A/N: Poor Steve, he just wants to talk again, but Tony certainly isn't making it easy for him.
Chapter 9: An Inch Forward, A Mile Back.
Steve sighed to himself in frustration as Tony continued to eat his lunch silently, the others were a little confused as to the sudden change in temperament, and they acknowledged that Tony could be a little awkward around them for past reasons, but he usually spoke more than this.
Bucky's shoulders shook in silent laughter at Steve as Tony resolutely ignored him, Rhodey cast curious looks between Steve and Tony, finally mouthing 'what happened?' at Steve who made a hopeless face and a vague gesture with his hands.
"I'm done, thanks for lunch, catch you guys later!" Tony called as he stood and collected his tray and walked off. "Okay, what the fuck? He was fine yesterday, now he's all pissy" Clint asked as soon as Tony was out of ear shot.
Bucky couldn't contain himself any longer and burst into loud laughter, dropping his head on the table top and smacking his hand onto the surface over and over again.
Steve rolled his eyes, "honestly Bucky, stop it's not funny" Bucky gasped for breath, "fuck yes it is!" he choked out, dissolving into laughter again much to the puzzlement of everyone else.
"You know what happened, Steve?" Natasha asked inspecting her nails idly, Steve grimaced, "I may have stepped into a situation that wasn't mine to step into, and may or may not have offended Tony." Natasha raised a perfectly sculpted brow, "does that explain that lovely black eye you're currently sporting?" she asked with a small smirk.
Steve glared at her with no real heat to the look, "he punched me okay?" Bucky howled with laughter, joined by Clint when the words sunk in, "Tony gave you a black eye!" He spoke hysterically.
"So Steve, what happened man?" Rhodey asked pushing back his empty tray and slouching in his seat comfortably.
"I was leaving the locker room, heard Tony shouting from the gymnastics level, I went down to see if he was okay and saw him getting harassed by that Justin guy, he had Tony pinned to the wall and I stepped in, Tony didn't like that and punched me."
Thor frowned grievously, "I should think that the man of iron would be grateful for your assistance, why is he not happy with you?" Steve smiled wryly; Thor always had such a poetic way of speaking. "That's what I'm trying to figure out; he just got so angry about it."
Loki made a nonchalant sound, "seems like you should have just stayed out of it" he commented silkily, Loki was normally with the soccer team, rarely eating with the others, this was such a time where he did.
Steve sighed, leaning over and smacking Bucky and Clint on the back of their heads as they were still laughing at his expense, "I'm starting to think that" he responded delicately touching his blackened eye, some of the swelling had gone down, and he could see out of it alright, it was just this nasty dark purple color with tints of black and green to it.
Rhodey made a sound of acknowledgement and stood, "you're a smart guy Steve, you'll figure it out" he smiled picking up his tray and saying goodbye to everyone before heading to the practice he had that day.
"It's just too funny" Clint chuckled, "he's such a little guy and he got the drop on you, man Steve, I think he didn't need your help after all."
Steve made a displeased face, "it certainly looked like he did, he was being shoved into that wall, and that Justin guy is creepy beyond all reason, who talks to somebody like that?!" he spoke vehemently not seeing the look Natasha and Jane gave him.
"This is messed, we were getting along so well, and then this happened, and I just don't get why he's so mad at me, I was just trying to help." Steve moaned, dejectedly slumping in his seat. Natasha shifted ever so slightly in her seat, "don't stress over it too much Steve, he'll come round."
Jane nodded, "she's right, just give him some time to cool off and think about the situation, everything will be fine, you'll see." Jane patted his hand comfortably leaning over the table to reach him. "Bruce and I have to go now, we got to get back to school, unlike you privileged athletes we still have classes to attend" she winked at them, standing up and bending over to give Thor a quick kiss.
"Not really privileged, we had to attend extra class for three months just so we wouldn't fall behind for this thing!" Clint called after her and Bruce as they left the food court.
Steve tried several more times that day to talk to Tony, going as far as to wait for him outside the gymnastics level, he had appeared in the now familiar oversized shirt and shorts, barefoot with wrist and ankle supporters on, carrying his gym bag and covered in sweat.
Tony had taken one look at him and snarked out a "What? Are you my body guard now too? I think I can find the locker room and stairs on my own thanks" before following his teammates to the lockers, not giving Steve a chance to say anything.
By the end of the day Steve was ready to pull out his hair in frustration, he didn't know why his actions offended Tony so much, and every time he tried to bring it up the guy dodged him expertly or gave some sarcastic retort, it was maddening.
"Steve!" Steve turned his head to see Rhodey walking up to where he was sitting on the benches outside the hotel's main entrance, "hey what's up?" Steve greeted as Rhodey sat down, "look man, I didn't want to get involved, because frankly, this shit isn't any of my business, personally I'm glad you dealt with Justin, the guy is a nut job, and yea Tony can handle him on his own, but every now and then it's nice that he shouldn't have too."
Steve nodded, unclear as to where this was going, "thanks I guess" Rhodey gave him a friendly smile, "I see you're struggling here, and I have to be honest with you, Tony told me all about freshman year after the first time we all had lunch together."
Steve flinched, "you must think we're pretty awful" Rhodey shook his head negatively, "perhaps, a little, but man we're teenagers; this is the stage in life where we rebel and do stupid shit despite what our parents say, and dude, we get mean and nasty to each other."
Rhodey puffed out a deep breath, "yes, what you guys did was fucking awful, but Tony is a tough guy, and if you all hadn't done that shit to him, he wouldn't have moved to Cali, wouldn't have gotten healthy and wouldn't be as happy as he is. People think that just because he's a rich kid he has it easy, they're wrong."
Steve perked up at the sudden insight to Tony's life, "Tony has no relationship with his parents, not my place to say, but man, he's spent the last two years' worth of holidays at my house, didn't even get so much as a phone call from his folks, he doesn't even call them mom and dad, he calls them by their names; Maria and Howard."
Steve frowned, remembering Tony allotting to having parents that didn't care about him, "Tony lives in a house the Stark family owns, his dad pays for the amenities, but for everything else Tony is on his own, he works at a coffee bar, and pays for his own groceries, and clothes, and, anything else he might need. Hell his parents don't even know that he's in New York right now, they wouldn't care."
Rhodey sat back on the bench, stretching his legs out, "all his life Tony has had to fight for the things he has, and he's proud to have done so, and that's the problem Steve, his pride. You wounded his pride, that's why he's pissed."
Steve gaped in shock, "that seems like such a superficial reason though" he commented, Rhodey shook his head, chuckling.
"Not to him it's not, Tony is self-sustainable, he works, he gets his shit when he needs too, and has never asked anything from his parents beyond Howard paying for the heat and air conditioning, water, and electricity. Anytime there's been shit to deal with, he's always dealt with it on his own, he's never had anyone before to help him, except Jarvis, and he passed away just as Tony started freshman year."
"The one person who meant anything to me is dead!" Tony's words from two years ago echoed in Steve's head, "Tony is used to being on his own for everything, I include him in my family get togethers just to give the guy a sense of a real family, he calls my parents momma and papa Rhodes, but he won't let them fight his battles for him. Tones and I are like brothers, and he won't let me help him when he needs it, it's that pride man, in his mind, since he's made it this far, he doesn't need anyone else."
Steve nodded, slowly understanding, "so he's angry with me because I told him he couldn't handle the situation and did it for him, when he would've been fine on his own" Rhodey nodded, "exactly man, Tony doesn't like being told what he can and can't do, doesn't like people thinking he's an invalid, that's how you made him feel, so yes he's angry and hurt and mostly pissed at himself that he didn't get Justin to back off sooner, if he had you wouldn't have stepped in to the fray, and you guys would still be good."
Steve rubbed at his face tiredly, wincing at the pull of his sore eye, "well he definitely has a mean right hook" Steve chortled, poking at the bruised skin lightly.
Rhodey laughed, "You have no idea, you know how he's always threatening to kick Mike's ass?" Steve nodded, "he's done it before, Mike walked away with a sprained wrist, and a black eye worse than yours, it's actually one of the reasons Mike asked him out."
"How did that have anything to do with him wanting to date Tony?" Steve asked stiffly, Rhodey gave a one shoulder shrug.
"Mike likes them feisty, Tony is as tough as it gets, kid takes shit from no one anymore" Rhodey cleared his throat, "as awkward as this is for me to say, Mike was actually attracted to Tony's eyes first, says they're beautiful."
"They are" Steve whispered softly, Rhodey gave him a look which made Steve flush in mild embarrassment, "they're the first things I noticed about Tony too" he explained, "it's why I hated those glasses he wore, they covered his eyes, and they're his best feature, it's the artist in me."
Rhodey laughed, "sure it is" Steve blanched, "what's that supposed to mean?" he asked curiously, Rhodey shook his head, "don't worry about it man, anyway now that you know what the problem is, you ready to go talk to him?"
Steve nodded standing and stretching, he'd been sitting there for too long, "good, it's supposed to rain again tonight, you'll know where to find him." Steve thanked him and began walking off, heading into the hotel.
A/N: Aww, little heart to heart there, but now that Steve knows what Tony's issue is, can he get Tony to stay put long enough to hear him out?
