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Rhodey was a leech in a previous life. Tony was convinced of it.
Ever since last week's Ink incident, which shall never be spoken of if Rhodey wants girls to ever date him again, the boy had not left Tony's side. Oh no, it wasn't because of guilt or other noble virtues. It was fear. Plain, stinking fear, because Rhodey knew that Tony would have his revenge and do it better. The ink had taken two entire days to get off from his body entirely and Pepper had gotten a dozen photos of him in blue skin as blackmail material for the future. Sure, Tony could pull off nonchalance but nobody liked blue butts. In Rhodey's defense, he hadn't known that Tony's shorts were loose and that the ink would stain his ass but...oh wait, Rhodey had no defense.
Goddamned best friend of a curse.
Tony had been magnanimous in his pretense, telling Rhodey that he had won and that they could end the war but he was not a competitive person for nothing. He would get his revenge and get it good, in good time. The bane of having a best friend from diaper-time was that Rhodey, the ass, seemed to have sensed this.
Hence the leech like sticking to Tony now, because Tony could not prank him if he was in his line of sight at all times.
Tony didn't know if he should feel proud of Rhodey's devious thinking or annoyed of his own lost opportunities. He would have been the former if he did not feel peeved by the latter. He had to get even and soon, before things got cold. There were a million ideas he could put to use to pull a gleeful one over Rhodey but he was shooting for the stars this time. He needed something memorable, something Rhodey would absolutely hate. Something that would give Tony pictures that he could use as blackmail material for the rest of his life.
The idea came to him in the middle of the night on Sunday, like all good ideas do. His parents ignored him when he let out a loud evil cackle, probably due to them being used to his insanity.
********
"This is $100" Clint stated for the sake of hearing it out loud himself, staring at the note in his hand and then at the maniac in front of him who had slapped it in his hand out of nowhere.
"I know!" Tony crowed and Clint blinked when the boy seemed to be vibrating where he stood. Tony looked like he suddenly realized that they were standing under the bleachers, with Clint staring at him like he was crazy and huffed a chuckle. "Look, you prank well, I've seen you get a couple over Romanov herself. Sure, you're not as good as me, but seeing as you simply have to do the job and not think it up, I guess you'll do fine."
"You're paying me $100 to prank someone" Clint clarified as he squinted at the note to check if Tony was pranking him with a false one.
"I'm paying you $100 as compensation for when he comes after you to kill you," Tony waved his hand dismissively and Clint blinked at him before breaking out in a smirk.
"You're crazy" he commented and Tony grinned.
"Thanks!" he nodded and Clint rolled his eyes, "now, do we have a deal?"
"You want me to dump a bucket of glitter on this guy, right?" Clint asked with a raised eyebrow and Tony nodded.
"Yup, he hates glitter"
"Everybody hates glitter" Clint pointed out and Tony shrugged.
"Darcy doesn't"
Clint stared at him for a minute before shaking his head and shrugging.
"Alright, deal" he put of his hand and Tony shook it with a smirk.
"Great"
"Tell me his name again?" Clint asked as Tony started to leave.
Tony was about to say 'Rhodey', he really was. But nobody called him Rhodey apart from Tony and Pepper. Everybody else called him James.
"James" he said finally and added in case Clint didn't get it, "You won't be able to miss him. He's on the football team."
Clint seemed to think for a minute before a knowing look entered his face.
"Ah! Got it. I know the guy," he nodded and Tony shot him a thumbs-up before turning around and running back to class, where he knew Rhodey would be searching for him.
Clint Barton might be a permanently stoned rumor but Tony was sure that he'd be able to pull this off. Oh, the face of Rhodey when this happens would be worth every penny!
***********
Bucky was having a really bad day.
First his bike had broken down in the middle of the road on the way to school, which meant that he had to take a ride with Stevie but the punk had left early for practice. So, Bucky had taken the bus and he hated taking the bus, mostly because of the way people stared at his arm in either horror, revulsion or discomfort. Then he had reached practice late and gotten a really long lecture from Coach Pierce, not to mention the sad looks from Stevie mixed with the guilty face when the punk tried to apologize for leaving without Bucky.
Things had gone worse from there when Bucky had forgotten his Algebra work in his hurry and Mr. Sitwell, the ass, had made non-stop snide remarks over the 'regular lazy behavior' more because he was an elitist dick and less because Bucky genuinely had problems with the subject. Of course, Rumlow and his cronies hadn't helped when they had baited Bucky and he had almost thrown them into the dumpster for insulting his mom. Principal Fury had seen the fight and had warned Bucky, albeit gently, to stay away from kids like them. He finally thought that he could feel better when he got into Physics and sat in his usual seat, next to the boy he had been crushing over since the beginning of high school.
Tony Stark was the son of one of the most prominent businessmen and scientists of the country, Howard Stark. Bucky had always been impressed with the man's inventions but he thought that he was a dick of a person in reality. Somehow the way the man treated people when he came down to school during the rare occasions and the stories he had heard from his dad, who had once known him, made Bucky not care for him much. Tony, on the other hand, was interesting in ways Bucky didn't know to express in words. He was shorter than Bucky, in the way that would be perfect for a cuddle or a warm hug, had beautiful brown eyes that always looked open and expressive, and had this little grin that he sometimes flashed Bucky making Bucky feel that the notion of butterflies in the stomach was not entirely false. He was a little shit, always with a sassy quip on his lips, a mischievous wink ever ready and a mind that ran faster than Bucky's heartbeat.
But that was not why Bucky was hopelessly gone on him. Well, that was not the only reason he was gone on him.
Tony had this way of making Bucky feel normal and happy, sometimes with his stupid jokes and other times with his genuine appreciation of Bucky's work. He had absolutely no knowledge of football but he still paid attention when Bucky spoke about some new idiocy one of his teammates had sprung up in the last match. In return, Tony would rant about some robot or something he was working on currently, because apparently that was something geniuses did in their free time, and Bucky would be stuck staring at his brilliance and gleeful face. Whenever Bucky would be lost in class with whatever Mr. Selvig was droning about, Tony would pull his chair closer and pass him chits, explaining in simple terms. He never lent him notes or offered pitying looks though and quietly backed off if Bucky seemed uncomfortable about some help. Bucky would be struck by ridiculous urges to pull him across his lap and hug him tight whenever Tony would shoot him a small grin, eyes sparkling from over his crazily adorable red framed glasses or when he would give an exaggerated pout when Bucky would ignore him in difference to actually listening in class. Bucky had imagined innumerable times what it would be like to simply lean over and kiss that pout, tasting the boy's manic energy and laughter.
It was, as Stevie eloquently put it, absolutely pathetic and depressing in rainbow shades.
"Psst" Bucky snapped out of his day-dream and glanced to his side to see Tony passing him a chit in a way he must have thought was inconspicuous. It was completely negated by the crazy grin accompanied on his face. Bucky took the chit from him and shot him a look that told him to turn front, because he might enjoy Tony's attention but he didn't want Selvig to catch them and ask them to sit separately again. The last time it had happened, Bucky was forced to sit with Sam, who spent the entire time playing with magnets on Bucky's arm.
Meet me after school at the auditorium. Bucky frowned at the chit, ignoring the butterflies in his stomach and quickly scribbled a question underneath the sentence, returning the chit.
Wat's special?
Tony looked a little nervous when he read the chit and Bucky was immediately filled with the need to say that it didn't matter. He had no problems meeting Tony after school, anywhere honestly. Before he could tear off a page from his notebook and write it down, he saw Tony return the old chit, an unsure smile on his face. Bucky smiled back to assure him that it was fine and opened the chit.
Got something for you. ;)
Bucky let the butterflies fill him up this time. Was Tony flirting with him? Was he finally flirting with him? Did this mean what he thought it meant? Wait, Bucky was wearing his yellow hoodie today. He did not look good in his yellow hoodie. Why the hell had he worn it today?! Did he have pit stains in addition? Did he brush his mouth in the morning? What the hell did he -
"Mr. Barnes, stop sniffing your armpit and look at the board please" Selvig droned and Bucky quickly schooled his features when everyone turned and Stevie, who was sitting next to Romanov, shot him a raised eyebrow. Bucky batted his eyes innocently and did not look at Tony, who was diverting attention from him by baiting Selvig to another science off.
Bucky really needed to get his crush under control with the rate that these butterflies were flying.
*****
Clint had been following James for a better part of the day and found the perfect opportunity to drop the glitter bucket on him when he saw the guy loitering in the auditorium after school.
He kind of felt bad for him for a minute, when he thought back to the way he had noticed the Rumlow guy taunt him earlier during the day. But Clint had $100 and honestly, it was just glitter.
Chalking up any guilt to Tony Stark and his money, Clint adjusted his grip on the bucket and aimed it right from where he was crouched above the stage, right on top of James. He saw a sweater-clad figure dash into the stage just seconds before he dumped the bucket.
Straight onto the head of James Buchanan Barnes.
**********
"What the hell are you talking about?" Tony hissed as he tried to get away from the corner he was forced into by Natasha Romanov and Steve Rogers, both of them looking murderous.
"Barton was muttering about something you're pulling on Bucky. What are you planning?" Steve repeated, narrowing his eyes and trying to look domineering. Tony frowned at him, not the least intimidated by the big lug, especially when he knew that the guy was a big ol' softie and happened to be Bucky's best friend.
"I'm not hurting Bucky, why would you think that?!" he grunted and stilled when Romanov inched closer, making Tony push back into the wall of the bathroom.
"Listen to me Stark, if you're planning to do something bad to Barnes, I promise you -"
"Oh my God, will you back off? I am not doing anything bad to Bucky! Why would I do that to him?! I like him!" Tony huffed and threw his arms up in the air.
"You...like him?" Steve asked with a suspicious frown and Tony scowled at him.
"Yes, genius," Tony scoffed and rolled his eyes, "I like him. I've liked him for a while, and before you ninjas cornered me here, I was going to meet him."
"Why do you like him?" Natasha asked suspiciously and Tony bristled.
"Hey, fuck you," he groused and noticed Steve raising his eyebrows at the angry scowl on Tony's face, "I can like whoever I want. And he's a nice guy. Why wouldn't I like him?"
"What Tasha meant was why you liked him," Steve clarified and Romanoff shrugged in agreement, "I mean, you've never...you don't exactly talk much to him. When you're not in Physics, I mean. Also, you're Tony Stark."
"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Tony hissed and Romanov raised her eyebrow in amusement.
"Relax, медоед" she drawled and he frowned at the Russian word, "Steve means that you don't exactly go around with people from our crowd. You're always stuck with either Potts or Rhodes. And sometimes Banner, if he ever drops in."
"Yeah, and high school cliches of people sticking to their 'cliques' is the norm," Tony shot back sarcastically before turning to Steve, "Look, I don't owe you any explanation of why I like Bucky. I just do. He's a nice guy and he makes me laugh. I don't really like people all that much in general but...I make exceptions rarely and he's one of those, alright?"
Steve stared at him for a minute before the suspicious look on his face cleared and he shot him a small grin. Natasha still looked thoughtful but more in an amused way than threatening.
"Sorry, we just overheard Clint say something about you and Bucky and something bad so we presumed," Steve said apologetically and Tony grunted his acceptance, just wanting to get out of here and meet Bucky, because he was already late.
"Yeah, whatever," he shrugged and was about to move when Romanov spoke up.
"James likes you too, by the way," she said in a teasing tone and Tony froze half-way through, ignoring the way Steve complained about not outing Bucky to Natasha.
"James" Tony breathed and both the others looked at him with frowns.
"Tony, are you okay?" Steve asked in concern at the way Tony had paled.
"James...he's James," Tony said hysterically, things clicking in his head and turned to look at Steve with crazed eyes, "He's James and he's in the football team!"
"Erm, yeah?" Steve offered cautiously but it only served to increase Tony's panic and before anybody could say anything more, Tony had shot out of the bathroom, running at high speed.
Steve and Natasha shared a look before they followed, worried about the sudden change in the boy.
**********
Bucky sighed for the fifteenth time and looked at the watch on his wrist. He had been standing here for quite some time, waiting for Tony. Not that he minded waiting but it was kind of getting awkward, standing alone in the auditorium, not knowing why he was here.
He wondered what Tony had got for him and tried to stop a stupid grin from creeping up his face. In the end, he didn't fight it and grinned happily at the thought.
He was halfway through his fiftieth guess when he heard a shout of his name from the entrance. He turned around, catching a glimpse of Tony's sweater and frowned at the panic in his yell. He was about to open his mouth and ask what happened when two things happened simultaneously.
1. A dump of bright, sticky glitter came down from the ceiling.
2. Tony pounced across the short distance and crashed into Bucky, pushing him down onto the floor, away from the glitter's projectile but sadly a bit late.
"Shit! Fuck! Are you okay?!" Tony huffed and panted into Bucky's ear as he scrambled up on his elbows, shaking glitter off his hair and staring down with wide-blown eyes, "Goddamit! I'm so sorry, I didn't..it wasn't supposed to be you. I honest to God didn't mean for this. Shit! Your arm! You're hair!"
Bucky was still stuck in shock and blinked twice dazedly before he grunted lightly and Tony got off him like he had been burned, not moving a lot way but hovering near him with a panicked look.
Bucky was about to open his mouth when he saw a flash from the corner of his eyes and both him and Tony turned to see Rumlow standing at the stairs of the stage with his phone.
"Would you look at that?" the ass laughed, brandishing the picture, "Oooh, shiny glittery Bucky. Nice one, Stark!"
Tony looked stricken when Bucky stared at him but soon Steve, Natasha along with Pepper Potts and James Rhodes ran into the auditorium and Natasha rounded on Rumlow, threatening him in low tones.
"Hell! Bucky!" Steve whispered and Bucky could hear the horrified tone of his voice but his eyes were stuck on Tony, who looked paler by the minute.
"What the hell, Tones?" Rhodes called out and Bucky saw him scramble onto the stage, looking warily between Tony and Bucky, "What the hell happened here? Steve dashed into us in the hallway and said something about you and Barnes and Barton? What's going on?"
"I just--I didn't--" Tony choked on his words but before he could get a complete sentence out, Steve had strode up and was standing beside Bucky protectively.
"You said you weren't doing anything!" he accused Tony, "You lied to us!"
"I didn't, I just-- it wasn't supposed to be--" Tony floundered again but by now Natasha had come in, dragging Clint by the ear.
"Tell them. Why'd you dump the glitter on Barnes? Tell them!"
"Ow, fuck woman, let go!" Clint wrenched himself away from Natasha's grasp and scowled at her before turning to Tony, "Man, I know you paid me $100 but that was just when Jamie-boy here tried to come after me. You didn't pay me enough for his pals to jump in too."
"Wait, what?" Rhodes asked and turned to Tony, "You paid Barton to prank Barnes?"
"No! Yes! No, I mean -"
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Steve hissed and took a step forward in Tony's direction when finally Bucky spoke up.
"Stop" he said quietly, glitter dropping off his face.
"But Buck, he -"
"I said stop, Stevie," Bucky cut him off before looking at Tony from glitter covered lashes, "It's not worth it."
"Bucky, you can't just -"
"Yes, I can," Bucky told Steve calmly, "Not the first time getting pranked here, remember? Let's go, it's late."
"Bucky, I'm so sorry," Tony spoke up softly but Bucky refused to look at him.
"I thought you were different," he said lowly before turning around and walking out, pulling Steve with him.
Natasha glared at Tony before following them out, dragging Clint by the collar to 'have a talk'.
Tony simply stared at the entrance of the auditorium, his hands clenched at his sides and his eyes stinging. Pepper looked like she was going to say something but Rhodey looked at her and shook his head.
"C'mon Tones, let's go," he said gently, putting an arm around the shaking and stunned boy, guiding him out of the glitter strewn stage.
Tony dully let Rhodey take him on numb legs. He hadn't known that fricking glitter could hurt his heart so much.
************
"You should tell him," Pepper said quietly, standing beside Tony, looking at him with a concerned look as he placed his books in his locker.
Tony didn't reply and simply pulled out his books for the next class.
"Tony, you can't keep doing this to yourself. You weren't targeting Bucky. It wasn't your mistake," Pepper tried again, observing the shorter boy and internally wincing at the sallow complexion of his face from working himself to exhaustion in the past week.
"I paid Barton. I planned it," Tony replied, the same answer he had been giving for the entire week.
"Yes, but you were pranking Rhodey. Who had pranked you before," Pepper countered with a sigh, "Look, I'm not saying that it was a good idea or that you and Rhodey are sane for the ridiculous prank wars you two get into, but you two know each other. Rhodey himself said it, he would have simply pranked you back later. It's just you two being crazy people and you're used to it. You weren't bullying Rhodey. Or Bucky."
"We're getting late for class," Tony said as reply and Pepper fought the urge to pull her own hair out when Tony walked off silently.
The prank might have been harmless to an extent but Pepper knew that the real effect came from the implications. Bucky Barnes had been a constant target of bullying ever since his accident and prosthetic arm. Before that, he had been a crowd favorite and his best friend Steve had been the one prone to bullying, thanks to a late growth spurt. The accident had taken a lot of things from Bucky, including his mom. Steve Rogers, an orphan himself, had become extra protective of Bucky since then and had been one of the rallying forces to keep Bucky on the football team, despite protests from Coach Pierce, who was a bad apple when it came to prejudice. Steve was team captain and a star player, along with Bucky earlier, which had won him brownie points that Pierce couldn't ignore.
What people didn't know was that the online campaign which rallied for Bucky's reinstatement in the school team had been started by Tony. That had been the real kicker which had gotten a lot of attention from the trustees and others, forcing Pierce to grudgingly agree. Tony, who had always had a crush on Bucky, never came forward to take the credit, feeling awkward getting praise for something he didn't think too big. Pepper also knew that Tony had been working with his dad on a line of better prosthetic that he had suggested as a new venture for Stark Industries. Howard Stark had been dismissive in acknowledging Tony's brilliance but he had gone ahead with the idea and the project was under way.
Rhodey had always teased Tony about his crush but Pepper knew that he supported Tony in it. Rhodey and Tony were little shits to each other but they were also fiercely protective of each other when things came to a head. Pepper still remembered the condition of Tiberius Stone two years back, when he had tried to force Tony to drink in a party and Rhodey had punched the guy in the face. Repeatedly. They were like the strangest but closest siblings.
Rhodey had tried to get Tony to talk to Bucky too after the incident but when Tony only buried himself in his workshop more at the pressure, he had backed off. Both Pepper and Rhodey knew what Tony thought of bullying, especially since he was a constant target for his surname, his awkward social behavior, his genius and his inability to keep his mouth shut in a fight. Pepper knew that Rhodey always had a first aid kit equipped in his locker, for whenever Tony got into trouble, because the little genius refused to ever go to the medical bay. Damned pride and suspicious nature.
Sighing to herself, Pepper gathered her own books and began walking towards the class. Tony had changed his seat from near Bucky to near Pepper now and honestly, Pepper was never more freaked out by his uncharacteristic silence. Even Jane, who had earlier sat next to Pepper, had gently asked Tony if he was okay when he had asked for the change.
Tony had a spectacularly self-destructive habit of hoarding guilt and Pepper wished he let go of it, because it was eating him up from the inside. As she entered the class, she caught sight of Jane sitting next to a poker-faced Bucky and looked over to see Tony shooting glances Bucky's way before hunching in on himself and keeping his head down.
She shook her head to herself and went towards her seat. High school romances were never under her understandable subjects anyway.
*********
"He meant me"
Bucky and Steve looked up from their bikes and Natasha turned her head from her own to see James Rhodes staring at them, his arms crossed and eyes confident. The school bell had rang a long time back and they were about to leave themselves. Steve shared a look with Natasha who looked at Bucky.
"What?" Steve asked finally, when it was certain that Bucky wasn't going to talk.
"Tony, he meant me. For the prank? He meant me," Rhodes spoke up, staring at Bucky, who stared back stonily.
"What're you talking about?" Steve frowned but Rhodes didn't spare him a look.
"Yes, he paid Barton to dump a bucket of glitter. But not on you. On me." Rhodes said calmly, "He said the name James and apparently Barton didn't know that my name was James Rhodes. He thought it was Jim Rhodes. He knew that your name was James Barnes though and Tony, the idiot, had said that 'James' was in the football team. Which we both are. So essentially, he wasn't pranking you, he was pranking me."
"That's bullying too," Steve spoke up before Natasha could say something. Rhodey shot him a dirty look.
"I dumped him in a pool of ink two weeks back," Rhodey said with a snort, "We're best friends. We prank each other all the time. That's what we do. What, you've never teased your best friends?"
"Where did you find enough ink for a pool?" Natasha asked with a raised eyebrow.
"It was a kiddie pool," Rhodey shrugged, "I have my resources."
"Why're you telling us now?" Bucky finally spoke up and Rhodey noted that he looked nervous now instead of the stony expression he had worn for the past week.
"Because I thought a week would be enough time for Tony to tell you himself, which he did not," Rhodey shook his head and sighed, "Look, he doesn't bully people, okay? He pushes back when he's pushed and fights viciously at times, but he doesn't bully people. Especially not you."
"Why me?" Bucky asked with a hard swallow.
Rhodey shot him an unimpressed look before speaking up.
"Did you know that Tony was the one who started your online campaign when Pierce was being a dick? Or that Tony has been working himself hoarse on a project with his dad to create better prosthetics? Or that he annoys the crap out of me constantly to understand football so that he can understand what you're saying when you talk to him during Physics? Or that he tried asking you out a year back, right after the game against Hydra, only to have you brush him off for Dottie Underwood? And yet he keeps doing...everything he does. Now you tell me, why do you think he'd never bully or hurt you?"
"HE created the campaign?" Steve exclaimed with a guilty look but Rhodey had eyes only for Bucky.
Bucky had paled and looked stricken by the time Rhodey completed his rant. He thought back to all the times Tony had smiled at him, made him smile, helped him out during class or plainly just noticed him. He thought back to the time when everybody was wary of him, right after he had first come in with his prosthetic. Tony had simply behaved as though nothing had changed and had winked at Bucky when he had taken the seat next to him. Bucky thought back to the time that Rhodey was talking about, the game against Hydra. He didn't remember brushing off Tony, but he didn't remember much of the evening anyway. He knew that he was always surrounded by a throng of people back then, many of them flirting and pawing at him. Had Tony tried to say something that night? Had Bucky even looked his way? Had Bucky even heard him? Had he been dismissive of Tony without even seeing him, too busy kissing Dottie Underwood, the cheerleader he had been chasing at that time?
He felt horrible to his stomach, imagining Tony feeling rejected without even being acknowledged. How many times had he seen Stevie be rejected before his growth spurt? How many times had he felt annoyed with the girls who had not looked beyond their noses at Stevie, not noticing his worth just because of his build? How many times had Bucky himself felt weird and nervous in his own skin now, whenever people stared at his arm instead of his face?
And then there had been Tony, who had made him smile even on his worst days. Tony, who had taken the rejection and made it into friendship. Tony, whom Bucky had harbored affections for this whole time and had imagined to be a bully.
"I have to meet him," Bucky said firmly, staring at Rhodey with sincerity. Rhodey considered him assessingly before nodding.
"He'll be in the chemistry lab," he said quietly before smirking, "Don't let him get away this time."
Bucky was already half-way through the parking lot but yelled back with a laugh.
"I won't!"
*****
"Stupid, stupid, stupid," Tony muttered under his breath as he scowled at his failed experiment. He had been trying to find a perfect alloy that wouldn't be affected by acid and would be effective for the prosthetic project. As of now, things were not going too well.
"I hope you ain't talking about yourself, cause I'm pretty sure that ain't true," a voice came from behind and Tony froze because he would recognize that Brooklyn drawl anywhere.
"School's over" he muttered without turning and heard footsteps coming closer till Bucky finally came over and stood in front of him.
"I know, but you're here," Bucky said with a smirk. Tony hated that smirk. He wanted to kiss that smirk. He had a long relationship with that smirk.
"I'm busy," Tony pointedly said but didn't make a move to prove that he was busy. Bucky's eyes flitted down to see the failed experiment before returning to lock onto Tony's eyes.
"I see that," he agreed but made no effort to move. Tony scowled at him but that only got an even wider smile. Finally, he sighed and wrenched the safety goggles over his head and adjusted his glasses.
"What do you want, Bucky?"
"You never gave me the thing," Bucky replied and Tony frowned, "You know, the thing you said you got me that day? You never got around to giving it."
Tony stilled and looked horrified for a minute before running a hand through his hair.
"You want it now?"
"You got it for me, right?" Bucky countered lightly, watching as Tony bit his lower lip thoughtfully.
After a few minutes of Tony staring at Bucky and Bucky resisting himself from grabbing Tony and kissing him, Tony finally sighed and walked over to the entrance of the lab, where he had hung his jacket. He put a hand into one of its pockets and took out a flat box from it.
Walking back to the desk, he offered it to Bucky who stared at Tony for a minute before taking it.
"May I?" he asked and Tony shrugged, hugging himself with a morose look. Bucky opened the shoddy wrapping and then proceeded to open the plain looking box.
And then stared at the content of it wordlessly.
"It got ripped off a long time back, after that game against Hydra. You got into a fight with Rollins and he ripped it out and threw it away. I found it later," Tony said and looked at the small circular patch that declared the team district champions, "You got a new patch soon and...I guess I never got around to throwing it or giving it. It's nothing big, but I thought it's yours so...that."
Bucky didn't speak for a couple of minutes and Tony shuffled nervously before pushing his glasses up his nose and sighing again.
"Look, it's nothing weird okay? It's just...it's nothing. I'm sorry or whatever. I'll just -"
"I'm going to kiss you," Bucky said quietly and Tony let out a garbled "huh?".
Bucky looked up and Tony was frozen to the spot by the intensity in his eyes.
"I'm going to kiss you and then date you," Bucky said again, staring at Tony with all his focus.
"You said that," Tony said nonsensically in a pitch he would later feel embarrassed about. Clearing his throat, he continued, "Erm, why're you telling me?"
"Because I've been waiting to do it for a long time and I was recently an absolute ass. But I want to do it and if you say no, I'll leave you be," Bucky said slowly, not looking away from Tony.
"And if I don't say no?" Tony whispered because this was some sort of dream, right?
"Then I'm not letting you go," Bucky said simply and that sentence should not have knocked out Tony's breath. He stared wordlessly at Bucky for an entire minute before his brain kicked back online enough to say one sentence.
"Not saying no"
Bucky leaned across the desk and cupped Tony's neck with his metal hand, keeping his eyes open as his lips met Tony's. Tony couldn't keep his eyes open at the first touch of Bucky's lips and let out a light gasp, shutting them and leaning forward lightly. He must have made some approving noise at the first hint of Bucky's tongue licking his lower lip because it was as though some switch had been turned on inside the taller boy. Dragging his flesh hand up to Tony's face, he tilted his head and delved in, not pushing but not backing down either. It wasn't rough or passionate as romantic books explained kisses to be, but Tony had never felt so explored as he did by Bucky and his lips and his tongue. Tony's hands got with the program and wrapped themselves into Bucky's hair, dragging his fingers over Bucky's scalp, getting a shudder in return that he had to try again.
Tony didn't know how long they stood kissing but he would have been okay with it continuing for eternity, if not for mundane things like breathing.
"I-the prank--it wasn't--" Tony breathed between the lingering pecks Bucky couldn't seem to resist even as they parted.
"I know," Bucky assured softly, pecking again, "Rhodes told me."
Tony frowned and leaned back.
"Urgh, he snitched on me," he complained but Bucky simply grinned and kissed Tony's forehead till the frown disappeared.
"I like him," he said with a smile and Tony pouted.
"I thought you like me"
"Oh, I do," Bucky waggled his eyebrows and spoke against Tony's lips, "Let me show you how much, sweetheart."
An hour of 'showing' later, Tony and his red, kiss-bruised lips were convinced that Bucky liked him the best. It helped that Bucky made it a delightful habit and showed Tony that every day since then, much to the groans and put upon gags of their friends.
***********
"...And that is how the most epic love story of our times began," Tony said with a flourish to a confused applause from the entire crowd, "Now, all ye drunk people, raise your glasses to Pepper and ...the groom!"
"To the bride and groom!" the crowd echoed and Tony nodded with a grin before sitting back down, next to a chuckling Bucky and snorting Clint who had an arm around his very pregnant wife.
"You were supposed to talk about me," Rhodey growled and scowled across Pepper, who was biting her lips to reign in a laugh, "You know, since I'm the groom and you're my best man?"
"Oops, sorry, I thought you meant my James," Tony said with a smirk and Rhodey grumbled with a resigned sigh.
"Good job, Tony," Bucky muttered and reached out to kiss Tony with a laugh.
"Thank you, James," Tony grinned against the lips of his husband of three years and swallowed his laughter.