New School

steve fidgeted nervously in the passenger seat of bucky's car. it was their senior year and they were both going to a brand new school. it was a fancy private boarding school and both boys were there on scholarships: bucky for engineering and soccer, steve for writing and filmmaking. they had driven 'cross country from brooklyn to san francisco to get there the week before the first day of school. now, they were about five minutes from the campus with three shared suitcases and a few other small belongings, ready to move in to their new home for the next nine months. bucky was his normal calm, confident self while steve started to panic, thinking of everything that could go wrong. the blond ran his fingers through his hair, checking to make sure it looked presentable.

"steve, i swear to god if you touch your hair one more time, i'm going to cut it all off and sell it," bucky placed a comforting hand on his boyfriend's knee, keeping his other hand on the steering wheel, "you look perfect. stop worrying about what other people will think of you."

"but what if no one wants to be friends with me? what if i have to go all year hanging off your arm because i couldn't make any of my own friends?" steve held bucky's hand that was resting on his leg to stop himself from fidgeting.

bucky just smiled and teased, " what's so bad about being with me all the time? already looking to replace me with some rich, talented boarding school douche?"

"oh, yes, i'm really into narcissism and cargo shorts," steve replied sarcastically.

"hey, you kinda have that beach boy look, blondie."

"you say that one more time and i will hit you with a rock." steve sent his boyfriend a glare of death.

"okay, but i should probably warn you that we are pulling up on the school's campus in about twenty seconds and we're going to have to talk to people." bucky maneuvers the car into the campus parking lot where there were quite a few other teenagers standing by their parents, looking just as lost and nervous as steve.

"shoot, what do i say when someone introduces themself?" steve's hands started to sweat and his stomach felt funny.

"hi, my name is steve. this is my dashingly handsome boyfriend, bucky. we are both from brooklyn. threesome?" bucky joked but sympathetically caressed steve's hand anyway.

"ha-ha, very funny." steve took a deep breath as they pulled into an empty parking spot. bucky removed his hand from steve's to put the car in park and pull the keys from the ignition.

"i know, i'm hilarious." bucky gave steve an encouraging smile before opening his door and stepping out into the scalding california summer heat. steve followed suit.

"okay, so do you want to check in with the main office so we can find out where we are staying?" bucky asked steve, offering his left hand to the blond. his metal arm reflected the sun beautifully.

the arm was the reason he was even going to this school. when the administration heard about the young, disabled teenager who had designed his own fully functioning prosthetic implant, they contacted him immediately to offer him a full ride scholarship. then, when they heard about his extremely talented boyfriend, they offered them both full rides.

"sure. hopefully they didn't board us with any of those rich, prestigious jerks we were talking about." steve tried to joke to make himself a little less anxious.

"babe, you will be spending zero hours hanging out with your roommate anyway. you'll probably be with me most of your free time." bucky swung their hands as they walked, enjoying the warm sun on their skin. people stared as they walked by but steve couldn't tell if it was because they were new, they were gay, or bucky looked half robot. either way, steve was uncomfortable with the stares.

"you're probably right. i still don't want a weirdo drawing dicks on my forehead while i sleep." steve smiled at the dark haired man.

"now i know what i'm doing the next time you sleep over."

"shut up, you idiot."

the two stepped into the large building and were frozen in shock. the walls were laced with the prettiest trim and the shiny oak floors reflected the light from the crystal chandeliers; the whole building was absolutely stunning. bucky and steve were snapped out of their daze by a smiling elderly woman.

"hello, boys. you must be mr. rogers and mr. barnes," she shook both of their hands with a kind smile, "it's so lovely to have you here."

bucky smiled back, "it's lovely to be here, ms...?"

"mrs. johnson." she answered.

"it's great to meet you, mrs johnson." greeted steve. the woman was so kind that he had started to forget the nervous feeling in his belly.

"i am one of the counselors here and i'm fairly certain i will be helping both of you this year! feel free to come to me whenever you have a question about school, life, relationships, or even if you just need a friend to talk to." mrs johnson leaned in to whisper one more thing, "i keep snacks in my office for my favorite students."

the boys giggled and bucky responded with a smile, "thank you, mrs. johnson. can you help us with something really quick?"

"of course, dears. what can i do for you?"

"we don't know where our rooms are, or even where the dormitory is, so we were looking for someone to show us."

"oh my, i can definitely help you with that. just follow me, and i'll get you your room numbers and give you a small tour." the woman gestured for them to follow her to her office to get their room numbers.

steve finally started to relax, pointing out the cool architecture they saw while they walked. he held onto bucky's hand the entire way, finding comfort in the cold metal in his hand. mrs. johnson pointed out certain places as they walked.

"this is the school market where you can buy school supplies and certain foods." she pointed, "here on the left is the music hall, and here on the right is my office!"

they followed the kind woman into the plain boring hallway. there were solid wood doors up and down the walls. mrs johnson led them to the very end of the hall before opening the last door with a smile. her office was painted bright sunshine yellow with glittering rhinestones on the ceiling, there was a dark blue desk in the corner but mrs johnson took a seat in one of the four multicolored beanbag chairs scattered about the floor.

"welcome to my pride and joy, my sanctuary, my favorite place to be, my office. please, make yourself at home, what's mine is yours. it'll only take me a minute to find your room numbers."

the boys were still taken aback with awe at the room. the little kids inside of them were dying to flop on the beanbags and devour the giant bowl of candies on her desk.

"this place is incredible," steve said, amazed.

"thank you, dear. i fought with the school for years to let me paint the walls. after that, they pretty much let me do whatever i wanted to it." mrs johnson smiled behind the paper folder she was holding.

"ah, here it is. mr rogers, you will be in room 124 and mr barnes will be in room 119." mrs johnson placed down the folder, grabbed three jolly ranchers from the bowl, and threw one at each of the boys. "now, let's go meet your roommates and show you where you'll be."

"thank you, mrs johnson." bucky said gratefully.

"oh, it's my pleasure. i love getting to know the new kids. you guys are always so much more interesting than the rich brats that have been here since they were 13." the elderly woman ushered them out and led them to the dorms.

once they reached the hall that their rooms were on, they looked up and down the room numbers until they found theirs.

"ah, room 119. this is yours, james." mrs johnson opened the door and the three of them stepped inside. there were two twin beds on each side of the room and two matching desks as well. each side had its own closet and a very small toilet and sink. sitting on one of the beds was another boy, looking bored and unenthusiastic to meet his new roommate.

"hello, tony." mrs johnson greeted, "i'd like you to meet your roommate, james barnes."

bucky stuck out his right hand to shake tony's, "actually, i go by bucky. only teachers and steve are allowed to call me james."

"steve?" tony asked in confusion.

"hi, i'm steve rogers. i'm bucky's boyfriend." steve reached out his hand to meet tony.

"oh, nice to meet you. i'm tony, i'm here because my dad is rich but i'm not pretentious, just a little narcissistic. but, what can i say, when you're as smart as me, you gotta show it off." tony smiled his charming smile before turning back to bucky. "speaking of smart, you have to let me look at that arm later. it's incredible work. where did you get it?"

"um, i actually kinda made it and then had it attached by some hospital in brooklyn." bucky moved it, watching the beautiful metal shine.

"okay, i like you. you're smart."

"thanks, id love to stay and chat but i gotta go with steve to meet his roommate now." bucky grabbed steve's hand and started towards the door.

"which room? i can tell you if they're an ass or not." tony flopped back onto the bed.

"124." steve replied.

"oh, definitely not an ass. but he sure has a great ass. that's my boyfriend, peter. he's the nicest kid you'll ever meet." tony smiled thinking about him.

"oh, that's great. i was worried i'd get stuck with a jerk." steve smiled awkwardly.

"you'll like peter. you're both shy and adorable." tony laughed.

"hey, only i get to call my boy adorable." bucky wrapped his left arm around steve's waist.

"buck, he's okay. i know i'm adorable. now, can we please go meet peter?" steve dragged bucky out of the room.

"okay, you boys seem competent enough to find room 124 so i'll head on back to my office. feel free to stop by if you need anything else." mrs johnson hugged them both before hurrying down the hallway, her heels clicking as she walked.

the boys walked a few rooms down until they reached 124. they knocked lightly before opening the door. laying on the bed with headphones in, typing something into an apple computer. when the boy, presumably peter, sees the couple standing in the door frame, he takes out the head phones, places the laptop away and immediately jumps to his feet in excitement.

"hi! i'm peter. you must be steve." peter reached out his hand with a huge smile. steve reciprocated.

"that i am. it's good to meet you, roomie." steve stepped further into the dorm room, allowing bucky to enter as well.

"and i'm bucky, steve's boyfriend. i'm tony's roommate."

"oh, you guys met tony already. i apologize for anything rude or narcissistic he said. when i'm not there, he doesn't know how to act properly." peter laughs a little bit.

"he's charming."

"glad you think so. most people just think he's an ass." peter giggled and sat back on the bed. "i mean, he is an ass but he's mine so i don't mind it."

"this one is kind of an ass too," steve pointed to bucky. "i'm sure they'll get along perfectly."

"ha ha, very funny. now, would you like to help me move our stuff in or would you prefer to keep talking about me?"

"well, i'd prefer to keep talking about you but i love you so i guess i'll help." steve answered cheekily.

"do you guys need any help? tony and i can carry some things." peter offered.

"if you wouldn't mind, that would be amazing. thank you so much." steve replied.

"okay, let me grab some shoes and grab tony."

the four boys got to know each other as they moved in steve and bucky's belongings. the brooklyn boys learned all about tony's fascination in science and peters fascination in acting. in return, bucky told them about his interest in engineering and steve's interest in filmmaking. tony and bucky agreed to share their ideas and peter and steve made plans for peter to star in steve's next film.

once bucky and steve were mostly unpacked, peter and tony left for lunch and allowed the new kids to settle in.

"i think we're gonna like it here, buck."

"me too, steve."