A/N: Hey! This is a prequel to You Sounded Sober When You Told Me To Come Over. They work alone, but I'm going to start writing more stories that go in this same universe. This one addresses how they met, and kind of let's everyone know who they are as characters. I had intended You Sounded Sober to be all on it's own, but I just started really liking the idea of going back to do a college AU. I see a lot of potential stories I can draw from there.
Steve had thought he was young, having started college at seventeen. It wasn't that he was any smarter than anyone else, either; he just had a late birthday. So when he's in twenty and a second semester at MIT's art school, he's surprised to meet Tony.
Tony Stark is like many of the other students in the introductory sketching class that Steve is a Student Assistant for. It was mostly comprised of freshmen from all the different schools, but occasionally there were some upperclassmen that had put off taking the mandatory five units of a fine art. They come from the majors the school is known for, like mathematics, engineering, and physics, and can't believe they even have to be subjected to something like art. But it's easier than ceramics, and they can usually apply it to their majors in some way.
So that's not why he's surprised when he meets Tony, the young engineering major. He's surprised because instead of being the eighteen year old freshman that Steve assumes he is, but a sixteen year old junior. He honestly doesn't know much about Tony from their class time. The class meets three times a week, for about an hour and a half on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings. The class is pretty open and interactive, and because they meet so often, the students all get to know each other pretty quickly; Steve even knows them pretty well by that time.
Except Tony. It's not until a few weeks in, that Steve actually speaks to Tony for the first time. He knew his name, of course, from calling roll and passing back work, but he'd never talked to him one on one. It's when they finally get to talking, that he learns about Tony's age, major, and class standing. To see he embarrasses himself is a bit of an understatement.
The professor had left for some undeclared reason, and was having the students work on their current projects. They could even work in pairs. That's when Steve sees the small dark haired boy working in the back by himself.
Tony always works alone. He always comes in quietly, and leaves the same way. He just prefers it that way. The boy-genius figures that he's not there to bond with people, they're not even people in his major. He knows people, sure; he goes to a good number of parties, and he's never one to turn down a beer or a quick fuck, if he can find someone who doesn't know he's underage. But when he's in class, he just wants to get his work done. Especially something as boring as art.
"Hey," Steve calls out as he makes his way to the back of the classroom. "Tony, right?"
"I, uh, yeah," he mutters, a little surprised that the attractive older guy is talking to him. "Steve, yeah? Or I mean, should I call you Mr. Rogers, or?"
"Steve is fine," he laughs. "We don't need to be too formal," the blonde says. He thinks this guy is really cute, and briefly wonders if he's straight; probably not. "Anyway, I just came back here to see how you're doing. You're so quiet back here."
"Oh, well yeah, I guess I just like to keep to myself. I'm in the engineering program, so I don't really know anyone in this class," Tony doesn't know why he feels nervous; he just knows he wants this guy to like him.
"It's all good," Steve reassures the smaller kid. "May I take a look at the piece you're doing now? I can help you out with your technique, if you need it that is."
Tony is reluctant, but he slides his sketch pad over to Steve.
"Wow," Steve mouths, actually quite impressed. "This is really, really good. But, um, what is it?" Steve asks a little embarrassed.
Tony blushes a little. It really is an impressive drawing, full of complicated lines and shading. There are even little labels, notes, and scribbles detailing what things are.
"It's a design I've been working on in my spare time. My father," Tony watches Steve carefully when he says this, to see if anything registers with the art student, "created it, originally. It's a clean energy source called an Arc Reactor. I'm just trying to make it work better, smaller."
"Wow. That's really cool. I can't believe things like this even exist. So is your dad an engineer?" Steve asks, wanting to find out more about this kid.
"Wait, really?" Tony asks, he can't believe Steve really doesn't know who he is.
"Well yeah, it all seems so crazy. I'm an art student," he laughs, "I can't even wrap my head around anything past basic science and math."
"No, I mean about my father. You don't know who I am?" He's still shocked at this discovery.
"I, uh, no? I'm sorry? Does he teach here or something?" Steve feels lost. He's just hoping he hasn't offended Tony somehow.
"No, no. I mean, most people do. But you don't have to," Tony doesn't want to make Steve feel bad. He's just genuinely surprised, and waiting for Steve to tell him he's kidding.
"Oh. Well, I don't watch a lot of TV, or use the internet for much other than school. Is he an actor or something?" Now Steve is genuinely curious as to whom this boy is.
"No, my father is Howard Stark. I'm Anthony Stark. Tony, as you know," Tony lets it hang there, hoping he doesn't have to explain that to Steve. He wouldn't want to scare him off.
"Oh. Oh. You're, that means you're only sixteen, and a junior, you're in my year," everything starts to click for Steve. He really doesn't follow a lot of TV or anything, but of course he knows who the Stark family is. Hell, his phone is made by a Stark-owned technologies company. He knows who Tony is. He knows he started school here when he was just sixteen, and is currently on track to finish his Ph.D. by eighteen. "Wow."
Tony just stares at Steve, waiting for his moment to be over. He gives a light laugh, "I think you're the only one on campus who hadn't figured it out yet. But anyway, class is almost over. You wanna grab some lunch after? I actually like talking to you, and I'm currently sober, so you can't be too bad."
Steve laughs, and agrees to lunch, before helping to get the class organized and ready to leave. Once the rest of the students are gone, and everything is put in its place, Steve grabs his bag of art supplies and books, and heads out with Tony.
They're both glad to have met each other, as neither of them have a lot of close friends. They have their little circles, sure, but neither of them really feels like they belong.
Tony's closest friend is his dorm mate Bruce. Loki is in their suite, too. Bruce is studying biochemistry, and Loki is majoring in chemistry and physics. Loki's brother Thor also hangs around quite a bit with his girlfriend, Jane. Their circle also includes Tony's ex-girlfriend, Pepper, and Jane's friend, Darcy. He doesn't necessarily adore having all of these people around, but if they're just having a little kickback, or going out to a party, it's a pretty decent group. Thor is on the football team, so they definitely make their way around campus on a Friday night. No one can party like Ton; but then again, he started at a pretty young age, and the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
Steve also has a few friends, namely his ex-girlfriend turned best friend, Peggy. He has his roommate, Clint, and his girlfriend Natasha. Steve doesn't party a whole lot, but Clint is on the football team, so once in a while he'll go to one of his friend's parties. He doesn't really like that, though. Steve is very shy and quiet. He has been ever since he got to school. He knows he's a fairly attractive guy, and he tries to avoid the girls who tend to approach him. He's been out with a few guys, but no one to really catch his attention.
They have a pretty good time at lunch, talking about most of the get-to-know-you stuff that new people get to hear. It turns out that, while pretty different, they get along quite well. They both had a rough time growing up. Steve's parents died when he was young, and he lived with various relatives until he was accepted to school on a partial scholarship; Tony's mother left him and his father when Tony was only two, and he had been mostly raised by his father's butler Jarvis. Both boys had been small and shy until high school, when Tony started partying at thirteen, and Steve hit his growth spurt at fifteen.
They talk about their current social lives, and it turns out that Tony's friend Thor actually knows Steve's friend Clint from football. Tony mentions that he's been single since his breakup with Pepper, and that dating is hard due to his age. Steve talks about how he's dated a few guys, but nothing has really worked out; he figures that this is a good way to let Tony know he's gay, and Tony doesn't even bat an eye at the new information. Tony, as far as Steve can tell, is straight. It bums him out a little, but he still sees a potentially great friendship with the younger boy.
The two of them spend a good amount of time at lunch, chatting away, getting to know each other. Eventually they realize it's been a few hours, and that they need to get going their separate ways. They take their time exchanging numbers, and Tony laughs when he sees that Steve has a phone his father helped design. Steve blushes, and looks sheepish.
Tony laughs again. "It's all good. I'm actually glad you didn't know. It's nice to have a friend that didn't expect anything from me from the start," Tony comments, looking extremely genuine.
"Don't worry," Steve assures him. "I just genuinely like you. It's nice to have a friend I feel like I can talk to. I'll text you?"
"Yeah, definitely. Maybe we can get everyone together for a party this weekend."
They agree to chat, shake hands, and head off to their separate residency halls.
Over the next year and a half, they quickly become best friends. Steve's crush on Tony grows into love, but he never acts on it, even when he finds out Tony doesn't really discriminate when it comes to who he sleeps with. He just figures that if Tony had ever been interested, he would have said something. They're basically family by time they graduate and move back to the city, and Tony goes back to his dad's huge apartment on the Upper East Side, and Steve finds a small place in Brooklyn, where he grew up.
Steve is vaguely worried about where their lives are headed, but for now, things are good.
A/N: So the next few one-shots I'll add to this will deal with Tony losing his dad, and a few stories from when they're in college. Let me know what you think, or if there's anything in either this story or You Sounded Sober that you would like to see put into it's own one-shot.