A ROMANTIC EDUCATION - STEVE/TONY AU [CHAPTER 38] 

Previous Chapters: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3 , Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6,Chapter 7,Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10, Chapter 11, Chapter 12,Chapter 13, Chapter 14, Chapter 15, Chapter 16, Chapter 17, Chapter 18,Chapter 19, Chapter 20, Chapter 21, Chapter 22 , Chapter 23, Chapter 24,Chapter 25, Chapter 26, Chapter 27, Chapter 28, Chapter 29, chapter 30, Chapter 31, Chapter 32, Chapter 33, Chapter 34, Chapter 35, Chapter 36, Chapter 37

Chapter 38
Steve blushed a little as the young Stark’s fingertips carded through his hair, glancing away, “Well yeah… It’s the truth isn’t it? We’re in a lab and I’m doing something I’ve never done before, hence… Experimenting.” He said, his eyes going back to looking at Tony.
“You’re beginning to think like me, kid, I like that”, he replied, planting a kiss to his lips as he hopped off the desk, their height difference being made obvious again.
“Hey, don’t call me kid. We all know I’m older than you.” He said surprised at the small kiss that he had just received. “Are you now? Taller yes, but older?” Tony questioned as he finished dressing up and turned his back to Steve, tidying up the mess they’ve made on the table.
“I’m pretty sure I’m older than you.” He said, “I may not look it, but I am.” He said as he helped Tony pick up some of the papers that had fallen during their ‘experiment’.
“I couldn’t care any less anyway”, Tony replied shaking his shoulders and turned to Steve. “What are we doing now?”
“I… I don’t know…” He replied, shrugging, “I guess I should go to do some practice or something… I didn’t realise how long it’d been…” He said as he caught a glimpse of the digital clock in the corner of the room
“That’s not what I meant, Rogers”, Tony said eyeing him. “What are we doing? Do you want to call it… A one timer or something? I’m fine with that, since you have Peggy and all”, he said, trying to sound clam. He wouldn’t be okay with that, but he wouldn’t whine to Steve about it either.
“I’m… Not sure…” He said, he had enjoyed spending time with Tony but now he thought of Peggy, since she was brought up. He didn’t want to just have a ‘one night stand’; he wanted it to mean something.
“Just so you know, I won’t be your play thing to cover up for Peggy. If you want to see me more, you’ll have to face her”, Tony said with a serious tone.
“First you say you’re ‘not that kind of guy’, to tell Peggy, then now you’re saying that I have to tell her?” His eyebrows furrowed slightly, now was the time he’d start regretting acting on instinct rather than thinking things through.
“I won’t tell anyone, if that’s you’re afraid of. But again, I won’t be there every time you’re horny, Rogers. I’ve had my fun today and I don’t regret it”, Tony replied, clenching his fists. He wasn’t sure why he made such a fuss about it, normally he wouldn’t even care, but this time, Steve saw “that” side of him and Tony saw nothing in return.
Steve was at a loss for words, truth is, he hadn’t had his urges tended to, he thought that he was doing Tony a favour and now he seemed so annoyed. Wasn’t this what he wanted? He looked down and then sighed a little; he didn’t want to show Stark that he actually felt like he was the one who had been used. He looked up from the ground, “I should go I guess… I’ll uh… see you at school.” He said, grabbing his things, “As for Peggy… I’ll tell her what I’ve done.” He said, knowing that it was inevitable. He had to tell her, he couldn’t bare this overwhelming guilt and confusion.
Tony was caught off guard; he didn’t expect this kind of reaction from Steve. “Tell Peggy?” he asked nervously, “And then have rumours going around? You do realise that if you tell her, both mine and your reputation will be over, right?” he said, raising his voice a bit. He couldn’t bear thinking of the consequences to that, and he did felt bad when he saw Steve so confused. They both got into this and it was the fault of both of them. “Rogers. Nobody will find out about what happened. You talk to nobody”. It was selfish from him to ask something like this to Steve, as he felt obliged to tell everything to Peggy. “Did you also tell her that I visited you yesterday?”
“No. I didn’t tell her anything. You’re the one who said I have to face up to her, and don’t worry Stark, I won’t tarnish your amazing reputation - I won’t say it was you.” He said as he turned his back on Tony and headed for the stairs.
“Hey, you, don’t turn your back to me!” Tony shouted angrily. They somehow managed to end up arguing again, and Tony just wanted to take back what he said earlier. “Do whatever you want, I’ll still keep in mind that you did it with your own free will and you did enjoy it”
“I’m not saying I didn’t… Stark.” He spoke with such softness and so much calm in his voice, as opposed to shouting. He kept his head slightly lowered as he walked away. He was disturbingly quiet as he was engulfed in his thoughts, trying to pluck up the courage to tell Peggy what he had done, which was the honourable thing to do.
Tony sighed and leaned back on the table, messing his hair up and closed his eyes for a minute. He wasn’t sure if he should apologise to Steve, but after all, he did nothing bad. Steve had to face his girlfriend and even break up with her at some point; Tony didn’t have faith in that relationship from what he saw that far. Steve’s voice as he left was so calm, so honest and it did made Tony feel well… Weird.
Steve left, but he didn’t go to the school gym to practice with the others, he just headed straight home, without telling anyone. He felt as though he had poured out all of his emotions and feelings and Tony had just ‘had his fun’.
“Is everything all right?” a voice called from upstairs, clearly belonging to Howard Stark.
Tony took a deep breath and fixed himself up as he started walking up the stairs. “Everything’s fine, father”, Tony replied as he reached the ground floor and hesitated for a moment. “We’ve finished our work, I’m going to my room”, he added, walking upstairs now. He would normally feel refreshed, just like anytime, pleased with himself, but this time was different. He tried to see the odds of Steve thinking badly about him, and they were really high. He leaned on the wall and closed his eyes for a second. What was I hoping for? He asked himself. He has a girlfriend, and I should feel happy that he did what he did so far to me. Something told him that the way he treated the subject while in front of Steve wasn’t the right one, that it gave him a bad impression.        Who is using who? He thought, sitting on his bed.
After a hot shower he went straight to bed, even though it was the afternoon. He just couldn’t bear to be awake for much longer.

Next Chapter: [Will be released 1/02/2012]