The Bet (Avenger's High School AU)

♡ Chapter Seven ♡

After work, Peter heads back to his apartment by city bus. It feels worse than normal considering how many free rides he's gotten from Tony lately.

His landlord stops him in the hallway up to his apartment with a reminder of the consequences if he can't pay his rent in two days. It's clear on his mind, especially when he heads up to his apartment to find his fridge empty and his electricity off.

It's cold thanks to the late autumn air that filters through the broken windows and the non-existent heating. His single sheet he has isn't going to be enough to last him, but he has a few of Tony's sweaters that he buries himself in to sleep off the nine-hour shift and the pounding headache. Bucky's supposed to come get him in just a few hours, but he figures napping first would be a good idea.

When he wakes, he doesn't feel much better. He's shivering under his pile of clothing and he still smells like booze.

Passing the mirror, he feels a million times worse now that the bruises have properly set in. His face is a wreck, a constellation of dark colours that litter his skin. His right eye is puffy and purple, rings of blue under both expanding outwards from his swollen nose. His cheekbone has a particularly nasty purple bruise with a deep cut from where a ring had dug into his skin. It's not bleeding anymore thanks to Tony's nurse skills, but it still looks bad. There's a few miscellaneous bruises and cuts along his jaw, a bad cut on his forehead, and a few bruises along his arms from where he had tried to protect his face.

"God, Parker," he mutters, lifting his shirt to examine the bruises down his side. "How are you going to explain this to Bucky without sounding insane?"

It's a rhetorical question obviously, he doesn't expect to mirror to answer, but there's still a wave of disappointment at the silence that echoes back.

He rolls his eyes, dropping his shirt and running a hand through his messy hair. He doesn't know if it's okay to be going out with Bucky after kissing Tony multiple times just that morning, but Tony never said he couldn't. He just hopes this whole thing can stay secretive until something becomes more than random dates. He doesn't want to be called a whore or a slut for doing this.

He tries to be presentable, but it's kind of hard when he doesn't even have the capability to wash his hands anymore.

I'm outside. Come on down whenever you're ready -Bucky

With one more glance at the mirror, at his bruised face, his scrawny limbs from never eating enough, his stiff posture from the long shifts at work and long days at school, his unruly curls- At least the dark circles from sleepless nights are no longer visible thanks to the bruises- he ducks out the door.

"Hey, Peter!" Bucky's leaning against his car in the parking lot of his apartment building, a smile filling up his features. He's wearing his signature leather jacket, black jeans, a white t-shirt, and tennis shoes. The regular Bucky look from what Peter can remember from school.

Peter smiles back, greeting Bucky with a hug. They both get into the car- it's a crappy silver car that's barely holding itself together- and start driving back towards the city.

"That looks like it hurt. What happened?" he asks. Peter saw it coming, he's just surprised Bucky asked so early on. He supposes it's kind of hard to ignore.

"Got into a fight last night," Peter admits. He's not a good liar, never really has been, except to May about being alright. He's gotten really good at that lie. "Some guy was being a dick to a friend of mine and I told him to leave her alone. Guess he wasn't used to people standing up to him. Guess I wasn't ready to fight someone."

The telltale sign is that his knuckles are clear. No struggles, no splits in his skin, nothing that says the other guy looked worse.

Instead of annoyance or confusion, Bucky smiles, looking over when the light turns red. He touches Peter's cheek gently, pad of his thumb running over his cheekbone. Peter can't help but remember how much softer Tony's hands had been when he cleaned him up last night.