Forever and Always

Aunt May kissed both of the boys on the forehead, making sure Peter was holding onto Bruce's backpack hard enough so he wouldn't fall of the moped.

"I love you both, have a good day at school!" She called as the garage door opened.

"Love you too, Aunt May." Bruce called back as the scooter turned on and began making it's way down the street in the direction of the local high school. Peter had skipped a few years of school, leaving the two boys to be in the same school. Bruce was in his second year, along with Thor and Loki. Loki and Thor weren't twins, like Peter, Loki had skipped some years of school.

"Alright Pete, this is your stop, I'm going to park up front near the teachers cars, there's not a lot of people parked there right now." Peter smiled, said okay and hopped off the moped, all but running up the steps to the front of the school, waving back at his older brother. Bruce waved back, waiting for the doors of the school to close before he found a place to park. 

The inside of the school was littered with various kids, as Bruce and Peter always made a point to show up extremely early so they would have the chance to relax, maybe read some library books in the library, or talk to teachers that they needed help with. Bruce had decided that that day he would go to the cafeteria and try to find someone he knew so he wouldn't just have teachers to talk too.

As Bruce wandered around the halls, slowly making his way to the lunch room, he spotted a few various kids that waved to him. Steve Rogers, or Captain as many people called him had yelled a quick "good morning!" as Bruce had passed. He didn't know Cap all that well, but had quickly smiled and waved, scurrying past him and an impatient looking Tony Stark.

Bruce had almost immediately noticed the large muscled back of his best friend. Quickly, he had made his way over, softly tapping the big blond on the back.

Thor had screamed, quickly turning around and almost slapping Bruce in the face. Luckily, Bruce had gotten used to Thor's old habit of smacking people and had quickly backed out of the way.

"Oh, my goodness I am so sorry Bruce, are you quite alright?" Thor yelped, looking at Bruce with wide eyes. He reached his hand out to touch the area he almost hit his friend. Bruce grabbed it before the other tapped his face and brought it down, smirking and staring into Thor's eyes. He held his hand for only a second before he dropped it, chuckling at the shenanigans of his friend.

Bruce jumped over the back of the table seat, getting into a sitting position beside Thor and smiling.

"Do you need help on your homework again, big guy?" Bruce joked.

"Yes, actually, can you?" Thor said, awkwardly smiling at his friend and pulling out a ringed binder.

"Okay, okay, fine. You owe me, though."

Bruce winked, laughing at the disgruntled face Thor had made at the other.

They sat and worked for almost 15 minutes before a loud yell of "Thor! Where are you, we're waiting!"

Bruce yelped at the sudden loud noise that was Tony Stark, he turned, glancing in the direction he had heard Tony yell, seeing the small group of people standing around.

"You should uhm, you should probably head over, they're waiting for you." Bruce said, looking at Thor. "Uhm... what are you doing?"

Thor had put his head down on the desk and made a soft hushing noise, holding his hand up to his lips. Bruce made a confused face.

"I'd rather just hang out with you, those guys are a lot to handle." Thor whispered, looking up at him and softly smiling.

"Yeah but, did you make plans with them?" Bruce said, smiling and cocking an eyebrow.

Thor waited, making a face before saying "MmmYeeaaah."

"There you are, soldier! We've been looking for you." Bruce glanced up, staring wide eyed at Cap. "Howdy, Bruce! Good to see you out socializing for once." He had said, smiling at Bruce. Bruce felt his shoulders go tense, and he felt himself freeze in place.

"Don't tease him, Cap. I've known Bruce for the longest time, we've basically known each other since the day we were born." Thor said, raising his head up and groaning.

"yeah, and your family moved with me here when I finally got adopt-"

Bruce stopped dead in his tracks, looking over at Cap, going pale.

"Wait, Bruce, you where adopted?"

"Uhm, I, I... I... Yeah..." 

Bruce hung his head and Thor patted him on the back. Bruce groaned, slamming his head on the table.

"Aw, Bruce it's okay!" Thor said, rubbing his shoulder, chuckling.

"Yeah, I actually think it's pretty cool,  I don't know many adopted people." Cap smiled at Bruce who was flushed at his sudden reveal.

"You should hang out with us, sometime, Bruce."

"Yes! You should, that would make my day sooo much better! Come on, pleeeeaseee?" Thor pleaded, puppy dog eyes in full blast.

"I don't know, Thor..."

"Oh come onnn, pretty please Brucey bear?" Bruce snorted, softly bapping Thor on the back of the head.

"Fine, thunder cat, I'll do it." Thor laughed, rubbing the back of his head. "Meet us here after school! We're going to stay here and do stuff, Cap got us time, it's one of the only good things about hanging out with the school's vice president." He winked, looking over at Steve, grinning ear to ear.

"I could just have Fury stop letting us stay here after school." Steve cocked an eyebrow, grinning after a couple of seconds. "Come on, Tony's getting impatient."

"Oh, Steve why can you not control your boyfriend" Thor groaned.

"First of all, we're not dating, secondly, he's a free man he can do whatever he wants. You might like him Bruce, he's a straight A student. Like you are, right?"

Buce flushed, "Yeah, I am. I don't like telling people though, how did you know?" He asked, glancing up at Steve.

"I'd suggest asking Thor."

"Thor! Did you tell people I don't know about my grades again?!" Bruce said, head turning in a split second to stare angrily at the older boy.

Thor laughed, Bruce sighed, and he could swear he could hear Cap chuckle.

"I'll meet you soon enough." He smiled, sliding off the bench to allow Thor to easily exit. He smiled, grabbing the papers he had been working on with the blond and gently replaced them in the leather backpack and handed it to Thor who had patiently waited for Bruce to zip it up.

"Have a good day, Thor, Captain." He nodded and headed off on his own in the direction of his first class.

After school, Bruce had sat down at the table he had that morning, glancing up every few seconds, at one point he could have sworn he saw the backpack of his younger brother, but it was gone a second later. It took about 3 minutes before he spotted Thor who was looking in various directions, waiting for something. Bruce raised his hand, waving it quickly, catching the blonds attention.

"Bruce! Come on, come on, come on!" He yelled, waving his arms. Bruce chuckled, grabbing his backpack and jogging to catch up to him. Bruce smiled as he reached Thor, slinging his backpack over his shoulders.

"Your family has quite the habit of repeating statements of entrance to me."

"Excuse me?"

"Nothing, weird joke about stuff you and your mom do." He smiled, patting Thor on the back and snorting at the confused expression on his face. They wandered the halls for about a minute before they saw the backs of the others.

The Avengers, as they called themselves, were the top of the school, the most popular kids around. There was Steve Rogers, student Vice President, football player and an actor in the schools drama club, rumor has it he’s an amazing artist, too. Tony Stark, supposed smartest kid in school. He wasn’t strong but his smarts and witty remarks always could get him out of the trouble he caused. Clint Barton was quiet, a kid with impeccable aim for trash cans and ladies hearts, Clint was one of the most attractive kids going to their high school at the time. Natasha Romanov was the only girl to hang out with the testosterone crew, she was also the most beautiful girl in school, according to Bruce that was. They all had nicknames according to Marvel comic books, Steve was Captain America, Tony was Iron Man, Clint was Hawkeye, Nat was Black Widow and Thor, was well, Thor.

Bruce moved closer to Thor almost unconsciously, being around new people always got him nervous. But, Thor was there so there was no way it could go bad... right?

”Thor, there you are... who’s the kid in the button-up?” Clint said, eyeing Bruce like he was an enemy spy.

”This is Bruce Banner, the smartest kid in the world!” Thor said, face shining. Bruce groaned and facepalmed.

”I’m not the smartest kid in the world, I barley get straight A’s, I think Tony would be the smartest.” He said, glancing over at Stark who had been fiddling with something in his hands before glancing up and smiling. He had quickly put his toy away and turned fully, extending his hand. Bruce shook it quickly before pulling away.

”Hey, I know you!” Tony said after a second. “You’re the limp guy!”

”What?” said Steve.

”He’s the guy I see running through the halls with the limp, I thought you looked familiar!”

Bruce sighed. “My most defining feature is my limp, I guess.” He hung his head secretly smiling to himself. Thor secretly glared at Tony before saying "no no no no no, your limp isn't at all noticeable!" Bruce looked up, softly chuckling at the older lad.

"It's okay, Thor, I don't actually care." He smiled.

"Well it's good to meet you, Bruce, I have a few classes with you, the teachers seem to love you." Nat said, smiling and popping her hip.

"I-it's good to meet you, too." He smiled shakily.

The kids had gone to the library, apparently that's where they met every day they stayed after school. Bruce had dragged Thor to the side where his favorite fantasy books that he decided that Thor could potentially read. He could feel the eyes of the others on him as he talked to Thor or, anyone. He felt like they didn't like him, that was until Cap told him that "you should hang out with us again, you kind of complete the whole Avengers theme, you're the doctor we've been missing." 

Bruce had frozen he had never expected him to say anything like that, he looked over at Thor who was smiling ear to ear.

"I don't know, I... I guess? Only if you guys really want me too."

"Of course we do! You should come sit with us at lunch!" Thor said, slapping Bruce on the back. He flinched, Thor apologized.

"Yeah, I'll uhm... I'll meet you tomorrow at lunch, then." He smiled, they cheered.

Bruce had finally felt like he would start fitting into the school, he had new friends, he wasn't just the awkward nerd that never talked to anyone.

That was until he saw Tony Stark yelling at his younger brother.

Bruce stopped dead in his tracks, Thor, who had been walking with him, had stopped as well. Peter seemed to have fought back, Bruce could tell, as he had tears in his eyes but he had failed. Tony was furious, Bruce began to back up, glancing at Thor who looked very concerned and ready to step in. Bruce was about to run, leave it to Thor and call it quits until...

smack

Bruces eyes went wide as Tony's hand connected with Peter's face, Bruce's heart began racing, if he had time to check his pulse it probably would have been over 200 BPM. He almost stopped himself, but he found that he couldn't control his limbs, all he could see was green, blood rushed to his ears. He took a step forward, then, he took another, and another, and in seconds he was in a full out sprint. He felt hahnd clench, he couldn't hear anything. He felt his hand raise and in seconds, he felt his fist connect to the face of Tony Stark.

Tony went flying, he was about to chase after him until he felt a strong pair of arms wrap around his chest, he felt himself being picked up and carried, and before he knew it, he was outside, being placed in a car, he heard the door close, before he knew it, he was being carried into his house. Soft barking slowly filled his arms, he inhaled and shot up, looking around. He was on his couch, his head had apparently been on Thor's lap as he looked startled.

"What did I do, did I, did I hit someone?" Bruce stuttered out, looking wide eyed at his friend.

"You did but he deserved it, I'm going to talk to him tomorrow, don't worry about it."

Bruce gulped and put his head in his hands, shakily talking a breath.

"You know for a fact that I'm going to worry about it." He said, looking up at Thor and frowning.

"Well, try not to worry, alright, I'll be back with something to help." He said, patting Bruce on the back. It wasn't until a couple of seconds later that he noticed the dog sitting next to him, that he let out a soft sigh. He brought the bulldog onto his lap, and rested his forehead onto the dogs.

"Hulk, what am I going to do? I think I punched Tony freaking Stark in the face." He muttered. Hulk licked his nose softly. Bruce chuckled and pet his dog, grinning.

"Your aunt said you had ice cream in the freezer, so I got you a big bowl and your favorite blanket, I also got some pillows and your favorite movie, we're going to have a night in and relax, take our minds off of this entire predicament." Thor said, throwing his arm around Bruce's shoulder, the blanket as well. Bruce snuggled close, Hulk laying down on the two's lap. Bruce drifted off to sleep like that, curled up in a ball with his dog, and his closest friend.

Peter pulled into the garage on the moped, Bruce had taught him how to ride after this had happened the first time. He had made sure Tony had been alright, as he slipped in, Thor got up, supporting Bruces weight, and Peter sat down, replacing him.

Thor had gone straight to Tony's house, Stark had opened the door.

Thor slapped him right in the spot Bruce had punched him.

"Never touch Parker again or next time, I won't just slap you." He growled, staring down the shorter male.

"Ow, dude what the hell!" Tony yelled. 

“Peter Parker and Bruce Banner are like my family and if you touch either of them then you will regret everything you have ever done. The reason Bruce punched you is because you touched his family, Bruce was adopted.”

Tony stopped and stared, his mouth slightly agape.

”You know why he was orphaned? Because his father killed his mother right in front of him, Bruce has to go to therapy, he has an emotional support dog and he freaks out whenever anything or anyone, hurts his family.”

Thor turned, and marched back to his car, calling out to Tony, “he will apologize tomorrow, accept it and move on.”

Thor was going to make sure Bruce was happy, even if he destroyed his friendships.