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When it started raining Steve hadn’t been too concerned. He was used to running in the rain, it was a hazard of being a dedicated runner, sometimes you got caught in the weather. He had planned it so he was near his house so he wouldn’t be out for too long.
When he literally stumbled across a boy he vaguely recognized from one of his art classes, Steve stopped more out of habit than a desire to help.
“What are you doing in the street?” asked Steve, getting to his feet with a grumble, rubbing his knees.
“I’m not in the street, I’m on the sidewalk.”
“Okay, then why are you sitting on the sidewalk in the rain where people like me can trip over you?” demanded Steve.
The young man shrugged.
“Fine, whatever,” said Steve, rolling his eyes. “See you in class I guess.”
“You’ll be the one taking up the entire left table with your broad shoulders and All American ego.”
Steve paused, stared down at the guy sitting in the rain, and then started running again, the rain falling harder. He ran until he was at his apartment building then climbed the steps and got out of the increasing downpour. He checked his mail box, shook his head like a dog to get the water droplets out of his eyes, and watched them fleck the walls, catching the florescent lights. He didn’t bother to wipe them up, left them on the wall as though marking his territory, and went to the stairs.
The elevator was for show, the landlord was too cheap to fix it and get all the inspections it would take to have it running legally again. The stairs weren’t in much better shape but the rent was cheap and the location was good, close to campus, and Steve wasn’t in a position to afford more.
The fourth story apartment was a corner unit, single bedroom, and he shared it with three other people officially, four if you counted Clint’s boyfriend who was over more than he wasn’t and five if you included Natasha, who would sleep over whenever it fit her fancy. It wasn’t comfortable but it was a roof that didn’t leak and would stay mostly warm in the winter, so Steve called it a temporary home.
Temporary.
“You get caught in the storm?” asked Bucky, stirring a pot of stew on one of the two burners that worked in the kitchen.
“Yeah,” said Steve with a sigh.
“Don’t you ever check the weather?”
“Yes I do,” snapped Steve. “And I was almost back when it started raining. I would have missed most of it if I hadn’t tripped over a boy from my art class.”
“Which one?”
“I don’t know, he’s small, looks way too young to be in college, brown hair.”
“Oh, that’s Tony,” said Clint from the couch in the small living room. “He has programming with me. He’s like twelve. His dad is an asshole at worst and absent at best. And his roommate is a homophobic idiot.”
“How do you know so much about him?” asked Steve, stripping off his shirt and wringing it out over the sink. “We’ve only been in class for like two weeks.”
“Because I’m not some moody recluse who never speaks to his classmates,” said Clint with a smirk. “I have a sparkling personality.”
“If you know so much then why was he just sitting on the sidewalk in the rain?”
“He was what?”
Clint didn’t wait for an answer, just ran out of the apartment, barely stopping to put on his shoes.
Bucky shrugged when Steve raised an eyebrow at him. Steve went to the bathroom and turned on the shower. The one good thing about their apartment was that they had a never ending water heater. The sunshine yellow tiles clashed beautifully with the awkward green toilet and bubblegum pink sink. Steve had learned to look beyond the gaudy colors and use the bathroom for what it was – a place to eliminate waste and shower. When they had moved in the shower head was set too low for Steve and Bucky, forcing the two to bend almost in half to get their heads wet. Bucky had changed the head to a removable one to help with the problem and it made showering much easier for both of them.
By the time Steve finished and emerged from the bathroom, his favorite blue towel wrapped around his waist, Clint was back with Tony sitting in a pair of Clint’s sweats and Bucky’s sweat shirt on the floor, enjoying a bowl of stew that Steve assumed Bucky had placed in front of him.
“What’s he doing here?” asked Steve as he made his way into the small bedroom, leaving the door open as he changed into his own lounge pants and a grey shirt.
“Tony’s roommate is an asshole and made him leave,” said Clint, glaring at Steve as though daring him to protest. “Thor and Loki are already going to his dorm to get his things. He’s staying with us now. Deal with it.”
“Feel like this is one of those things that you should ask the rest of the people paying for the apartment about before inviting a stranger to live with us,” said Steve, ignoring Tony.
“Feel like this is one of those things where people who leave kids in the rain on the street don’t really get a say in,” said Clint.
“Clint, it’s okay,” said Tony softly. “I just need to get ahold of Rhodey.”
“Rhodey, your best friend who lives in the sports dorms with a hell of a lot of regulations who is currently travelling?” said Clint, shaking his head. “Yeah, you can get ahold of him but we both know you can’t stay with him. You live here now.”
“We don’t have the space,” said Steve.
“Phil can stay at his own place then,” said Clint. “Tony stays.”
“Why can’t he just go back to his dorm? His roommate doesn’t have the authority to kick him out.”
“His roommate is a homophobic asshole who threatened to kill Tony if he came back because he saw the kid kissing another boy at a party,” yelled Clint. “So excuse me for not wanting to let a kid go back to a dangerous situation even if it means we are a little crowded for a while!”
“I’m not a kid,” muttered Tony. “I’m fifteen.”
“You’re a kid,” said Steve and Clint at the same time.
Tony rolled his eyes.
“Listen Steve, don’t be an asshole,” said Bucky, handing Steve a bowl of stew. “Tony can stay with us, Brock is moving in with his girlfriend tomorrow so we will have an extra bed and another person to share expenses with. We aren’t leaving a kid out on the streets and we certainly aren’t going to let him be in a dangerous situation that we have the power to prevent. Now eat your stew, you’re not yourself when you’re hungry.”
“Screw you,” snapped Steve, sitting down and digging into the stew.
Phil came over a few hours later with Thor and Loki, all three holding damp cardboard boxes.
“Sorry,” said Thor, setting his box on the coffee table. “Your things were on the lawn.”
“We salvaged what we could,” said Phil.
“I got your computer,” said Loki with a smirk. “Your esteemed roommate was planning on selling it so it was in the dorm still. I…convinced him otherwise.”
“You’re my favorite human,” said Tony with a bright smile, making grabby hands at Loki for his computer. “I love you.”
“I know,” said Loki with a smirk, handing over the electronics. “And if you were just a few years older I’m sure we could have a beautiful relationship.”
“Then wait for me,” said Tony with a wink. “I’ll be legal soon and we can make beautiful babies together.”
“Tony, do I need to explain to you how babies are made?” asked Clint. “Because you and Loki are both lacking a few key organs to make it work.”
“You can’t deny that we would produce beautiful kids,” sighed Tony.
Clint rolled his eyes but showed Phil and Thor the standing chest of drawers that could house Tony’s belongings. Bucky sat down next to Tony.
“Your dad okay with his underage son living with college age adults?” asked Bucky softly.
“It’s better than me living at home,” said Tony with a shrug. “Why else would he let his fourteen year old move into the dorms instead of commuting from home? He hasn’t cared for the last year, he’s not going to care now. He’ll just redirect his check to this building and call it good. He doesn’t care where I live as long as I don’t live at home.”
“Even if he knew you had been threatened?”
“Please,” said Tony, rolling his eyes and shuddering. “As if my dad hasn’t threatened me with the exact same thing for the exact same reason.”
“Sorry,” said Bucky.
Tony shrugged.
“You know that’s not okay, right?” said Bucky. “It’s not okay to threaten you harm because of who you love.”
“I’m not an idiot,” snapped Tony.
“Intelligence has nothing to do with it,” said Bucky calmly. “You can be a genius and it won’t matter when emotions come into play. And having your own father tell you he’ll kill you for how you are is something that will scar anyone. Then to have your roommate say the same things, affirming that type of language, it’s not okay.”
Tony closed his eyes and for the first time looked all his age of 15, like the weight of the world – or his world – was resting solely on his shoulders and starting to make him crumble.
“Hey,” said Bucky softly, waiting until Tony looked up at him. “You have a place to stay now. We’ll figure out the rest as we go, okay? But you don’t have to figure it out by yourself.”
“You barely know me,” said Tony.
“Believe it or not you and Clint have very similar stories. We didn’t let him be homeless then and he won’t let you be homeless now.”
“Yeah, gays gotta stick together,” said Clint, jumping over the couch and landing next to Tony with a grin. “Welcome to the apartment. We’re like a weird, queer, family. Steve is the dad, Bucky here is the mama, and I’m now you’re super amazing big brother. When you come of age I’ll bring you to all the best gay bars and sneak you in to the sketchier ones before you’re of age.”
“Clint no,” groaned Phil. “You absolutely will not corrupt this kid. I will divorce you if you try.”
“That was the worst marriage proposal I’ve ever heard,” said Clint, wrinkling his nose. “Just for that I’m going to start the corruption tonight. Tony, come on, I’m finding you the most ridiculous outfit and taking you out.”
Tony laughed as Clint dragged him to the bedroom. Phil sat on the couch in defeat, though a small smile played at his lips because Clint had made leaps and bounds in his self confidence since getting out of his toxic household and he was sure that, under his care, Tony would too. It would just take time and there was no time to start like tonight.