You need this. {Ch.1}
Words: 3,324
Warnings: HxC sexytimes in later chapters
Etc?: Gotta prompt or halp? Send a review or ask to my tumblr ( .com) and I'll love you. Flamers Idon'treallycarethatmuchjustdon'tbotherit'sboring.
Steve forehead was becoming gradually colder with every passing second of it being pressed against the bus' window, watching his old neighbourhood in the slums disappear into the city skylines and perfectly rendered urban streets. The whole time, for a straight half hour of the bus journey to his new school, he had been breathing deeply. It was so hard, trying to control his asthma from starting up just at the thought of walking through the front gates.
His heart was beating so hard, and it was worse the longer that he prolonged thinking about it, so he tried to concentrate on something else. Lifting his sketchpad out of his bag and going over the lines of a portrait of his mother's face, he smiled to himself. Yes, he was calmer.. That was all that he needed, just his art, nothing else.. He adjusted a few details on the images, particularly around the eyes as he wasn't too fond of the lack of feeling in that expression.
It wasn't motherly enough, that was the problem. It didn't have that same appeal that his own mother had, nothing like the affection he had seen in her eyes. But then, he hadn't seen that in her for so long, so used to seeing her in a different state altogether..
But Steve didn't want to dwell on that either, it was best to just not think of anything, to just let his mind be blank, he'd rather think of nothing but the pencil lines than have to think of the dark thoughts that clouded him even at the best of times. He forced himself to recreate the smile he had given earlier, working over it just as the crinkles at the corners of the eyes worked just right and he felt the bus lurch to a sudden stop as they arrived there.
Hesitantly, Steve looked down at his sketchbook, only to see a huge line scratched straight through it. 'Good going, Steve.' He told himself, slamming the book shut as he stood and made his way through to the bus' door, fighting through the scramble of much bigger students as they fought their way ahead of him.
Steve had always been short and skinny, for as long as he could remember there had been something in him that just didn't want to reach the same level as everyone else around him, and it hurt.. It hurt to be different, and to have to jump up or duck under the other teens getting to school who were probably even younger than him was degrading at best.
The more that he came closer to the school, it became much easier to see over the shoulders of the other students and he could finally see the school properly. Though, when he finally did, he was not sure that he had really wanted to after all.
It was the biggest building he had ever seen, red brick with chrome interworking running all up the corners and set into the windows, framing the crystallized glass that allowed for the daybreak of the sun to shine through from behind the school. But rather than feel comforted by the sun's warm light, Steve just shuddered, a sickening feeling running through him at the thought of having to go into such a large place when he was such a little character.
A senior pushed past him roughly, knocking the wind out of him, and he fell to his knees looking up at the back of the guy. The other just turned to give a brief laugh. "Oh, keep up, freshman!" He shouted with a slight sneer, running to catch up with a small group of jocks ahead already at the door who he put his arms around.
Steve clenched his jaw and breathed out levelly, trying to calm himself as he dusted himself off, trying to get the mud off of his chinos. Being such a light colour, they didn't really help the dark mud from sticking to them, and he knew he would have to go to the bathroom to wash it off. If he could even find it.. Partly, the most annoyance to him, purely came from the fact that the other seemed to think he was a freshman, especially when he was a senior himself too.. He adjusted the straps on his back more comfortably, and went in after them, making a mental note to watch out for those guys again in the future.
Fortunately, there was a bathroom no one seemed to be loitering around menacingly as he crept around the corner and dived into it. Steve would never admit that he was hiding, no, because he wasn't. He wasn't afraid of the conflict of a fight, and he'd do whatever it took to not end up with his head down some toilet. It was just purely that on his first day he didn't want to be in trouble or targeted. If he could just get through that one day.. That one day..
"Ahhhn, ..! Nnn-not so fast, I can't! I can't!"
Steve nearly jumped out of his skin as soon as he heard the moan sound shrilly from one of the cubicles, and he couldn't decide whether to apologise or just get out of there as fast as he could. His body wouldn't let him do either thing, and he was left just rooted to the spot, staring horror-struck at the offending door.
"I told you, when we're doing this you can call me.. Tony.." A lower voice said softly, from behind the bathroom stall where the girl had been calling from.
Steve turned to leave them as he reddened, body kicking into automatic as he temporarily forgot about what he had come in there to do and he scrambled to the door. That should have been it, a very unfortunate incident that Steve couldn't have done anything about. But fate wasn't that kind to the blonde, and the male voice had seemed to hear him because there had ceased to be any noise at all. For a few seconds it was like that, silent with Steve being too terrified to move. But then the bathroom door slammed open, and a dishevelled looking older man with his shirt unbuttoned in an open trail down his chest looked out from out of there, pants not even zipped up as he ran his hand through his messy brown hair, looking annoyed like he was the one who had come in hearing those lewd things that Steve had heard.
The moment that the older male's dark brown eyes turned over to fix on Steve, it was too late, all effort that the other hadn't tried hard enough to make, had failed, and they were face to face.
"You know I really should put up a sign.." The brunette sighed, looking back through the stall to the blonde girl who clutched at her things as she tried to hurriedly rearrange herself again. "Oh, it's okay, honey, you can go now. It's just a freshman." There was no concern for being caught, no fear of anything that Steve could say or do.
The girl still didn't seem convinced, or possibly didn't want to hear anything else, because as soon as she had buttoned up her shirt with allowance for a cleavage she had already gone past Steve and out of the door. He had wanted to apologise to her, to say something, anything that wouldn't make him feel so awkward and leave him with the older man there.
"See, that's what you were supposed to do.."
Steve tried not to seem like such a virgin, by not staring at the other too much, a mix of awe and disgust by what he had seen. But then, the longer that he did look at him, the more pieces fit together, awkward and wrong pieces. An older man, in a school bathroom with a girl.. God, he was a teacher!
"You're blushing, is it normal for you to blush? I mean, it's nice to see colour in your cheeks, it's rare in a boy, but.."
"I-I'm just going to go, I'm sorry, I.." The blonde turned to go, and leaving the other there just bolted out of the door, forgetting all need for washing his trousers. He didn't need to and already he was late for inductions, that much was obvious in itself by how empty the hallways were and he reached the doors to the principal's office with a relieved sigh, glad that he had managed to escape the other.
The large, muscle bound African American's body was turned from Steve as he entered, the chair turned away from him so that he could only see the outline of the huge principal, and the top of his bald head. " , nice you could join us. Why don't you take a seat after there has chosen his?" He swivelled his chair round to them, a small smile adorning his face as he surveyed the blonde interestedly.
Steve turned back to see the face of the same man as he had just tried to escape from being only inches from his own, and smirking.
"You have short legs, even for a rabbit.." The brunette muttered under his breath to him, ignoring the way Fury's eyebrow twitched in a question with what he was sure he could overhear as he took his seat, the other one being completely secreted by a black patch that also party covered the claw-like scars that ran over that area..
Moving mechanically, Steve moved to sit next to.. The memory burned bright as it had only been moments ago.. Tony. Taking a chair a little further away from him, though still nearer than he would have liked to have been, and he looked up at the principal. "There was nothing wrong with my papers, was there, sir?" He asked tentatively, looking at the thick brown folder Fury had in front of him filled to the brim with papers.
"No, needless to say they were quite.. Glowing.." Fury said the words with force, as though he was leaving out an important detail.
Steve beamed, relaxing.
"But as for your actual schoolwork, you seem to fail on quite a few key areas.. And then there's this about fighting.." The African American shook out a great big chunk of the paper, and then the file looked a whole lot smaller. "Now normally, I'd have booted you out a senior like you within an instant of seeing this shit." The swearword seemed to catch both Steve and Tony off their guards because both of them sat up a little straighter at it. "But.."
Steve could feel his already weak heart going on overdrive, was he safe? Or wasn't he..? What was going on? He looked at the teacher at the side of him for clues, but found none, as useless as ever. "But, sir?" He addressed Fury.
Tony had allowed for a momentary expression of surprise to flash in his eyes. He couldn't believe he was hearing that such a little shrimp was a senior, it was incredible.
"Well, I hate to pick the honesty card on this, Rogers, but you see.." Fury continued. "You just don't seem like the bullying type or the one to pick the fights.." He took in the other male's slender frame and let out a short sigh of discontentment, adjusting the tie pressed against the collar of his expensive shirt.
Going to speak, Steve wanted to clear up the misunderstanding, but it seemed useless as Fury raised his hand to silence him before he could utter a word.
"So I'm giving you a lifeline, a damned good one. If you can manage to continually get higher and higher marks on your exams, and if I see you with a goddamn A* on your next science project beyond the pitiful D- I see marked here in a month from now, I'll let you off the hook and you'll be considered a fully-fledged student. Until then though, I'm gonna be keeping my eye on you.." He turned back around then, ignoring them both. "Oh, and stark.. Considering you were so eager to get in on Steve's progress I'll leave you in charge of helping him out, shall I?"
Tony made to speak, but Fury merely made a short wave of his hand and the door behind them opened automatically.
"Goodbye."
Steve stood shakily, unsure of what he was hearing.. An A* in science was damn near impossible for someone like him, no matter whether in a month from then or in five years.. Even ten! He did not have what it took, at least, he believed that himself..
But he needed it, he needed that A*. If this high school rejected him, he had literally nowhere else to go, nowhere. Then his life was ruined for good. No school wanted to accept someone with that big of an arrest record, even if it was purely him sticking up for himself and others. But would he change a single thing in those folders? No, every single thing, every punch he had thrown, had all been to help another that needed him, or to stand up to someone who needed being stood up to.. He needed to be accepted into that school and go to college, not just for himself either, it was important. He'd do anything for that dream as well. For that desire that he knew he had.
His face resumed to that determined and strong expression he was so used to keeping.
Even as a teacher, Tony had never thought he'd get to have to be anyone's tutor, or even that he'd allow himself to become one. It wasn't in his disposition, especially not the short blonde's tutor right when he needed him.. And that look of desperation in Steve's eyes had been pretty much the selling point, shit, the kid was cute he couldn't deny that.. The worse thing being that look of confusion and vague disgust was nothing short of his kinks right there.
"So you really need that A* that badly, huh?" Tony's voice dropped to a whisper, walking behind the boy to stand behind him. He placed his hands on the boy's shoulder then, staring out ahead to the empty hallways with a flicker of a smile in place as his fingers worked into the blonde's tiny frame. To anyone else, it could have looked borderline sensual, a deliberate provocation disguised as an attempt to comfort one of his students. He had done it so many times that it was textbook, but Steve just didn't seem to react as anyone else did..
"Please, sir, I'll do anything..!" Steve was desperate, shrugging out of the massage and turning to look back at him pleadingly. Tony could only stare at him. That someone could be that pathetically adorable, was beyond him. For someone like Tony, who had all his life been admired and excelled in everything he did, to see someone like Steve was so surprising to him.
Someone who relied on him, and yet, also someone who seemed so impervious to his charms. Someone who needed his help, but not for relieving urges.
It was an interesting, yet beautiful surprise.
"You should be careful who you say that to.." The teacher muttered, almost to himself if it weren't addressed towards Steve. Then his fingers slipped into his shirt's chest pocket for his glasses, unfolding them to adjust over his eyes, and clearing his throat to brush past the small boy. "If you really care that much, and if you really want to make a go at this science thing, then I'll help you after school, my office.." He waved shortly as he disappeared round the corner, hand briefly showing around the corner to just disappear as quickly as Stark had.
Steve couldn't concentrate on his lessons at all, even when he knew that they were the crucial moments in which he really needed to. There was just too much to process, too much that he was thinking about, and yet the sheer volume of it made him unable to think of anything. He was so glad when he reached break and he was left with the feeling of uselessness breaking back down on him.
Not a single other classmate had taken their time out to talk to him, and he had just fallen back into invisibility, a safer place though. With Fury's threats, Steve hadn't wanted to get caught fighting and face another expulsion at his last resort of a school. He planned to lie low for as long as he could, although even he himself knew how impossible it would be for him to do that.. But still, he still wanted to try at least making one friend.
The only thing that Steve hadn't expected was just how difficult it could be to find someone to talk to him. All of the girls blanked him, and the guys too just nudged each other and laughed loudly whenever he approached.
He was starting to feel like a slowly sinking stone.
He walked around the school aimlessly, not daring to take a seat at any moment for how embarrassing it would look to eat alone. He knew that he had to look busy, whether it meant that he would skip lunch altogether or not. His stomach churned angrily in response to that proposition, but it really wasn't up to it and the blonde chose to ignore it.
However, that sentiment lasted only about five minutes before he gave up and hid beneath the bushes by the emergency fire door exits at the back of the school. Chosen from what he had witnessed of the overgrown and rural area from the highest floor in the school. He was safe there though, and he relaxed, taking off his bag to rest against the cobwebbed and red bricked corner that let him be hidden there.
Steve could have only been there for around five minutes, pulling out his hastily wrapped sandwiches and eating them in the silence of that area. But then, that silence was cut through by the creak of the door beside his corner being opened, and coming out to light up a lunchtime cigarette.
He could see him, that attractive brunette looking up at the sky as he blew out the gently curling grey smoke. Stark's listless eyes staring out at something only he could see, a loss of that bravado he usually held to something deeper, some untouched core. He sighed deeply, and Steve could just see that exasperation the other held, a real depression lingering in the depths of those deeply brown eyes only just hidden by the glint of the sun on his glasses.
The blonde lowered his breaths the whole while, not wanting to be caught and not wanting to ruin that moment of untouched purity seeing those moments when the cocky teacher let down his guard to the world in his own imagined solitude.
Then said something that Steve would have never thought possible, and so he squashed all belief that he even had.
"Steven Rogers, why am I thinking of you like this..?" It had been nothing more than a hiss of a whisper.
It was someone else he had said, Steve was sure of it. Besides, why would the teacher call him by his full name? He was pretty sure the teacher didn't even know his name at all. Someone like him was the type not even to call him by his name, even as a teacher he wouldn't put it past him to call him anything but 'pipsqueak' or 'shorty'.
Then the brunette had thrown down his cigarette butt to die in the dirt by where Steve was sitting, and had left him just sitting there. Alone again. In his shared sanctuary with a man he needed more than anything.