The Night of the Concert
Steve shrugged on a plain white t-shirt, before turning his attention to his hair. After a few minutes of running his hands through his hair, he decided it looked good enough.
He was well aware that none of the band members from The Avengers would be paying him a second glance, but he'd be damned if they didn't get a nice first one.
He grabbed a sweatshirt, in case it got chilly, and headed out, walking a few blocks to the cafe.
He was about half an hour early (His mama always told him it was better to be early than late), so he was surprised when he heard two voices arguing.
"They're so together!" Clint groaned.
Steve stepped into the cafe to see Clint flailing his arms around as he argued, and Bucky practically fuming with annoyance as he shot his thoughts right back. "Stark ain't sleeping with his manager!"
Steve rolled his eyes, quickly picking up on the topic of the little battle his friends seemed to be in. He wasn't oblivious, he and Bucky had both seen their fair share of gossip magazine and TV segments, spreading rumors of Tony Stark finding a secret lover in his father's close friend, who also happened to be his manager. Obadiah Stane was gossip, and that was all. Tony had dismissed the rumor many times on television before.
Before he could jump to Tony's defense, alongside Bucky, a small cough in the corner of the room had Steve flinching, unaware that anyone else was there until he heard it.
Natasha slowly stood up, crossing her arms towards the two bickering men. She was dressed in a black hoodie and black, ripped up jeans. The dark clothes always seemed to suit her personality to most people, though Steve knew she was secretly a nerd. He'd never say that out loud though, he didn't really wanna die.
"If you two are done now, I'd like to get going. The earlier we go, the better spots we'll get." She said in a monotone voice, the excitement perfectly hidden from her friends.
Bucky looked away from Clint, a grin spreading across his face at the thought of seeing Tony on stage. He didn't even attempt to hide his happiness, not like any of them didn't know how much he loved the band.
"Yeah, good point Tash, let's get going."
And with that, they all got into the car, Steve driving them to a small field down the street. Since it was a smaller concert, it wasn't nearly as packed as it usually would have been, and they all let out a small sigh of relief at that fact. These concerts could sometimes get literal millions of people at them.
There was a small stage set up in the middle of the field. As they all stepped out of the car, beginning to walk towards said stage, Bucky caught sight of the guitarist, Pepper Potts.
"Holy shit, they're here! We can see them up close!" Clint cheered, beginning to run up to the stage, leaving his friends behind in his anticipation.
"Tony, there's some psycho fan coming to the stage, be careful." Pepper spoke over her shoulder, trying to get the small, sarcastic friend of hers to listen. She turned back to see the sandy-haired man still charging through the field, with no signs of slowing down or stopping. Where was their security unit when they needed them?
She grimaced, gripping the neck of her guitar a little more firmly. She had planned to use this guitar tonight, but she wasn't above breaking it over an attacker's head and using her backup in the tour bus. Rhodey may have been the man trained by the military, but Pepper was absolutely terrifying. She was not a woman to be messed with.
Tony barely being able to stay awake and on his feet was bad enough to deal with, she wouldn't be dealing with creepy fans as well.
Tony perked up at her words. "Fans? Already?" He raised his eyebrow, a bit shocked. He knew they had some pretty devoted fans, but it was still pretty early.
He stood up and walked near the front edge of the stage, hiding his exhaustion well. The make-up covered the dark bags over his eyes, and his mouth usually worked in distracting others from everything else.
Rhodey smiled from the sidelines as he checked his drum set, then walked over to prep up his keyboard. He didn't really pay attention to the fans, not when he had to get things set up.
He knew better than anyone that Tony still had a hard time believing anyone could really like him, let alone idolize him. So, Rhodey thought, it was good for him to have some fan time. He watched as the strange, seemingly hyper-active man arrived in front of the stage staring up at Tony.
"Fuck! You're Tony Stark! You're so short in person!" Clint gawked, his mouth sensor not existent, per usual. The rest of the group quickly caught up, surrounding Clint and joining in on staring up at the band members.
Steve seemingly froze as he saw Tony, up close and in the flesh. Had his eyes always been so brown? His hair was a mess, but it looked undeniably fitting for the man. The plain black t-shirt Tony had on seemed to hug his person perfectly, and his tight jeans left little to the imagination. Steve's mouth went dry as he openly gawked the small man, his brain rushing to memorize every detail he could for a drawing later, dozens of drawings. He may even be able to hang one up at the new cafe, if he got it done soon enough.
Bucky wasn't fairing any better. He watched Tony, seemingly in a daze, until the firm demanding voice of Pepper cut through everyone's thoughts, and silenced Tony's quiet rambling to Clint about how he was 6'1" thank you very much.
"Tony," she walked up, strumming mindlessly on her guitar, "lets get another song practiced before any more people show up."
Tony smirked down at the group. "Looks like you guys get a free head-start on the show. Lucky you." While his sarcasm practically dripped from the words, his smile gave away it was all fun teasing. Oh God, Steve thought, THE Tony Stark was teasing them.
Bucky nudged Steve with his elbow, clearly trying to keep calm through his smile. A song just for the 4 of them to hear. How...awesome. They watched, Steve and Bucky in awe, Clint in elation, and Natasha in silent curiosity.
Natasha's eyebrows raised in question when the music began, Rhodey playing slow notes on his keyboard. It seemed she wasn't the only one to question it, as Clint's voice broke the small fragment of silence.
"I don't think I've heard this one." he said, turning towards the taller bodies in the group. If this was a released song, Steve and Bucky would not only know everything about it, but every single word.
Steve quickly swept his mind for information. He had heard most, if not all, the songs Tony had ever written and or played. The tune of the keys didn't quite match any of them though.
"I wrote it last night, figured i'd try it out." Tony chimed in, adjusting his mic in the process. He had clearly seen the small group struggling, and felt the need to help them out.
Bucky's eyes widened a bit. They'd get to be a few of the first people to hear an original song by Tony Stark. Steve seemed to be just as exhilarated by the thought. And if the two of them shoved Natasha and Clint to the sides of them, so they would be directly in front of the singer, well, no one said anything about it.
Tony cleared his throat as Pepper joined in with Rhodey, the soft strums of her acoustic blending in nearly perfectly. And if Natasha's lips curled up in a semi-smile as she watched, well, no one said anything about that either.
Tony's voiced slowly seeped in, his gaze wavering between Steve and Bucky. " Well I woke up to the sound of silence the cars...were cutting like knives in a fist fight... "
Tony began walking the stage, seemingly unable to keep still. " If you're lost and alone, or you're sinking like a stone, carry on... "
The music picked up a bit, and seemingly out of nowhere, people filled in around the field, their tickets in their hands, and their eyes on Tony.
Bucky couldn't blame them. He had been starstruck from hearing and seeing the singer live his daily life, but on stage, when he was singing, was when Bucky had fallen in love with the man. It was the most natural looking thing he had ever seen a person do. Birds were born to fly, fish were born to swim, and Tony...well Tony was born to sing.
" Lay your clothes down on the floor, close the door, hold the phone, show me how, no one's ever gonna stop us now. "
Steve watched the man in awe. In moments like these, Steve understood how Tony rose in the music industry so quickly. In these moments, Tony forced you to love him. He sang as though he knew his voiced forced you to listen to him.
Like all his life he's been screaming, trying to have a voice and now that he had it, he was using it to get every single thought he had out.
The thing Steve loved most though, had to be the way Tony never seemed to be able to keep up with his thoughts. Tony was... the eye of a tornado. He was peace and chaos all at once. And Steve was perfectly happy with being swept away into all that is Tony Stark.
As Tony finished the song, a small smile still left on his face, he looked at the brown-haired man, with long locks, and his tall blonde friend, who stood center front. "This next one goes out to the two and cute guys up front."
He winked, eliciting a blush from the blondie, and a playful grin from the brunette. He loved making others embarrassed, and if he could use his joking tone and sarcasm to hide the truth behind his shameless flirting, well then he'd consider it a win. He started to sing 'Shape of You', and everyone started to dance.
Steve smiled, flustered as he listened. Bucky just smirked up at the small brown-eyed man. Tonight would be the most memorable day of their lives.
Atleast, that's what they thought, till the next morning.