Tony dreads having to face his friends. He doesn't know how he can possibly hide what happened, especially from Pepper, seeing as she both lives next door and is his best friend. He decides to rip the band-aid off when they get in the car and just tell her what happened the couple days before.
The second they get in the car, he begins to ramble at her. "I don't have money anymore. A cop caught my smoking with Thor and Clint and now my dad's mad because I shamed the family and then he said he wouldn't fund my drug habit, whatever that means, so he told me to get a job even though I feel like that's even more embarrassing for him but obviously I didn't say that because he probably would have smacked me but anyway now I need money for literally everything but no one else can know."
She is silent for a few seconds before finally sighing and telling him, "Tony Stark, you are an idiot."
"I know."
"What did you think would happen?" She asks him, growing frustrated.
"We wouldn't get caught?" He tries weakly, and he can tell how close she is to smacking him.
"So now what?"
"Don't tell anyone, please."
She looks at him as if he had just suggested she join the circus. "Of course not!"
"I don't have any money to go out to lunch or get gas, so I have to get a job."
Her eyebrows raise. "You're getting a job?"
"Yeah."
"Where?"
"Hopefully, my Aunt Peggy will let me work at her diner."
"That's good!" She smiles at him, and it makes him feel just a bit better. At least one person believes in him.
They pull into their regular coffee house and order. "Two cold brews with milk."
"That'll be four dollars."
"I got it." Pepper beats him to the punch, leaning across him to hand the woman working the drive-thru window a couple of waded up bills.
"Pepper-" Tony tries, but she quickly cuts him off.
"No, Tony. For once, let me pay. You've been doing this for me every day since you learned to drive. I have money too, so please, let me help."
"Fine." He slumps into his seat.
"Thank you, have a nice day!" The lady at the window says, prompting them to leave.
As they continue their drive, he intentionally avoids looking her in the eyes. Despite this, she stares directly at him, as if challenging him to finally say something to her.
"I don't need your charity." He finally says, frowning.
"It isn't charity. It's a favor." She insists.
"I'll pay you back."
"If that will make you feel better." She is so nonchalant about the whole thing it frustrates him.
"Yeah." He agrees, firmly. A second later he adds, "Thank you."
"Your welcome." She tells him back in the same aggressive tone, though there is a small smile on her face.
When they get to school, Tony feels like a two-ton weight has been dropped on him. He is not mentally prepared to handle school today. Between the stress of finding a job, his dad, and having to hide it all from his friends, he would have been perfectly content to wrap himself up in a blanket at home and never set foot outside. And it's only the second week. Unfortunately, he needs to be at school. If he flunks out of high school, he can't get into college, which is his number one priority.
He grins at all the people he passes, choosing to repress his mild panic caused by having to face the day. He, hopefully not outwardly, winces when he sees Clint hanging out by his locker waiting for him. Has he mentioned he does not feel good enough to keep up his façade?
"Hey Tony! How did it go with your dad?" Clint calls out to him, when he sees the other boy approaching.
Tony gestures at him to quiet down before elaborating, "He yelled, told me he was disappointed, the usual."
He debates on whether to elaborate and tell him what really happened, but then Clint asks him, "Are you still taking us all to lunch today?"
He forces a smile, "Yeah, of course!"
"Okay good, because I don't know what I would do without our trips to get sandwiches. Especially because I don't have to pay!"
"Well, it's not like they're free!" Tony tells him, more aggressively than he means to.
Clint rolls his eyes. "Come on. It's not like a three-dollar sandwich puts a dent in your massive bank account."
Tony opens his wallet and sees that he still has two twenties in there, which is enough for both lunch and gas. He never would have thought this would be a problem.
Immediately after school, he runs over to his aunt's diner. Peggy Carter is the nicest person ever. Her short hair is always in a perfect bun and her clothes are ironed, so she always looks put together, but she has a closet consisting of mostly soft sweaters despite the weather and she gives the best hugs, so it's okay.
"Hi, Anthony! What would you like?" She calls out to him with a bright smile the second he walks in.
"A job?" He jokes, approaching the cash register.
Her smile falls ever so slightly. "What?"
"I got in trouble and now I need money. Are you hiring?"
He gives her a pleading look, so she sighs. "Yeah, of course! What hours would you like? I don't have many workers, so you can pretty much pick when you want to work."
"How late are you open?"
"Around two in the morning."
"Can I work the night shift? Like, ten to two Monday through Saturday?"
"You can, but are you sure you want to? Thirty hours a week is a lot, especially for that late."
"Yep, I'm sure. When can I start?" He claps his hands together and wrings them together anxiously.
"When are you free?"
"Tomorrow?"
She rolls her eyes and gives him a light laugh. "Oh, all right! Can you come a few hours earlier so I can be there to train you?"
"Sure, sounds good."
The next day, he feels even worse than before, if that was even possible. He hasn't even started his job yet, so he didn't know how he was going to manage with that stacked on top.
"Hey, do you want to hang out after school?" Tony jumps as Clint starts talking to him, having almost fallen asleep at their lunch table from staying up late getting ahead on his homework, due to him having substantially less time to do it the rest of the week.
"Sorry, I've gotta get home."
"Really? Why?"
"Got lots of homework and if my grades fall, I'm toast. I'm already on thin ice after the other night."
"I get it. Have fun." Clint jokes before turning to start a conversation with Thor.
After school, he drags himself to the diner and plasters on an energetic grin for his aunt as he clocks in.
"Hi! Are you ready to start? You look tired already, and you haven't even started. Are you sure you don't want different hours?"
He brushes off her concern with a cheerful, "Yep!"
He heads over to the counter and doesn't have to wait long before his first customer of the day comes in.
"Hi welcome to the Sunflower Diner, what can I get you?" He greets with a sparkling fake smile.
"A latte."
"That will be two dollars and fifty cents."
"Thank you."
He accepts the money and deposits it in the register before spinning around to make the drink. He freezes for a moment because he doesn't know how to make a latte, but luckily his aunt is there to help him with the steps. He is done with it in about two minutes, which may have irritated the man, but it was good timing for the teenager.
He works for another hour before the bell rings and he sees a bunch of girls he recognizes from school come in. Luckily, none of them have noticed him in his yellow apron, so he ducks into the back offices where his aunt is.
"You're doing great!" She tells him cheerfully, but he barely processes the compliment.
"Do I get a break?" He rushes out.
"Yeah, why?"
"I'm taking it." He doesn't respond to her questioning look and instead sits in the hallway and starts his homework.
He feels someone appear next to him, but he doesn't look up until they loudly clear their throat. When turns to acknowledge them, he is exasperated to see a familiar face.
"What are you doing back here?" Pepper frowns at him.
"Hiding."
"From who? The team?" She asks, glancing back where the cheerleading team is sitting.
"Yes!"
"Why?"
"You think I want everybody to know that I have to get a job and don't have any money? Have you heard Clint and Thor recently?" He asks her, thinking back to their lunch trip yesterday and the many comments they have made in the years.
"Yeah, and they kind of suck."
"Hey! Those are my friends!" He glares at her as menacingly as he can from his place on the ground.
"I know, but you shouldn't have to hide this from them."
"Please don't say anything."
"I won't, of course. Just think on what I said, okay?"
"Okay." He sighs, before turning back to his calculus.
He returns home at exactly two thirty in the morning. He collapses on the couch almost immediately. Due to an unfortunate twist of fate, he hears the garage open, and a minute later, his father appears.
"You're home pretty late." Tony observes.
"So are you. It is almost three in the morning."
"Yes, sir."
"Where were you?" His father questions.
"Working."
"Working?" The older man's eyes shoot up.
"Yes, sir. In case you forgot, I need money."
"Don't get smart with me." He snorts when his eyes fall on Tony's yellow apron. "Where do you work?"
"The Sunflower Diner."
"Did I hear you right? You work at a place named after a flower?"
"It's Aunt Peggy's restaurant so I get high pay and I'm able to pick my own hours. It's a delightful place to work, thank you very much."
He stands up, getting ready to leave when his father says, "Have you given any more thought to working for the company?"
The younger boy crosses his arms in defiance. "Have you given any more thought to letting me live my own life?"
"Anthony!" Howard places his fingers on the bridge of his nose in an attempt to prevent what appeared to be a coming headache. "What could be any better than taking over my company?"
"Creating things? Helping people?" He mentally swore, as he hasn't quite told anyone what his future career plans were and his father was definitely not someone he wanted to tell.
"You want to be an engineer? Hah."
"What's so funny about that?"
"You have to have a good work ethic and great intellect for that."
"Oh, so I can be a rich slacker and be a perfect fit for your company?" He challenges, trying to resist the urge to punch Howard in the face.
"Don't put words in my mouth."
"I see how it is. I'll be upstairs. As you can see, it's late, and I have school tomorrow."
His work the next night could not have been duller. The novelty of having his first job wore off quickly, so he is left wandering around an empty diner in the middle of the night, mindlessly wiping down tables and cleaning glasses, while Peggy finishes her paperwork in the back. This is her last day working at the same time as him because he now knows how to do everything, so his boredom will only get worse. He supposes it is better than nothing, though. For now, he just has to act like he wouldn't rather be anywhere else.
"So, are you going to be good here?" Peggy asks him, pulling on her coat.
"Yeah, I mean, it's not like anybody will show up anyway." He shrugs, looking around at the now empty diner.
She gives him a small smile before leaving him alone. He looks around at all the empty booths and thinks that he will never get used to this abandoned feel. He usually sees this place so full of life with people in every booth talking a mile a minute. Now it's like a ghost town.
He gets to work wiping down the booths, cleaning the dishes, and sweeping the floor. When that finishes, he does his homework. After that, he puts on the radio and hums along to the songs as he about dies of boredom.
At about one o'clock, he is almost falling asleep bent over the counter, but is awoken by the chime signaling the door.
"Uh… hi. Are you still open?" A blond boy about his age asks, scuffing his feet nervously.
Tony forgets to speak for a moment, before stuttering, "Yeah, we close at two."
"Got it."
The boy comes and takes a seat at the barstool in front of him, so Tony asks, "Can I get you anything?"
"Just a black coffee."
"That'll be a dollar and eight cents."
"Thanks."
The boy pulls out a crumpled dollar bill and a hand full of cash from his pocket and then proceeds to dump it on to the counter in front of him. Tony counts it out painstakingly, before making the coffee. After the day full of cappuccinos, lattes, and frappuccinos, he was relieved to have a simple order.
"What brings you here so late?" He asks, trying to make small talk.
"Couldn't sleep."
"You seem familiar, do I know you from somewhere?" He presses.
"I don't know."
Tony wants to pull his hair out; he is so frustrated. He doesn't understand why it is so hard for this kid to hold a conversation with him. The boy seems to ignore his presence and pulls out a book instead. When he catches a glimpse of the title, he can't help but continue talking.
"Do you happen to go to school at Hayes High?"
"Yeah. I'm a senior there."
"Oh! Me too! I thought I recognized the book you're reading. Walden is the required reading for this quarter, right?"
"Yep."
"I haven't started yet. I'm Tony, by the way."
This catches the boys attention. He looks up at Tony and his eyes widen in recognition. Tony wishes he hadn't said anything.
"Tony Stark?"
"Yeah! Have you heard of me?" He jokes, internally cringing. He was hoping he could at least be friendly with the boy in front of him, but he can't keep talking to a bunch of suck-ups who want to be friends with him for money.
"Pretty much everyone has."
"Yeah, having a famous dad will do that to you."
The boy pauses, deep in thought. He doesn't seem excited, like Tony had thought. Instead, he seems intrigued by him, judging by the furrowed brow and lack of fawning.
"I'm Steve. What are you doing here this late?"
"I told the owner I'd close up tonight. She's going to a wedding early tomorrow morning, so I didn't want her to be too tired."
"You know her well?"
"She's my aunt."
"If you don't mind me asking, what has you working here this late at all? It's a Thursday, we have school tomorrow."
Tony pauses. He doesn't know if he can trust Steve yet. After all, he has barely met him. Although, Steve hadn't really recognized him in the first place and doesn't really seem to care much about who he is. He decides to take a risk and explain his situation.
"I work the night shift… I need to make a little money. I got caught smoking weed and my dad cut me off. I don't exactly want any of my friends to know that though."
"Makes sense." His nonchalance fills Tony with relief and he lets a small smile work its way onto his face.
"Do you want anything else? The coffee cake here is pretty good and it'll be bad by tomorrow so you can have it for free."
"Sure. Thanks."
"No problem."
He walks over to the prominently displayed cake case and plates the last slice. As he slides it to Steve, the boy says, "So… the diner closes at two?"
It makes Tony smile that he no longer is the only one initiating the conversation. "Yeah, so it's a long night."
"Why can't you close up early?" Steve questions, mid bite of his snack.
"In case anyone else decides to stop by."
"Who would go to a diner at one in the morning?"
Tony gives him a pointed look. "You."
"...right."
"How's the book?"
"Well I haven't gotten much reading done, so not sure."
Tony falters and stutters out, "Oh! Right. Sorry."
Steve sighs, before putting his book away. "It's pretty interesting so far, he is reflecting on living in natural surroundings. He writes it over two years, two months, and two days."
"Huh. Maybe I should start it soon."
"Yeah." He checks his watch, stands, and brushes the crumbs off of his pants. Tony frowns a little, so Steve clarifies, "I should go. My mom's a nurse and gets home from work around now and I don't want her to notice I'm gone."
"I'll see you at school tomorrow?" Tony calls out hopefully.
"Yeah. I'll see you at school tomorrow."