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With his head elegantly resting on his thumb and index finger, Stephen used his other hand to turn the page of his book. His expression was the absolute definition of concentration while reading throughout the lines of so much information.
It was late at night and he knew he should be sleeping, but what kind of student sleeps before a test? Well, he usually did, given that he was blessed with photographic memory and he didn’t need to burn his eyelashes studying like the other students. However, these last days he’d been distracted by some unimportant matters and he hadn’t had the time to read his books properly, which was direct source of utter irritation for him. He had a scholarship to maintain; he shouldn’t be allowing himself stupid interferences.
So, here he was. Alone in his dark room, only a lamp illuminating his space of work. Nothing could disrupt him from his task in hand.
Then, he heard the door of his dorm being open.
Stephen stood up at the sound, frowning deeply. One of the things he was proud of was to have managed to get a dorm just for himself, avoiding having roommates that could prejudice his studies. So, if someone was entering his room at three in the morning, it was entirely illegal.
Internally cursing himself for not having locked his door, he saw a person stumbling into his place in the middle of the darkness. Stephen was about to send a stern warning to the intruder, but the person spoke first.
“Shut up, Rhodey. I don’t want to listen to you right now,” the intruder groused out.
Stephen blinked, immediately recognizing the voice.
That was Tony Stark, a prodigy student of mechanic engineering. He was known by all the faculties, not only for being a genius who had managed to skip three years of study and was now the youngest of his group (he didn’t skip more just because he didn’t want to), but for being disgustingly wealthy too.
For Stephen, though, he was just an infuriating douchebag with an inflated head and irritating manners who couldn’t stay silent for a moment and whose body itched if he wasn’t annoying someone.
He was also the most adorable and generous idiot, a cute enigma who liked sweets, visited orphanages and hospitals, and did the most loveable expressions when he was working on a project.
Yes.
Stephen had a huge crush on this little shit, who was the reason he’d been distracted this last week.
He grimaced. The last thing he needed right now was to deal with unrequested feelings.
“No, I don’t want to hear it,” Tony repeated, as if someone had said anything. He started to undress, first his tie, then his coat, throwing them on the floor, “I know it’s my fucking birthday and that I should have stayed at my own party, but, ugh, I didn’t want to be there, okay?” he sounded miserable.
Stephen frowned. He knew it was Tony’s birthday. His eighteenth birthday to be precise. Stark had had the audacity to invite him and Stephen had taken it as what it was: as a joke. However, he had thought that, with such a big party that was planned for him, Tony would enjoy his time.
By the way, he was calling him ‘Rhodey’, who was Tony’s roommate and overprotective friend. Stephen could just assume that Stark thought this was his own room, and that, if he was this disoriented, he was drunk.
Stephen rolled his eyes. He had no time to deal with this.
“He didn’t remember my birthday,” Tony was still talking while avoiding eye contact and clumsily getting rid of his expensive shirt, revealing a thin undershirt. Apparently, he was as talkative as when he was sober. “My own father didn’t remember,” he gritted out with contained sadness and rage.
Stephen knew he shouldn’t be listening to these private things, but he wasn’t the one drunkenly irrupting into another person’s room, was he? “What an asshole,” he couldn’t help but opine. He knew Tony didn’t get along very well with his father, but forgetting his own son’s birthday?
“I know right?” Tony grunted, not paying attention to the obviously different tone of voice. “And talking about assholes, Strange didn’t come,” he added deflated.
Stephen’s eyes narrowed.
What?
“Shit, I had the perfect plan. I was going to pretend being drunk and-” a hiccup interrupted him, “and kiss the shit out of that sexy bastard, then blame it on, you know, my drunkenness”.
Okay, that was…
Stephen gaped at him.
What the fuck?!
Stephen’s tired brain wasn’t able to process this quick enough.
Is this a joke? He thought frowning and feeling very confused. “I didn’t know you wanted me in your party that much, given that you’d been avoiding me like the plague all this week”.
Still in the darkness, Tony visibly jolted and stumbled backwards, finally looking up at Stephen.
“Stephen?” Stark squinted at him, like not believing his eyes, “What are you doing in my room?”
Strange huffed and decided to approach the other boy since he looked like he was about to fall face-first to the floor if he tried to walk.
“This is my room, Stark,” he informed, and Tony looked utterly confused at first, but then he huffed incredulously, as always ready to fight Stephen back.
“If this is your room, then why did my key work, hm? Hm?” he inquired, lifting his chin defiantly. Stephen almost face-palmed because he hadn’t even used a key. “And I’ve been avoiding you because you hurt me. Hurt me. Hurt. Hurt,” Tony accused pointing at Stephen with his finger, his eyes half open and expression drowsy, but semblance as defiant as ever.
Stephen blinked, taken aback by the accusation. “What did I do to hurt you?”
Tony glared at him for a moment with his big doe eyes before answering.
“You have a gurlfriend”.
Stephen stared.
This had to be a joke.
“I do not”.
“Yes you do!” he accused getting even closer which allowed Stephen to see his flushed face and his pout better, “that Christine”.
Stephen frowned. “She’s not my girlfriend”.
“Lie!”
“I’m telling the truth!” he shouted back. Really, why did he like this childish boy who made him act childish too? “Where did you get from that I was dating Christine?”
Still pouting, Tony blinked at the question. Then he crossed his arms and looked away. He bounced for a moment with a scowl on his face, and Stephen knew he was self-questioning his sources, “Loki told me”.
Stephen stared at him flatly. “Loki,” he repeated. “The biggest liar in this University”.
“He showed me a picture!”
“You are aware that he uses Photoshop like he breathes air, aren’t you?” Stephen asked squinting at him. At least Tony had the decency to look embarrassed. “He does that all the time. The other day he showed everybody a picture of Thor with a wart on his ass and it looked damn real but it wasn’t”. He grimaced at the memory of Thor showing his ass to anyone who would question its ‘perfection’.
That aside, a new peace settled in Stephen’s chest at the conclusion brought by this hysterical conversation. Tony wasn’t avoiding him because ‘he shouldn’t hang out with the likes of him’, it was just him poorly dealing with a false rumor about…
Wait.
Then all this meant that Tony liked him back?
“But you’re always close to her,” Tony was still pouting, but he looked calmer now.
Stephen lifted an eyebrow. “She’s my classmate and my friend”.
Tony bounced again, a gesture that Stephen shouldn’t find that cute, “So she’s not your girlfriend?”
“No”.
“Oh,” Bambi eyes stared at Stephen’s face for a moment and suddenly he was gifted a big beautiful smile. “Then it’s okay,” he stated with determination.
What is okay?! Stephen’s mind screamed, petrified as Tony stood on his toes to give him a sweet kiss on his cheek.
“But no big kisses until you ask me out properly,” the just-turned-adult stablished and walked past him towards the bed where he got rid of his pants and lied down all sprawled. He fell asleep almost immediately.
Stephen was still processing everything.
What have just happened?!
A sudden sound got him out of his stupor. He didn’t recognized the ringtone, so he deduced it was Tony’s phone. He approached the lighting device on the floor next to Tony’s pants and picked it up.
‘Rhodey Bear’ said the screen.
“Tony!” the person on the other side on the phone shouted immediately, “Where the hell are you?! I’ve been calling you for the last three hours-”
“Not Tony,” Stephen said calmly.
“Who are you?!” Rhodey demanded, “Why do you have Tony’s phone?!”
“It’s Strange”.
“You can bet your ass it is!!”
Stephen rolled his eyes hysterically, “Strange. Stephen Strange,” he specified. He was too tired for this.
“Oh”.
There was a moment of awkward silence.
Well, apparently the jerk wasn’t going to apologize. Whatever.
“Tony came all drunk to my room thinking it was his and now he’s in my bed sleeping,” Stephen explained.
Rhodey sputtered, “Ugh. Man, I’m sorry about that. Do you want me to go and pick him up?”
He should have said ‘yes’. Tony was a big distraction after all, but butterflies were still dancing in his stomach sending waves of joy and stupidity to his drained brain, “No. He can stay and sleep. He looked tired”.
“Thanks, man, but I think it would be too much for him to wake up there in the morning,” Stephen frowned at that, but then he understood what Rhodey meant, considering he knew about Tony’s crush on him, “Because, well… you see, it’s complicated-”
“He has a crush on me”.
“He-… Geez, he spat it out, huh?” he sounded like an exhausted parent, “Look, he had a very bad week since he learned about your getting a girlfriend, ok? Poor boy was too besotted with you to understand you didn’t like him and-”
“I don’t have a girlfriend,” he clarified solemnly, “And I do like him”.
“Oh. That’s good,” five seconds of consideration passed, “Wait, no, that’s not good. Don’t you dare steal Tony’s virginity!”
Stephen blushed furiously, but he frowned, annoyed at the mere idea of him taking advantage of Tony like that, “You are drunk, too, aren’t you?”
“He made me drink! I said no but-!”
“Bye”.
The first thing he did after hanging up was locking the door.
He sighed and decided to go back to his desk and continue studying.
But…
He looked at Tony.
So he liked Tony and Tony liked him back, huh? That meant that there was no problem in asking him out, right?
Was it worth it, though? Wasn’t it too complicated? To date Tony Stark, the one who was always stalked by the media and surrounded by predators who wanted his wealth and knowledge?
Still sleeping, Tony rolled over and hugged a pillow with arms and legs, his boxers letting Stephen appreciate his perfectly curved figure.
Stephen frowned, annoyed at the warmth on his own face. Yeah, he had already decided. There was no escape from the beginning.
But… how was he supposed to concentrate now? He needed to study, he needed to pass that test, he needed-
Stephen’s body straightened in his chair when a realization hit him.
I need a goal.
That was it. He had always worked with stablished goals to inspire himself forward; this situation shouldn’t be different. His goal was going to be: Pass the test and you’ll deserve to ask Tony out.
YES. Time to study.
……………………………
The first thing Tony did before opening his eyes was stretching his limbs lazily. Then, he whined when he felt the hangover hitting his head.
“Rhodey, do you have a pill? My head is killing me”.
No one answered him. Rude.
He finally opened his eyes, looking around to find his inconsiderate friend.
What he found was a dorm that was not his.
“W-What the fuck?”
His eyes darted at his surroundings frantically. This was bad. Really, really bad!
Still in panic, his gaze settled on a red rose and a piece of paper on the nightstand next to the bed.
With some hesitation, he started reading.
‘Hey, douchebag.
In case you don’t remember, we didn’t do anything. Am I not quite the gentleman?
If you’re wondering if you spilled out the fact that you have a crush on me, yes. Yes, you did. But it’s okay because I like you, too. A lot. I don’t know why.
Actually, I do know, but that would be too cheesy to say.
So, here is the deal. I have a test today first hour. I forced myself to study last night and pass the test today. I told myself that if I’m successful I’ll ask you out. Inspirational much, huh?
Of course, it’s due to you to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’.
There is a pill for your hangover on the desk. See you later.
- Stephen.’
Ignoring his headache, he quickly grabbed his phone and called Natasha.
“Nat-!”
“Before you say anything, I don’t want to know about how you were deflowered”.
“It’s…! What?” he rolled his eyes when he processed what the redhead said, “Nothing happened!”
“I don’t want to know about how you wanted to be deflowered,” Natasha added flatly.
“Never mind,” Tony grunted, not helping the blush on his cheeks, “I need to know Stephen’s schedule for today”.
………………….……………
After a few hours of leaning over his test plus sitting there waiting for the result, Stephen exited the classroom with a satisfied smirk because, yes, he passed, with the highest score.
Now, he just needed to find Tony-
“Hey”.
The young genius was standing in front of him.
Stephen blinked and for a second there he thought he was hallucinating out of exhaustion. However, this was actually something so Tony, given his impatient personality… and his ability to gather convenient information, like the time and classroom Stephen was in at the moment.
Be cool, he thought to himself straightening his body with false confidence. He had nothing to worry about, right? Tony being there with a big, cute smile and sparkling eyes was a good sign, right? “Hey,” he replied with a lopsided smirk, “How’s your head?”
Tony grimaced and blushed a little, “Fiiine,” he groaned, “So,” he took in a deep breath, “I’ve read your note,” he grinned again and batted his eyelashes in a very unfair way.
Stephen had been sleep-deprived when he wrote that sappy note earlier in the morning. He was still kind of tired but more awake now, so he felt a little embarrassed about it, honestly, “Good to know”.
“So, did you pass your test?” he asked with a knowing smile.
“Of course I did,” Stephen said with feigned petulance.
He remained silent for a moment just because he loved seeing Tony bouncing out of impatience. And that he did.
Strange chuckled and adjusted his backpack on his shoulder. “Come with me,” he started walking because it would be awkward to have this conversation in the middle of the hall.
Tony followed him without complain. “That condition was weird. Was this test particularly difficult? You don’t normally struggle with study, not to the point to use it as a dare”.
“Nice deduction,” he smiled at the other boy’s smartness, “Yeah, I had some trouble with it,” they finally reached a not too transited corner and he stopped, leaning his side on the wall to look at Tony in the eyes. “It was difficult to concentrate with a person intruding in my room and undressing in front of me,” he pointed out raising his eyebrows.
Tony snorted and seemed not to have any regrets, but his cheeks reddened a little anyway. “Yeah, sorry about that. But let’s go back to your cheesy note, that’s more interesting,” he grinned, and it was Stephen’s turn to blush. “Did you mean it?”
Stephen nodded, “Yeah”.
He saw Tony’s eyes sparkling for a second, but then they were covered by a shadow of uncertainty. “Wouldn’t it bother you? There are a lot of problematic things surrounding me. You could appear on the headlines as my boy toy, for example”.
Strange snorted out a laugh, “I’m too tall to be your toy”.
Stark rolled his eyes hysterically, “You know what I mean!”
The taller boy shrugged, “I plan to become a famous neurosurgeon, I have to get used to the media”.
“In a good way,” Tony objected.
“I really like you, Tony. I had the chance to see who you really are and I would like to know you even more,” he said in all seriousness, looking at him in the eyes, “I don’t know how things will go, I just think you’re a wonderful person and I really like you,” he repeated, “And I promised- I would like to, I mean, Do you…” why was he nervous all of the sudden? “Leaving everything else aside, do you want to go out with me?”
Tony’s smile widened, and for a moment he looked about to jump and kiss him, but then mirth shined in his eyes and he made a very thoughtful expression, “Hmm, I don’t know, let me think about it,” he said and turned around to walk away.
Stephen blinked, watching him getting away. Okay, what did just happen? Did he read the signals wrongly?
Then, after like five or six seconds of mental breakdown for Stephen, Tony stopped and turned around towards him to approach again quickly.
He stopped in front of him. “I thought about it, and yes, I’ll marry you”.
Feeling all the tension leave his body, Stephen let out a laugh. This was something he signed up for, wasn’t it? “Good to know,” he played along. After all, he was a master in this kind of antics (according to Christine and Wong). “But let’s go out first. I’ve heard that’s the first step before marriage”.
Tony shrugged and waved his hand carefree, “Details”.
“So,” Stephen leaned in, getting closer, “Can I kiss you now?”
The response was Tony yanking his shirt and stamping his mouth on his. It wasn’t the best kiss ever in a technical way, it was clumsy and inexperienced, but it still sent shivers to his back and butterflies to his stomach. Yeah, he really, really liked Tony.
When they pulled apart, he was pleased to see Tony’s eyes flutter dreamily, because it meant he felt the same.
Wrapping his arms around Stephen’s neck, Tony smiled up at him, “Let’s go to my dorm, Rhodey won’t be there until late”.
Stephen raised an eyebrow. “You’re just one-day-old legal”.
He chuckled when Tony spluttered and slapped his chest. “To hang out, you asshole!”
………………………………….
“And that’s how we got together,” Stephen said after telling the story.
Harley, his thirteen-year-old son, just snorted. “That was terrible”.
Stephen shrugged, an amused smile dancing on his face. “See? Things could be worse. You don’t need to worry too much. If she likes you, she’ll answer your cheesy love letter with a yes”.
“It’s not cheesy!” the boy objected, his cheeks turning pink.
Stephen smirked. “It’s a love letter, that fact alone makes it cheesy”.
Harley pouted, “I’m going to tell dad that you’re messing with my self-esteem and inducing me insecurity issues”.
The adult man laughed. “Oh believe me, you don’t want to go to him with this problem. He’s going to give you the talk”.
The boy screwed his face at the mere thought, “I had that at school already!”
“He’s still going to do it, just for the fun”.
He chuckled when the teenager cringed and shrieked in annoyance and disgust. Stephen shifted closer and reached out to ruffle his blond curls.
“It’s going to be okay. I promise,” he reassured.
Harley stopped pouting and smiled up at him gratefully, “Okay”.
“I heard someone is in need of the talk?” they heard Tony saying. They turned around to find him entering the living room.
Stephen and Harley looked at each other. “Run,” the doctor urged and Harley immediately fled, running up the stairs.
“You can run but you can’t escape, Harley Stark-Strange!” Tony proclaimed dramatically while Stephen approached him.
“Eavesdropping is rude,” he scolded feebly, a smile betraying his words.
“Seeking for your council instead of mine is rude,” Tony countered crossing his arms.
“That’s not rude, that’s common sense,” he lazily wrapped his arms around Tony’s waist, “You done playing in your lab?”
Tony put his hands on Stephen’s chest to then let them slowly roam towards his shoulders, “It’s not playing, it’s working”.
“It’s too fun for you to call it work”.
The engineer smiled. “Yes, I’m done,” that was all the sign Stephen needed to pull him closer and kiss him until leaving the other man breathless. Tony sighed and his eyes fluttered open, and Stephen just remembered the exact image of him after their first kiss and couldn’t help thinking he looked just as beautiful. “Last time you kissed me like that I had trouble sitting for days”.
“Hm, sorry about that,” he said, not looking sorry, and hugged him tightly, still feeling his heart warm with the memory of their first moments together. People would never consider them the most affectionate couple since all they saw was their banter, but their affectionate moments were a special constant in their privacy, “I love you”.
Tony huffed a chuckled and kissed his cheek, “I love you too”.
“Now that’s cheesy!” Harley shouted from the stairs. He ran away again when they turned to look at him.
“Isn’t he adorable?” Tony said jokingly, “We should adopt another”.
Stephen smirked. With all these years with Tony, the fact that he could read him so easily was one of the few things he was the most proud about.
“Okay”.
Tony stared at him with wide eyes, all humor gone.
“Really?” he asked, with a little, shaky smile.
Stephen smiled fondly at Tony’s eyes lighting up with hope. He’d read the signals right, hadn’t he?
“Really”.