n't it?" Before Tony could even open his mouth, Steve continued. He had his jaw set in a way that reminded Tony eerily of someone, though he couldn't quite put a pin on who. "For prying last night. I opened a can of worms you'd been trying so hard to keep a lid on, and I didn't even think about what that might mean for you—"

"To be fair, repression isn't exactly the healthiest coping mechanism to begin with—"

"But it should've been your choice and I—"

"Steve, you didn't take that choice from me, okay?" Tony shook his head firmly. "I chose to tell you, because I wanted you to know. And it…helped, I think. Besides, if anyone deserves to hear it from the source, you do. So just…don't take this mess to heart or anything, okay? Hell, I probably should've had a panic attack long before now, isn't that how you're supposed to react to trauma? Hey, look at you, making me normal—"

"I didn't make you normal, I gave you panic attacks—"

"Attack, singular, don't go jinxing me just yet big guy." Tony tried for a grin. "And like I said, it was bound to happen anyway. I just…got it out of the way, right? Let's look at it like that."

"I couldn't even help." Steve wasn't meeting his eyes, just staring at his shoes as if they held all the answers. For all his broad shoulders and rippling muscles, Steve just looked small. "You were upset and I couldn't do anything."

"Steve, if you hadn'te and got me I'd still be curled up in a corner while students threw peanuts at me, I'd say—"

"While they what? Who did that?" Steve demanded, eyes snapping up.

"Whoa, hey, no one threw anything, it's just a phrase." Tony put his hands in the air innocently. "My point is, you did help. A lot, okay? It's…I'm not used to having someone bother toe after me, and that's, it's good. Nice."

Way to English, Stark.

Steve just stared at him like he'd lost his mind.

"Tony, you ran out of there like you were possessed, of course I'd go after you."

Not possessed, just horny, but hey, at least now he could chalk that strange behavior up to a panic attack. Which, hey, look at that, extremely awkward erection totally gone.

"We should really get to class." Tony realized. "How late are we?"

"Not much, a few minutes. Phineas won't be very happy with us, but I'm sure the kids are fine." Steve laid a hand on Tony's upper arm and squeezed once, carefully. "It's fine, Tony. I'll see you third period."

"Yeah." Tony nodded, getting his bearings. "Yeah, third period. Cool. I'll just go…get pelted by paint. Again. Whose idea was that, anyway?"

"All yours." Steve used a thumb to wipe a streak of blue paint off Tony's cheek with an amused smile. "You can tell by the mess it made of the quad. Signature Tony Stark, there."

Tony's thoughts flickered briefly to the days when signature Tony Stark meant booze and weapons and sex. He wondered what it meant that he liked this better. It helped that he knew Pepper would just remind him that he was still making explosions and messes for other people to clean up either way, and tell him to stop whining about what most would consider personal growth.

"You know me." Tony smiled back. "If it doesn't add paperwork to Cogman's desk, I obviously wasn't involved."

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