A/N: I hope you all enjoyed the last chapter. Things are going to heat up, so I hope you're ready for that. R&R. Enjoy!
Chapter 7
Clint had been having a good day up until lunch.
After the amazing weekend he had had with Bruce, his first day back at school had started off great. Before he had even made it into the school building itself, Clint had been dragged away to Tony's car to talk about, well, everything. Tony had gone out of town, a good two hours away, to go out on a normal date with Steve. Dinner, a movie, and then a nice round of love making made their night. As he listened to Tony ramble relentlessly, Clint could help but think that Tony really was a sap. Try as he might, he couldn't hide the fact that he was head over heels for Steve. They were nearly late for class thanks to Tony's inability to shut his mouth for five seconds.
All of his classes before lunch went by smoothly, mostly because Clint actually had his homework completed, although that was mostly due to Bruce. He was a teacher through and through; not that Clint minded that, because the tie and glasses just made the man look even better. Anyway, his teachers had been happy, happy and surprised that his homework was done. Not that he was stupid or anything; but things that weren't archery or Bruce usually came in second. And homework was dull and boring anyway. So it wasn't his classes that put him in a bad mood.
It was Ms. Ross.
Five minutes after sitting down with his tray, Clint happened to catch her laughter and he looked up. Standing way too close to Bruce for his comfort was Ms. Ross, her smile flirty and her face suggestive. The poor fork in his hand almost got bent in all the wrong ways as Clint watched the two of them interact. Bruce, for his part, was obviously uncomfortable and looked as though he'd rather be anywhere else in the world. Ms. Ross was oblivious to his discomfort, or just didn't care, and continued to flap her gums as they headed towards the teacher's lounge. Steve, who had been watching the two of them as well, scanned the cafeteria before he spotted Clint. Clint's anger must have been apparent on his face, because Steve winced slightly and gave him an awkward, sympathetic wave before heading for the teacher's lounge as well. Tony turned and looked in the direction that Clint was staring at.
"What's going on, buddy?" He turned back to Clint briefly before looking at the last of Steve's back. When his man had vanished, Tony turned around and faced Clint, a puzzled expression on his face.
"What'd you see that pissed you off so fast? Was Coulson present the Best Archer reward to Josh or something? Because there's no way in hell that twerp would get it, just sayin'." Clint growled and stabbed his Salisbury steak.
"I saw Bruce." Tony finished chewing his food and looked slightly annoyed.
"And that's what pissed you off? Did you two have a fight in the past five seconds or something? Because the last I heard, you two were getting along great." Clint shook his head and looked up at Tony.
"No. Ms. Ross was with him." Realization dawned on Tony and his mouth formed an 'O' shape. He nodded, understanding replacing the annoyance on his face.
"Gotcha, Robin Hood. Say no more." Silence fell upon them. For, like, a second or so.
"I wonder why she suddenly decided to talk to Bruce again. Last I heard she was keeping as far away from him as possible. Maybe they made up or something." Clint snorted and stabbed another piece of meat.
"Doubt it. Bruce told me that they hadn't spoken since they broke up." Tony shrugged and ate.
"Maybe she decided to lower her standards and get some science geek." Suddenly, Clint wasn't hungry. Letting his fork fall onto his tray, he stood up and grabbed it.
"Thanks, Tony. You're a lot of help." Before Tony could say anything, not that he hadn't tried, Clint stalked off to dump his food. When he was done, he left the cafeteria, making his way to his locker to get the books for his last remaining classes.
Clint didn't know why Ms. Ross was talking to Bruce, but he didn't like it. He wouldn't have minded if Ms. Foster had been talking to him; Bruce hadn't dated her or felt anything for her. But he had with Ms. Ross and that made all the difference. Although he liked to think that Bruce wouldn't up and leave, Clint knew that their relationship was a dangerous one for two simple reasons: Clint was underage and he was a student. Yes Bruce had told him that he didn't care about either of those things, but he could easily take possible jail time out of the equation by breaking things off with Clint and getting back together with Ms. Ross. Grabbing his things, Clint closed his locker and leaned his forehead against it, thoughts of Bruce leaving him churning about like a restless storm inside of his head.
What would he do if Bruce broke up with him? Had he been any other ordinary teenager, Clint supposed that he'd be sad for a little while before moving on and finding someone else. But Clint wasn't any ordinary teenager. Ever since he was very young, he knew that he was different from other kids his age and everyone knew that as well. So Clint took his relationship with Bruce very seriously. He was in love with the man, after all, and that was something he didn't take lightly. If Bruce broke up with him, could he let him go?
Turning around, Clint leaned his back against his locker and closed his eyes, thinking. He knew for sure that he didn't want to let Bruce go, not without one hell of a fight, but if that was what Bruce wanted… Seeing Bruce smile and laugh, looking and being happy, was an image that Clint wanted to see over and over again. If Clint couldn't make him happy and someone else could, then he supposed that he'd let him go. Oh, he'd hate it and he'd feel bad for a long, long time, but he knew that, deep down, he cared more for Bruce's happiness and livelihood than his own. That maybe not have been something normal teenagers thought about, but it was something that was always on his mind.
"You'll turn into an old man if you continue to constantly ponder like that." Clint's eyes snapped open immediately and his cool eyed gaze turned to the guy who had invaded his private moment. Standing before him, tall and lithe has a tree, was Loki Odinson. He was one of the smartest students in the entire school. Loki was only fourteen, but he was a junior, just a year below Clint grade-wise. They rarely spoke to each other, however; they didn't know each other and they didn't have a lot in common, in Clint's opinion. Yet there he was, standing before Clint with a slight smirk on his face and a tint to his green eyes that Clint couldn't exactly place.
"Yeah, well, I'm always told that I'm an old man at heart. Looking like one wouldn't be so I, I suppose." Loki's smirk widened. It reminded Clint of a cat toying with a mouse.
"How curious." Clint straightened himself out and rolled his shoulders. With his book bag hanging off one shoulder, he gripped the strap and gave Loki a cautious look.
"Well, I should probably get to class. Lunch is almost over anyways and it'd be nice to be on time for once." In all honesty, Clint didn't give a damn if he was early, on time, or late to class. He just wanted to get away from Loki.
"Ah, yes. Nonwestern Civilization, am I right?" Clint's eyes widened. How in the hell did Loki know that? His expression must have relayed his thoughts before Loki laughed, his smirk never leaving his face.
"I sit in the very back of that class. It gives me a better view." He knew better than to ask, but his mouth moved faster than his brain.
"A better view of what?" Clint didn't know how it was possible, but that smirk widened even more.
"Interactions of my fellow classmates, of course. Nothing fascinates me more than watching the rest of you make idle chit chat while trying to absorb the words that Mr. Rogers spews at you. Most usually focus on…other aspects of the lesson." And with that, Loki made his way past Clint and down the hallway, probably towards his locker. The entire conversation, if it could be called that, creeped Clint out a little bit and it didn't help him take his mind off of Bruce and Ms. Ross or make him feel any better. Although, he figured that Loki really didn't care about that. Sighing to himself, Clint made his way to class, still angry, still upset, and still so very unsure about a lot of things.
…
"Care to tell my why you've been giving me the cold shoulder for the past few days?" Clint plucked another arrow out of his quiver. Pulling it back along with the string of his bow, he released it and hit his mark. Another arrow, another bull's eye.
Beside him was Bruce, looking a bit upset, even though his lopsided smile was in place. He had been there during the past few team practices and today had been no different. But Clint had stayed behind to help relieve some of the tension and stress that had built up within him. Over the past few days, Clint, who hadn't had much time to see or talk to Bruce inside or outside of school, saw Ms. Ross' continuously flirt with his boyfriend and it had been pissing him off to the extreme. The only thing that had kept him grounded and stable had been his archer practices, but today, he needed the extra time so that he could be alone and think. And then Bruce made his presence known and that went out the window.
"You're a smart guy, Mr. Banner. You figure it out." Clint's voice didn't hold the normal tone of teasing and flirting as it usually did. He was angry and Bruce knew that he was angry. Bruce sighed and Clint felt a pang of guilt stab his heart. But he couldn't feel all that sorry for Bruce; after all, the man could have easily gotten rid of Ms. Ross just by telling her to fuck off, but he hadn't.
"You're mad that Betty's been hovering around me." Arrow. Draw back. Thud. Bull's eye. Perfect, as usual.
"See? I knew you'd be able to figure it out." Bruce growled, his anger starting to show.
"Damn it, Clint! I've told her numerous times that I wasn't interested and that I was involved with someone else. What else do you want me to do?" Annoyance bubbled up within him. Clint knew, just as everyone else in the school knew, that if Ms. Ross wanted something, she'd do whatever it took to get it.
"Were you nicey-nice about it or did you tell her to leave you the fuck alone and go the fuck away?" Another arrow. Bull's eye. Damn, he was awesome and his quiver was almost empty.
"Of course I'm not going to tell her to fuck off. Not during school hours, where students could hear me." Clint grabbed his last arrow. He didn't let it fly right away though; he wanted to savor the moment, drink it in slowly, because after that arrow was out of his hand, he'd have to turn and face Bruce.
"How about after school?" Slowly, he pulled back the string.
"I do have papers, homework, and tests to grade. And I've been worried sick about you. So no, it never occurred to me to tell her to fuck off after school." Clint released a soft breath and inhaled, his heart pounding the whole time. He hated verbally screwing around with Bruce like he was. There was only one question that he had wanted to ask from the get go, and now was as good a time as any.
"Would you rather be with her than me, Bruce?" Bruce's answer to that question would define everything from here on out. Clint hoped and prayed that Bruce wouldn't let him down; he didn't think he'd be able to take it.
"No, Clint. Why would I when you're everything I'll ever want and need?" He released the arrow and struck the bull's eye with a forceful thud. Releasing the breath he had been holding, Clint turned to Bruce, feeling as though a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. His blue eyes reflected everything that he had been feeling ever since he first saw Ms. Ross with his man.
"Good. Because I don't think I'd be able to let you go if you did." Clint stared into Bruce's dark eyes, "I thought about it, about you leaving me for her. At first, I told myself that I could let you go as long as you were happy. But I knew that I'd never be able to move on from something like that because no one else would be able to compare to you."
Suddenly, Bruce's arms were around him and Clint was being squished to his chest by a strength that he didn't know the science teacher possessed. It felt good though, very good, to be back in those familiar arms again. With his bow still in his hand, Clint returned the embrace, putting everything he felt in it, never wanting to let the older man go.
From a darkened hallway, a figure stood cloaked in shadow and darkness and watched as the two lovers held each other. A scowl spread across the otherwise gentle countenance and eyes glared as Bruce and Clint pulled apart and started talking again.
