weak joke that was too close to the truth: "Oh, I just gave up on sleep."
Tony smiled. "Well, thanks for making time for me."
"Oh, yeah, of course. Uh, thanks for helping me with this."
Tony laughed. "You and I both know that I'm here because Fury made me."
Bruce tilted his head. "I mean, that's true. But you could have just blown me off." Over the years, Bruce had done more than his share of one man "group projects" because he cared about his grade more than his assigned group members did.
"And disregard my solemn duties as student council president?" Tony asked, his tone mock-scandalized. Bruce laughed, then felt bad when Tony winced. "I know, I've been kind of slacking on all that stuff. To be honest, I thought I was too busy. But now that I've seen your schedule I'm shamed into bringing at least my B-game to the student council."
Bruce grinned, a little surprised at Tony's self-awareness. "Why did you run for student council, anyway?"
"My dad wanted me to," Tony said with a casual shrug. "What about you?"
"Thought it would look good on college applications."
"Where are you going to college?"
"Not sure yet. You?"
"My dad wants me to go to Harvard but I'm leaning toward MIT."
"Massachusetts either way," Bruce observed. And unfathomably expensive tuition either way.
"Did you apply to MIT? I bet you'd be a great candidate."
Bruce nodded. "Yeah. I mean, yeah, I applied."
Tony grinned. "Cool. Maybe we can go to the admitted students' weekend together."
"Uh, yeah, maybe." Their small town in central Connecticut was only a few hours' drive from Cambridge, but Bruce wasn't sure he'd have time or gas money to spare for such a trip. "Hey, uh, we should be heading back to campus now."
"Of course you have your eye on the clock. Yeah, let's go." They tossed their trash and both paused to refill their sodas before returning to Tony's car for the short trip back to campus.
That night at the Pizza Pit, Nat ducked back into the kitchen between deliveries. "Soo, how was your lunch with Tony?"
"Um, fine. Tony thinks we should charge $100 for a dozen roses."
Nat laughed. "I can believe it. I think that's how much Pepper spends on hair products every week."
Bruce shook his head. He supposed he should be used to this by now, but he'd spent so much of his high school career keeping his head down and avoiding his wealthy peers. Nat was more socially fluid and thus more plugged in to the conspicuous consumption that surrounded them.
"But anyway," Nat purred, "what I meant was, did you tell him you're single?"
"It didn't come up," Bruce mumbled.
"Bruce! C'mon, you have been in love with this guy—"
"I'm not in love with—"
"—for three years without even ever talking to him—"
"—we've talked!" They were in all the same STEM classes and occasionally Tony had asked Bruce what the homework assignment was. On one memorable occasion Tony had lent Bruce a pencil.
"And now fate—"
"—Fury—"
"—Fate in the form of Principal Fury has put you two together. You have to carpe that diem!"
Bruce bit his lip as he pulled a large pepperoni pizza out of the oven and boxed it. "Order up," he said.
She leaned in close and said, "By 'diem' I meant 'dick.' Grab it!"
Bruce blushed and shoved the pizza at her. "Go deliver this."
"This conversation isn't over!" she warned on her way out the door. Bruce took a deep breath and started his next order. He didn't mind making pizzas. It was hot in front of the ovens, and it could be a little hectic, but he found the repetitive task somewhat soothing. It was true that he didn't make the extra tips that drivers made, but he also rarely had to deal with customers. To him, the tradeoff was worth it.
Near the end of the night, Nat popped back into the kitchen. "Hey, what would you spend $100 on? Obviously not a dozen roses."
"I'd put it in my savings account."
"Ugh, boring. Okay, say it was a gift card."
"To where?"
"You pick. But you just have to pick something tangible. Not like, a savings bond," she said, with a roll of her eyes.
"What's wrong with being responsible?"
"There's nothing wrong with being responsible in real life, but it's just a really boring hypothetical situation. Seriously, isn't there anything you want?"
The truth was, Bruce couldn't think of anything he wanted more than college. "Fine. Uh, I'd take my mom out to dinner. Somewhere nice. Ish."
"Aww, you're so adorable. But c'mon, your college interviewers aren't here. You don't have to give me a Miss America answer. Isn't there anything you want for you?"
Bruce glanced around to make sure their manager was still at the front of house. He lowered his voice and said, "Okay...I'd take Tony out to dinner."
Nat grinned. "That's more like it! But when you two go out, Tony should absolutely pay."
Bruce laughed. "Whatever. What about you?"
"Leather jacket."
Bruce shook his head. Joke was on him for trying to get personal information out of Nat. But still, he was happy to have her in his life, and not just because it would have been a long, cold walk back to Green Valley Trailer Park without her.
The next day after school, Bruce had a shift at Susan's Sunshine Flowers. It was the easiest of his jobs—he could sit down for most of it, and Aunt Susan didn't mind if he snuck in a little studying at the cash register when it was quiet. And it was mostly quiet, especially in the evenings. Their biggest business was delivering bouquets during the day, mostly to women who wanted their partners to publicly acknowledge their special occasions at their places of work.
So he was surprised when the door jingled with a walk-in customer, and double-surprised when he looked up from his AP US History textbook and saw Tony.
"Uh, hey," Bruce said, crossing his arms over the green apron he wore at work.
"Hey, Bruce! Hope I'm not interrupting."
Bruce gestured around the empty store. "Well, you'll just have to get in line behind all the other customers," he deadpanned.
Tony grinned. "I just wanted to come see our products."
"I mean, the specific flowers we'll use for the fundraiser aren't in yet, but yeah, take a look around."
Aunt Susan popped out from the back room where she did her arrangements. She glanced at Bruce with a question in her eyes.
"Oh, uh, Aunt Susan, this is my friend Tony. He's helping me with the Valentine's Day fundraiser for school."
Tony politely extended his hand. "Nice to meet you. You have a lovely store."
She smiled at Tony's manners. "Nice to meet you too, Tony. I'm glad to hear Bruce will have some help with that project. Are you a boarder at the school?"
"Mm-hmm."
She clucked her tongue. "I think it must be so hard for you kids to be so far from home. Bruce, you should bring Tony over for dinner sometime."
"Um—" Bruce said, hoping to silently convey to Tony that he didn't have to accept this.
But Tony only brightened his smile. "That would be nice, thank you, Ms. Banner."
"Please, call me Susan." She held up a finger and ducked back into her workroom, returning with a single rose. "Here. This is a little past its bloom—I wouldn't sell it tomorrow—but you could bring it to your girlfriend tonight."
"Very kind of you, thank you." Tony accepted it and tucked it behind his ear.
"Bruce—get him a packet of plant food for that. And, uh, let me know if there are any customers."
"I'm a customer," Tony said.
"I'll help him, Aunt Susan," Bruce reassured her. When she went back into her workroom, he quietly thanked Tony.
"My pleasure," Tony said. "But I was serious about being a customer. What do you recommend?"
"Who are you buying for?"
"Me. I already got this rose for my girlfriend, so I'm all set there."
Bruce considered asking who Tony's girlfriend was—he had dated so many girls, and a few boys, over his years at Shield Academy. Bruce had thought Tony was currently single, but it shifted so quickly. But that felt too personal, so he asked, "What kind of flowers do you like?"
"I'm not sure," Tony said. "Nobody's ever bought me flowers. What kind of flowers do you like?"
"Really?" Bruce blurted out. "Nobody's ever bought you flowers?"
Tony shook his head. "I've given them out, but I guess nobody ever thought I'd like them."
Bruce considered. "Well. I—I like the potted plants. They last longer."
"A practical choice." Tony turned to look at the few shelves of succulents and smaller potted flowers. He picked a small Christmas cactus and brought it over to the register.
"You don't actually have to buy anything," Bruce said, though he knew Tony could afford it and the store could use the business. "I mean, my aunt won't get mad or anything."
"I'm supporting a local, woman-owned business. Besides, I want this one. It reminds me of you."
"Wh-what?"
"It's not as prickly as you'd think."
Bruce blinked. Tony said, "It's a compliment. Or it's not an insult, anyway. I—I always thought you were...I didn't think you'd ever want to talk to me."
Bruce licked his lips and keyed in the price tag for the plant. "Sorry," he said. He cleared his throat. "Um, you should read the tag on this? It's kind of a finicky plant, it needs 12 hours of full darkness, and not too much water, or it won't bloom."
"Sounds complicated. Do you offer plant tech support?"
"Um, yeah, sure."
Tony pulled out his phone. "What's your number?"
"Huh?"
"So I can text you if I have questions? Also so I don't have to lurk around the cafeteria if I want to get ahold of you?"
Bruce offered a small smile and his phone number. His pocket immediately buzzed. He glanced at his phone quickly—Aunt Susan was chill about most things but not about cell phone usage at work—and saw that a new number had sent him a waving hand emoji.
"Just so you have my number too," Tony explained.
"Cool," Bruce said in what he desperately hoped was a normal way.
"Anyway, I'd better let you get back to work. And I gotta put my cactus to bed, I guess?"
"Yeah, if there's not enough darkness in your room, you can put it in the closet?" Bruce said, and then fought a wince at the irony. His own awkwardness was keeping him in the closet.
"Noted," Tony said with a grin. "Well, see you tomorrow!"
"Bye," Bruce said, and then Tony left and Bruce was left to quietly wonder: had Tony Stark been flirting with him? Surely not. To clear his mind, he stepped out from behind the cash register to rearrange the succulents.
When they closed down the shop, Aunt Susan gave him a ride home like usual. In the car, she tried—and failed—to sound casual when she asked, "So...you're friends with Tony Stark?"
"Um, yeah, well, we're both on student council together."
"That's great! You really should invite him to dinner. We'll make him something nice." Bruce tried to imagine Tony having dinner with Bruce's mom and aunt, crowded around their small cracked linoleum table and eating tater tot casserole.
"Well, I'll ask, but he's pretty busy with uh, other clubs and stuff."
"Hmm."
She glanced over at him while she drove, and he was pretty sure he hadn't heard the last of this. So he decided not to check his quietly vibrating phone, since there was now a definite possibility that the message was from Tony.
Dinner dragged on. He usually genuinely enjoyed having dinner with his mom and aunt, since he didn't see them as often as other families seemed to. Aunt Susan was his dad's sister, but she'd always been great to Bruce. She'd been furious when she found out how Brian had been treating his wife and son, and she'd even testified against him in court when it had finally come to that. But now he felt his irritation growing as she and his mom chatted about different low-carb recipes they'd seen on Pinterest.
Finally, he grabbed a pause in the conversation to say, "Hey, I've got a lot of homework, so I'm going to go get to work on that."
"Oh, sweetie, I brought home a crumb cake, don't you want any of that?" his mom asked.
"Save some for me, I'll take a study break later."
She nodded, and Aunt Susan said, "I'll see you at the store on Saturday," and Bruce was able to make his escape. He shut his bedroom door and pulled out his phone.
Tony had texted a photo of a robot holding a rose in its claw. "Tell your aunt my girlfriend loves her flower."
Bruce smiled, both at the goofiness of it and at the apparent confirmation of Tony's singledom. He wrote back, "She's cute, what's her name?"
Tony: DUM-E.
Tony: Which sounds misogynistic in this context. But I don't usually call her my girlfriend. Or a "her" at all.
Tony: You should come to robotics club sometime, you can meet her.
Tony: It. Him. DUM-E.
Bruce laughed at the rapid-fire succession of texts and sadly typed his reply.
Bruce: I'd love to, if I have time
Tony: If you bring your phone, I can use our workshop tools to replace your screen
Bruce blinked. Tony had noticed his cracked phone screen? It was a very nice offer but it made him feel a little uncomfortable. Bruce looked down at the cracks, which really were annoying. Bruce was always so careful with his things but when his school uniform shirt had gotten shredded by a dryer at their shitty laundromat, he'd been so mad that he'd thrown his phone at the wall. It hadn't helped anything, of course; he still had to replace the shirt and he'd eventually have to replace the phone.
While Bruce agonized, Tony added, "I won't let DUM-E do it. I'm really good at fixing screens. I drop my phone like 20 times a day."
Of course he did. Tony was careless in a way that Bruce could never afford to be. Still, it would be great to have a new screen. And Bruce was curious about the robotics club. He flipped through his planner and suggested, "Next Tuesday after school? And we can work on posters for the fundraiser after."
Tony: Great!
Bruce: Thanks :)
Bruce put his phone aside and dug into his homework, which he did actually have a lot of. He felt an excited flutter when his phone buzzed again, but it was Nat asking to come over for help with her physics homework. He agreed and before long she'd let herself in. She sprawled out on his bed and Bruce helped her through her assignment. Just after they'd wrapped up, his mom came by with two pieces of day-old grocery store crumb cake. They both thanked her and she smiled before vanishing back to their living area.
Nat sighed. "I don't want you to think I'm using you for your science skills and your cake—"
"But?" Bruce asked with a laugh.
"—But I'm going to go visit Pepper before the school curfew. I don't want her to feel, you know, neglected."
"Sure."
She eyed him for a minute and said, "I told my parents I was going to the school library and getting help with my homework. Both those things are technically true, just unrelated."
He smiled. Nat always coached him on her not-technically-false alibis, though Bruce hardly ever actually interacted with her foster parents. Nat always came over to Bruce's, rather than the other way around. "Understood. Tell Pepper I said hi."
"Will do. I'll see you tomorrow morning."
He walked her to the door and washed their cake plates, then went back to his room and his Spanish textbook. He finished his homework quickly, with no further interruptions. But just before he changed for bed, he got another text from Tony. It was a photo of the little Christmas cactus tucked on the floor of a messy closet.
Tony: Putting my cactus to bed so it can get enough darkness. Hope you can get some darkness too!
Tony: (Like for sleep, not in an emo way.)
Bruce: Why not both? Good night!
Bruce passed through the next few days in the same basic blur of work, school, homework as always, except Tony kept sending him little updates about his cactus. It was more charming than it should have been.
Tuesday morning, Nat sized him up before he got on her motorcycle. "What's going on with you, Bruce?"
"Hm?"
"I don't know, you just seem...happier than usual."
Bruce crossed his arms and tucked his hands into his armpits. "I'm meeting with Tony after school today."
Nat beamed. "And he knows we're not dating, right?"
"Um, it still hasn't come up?"
Her smile dropped. "Bruce! You gotta tell him or you are walking to school."
"Whatever," he mumbled, as he climbed on behind her. He didn't believe that Nat would follow through on her threat, but even if she did, he still had his old bicycle that he used sometimes.
After school, Tony happily led Bruce to the robotics lab and showed off his robot, DUM-E. "Hey, why don't you see if you can get him to open a jar? That's what I've been working on. And I'll get your phone fixed up."
"Thanks," Bruce said. "I, um, how much does it cost? For the glass?"
Tony shook his head. "Nothing, I've got some scrap pieces. I'm happy to use one up."
Bruce wasn't sure he believed that, but he decided to accept it. "Okay, um, cool. Thanks." He looked at the robot and the small collection of empty jars on a work table. He picked up an empty peanut butter jar and offered it to the robot.
Tony, who was wearing safety glasses and already taking apart Bruce's phone, said, "Oh, talk to him! He's learning language."
"Really? That's amazing."
"Mm-hmm," Tony said. "He can't talk but he can understand. Sort of."
"Hey, uh, DUM-E, can you open this jar, please?" The robot dutifully unscrewed it with its claw.
"So polite!" Tony said, sounding delighted. "Nobody ever says 'please' to DUM-E."
"Oh, uh...sorry?"
Tony laughed. "No, it's nice. DUM-E should learn courtesy."
Bruce politely offered a few more jars to DUM-E while watching Tony work out of the corner of his eye. Tony kept the tip of his tongue between his teeth while he worked, which was very cute.
"All done," Tony said. He powered on Bruce's phone and handed it over.
Bruce smiled at the sight of it. "It's like new! Thanks, Tony."
"Any time." As the phone came back to life, the lock screen showed several texts from Nat. Bruce hastily put it back to sleep and tucked it into his pocket.
Tony glanced up and said, "Well, uh, we've probably given DUM-E enough practice for the day. But you should come to one of our competitions sometime."
"Oh, yeah, maybe."
Accepting Bruce's tone, Tony said, "Well, the schedule is on the school website, if—if you want."
"It's not that I don't want to, it's just that I don't really have a lot of time for, uh, high school stuff," Bruce said, and as soon as the words left his mouth he realized that they weren't right. Or, well, they were accurate, but they sounded too dismissive of something that Tony was excited about. He winced. "Sorry, I didn't mean—"
"—no, I get it," Tony said. He smiled weakly. "Well, with that in mind, why don't we get started with the posters? Or I can just do them if you're busy."
"No, of course. I hate it when people don't pull their weight in group projects. I wouldn't do that."
"It's the worst," Tony agreed. "Okay, let's head to the makerspace."
They quickly designed advertising using photos Tony had taken on his trip to the flower shop, as well as the cards to be attached to the flowers. Bruce still felt a little gross when he saw the prices Tony was setting, but he trusted Tony to know their peers. And it meant they could pay more to Aunt Susan.
"Okay, so we'll post this set now to get people excited, and then we have these for the week of sales," Bruce said.
Tony nodded. "I'll get it in the announcements and on the school website."
"And at the next student council meeting we can get people to sign up for table shifts in the cafeteria." Bruce made a note in his planner. "And then February 13th we'll have to pick up the flowers and attach all the cards so they can be delivered in class on the 14th."
Tony nodded. "I'll make sure to keep that night free."
"Great." Bruce looked at the clock on the wall and rubbed his eyes. "Okay, well, I think we're done for the day, and I'm working at the library tonight. Do you want to meet before school tomorrow to hang up the posters?"
"Oh, I can just hang them up now."
"Oh—I don't mean to—"
Tony smiled and waved his hand. "It's okay, you're not making me do the whole group project. But I get that you have to go to work, and I'd rather just do it now than get up early."
"Oh. Well, if you're sure?" Bruce didn't especially want to get up early, either.
"Definitely. I got this."
"Okay, uh, thanks, Tony. See you tomorrow, then." Bruce took his backpack and walked out to the parking lot. He checked his phone and saw that all his texts from Nat were reminders to tell Tony that he was single, which Bruce had not actually managed to do.
Still, she was there for him right on time. She looked at him, narrowed her eyes, and said, "You didn't tell him, did you?"
"It didn't come up!"
She glared but Bruce hopped on her bike anyway. Bruce worked an uneventful shift at the library. His mom picked him up and he ate dinner and did his homework. It was all very boring. Finally, he pulled out his phone.
Bruce: It's a whole new world with my new phone screen btw. Thanks again!
Tony: You're welcome :)
Bruce: How's your cactus?
Tony: Already asleep. [zzz emoji]
Bruce: Glad to hear it's in such good hands.
He felt like he'd gotten back on good terms with Tony, though as the days went on he fell back into his busy schedule and saw less of Tony, despite Nat's increasingly irritated urging. They still texted, though.
But the next week he was at one of his shifts at the flower shop when the door jingled and Tony walked in, a serious look on his face.
Bruce smiled. "Hey, Tony. Don't tell me you killed that cactus? You were taking such good care of it."
Tony smiled faintly. "No, no, the cactus is fine, but I...have to tell you something."
Bruce glanced around, glad that Aunt Susan was still out making deliveries. "Okay?"
"It's just, uh…" Tony looked sad.
"Hey, it's okay, you can tell me whatever," Bruce said, hoping to be reassuring.
"Nat's cheating on you," Tony said.
"Huh? Oh! Oh, um."
"I'm sorry to tell you but I just thought you should know, I saw her making out with Pepper and it was honestly really intense and kind of hot except, um, I don't think it's cool of her to cheat on you."
"Tony, we're not dating."
"What?"
"Nat and I, we're just friends."
"Oh. I'm sorry. When did you break up?"
"We...we never dated. Nat and Pepper have been dating for like two years." Tony looked stunned, and Bruce added, "But thank you for telling me, Tony, I...I appreciate you looking out for me."
"Why didn't you tell me?" Now Tony looked hurt, and Bruce felt bad.
"I—sorry. It's just that Nat...her foster parents are really conservative, and she's really scared of anyone finding out."
"And you guys thought, what, that I'd go out and tell her foster parents? Who I've never even met before?"
"No, of course not, it's more just...I don't know, habit?"
Tony nodded. "Okay. And what about you?"
"Oh, my mom knows I'm bi and she's fine with it."
Tony smiled. "That's good. My parents think it's a phase that I'll grow out of."
"That sucks."
"Yeah. But, uh, actually what I meant was, are you secretly dating anyone?"
Bruce shook his head. "No, I, uh—"
"—don't have time?" Tony supplied.
Bruce grimaced. "Sorry, I know I'm lame."
Tony shook his head. "You're definitely not, I just...well, hey, I'll let you get back to work, then."
Bruce licked his lips and crossed his arms. "Okay. Uh, but, thanks, Tony, I appreciate it. But also, um—"
Tony mimed zipping his lips. "Nat's secret is safe with me. But maybe you should tell her to keep her eyes open at the AutoZone. You never know who you'll run into there."
Bruce laughed. "You were at the AutoZone?"
"I needed to pick up some oil. I like to take care of my car myself."
"That's really cool."
"It never occurred to me to use it as a hookup spot, but now that I've seen it, I kinda get it. You know, you're surrounded by lubricants…"
Bruce burst out laughing. "Mm-hmm, plenty of stuff to grind your gear shaft."
Tony laughed too. "Exactly. Well, I'll see you at school tomorrow."
"Bright and early."
"Hm? Oh, god, student council tomorrow morning." Tony scrubbed his hand over his face. "That's what I'm most looking forward to about college—no morning classes."
"That does sound nice," Bruce agreed.
"Thanks for the reminder, though. I'll see you there."
For the rest of the night, Bruce wondered if he should tell Nat what Tony had told him. On one hand, she'd be thrilled that Bruce had finally come clean. On the other, she'd be badly paranoid if she heard she'd been seen, even if she agreed that Tony was trustworthy. Maybe he could just tell her the first part without the second? But Bruce was so bad at lying and Nat was so good at reading him.
He blurted out the truth to her the next morning, on their walk into the school from the parking lot. She sighed. "If this doesn't at least end with you getting to kiss Tony, I'm going to be very put out."
"I—I don't know about all that," Bruce managed. "But Tony won't tell anybody, I just—thought you should know."
"I guess we should be more careful. I'm just—sick of being careful."
"Yeah. I know what you mean. But I really don't think Tony will tell anyone."
As usual, they were early to the student council meeting. This was a full meeting in the auditorium, including all of the class representatives in addition to their four-person leadership team. Bruce quietly explained the flower sale to the larger group, and Pepper passed around a sign-up sheet for shifts to sell and deliver the flowers.
It all went smoothly, and none of the other students batted an eye at the prices presented for the fundraiser. The kids at this school were way too rich, a fact that became even more obvious when the topic of the meeting shifted to planning for prom. Bruce struggled to seem nonjudgmental as he looked at budget numbers for the event; based on Nat's amused face, he was pretty sure he'd failed.
The next week, Bruce sat at a table in the cafeteria, glancing at his history textbook between accepting payment for flowers. Tony appeared in front of him, and Bruce smiled.
"Hey, Tony, I think your shift is tomorrow."
"Yeah, I just wanted to get a head start on this, it's going to take me awhile."
"Hm?"
"I want to send everyone a flower."
"What?" Bruce knew Tony had a tendency to date around, but that seemed excessive.
"I don't want anyone to feel left out," Tony explained. "I want to send everyone a flower."
"Oh! Oh, wow, that's so nice." And so expensive, Bruce managed to not say.
Tony shrugged and started filling out cards. Bruce watched him and desperately wished he could think of something to say, something that expressed how sweet he thought Tony's gesture was. But he couldn't, so he turned his eye back to his textbook. Tony had barely finished filling out cards for the first-year students when the bell rang.
"Guess I'll be spending a few free periods on this," Tony said cheerfully. He wasn't even signing the cards from himself, just diligently writing each student's name out. But over the week, it seemed that he only showed up at the flower table when Bruce was working. Bruce still didn't manage to think of anything to say to him, a fact that he lamented to Nat.
She sighed. "I know what you mean."
"Really?"
"I think Pepper's been feeling...I don't know, I think I need to do something special for her."
"Why do you say that?"
"It's just a vibe, I don't know."
"She knows about your foster parents."
"I know, I know, but...she's probably right that I'm...a little paranoid about it."
"You could send her a rose?"
"Ugh, no, Tony's sending her a rose and they're not even dating."
"You could send her a dozen roses."
Nat shook her head. "Are you kidding? A hundred dollars on something she'll throw away in a week?" Bruce grinned. This was another reason why he and Nat were friends. Nat continued, "Anyway...everyone's doing roses. Pepper's special. I want to get something special for her."
"You want to come by the flower shop tomorrow? I can help you pick something out. I'll give you my employee discount."
"Yeah, maybe," Nat said thoughtfully. "But what about you? Are you going to send Tony a rose?"
Bruce squirmed. "I don't know. I mean, you're right, everyone's doing them. I'm sure he'll get a ton."
Valentine's Day was a Friday, so Thursday night was spent preparing all of the flowers to be delivered at school the next day. Nat, Pepper, and Tony all piled into the flower shop to help out. They sat in the front of the shop while his aunt and a few friends she'd recruited for the holiday worked feverishly in the back workroom. Bruce focused on removing thorns from the roses while the others sorted them and attached cards.
Tony watched with interest. "Bruce, you're so fast at that! Don't you ever hurt yourself?"
"Um, once in awhile. I have some practice. I'm not as good as my aunt, though." He really only did this kind of work during crunch time, and Valentine's Day was the biggest florist crunch time of all.
"I wonder if a robot could do it," Tony mused.
"Maybe? You have to be kind of gentle with the flowers."
"Hmm," Tony said. He stuck his tongue out between his teeth as he worked, and Bruce suspected that Tony was mentally trying to solve that problem. He really was cute. But Bruce forced himself to look back at the roses he was working with. He'd never hear the end of it if he cut himself on Valentine's Day eve, and he didn't even want to think about the emergency room costs if he needed stitches.
It was a long night, but they managed to get the flowers prepped. Bruce even managed to sneak Nat's gift to Pepper into the boxes without being noticed. They loaded the flowers into Tony and Pepper's cars and went home to get a few hours' sleep.
When she dropped Bruce off, Nat said, "Hey...just so you know, we noticed that nobody sent Tony any flowers, so...we snuck a rose in there for him."
"Oh!" Bruce had been too busy with the flowers themselves to pay much attention to the spreadsheet. "Really? Nobody?"
"Well, nobody except you."
"What?"
"We signed your name to the card," Nat said. "Just thought you should know."
"I—uh—" Bruce's mental wheels spun. "I was going to do something else."
"Really? What?"
"Do you think you could give me a ride on Saturday? In the morning, I know we're both working at Pizza Pit in the evening."
"Sure. Where to?" She raised her eyebrows as Bruce told her his idea. "Aww, Bruce! Absolutely."
"Thanks."
"No problem. Um, the flower—we can change the card. Make it from all of us. I'll text Pepper."
Bruce bit his lip. "Yeah. That's better. Thanks, though."
"Of course. Now c'mon, we can't be late on Valentine's Day!"
The day went off without a hitch. There were flowers everywhere; the school smelled like a garden. As Tony had predicted, all of the school's power couples had bought dozens of roses, proudly showing them off as status symbols. They'd raised tons of money for the school's scholarship fund, and Pepper proudly carried around her special potted orchid all day, telling anyone who asked that it was from her girlfriend and no, they hadn't been available at the student council table.
For her part, Nat showed up late to lunch with mussed hair and a new oxblood leather jacket—a gift from her girlfriend. Pepper showed up even later with perfect hair; presumably she'd stopped to fix it before showing her face in the cafeteria. When the three of them were assembled at their table, Tony split away from his usual lunch group to say, "Thanks for the flower, you guys."
Nat and Pepper both looked at Bruce who said, "Oh, um, you're welcome. It—only seemed fair, since you sent them to everyone else. And I didn't think DUM-E would be able to sign his name to the signup sheet."
Tony smiled and looked like he wanted to say something else, but one of his swim team friends called out, "Yo, Stark!" Tony rolled his eyes but said, "I, uh, I'll see you later."
"Happy Valentine's Day," Bruce mumbled.
"Yeah! You too!" Tony called as he walked away.
"That wasn't a total disaster," Nat remarked.
"Did you call him a dummy?" Pepper asked.
"DUM-E is his robot, he...ugh, it's a whole thing," Bruce replied.
"Uh huh. Well...good luck," Pepper said. Bruce sighed and ate the candy their history teacher had bribed them with.
After school, Tony caught Bruce at his locker. "Hey Bruce! Big Valentine's Day plans?"
"At Pizza Pit we're making heart-shaped pizzas today."
"Seriously?"
Bruce nodded.
"Wow. I might have to order one."
"I can get you my employee discount," Bruce offered automatically, before remembering that Tony really had no such need.
"Yeah? What is it?"
"We get 25% off." They also got to take home mistaken orders sometimes, but Bruce stopped short before mentioning that to Tony.
"Not bad. Thanks. I, uh, guess I'll let you go, then?"
Bruce looked at Tony's face and had a sudden urge to call in sick to work and ask Tony out right then. But he had a plan, dammit, and anyway, his manager would murder him if he called out on Valentine's Day, and then fire his corpse. "Yeah," Bruce said. "Have a good weekend! Uh, good luck with the robotics competition!"
Tony's face brightened. "Thanks!"
Nat swept up behind him and said, "That was pretty good, Bruce. Keep it up like that tomorrow."
"Thanks." Bruce tried to sound blase but he was actually cheered by her assessment. Their evening shift at Pizza Pit went quickly—the highly-Instagrammable heart shaped pizzas were stupidly popular. Nat dropped Bruce off at home and then went back out to spend her tips on taking Pepper to a late-night movie. He hoped she wouldn't be too tired to give him a ride to school the next morning but didn't want to nag her.
And of course, she was right on time the next morning, though she yawned hugely when they stopped at the flower shop. "Sorry, Nat," Bruce said.
She waved her hand and grinned. "It's fine, I'll take a nap in Pepper's dorm room."
Bruce let himself into the shop and rang himself up for the flowers he'd bought. At school, Nat wished him luck and he slipped into the robotics lab and carefully put the dozen roses and card in DUM-E's claw. Then he went to the library to get a little homework in before the competition started. It felt weird to be at school out of his uniform. He'd still dressed up a little, with khakis and a purple Oxford shirt. The outfit was from Goodwill, but Bruce thought it looked okay.
The robotics competition didn't draw a huge crowd, but Bruce definitely wasn't alone in the gym. He sat quietly in the back of the bleachers and watched as DUM-E confidently went through the challenges. He applauded when everyone else did, and snuck as many glances at Tony as he could. Tony had his tongue between his teeth and he looked absolutely delighted with how things were going.
When the competition took a lunch break, Tony walked up to Bruce in the bleachers. "Hey, Tony, great job!" Bruce said, hoping he sounded casual.
"Thanks for coming!" Tony said. "You didn't have to. And—and you didn't have to get me flowers."
Bruce blinked innocently. "Those were from DUM-E." Then he reached under his seat and presented Tony with a small potted aloe plant. "This is from me."
Tony looked at the plant and then at Bruce with a huge smile. Bruce bit back a relieved sigh; it seemed like this plan had worked. Tony took the aloe plant and held it lovingly. "I—Bruce—I have to go eat lunch with the team, but, um, can I take you out for dinner after this? Or—sorry, you probably have to work, but—could I take you out for...something?" His eyebrows were furrowed with concern.
Bruce said, "I, um, I am supposed to work at 4—"
Tony's face fell, but he said, "That's—"
Bruce continued, "—but most of my coworkers owe me favors, so I bet I could get someone to cover my shift tonight."
Tony's huge smile returned. "I'm so glad you're not dating Nat!"
Bruce laughed. "Me, too. Um, I could hang on to that plant for you, if you don't want to carry it with you?"
Tony held it firmly. "Absolutely not. I've never been given an aloe plant before, and I'm assuming it's very good luck."
"I don't think there are any superstitions attached to aloe plants actually—"
"—well, this one is lucky, because it means that you like me. That—that is what it means, right?"
"That's definitely what it means."
"Stark!" one of Tony's teammates called.
Tony sighed. "I gotta go, but—but thanks, Bruce, it means a lot to me that you came, and—and everything."
"I'm glad I could make it. And, um, good luck! With the robotics!"
Tony ran off to join his team, and Nat and Pepper materialized in front of Bruce.
"Jesus, where did you two come from?"
"We were making out under the bleachers," Nat said.
"You could have just said we were under the bleachers," Pepper protested. "You didn't have to say what we were doing."
"It's pretty obvious," Nat said, adjusting her hair. "And Bruce is smart. And he just locked down a date with Tony! High five!"
Bruce grinned and slapped her hand, hard enough for it to sting a little.
"Come to lunch with us," Nat insisted.
"Yeah? I don't want to intrude."
"Oh, we had plenty of time without you," Nat said. "Anyway, you'll need our guidance."
"I think he'll do okay," Pepper said.
"It's very sweet that you think that," Nat replied with a grin. Bruce went off with them to grab sandwiches downtown. They amused themselves by giving him ambiguously helpful dating advice.
"Stay out from under the bleachers, that's our spot," Nat said.
"Just be yourself," Pepper said. "He already likes you."
"That does seem to be true," Nat agreed. "For some unknowable reason…"
Pepper elbowed Nat. "Bruce, I know you know Nat is teasing, but Tony's a lucky guy. You're such a sweetheart."
Bruce blushed and ate his sandwich, and then it was time to head back to campus. Pepper and Nat vanished; Bruce determinedly did not look down for the rest of the afternoon. He quickly texted his coworkers to get his shift covered and then he cheered louder than anyone when Tony won a medal, which he draped around DUM-E's claw arm.
And then Tony walked right up to Bruce in front of everyone—well, in front of the small crowd that a high school robotics competition attracts—and kissed him, still holding his potted aloe plant in one hand. It was just a sweet, quick, peck, but Bruce was still counting it as his first kiss. He knew that word was going to spread around the school, but he’d worry about that later.
For now, he blushed bright red and said, "Congratulations!"
Tony grinned. "It was a pretty good kiss, wasn't it?"
"I meant—I meant on winning…"
"I know, but I think I deserve more congratulations for the kiss, honestly. At least, it's what I'm more excited about. Hey, one second." Tony turned back to his friends and called, "Hey, Rhodey, can I have dibs on our room for the afternoon?"
Rhodey rolled his eyes. Tony said, "I'll get you a heart-shaped pizza?"
"Fine," Rhodey said. "Just let me change clothes first."
Rhodey ran ahead and Bruce said, "We, um, actually were only offering the heart-shaped pizzas yesterday. But if you call when I'm working I'll do it for you anyway."
"I'm honored. Though to be honest, I think Rhodey would be just fine with a circular one."
Tony took DUM-E back down to the robotics lab, murmuring to the robot about what a good job it had done. Bruce smiled.
Tony said, "I'm just telling him all that so he can work on his language processing skills."
"Of course," Bruce said.
"You could help."
"Um, congratulations, DUM-E, you did a great job today," Bruce said. "I'm proud of you."
Tony said, "I kind of regret bribing Rhodey already because maybe we could just make out in the robotics lab? Just until dinner time, I mean. Unless you're hungry now? Or if you’re tired we could just take a nap?"
"I can wait for dinner, and I don’t need a nap," Bruce said, though sleep always sounded appealing to him. "But you should put your plant away."
Tony smiled down at the aloe plant. "You're right. I don't want to be a neglectful parent."
"I don't think there's much danger of that."
Tony slung an arm around Bruce's shoulders and guided him out of the lab and up to his dorm room. It was the first time Bruce had been in one of the Shield dorm rooms. He was surprised to see that Tony really didn't seem to have much more living space there than Bruce did in his trailer. The room was messy but not a total disaster.
"Can this go on the window sill?" Tony asked, gesturing with the plant. "How many hours of darkness does it need?"
"The window is fine. It's pretty durable. The Christmas cactus is too, I mean, it won't die easily. It just needs the extra effort to make it bloom."
Tony smiled. "Yeah, but that seems worth it." Tony quickly tended to his plants, putting the cut roses into a wide-mouthed Nalgene bottle. He removed a stack of laundry from his bed. Then he sat down on his bed and gestured for Bruce to sit next to him. Bruce sat down and looked at him, dizzy with anticipation. He'd spent so many hours daydreaming about a moment like this while waiting for pizzas to bake or shelving books.
"I'm so—I liked you for so long, Bruce, but I really didn't think I had a chance with you."
Bruce laughed. "I felt exactly the same way about you."
"Huh. I guess I was wrong about you being smarter than me."
"You definitely were," Bruce said, though it still delighted him to hear that Tony had ever thought that. "Please don’t tell MIT, though."
Tony grinned and tapped his lips. "I have an idea for how you can keep me quiet. We have a lot of lost time to make up for," Tony said, and they did.