The Accident
Stephen was getting ready for the day. Christine was coming over to his place. He hadn’t seen her in the last two months because she had been staying at her mother’s house. Christine was his childhood friend, but now things were different. She was going to be more than that; they were going to start dating. Stephen wasn’t sure how he felt about it all, but he really wanted to try. Christine was such a good friend to him.
"That's enough, lover boy. It's not like she's seeing you for the first time," Donna teased.
"I know. But I feel weird about this whole dating thing. What if I mess up and lose her friendship forever? She’s very important to me," Stephen confessed.
"Stephen, Christine knows you better than anyone else. She also knows you're prone to messing up relationships, so she'll handle it. Stop overthinking and go pick her up from the airport," Donna said.
"Yes, I'm going," Stephen replied, heading outside to get in the car.
"Steph, should I come with you?" Eugene asked.
"No, Dad. I’m good," Stephen said as he got into the car.
The whole drive to the airport, Stephen felt tense for some reason. When he reached the airport, he bought flowers and waited for Christine. When Christine came out, she had a wide smile on her face as she saw Stephen.
"Hey, Christine. How are you?" Stephen asked, hugging her.
"I’ve been good. Seriously, Steph? Flowers?" she asked with an amused smile.
"We’re not just friends now, right? So, I thought flowers would be a great idea," Stephen said, scratching the back of his head.
"I love it, Steph," Christine said, taking his hand.
Stephen opened the car door for her, and they both got in.
"My family is very excited about you coming over," Stephen said.
"I'm also excited to see everyone. It’s been a long time," Christine replied.
The two of them talked about everything on the ride back.
Meanwhile...
"Tony, let's race. This time, I'm definitely going to win," Thor challenged.
"Are you sure? Last time you cried when you lost," Tony scoffed.
"This time, you’re going to cry," Thor said in a very serious tone.
Tony, Bruce, Steve, Thor, Nat, and Clint were riding their bikes on the road.
"Who else is up for the race?" Thor asked.
"Me," Clint replied.
"Guys, let's not do this on this road. There are a lot of vehicles here. It’s dangerous," Steve cautioned.
"Steve, don't act like a grandpa. Where's the fun in doing it in safer places?" Tony retorted.
"Okay, just be careful," Steve said.
"Alright, Thor. Get ready to lose," Tony said, getting into position.
The three of them started on the count of three. Tony was way ahead of the others; he was always good at riding. But after some time, Thor and Clint caught up to him, so he accelerated even more. He ended up on the wrong side of the road, and a car came in front of him. The car stopped just in time, but Tony fell to the side anyway.
"Are you nuts? If you want to die, jump in front of any other vehicle, not mine!" the driver yelled as he got out of the car.
Tony looked up at the person. It was Stephen. He had bumped into him again.
"You were speeding as well. I seriously doubt you were trying to kill people," Tony retorted.
"Oh, seriously? You came on the wrong side, and you're blaming me for speeding?" Stephen raised his baritone voice.
'Can't he speak nicely for once?' Tony thought.
"Stephen, leave it. Nothing happened, right?" the girl with him said. Tony noticed she was pretty.
"Christine, people die doing such things. I seriously wonder how the world could call him a genius when he's actually dumb as hell," Stephen said.
"Because I’m really a genius, you jerk. You must be jealous of me," Tony scoffed.
"Jealous of you? Wow. I’m not that pathetic to be jealous of you. You’re just a spoiled kid, Stark. Everyone's just interested in your fancy lifestyle, not in you," Stephen said with a bitter chuckle.
Tony was hurt. Really hurt. He didn’t want to be a spoiled rich kid. He wanted to be normal like others. Tony couldn’t come up with a reply to that.
"Stephen, enough. Stop it," the girl said, raising her voice a little.
She walked over to Tony and asked, "Are you okay? Did you hurt yourself?"
"Oh, your arm is bleeding," she said.
That’s when Tony also noticed it.
"Let me see," Stephen said softly.
So he knows how to speak softly, and it feels good, Tony thought.
Stephen walked over and touched his arm, but Tony pulled away.
"Get off. I don’t need your help," Tony snapped.
Thor and Clint arrived at the spot.
"Hey, what happened?" Thor asked, getting off his bike.
"Your friend jumped in front of my car," Stephen said.
"Are you okay? It’s bleeding," Thor said, concerned.
"If you need a ride, I can drop you at your house," Stephen offered in a soft voice.
"I don’t need your pity, Strange," Tony said, walking toward his house.
Stephen didn’t know how to react to that. He got into his car, and Christine joined him.
"Stephen, what’s wrong with you? Why did you yell at that boy like that? He must be hurt," Christine said.
"Didn’t you see what he did? He could have died," Stephen replied.
"But nothing happened, right? Why were you overreacting?" Christine asked.
"I wasn’t overreacting," Stephen said, frowning.
"Yes, you were. I’ve never seen you this worried and riled up. And who was he? You talked to him like you hated him," she said.
"That’s Tony Stark," Stephen said.
"Tony Stark? Son of Howard Stark?" Christine asked, surprised.
"Yes, how many other Tony Starks do you know?" Stephen replied, rolling his eyes.
"You were really obsessed with his projects. I thought you two would have been friends," Christine said.
"He has a great brain, yes, but he’s not friend material," Stephen said.
"Why?" she asked, frowning.
"Because he always wants to be in the spotlight. For that, he’s using everyone he can. I’ve been here only for a week, and I’ve already seen him with different people going on dates. He even hit on me, and we hadn’t even talked before that," Stephen explained.
"Stephen, that’s his life. Why would you hate someone for living their life? Why does that upset you?" Christine asked.
Christine was right. He didn’t have to hate Tony for living his life. When his family decided to move to New York and his parents started working with Stark Industries, Stephen really thought he could meet Tony in person. Not that he was interested in him—NEVER—but he wanted to talk about his projects and learn how someone could be this genius. But no, that didn’t happen. Instead, they became enemies, and Stephen had started it.
"Christine, let’s talk about something else," Stephen said.
Both of them stayed silent for the rest of the ride.
When they arrived, Stephen’s family was waiting for them.
"Hey, Christine. How are you?" Beverly asked, holding her hands.
"I’m good, Aunt Bev."
"Bev, she must be tired from the journey. Show her to her bedroom," Eugene said.
"Sure, come in," Beverly said, taking Christine inside. Donna and Victor also followed them.
Stephen looked in the direction of Thor’s house. He hoped he could see Tony, just to make sure he was okay, nothing else.
"What are you looking at?" Eugene asked.
"Nothing, Dad. Let’s go inside," Stephen said, heading in.
Back at Bruce’s house...
"I told you guys not to ride on the road. It’s dangerous. See what happened now?" Steve said in a stern voice.
"Can you stop? I can’t bear one more Stephen with a V yelling," Tony groaned.
They were at Bruce’s room, and Natasha was dressing his wound.
"Stephen yelled at you?" Steve asked.
"Oh, he was fuming," Clint said.
"What gives him the right to yell at you?" Steve asked angrily.
"Because I jumped in front of his car," Tony said, unsure.
"That doesn’t give him the right to talk to you rudely. I’m going to have a word with him," Steve said, standing up.
"Steve, please. It’s over. It was my fault. I was riding on the wrong side. My head hurts. Can you stop shouting?" Tony asked.
"I’m sorry. Do you need any painkillers?" Steve asked, sitting down beside him.
"I don’t want anything. Just leave me alone for a while," Tony said.
"Okay, take some rest," Steve said, and he and the others left the room.
Tony lay on the bed. Why does every encounter with Stephen end in chaos? And why was Stephen so worried before? Maybe he was just scared of getting into trouble if Tony got hurt. And who was that pretty girl with him? She was so nice. She also knew how to control Stephen’s temper. They make a good match, Tony thought as his mind wandered. He wanted to stop thinking about it, but he couldn’t.