Bruce couldn't help but take another quick glance at his watch as he put the last bite of his mom's shrimp quiche in his mouth. 5:40. He had five minutes to be out the door and on his way. As soon as he chewed and swallowed, he spoke up, "May I be excused?"

Both parents had taken notice of his hurry during dinner, but hadn't sought to comment. Brian's chewing slowed. "Of course, sweetheart, just remember to put your dishes in the sink," Rebecca was first to give permission, smiling at her son.

Bruce was up in an eyeblink. Quick detour to the kitchen, and then en route to his bedroom. Moments later he was headed for the garage, shrugging his bomber jacket on over both shoulders.

"Bruce," his father's voice stopped him dead in his tracks just as he was reaching for the doorknob. The teen muttered a silent curse. "Why don't you tell your mother and I where you're going?" the man spoke.

As much as the high schooler didn't want to admit it, his father's inquiry wasn't an unreasonable one. Bruce retracted his hand from the knob grudgingly and moved back into the dining room where they could talk without shouting across the house. He looked from his mother's expectant face to his father's stern one. "I was going to pick Tony up and go out to Halcyon Hill to do some stargazing," he explained softly.

From across the room he saw his mother's face light up, and she put her hand to her chest to stifle a coo. "That sounds like an absolutely wondrous time!" she said.

"It sounds like time you both could be spending on things of greater importance," Brian corrected with a snort.

Bruce fiddled with the zipper at the bottom of his coat and looked at the ground. Yeah, he could think of about three separate homework assignments he was actually putting aside for tonight, that could be completed tonight if he wasn't taking Tony out. … Going out with Tony. Going with Tony out somewhere. God, why did every way to phrase it sound like they were going on a date?

"Brian, it's good for Bruce to have a little fun now and again," Rebecca said to her husband.

The man grumbled and shovelled another bite into his mouth. "I suppose."

The teen blinked. It was odd... seeing first-hand this change in dynamic between his parents that had been gradually developing. Where before he might have told her to hold her tongue, he was listening, even backing down. And where his mother had once taken a backseat to enforcing the rules, she was now stepping up to the plate.

The woman looked back at her son, "How long do you intend to be out, dear? I assume Tony's father is alright with it?"

Bruce scratched the back of his head. "Yeah," he responded- though really, who knew if Tony had ever asked his dad if he could do something. After that crazy New Years party, was there anything Mr. Stark wouldn't allow? Not to mention his mom had to be crazy herself, bringing up Tony's dad in front of his father. He focused on the question before it, "Probably a few hours."

"This is something you should have told your mother and I prior to making solid plans," Brian's face was one of a man who was not at all pleased. Bruce's gut clenched. If he was about to be told he couldn't go out and he'd end up having to tell Tony the whole thing was off… (and furthermore Betty; if she'd been livid before...)

He let his head hang. "I'm sorry, sir; I'll remember in the future."

His father's mouth curled in a disbelieving snarl- though, with how many curfews Bruce had broken lately, why would the man believe him? Bruce wouldn't believe himself at this point were he in his father's position.

"That would be very appreciated, sweetheart," his mother responded. Bruce let out a silent sigh; he began to turn around to get going.

"I don't recall saying you were dismissed," Brian halted him yet again.

"Sorry, sir…" Bruce mumbled, lackluster.

"I have one final question before you are permitted to go," Brian said. Bruce waited, gnawing the side of his lower lip. The man's eyes locked with his. "Do you have all your homework done?"

Bruce sucked in a breath. This question could make it or break it, and it was all too liable to break it. "No, sir," he answered honestly; he made sure to transition quickly, "But I've got all of tomorrow-"

"Your studies are important, Bruce," the man forged forward, "You know that they are. And if you intended to go out tonight, you should have made a greater effort to complete them beforehand, rather than sleep half the day away."

The teen felt himself visibly cringe. He had slept in until nearly one in the afternoon thanks to five days with not nearly enough sleep; his body needed the recharge. If he'd stuck to his curfew the past few nights, it wouldn't have happened. Then again, if he'd just been allowed to spend the night at Tony's or vice versa, then the issue wouldn't have been there to begin with; he would've gotten to bed at a reasonable hour. Not that his father was going to understand that logic. "I'll get everything done tomorrow," he said firmly, dancing on the edge of anger. He was going out with Tony, he didn't care what his old man said or what cockamamie rules he tried to enforce upon him.

"That had best be the truth, Bruce." There were the dangerous underpinnings of vehemence in those words, enough to compel him to take a slow step backward. He could tell his father was seething, and if it weren't for the presence of his wife, Bruce would be getting the verbal upbraiding of his life. "I won't tolerate any slacking off in this household. You had a long winter break to enjoy yourself, but now it's time for you to re-focus on furthering your education. No excuses."

Yeah. A long winter break. A third of which he'd been grounded for. Bruce huffed.

"Your father has a legitimate point, dear," his mother backed up her husband, though her words were softer, gentler… eyes pleading with him to keep control of his fury. "Please understand we are being very lenient in letting you go out tonight. We want the very best for you."

Bruce just gave a dull nod. He gave her a parting kiss on the cheek.

"Have a good time, darling," the woman swept his hair back and picked a piece of lint off his button-up shirt, fussing over him just mildly. "Tell me all about it when you get home. We'll have a cup of tea, you and me."

Bruce put on a smile in spite of the several conflicting emotions her suggestion incurred.

Bruce coasted to a slow enough speed to put his foot down on the dirt road. There were more switchbacks on the route than Betty had indicated, and what with being a little late to pick his friend up, dusk was rapidly beginning to fade from the sky. Overhead a couple of points of light were prominently visible to the eye- planets. Mars and Jupiter it looked like. The teen flicked the headlamp off on his moped and cut the ignition. "Here we are."

"Okay, how did I not know about this place already?" Tony craned his neck as he took a big sweeping look at the darkening sky around them, then at the landscape around them, "And how does nobody else? We can't be the only two people in the tri-city area that like stargazing." He poked his chin over Bruce's shoulder and raised a suspicious eyebrow, "Did you put up a sign saying it was a dangerous nuclear test site or something?"

"Must just be lucky," Bruce's chuckle tapered off awkwardly, not unaware that his friend's arms were still around him. Which felt nice, but he was determined to keep this outing from seeming too… date-like despite all appearances. He shifted to get off his bike.

Tony followed suit, hands dropping to his sides and slipping into his jean pockets before thinking better of it just in case Bruce wanted him to help lay out the blanket or anything.

Bruce wandered a few steps, turning 360° idly. "Here good?"

Tony took a moment to scan the surrounding area, before manually turning Bruce a few degrees counter-clockwise and pushing him a few feet forward, "Here's better."

The teen chuckled, a bit confused by the slight adjustment, but not protesting it. "Alright." He unzipped his backpack, pulling out the blanket they'd brought from Tony's. "You want to…?" he left the question hanging as he unfurled it, holding onto a couple corners.

Tony held Bruce's gaze just a bit longer than he'd been really meaning to, and he answered, embarrassed once he realized what was being asked of him. "Oh. Yeah, sure," he nodded, taking the other two corners and stepping back to spread the blanket out. It was the same one they'd used for the bonfire. Tony'd packed it specifically, kind of hoping Bruce would notice.

Bruce knelt down to smooth a few of the most egregious wrinkles out, then began removing more things that had been stuffed into his backpack: star charts, astronomy books, a flashlight. Tony tilted his head with a smile; it was cute. "You know, I have an app for all of that."

"Yeah?" Bruce looked at him, "And what are you going to do when the screen ruins your night vision?" He flicked his red-filtered flashlight off and on. "Some things have no replacement."

Tony sighed, plopping down on one corner of the blanket once it was smoothed out. "Hey now, just because I'm pro-tablet doesn't mean I'm anti-paperback. I've got loads of books at home- you've seen 'em. I'm just saving them for a rainy day. Or the nuclear holocaust. You know, whichever strikes first," he shrugged.

He at least got a chuckle out of the big guy, who laid out on his back. "Sorry," he apologized as he lifted his arms to rest his hands behind his head, "you just never struck me as an advocate for anything that didn't run on electricity."

"Bruce, please," Tony rolled his eyes, joining his friend out flat on the blanket. "I might have a bit of a tech-boner, but I'm not driving around in a Prius. Nothing's ever gonna beat the roar of a V-8, 320 horsepower gasoline engine. And just cuz the electric guitar is my go-to gal doesn't mean the acoustic doesn't get a little action from time to time."

Bruce felt a grin creep onto his features. "I take it back, you know when the classics outshine the latest and greatest."

He was well on his way toward rambling now. "I mean, aside from medical science, sometimes I think innovation could probably stand to slow down for a little while. You know, give people our age more to freak out about in ten or twenty years," Tony chuckled, lying back slowly and pulling his arms behind his head. And he was saying that as an aspiring inventor.

Bruce nudged his friend with his elbow suddenly, pointing upward. "Hey look. Satellite. One of yours?" he asked with a grin.

"You know, I'll be damned if I can't read the logo from here…" Tony responded, faking a squint. The moving point of light gradually faded out to a higher orbit as he followed it with his eyes. Quite a few brighter stars were becoming visible now in the progressively deepening purple sky.

Bruce dug back into his backpack. A moment later he was offering his friend a pair of binoculars. Tony took them gladly, using them to pan the night sky much in the same way as he did earlier without the enhancement. "You know, you wouldn't expect these to work so well…" he thought out loud as he pointed them inconspicuously in the direction of the high school. Still all clear. A little over an hour to show time. He hid his grin.

"A single order of magnitude," Bruce smiled, taking them back to peer at the blue-white supergiant Rigel.

"I guess it makes all the difference," Tony responded with a nod. In the lull he turned his head to study the other teen's profile as he was immersed in the stars overhead, the binoculars to his face. Tony couldn't help that he felt like it was as good a view as the sky was. Truth was he felt like he never got enough opportunities like this to just admire the big guy up close, uninterrupted or without something else to distract him. Appreciate all the little details. Like that rare little smile at the corners of his full lips. Tony pulled his gaze away eventually to focus it back on the stars, enjoying the joint solitude being up on the hill gave them.

It took Bruce some time to realize how absorbed he'd gotten in the celestial objects, lowering the binoculars embarrassedly. "Sorry, did you want them again?" he asked, holding them out. "Betty and I used to have our own pairs so it kind of slipped my mind..." he trailed off with a chuckle.

"Don't worry about it," Tony dismissed, "And how many times is it now I've told you to stop saying 'sorry'?"

"Yeah, right, okay," Bruce nodded. "I just… well, I want to make sure you're having a good time."

"Of course I am," Tony scoffed, shoving Bruce's shoulder playfully, "So you and Betty did this a lot?"

"Well, no…" Bruce cleared his throat. "I mean, yes. In the backyard. It wasn't really the same… as this."

"Yeah? So how long's it been?" Tony asked, always curious to know more about the big guy.

"I don't really know; it's not too important," he shrugged off. "I'm just glad-" he froze up upon finding eye-contact with the other boy, "Nevermind." Finishing that sentence would definitely be stringing Tony along.

"Glad what?" the other teen pressed interestedly.

Did Tony have to ask like that? Bruce supposed he did. A fleeting anxiety fluttered in his stomach. He had been about to say 'I have you.' but he chose to say "That you said yes to coming tonight. It's... been awhile since I went stargazing with anyone," he rubbed the back of his neck. "Backyard or not."

Tony's dark brown eyes glimmered and he pecked his partner on the mouth.

Time stretched on silently for a while after that, and Tony had no reason to doubt that it was a mutually peaceful silence. Time was mostly spent with Bruce pointing out various star groupings and listing off facts about each one. It was cute to see the big guy get so excited over it, face lighting up with childhood nostalgia more and more frequently as the night wore on. It was pretty easy to lose track of time altogether. His phone vibrated. That should be his thirty minute warning. Tony smirked again and clicked his tongue, interjecting, "So did I tell you that Hammer's been trying to ruin my reputation again?"

Bruce lowered his binoculars, recalling the Glendale student whom he'd sent sprawling at the bonfire. "You did not," he answered, sensing a story was to follow.

"Well, I guess it slipped my mind, considering nine times out of ten he's pretty much useless at everything, this most recent instance being no exception. Anyway, he's been spamming all of my online accounts. Like every last one of them. Even the old livejournal account that I haven't used since sixth grade. When he saw I wasn't answering, he started harassing admins in forums and shit and trying to get me banned everywhere. Of course it was always via anonymous messages or alternate accounts, but even if I couldn't track his IP, you could tell it was him. Same sentence structure, same self-satisfied smugness, same stench of desperation in every message. Not to mention, who the fuck else calls me 'Mr. Stark'?"

Bruce felt himself chuckle lightly, giving a stretch on the blanket before scratching an itch on his right side. "So you're telling me that after the bonfire bombing blew up in his face, he resorted to cyber-bullying?"

"Yeah, I guess you could call it that. What's funny is I could easily get him IP banned everywhere myself. It wouldn't even take me a whole afternoon to lock up every account he has, all the way back to Neopets. I have something better in mind, though. Nobody fucks with Tony Stark."

"Well, I seem to get away with it," Bruce's lip twisted with a grin as he rolled onto his side to face his friend and paw a hand up his chest. As much as laying out here alone under the cover of the stars wasn't a date, he wasn't going to downplay his attraction for the other boy.

"You're a special exception," Tony countered with a purr, cupping a hand around the back of Bruce's neck and pulling their faces closer.

"I like that…" Bruce murmured, setting the binoculars aside and closing the rest of the distance. The air around them was cold, and Tony's nose was cool to the touch, but his lips were warm against his own. Their bodies naturally molded to one another, legs interleaving. It only took a few minutes for the hot puffs of air escaping their opening and closing mouths to fog the lenses of Bruce's glasses, rendering his vision mostly obscured. He had plenty of other stimuli to focus on though, like trailing his hands up and down the other teen's slim sides and listening to the light warble each caress brought from his friend's throat.

Tony chuckled lightly when he noticed, using his thumb and forefinger to nudge the fogged up lenses further up to rest on Bruce's forehead. Normally the lack of corrective lenses would have rendered Tony an indistinguishable blur in the background, but their close proximity eliminated any of the problems his near-sightedness would have presented. "Thanks," Bruce hummed appreciatively.

"Couldn't see your eyes," Tony breathed out, words ghosting over his friend's lips, going in for a few more hungry kisses before continuing, "It was bothering me."

"It's not bothering you that my whole head is blocking your view of the stars?" Bruce asked a bit cheekily when he'd managed to momentarily detach.

"Killing me, clearly," Tony deadpanned.

Bruce laughed and rolled back over onto his back, returning his glasses to their resting place on his nose. They had come to stargaze after all, not make-out. He pawed around for one of his other star charts and the flashlight, sitting up.

Tony blinked, wide-eyed and a bit confused. Part of him expected the big guy to put the moves on him again. After all, they'd both been kind of defaulting to making out and sex the past few days. Hell, part of him had kind of hoped the big guy would- there was a condom in his wallet waiting for a reason. Sex required a lot less thinking, especially the kind of thinking they were both likely to be avoiding presently. It was weird to see Bruce move on to something else so casually.

The billionaire cleared his throat and attempted to do the same. "So uh, what're we gonna look at now?"

Bruce hummed. "I don't know. Is there anything specific you want to see?" he asked, clicking the flashlight on to illuminate the map he was now holding.

Tony scooched closer, putting his chin on the big guy's shoulder to peer at the circular diagram with a thoughtful 'hm'. "How's about the constellations for our star signs?" He traced the tip of his nose along the ridge of the other teen's ear.

Bruce wet his lips, trying to ignore the closeness of his friend and the implications of said closeness. "For me that's Cancer, the crab," he kept the circle of red light on the page with one hand, while the other traced across a five-star Y-like pattern, signifying it. "And for you that's Aries, right?"

"Yeah."

"The ram." Bruce drew his finger along the four-stars in a slightly bent line. It was one of the more difficult constellations to find, not composed of particularly bright stars nor in a uniquely distinguishable pattern.

His friend snorted, "The animal or the verb?"

"Technically, both," Bruce responded with a shake of his head. He consulted the map before looking up, searching the east sky. "We're looking for the Seven Sisters. It's a six-star cluster."

Tony's eyes followed Bruce's gaze, attempting to spot the formation, "So what happened to the seventh one?"

"She's there, but she's not visible without magnification," Bruce explained. "Same with her mom who's just above Atlas, but…" he trailed off suddenly when he spotted the dipper-esque cluster. "There they are. See?" he pointed, letting his friend align his vision down his arm.

Tony hummed, narrowing his eyes until the cluster came into focus, "Ahh, yeah I see it." He grabbed the binoculars to search for the seventh.

"Okay…" Bruce hmm'd, looking back down at the map in his lap to gauge the distance between stars on the page relative to their positions in the sky. "Hamal should be to the east; it's yellow."

Tony panned his vision slowly east. "That one?" he asked, lowering the binoculars and pointing.

Bruce adjusted his glasses upward to confirm. "Yeah, that's it."

"Oh wow, did I seriously find it first?"

"Guess so," Bruce grinned. "Now just connect the dots: there's two crooked to the right and one further off on the left. And that's your constellation."

Tony's face twisted in concentration for a few minutes, "Okay either I'm doing this wrong, or this constellation looks nothing like a ram."

Bruce laughed. "Yeah well, a lot of them are like that." He flicked his friend's nose lightly. "You have to use your imagination."

"Well that's a rip-off," Tony grumbled, sticking his tongue out, "Who in the Hell decided that looked like a ram? I mean, even with the imagination of a three year old that's questionable as Hell."

"Some ancient Greek astronomer," the other teen shrugged.

"Who's long dead by now, meaning I have no one to forward my complaints to."

"Sorry, no refunds," Bruce joked. "If it makes you feel any better, mine doesn't look much like a crab either." He found and pointed to it with reasonable ease, having its position memorized like Taurus, Betty's star sign.

"Not much consolation, but it'll have to do," Tony shrugged as he folded his arms. He looked Bruce's direction and licked his lips. "So, how compatible are we? You know, if you believe in all that horoscope crap."

Bruce coughed into a fist. "That's not really…" He stopped. Had he been about to say 'relevant'? Was he entertaining this question as seriously as Tony probably was? 'You don't want to string him along,' Betty's voice reminded him. "Well, it's not unheard of, but it's widely known as one of the more… turbulent pairings."

Tony let out a chortle, "No shit?" If that wasn't clear from the rough spots in their friendship. Relationship, as of tonight. When Bruce didn't seem to be responding, he cleared his throat and began to fill the silence. "Not like I really believe in star signs anyway. I kind of feel like it's an easy way to brush off some of our more grating behaviors as human beings. Easier to blame our personality faults and bad breakups on the stars than figure out what we did wrong and learn from it for the sake of personal growth." He gestured widely towards the sky as he continued, realizing he was getting really riled up, "I mean hey, the stars are all the way out there, right? How are they gonna argue with us?" He let out a sigh and plopped backwards onto the blanket, "But I guess if by some off-chance they actually are right, it's nice to know things'll never be boring for us." He nuzzled himself into the big guy's side, seeking out the emotional comfort.

Bruce felt his lip twitch and a nervousness settle in his gut at that word… 'us'. 'Be honest with him.' he recalled Betty's words. "Tony, we…" he didn't get much farther.

"Listen, it's stupid. Forget I brought it up." Tony knew full well by now the weight of a man's choices. He'd been presented one: elect for surgery, or wait until it was a final resort. As such, he really didn't want to think about the concept of predetermined patterns and fates, that he could have once considered his own destiny to have fallen upon the alignment of stars. The truth was he was even more aware of his mortality now than before he'd known about the ARC reactor, when he'd mistakenly thought he had no power over his condition.

"Tony…" Bruce repeated with concern.

He shook his head roughly and pressed his hand onto Bruce's. "Important thing is we're here now, right? Together."

Bruce's forehead furrowed at the touch. "I know it's not what you want to hear, but I have to tell you…"

"What?" Tony shot back.

The teen exhaled roughly. This really, really wasn't going to be easy, but it needed to be said or Tony was going to keep on thinking this was a date. "I can't date you," he delivered.

Tony gaped for a second, thrown for a loop. That felt entirely unprompted. And then it sank in, and suddenly it felt like he'd been punched in the gut. He swallowed and choked his next few words out, "I wasn't even talking about that, but okay." Where had that statement even come from? Tony felt his eyes mist. Was that why he hadn't wanted Betty or Jane to come? "Were you... inviting me up here to- to tell me…?"

Bruce froze a moment, realizing that it probably seemed exactly like he'd done that. "No," he stumbled out, trying to explain himself. "I- I just wanted to go out with you and enjoy ourselves… I didn't think we'd actually talk about..." He trailed off again. He had to seem like the biggest jerk right now and he was already hating himself for bringing it up. It could have waited. At least until the night was over. Or sometime next week.

The back of Tony's throat was starting to prickle and he could feel his sinuses swelling. He wanted to ask why. He really, really wanted to ask why, but he just couldn't form the word. He cleared his throat and held his hands up dismissively, "It's okay. It's fine. Really." It wasn't even close to okay, but if there was any hope of Bruce changing his mind later on, he'd have to try not to complicate this. If they fought now the bridge might be burnt beyond disrepair. God, what the Hell was he going to tell Pepper? Or Betty? Or his own fucking father. How was he going to cope-

No. Now wasn't the time to panic. He needed to keep his cool. As best he could.

Everything about Tony's body language said the exact opposite, and Bruce had to force himself not to ask if he was okay. He knew it couldn't have been an easy truth for Tony to hear; it would probably be awhile before he recovered from it. Bruce turned his head away from the other teenager, guilt-ridden.

Tony felt his phone vibrate, and pulled it out to check, relieved for the momentary distraction. It was the second alarm: 'Fifteen minutes.' He scoffed and wiped an eye.

The small noise drew Bruce's head back up. He looked at his friend mildly questioningly.

"Nothing. Pepper sent me a cat picture," he lied. It was supposed to be a surprise anyway. "Can we talk about something else?"

"Yeah, anything," Bruce agreed readily.

For a long moment Tony lay silent, genuinely entertaining the idea of telling Bruce what he'd learned about his condition, and the ARC, since his last checkup. One one hand, it might relieve some of the anxiety he was feeling, and on the other, it might only serve to upset him more. He clicked his tongue three times, not pulling his gaze from the sky directly above him as he spoke, "So, you said you wanted to be an astronaut when you were little?"

Bruce rubbed at the side of his nose, perhaps bashfully, but mostly glad for the change in subject. "Aeronautics engineer. Probably wouldn't have ended up in space myself."

"But… that's so…" Tony shook his head, "You were a kid. Come on. Don't tell me you never thought of being the guy who actually got to set foot on Mars, or live on the International Space Station, or something."

Bruce smiled slightly, lacing his fingers to twiddle his thumbs. "First day of Space Camp I threw up on the simulator."

Tony hummed, "Okay, first let me say how jealous I am that you actually got to go to Space Camp. And second, I don't see how you couldn't have grown into the role. I mean if a wuss like Steve can get through basic training I'm pretty sure you could be an astronaut."

"That's okay. The space program is basically dead nowadays."

"Oh I don't know. I mean, didn't they invent the memory foam mattress?"

"That's helping us get to Mars how?" Bruce thumbed his nose.

"I don't know, but when we do, we won't be disturbing the person sleeping next to us," Tony commented wryly.

"Or spilling their wine when we feel like jumping on the bed?"

"That's the spirit."

"Haha," Bruce said to the pun. He then shook his head again. "Well, it's not like you stand a better chance of living your childhood dream than I do. Didn't you want to be a Gundam pilot?"

"Oh, I'm still gonna pilot a mobile suit someday, trust me. And from the looks of it, I'm probably gonna have to be the first one to fully design and build a decent one, assuming I'll settle for decent."

"Fully automated with JARVIS, I'm assuming?" Bruce guessed.

"Oh yeah. All the bells and whistles." Tony nodded, before twirling his wrist, "Plus spinning rims."

A brief silence fell between them again. For a moment there, caught up in banter, Tony had almost managed to forget what Bruce had told him a few minutes ago. "You know," Tony started, the thought he was about to convey as bittersweet as it was sincere, "It's discussions like these that make me wonder what it would have been like to have been friends back when we were little. We probably would've argued for hours over whether space colonies were a viable option for the future of the human race, because you're a stickler for cautious underestimates, and I just really want to live on a damn space colony."

Bruce chuckled. It was an interesting thought, say, if he'd grown up with Tony rather than Betty. Or perhaps in addition to Betty. The two of them probably wouldn't be in this hard spot now if they had. He shoved that thought to the very back corner of his mind. "Well it's not a viable option unless we can find an agricultural replacement to soil," Bruce contested playfully for the sake of doing so.

"Of course we can. But not with that downer attitude," Tony teased. "Plus," he jabbed his chest with his thumb as a pervy smirk stole over his features, "I want to be the first guy to score in zero gravity."

"Without gravity there'd be nothing to gain purchase against except the other person; it'd be pretty boring pretty quickly," Bruce didn't hesitate to pop his friend's bubble.

Tony rolled his eyes and gave his friend a shove on the arm, "Well I know your Gundam's name would have been BuzzKill."

"I didn't say I'd be opposed to trying it with you," Bruce lobbied, but it kind of lacked his former flirtateousness.

"No thanks. I think you just killed that dream," Tony remarked flatly. He could tell his friend was trying, but Tony wasn't really in the mood to kid himself, and he sure as Hell wasn't in the mood to contemplate sex with the man next to him in his current emotional state, Zero-G or otherwise.

He bit his lip, inhaling through his nose slowly, "Considering the amount of time it'd take 'til the human race is capable of making a functioning space colony, complete with a soil alternative… How long do you think that'd take? Thirty years give or take, with optimal funding and zero coffee breaks?"

"Yeah, that sounds about right. Good luck on getting that funding though."

Tony took a deep breath in and out, clenching a fistful of the blanket he was laying on. "Do you really think in thirty years you and I are still gonna be together?" Tony asked, but the last few words were drowned out by the sound of an explosive screeching its way upward in the night sky, bursting into a spray of vivid green.

Bruce nearly jumped out of his skin at the unexpected sound and light. "What the…?" he stared wide-eyed and alarmed before yet another firework interrupted him by taking to the sky, detonating in white and gold sparks.

"Surprise..." Tony murmured, twirling a finger.

Bruce gawked at the spectacle now in full-swing in front of him. Each colorful explosion lit the hill they were seated on, bathing the each of them in bright, fleeting light. It was… well, it was breath-taking was what it was. He sat there simply staring with his neck craned back, the pops and bangs each ringing in his ears, drowning out every other thought in his head. He followed one of the contrails down to its origin. Wait, were they coming off the school rooftop? he noticed with a momentary eyebrow lift. As the last few pops and bangs sounded out and diminished in the smoky sky, he looked back to Tony, his heart squeezing in his chest. "You…" he couldn't quite get out what he was feeling. "You made fireworks…?"

"Yeah I set them up for tonight. I also included one dud labeled with the HammerTech logo," Tony explained, all the while lacking the trademark smugness that he'd intended to have in this moment, "Someone's gonna wake up to a rough morning tomorrow."

Bruce really only listened to the first half of that answer. He reached out to pull his friend into a tight hug, whispering an emotionally-conflicted, "You're the best. You know that?"

"It's no big deal," Tony replied, sliding his arms around Bruce hesitantly. This felt awkward now, and he couldn't remember the last time touching Bruce had felt awkward. He nibbled his bottom lip, reminding himself that he'd better get used to it now; he was riding home the exact same way. He let out a pained sigh, "I'm sorry; I should be handling this better."

Bruce shook his head, clinging tighter to the other boy. Tony's arms felt so right around him and he wanted to stay nestled there forever, never letting go. His body developed a tremble. "Don't apologize… you're not the one who should." His voice took on a ragged note, "It's me who's thefucking problem. If I could just-" he sucked in a breath.

"Stop blaming yourself," Tony grumbled, "I mean, I think it was a stupid choice, naturally, but I've been telling you for how long that you need to stop beating yourself up?" He gave Bruce a pat on the back and let go. Bruce didn't. Tony shifted, attempting to worm back; Bruce held tight. "What are you…? Big guy, we can't still be-" he swallowed those words in a hurry. He didn't know what to do about this entire night. The fireworks were supposed to have been a halfway point, but the atmosphere had altered too drastically to want to stay. "Maybe we should call it a night," he said.

The teen bit his lip hard enough to almost break the skin. Yeah. He was certain both his parents would prefer him back sooner than later. Back to studying and writing papers. The jolt back to reality felt like a bucket of ice cold water being dumped over his head. His hands fell to his sides. "Yeah, I should get back," he answered numbly.

"Okay," Tony nodded, turning and kneeling to collect and pack up what was laid out over the grass. Bruce followed his motions, opening his backpack for the other teen to haphazardly stuff the items back in before bending to grab two corners of the blanket up from the ground.

Tony took hold of the other two corners and met Bruce halfway, eyes not lifting from the blanket. Together they folded it and added it to the backpack. Bruce zipped it up, slung it over his shoulder, and proceeded over to his moped, climbing on and kicking up the stand.

Tony followed, climbing onto the seat behind his friend and wrapping his arms around the big guy's torso. Things hadn't gone the way he'd expected tonight at all, and now he really just wanted to drink himself to sleep and forget it all. But he had that stupid job interview tomorrow and chances were his dad's old employer wasn't looking to hire a hungover teenager. "I'm ready," he muttered.

Bruce nodded and fired up the ignition. He turned his head to take one last glance at the sky still filled with the leftover smoke of the fireworks before setting off down the road. The majority of the trip was wordless, but at a certain point Bruce felt Tony's grip begin to lax, the boy slumping harder against him. Funny how it reminded him of the first ride back home he'd given Tony back from the levee when he'd been so drunk he could barely keep his eyes open. He'd been so gruff to the other boy back then. And Tony had suffered it willingly, kept pressing. That nature… to forge ahead, charge headlong… he was as much a ram as Aries could portray… and it worried Bruce. It gave him concern that Tony might not be considering the long-term, rushing into something neither of them were prepared for.

Well, Tony might've been prepared, but Bruce sure wasn't. His lips pursed tight.

Bruce reached down off the handlebars with one of his hands to press it down on his friend's. "Hey, don't fall asleep," he said over the puttering engine.

Tony stirred, "Hm? I'm fine."

"Yeah, okay," Bruce chuckled a bit, the stubborn answer also bringing back memories of that night in September.

"Are we there yet?" Tony mumbled into his back.

The question proved his friend's eyes were shut. "Almost. Just another couple blocks."

"Mm…" was all the more response that came. Bruce coasted to a stop in front of the Stark mansion, killing the engine and giving the other boy a gentle jostle.

"Hey, we're here now."

"Deja vu..." Tony murmured as he slipped off the seat, "Thanks for, uh… yeah," he shifted awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck, "Catch you later, I guess," he finished lamely as he turned to leave.

"I was at least going to walk you to the door," Bruce killed the engine and dismounted as well, coming up alongside him.

Tony paused mid-stride, turning to regard the boy next to him, genuinely confused and maybe even a little angered by his behavior. He finally decided to express it, "Why?"

"I… I don't know," Bruce answered honestly, a sheepish half-smile creeping over his features, "I guess because I'm stalling. I'd rather be here with you than…" he shrugged a shoulder in the direction of his house.

Tony sighed out a harshly broken note, "You just broke up with me! What the Hell are you doing following me to my door? Are you looking to 'kiss me goodnight'?"

Bruce blinked, his brow drawing down. "Tony, we were never dating. You knew that."

Tony mentally face-palmed. That was an embarrassing slip. "Correction: You stated your disinterest in dating me."

The big guy heaved a sigh, ache in his chest doubling. "I said I couldn't." He looked at the ground. "Not that I didn't want to."

That made Tony feel better, but not by enough. "So what's stopping you?" he asked, locking eyes with the other teen.

Bruce opened his mouth, finding it dry and chalky. Was he going to give his friend the same bullshit parrot answer he'd given his mother as to why he couldn't date Tony? About responsibility and not being at a point in his life when dating was permissible? Or was he going to explain like he had to Betty on Christmas? That with his history he just couldn't trust himself yet?

His brain whirled and whirled.

Tony let out a tired sigh after enough time had passed. Maybe he was being a little unfair. "Listen, I'm obviously a little strung out. Maybe we can work this out later? Because what I'm hearing is you would if you could. I guess I can deal with that, and I'll try to ignore the near heart-attack you gave me for making me think otherwise."

Bruce reached out to grab both his friend's hands, squeezing them tightly. "Yeah, of course we can talk about it more. We… we really should've talked about all this sooner." His voice cracked a bit as he came to tears, "I love you so much, Tony. This… this thing we have… it's the best thing that's ever happened to me… I mean that."

Tonight had been an emotional rollercoaster for Tony, and he was still reeling in the aftermath. Part of him wanted answers, but another part of him just wanted to go inside, have a shot of something (or multiple somethings), and go to bed so he could put off all of this thinking for another day. He obviously wasn't equipped to deal with any of this right now. Besides, Bruce still loved him, so maybe this was a decent enough opportunity to set the topic down for now and come back to it later.

He sighed wistfully. "Yeah, I love you too," he pulled Bruce into a hug, slapping his back as he backed away, "Take it easy. I'm gonna be busy tomorrow. Dad has me doing something boring and unfair."

Bruce gave a light chuckle, wiping under his eyes quickly. "Me too. Homework. Lots of it."

"I'm telling you, finishing the work a week or two ahead would really free up your schedule."

"If only there weren't always more," Bruce said. He gave the hands in his another squeeze and leaned in to peck Tony on the cheek. "See you Monday."

Tony didn't let him get away that easy, forcibly pulling him back by his shirt collar to plant a hard kiss on his lips. "I was worried for awhile there that I wouldn't see you at all after tonight..."

Bruce blinked. Why would Tony think that? Not dating didn't mean severing a friendship- especially one as meaningful as theirs. He forced the stupefaction from his thoughts. He kept their faces close as he studied his friend's wide irises in the illumination of the porch light, searching their deep brown depths. "Sailing alone, but travelling side by side... remember?" he said softly.

A short laugh sprung from Tony's throat. "That was corny as Hell," he replied with a slow shake of his head, though his smile was enough affirmation. At least now he was feeling much better about the evening's events. Whatever it was that was keeping Bruce from dating him, he had faith it wouldn't be an obstacle for long. "See you Monday then."

The big guy nodded and went back to his bike. Tony stayed on the porch, lifting his hand in a wave as the other teen drove off. He was about to go back inside when he thought to glance back up at the starscape winking down at him. With a snort, he flipped it off quickly and slammed the door behind him. He was gonna chase the evening away on his electric and a bottle of Jack.