Marvel/Avengers One-Shots!

High School Reunion [Bruce - Fluff]

You sit down next to him and glance at him through the corner of your eye. He is also looking at you through his peripheral vision and seems to tense when you look at him. Maybe he's bracing himself for someone else to run away. However, you stay sat firmly on the stool and order another drink. You notice Bruce's glass is almost empty and gesture towards it.
"You want another?" You ask.
He looks up at you, shock painting his face and he simply nods. "Whiskey." He mumbles, letting you know what to order.

When your drinks arrive you turn to him in hope of starting a conversation.
"I'm (y/n)." You smile.
"I know." He blushes slightly.
"You remember me?" You ask, genuinely surprised.
He chuckles slightly and nods. After a brief moment he speaks up again.
"Oh, and I'm-"
"Bruce Banner." You interject.
"Yeah." He mumbles. "I guess you've seen me on tv?" He looks at you, a layer of sadness coating his eyes.
You nod slowly, and he takes a sip of his drink.
"I would've remembered you anyway." You try to encourage him, but he looks doubtful.
"I would have! Really! I admired you in high school, you're so smart! I remember once in science class with Mr.Jefferson, gosh remember him?" You pause momentarily to let him nod and smile fondly at the memory before continuing your story. "And he had an equation that he just couldn't seem to get right. I remember you politely put your hand up and offered to help, he scoffed at you, clearly underestimating you... I'll never forget that look on his face when you stood at the chalk board completing the equation like it was nothing harder that 1 plus 1." You chuckle to yourself at the memory, and when you look back to Bruce he's staring at you intently, a spark burning in his eyes.

"I'd forgotten about that." He smiles. "I don't know how you remember it."
You blush slightly, and take a swig of your drink to mask it.
"I'm glad you remembered me, though." He adds.
"I'm glad you remembered me." You repeat, placing emphasis on 'me'.
"How could I forget shy, reserved, but brainy as hell (y/n)?" He smirked a little, and swiftly looked down at his glass to avoid eye contact.
Your body is engulfed in butterflies by the way he talks so fondly of you. You didn't think anyone would remember, nor recognise you tonight.

"So what've you been up to since school?" Bruce asks.
"Nothing of importance." You sigh. "Just random jobs here and there, I'm saving up for science equipment so I can try my own experiments. I have some theories I want to test." You smile to yourself at your own ambitious and Bruce makes a noise of approval.
"What kind of theories?"
"Oh, wouldn't you like to know, Banner." You joke, pushing your shoulder into his.

He laughs along with you before inspiration hits him.
"Hey! Why don't you visit the lab at Stark towers? You could try out those theories."
"That sounds great, that's really kind! You know, I wasn't even going to come tonight but my friend bribed me with her father's chemistry equipment. Maybe it worked out better since now I'm getting a full lab."" You joke, and Bruce laughs lightly.
"Stark talked me into coming, I wasn't going to come either. I knew it was going to be like this." He gestured behind him and you looked out into the crowd of old school friends who most likely weren't even aware of your existence.
"Like what?"
"Well I think everyone is a little.. intimidated by me. They're probably scared they'll have a guest appearance by the Other Guy." His finger runs along the rim of his glass nervously and you can't help but smile sympathetically at him. You know exactly who's he's talking about, but you're not scared by him in the slightest.

You open your mouth to tell him this, but you're stopped by a hand on your bare shoulder.
Turning on your stool, you notice Jake from earlier. He seems a lot more drunk and his words slur.
"Your boyfriend wouldn't be too pleased about you talking to this guy, would he?" He raises his eyebrows and continues. "Unless you just lied to me to get me to leave you alone. So, tell me, (y/n), what would your boyfriend say?" His tone was sarcastic and his face looked smug.
You start to feel a little flustered from being caught in a lie and start to stutter out an apology. Bruce stops you by getting up and standing by your stool, straight opposite where Jake stood. He wraps his arm around your waist and begins to speak.
"Why don't you ask him yourself?" He challenges.
"What? This guy?" He points to Bruce and looks at you confused. "You're way too hot for a guy like him." He evaluates Bruce one more time and chuckles. You feel Bruce's hand clench into a fist by your waist and you start to worry.