Life in Brooklyn

Chapter 32

Tony stood back up and stared at steve, who shrugged. "I got nothing, he won't let go."
A little blonde girl had walked past them, and soon came back with a cute little braided bracelet. She held it out to him and smiled. "Here." Her squeaky voice said. "It's for you." She smiled again.
Peter loosened his grip on steves leg and slowly extended his arm out to grab the bracelet. Steve and tony smiled as they watched her put it on as small as it would go, but it was quite obviously too big. That didn't stop them though. "Ok Peter, were going to go, we'll see you later ok?"
"Ok." He said and turned around quickly to give them both a hug before letting them go.
The next day, he was so excited to get to school, he was rushing them to get out the door and wanted be there as early as possible so he could use the colourful string before anyone else in his class and make her a bracelet. That "hers" name, was Gwen.
They were both pretty good friends until grade three, that's when they started getting a little distant. Which bothered Peter, since she was his only friend and the bracelet was only starting to fit properly.
Still, time went on, he always got good grades and behaved.
Steve and tony had had it easy enough too. Even with work, they felt good about everything. Nothing traumatizing had happened since, well, when tony got his heart transplant. Other than that, nothing too traumatizing.
Tony had to stay at his company late, so it was only steve and Peter at the apartment. "Hey Peter!" Steve yelled from the kitchen as he started dinner. "Yeah?" He shouted from his room down the hall. "Come here!" He continued to stir the tomato sauce.
Peter made it out of his room with his hands shoved into his pj pockets and his hair messy. "What's up?"
"Why don't ever invite any of your friends over?"
Peter seemed a little startled by the question, but realized he always told his dads he had plenty of friends at school. Being in grade 8, he was the nerdy kid nobody wanted to hang out with. He just didn't want his parents to worry about him.
"Uhhhh, I don't know."
"Why don't invite someone over?"
"No, I need to study."
"Studying can wait, besides that's all you've been doing since you got home." "I need to study!"
Steve turned around fast enough to see Peter storm to his room and hear the door slam shut. He left him to calm down a few minutes, then finished making dinner so he could go see his son without leaving the stove on.
He knocked on the door before opening it slowly and peeking in to see Peter sitting at his desk, not studying, but doodling. "You ok?" Steve asked quietly. Peter shrugged and threw a crumpled paper in the half-filled garbage across the room. "What's wrong?"
He sighed and shrugged, never tearing his eyes off his latest doodle. "I just... I don't know."
Steve sat on his bed by his desk and turned his spinny chair around so he faced him. "Peter, have you been lying to us about your friends?" He creased his eyebrows.
Peter sighed again and threw his pencil on his desk. He nodded slowly and slouched in his chair. "Peter... Why didn't you just tell us?"
"Because... I don't want you and dad to worry about me."
"Peter, that's our job. We need to worry about you. We've been worrying about you since you came home."
"What do you mean?"
Steve sighed and almost facepalmed. They never told him he was adopted, even if Peter kind of already figured he was.
Steve was quiet, thinking about how he might answer Peter. Of course, he didn't know if Peter ever thought he was adopted. "Pop, did you and dad adopt me?"
Steve sighed.
Of course Peter knew, he is a smart kid. "Look, Peter-"
"Pop, don't worry about it. I've sort of known since I was in grade three..." yeah, when 3 bullies went along shouting at him about how he had two dads and that they weren't 'his real family'. Of course, Peter didn't tell his dads about that. "I just wanted to hear it from you, I'm in grade 8 ya know. I understand." Steve smiled and hugged his son. Proud of how mature he was and imagined how great of a man he will be someday. "I love you, you know that?" Steve said in his ear. "I know. Love you too pop." Steve kissed his cheek and sat back down on the bed.
As you'd imagine, they waited for tony to come home to continue the discussion. Since Peter wanted to know more about it.
They explained what happened, more or less, leaving out certain details.
He started high school, claimed to have made many friends, and never skipped a class.
Peter also came home with black eyes and bruises.
It started a few months into high school. He came home and tried avoiding tony at the door by running by him and ducking his head, but tony noticed. "What happened to your eye?!" He shouted and pulled Peter by the arm so he could get a closer look.
He turned his head away, only for tony to put his face in his and grab his chin and turn it. "Nothing." He tried, yet knowing it wouldn't work. "Peter, who did this?" Tony growled and stared into his eyes.
He sighed. "Some... guy."
"Who?" Tony repeated.
Steve entered the room and saw tonys back and who seemed to be Peter in front of him.
"Hey, Peter. How was school?" He walked to the table and saw tony move out of the way and put his hands on his hips, waiting for steves reaction for when he saw Peters beaten face. "Pop.."
"What the hell happened?" Steve walked up quickly and grabbed his face to examine his black eye and the small cut. "Who did this to you?"
"Its noth-" a glare from tony told him not to continue with that sentence and to just tell the truth, or maybe just something to cover up the truth with something believable. "I fell off my skate board." He shrugged. They didn't seem too convinced. "I didn't want to tell you guys cause I don't want you to take it away." They both stared at him for a few seconds before looking down at the skateboard in his arms, well, the broken slaw board. In two pieces, snapped down the middle.
Steve walked back to the kitchen and pulled an ice pack out of the freezer and a bottle of Advil.
Peter took the ice pack and held it to his eye while steve took out one pill and tony got a glass of water.
He downed it. "Next time just tell us." Tony sighed and gave it to him. "Ok..." he mumbled and headed for his room.
A few more years passed, and he was finally in grade twelve. Still, he had no friends and had a group of enemies. Ugene and his gang liked to pick on him, and others, which is when he'd usually get stuck in those shituations.
Steve had been at the diner all day, serving people their food, socializing with friends. When the day ended he still needed to stop by the grocery store to pick up a few things.
Going down the aisles and picking out what they needed, not really paying attention to the people around him. So he didn't notice the tall, muscular man he may have recognized from years and years back.
You know, the one who strangle tony in that very same grocery store, the one who liked harassing people. Yah, he was there, and he definitely recognized steve.
But, he decided to stay away from him, keep his distance, just so he could finally get his revenge on him later. Maybe at his own home?
He smiled creepishly and disappeared into the shadows behind steve, jus let so he could see him, but not have steve notice him.
Steve left with a bag and drove home. The man easily following him.
He parked the car. Got out. And entered the building.
The man stood just a block down, smiling, cracking his knuckles, then heading to the building.
Bucky stood outside his apartment when steve arrived. "Hey man." He said. "Hey buck. How're you doing?"
"Really great. It's actually been a while since we talked."
He wasn't wrong. They both had priorities, families, things they never thought they'd have 19 years ago. Wow, 19 years. That's how long it's been. "No, we haven't. Have you ever thought back to when we were in the war and just known we'd never be where we are now?"
"I'm so touched. But yeah, happy, feeling safe... it's great though."
Steve smirked and patted his shoulder before turning around and opening the door to his apartment. "We should all do something, movie, dinner, something sometime?"
"Yeah man."
"Ok, see you later."
"Bye."
He walked inside and noticed Peter on the couch watching tv and tony at the dinner table working on something. "Hey."