The next day, Steve was strolling down his front lawn when he saw Tony just about to cross the road and head to the bus stop.
"Tony!" He shouted, waving his keys. It took three shouts to get the genius to pull out an earphone. "You want a ride?"
"You're being serious?" Tony shouted back, looking hesitant.
"Of course!" Steve beckoned to the passenger seat.
Tony ran over in a few slightly out of breath strides, and Steve noticed a small bruise on his lower jaw. "What happened to your head?"
Tony rolled his eyes. "You're a natural dad, aren't you? I got into a fight with a piece of machinery, and it won. Were you serious, though? If I can avoid the sweaty peasants, I will."
Steve smirked and gestured to the seat opposite the one he was climbing into. "Just don't try and UFC my dashboard, alright?"
"Hey, is this ACDC?" Tony had found his way into the shelf under the glovebox. "God, what on earth? There's no way you're that cool!"
"Thanks. And they're Bucky's, but he always leaves his stuff in my car." Steve gestured to the sunglasses next to the CDs.
"He's maybe a dinosaur for the CDs, but I need to find this glorious human." Tony started reading the titles on the back of the disk cases. "These are the limited edition albums! What is this guy, the Jesus of music?"
Steve was starting to wish he'd claimed ownership to the music, but nevermind. Maybe he could get Tony to come speak to Bucky with him at lunch?
"Alright, I'm stopping you before you start. You have a great day." Tony looked very smug as they pulled in.
"Is this a competition now?" Steve asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Sure, I'll race you here any day!" Tony backed up, leaving the car as he'd found it. He pulled the hood of his hoodie up and put earphones into his ears before jogging off to Maths.
"Right. English." Steve muttered to himself, desperately trying to get a certain pair of chocolate eyes out of his mind.
"So, you and Stark?" Clint whispered, leaning back so the back of his chair rested against Steve's.
"The bus would have taken ages, and it was a kind thing to do." Steve narrowed his eyes and grinned wryly. "Besides, what's happening with you and the new kid? The twin."
Clint instantly receded. "Geez, leave it be! I'm trying to stop crushing. You're not helping. Anyway, Natasha said to give you this." In a swift movement, Clint flicked a piece of folded paper into Steve's lap and leant his chair back to his desk, disappearing.
Steve opened it up, curious why Natasha wouldn't just text him.
Hey Steve. You know your new pal Tony? His girlfriend, Pepper, is supposedly cheating on him with Obadiah. It's spreading around school. Make sure you take advantage of it!
What on earth, Steve thought. How the heck would Natasha know?
Then he remembered. Natasha was really close with Gamora and Wanda, Pepper's closest friends. No doubt, they'd be looking to overthrow her.
The next few lessons, plagued with practical jokes from Bucky, dragged by. When the lunch bell sounded, Steve visibly sighed with relief. Then, of course, Tony had to appear in the hallway.
"Hey, Steve, look, I know you're my pal and everything-" Tony came up to Steve, his eyes wild and full of fear. "Can you please hide me in your locker?"
"What?" Steve asked.
"Obadiah's really mad at me, I know I already owe you a favour, I promise I'll do anything, I-" Tony was babbling, constantly swerving his head backwards.
"No, as in I have a better plan. Come with me." Steve grabbed Tony's elbow - not really thinking, so he didn't notice the hue of pink on Tony's ears - and dragged him towards the hideout Natasha and Clint had called dibs on.
"Nobody goes in here, I promise," Steve said, and opened an old-looking "Staff only" door before pushing Tony into darkness.
Once the door was shut, Tony pulled out his smartphone and used it as a torch. The room was full of broken chairs, dented bins, and general rubbish stuff, like discarded science projects.
"What is this place?" He asked, wrinkling his nose at how oddly clean it smelled.
"It's Natasha and Clint's secret hideout. I doubt even the teachers know this is here; if they do, they certainly don't monitor it. It's the garbage can for the school." Steve grinned, found the slightly ripped armchair he'd adopted, and opened up a sandwich.
"How are you so okay with being in here? Aren't you the schoolboy saint type?" Tony asked, pulling a store-bought wrap from his own bag.
"I wasn't always this gigantic, as Bucky likes to say. I used to shelter from bullies in here." Steve patted the wall affectionately. "I spent nearly half of sixth year in here."
A text lit up Tony's phone. He frowned and started reading, before his jaw dropped open. "Oh wow. She really put some time into this one."
"What's wrong?" Steve asked, one thick blonde eyebrow raising.
"Nevermind, it's just Pepper. She's trying to pick a fight with me again. I'll tell her I'm in science class or something." He quickly tapped his fingers onto the touch screen, then sighed and put the device on silent.
"Okay, well, what do we do now?" Tony asked as Natasha and Clint came in, subtly winking at Steve.
"There's never boredom as long as I'm around," Clint grinned, making his voice all cheesy. Natasha rolled her eyes.
"Hey, Tony, we haven't seen you in here before," Natasha commented, pulling a salad from her own bag. "How come you're in here now?"
"Obadiah's kinda betrayed me. He's taken all my buddies aside from Bruce and Rhodey, so now I'm kinda alone. Someone spread a secret about him, and he thinks I've done it. Hell, I don't even know any of his secrets, the man's like a god damn island." Tony started to eat again, and soon the room was silent.
"So Steve brought you in here to shelter?" Clint asked, choking down a much too large handful of pringles.
"Yeah," Tony replied, shoving the remains of his wrap into his mouth, chipmunk style. He spent a few minutes trying not to regurgitate it and then spoke. "He's actually pretty cool. I owe him a bunch of favours now. He's not a murderer, is he? I'd still help with the bodies, but I need to keep my record clean-"
"No, if anyone's gonna be doing murdering it's Natasha," Clint side-eyed his friend. "She could probably make it look like Steve's work, though."
"How bad do you wanna find out?" Natasha asked, one red eyebrow flicking up. Clint visibly shuddered.
"Hey, Clint, have you seen Bucky?" Steve asked. Usually Bucky, or Buck, caught the same bus in.
"Yeah, he was on the bus. He said something about detention with the school counsellor. He tried to break up a fight and accidentally nearly broke somebody's nose." Clint chuckled. "Damn, I bet that kid's never gonna sleep again."
Tony decided he liked these people.