A/N: So I decided to post the next chapter ahead of when I was originally going too, mostly because I have a random day off from work so I figured why not?

This chapter focuses a bit on how teachers can turn a blind eye to bullying, and even contribute to it, not having a support system can be especially trying when you're someone else's punching bag.

Not to say that teachers don't put a stop to bullying, because they do, let me stress that because I've had a hell of a time in high school and I had an awesome guidance counsellor that really looked out for me, but let's be honest sometimes certain things are over looked and even encouraged. Tony Angst ahead!

Sorry, I also neglected to mention that there are various OC's some mentioned, some introduced, they're not really that important, I just had to stick names in there for reasons needed to make the story come together.

Chapter 2: A Difference Between Breaking and Bending.

It's a wonder he hadn't developed claustrophobia by now, Tony mused as he banged relentlessly on the door and yelling at the top of his lungs.

He'd been walking to fourth period which was literally only one door away, when he'd been hip chucked into the janitor's broom closet and locked in; according to his phone he'd been in the tiny space for just over ten minutes.

"Really guys, the joke is over, let me out!" Tony hollered not hearing any other sounds, the other students having hurried to their classes. Fourth period for Tony was AP Math, and the teacher hated him with a passion for always correcting him and proving him wrong.

Being late to math was not an option for Tony, and would be one of the worst things he could possibly do on Block B weeks, "let me out!" he yelled again banging on the door harder, finally footsteps sounded and stopped right in front of the jammed door.

The tall tale click of the outer lock turning and the door swung open to reveal Tony's math teacher, "Mr. Stark, I should say this is a surprise finding you in the closet, but somehow I'm not that surprised."

Tony frowned as he stepped out into the hall, "what is that supposed to mean?" he asked, a tone of disdain in his voice, he really didn't like Mr. Denway, "exactly what it sounds like, get to class now." Tony subtly rolled his eyes and headed to the room next door.

He took his seat amongst the giggles and snickers of his classmates, staring down at his desk top and feeling the back of his neck heat up in embarrassment.

"Finally out of the closet Stark?" a jeering voice came from behind him, "if that's supposed to be some witty gay joke, you failed." Tony snapped back, flinching when an eraser hit the back of his head. "Now that Mr. Stark's shouting has stopped disrupting the lesson, shall we continue?" Mr. Denway announced stepping back into the room.

"Wait! You knew I was in there this entire time and you only just let me out now?" Tony asked, unable to stop himself, Mr. Denway fixed him with a displeased look, "well I'd hate to have deprived you of the coming out experience Mr. Stark, that's one detention for your tardiness, and another detention for your outburst, care to add another?"

Tony bit his lip so hard he could taste the tang of blood, "no sir" he grunted ignoring the laughter of the class.

Tony forced himself, no matter how painful it was, not to speak up in class today, remaining silent and completing his work, he was succeeding until a balled up piece of paper landed on his desk. Don't look at it Tony, just flick it to the floor and pretend you never saw it, he told himself sternly.

A pang of another eraser being thrown at him made him quietly groan, they weren't going to stop until he looked at the damn paper. Sighing softly to himself he unrolled the offending object and looked down at it, immediately feeling the familiar sting of tears, but they never fell, he'd never let them fall.

The paper was of a drawing, crudely done but unmistakably him, coming out of the janitor's closet wearing a feathered boa and gesturing to an unseen crowd in an overly flamboyant way. A small speech bubble above his head proclaimed 'I'm coming out, I want the world to know, got to let it show' lyrics to an old song whose name he couldn't remember but had heard before, and one he was nearly positive meant just being yourself.

Tony had never been bothered by sexuality before, and wouldn't say he was homosexual, but wouldn't say he was straight, he didn't believe in labels, just believed in love, and was never afraid to admit his beliefs and his support of the LGBTQ community by wearing one of those rainbow colored LGBT rubber bracelets.

Of course the whole school had took his wearing of the bracelet as his being full on gay and came at him hard for it, homophobia was still a big problem in certain parts, though New York was more tolerable than some places, there was still a fair share of discrimination.

Tony sighed again and rolled the paper back up, leaving it off to the side of the desk to be thrown out on his way to the fifth period. Another rolled up piece of paper landed on his desk, Tony reluctantly unrolled it this time feeling the blood drop from his face.

This one was a picture of Tony daydreaming, the bubble above his character's head was a distinct drawing of Steve Rogers, the picture was captioned; 'I know'. Tony swallowed thickly, and covertly glanced around the room looking for any sign of the person who'd drawn it.

No one looked out of the ordinary, and seeing as how he sat at the far side of the room with the wall to his right, it left a number of suspects to his left, how the fuck could they have known? Tony thought frantically, I've never once hinted that I may like him, hell I've never even spoken more than two words to him that weren't thanks and goodbye.

Tony breathed deeply as he discarded the drawing beside the other one, feeling his palms getting sweaty and heart rate speeding up, the sign of an impending panic attack, just relax Tony, he told himself, maybe it was just someone playing a cruel joke, trying to psych him out and get him worked up.

Tony felt sick, nauseous like he was about to throw up, he swallowed thickly again, trying to get the thin saliva taste that usually happened right before vomiting out of his mouth. Its fine, it's okay, so someone knows, not a big deal, I'm not ashamed of it; I have nothing to worry about. Tony thought, near frantically eyes flickering to the clock which showed a final 5 minutes in the lesson.

Tony made a sound of relief as the bell rang, he waited until he was the last one to clear the room, ripping up the drawings and disposing of half of them in the math's room garbage, and the other half of the shredded pictures in the hallway's garbage.

He kept his head ducked down as he hurried to his last class, having sixth period spare. Fifth period was undoubtedly his favorite class, it was a shop class where he was able to pull cars apart and rebuild them, or work on solo projects involving forms of engineering.

It was the one class he felt remotely comfortable in, today it ended up going by too fast for his liking and before he knew it the bell was ringing.

Tony tiredly packed away his things and trudged grudgingly to the math office in search of Mr. Denway, "good to see you can at least make your detention on time" Mr. Denway spoke callously, "you're to sit in here for the next hour, Mrs. Caster is going to keep an eye on you, and you'll be writing me a 500 word essay on why punctuality is important."

Tony nodded not speaking as he sat down at an empty desk in the math's department, digging paper and a pen from his bag, and proceeding to write, "your detention tomorrow Mr. Stark will consist of the same thing, a 500 word essay on why not disrupting a learning environment is important, when you're finished leave them on my desk." Mr. Denway instructed turning and leaving the room.

Tony kept writing ignoring the pitying gaze of Mrs. Caster, she was an older teacher, and one that people disrespected and walked over and she was probably the only adult in the school that kept on eye out for Tony, interrupting the bullying when she saw it.

He finally finished with three minutes to spare until last bell placing his completed essay on Denway's desk and nodding goodbye to Mrs. Caster before heading to his locker quickly, ducking and dodging other students that flooded the halls.

Tony deftly spun the dial on his lock, clicking it open and pulling the locker door lever, ignoring the words Stark the Nark scratched onto the pale green surface.

He was surprised when a folded piece of paper dropped down onto the floor when he opened his locker, looking around the hall at students that weren't paying attention to him and socializing with their friends or hurrying to catch their buses, and frowned.

Who would put a note in his locker? Tony bent and picked up the seemingly harmless piece of folded paper, there was no writing on the outside of it and curiosity got the best of him and despite his better judgement he unfolded it.

What greeted him was another drawing, crudely done mock fan art of himself drooling after an oblivious Steve Rogers, this time a message had been scrawled onto the upper right hand corner, 'did you honestly think you could hide this? Watch your back Stark.'

Tony took a deep breath, feeling his throat go scratchy and his stomach twist in nerves, okay, Tony thought as he shredded and discarded the drawing into the closest garbage bin, still not a big deal, I'm not ashamed of this, Tony quickly exchanged the books he'd need for homework and closed his locker door.

He headed out to the front of the school and climbed into the back of the car that picked him up and dropped him off, trying his best to ignore the over whelming feeling of impending disaster.

So someone definitely knows, he mused looking out the window and watching the New York scenery pass by, what's the worst that could happen? Oh, for those famous last words.

A/N: Well then, there's chapter 2, I'm still choppy at this; I just got back into writing so here's hoping it's decent enough.

Seems a bit harsh to have that teacher encourage leaving a student locked in a janitor's closet, I actually felt really bad writing that scene, I've been a victim of some intense bullying, so I'm trying to convey some of how I personally felt into Tony's experiences, don't know if I'm succeeding though, here's to giving it a shot.

The song mentioned in the drawing is I'm coming out by Diana Ross, and I hold no ownership to it, really catchy song if you haven't heard it. Until next time!