Super Rich Kids
Steves POV
Steve looked himself up and down in his full length mirror, he was stressing over what the best outfit was for the Starks BBQ that was in about an hour. Did he wear a suit? Or was that too much for a BBQ? Should he just wear jeans and hoodie? Or was that too casual for the crowd?
He didn’t know what was best… at the moment he was wearing cream dress trousers that flared out slightly at the shins, with a black sweater vest covering a white top - he felt a little too fancy for his comfort but he thought it was the best compromise of the two original ideas.
He brushed his hair back, adding some product just to keep it in place, before slipping on his brown doc martin shoes.
He took one last look at his reflection, before deciding he was happy with his outcome. His white top a little tight around his biceps giving his arm a little more definition. Steve still wasn’t use to his new body, he forgot most days that he wasn’t a scrawny little kid anymore… puberty really did hit him HARD, he looked completely different from two years ago.
No one ever noticed him until he grew a foot and a half in a year and his muscles started showing - he can’t blame that on puberty though. His dad decided to get him a personal trainer because Joe didn’t like that he was getting bullied, not because he was worried for his son, but because he thought it looked bad for the family's reputation.
Joe thought if he got strong people would stop picking on him. His hunch was correct, they did stop beating him up, but it could never stopped the verbal abuse, but that, that his dad didn’t care about because it wasn’t visible to the public eye.
As Steve reached the foyer he saw his mum, handbag in hand, standing next to the door ready waiting. She looked beautiful, as she always did: she had her hair part up in a plat, while she let the rest of her blonde hair fall around her shoulders; her face painted perfectly with bronzer, highlighter, eyeshadow, eyeliner and blush, while a soft rose color painted her lips, that matched her dress perfectly.
“You look beautiful mum” Steve admired as he reached her side.
“You don’t look half bad yourself” Sarah smirked stroking Steves back because she could basically feel the anxiety flowing off her son.
Steve was never good with social situations, but shoving him in a social situation with a bunch of billionaires and not a single person he knows personally was jarring for even Sarah to handle.
Joe came through the glass doors that lead to the kitchen, fixing his cuff links on his shirt as he walked. He was wearing a grey business suit minus the tie and blazer, with a few of the top buttons undone, opting for a more casual approach like Steve. His hair was slick back, highlighting his cheekbones and face structure, Steve thought he kind of looked like a Bond villain.
Sarah smiled lovingly at Joe as he reached them, she took his arm before Steve lead them out of the house and off towards the Starks.
WOW, Steve thought his house was big! This house must be at least double theirs. He stood their marveling at its size, disbelieve that a family of three could ever actually need a house this big, questioning how much of it they actually use.
They were quickly welcomed by Maria, who was once again wearing the most welcoming smile, for a moment Steves anxiety washed away as he made eye contact with her. She just seemed so warm and safe.
“Hello again dear, so glad you came” she softly spoke, reaching out for Steves hand, which he graciously accepted, shaking it firmly.
“Tony, my son, is right over there. Why don’t you run along and join them” she pointed over to the other side of he garden, which was dotted with small tables covered in white cloth, where he could see a small group of people gathered, some longing around on a blue blanket that was spread across the floor while others stood with small glasses of sparkling grape juice (for the effect to look like alcohol).
Steve is usually really good at hiding his crippling anxiety, his dad once told him “a boy of your mass and structure has no reason to be scared, it looks wrong if you do”, so he kept that in consideration knowing, in the back of his mind his dad was correct. His physic is enough to intimidate other people before hes even had the chance to uttered a word. Never the less, this time it got the better of him, he noticed that he was still frozen in place looking down at his feet… he was scared.
Maria noticed this adding, “Don’t worry honey, I won’t force you, but I can’t promise Tony wont make his presents known to you sooner or later”.
Her calming voice, motherly undertones and small laugh she made while thinking of her son, calmed him down again allowing him to look back up to her face and offering a soft smile. He hated showing this side of him, it made him feel small, no matter how much he towered over people.
Steve walked back towards his mum for comfort and safety, Sarah and Joe were talking to Howard about their move and life back in England. Steve decided to stay out of it just standing slightly behind them, like his parents were a shield from social interactions.
About an hour had passed, he had made small talk with a few of the older women, talking about moving, starting college, life in England, all the simple things.
He sat there sipping his sparkling grape juice, wishing it was actually wine or champagne, it was so strange not being able to drink again… he had just hit the legal age of drinking in the UK and now he had to go back to soda? He felt kind of childish, even though literally everyone else his age there was also drinking it.
“Swarley get your ass over here, I have something to ask you!” Tony shouted across the garden.
Steve looked around looking for who he was talking to, before looking back at him confusion splattered all over his face, pointing at himself before mouthing ‘me?’
Tony looked down in slight defeat “Yes you, Swarles, get that fine piece of cake over here before I grab a knife and take a slice for myself”
Steve burned slightly in the face, bringing a soft shade of red to his cheeks. He quickly rose from his seat, not wanting to embarrass himself too much, straightening out his trousers before walk over to the drastically smaller group of people, who were now comfortably sitting around in a circle on the blanket. As he got closer he could hear Tony still waffling on about Steve's ass and how it was distracting him from afar.
“Now aren’t you a fine piece of work!” Tony observed, pulling his sunglasses down slightly to get a better look.
“you aren’t all ass, you’re just tasty all over, aren't you?” Tony continued looking him up and down.
Steve just stood there peering over the group, with his hands cupped together in front of him, trying to make himself feel as small as possible.
The guy next to him rolled his eyes at Tony, shoving him lightly in the shoulder, “Leave the poor kid alone Tony, I’m sure he didn’t come here to get objectified by you”
Tony only smirked fixing his glasses back into place, the guy looked at him kindly, “Hi, my names Sam. Sorry about Tony… you get use to him. Please take a seat!”
He pointed to an empty space next to a red haired girl who was also looking up at him, she smiled brightly at him welcoming him to sit. He returned the smile before slowly taking his place in the circle.
“So new kid, whats your name?” Sam spoke again after everyone had settled in, Steve could feel all the eyes on him. Every. Single. Pair. He pretended Peggy was sat there next to him, holding his hand, squeezing it, to ground him and to silently tell him hes not alone.
“Urm, Hi I’m Steve, please to meet you all.” he managed to push out with a forced smile. He felt so stupid right now.
“Ohhhhh, the pleasure is all ours, Stevie boy” Tony said again, still smirking.
After a moment of silence, the red haired girl next to him spoke with a smile,”Hi, I’m Wanda. This is my boyfriend Vis, my brother Pietro and his best friend Peter.” They all gave a small wave in Steves direction as Wanda went around the circle introducing them. Steve gave a smile back before remembering Tony said he wanted to ask him something.
“Was there something you wanted to ask me Tony?” Steve asked, feeling a little bit like a robot, he felt like every word that came out his mouth was rehearsed and thought out making him sound a little emotionless.
Tony looked up from his phone where he had been typing away for a few minutes, “hum? Oh yes! Whats your deal?” Steve looked shocked, along with everyone else around the circle.
“What are you doing here? We were all trying to guess your back story, while you were off being all mysteriously hot, looming in the dark back there” Tony explained.
“I thought maybe you were a vampire, sitting in on the Starks BBQ because it was a large group of people all outside ready for you to bite… not needing to be welcomed in because the gathering was being held outside, giving you a wide choice of snacks. Making it your own buffet. You know all, soulless Angel style, ready to bite down on someones (preferably my) neck. Then once you killed them you would take all their money a leave without a trace.”, he mused, thinking back over his story happily.
Sam coughed breaking Tony from his trance, “oh right, urm, Wanda thought you were this rich fancy Italian man, who had moved to America to start a new life. You were going to start up your own brand of cologne and perfumes; Peter and Pietro thought you were a Mormon, trying to hide as a norm just to trick us and then later try convince us all to believe in Christ and buy your bible” he continued
‘god does he love the sound of his own voice’ Steve thought to himself.
“… can’t deny them there, you do look like a knockoff Mormon in that outfit” he said in a more judging tone, making Steve want to rip his vest top off, regretting his past decisions.
“Vis, thought you were someone's kid who’s parents were invited to the BBQ to talk business with my dad and then you were forced to come along. Which I personally think is the boring-est one, Sam didn’t want to join in because he’s too much of a pussy to talk about someone behind their back.” Tony joked at the end.
Steve just sat there, mouth partly open just trying to taking in all that information Tony had just thrown at him. Shocked that while he was sat over there trying to stay out their way he still managed to be the main focus and topic of conversation.
“So, yeah… we wanted to know who was right.” He finally finished, taking one last big swig of his sparkling juice.
“Urm, well none of you really” Steve started, rubbing the back of his head with his hand anxiously.
“Shocker, what a big surprise.” Sam responded in a sarcastic tone, as if Sam had told Tony and the group that this was stupid.
“But I guess if I had to pick. The closest would obviously be Vis’, my parents and I recently moved from England for my dads work. We moved in just across the road. Mr and Mrs Stark came over yesterday offering us some food before asking if we wanted to join the BBQ because they had a son, Tony, around my age who was going to the same college as me.” Steve got out, trying to explain his last day to them as briefly and un-detailed as possible. He heard a few defeated muffled from Wanda who wanted hers to be correct.
“Oh wow! Your going to MIT too?” Peter spoke up for the first time looking delighted at Steve. Steve nodded, feeling a little bit better at Peters eagerness to learn more about him.
“Thats amazing! So are all of us!” Sam said, pointing at everyone in the circle.
“What are you studying?” Vis asked.
“Brain and Cognitive Sciences” Steve replied, not matching the energy that was being thrown around the group. He just couldnt get excited about something he had no interest in.
“OH MY GOD! NO WAY! So is Vis!” Peter exclaimed, almost deafening Pietro and Wanda, who were sitting either side of him.
Vis looked at Steve with hope and happiness in his gaze, excited he wasn’t going into college completely alone. Steve Smiled back just as wide, knowing he had someone to go to class with before the semester even started was a huge weight off his shoulders, he couldn't help but actually smile for the first time tonight.
“Hey, Angelus” Tony taunted, taking Steves attention from Vis to him, his smile dropping slightly (only slightly).
“I’m having a welcoming party for all MIT students this Friday, be there or I’ll get that slice of cake I’ve been thinking about all night.”
Steve reluctantly accepted the offer, not really feeling like he had a choice. He didn’t like parties, and he really didn’t like the idea of going to one where he knows no one. But it is a good way to get some credit before college starts. He actually wanted to make friends this time, not just fall in love instantly and never feel the need to get to know anyone else.
They all carried on talking for a couple more hours, Steve starting to warm up to them especially Sam. Sam and him had a lot in common, same favourite films, music taste, even same video games, plus he was the only one that could get Tony to shut up when he was being too much of a dickhead.
The group slowly grew smaller and smaller before it was just Steve, Tony and Sam. Soon enough Sarah came over to tell Steve it was time to go. He said his goodbyes, feeling content with himself… he was finally making friends.