Chapter 7
At the end of class before anyone could stop him he walked up to Steve and led him out of the room and into a hall nearby that was almost always empty. Steve looked annoyed and asked "where do you get off on stealing my best friend and getting him to change from my group"
He felt guilty he really hadn't meant to steal Sam. In all honesty he didn't really knew he had until today. But it wasn't like he convinced Sam to swap groups. Nevertheless he still felt like an asshole and stated "I'm sorry, I never meant to steal him from you, why did you not tell me you didn't want me in your group"
Steve glared "because you always fail and never pull your weight, I didn't exactly want to be a dick to your face"
He rolled his eyes. Steve was right but he didn't have to be an ass about it. He stated "yeah so you just did it behind my back"
Steve glared "this is why I didn't tell you, you never understand anything, it's like I'm talking to a brick wall"
He felt the hurt stabbing at his chest and mumbled "nice Stevie, real nice"
Steve sneered "your the one who decided to sit somewhere else and take Sam with you"
He was getting annoyed and had to keep reminding himself that it was just Steve and not anyone else. Steve loved him and didn't mean what he was saying. He mumbled "Sam was the one who decided to sit somewhere else, I followed him, we're willing to sit with you just not your friends"
Steve looked at him conflicted and eventually mumbled "why don't you come over this afternoon, we'll talk everything over and I'll make it up to you for not wanting to be in your group"
He nodded "yeah alright but I got to help out Loki with our assignment tonight, I'm meeting him at eleven"
Steve grabbed his hand and smiled "that leaves us with plenty of time"
He grinned up at Steve and looked into the eyes he knew so well which just seemed to be shining with love. He smiled "sounds good"
Steve pulled him into a tight hug and kissed his neck. He was just happy that Steve was acting like himself and just melted into the embrace. He never wanted to leave Steve's strong arms and when they eventually broke apart he just wanted to be back in the arms. Steve kissed him softly and when they pulled apart Steve smiled "so are we good"
He nodded "of course"
Steve just slid his hand into his and they walked hand in hand to the cafeteria. When they walked inside he spotted Sam looking very disappointed at Tony's table. He also wasn't surprised to see both Stephen and Loki there. Steve kissed his cheek and then smiled "see you this afternoon"
He replied "yeah"
With that Steve let his hand go and as they walked in opposite directions he just wanted the warmth of Steve's hand back. As he reached the table Sam stated "he better have apologized"
He couldn't remember if Steve had apologized but he was sure he had so he just stated "of course he did, I think he want's you to stop being mad at him"
Sam shrugged "I'm going to let him stew on it, he deserves that much, you should have made him stew for longer"
He sat down between Sam and Clint who had seemingly saved the seat for him. He stated "he's my boyfriend"
Sam nodded "my point exactly, he's your boyfriend, isn't he supposed to treat you like a king or whatever"
Natasha who was watching both him and Sam with interest asked "what did Steve do"
That managed to get the entire table's attention and they all looked at him. He just felt awkward with them all looking at him. It's not like he was going to share with them anyways and he trusted Sam to keep his mouth shut. Surprisingly it was Stephen who stated "guys maybe he doesn't want to talk about it"
They all seemed to get that and Wanda nodded "yeah fuck sharing your relationship drama, not that we ever had any"
Vision smiled "oh yes never"
Wanda just laughed and wrapped an arm around Vision. Everyone went back to their own conversations and Sam stated "it wasn't cool what he did, and I don't have to forgive him yet and so I wont"
Part of him wondered if this was how Sam was going on now about Steve not wanting to group with him he wondered what he'd think if he found out about the cheating. He assumed it wouldn't be good. So he was determined to keep that a secret forever. One day him and Steve would be married and he would barely remember that it ever happened. Barely remember that any of this every happened.
Clint nudged him and signed 'are you alright'
He nodded and signed 'yeah, how's Pietro"
He winked at Clint who just punched his shoulder lightly and signed 'just so you know, he's great"
He bit back a laugh as he signed 'I told Sam, he thinks you two are made for each other'
Clint grinned and signed 'that's because we are, but not as much as Tony and Stephen, they really need to just get together'
He nodded in agreement and signed 'there both stubborn as hell and apparently blind so it might take a while'
Clint laughed and nodded. Pietro groaned "you two are having another one of your secret conversations"
Clint smirked "no we're not"
Natasha threw a spoon at Clint. Seriously where did they get the spoons he needed to know. Natasha laughed "they're signing Pietro and it's not exactly a secret conversation, just quiet"
Clint smirked "yeah it's nice to have someone to sign with"
Natasha stated "hey I can sign"
Clint added "yeah but he's better than you, even if his left side is a bit off sometimes"
He felt caught in a way. No one had even called him out for not being able to do things with his left hand even if he knew that sometimes he just wasn't able to do things he should be able too. His fake arm was great. The Udaku's had made sure of it but metal wasn't as nimble as fingers and so doing things like signing was a little more difficult. But it was possible and there wasn't really much more he could ask for. Natasha put her hand to her heart and stated "so I learn how to sign for you and this is how you treat me"
Clint grinned and nodded at her. Bruce questioned "how'd you learn how to sign"
He smiled. He'd learnt for his sister. When Becca first started school there was deaf boy which she had a crush on that she wanted to be able to flirt with. Especially since he didn't have hearing aids and she could never read his writing. So he promised to learn with her. And so they spent pretty much every night in his room reading book on it and watching movies on it when he could get his hands on them. As they got older they continued to sign so they could talk in secret whilst still in groups.
Becca had never told him the boys name but he realised that Clint had been at his school back then and his writing was still horrible to this day. Ew his sister had a crush on Barton. Thankfully she had grown out of it. It definitely wasn't the wisest choice on her behalf. It also made a lot more sense that some of the first words they learnt were all Archery related. He visibly shuttered and mumbled "let's not talk about that, I think I just learned something I want to unlearn"
As he continued thinking it just got worse. Becca had kissed her crush at some point. he remembered her talking all about it. Of course it wasn't a proper kiss and just some kiss on the check that seven year old's gave each other. He had essentially learned sign language so his baby sister could hit on Clint. That wasn't something he ever needed to realise. Sam asked "you alright man"
He most definitely was not okay. He shook his head and mumbled "absolutely not"
Wanda stated "you look like someone stole your cat"
He groaned "no it's worse they stole my innocence"
Everyone just laughed at his obvious pain and he got a text from Sam asking what was up. So he sent Sam a series of messages explaining it. Seconds later Sam was dying of laughter beside him and everyone at the table was staring at him like he was an idiot. Sam mumbled "really"
He just nodded and Sam just broke off into more giggles which were interrupted by Loki throwing a spoon at him. Not Loki too. Where the hell were these spoons coming from. Sam just laughed harder as the spoon hit his shoulder. Natasha high fived Loki who was grinning evilly. Tony completely changed the topic and stated "Barnes you any good at mechanics"
Sometimes when the Wilson's needed help on their boat he would lend a hand but he never really had the opportunity to work on it especially since if he was to buy a car to work on he was going to need money something he did not have. But he had also spent time fixing just about any small motors he could get his hands on. He shrugged "I'm not terrible"
Tony grinned "good I need some help, I found an old pickup out in the middle of no where and want to get it running, Rhodey is absolutely terrible and no help what so ever, Bruce and Vision are and I quote 'not wasting their time on something that can't be fixed', I wouldn't be surprised if Clint and Pietro managed to make it worse and for some reason I think Sam would manage the same and the girls all just shot me down"
He grinned at the opportunity to work on a car without even having to buy it. He could really just tinker on it and nothing bad could come from it. By the sounds of it Tony didn't even own it and it was abandoned so it's not like he could really ruin anything important. Plus it would honestly be fun to prove Bruce and Vision wrong and get it running. Tony also wasn't wrong about Sam, whenever the engine or anything mechanical on the boat broke Sam wasn't allowed anywhere near it. Not because he couldn't do it because he definitely could but Sam would mess around near it and accidentally make it worse whilst not paying attention. Clint complained "hey that's unfair"
To him it seemed like a perfectly fair assumption. Glancing at Stephen and Loki neither of them looked interested in the topic and he figured from what he knew about them it probably wouldn't be something he enjoyed. Tony raised an eyebrow and smiled "so your telling me you wouldn't shoot your arrows into it"
Clint looked caught out and stated "I might"
Tony made a gestured towards him as if to say my point exactly. He then turned towards him and questioned "so what do you say"
He figured he might as well so he nodded "yeah as long as I get to help you shove it in everyone's face when it's up and running"
Tony grinned "that's the sprit, we can drive it around town together and show it off"
Loki questioned "do either of you even have your license"
He knew full well that they were both too young to drive along with every other member of this group except maybe Rhodey. Tony shrugged "minor details"
Vision smiled "don't worry they won't get it running until they're thirty so surely they'll have a license by then"
Tony laughed "oh ha ha, we'll show you"
Bruce stated "yeah good luck with that"
Tony stated "we don't need your luck we have skill"
Rhodey chuckled "no your just a white boy with a few more braincells than the average"
Sam immediately began laughing and Tony grinned "love you two Rhodey"
Pepper threw a spoon at Tony and stated "stop trying to steal my boyfriend"
Seriously where were all these spoons coming from. Like was there just an endless supply under the table or something. Tony smirked "he was mine first, plus I think Sam is stealing him"
Sam smirked "damn right Rhodey's mine"
Natasha grinned "can I see all three of you fight over him"
Vision stated "Pepper would win"
Everyone agreed and Tony nodded "undoubtedly"
The bell rang stopping their conversation and Tony stated "come on jocks let's get to Engineering"
He rolled his eyes and Sam stated "I'm assuming you mean me and Bucky and not Clint and Pietro"
Tony nodded "are you really considered a jock if you do Archery or Track"
He didn't bother to point out that he didn't do any sport but Sam did it for him and stated "what about Bucky, he just sits on his ass all day"
Rhodey smirked "you ever seen him fight, man's like a tank, he punches you and you're not getting back up"
He tried to remember if he had ever got into a fight with Rhodey and he was pretty positive he hadn't which means Rhodey must have just watched him beat someone up. Which really wasn't a rare occurrence. There were a lot of dickheads at his school that always seemed to be angling for a fight. Sam nodded "yeah I can attest to that"
He knew what Sam was talking about. When Sam had first came to the school they had gotten into a fight and beat the shit out of each other. It wasn't long after that they became friends mostly due to Steve's influence. But either way they were friends now and it was all in the past. Tony stated "so are you two coming or not"
They both just got up and walked with Tony out of the cafeteria. From the corner of his eye he could see Steve staring at them from where he was sitting. He smiled at him and watched Steve just get up whilst talking with Sharon. When they got to class Tony sat down in the free seat beside Sam. The three of them just started a discussion about whether or not croc's were a practical invention. It was a conversation he had with Sam multiple times before. He fully believed they were the most pointless type of footwear but Sam wholeheartedly believed they were practical. He just couldn't understand how a shoe could have that many holes and be practical. Just go barefoot. Tony was on Sam's side and he decided that they were both just insane.
They spent the entire lesson talking about crocs which seemed to make the lesson pass quicker than he thought was possible. So when the lesson ended he was surprised it was over. The three of them just got up and made their way to their lockers Tony reminded "remember be at Stephen's by eleven"
He smiled "I'll be there"
Sam laughed "you four work on your project at the weirdest times, you do realise you have over a month to do it right"
As much as Sam did have a point it was less of an assignment at this point and more of a prank they were getting paid to pull on various students. Tony grinned "the quicker we do it, the more money we can make"
Sam laughed "aren't you already rich"
Tony smiled "can't hurt becoming richer can it"
Sam rolled his eyes and stated "well while you four are meeting up in the middle of the night, me and the girls are just doing it in the afternoon like normal people"
From his guess nothing normal was going to happen throughout Sam's afternoon. Tony smirked "if you don't show up tomorrow with painted nails I'm going to be disappointed"
He would be lying if he said he wasn't going to be a little disappointed too. Sam grinned "actually I think were supposed to be doing each others hair"
That was even better and Tony obviously felt the same if his laughter was anything to go by. He stated "don't go getting murdered by them"
Sam shrugged "I wouldn't put it past them"
Neither would he. If they were going to get murdered by someone from school he always assumed Nat and Gamora would be involved and Wanda sure as hell wasn't going to put a stop to it. Plus Sam was working on it at Natasha's which meant Yelena would be there too. And Yelena definitely would help if not be the one to initiate it. Tony laughed "good luck surviving"
Sam nodded "thanks' I'm going to need it, bye you two"
Sam stopped at his locker and he just gave a wave as Tony replied "bye"
Tony asked "did you and Loki set me up"
He grinned "come on surely you don't think we'd do something like that"
Tony groaned "oh I know you would, I don't know whether to be mad or thank you"
He shrugged "what you got to be mad about, you get to spend all night running around town with your future husband"
Tony mumbled "I think I preferred it when you ignored me"
He shrugged with a grin. From the smile on Tony's face he knew he didn't mean it. Part of him was curious how he went from talking to two people at school to an entire group. It was such a sudden change too. He smirked "you didn't talk to me and who would have set up your date"
Tony mumbled "it's not a date"
He let out a laugh. And looked towards his locker to find Steve waiting by it for him. Clint was at his locker with Nat signing to each other pretty aggressively. From what he could tell they were talking about nuggets. He turned to Tony and teased "definitely a date"
When they reached his locker Clint grinned "definitely a date"
He snaked his arm around Steve's waist. Steve glared at Tony but turned to him and grinned "hey Buck"
He grinned at his boyfriend happy to just be next to him again. Tony looked at Clint confused and asked "how did you even hear our conversation"
He looked up at Steve and smiled "hey Stevie"
Steve leaned in and kissed him. Beside him Clint confirmed what he already guessed and stated "I can read lips dumbass"
He smiled "you didn't deny it being a date though"
Tony just groaned and he and Clint both laughed. He just shoved his books inside his locker, he didn't need them, he wasn't going to do homework. Then he closed his locker again and locked it. As he turned to leave he grinned "Natasha try not to murder Sam"
Natasha grinned "I make no promises Barnes, but I'll try"
He smiled "that's all I ask"
Clint chuckled "you better say your goodbyes Barnes"
He nodded "I intend to, bye guys"
They all smiled at him and said bye as he walked away with Steve who slipped a comfortable arm around his shoulder. Steve stated "you seem pretty close with Tony"
That wasn't something he would go around stating. Sure he talked to Tony and they were civil with each other but they weren't exactly friends. Just more, people who talked because they were both in the same place again. Although he never really had been the sort of person to talk to someone just because. So maybe they were becoming friends and he hadn't noticed. Even if they were friends however they definitely were not close. He shrugged "not sure I'd say that"
Steve seemed annoyed as he stated "well it sure seems that way"
He shrugged. He didn't really have an answer to that. They just walked out of the school in silence and he wasn't sure if it was just him but it felt tense. Steve's house was a ten minute walk from the school and neither said a word the entire time. Once Steve had opened the door to his house he questioned "why have you got to go and make friends with my arch nemesis"
He didn't want to make Steve mad. He just wanted to have a good afternoon. He didn't want to spend it fighting with Steve. So he mumbled "Steve look, you have friends I don't like, I'm pretty sure I'm allowed one that you don't like"
Steve threw his bag down inside the door and stated "it's not my fault you don't like my friends"
He placed his beside Steve's and replied "it's not my fault you don't like Tony"
Steve glared "don't turn this around, your the one who left my group to go hang out with Stark and took my best friend with you"
He didn't know why Steve was getting mad at him about any of this. And he hadn't taken Sam. Sam was the one who had decided to leave in the first place but Steve already knew that. He'd told him earlier. So he just decided to let that comment be and replied "maybe because your group is filled with twats who I don't like"
Steve muttered "you never even bothered to try and get to know them"
That was a lie. He had tried. He'd been to every hangout with them Steve invited him to and despite hating football went to every game and then hung out with Steve and his friends after every game even if he hated every minute of it. He replied "I did try, it got me nowhere"
Steve stated "maybe if you weren't so insecure you'd like them better, instead you got to go around wearing that jacket everywhere and those stupid gloves, I guess it's better than letting anyone see the mess of your arm though isn't it"
He was startled. Steve who had always made him feel better about himself had just confirmed why he was insecure. This was exactly the reaction he expected from everyone. Everyone except his boyfriend who had countless time told him he'd love him no matter what. He shoved his left hand into his pocket and just wished like he did all the time that he could just go back to that day and change what he had done so he wouldn't have this stupid thing in place of his arm. There was nothing he had to say in response and so he just stared at Steve waiting for him to apologise. Steve continued "you're so stupid, why am I even dating you"
Surely Steve wasn't about to break up with him. He just wanted to die. Steve couldn't leave him. Steve was his entire world. Glancing at Steve's hand he noticed the promise ring he had saved up for over a year to buy was gone. Part of him wondered if Steve had just chosen not to wear it today or if he never wore it. He felt his heart breaking into a million pieces. Steve stated "I've been so nice to you, helped you through everything and now you are just going to leave me"
That was it Steve must have been scared of him breaking up. So he stepped closer to Steve and rested his hand on Steve's hand and smiled "Steve just because I don't sit with you doesn't mean I don't love you"
Steve hit his hand away and glared "if you loved me you wouldn't sit with Tony"
He sighed "I'm not going to stop hanging out with him, he's really not that bad, maybe you could try apologising, I think you could be friends"
In a different world where they hadn't had the stupid fight he imagined Tony and Steve would be pretty good friends. And if they could get over this fight it wouldn't be hard for the two to easily become friends. Steve sneered "why the fuck would I apologise, he's the asshole in this situation"
He replied "you're both the asshole"
Before he realised what was happening Steve punched him in the face. He just froze. Sure Steve had slapped him yesterday but that wasn't all too bad and he apologised and was sorry. Steve glared "don't call me an asshole, your the worst boyfriend"
It was his fault this had happened. He'd been punched enough times to know if you were being punched you had messed up somewhere along the way. He also knew if Steve was the one who had punch you, you were definitely the one in the wrong. So he knew without a doubt he was in the wrong. He just wasn't all too sure what he did. Before he could gather his thoughts Steve had punched him again. He instantly snapped out of his daze and took a step back and just stared at Steve just waiting for him to swing again. Instead Steve just stepped towards him and he let himself be pulled to him and then Steve just kissed him.
Steve was succeeding in scrambling his brain. Was Steve mad at him or not. He just found himself kissing back despite the intense pain at his eye and near his lip. He didn't know what to do. When someone hit him he would always punch back. But he could never hit Steve and Steve was kissing him anyways. So he was just in a confused state. When they broke apart Steve didn't say anything about punching him and instead just dragged him over to the couch and pulled him down on top of him to continue kissing him. He just tried not to listen to his thoughts and instead just enjoyed his boyfriends touch. It had only been a few days since he had been to Steve's house but he had missed this.