Chapter 6
Steve was waiting by the door to their English class looking annoyed. Sam raised an eyebrow and he asked "you alright Stevie"
Steve grumbled "no Buck I am not, what the fuck did you think you were doing"
He spared a glance at Sam. Did Steve really want to do this in front of his friend. Surely if he wanted to talk to him he could have at least pulled him away and done it somewhere privately. He replied "Walker was being homophobic, you know how I feel about that kind of thing"
Steve rolled his eyes and stated "it was a joke Bucky"
He was annoyed that Steve was getting mad at him. It clearly wasn't a joke and was just Walker being a dick. How was Steve so blind as to not see it. So he just deadpanned "it wasn't funny"
Steve glared "seriously Bucky get over it people make jokes"
How was Steve really taking Walker's side. Surely it wasn't that hard to see he was being homophobic. He replied "you know we're both fags not just me"
Steve scoffed "is that what you think"
What the fuck was that supposed to mean. Sam glared "are you thick Steve, he was clearly insulting Bucky, you should have stood up for your boyfriend"
Steve rolled his eyes and stated "why do you care so much are you two fucking"
Of course he wasn't cheating. He would never cheat. He had no reason to Steve was perfect. Sam groaned "stop being an idiot, of course not"
Before he could say anything more Tony and Rhodey walked towards them. After all they were standing beside the door that everyone needed to walk through top get inside. Surprisingly it wasn't Tony to greet them with a sarcastic comment but instead Rhodey who stated "Rogers are you constipated"
Steve glared at him. He was just glad someone had interrupted their conversation so he didn't have to fight with Steve. Or Sam and Steve didn't fight. Steve glared "what did you two just finish sucking each other off in the bathroom"
Tony winked "why do you want an invite next time"
Steve glare just intensified. He put a hand on Steve's shoulder and stated "I'll be the only one sucking my boyfriend off thank you very much, maybe try Sam"
Sam mock glared at him and joked "sure, you two lovebirds need my number or something"
Tony chuckled "I can see why your friends with him Barnes, should bring him to our next hangout"
Rhodey added "yeah and if Tony gets his head out of his ass and invites me we could sneak off and go find a bathroom"
Sam smirked "could always find us a bedroom"
Tony put his hand to his heart and questioned "you going to leave me honey bear"
Rhodey shrugged "what can I say I'm upgrading"
Steve looked annoyed and questioned "you two hung out"
Tony replied "I guess, we had to work on our project. not sure if you call doing schoolwork all night hanging out though""
Steve looked pissed and stated "so that's what you were doing last night, you seriously ditched me to hang out with Stark"
He didn't ditch Steve, they didn't have plans. If they had plans he wouldn't have gone. There was no way he would voluntarily chose to hang out with someone else over Steve. There was nothing he love more than spending time with his boyfriend. He grabbed Steve's hand and squeezed it as he replied "we kind of have to I'm in his group after all"
Steve was visibly pissed off and announced "why can't you just work on it at school, it's not like you ever do any work anyways, can't imagine your much help"
Tony and Rhodey were just staring at them all eyes wide and he just wished that Steve would keep his mouth shut when they had an audience. He didn't need his problems being broadcast especially to people he barely knew. And someone like Tony who hated Steve and probably would love to share any gossip he got on him. Sam looked thoroughly annoyed and he didn't miss Sam hit Steve in the shoulder as he sneered "what the fuck is wrong with you Steve, if your having a bad day or whatever don't take it out on Bucky"
Steve rolled his eyes and apparently missed the que to shut the fuck up before he dug a deeper hole for them both and snarled "sorry if I don't appreciate my boyfriend spending time at another boys house without me"
He didn't understand it wasn't like he hadn't communicated with Steve yesterday. He had texted him and told him he was going over to Stephen to work on their assignment. And Steve had seemed fine with it. Had he not realised that Tony was going to be there. Clearly he should have communicated that better and he would make sure he did next time he needed to do something for the project so Steve wasn't confused. Before any of them had the time to formulate a response from behind them someone stated "if your going to request not to be in a group with him, you can hardly be annoyed when he has to go over to someone else's house to work on the project"
The five of them spun around to see Scott Lang standing there with his best friend Luis. Surely Scott was lying and Steve hadn't requested for him to not be in his group. He looked at Steve searching his face for any hint of an answer. Steve stated "I did no such thing"
That was his answer. Steve had always been a terrible liar and now he could see Steve was obviously lying. Scott nodded "yeah you did we both heard you telling him the other day after he hinted at a group project"
He remembered that lesson because Steve had stayed behind and he had walked with Sam to lunch. From the look on Sam's face clearly he remembered too. Steve stated "I did not"
He decided he might as well say something to stop Steve from pretending like he hadn't. Especially since he already knew Steve was lying. He groaned "give it up Steve your a terrible liar"
Steve just looked caught out. Like he had when he had caught him cheating. It was the look that made him want to hide himself in a room and never come out again. Just never face the world again. Tony and Rhodey just glared at Steve and Tony stated "Rogers, that's low even for you"
With that the pair disappeared into the classroom along with Scott and Luis who just left them with the news and scurried inside. Steve stated "let me explain"
Sam rolled his eye and muttered "well this ought to be good"
He just waited patiently for an explanation. Surely Steve had a good reason. Steve wouldn't do something without a good reason that would perfectly justify his actions. Steve explained "well Buck your failing business and you were just going to bring the rest of our grades down"
It made sense and he forgave Steve because as much of an idiot as Steve was he was still his boyfriend and the love of his life. He just wished he had come to him and talked about it. Before he could say anything again Sam responded "nope Steve try again, we all know that Bucky pretty much saves everyone's asses at group assignments even if he fails all of his assignments"
The bell rang interrupting the conversation and Sam just grabbed his arm and stated "save it for later Steve, this way you have time to come up with a better excuse"
Sam just dragged him into the classroom stopping him from continuing the conversation. Sam walked past their normal seats and to the back where there was a free seat to either side of Quill and Gamora. Without even being asked Quill nudged Gamora and got her to move down one before moving down one himself leaving the two seats free side by side. Sam smiled "thanks, appreciate it"
Quill chuckled "if it was me I'd need a break from Steve and Sharon too"
Gamora agreed "how do you two listen to her voice, makes me want to shoot myself or her, preferably her"
He sat down and sent them both a smile. Glad he had someone that agreed with him about Sharon. When Steve walked in he watched him carefully and watched his face drop as he noticed where him and Sam were. It was quickly replaced by anger but he still felt bad for making Steve upset. He stated "if you do I wouldn't be opposed"
Sam just rolled his eyes. Sure Sam might like Sharon but he also knew that he didn't. They didn't talk about his hatred for her too often especially since he knew Sam had a crush on her. Or at least he whole heartedly believe that Sam did. He hadn't come out and told him as much but he was pretty sure he had told Steve. And he was positive that if Sam found out about Steve sleeping with Sharon he'd probably be hurt by his best friends actions. Quill grinned "it would make class a lot easier to bear if she wasn't in it"
Gamora nodded in agreement and Sam seemed to be the only one who disagreed. He didn't add anything more knowing Sam's feelings for her. Sam whispered "sometimes I swear Steve is a fucking retard, do you think it would be okay if I hit him a few times to whack some sense into him"
He rolled his eyes and mumbled "Sam for the love of god, do not hit my boyfriend"
It was nice how Sam was on his side but also a little strange. He thought that Sam would always take Steve's side after all they were best friends. But here Sam was on his side annoyed at his best friend for him. Maybe him and Sam were better friends than he thought. Sam asked "not even if he asking for it"
He just glared at Sam who raised his hand in surrender and mumbled "fine I won't, you ruin all my fun"
He just rolled his eyes and their teacher just began the lesson telling them all to be quiet as she did so. Quill and Gamora clearly weren't ones for listening however and they just began talking to each other in quiet whispers. Sam grinned "is this what you both do all lesson, just gossip"
Gamora chuckled and Quill put a hand to his heart and smirked "no of course not, we also annoy our classmates and teacher, were not that simple"
Gamora grinned "you should hear the gossip about your group, the only group to rival it is Tony's"
He laughed that sounded about right. he also couldn't help but remember how him and Loki had talked about Quill and Gamora the day before. It seemed perfectly fair now. Sam grinned "well come on tell us then"
Because of course Sam wanted to know the gossip. Sam practically lived for gossip. Quill smirked "my personal favourite, the freshmen think Barnes is a lizard person and are all equally terrified of him, second being that Steve and Tony have a kid together"
He laughed because both were equally as dumb and unbelievable. It also seemed to be less gossip and more conspiracy theories but he guessed that's what passed as gossip these days. Gamora shrugged "if you want to know the gossip go to Scott, he's our source for information, somehow he's always there when shit goes down"
Scott had proved that to them earlier when he had called Steve out. Sam glanced over towards Scott like the gossip whore he was clearly desperately wanting to find out everything the other boy knew. Sam unsurprisingly announced "I seriously need to have a conversation with him"
He rolled his eyes at Sam's seriousness. He was way too into gossiping. Like no one should care so much about other people. He glanced at Steve and once again felt bad for ditching him. Sam flicked his head lightly and when he looked at him Sam stated "no looking at him, wait for him to apologise and then go back to eye fucking him, at least make him sweat for a bit"
He groaned his eyes but listened to Sam and just nodded "fine"
Sam smiled "good, now tell me everything that happened yesterday when you were with Stark and the wizards"
He raised an eyebrow and laughed "I'm pretty sure they aren't wizards"
Sam smirked "and I never thought you were a lizard person"
He rolled his eyes not quite seeing Sam's logic. He still didn't quite understand why Sam called Stephen and Loki wizards. Sam had tried explaining it to him but it never made any sense to him. Nevertheless he delved into everything that happened while he was hanging out with the three. Sam listened intently then dived into a story about Sarah and how she didn't shut up about him all night and how she still believed she had a chance with him.
When the bell rang Sam was by Scott's side asking him questions before he had even got up. He just made his way over in no hurry because unlike Sam he didn't live vicariously through gossip. When he finally reached them Luis was delving into a story he couldn't be bothered to listen to because apparently from the way he was talking he lived for gossip too. Eventually Sam grinned "thanks guys, see you around"
Both boys nodded and Sam grinned "come on man we got to go see Mr. Pierce"
He raised his eyebrows not sure he wanted to ask why Sam wanted to go see him. Like Mr. Pierce wasn't the sort of teacher you willingly decided to go and have a chat with. He just hoped it wasn't to ask him about what had happened. He questioned "why"
Sam waved his hand and stated "because if Steve doesn't want to be in a group with you he doesn't get to be in a group with me. Plus I can't stand Quentin"
He was kind of confused why Sam would do something like that for him but just shrugged it off. Plus he could more than understand not wanting to group with Quentin. So he just nodded. When he stepped out of the room he expected to see Steve waiting by the door for them but Steve was nowhere to be seen. He wouldn't lie about being disappointed by that. Thankfully he had Sam to distract him. Sam grinned "well come on maybe we'll catch him in a good mood"
Mr. Pierce was never in a good mood. He was pretty sure Mr. Pierce was the sort of person that just lived in a constant glass half empty kind of world. So he shrugged "unlikely"
Sam looked extremely hopeful anyway and laughed "yeah I know come on"
When they got to the room Sam knocked on the door and Mr. Pierces gruff voice replied "come in"
He opted to wait outside the room rather than going in. There was no reason for him to and he didn't particularly want to spend time with a teacher who didn't like him and whose class he was failing. So Sam went in alone and he just leaned against the wall and waited for him. Sam returned less than five minutes later with a grin on his face and stated "I got options"
He raised his eyebrow waiting for Sam to continue. Sam explained "Wanda, Nat and Gamora only have three, I can swap if they say yes. I think he only said yes because he didn't think I had the balls to ask them"
He chuckled "do you"
Sam nodded "anything to get away from Beck, now come on, I only have so long to convince three of the most terrifying girls in the school to let me join their group before lunch is over"
He wasn't going to tell Sam but he didn't really have high hopes and would likely laugh in his face and flat out refuse. But he held a tiny slither of hope for his friend who was most definitely going to need it. He smiled "have fun working with them"
Sam waved off his concerns and stated "it will be fine"
As they walked he remembered about Clint telling him he could tell Sam about Pietro and so did so before Sam could accidentally out them. When he did Sam groaned "so you've known for pretty much two days and not told me because"
He rolled his eyes and stated "because it was a secret"
Sam groaned "do you know nothing it's not breaking any promises if you tell your best friend, unless I'm not your best friend in which case I should find a new best friend"
He nearly stopped in his tracks. Did Sam just call him his best friend. Sure they were friends but he never thought Sam would call him his best friend. Sam was Steve's best friend. Or at least he thought he was. Although he could admit that Sam was his best friend. It's not like there were any other candidates for the position. Somehow he managed not to stop and hopefully keep the confusion from his face. He stated "who the fuck else would be my best friend"
It felt strange knowing he was his best friend. He had only ever been Steve's best friend and hadn't had a best friend since they started dating. Sam shrugged "who knows with you"
He just rolled his eyes still a bit hung up on the fact he was Sam's best friend. Sam had a bunch of people to choose from and had chosen him. He was shocked and surprised but was in no way going to complain.
When they entered the cafeteria they spotted Natasha and Wanda sitting with their boyfriends at Tony's group and so they just made their way over. As they did so it felt like the entire school was staring at them. When they walked up to the group Tony asked "hey you two, just so your aware I think you have shocked the entire school"
Tony wasn't wrong everyone was staring and a few people even had their mouths open looking straight up lost and like they had accidently walked into an alternate dimension and only just resalised it. Sam grinned "makes me feel like I'm in one of those shitty teen dramas, I'm sure you know the ones I'm talking about"
He had to agree with Sam it really did feel like a scene from one of those shows. Tony smirked "if I'm not the main character I don't want to be in it"
Of course Tony would want to be the main character. Sam snorted "you the main character never, Pepper's clearly the main character your just her dorky best friend"
Sam had a point even if he personally believed that Tony was more main character material. Pepper smiled "damn right I am, you boys going to sit or did you just walk over here to anger your entire group of friends"
They both glanced towards their group. Pepper was right Steve looked furious and the rest all looked to be in various stages of annoyance. Rhodey smirked "were you after that trip to the bathroom"
Majority of Tony's table looked confused and Sam smiled "sorry going to have to take a rain check actually came over to ask a favor from Natasha and Wanda"
Both girls looked at him and Natasha automatically replied "nope"
Yeah that was precisely the response he had expected them to come out with. Sam stated "at least hear me out"
Natasha glared at him but Wanda nodded "alright go ahead"
It was clear Wanda was the only one that gave a shit about hearing him out. Natasha just seemed to want him to shut up. Sam began "well Quentin's an absolute dick and I'm in his group for the business project and was wondering if I could swap to your group"
Natasha very quickly replied "absolutely not"
Again that's what he accepted. Wanda who was clearly the more welcoming of the two stated "it's a girls group, we were trying to not have any boys in it, that's why we kicked our boyfriends and other annoying males out"
From the way she looked at Pietro and Clint who were grinning sheepishly he guessed they were the annoying maes. It really wasn't a surprise that they both had said no and he expected it. Sam though seemed to be pretty determined and stated "please I'm begging you, plus I can join in on your girly activities if that's what's required"
Wanda rolled here eyes and asked 'what would you know about girly activities"
It would probably surprise everyone with how much knowledge Sam had about girls. Sarah and his mother really made sure he was well versed in the topic. Whoever he eventually ended up with was going to be one lucky woman. Sam grinned "I do have a little sister"
Natasha shrugged "so does Pietro but he's clueless"
It was really no surprise that Pietro was clueless, he was pretty sure Pietro was clueless about a number of things. Sam had a grin on his face he was positive he didn't like and smirked "would you like to see some photos"
Both girls nodded and he instantly had a sinking feeling about what Sam was about to show them. It proved to be correct when Sam pulled out a photo he was all too familiar with. It was from when his little sister and Sarah had dragged them into their hangout and him and Sam had ended up painting each others toenails and fingernails at the two girls wishes. Someone had taken a photo of it as they did it and now there was a photo they were both equally embarrassed by. Instantly he struck his hand out and stole Sam's phone. Yep no way was he going to let anyone see this. The only person other than Sam's entire family that had seen it was Steve and he did not need that to change. Yeah, he was not letting this happen no matter what Sam's reasons were. Sam glared "Bucky no, I need to do this for the sake of my sanity, I can't be in a group with Beck"
Sam made a good point and he knew that he wouldn't want to be in a group with Beck either. But he also would personally like to keep the photo out of prying eyes. He met his eyes with Sam and the two of them delved into a staring contest which was almost a daily occurrence between them. And they did nearly every time they had a slight disagreement which really was a lot. Someone waved their hand between them and they both turned to face the group looking at them very intrigued and he guessed they wanted to know what was on the phone. Vision who had been the one to wave his hand in front of them questioned "what are you four, are you seriously having a staring contest"
If Vision thought this was childish he couldn't imagine what he would think about half the stunt the two pulled. Sam groaned "come on Bucky please, I need to get out of that group"
He just groaned as he handed the phone over with a frown. As much as he didn't want anyone to see the photo he also didn't want Sam to have to be in a group with someone they both couldn't stand. Sam turned his phone back on and he stared at the photo with despise wishing it would seize to exist right about now. He wished he could just die the instant Sam showed the phot to the two girls who both grinned instantly. Sam quickly slipped the phone into his pocket before anyone else could see and he guessed he had to be thankful for small miracles. Wanda mumbled "aww you both were so cute"
Yeah he definitely wanted to die. Sam was so getting murdered but for the time being he just decided to glare daggers' at Wanda for saying that. He most certainly did not like getting referred to as cute. Sam asked "so am I in"
Sam better be in because if he wasn't and had showed that for no reason he was going to make Sam go through an extremely long and painful death. Natasha nodded "can't disagree with evidence like that maybe you should bring Bucky along"
He was thankful that they let Sam into their group but there was no way he was going to tag along. He groaned "no thank you"
Natasha seemed to smile at his obvious pain and Wanda laughed "that's too bad"
He was definitely not going with Sam when he hung out with the three. There wasn't many things that sounded worse. Tony stated "I need to see that photo, that so quickly changed their minds"
Tony absolutely did not need to see the photo. No one did. Sam mumbled "no you don't"
Natasha smirked evilly and stated "it's just them painting each others nails"
He groaned, she could have at least kept quiet. It was bad enough that she had seen it in the first place. Tony grinned "and now I need to see it even more"
He just shook his head and realised right now would be a good time to die. He got why Sam had showed the photo but that definitely didn't mean he was happy that people had seen it. Wanda smiled "welcome to the team Sam"
Sam smiled "happy to be apart of it"
Of course Sam was happy he was no longer in a group with Beck. That was probably worth having having a party over in itself. Wanda smiled "well just get the twenty five to us whenever you can"
That's when he remembered he had the thirty dollars in his pocket to pay T'Challa with. He knew Sam didn't have the money to spare. Especially since all the money the earnt when back into their business or was spent on food. Plus he figured he would make twenty dollars from their customers and even if he didn't he could always go do some more work. He was more than happy to give it to Sam. He also knew there was no way Sam would take it from him so he just handed it to Wanda. She looked surprised and stated "I didn't need it right now"
He just nodded and Sam mumbled "what the hell man I was willing to pay myself"
He obviously knew Sam was willing to pay but he didn't want him to have to. Sam was his friend and friends helped each other out. He replied "I know, but I owed you"
The way he figured it he owed Sam a lot more than twenty five dollars. He ate dinner at their house at least once a week and they never made him do a damn thing for it. And he knew just how expensive food was. Bruce who had been constantly glancing around since they first walked over stated "you two should really sit down, it would get some attention off us"
Tony laughed "Brucie I don't think that's going to help, but you two should sit anyways, might give Steve a heart attack"
Before anything more could be said Sam had sat down with a grin. He was really considering just walking off and going over to Steve but he also knew Sam wouldn't let him and he did hate the rest of his group. Maybe he could go and sit with T'Challa or Stephen and Loki. Clint looked at him and signed 'come sit the fuck down next to me'
He sighed realising he didn't exactly have much choicee in this and just made his way over and sat beside Clint who thankfully was at the end of the table. It also gave him a clear view over to Steve who looked completely pissed. Tony was right though more people seemed to be staring now then before and he definitely hated the attention. Clint grinned "hey locker buddy"
He just gave a nod in return. Pietro announced "your so lucky to get a cool locker buddy"
Wanda glared "you better not be talking about me"
Pietro just grinned "I said what I said"
That didn't stop Wanda from throwing a random spoon at him. Sam who had ended up between Rhodey and Wanda grinned "so it's not just my sister who does that"
A large part of his brain was questioning where the spoon had come from. Natasha interjected "no mine does too"
Clint grinned "Tash I've seen you do that to both me and Yelena"
Natasha pointed a knife at Clint and warned "watch your mouth Barton"
He really needed to know where the utensils were coming from because he'd never seen so much as a chopstick in the cafeteria before let alone spoons and knives. Did they just bring them to throw around and point at each other. He honestly wouldn't put it past them. Clint seemed unbothered by the knife in his face and just grinned at Natasha as he replied "alright you got a mirror I can use"
He chuckled and Sam full on laughed. Natasha just dropped the knife and let it go as she went back to talking to Bruce. The entire group seemed unbothered by the entire incident. Vision questioned "what did you do to piss off your group of friends"
If he had to place bets he would guess that it was the incident from before class. And probably a little bit because they were sitting with a different group who they seemed to think of as rivals. Sam stated "I'm guessing it's because we sat over here"
Wanda nodded "and that is exactly why me and Pietro don't sit there much anymore, they're all toxic"
Him and Sam both nodded in agreement and Pepper shrugged "why don't you two join us from now on as well"
Sam had been talking about leaving their group that morning and so like he guessed Sam jumped at the opportunity and grinned "I was thinking about ditching them anyway"
Rhodey asked "what about you Barnes you joining us from now on"
He glanced at Steve and the group filled with people he hated then he looked at Clint and Tony's grins and Sam's hopeful smile. He figured he could just spend time with Steve after school and in class so maybe he could actually spend his lunch period with people he didn't constantly dream about murdering. He shrugged "guess I might as well"
Glancing across the cafeteria at Loki and Stephen he guessed it wouldn't be long before Tony dragged them into the group as well. By his guess Sam and Loki would likely get along well and probably spend each break gossiping about everyone. He just felt bad for leaving Steve behind with a group of toxic friends even if Steve had been the ones to befriend them all in the first place. But Steve was his boyfriend and it wasn't like he could just sit with someone else and not feel bad for practically deserting him. Even if it was only for lunch.
He didn't really bother to talk much but no one seemed to overly care that he wasn't participating and not in a rude way but more of a not wanting to push him into talking way. It was the same way Sam had first treated him until he started talking with the other boy more. It was a nice refreshing change from his group where everyone either ignored his presence in general or gave him shit for not talking.
The bell rang and they all got up. Splitting into two groups. Those who had top level math's and those who did general. Sam who had general walked up to him and whispered "you talk to Steve before he apologises and gives you a good reason and I'll slap you silly with a fish"
He chuckled. Once he hadn't listened to that threat and Sam actually slapped him with a fish which he was pretty sure was still alive. It had scared him for a while and he was pretty sure he still wasn't completely over it. He definitely didn't want to go through that again. He nodded "alright, he's in class with you anyways"
Sam seemed pleased that he agreed. They were both interrupted by Pietro who called "Wilson if you don't hurry your ass up we will leave you behind"
Sam jogged over to them and stated "calm down I'm coming"
He just walked over to Tony, Vision, Bruce and Wanda who were waiting for him. Tony whispered "so from the look of Steve's face it appears Sam hasn't hit him yet, I will for you"
He groaned did everyone just want to punch Steve today. Seriously. And why did he have to clearly point out to them that he wasn't going to be happy if they did. He mumbled "Jesus Christ, I don't want anyone to hit my boyfriend"
Tony raised an eyebrow and stated "well he deserves it, he's lucky to have you, if I was in your shoes I would have hit him myself"
Tony stated it so blantly and he wondered what he deserved that wasn't Steve. Steve was the best boyfriend he could ask for and the occasional fight wasn't going to change that. He rolled his eyes and they just continued on in silence him not bothering to respond. He couldn't imagine ever hitting Steve nor could he imagine wanting someone to punch him. Steve was his world, why would he ever want to hit. He also didn't exactly see why they wanted to hit him. Steve hadn't really done anything that bad. It honestly just made sense that Steve wouldn't want him in the group. He would likely bring their grades down just as Steve believed he would.
Normally he sat by himself in Maths it was clear he was not going to get that chance because the second he entered the room Loki appeared out of no where and pulled him over to the seat where Stephen normally sat. Stephen glared at Loki who just pointed to the free seat beside Tony. He winked at Tony and made a love heart with his hands. Tony just glared at him and looked like he was about to die. Loki questioned "where did you and Stark disappear to this morning"
He smiled. They never disappeared they just left. He smiled "well you two were asleep and Tony wanted coffee"
Loki smiled "you should have seen Stephen's face when his dad had told us you left. I'm pretty sure he was destroyed, he though you were both scared off"
Stephen had nothing to worry about. Tony clearly like him. He grinned "well you can tell him to calm down and that we weren't scared off, does he really think either of us scare that easily"
Loki shrugged "I told him he was being ridiculous"
He nodded "so did he admit to liking him yet"
Loki grinned "not exactly admit but I caught him out on it when he said something about it and he just told me all about how hot he thought he was"
There was the confirmation he didn't exactly need since it was pretty obvious to everyone. He grinned "well since they both like each other we are just going to have to give them a push"
Loki smiled "maybe we could put them in a cupboard together"
He joked "there supposed to be going out not in, we should just send them out on all the gnome runs together"
Loki smirked "your evil, I love it"
So for the remained of the lesson he just plotted with Loki about all the activities they could send them to do together. By the end of the lesson they both had a very detailed plan on which activities Tony and Stephen were doing together which just ended up being most of them.
The bell rang and Stephen walked over to him and Loki and mumbled "Barnes I regret bringing you into the group"
It was clear Stephen wasn't serious and on top of that Tony was just smiling from ear to ear. Clearly he had enjoyed being next to Stephen all lesson. Probably had something to do with business being next and him getting to be with him for another full period. He smirked "too late now, your stuck with me"
When they got to business Steve wasn't their yet and he was slightly sad. He was going to use the time before class to talk to him. Now he was going to have to wait until lunch. He sat down beside Tony and just waited for the rest of the class to show up. Tony questioned "does Steve know Sam switched groups"
He shook his head and Tony grinned "this should be good"
He personally wasn't at all looking forward to it. Steve was going to be crushed. Sam walked in with Gamora and Wanda by his sides and sat down with them. Steve walked in moments later and instantly looked confused upon seeing Sam. He just felt bad for Steve. Steve walked up to Sam and stated "Sam your in my group"
Sam looked up at him and replied "actually Steve I'm not, I changed groups"
Steve looked confused and asked "but why"
Sam looked over at him then back at Steve and smiled "well Bucky's not in it, so no point in me being there, plus Wanda's promised me girly activities"
Wanda grinned "yeah, manicures, pedicures, doing each others hair and gossiping"
He would have like to point out that Sam's hair wasn't exactly long enough to do anything much with but figured he'd just point that out later. Sam joked "I'm just here for the manicure"
Steve looked taken aback and a bit downcast but just stated "alright then"
With that Steve walked back to his group and Sam's group just started whispering to each other about something or other. Probably gossiping. Tony grinned "maybe we should take notes from them all go out and get our hair done"
Loki scoffed and he just laughed "can you honestly see that happening"
Tony grinned "you and Loki would even be able to get you're hair braided"
He rolled his eyes, just because he had long hair he did not want it braided or to be touched really and he assumed Loki was the same. Loki groaned "shut up Stark before we kick you out of the group"
Tony grinned but didn't say anything more on the subject likely not wanting him to go through with it and be thrown out of the group and therefore lose his opportunity to talk to Stephen. Tony smiled "in other news, we have our first six payments, I figured we could easily do six tonight"
He nodded. should be easy enough. Loki grinned "well it will be quicker if we split up so what do you say I go with Barnes then you two can go together"
Tony raised an eyebrow at him but nodded "yeah suits me"
Stephen added "yeah me too, so who we hitting"
Tony pulled out a piece of paper and Loki picked up a pen ready to write them down. Tony stated "well Nomble is hitting Ayo's house and she's given us twenty nine dollars so that's twelve gnomes, then M'Baku is hitting T'Challa and he's given us forty five so that's twenty one"
He grinned at that. Placing gnomes around the Udaku's was going to be fun. Especially since he would get to see their reaction if he stayed there. Which he might as well if he was going to be there. Tony continued "then there's MJ who's hitting Peter with the fifteen dollars so six gnomes. then Jane's hitting Darcy and she's given us twenty three dollars so that's ten gnomes, Jimmy's given us fifteen dollars to hit Scott and Nebula's given us fifty five to hit Drax so that's twenty six to hit Drax although she's warned us about the safety of the gnomes"
Loki nodded "in total that's 81 gnomes and 182 dollars"
He stated "shit, we've nearly doubled our money already"
Tony stated "if you all give me your bank account details I'll transfer you the money, I have subaccount to keep it all in so we can keep track of it. I figured I'd just give it out by whole numbers so it's easier"
That would have been all good if he had a bank account. But he didn't. Loki and both just showed Tony their phones and he put all the numbers in. When Tony had finished with their he stated "alright I've transferred it so you should have it by the end of the day"
Tony looked at him clearly waiting for his and he just informed "yeah I don't have a bank account"
Tony just pulled out his wallet and smiled "all good"
Tony handed him the money seconds later and he slipped it into his pocket where his five dollars was and grinned. At least he could give T'Challa the money he owed him. Stephen stated "what do you say we take T'Challa, Darcy and Peter and you take the other three"
He stated "well I'm most likely going to end up at T'Challa and Tony lives around the corner so why don't you and Tony hit Darcy and Peter and then we swap and me and Tony hit T'Challa"
Loki smiled "even better plan Barnes me and you hit Ayo and Drax because they are close to each other and then me and Stephen can hit Darcy because she lives near Stephen"
Tony nodded "suits me"
He and Stephen nodded and if he had to guess Scott and Peter lived no where near each other. This was going to be fun. Stephen stated "meet at mine before eleven and then we can go out in the cover of darkness"
They all nodded in agreement as they planned which gnomes to take where. They decided to heed Nebula's warning and take the badly painted one's to Drax which was pretty much the first one's they had made. Zombie's to Darcy because Loki believed it would freak her out and also Zombie's to Peter's but that was because Tony believe he would find it hilarious. They chose the biker ones for Scott mainly so he wouldn't suspect Jimmy, the bonfire ones for Ayo and the cult gnomes for T'Challa which was chosen at his discretion.
Everything was planned perfectly and he couldn't believe their business scheme was running so well. From what he heard from the other groups they hadn't even finalized their idea yet. Some groups hadn't even picked an idea yet. Running around gnoming people's yard definitely did not seem like a group project to him. It seemed more like something you would willingly choose to do with your free time. And he could honestly say even if he wasn't getting money from this he would probably still happily do it.
As the three turned to conversation topic away from their project and towards other thing he took this as an opportunity to zone out and begin planning what he was going to say to Steve and when he could talk to him. Because Steve looked annoyed and upset and he hated seeing even the tiniest hint of sadness on Steve's face. He worked so hard to make sure he was happy and didn't want everything that was happening to make him upset. Steve didn't deserve to be sad.