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"So, that's the guy you have been mooning over for the last weeks?" Rhodey bit into his sandwich and stared a hole in the back of the blond head. The boy it belonged to was currently sitting with his other jock friends on a table across the cafeteria. He was laughing at something that his friend with the long brown mane had said.
"I'm not mooning. I'm Tony Stark, I don't moon over someone. Especially not some stupid jock." Tony grumbled and took a large bite of his apple. It was lunch break and students were swarming the place, it was loud, packed, and smelled of food, sweat, and cheap cologne.
"What does Pepper say?" Rhodey answered and fixed his stare now on Tony.
"She calls it crushing, but that is also incorrect. I'm not crushing on a, and I have to repeat myself, stupid jock." Tony took a sip from his diet coke. Him and crushing? On a football player? Never. Absolutely laughable. Hilarious. Though the guy had a sweet butt. Not that Tony would ever say so out loud.
"You just said so out loud. I don't wanna hear about some guy's butt, Tony. I'm still eating and very much straight as you should know." Rhodey pointed at his lunch and threw a friendly glare his way.
"Sorry platypus, you know I'm out and proud and got no filter." The smaller boy rubbed his hand over the side of his face and fixed his glasses awkwardly afterward.
His best friend wouldn't let the topic be, ever since that extremely embarrassing moment in the hallway almost two months ago where he'd met the new transfer student Steve Rogers for the first time. Those stupidly handsome blue eyes had him captivated and in retrospect it felt like some cheesy Disney movie moment.
To his question why he'd never seen the hot guy before if he was going to their school for about a month when they'd met, Pepper had simply rolled her eyes and answered with a snippy comment about him being too busy to even remember to eat when he was working in the school's workshop, never mind noticing one new face on a school with a few hundred students. Tony had stuttered and then shut his mouth because he had no comeback to that.
It was true after all.
"I'm not mooning and I'm not crushing on the guy." Tony started to defend himself. "He's a jock. I'm a nerd and aware of it. Jocks and nerds don't go together, that's like a fundamental rule of high school. Just like cheerleaders are skinny, the chess club is boring, and the quarterback isn't gay. There are bookworms, loners, school band singers, basketball players, the guy that smokes weed in the bathroom, and the dude who sells porn mags, and so on. Most are average, like you and Pepper. Football players whereas are beefy bullies like Rumlow, who shove nerdy nerds like me into lockers. That's it. This is the way." He absentmindedly rubbed his palm over the bruise on his arm from his last encounter with said asshole.
"Nerdy nerds, huh?" Rhodey muttered and flicked pieces of his sandwich at him. "Tony you're rambling. And quoting Star Wars again. Also don't let Pepper hear you call her average, she'll rip your head off."
Tony swatted the sandwich pieces away. "I'll keep my head as long as you don't rat me out. And that's not just Star Wars, Rhodey, that's The Mandalorian, okay? The Baby Yoda Show, Baby Yoda is the cutest thing ever."
"I thought you said Rogers' smile was the cutest thing ever?" His friend teased him.
"Oh, shut up!" Tony groaned and was infinitely relieved when finally the bell rang for the end of lunch break. He stood up, got his things and together with his friend Tony left the cafeteria, pointedly not looking over to where Steve Rogers was still sitting.
If he had risked the teasing he'd gotten from Rhodes and stolen a glance over to the group of jocks, he'd have maybe caught the shy but intrigued look the blond transfer student was sporting as he watched Tony and Rhodey go to their next classes.
“Let me get this straight.” Tony ran his hand through his already messy hair. His glasses were slightly crooked and he was in desperate need for a new cup of coffee, since he forgot to sleep last night, too occupied with the car he was fixing at home. “You want me to help you study for the upcoming physics test.”
The computer on his work table beeped in sync to the blasting rock music that was audible from the tinny speakers of Tony's headphones that were laying on the table. Tony'd taken the liberty to reserve one of the old biology labs in the basement for himself, to work on his programming for an A.I. and his preparations for MIT where he would study next year after he'd leave Shield High early, with permission of principal Fury.
Along with three computer screens, two keyboards, various blueprints and schematics, there were tools and scrap metal of every size and color laying around, byproducts of moments where Tony needed to clear his head from programming and had the urge to build something with his hands instead, like a talking toaster or a walking flatiron. The old sewing machine that he wanted to turn into a Transformer was still a heap of components, and the rough sketches for his very own Millennium Falcon space ship were decorating the walls.
Nobody except for Rhodey, Pepper, and maybe sometimes Bruce or Peter would dare to visit his “dungeon” when he was in work mode, so he didn't see the need to keep the place extraordinarily clean. Currently Tony was on his own, at least he was, until he felt a finger carefully poking his shoulder. He'd nearly pushed his keyboard over the edge of the table with the way he jumped surprised.
The owner of the finger was wearing the school's track suit top, had a blue backpack with red zippers and a white star over one shoulder, and looked rather sheepish for startling him.
Tony might have repeated the words Steve Rogers of all people had spoken to him, but it seemed the true core of the provided information was stuck between his ears and his brain, and he wasn't really sure that this wasn't just a coffee induced hallucination.
“Yeah. I'd be really grateful if you did.” Steve answered and it sounded honest. There was a tiny red tinge to his face that Tony couldn't identify. “Everyone says you're a genius and I thought I'd just try my luck and ask you for help-"
“Well, I certainly am a genius, that much is true-" Tony started to interrupt but Steve barreled on.
"And Bucky's girlfriend told me you'd help me out, if you aren't busy being chicken shit about it-"
Tony squeaked indignantly. "I'm not being chicken shit! Who said that?"
"Natasha Romanoff."
Tony shut his mouth instantly. "I'm manly enough to admit that I'm chicken shit when it comes to that scary woman."
"Great, that means we'll see each other tomorrow after school. Thanks, Tony!"
And suddenly Steve was gone. The only sounds in the room were the beeping of the computer, the headphones on the table and the ticking of the clock on the wall that Pepper had forced upon Tony. Said genius sat in his swivel chair and stared at the ground where Steve had stood only seconds ago.
"... what just happened?"
A cool voice with a British accent answered him from the speakers of his computer. "It seems that you just agreed to help Mr Rogers with his physics studies, sir."
"No shit, Sherlock."
Wednesday afternoon came faster than expected and somehow Pepper had found out that Tony had accidentally agreed to tutor Steve. She constantly bugged him to stick to his promise, otherwise Tony would have indeed chickened out and skipped his appointment with the newest addition to the football team.
Maybe it was just his imagination but he could swear that everyone in the school was giving him weird looks, including principal Fury and vice principal Coulson. The final push came when Natasha Romanoff cracked her knuckles in PE that day while staring Tony into the ground before she started to beat the living shit out of the sandbag. That was the last hint Tony needed to not stand Steve up.
He somehow found himself on time in the library after his last class for the day explaining physics to Steve. He had to admit that the guy was seemingly not just a pretty face. The living Ken doll had a surprisingly dry sense of humor and a witty kind of charm, that inevitably drew Tony in. Teaching him was also more fun and simpler than Tony had anticipated.
Agreeing to another study session together was easy after Steve promised to bring some of his mother's apparently famous cupcakes as a thank you present.
They met again on Friday after Steve's football training, then on Monday before training, and after some hesitant questioning, Tony agreed to let Steve into his workshop slash lab on Tuesday, to show him some of his own work and introduce him to JARVIS after their physics studies. Pepper and Rhodey came to Tony's lab that day, proclaiming it was pure coincidence, and Tony was sure that he saw Pepper sneakily take some photos of the two of them while Tony vividly tried to explain a topic with his hands and arms waving around like crazy.
She denied it.
Still, Tony just knew.
He felt his face heat up, when Steve asked when he'd be allowed to come again and swallowed the butterflies he absolutely ignored to have in his belly down, while muttering a permission for Steve to come whenever he felt like it, since Tony could be found in his workshop almost every day after school.
It somehow became a habit for Steve to bring Tony something to eat as payment for his time and tutoring, and after Peter, Tony's unofficial apprentice, had found the burrito paper in the trash can he made sure to tag along once in a while, not so sneakily stealing food from Tony's plate until Steve one day showed up with an extra paper bag full of spicy Mexican food for him.
A month after they started studying and one week after Steve's physics test, did Steve enter Tony's workshop with a huge grin on his handsome face, floating a few inches above the ground, and proudly showed him his test. A big 100 was scribbled on the top in Dr Strange's typical scrawl. They decided to screw studying for the day and Tony invited Steve to his favorite burger joint to celebrate. The afternoon went by fast and they kept on talking and laughing until it was late and Tony imagined he saw Steve blushing in the darkness as the bigger boy said his thanks.
Now he doesn't need me anymore, he's going to leave, flitted through Tony's head the whole weekend, but Steve loved to defy all expectations and turned up on the doorstep of his workshop on Tuesday afternoon with his homework, a sketchbook and a bunch of pencils. Sometimes the two of them lost track of time and Steve would run late for football practice. Tony felt bad about that, since Steve seemed to enjoy it immensely, but the blond assured him it was okay.
Anyhow, the food thing didn't stop even though they were no longer studying but simply spending time together and with the food came the people and somehow Steve ended up being friends with Rhodey, Pepper and even Tony's science brothers Bruce and Peter.
Scarily enough this also worked the other way round.
Tony was introduced to Steve's teammates Thor the exchange student from Norway, Bucky Barnes and his scary girlfriend Natasha Romanoff, Sam Wilson and Clint Barton the undefeated king of billiard, who were apparently the only normal guys in a team that consisted mainly of dickheads like Rumlow, Hammer and Killian.
Foolishly Tony had had the hope that his new and developing friendships would spare him from the almost daily bullying, but no such luck. It seemed that the members of the football team that Tony had befriended didn't have a single class together with him and Tony only saw them at lunch break, which gave especially Rumlow and Hammer lots of time to call him names when they thought no one was listening, throw paper balls at his head in class and shove him against the lockers in the hallway.
It was okay, he was used to it by now, had even provoked it by coming out as gay and making them look foolish in class when compared to his brains. Nothing serious, nothing to make a fuss about.
His Super Special Hopefully Limited Edition Stark Luck (capital letters absolutely necessary) stroke again when he was just arriving at school that fateful day.
It was a cold November Wednesday and Tony had plans to meet up with Steve after his football practice. He planned to get the blond up to date with pop culture classics and wanted to let him choose between Star Wars and Terminator. It would be the first time they'd meet outside of school, and since Tony's parents weren't at home, just like always, they had the large flat screen TV and the popcorn machine to themselves. He felt giddy, the idea of having Steve over made him smile like a loon.
He pushed his glasses up his nose and made his way over from the school's parking lot to the front entrance. He was running late again, traffic had been hell, but Dr Pym knew his antics and turned a blind eye to his delays most of the time. The hallways were empty, all of the students were already in class and Tony enjoyed the quietness of the place for once. Not meeting his friends before class started was kind of sad on the other hand.
Tony shrugged out of his warm jacket and opened his locker to get his books for Dr Pym's classes when he heard fast steps echoing down the hallway. Thinking it was from other students who were late for class, he didn't bother to turn around. That was his first mistake.
Tony barely had time to register the hand that had grabbed the back of his sweater when his face collided hard with the cold metal of the lockers. He grunted in pain when he felt the frame of his glasses stab his temple. His books and papers fell to the ground and Tony tasted blood. Split lip, he assumed.
Forcefully he was turned around and slammed into the lockers once again. Wincing he held his hand to his spinning and throbbing head. His glasses fell down, the frame was broken but the lenses were still okay. His eyes weren't that bad that he couldn't identify the looming figures in front of him, of which one held him upright with a painful grip on his shoulder.
“Brock, Justin and Aldrich. It's been a while. You're late for class.” Tony swallowed down the blood in his mouth. Wouldn't do him any good to spit it on the bullies' shoes.
“Stark, what a lucky coincidence to meet you.” Rumlow's voice was a growl. His dark hair reeked of cheap styling gel. “We wanted to talk to you in private if you know what we mean.”
“If it's about safe sex you should ask your teachers, I'm not gonna explain the birds and the bees to you.” Tony's second mistake was his mouth. He simply had no filter, come hell or high water.
Rumlow's fist connected with his face and if the guy wasn't taller by a head and holding him up with one arm, Tony would have been on the ground that same moment. His head slammed back into the wall by sheer force and he scrunched his eyes shut against the wave of pain. Everything throbbed, his nose, his temple and his left cheek felt like they were on fire and Tony couldn't hold the groan of pain in that escaped his bleeding lip.
“Listen closely, you little fag, I'm only gonna say this once.” Rumlow shook his shoulder and Tony hissed in pain. “You may have tricked Rogers and his merry crew of misfits into pitying your sorry ass, but if your existence is going to be the reason why they're slacking, then you'll have to suffer the consequences.”
Tony's thoughts were tumbling around like drunken, it was hard to string words together to form proper sentences in his head. Rumlow's words didn't make sense until they suddenly did. All three of them, Rumlow and Hammer and Killian, were dependent on the success of the football team. If the team lost too many matches, they'd lose their football scholarships for university, and Thor, Clint, Bucky, and especially Steve had ditched training repeatedly in the last weeks to spend time with Tony and his friends.
For a genius Tony was pretty dumb. He opened his mouth to laugh right into Rumlow's stupid face. Steve didn't need the football team for university, neither did one of Steve's friends.
"Shut the fuck up, you dirty ass fucker!"
This time Tony expected the fist that collided with his gut, but it didn't hurt any less. Killian had a mean swing, everybody knew so, since he liked to brag with his boxing skills. Rumlow let go of his shoulder and he slid down to the ground with a pained groan. He doubled up with pain and held onto his middle. The cool tiles of the hallway against side brought a short relief from the throbbing.
Rumlow spat on the ground next to where he was laying and stepped wordless over his body, not caring that he left dirty shoe prints all over Tony's papers. Killian made a point to step on the remains of Tony's glasses when he followed Rumlow and Tony heard the scrunching sound of broken glass somewhere behind him.
Hammer had held himself back up until now, but Tony wasn't fooled. The smeary bastard had always preferred words over fists, a silver lining on his private horizon of pain. He crouched down in front of Tony and held a fresh packet of tissues out for him to see.
“Oh, Anthony, if only you could hear what he says about you. Don't get your hopes up, the whole football team is placing bets on when he's finally gonna ditch your pathetic ass. I guess a proper man like Rogers can only endure so much gay shit before he finally snaps. Don't take it to heart, it's inevitable. I just hope I'll be there to see it.” And with this Hammer stood up again and placed the tissues on the ground, making sure they were safely out of Tony's reach before he turned around to follow after his cronies.
The next few moments passed slowly and Tony concentrated on regulating his breathing. Hammer's words were stinging and loud in his memory in the quiet of the school, and Tony felt his heart break a little at them. He promised himself that he'd never cry again over something as stupid as being bullied in school. He swore it, and yet the tears were falling faster than he'd like to admit.
The school around him was still quiet, which he was thankful for, because he's sure that he wouldn't be able to form proper words right now, that didn't consist of cursing and a weird, slurred mishmash of agony and self-pity, much less stand up and pretend nothing happened. He stayed on the ground for another few minutes until he managed to swallow his sobs and blink away the tears that had appeared against all futile attempts.
Carefully he sat up and observed the chaos around him bleary eyed. He needed to get his things back together. Slowly and with great effort he got his papers back into his backpack, closed his locker again, and was now more leaning than standing against the locker wall. He eyed the sad excuse of plastic and glass that was once his glasses and was just thinking about how he'd clean that one up, when he was suddenly getting nauseous.
Everything swam before his eyes and he got a churning feeling in his stomach that told him he needed to throw up now. As fast as his current state allowed him to, he grabbed his backpack and jacket and wobbled down the hallway and into the next bathroom where he barely managed to get to the toilet just in time for his hurting stomach to get rid of his meager breakfast that mostly consisted of coffee and cereal.
After emptying his belly, Tony stumbled to the sinks planning to wash his mouth and maybe press a wet paper tissue to his flaring face but before he could do so, he caught sight of his reflection in the mirror.
Fucking shit, no wonder it was hard to look where he went. The left side of his face was already a dark purple and his eye was swollen shut. Dried blood stuck to his lips. Carefully he lifted both hands to pull up the hem of his sweater. Another bruise bloomed on his torso. He winced when he accidentally brushed his knuckles over the sore spot.
Tony let go of his shirt and gripped the sides of the sink with both hands until his knuckles were white. He swallowed the bile that threatened to rise in his throat again. His breathing was erratic and hurt like a bitch. He couldn't go to class looking like that. The teacher would call his parents and Tony didn't need a lecture from Howard, a man who wasn't home most of the time, not even for Thanksgiving or Christmas. The real Jarvis was no longer around anymore and Tony didn't dare to drive home alone in this state. He couldn't even walk properly, there was no way he was risking his own and maybe someone else's life with careless driving.
Tony stole a glance at his watch and the movement made him nauseous again. He had another twenty minutes before the hallways would be packed with students switching classrooms. He'd just go down to his dungeon, hide away until he was stable enough to drive again and then he'd go home and call in sick. Good plan, great even, Tony wasn't a genius for nothing.
The walk down to the basement was slow and painful. The cooler air of the staircase was stinging like needles. Fucking finally, after three minutes of fumbling with the key to the room, Tony managed to throw his things onto one of the work tables and collapsed on the old couch in the far corner with a loud groan, the couch were Steve would normally sit and draw for hours.
Tony blearily searched for his first aid kit. He found it under the scrap box on the right side of the couch. He opened one bottle and took a random amount of painkillers to swallow them dry. He knew he should stand up again, cool his face so the bruises would go away faster and inform at least Rhodey or Pepper where he was, but the traitorous couch was just so comfortable and Tony felt like he'd been run over by a bus.
Tony just wanted to rest for a few minutes, he'd do all of the important stuff when he woke up again. Just a few more minutes. He slid down sideways to lay on his back, careful of his stomach and face. Maybe he'd get rid of Hammer's words that still echoed in his head. The guy was a lying douchebag.
He just hoped he'd locked the door after stumbling in, didn't need a teacher to find him in his current state…
“-ny? Tony? Are you here?”
A voice cut through the fog in Tony's head but he was just so exhausted, too exhausted to stand up and tell the intruder to go and fuck himself.
He must have made some kind of sound, because suddenly the footsteps were coming closer and closer. Tony closed his eyes again. Everything still hurt so much, those painkillers were shit. He tried to keep his groan to himself but he just didn't succeed in swallowing his grunt down that escaped his dry lips. This alerted to owner of the footsteps.
Footstep-owner, what a funny word.
“Tony? Oh my God, Tony!"
Tony felt hands on his shoulder and his chin. And he groaned again. This hurt!
"Tony, what happened to you? Shit! Come on, open your eyes! Do you have a concussion? Tony? Tony, can you hear me?"
Grudgingly Tony opened his eyes and blinked the sleep away. At least, he tried to. Oh, right. His left eye was swollen shut and from the throbbing he could probably rival a Tom & Jerry cartoon one. The worn fabric under his finger indicated that he was still laying on the couch in his workshop. Steve's face hovered over him, worried and frowning. Why was Steve here? Shouldn't he be in class? His hair looked so soft, Tony wanted to touch it.
"Classes are over Tony. It's already afternoon." Steve answered him and there was a tiny blush high on his cheeks. It suited him. Oh, shit, was he talking out loud again?
"Yeah you are." Steve cleared his throat and carefully took him by the shoulders to help him sit up.
Steve went and was back in the blink of an eye, a bottle of water and some pills in his hands. He wordlessly motioned for Tony to take them and started to rummage through the first aid kit on the ground, where he apparently found what he was looking for, disinfect and sterile pads. He sat down next to Tony.
The teen genius took the pills under Steve's worried gaze and hissed in pain when the blond softly dabbed the wipes on his open lip to carefully remove the dried blood. Tracing the lines of the other's face, Tony relished the proximity and the careful ministrations. Steve's hands were gentle, like he cared. Tony liked that thought. None of them said anything for quite some time, though Tony could see that Steve was literally biting his tongue to keep his questions in check for now.
Once the world was back into place and Tony was sitting properly on the couch he realized that the clock on the wall read mid afternoon. His eyes widened and he grabbed Steve's sweater. "You need to go to the field, you got football training and you're late already!"
"What are you talking about? I'm not leaving your here on your own when you're injured." There was that stubborn set to Steve's jaw that made him so successful on the football field. Tony had wanted to touch it ever since it appeared for the first time in his presence, when Steve was working hard on his physics studies, oblivious to his thoughts.
"Where are your glasses anyway? And before you even try to distract me with something, you're going to tell me what happened to your face? Your workshop looks like always, so it wasn't an explosion or anything like that. Also, don't tell me you pulled some stunt like proving Newton wrong and make your own law of gravity, you're too smart for stupid shit like that.”
“Your trust in me is flattering. And I'm pretty sure that was the first time you cursed.” Tony attempted with a shrug. “I don't wanna talk about it, Steve. Just let it be.”
“No, I won't let it be, Tony. You're really stupid for a genius, you know that?” Steve allowed a small smile at the indignant face the smaller boy made at the comment. “I won't give up until you tell me what really happened. Seeing your face this way worries me.”
“What? You gonna tell me you normally like what you see?” Tony tried to divert with a wink that kind of fell flat with one eye swollen shut. When Steve didn't budge he sighed and dropped the fake smile. It was probably definitely not the best idea to try and lie directly into Steve's face. “Your teammates had something to discuss with me and we didn't share the same opinion. There. You happy now?”
“What?!” Steve was the picture of utter shock. “You got to be kidding me?! You were being beaten up? Who, who dared to-? Tell me their names, Tony! Who was it?”
Tony let his head fall back to rest on the back of the couch and stared at the ceiling. Steve's emotional outburst was balm for his soul. Even though Tony didn't want to think about Hammer's words, and was sure that they weren't true, they'd still stung.
“It doesn't matter who it was, Steve. It's nothing new. Well the whole hitting-square-in-the-face shtick is new, but the rest of the treatment is neither innovative nor exciting, that's yesterday's news.” Tony laid his hand unconsciously on top of the bruise that bloomed on his torso and carefully rubbed over the painful spot.
Steve blanched. His voice was quiet as if he hoped the truth would not be true if he didn't say it out loud. “Are you telling me that you're being bullied by the football team?”
A bitter laugh escaped Tony, and he winced when his stomach hurt from the movement. “Are you really asking me that, Steve? Of course I'm being bullied by the football team. I'm a nerd. I explained it to Rhodey before, this is high school, the most fertile breeding ground for bullying next to university or kindergarten, or, let's say, retirement homes maybe. Stupid jocks shove nerdy nerds into lockers and the nerdy nerds just swallow it all down, if they don't want to get their head dunked into the toilet bowl every other day. One of the oldest rules of mankind.”
Silence answered him and Tony suddenly got a dreading feeling in his gut. He lifted his head from the couch and looked over to where Steve was sitting next to him. His friend looked unsure, self-aware and disappointed. This was something Tony never wanted to see on his face.
He opened his mouth a few times fruitlessly and Steve started shifting in his spot, crossing his strong arms defensive in front of his impressive chest, it made his muscles shift under his sweater. He stared holes into the worn fabric of the couch between them.
Steve had to clear his throat a few times before he managed to get a word out. “So… Am I also just another stupid jock to you? Is that why you won't tell me their names or why exactly you didn't tell me that this happened to you in the weeks we've spent together?”
He started to turn away from Tony and that was just not okay. Tony hated feels talk, but he would not be responsible for Steve feeling guilty over something he didn't even do.
“Hey, no no no, Steve look at me! You might be a jock but you're also a good guy.” Tony rambled, he knew he rambled, but he couldn't stop, not now. He wanted to lay his hand on Steve's arm, but wasn't sure that this was a good idea at the moment. “Actually, you're one of the best guys I know, okay? You're the exception that proves the rule! You're such a good guy, you make Santa Claus feel ashamed of himself. Steve, you are not stupid, you're smart! Well, except for when it comes to physics obviously and not as smart as I am, but then who is, but you're not depending on your success as an athlete to get into university. It's the others, those stupid jocks and nerds like me don't mix, okay, Steve? Look at me? Don't turn away, please...”
His last words were a whisper and there was so much truth in them, that he might just have to build a time machine and wind back to the moment to punch his past self, well, not in the face that much was obvious, but maybe in the shin for uttering them at all.
Slowly the blond football player turned back around and looked at him. Really looked at him. His face was unreadable, beautiful pink lips pressed into a tight line and crystal blue eyes mapping out every inch of Tony's face. And Tony found himself starting to squirm under the intense gaze when Steve finally spoke up again. “The exception, huh?”
“Yeah, exactly! It's true, you gotta believe me!” Tony wrung his hands together, he was anxious how this conversation was going to end. He didn't want to lose Steve, his friend and crush, to a stupid comment that he'd uttered without thinking further ahead. “I'll prove it, just tell me what I need to do, to make you believe me. I'll do anything, I swear! No matter what you want to, I trust you and I will prove it-”
“Go on a date with me.”
“Pardon me?”
Tony stared.
And stared some more.
For good measure he decided to stare a bit more after that. He tried the words on his tongue and somehow they seemed to calm and shake him at the same time. This made no sense.
“Go on a date with me.” Steve repeated and, yep, there was that adorable blush that Tony wanted to touch so badly since the first time he'd seen it. “A real date. Not just lunch in the cafeteria.”
“You- you mean the… the whole shebang? Like candles and tuxedos and butlers with white gloves and a Pretty Woman atmosphere?” Tony stuttered.
Something must be wrong, maybe the hit to the face Tony'd gotten had damaged his brain somehow. Steve couldn't ask Tony out for a date, Steve was a football player and a successful one at that, he needed to get himself a beatiful but vain cheerleader girlfriend and make out with her in the school yard so everyone could see it.
“No, not exactly what I had in mind.” Steve admitted with a tiny smile that let his eyes sparkle. His cheeks were pink again. He uncrossed his arms and shuffled a bit closer until their thighs were touching. “I thought about inviting you to my favorite pizzeria, then maybe cinema or just going for a walk in Central Park until it's late enough so we can imagine that the stars are visible.”
Tony swallowed and watched Steve's lips move when he spoke. And he felt his face heat up, which was really awkward when paired up with the throbbing of his left side.“Oh, okay, that sounds good, lovely even. I'd totally want to hear your recommendations if we would go eat out... As friends? Would we go out as friends? Because this conversation could totally be misinterpreted! I just need to know if you're asking as a friend or- or- you know, err, something else? Which would be ridiculous, 'cause you're not gay and could definitely do better than me, like you could get every girl on this school if you wanted to and really put your mind to it and you're-”
“I don't want someone else, Tony, I want you. The stupid, adorable, pretty and brilliant science and fiction nerd with an attitude, who I've wanted to ask out since the moment I saw him in the hallways for the first time.” Steve lifted one hand to gently brush some stray strands of brown hair from Tony's forehead and somehow his hand stayed up there, brushing through the short hair at his nape, which sent pleasurable shivers down Tony's spine.
“Oh my God.” Tony breathed and since when were the two of them sharing the same air? Steve's lips were only inches apart from his. “That means the fucking Disney magic eye contact moment really worked back then...”
Steve opened his mouth to reply to his smart response but Tony was done with talking. The magical stare had been a success and Tony would be damned if he let this opportunity slip away. Their fingers tangled on top of their thighs, their lips met in an awkward, unexperienced angle and the kiss only lasted about two seconds, before the smaller boy pulled back, hissing at the pain that shot through his face when they'd bumped together. But, damn, those were the best two seconds of Tony's whole life up until now.
Absolutely worth it.
“Sorry.” He offered as an apology to Steve who was looking equal times amused and worried. “Let's try this again, just a bit more gently, okay? Okay, okay, let's try, please.”
Steve chuckled low in his throat and it did funny things to Tony's belly and the butterflies he seemed to have swallowed. Their second kiss was gentler, just a soft press of lips on lips and Tony was prepared to pull away after a few seconds when Steve shifted and now his lips were at the corner of his mouth, then suddenly on his bottom lip, up again and back to the middle, carefully avoiding his injury.
When it was over Tony was dazed and uncertain when he'd closed his eyes. He opened them again and- wow. Steve was smiling down at him in a way Tony hadn't seen before and boy, could he get used to that.
“Can we do this again when we go to our date?” Tony asked with a smirk and relished how Steve turned pink. He had no illusions that he wasn't beet red himself but it was still nice to see.
“Since I'm planning on making you my boyfriend, we can do this all day long.” The reply came without hesitation and Tony leaned in once again for another kiss, looking forward to their date.
Yep, he could definitely get used to that.
“I missed the glasses. They suit you.”
Steve's fingers played with Tony's hands. The were sitting on a bench in the school yard, Tony's back to Steve's broad chest. Their breath was visible in the cool air.
A week had passed since the fateful day in the workshop and the bruises Tony was sporting were now no longer purple, red and black, but a sickly green and yellow color. Pepper had offered Tony some make up to cover them, but since it left stains on Steve's clothes when they cuddled, he refrained from using it.
“Good. I plan on sticking with glasses. Contact lenses are a pain to put in.” Tony snuggled deeper into Steve's warmth. It was lunch break, but due to the temperature there weren't a lot of students outside. Usually Tony would be inside as well but Steve had coaxed him outside for some fresh air with the promise of snuggling to stay warm.
“Are you free this evening? I still didn't get you to watch Return of the King, because someone distracted me with cookies and his impressive lip skills. Does this sound familiar to you, Captain?”
Steve groaned good naturedly and Tony took this as permission to continue using the new nickname.
Steve had dragged Tony to the school nurse after their feels talk last week and reported the bullying to the teachers. Nurse Hill and vice principal Coulson had called the parents of the three dickheads Rumlow, Killian, and Hammer, and the final result was that the three of them were kicked off the football team, lost their scholarships for college and got detention for the rest of the year. Steve had promptly become new team captain and his friends, and most of all Tony, had taken to sometimes call him Cap even outside of training.
“If I remember correctly, you weren't that aversed to the making out part. Or the cookies. Even got some sweet hickeys out of it.” Steve nosed Tony's neck were said hickeys were and Tony giggled and squirmed in Steve's arms at the feeling of his boyfriend's cold nose on his warm skin.
His boyfriend. His boyfriend.
Yeah, Tony wanted to get used to that.
“I'm gonna give you some nice lovebites in return, just you watch.” Tony grinned and welcomed the kiss Steve gingerly placed on his lips.
“I'm looking forward to it, babe.”
Maybe Tony needed to revisit his philosophy of high school. Jocks and nerds went great together.