Bruce sighs.
Why did he even let Tony talk him into this stupid blind date thing?
Well, talk into probably wasn't the right word. He tried to resist, but after a week Tony annoyed him so much he all but yelled 'Okay, I'll do it!' just so the other boy left him alone.
Tony had just smirked and said 'I knew I'd get you to agree. I'll pick you up tomorrow at three. Just to make sure you don't chicken out.
And now he's sitting beside Tony in his newest sports car, getting dragged to a date he doesn't want. Yeah, sure, sometimes he's felling a bit lonely, but he has Tony, who's normally his best friend when he doesn't pull off shit like this, and... well, there's just him, but Bruce knows he's better off alone.
„Come on, Tony. You know I don't do dates. Don't you remember what happened last time."
His triumphant grin slips from Tony's face and he snaps: „Yeah, Betty ripped your heart out, shredded it to pieces and stomped over them on her way out. But that was two fucking years ago. You've got to get over her eventually!"
Bruce sighs again. „I AM over her. I am just..."
His best friend sends a death glare his way. „If you continue this sentence with anything different than 'very happy to go on this date and you're a perfect and wonderful friend and person for doing that for me' I swear I'm gonna kick your ass myself."
Bruce resigns himself to the inevitable.
„At least tell me something about the guy."
Tony strokes his ridiculous goatee while he's thinking. „Uhm, his name is Clint. He's 21 or 22, don't know right now. Oh, and he's training for the Olympics I think. Not kidding!"
Great. Tony couldn't even pick someone even remotely in his league. It had to be a future Olympian athlete.
„He's exactly your type. Come on, Brucie. Smile!"
Before Bruce can think of some reply or escape plans the car has stopped and he's literally getting dragged into the coffee shop and dumped into a chair across from a blonde in a grey t-shirt and a purple hoodie.
The guy is absolutely gorgeous and he's suddenly hit by a wave of selfconciousness. He should have tried to dress up nice or at least brushed his hair instead of just shrugging on this ratty, oversized green hoodie.
Then he immediately scolds himself for this thought. It wouldn't matter. People like Clint don't go for nerds like him.
His thoughts get interrupted by Tony's obnoxiously cheerful 'Bye Hawkass. I'll leave you two lovebirds alone now. See what I did there?'
„The bird jokes are getting old, Stark."
The other boy's voice is rough and deeper than Bruce expected.
Tony disappears and Bruce finds himself pinned by a scrutinizing gaze from blue eyes. After a few seconds Clint leans back, flashes a quick look over Bruce's shoulder, then crosses his arms over his chest.
To end the awkward silence Bruce tries a smile and says „Hey, I'm Bruce."
Clint just cocks his head.
„I'm not doing this."
Wow. So much for that. He didn't expect him to be so blunt.
The other student leans forward again.
„This is just ridiculous."
Hearing this, Bruce feels his anger flare up and he snaps back „I know I'm probably not the best catch, but there's no need to be this rude about it."
„What?" The confusion fades and realisation dawns on Clint's face. He grabs Bruce's arm, who is about to stand up and leave.
„God, you must think me the world's biggest asshole. I didn't mean it like that, I swear. It's just..."
He can't seem to find an excuse and Bruce scoffs and tries to get up again, just to be stopped again. He concentrates on his anger so he doesn't think of the warmth seeping through the worn material of his hoodie.
„Just turn around and look through the window."
Bruce cocks one eyebrow, but does as he is told. What he sees makes him grit his teeth. Tony is hiding behind a potted plant, obviously watching them.
„Turn back, or he'll know you spotted him."
„I can't believe he's spying on us."
Clint smirks. „We're talking about Tony Stark, aren't we?"
Bruce sighs in response. „Well, maybe I can believe it. So, what do we do about it?"
„You wanna go somewhere else?"
He sends Bruce a small smile who just nods in agreement. Clint then grabs his hand, drags him towards the backdoor and whispers „Run."
He lets Bruce's hand go when they reach a small park about 5 blocks from the coffee shop. Clint slumps down in the grass and motions for Bruce to do the same.
He just hesitates for a second during which he definitely doesn't think about how his skin still tingles where his hand had been in Clint's.
After he made himself comfortable he looks around and decides he likes it here. It's quiet. Maybe he could come here and read sometimes. Tony always says he should get out more. His thoughts and plans get interrupted.
„Uhm, I don't really believe in this whole 'We started off on the wrong foot, let's start again'-bullshit, but I haven't really introduced myself, so... uhm... I'm Clint and I'm an idiot."
Bruce grins at him.
„Of course you are. You let Tony Stark set you up on a blind date."
„Yeah, look who's talking."
„Touché."
There's a moment of awkward slience when none of them knows what to say until Clint eventually breaks it.
„Uhm, I'm terrible at dating, I'm sure you already noticed that. But maybe we should, uhm, get to know each other? I mean, that's what people do on dates, right? Tony didn't tell me much except that you're a smart cookie, so what do you do?"
Bruce shrugs. „I'm majoring in physics and I plan on specializing in nuclear physics. Nothing terribly exciting. Well, for me it is, but I wouldn't do it if I wasn't interested in it and-" He shuts himself up, before he can ramble further. Betty always said it made him seem like an idiot and he doubts that has changed in the past two years.
He expects Clint to laugh at him, but instead he gets a bright smile.
„Nuclear physics, huh? That's pretty cool."
Bruce blinks in surprise. Cool is not the word people normally use. Ambitious. Interesting. Weird. Boring. Those he's heard before.
„And what about you? Tony mentioned something about the Olympics."
Clint scratches his neck. „Uhm, yeah, I'm training and I hope to get on the next team. Archery."
„Wow, that's amazing. Are you... uhm... full time athlete? I mean, not that there would be anything wrong with that, I'm just curious. I'll shut up now."
Bruce looks at his feet. Babbling like an idiot. Way to make an impression.
„Nah, didn't think you meant it that way. But no, actually I'm an arts major."
For a moment it looks like he wants to add something, but he keeps quiet.
„That's impressive. I've never been one for the creative stuff. That's more Tony. I'm better with formulas and numbers."
„Speaking of him, how did you two meet? I mean, don't take that the wrong way, but you two seem quite... different..."
Bruce smiles at the memory.
„Well, in my first week I was sitting beside him in a course. Some basic physics stuff. And I was absolutely intimidated, cause there was Tony Stark right next to me. And he was, well being Tony. He took one look at my equations and decided we would be best friends. And you know how he is when he has his mind set on something. I didn't really have a say in that."
Clint just grins at him like he exactly knows what Bruce is talking about.
„How about you?"
„I actually met him through my sister. She was walking around on Campus when she saw Justin Hammer cornering Tony. She hates bullies and she can get pretty scary when she's angry. Well, Hammer was so dumb to laugh at her when she told him to fuck off. She knocked him out. As a thanks Tony invited her to one of his parties. Also – and I'm quoting him ehre – she would get along scarily well with Pepper."
Bruce nods. Pepper can be terrifying if she wants to.
„She came home and said she was sure as hell not going there alone and dragged ,e along. I met Tony and he caught wind of the archery stuff and offered to make me exploding arrowheads. We were kinda instant-friends. I mean. Exploding. Arrowheads."
He gestures around and Bruce grins. That sounds exactly like Tony.
„Why did I never meet you at one of his parties? Seeing you're his best friend and stuff."
Bruce shrugs.
„I'm not really a party person. Actually I'm not even a people person. Actually I'm not even a people person. I tend to bore people to death with science stuff or I start to ramble case I get anxious and yeah... Parties aren't really my thing."
Clint flashes him another bright smile and Bruce finds himself noticing how the other boy's eyes sparkle when he does that.
„You know, I think you're cute when you're doing that."
Cute. That's another first. With Betty it used to be words like silly, embarassing, laughable, annoying.
„What?"
„I said you're -"
„I heard that part, I just don't think..."
Clint looks at him in disbelief.
„Have you looked in the mirror lately?"
Bruce flushes and starts staring holes into the ground. He prays Clint won't dwell on this. Compliments make him uncomfortable. Always have. He can never tell if they are sincere or if he's being mocked.
„Do you think Tony is still searching for us or is he already whining at Pepper?"
Bruce looks up to a smirk. He takes a glance at his watch and tries his best to maintain a serious face.
„As Tony is such a responsible adult, he's obviously coping with the situation as any grown-up would." He grins. „Without doubt he's already whining at Petter, Rhodey and Jarvis while simultaneously livetwittering the whole thing."
They fall into an easy conversation after that, talking about all the crazy things Tony roped them into or how amusing it is to watch Pepper shut Tony up with just a glare.
According to Clint his sister is capable of doing that with just a single raised eyebrow. Bruce is seriously impressed by that.
Afterwards they talk about everything on their mind. Clint about movies, how shooting helps him clear his mind and more about his sister. She seems to be intelligent, quite scary and very important to him.
Bruce talks less than the other boy. About his favorite books and even about science. He can tell Clint doesn't understand much, but doesn't interrupt him anyway. He doesn't even seem bored, just trying to understand. Betty never did that. Well she didn't have to, when it came to science, that was as much her passion as it was his, but when he was talking about something else, she just zoned out until he was done or simply told him to shut up.
When the sky starts turning pink, they walk back towards the coffee shop.
„You need a ride home?"
„Nah, I'm gonna get Tony to pick me up. It's the least he can do to attone for today."
Clint's face falls for a moment before he's smirking again.
„Was it such a bad date?"
Bruce nearly laughs out loud at that. He hasn't had that much fun in a long time. Even if he knows Clint for not even 24 hours, he already likes him and he'd really like to see him again, even if all they can possibly be are friends. He knows Clint could do way better than him and he's already way more gone on him, than he probably should be.
„It was great. We should do that again. I mean, if you want. Give me your phone."
He adds his number and when he hands it back to Clint their fingers brush. His skin starts tinglig again where their hands touch and when he looks up into Clint's eyes he's again amazed how blue they are.
His gaze falls on Clint's lips and he wonders how it would feel to kiss them.
Suddenly they're interrupted by a loud „There you are!" and the moment is broken.
They scramble away from each other and look around to see Tony walking towards them.
„Yeah, there's your ride. Uhm, I'm gonna go now. Bye Bruce. Bye Stark."
Before Bruce can stutter more than a „Bye." he's disappeared around a corner.
Bruce stares at the empty space Clint occupied a few seconds ago before he slowly turns towards Tony and crosses his arms.
„We're gonna have a long talk about privacy, Tony."
„Don't know what you're talking about Brucie-Babe."
Thanks to Anna for being a wonderful beta :)