okay so @phaeshmae is having a rough time of things and needs some cheering up - so here is a Steve/Clint high school AU
Clint looks up at the sign on the door and sighs, pulling at the straps of his back pack before walking into the classroom marked with a post it note as “detention.”
He was really hoping to avoid getting detention with his newest foster home, but then some scrappy kid had to get picked on and Clint was never one to back out of a fight, especially an unfair one. He remembers the kid briefly, skinny, asthmatic, always has ink on his hands. Steve... something or another, he was a good guy, small as hell, but from the little Clint knew about the other teen, it wasn’t surprising that Clint found him in the middle of a very one sided fist fight.
When he finally opens up the door to the classroom he sees that the teacher in charge of detention - Ms. Johnson - is casually sitting next to her desk with her heels kicked up on the desk, with her tablet resting on her legs as she sips on what Clint can only assume is some very strong coffee.
“Clint,” She says, looking up from her tablet. “Since this is your first time, here’s the rules to detention. You don’t have to keep in one spot and just stare at a wall, you work on your homework or help someone else with theirs. Talking is allowed but nothing too loud.” She smiles at him at the end of her lecture and Clint figures that detention might not be so bad.
“Barton over here!” A voice chimes in and Clint turns to see Steve wave at him from the back of the room. He has butterfly bandages on his brow and he’s sitting on top of the desk table with his short legs swinging freely. He looks pretty good for a guy that only a few hours ago was getting the shit kicked out of him.
“Hey Steve, good to see you standing,” Clint says as he sets down his bag and takes the offered seat across from Steve. “I gotta say it’s pretty gutsy taking on three guys at once, especially when said guys are members of the wrestling team.”
“You should have heard the speech Mr. Mackenzie gave me,” Steve says shaking his head. “He actually offered to show me some moves, it was kind of scary.” Steve laughs then and Clint can’t help but laugh along with him.
“He’s certainly different from any other teacher I’ve ever had that’s for sure,” Clint remarks thinking back to his shop class that morning. “Every teacher here is kind of different from what I’m used to.”
“Yeah most of them are cool,” Steve responds. “How’s it going being the new kid and all?” He asks, changing the subject.
“It’s alright,” Clint replies, looking down at his scuffed up sneakers. He’s never really enjoyed talking about being the new kid. He’s done it so many times before that it’s usually the same answer. “I’ve been through this a lot, so I don’t know.” Clint looks up to see Steve giving him smile, and he looks away quickly, not quite comfortable with the kindness he sees there.
“I’m actually staying with Ms. Simmons,” Clint admits. He never usually shares details about his foster home that usually leads to friends and Clint is never around long enough to keep them, so he usually doesn’t bother. There’s something about Steve though that makes Clint want to share however, he blames it on the stupid grin. “She’s kind of cool so far.”
“Yeah, everyone loves Ms. Simmons,” Steve says, then looks over at Ms. Johnson checking to see if she was still engrossed in her tablet, before he leans in and talks quietly so only Clint can hear him. “Especially Ms. Johnson - Bruce claims he went into the bio room late after school one day and caught them making out, I expect you’ll be seeing a lot more of her outside of school if what he says is true.”
“Oh god,” Clint says in a hushed tone, and looks back to Ms. Johnson who was giving Steve and him a very amused look, and then proceeds to wave like she heard their entire conversation.
“Yeah, you’re not going to be bored with Ms. Simmons at all,” Steve says, a cocky grin on his face, making Clint suspect that this school was going to get a lot more interesting than just what he’s experienced so far. “You know if you ever need a break or anything you can come chill at my house. I live just a few blocks over.”
“That would actually be pretty cool,” Clint answers, and knows he’s blushing slightly. He’s never made a friend this fast before, it’s kind of nice actually.
For the first time in a long time, he feels like he might actually be sticking around somewhere for a while.
