pov. Tony
I breathed against the pain in my ribs as I pulled into my driveway, clutching the steering wheel tightly. Over and over again, in my inner eye, I saw Walker sneering at me, knowing I couldn't fight him off. I didn't know what I would have done if Bucky and the others hadn't shown up. I quickly put the car key in one pocket of my leather jacket and dug the house key out of the other as I got out. My hands shook a little as I unlocked the door. I just hoped fervently that Howard would allow me to drive the cabin to build. 

I decided to pack my backpack first and crept up the stairs. When I arrived at my room door, I had to gulp. The lock had been broken out of the door and the dresser lay overturned behind it. With tears in my eyes I picked up the photo of Mum, the glass was cracked, just above her face. With the greatest effort, I managed to put the dresser back up and push it into its old place. Exhausted, I let myself sink down against it and looked at the picture of Mum, at all that was left of her. After her death Howard had disposed of all her things, the photo was all I had left of her and now he destroyed that too. I bit my lip to keep from sobbing, a tear making its way down my cheek. I winced slightly as my phone vibrated in my pocket. With trembling fingers, I pulled it out, Rodney's name flashing on the screen. I exhaled, wiped the tear from my face and ran it through my hair before picking up "Hey Rodes, what's up?" I greeted him, despite my best efforts I couldn't help my voice from sounding a little rough.

 
"What's up?" it sounded from the loudspeaker "you haven't lived in your old house for two weeks and already you've forgotten about me?" I could literally see him pouting and crossing his lips.
I laughed a little "No Rodes I haven't forgotten you, I" before I continued I really thought for a second why I hadn't called my best friend in two weeks "just been busy." I couldn't help but sniffle a little as I inhaled.
For a second there was silence on the other end of the line "Tony what's wrong?" his voice now sounded concerned.

I should have guessed even if he wasn't facing me, Rodney just knew me too well "Just trouble with Howard." I ran a hand through my hair.
"Do you want me to come over?" Rodney sounded like he was about to jump in his car and drive the two hours to my place, in the past I used to run to him after Howard snapped. "No" I didn't want him bothering, besides I got Stephen and everyone else now "I'm meeting up with friends anyway, it's all good."

A sigh came through the receiver "Tony I can smell five miles into the wind when you're lying to me, something is still bothering you."
I stood up and started pacing back and forth in the room "I have a boyfriend" Rodney had known for a long time that I was into men too, he was the first and before my current friends the only one I had come out to "Stephen." I smirked slightly as I said his name.
"And that's a problem because?"
I sighed "Rodes have you forgotten how Howard feels about this?" I ran my fingers through my hair again and continued pacing.

My best friend gave a disdainful snort "Now forget about Howard for a moment." as if it was that easy "He makes you happy doesn't he? "
I grinned, Rodney had no idea how much "Yeah."
A soft laugh came from the receiver "Well then stop worrying, in a few months you'll be 18 and then you won't have to answer to the man anymore."
I braced myself for a reply, but all of a sudden I heard through the receiver by Rodney's father shouting "Rodney we have to go!"
"Be there in a minute!" yelled Rodney back.

I waited in confusion for an explanation, although I could also guess what was going on. Rodney's dad was a soldier, sometimes assigned to the far corners of the world.
"The reason I'm actually calling is" I heard something crash in the background, it sounded like a suitcase being dragged down the steps too fast "Dad's got another mission, in Afghanistan, I don't know exactly when we'll be back and I wanted to say goodbye."
I bit my lower lip, whenever Rhodey flew off to a war zone because of his father, I was afraid he wouldn't come back "You take care of yourself." I urged him.
I heard him laugh softly "I will and Tony" background sounds of cars moving came through the receiver "don't let Howard screw up your life." then he hung up.

I put the cell phone back in my pocket. Even though I didn't know it myself, I really needed this conversation. I pulled Stephen's shirt over my head and replaced it with a black tank top of mine, over which I pulled a black and red square shirt. I stuffed Stephen's shirt in the back of my closet. Into my backpack I threw another hoody, my wallet, and my keys, then slung it over my shoulder and headed back down the steps. Firmly I knocked against the office of Howard, in which light burned.

Not two seconds later the door was yanked open by him "What is it? I'm working."
I looked him firmly in the eyes, Howard was like a predator, as soon as you showed the slightest kind of weakness, you were his prey "Some friends are building a cottage in the woods and want me to come too, I'll be back at eight as well." I rattled off as fast as I could.
Howard raised an eyebrow "What friends are they?"

I adjusted my backpack strap a bit "Three of them play on the football team at our school." that two of them were a couple would never occur to Howard in his stubbornness. He thought all gay men would immediately show their sexuality, which of course is complete nonsense.
When I looked into his eyes again, I could see something I had never seen before, pride "You made friends with football players?"
It hurt me deeply that he wasn't proud of me, just proud that I had befriended highly placed people "Yes Howard."

He laughed a little "Stay as long as you want, some physical work will do you good." then he slammed the door again and I could hear him opening a bottle for himself.
Before Howard could change his mind I quickly slipped into my brown booties and laced them up rather loosely. Gently, I pulled the door closed and sat in the car. "Next stop, Stephen." I thought, and put the car in second gear as I drove off. I rolled rather the three hundred yards until I was in front of his house. I pulled out the key and locked the car. Even though I would only be gone for a short time. If a car like mine was left unlocked in a neighborhood like this, it was sure to get stolen. I walked up the few steps to the door and pressed the doorbell. It wasn't a second before there was some noise inside and someone opened the door. But that someone was not Stephen. It was a man about one ninety tall. Under his gray cap his black slightly longer hair flashed out from time to time, here and there the hair was streaked with gray strands, his green eyes sparkled kindly. Suspenders hung down from the black pants he wore, over his shirt he wore a hooded jacket.

It took me a second to find the courage to open my mouth "Hello, is Stephen there?" I felt so tiny next to the man.
The older man contorted his face into a friendly smile, his gaze only briefly lingering on the bruises on my face "You must be Tony." he opened the door a little wider "I'm Adrian, Stephen's uncle. Come on in, Stephen's still upstairs."

Hastily I walked through the door "Thanks." I muttered as I did so, brushing my shoes off my feet. I remembered well where Stephen's room was. It took me a little longer to get up the stairs because of my ribs. I was just glad Stephen's uncle didn't see how ridiculously long it took me to get up some stairs, since he had gone back into the living room. When I finally got to the top, I knocked on the door that I was almost sure was Stephen's.
Indeed, it was opened by him. Undecided whether to kiss him briefly in greeting, I stood still for a moment.

But he took the decision away from me by leaning in briefly and planting a kiss on me "What in the world are you always doing, Tones?" he reprimanded me.
I had to grin a little "Tones?" I raised my eyebrows at his name for me, somehow it was cute that he gave me a nickname "I like it."
Stephen grinned a little and pulled me by the hand into his room, pointing to the bed "Sit down." he almost ordered.
I sighed, Bucky had probably told him what had happened. Since I had no other choice, I settled down on the bed "Is this really necessary?" my ribs didn't even hurt that much anymore.

Reproachfully he looked at me "Since you don't want to go to a real doctor, yes it is necessary." he put his hands on my ribs and felt them a little. His hands left a tingling sensation on my skin.
"They are only slightly bruised" Stephen stood up again "but you still need to take it easy for the next few days."
Admiringly I looked at him "How do you know all that?"

He laughed out, some pain evident in the laughter "I used to want to be a doctor." he looked down at his hands, which weren't gloved as usual, revealing all the scars "and then this happened" he held up his one hand "and ruined everything."
I got up from the bed and took two steps towards him "there's nothing ruined about you at all" I wrapped my hands around his neck "to me you're perfect just the way you are." I stood a little on my toes and pressed my lips to his. My hands buried themselves in his hair as we deepened the kiss. His hands moved to my hips and wrapped around them. He pushed me back a little and I hit my back against a wall. I jerked away from him and ran my hand to my back as a sharp pain ran through it.

"Tony what's wrong?" still with his hands on my hips, Stephen looked at me worriedly.
I cursed the scratches on my back "sorry, it's just my back."
Suddenly Stephen's cell phone rang on the desk, he broke away from me and was at the desk in two steps and picked up with a swipe across the screen. "Hi, yes Clint I know we're late." he announced, coming back toward me so I could listen in.
"You better hurry you lovebirds." it sounded from the earpiece "or the cabin will be up by the time you get there."

" Yeah Clint" Stephen rolled his eyes in my direction smirking "we're about to leave." before Clint could crack another one of his lines Stephen pressed the hang up button and then looked at me grinning a bit "we've got to go then I guess."
I let out a sigh, I would have loved to continue where my back had interrupted us, but knowing Clint he would kick Stephen's door down if we didn't show up soon "Well then let's go build a cabin."

Stephen quickly grabbed his backpack just as I grabbed mine then we headed down the stairs right after each other.
Without retying the ties Stephen slipped into his black boots "Bye Uncle Adrian, see you later" he called into the living room where the black haired man was sitting at a piano writing something on a half empty sheet of music, his cap had come off so some of his strands of hair that weren't bunched up in his head end fell in his face.
Adrian turned around on the stool "Have fun you two." he grinned a little " let the forest remain."
Stephen just rolled his eyes and took my hand "We will, I promise." then he pulled me out the door with him.

" So where are we going." I slammed the door behind me and looked questioningly at Stephen who was still holding my hand.
He grinned "You'll see." he looked to the forest before getting into the car "trust me you'll like it."
I grinned and let the engine roar "Stephen I'm sure I will, but that doesn't tell me where to go."
He pointed down the road with a grin "just keep going straight, when the turn comes I'll tell you."
I gave it some gas and put it in first gear "All right." for a while we were silent, but it wasn't an uncomfortable silence, there was something comforting about it.
After we had been driving for a while, Stephen pointed to a narrow forest road, just wide enough for the pickup truck Bucky was driving "We need to get in there."
I eased off the gas a bit and turned into the path, my car easily had room on the path. Slowly I rolled on and after a short while a clearing flashed out from behind the trees where I could already see the others scurrying around.

I parked myself next to Bucky's pickup truck, which had a few tools spread out on its bed, like saws, hammers, spirit levels, and much more. I got out of the car, and saw for the first time what was to become a cabin. The base beams were already in place, solid strong wood holding the foundations together. The only thing missing from the basic structure were the roof beams, which was most likely why Bucky and Clint were sitting on a beam five meters above the ground, letting Sam pull them up on a winch. Pietro was a few feet away, in the shade, sawing a beam to size.

"Look who's doing us the honors!" Clint waved down from his high seat and grinned at us.
I raised my hand and just waved "It's good to see you too Clint." by now I had gotten used to his ways and took it all with humor.
"Where's Wanda?" Stephen looked around searchingly for the Russian, as if she would pop out from behind a tree any second.
Pietro paused his sawing work for a second "She went shopping out of frustration over her cheerleading suspension and made Nat come with her."
I nodded in understanding, even though I could imagine Nat wasn't there entirely by choice. I rolled up my sleeves a bit and looked around questioningly "So, what can I do to make this thing stand up faster?"

It had almost gotten dark, the crickets were chirping happily. For the past five hours, I had been sawing wood, dragging my results around, and pounding nails into the wood. Now I sat leaning against Stephen at the campfire we had lit, holding a stick on which a marshmallow was impaled over the flames. Sam and Bucky sat across from us, Sam was on Bucky's knees half asleep, the concussion showing its effect. Bucky was holding some marshmallows over the flames just as I was, some had already met their end, either they had fallen into the flames or Bucky had eaten them. Pietro and Clint, were sitting on a log, both had a beer in their hands, goofing around. I pulled the marshmallow away from the flames. Carefully, I sniffed the sticky candy.

"Tell me" Pietro looked at me in feigned horror "have you never eaten a marshmallow before?"
I took another quick look at the marshmallow "Could be."
Clint gasped playfully "well then it's about time, go eat!"
I laughed a bit at his stern tone, pulled the marshmallow off the stick and popped a small piece in my mouth. It tasted incredibly good, I quickly popped the second part into my mouth and licked my fingers with relish afterwards "This is totally delicious." I mumbled a little, because the sticky mass of the marshmallow was still in my mouth. Suddenly I was blinded by something, it took me a moment to realize it was a flash "Stephen." Reproachfully I bumped my boyfriend's knee "I look terrible."
Smiling, he showed me the photo "No, just incredibly cute."
I felt myself blush a little.

"Come on everyone" Clint waved his cell phone "we need a picture of Tony's first day on the job site."
I rolled my eyes but then let Stephen pull me up and sat me down in front of the log Clint was sitting on. Sam sat down between Bucky's legs, who sat on the log with his arms hanging right and left over his boyfriend's shoulders. Pietro had put his arm around Clint's shoulders, who was holding the cell phone camera in selfie mode towards us, in a chummy manner. Stephen sat next to me on the forest floor. Just before Clint pressed the shutter, he pressed a kiss to my cheek. A grin flitted across my face. There was a flash and not a second later the photo was snapped.
"Guys Sam and I will be driving then." Bucky looked to his boyfriend, who was struggling to keep his eyes open.

"Sure" Stephen put an arm around my shoulders "get home safe."
Bucky held out his hand to Sam "Come on babe, let's go home."
Yawning Sam let him pull him up and raised his hand in greeting "Night guys." the two walked hand in hand into the darkness of the forest.
Before long I heard the engine of Bucky's pickup start and the car pull away.
I too could no longer suppress a yawn "I have to go too, or I'll be too tired to drive."
I looked at Stephen who just nodded "Well then let's go."
I looked around some more, there was some trash lying around here and there and some tools that were too big to lug back and forth each time and so were stored under a tarp in the shack, like the circular saw for example.
Pietro seemed to have caught my glance "Go ahead, Clint and I are still cleaning up here."

"Oh, we are?" for his answer Clint got a slight elbow nudge from the Russian next to him "Of course we are. " he affirmed then immediately.
I yawned another time "We owe you." I thanked him and grabbed my backpack that was leaning against a tree trunk "see you Monday."

Stephen also threw his backpack over his shoulder and raised his hand in greeting.
I lit the way with my cell phone, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to find the car in the dark. When I unlocked it, the lights of the car turned on and I was able to turn off my cell phone flashlight again. After only a few minutes I was at Stephen's house and stopped "See you tomorrow." I leaned over the manual transmission a bit and planted a quick kiss on him.
When I pulled my head back I could see he was smiling "Sleep well Tones." then he got out and disappeared into the house after only a few moments.

After the door slammed into the lock, I continued the few feet to my house and quietly parked myself in the driveway. As gently as I could, I closed the car door and dug out my key after locking the car. I could see from outside that the light was still on in the office, it was already close to twelve. Howard must have fallen asleep over his work again. Gently, careful not to make any unnecessary noise, I unlocked the front door and slipped off my shoes. I crept across the parquet, up the stairs to my room. I passed the bathroom, I would shower tomorrow in the morning, today I was just too tired and I didn't want to wake up Howard. Once in my room I put my backpack on my desk and pulled my cell phone out of my pocket. I quickly slipped into my sleep shirt, grabbed my phone and crawled into bed. Just as I was about to plug in the phone, a new message from Stephen plopped up. I unlocked the phone and opened the message, I smiled slightly as the picture of all of us around the campfire jumped out at me. A message read underneath "Thought you might want it."

I grinned slightly and saved the picture immediately, especially since I didn't have a picture of Stephen yet. After that, I typed back "Thanks, for this and for a beautiful day." before I could talk my fingers out of it, they also typed the three little words "I love you." and sent the message off.
I bit my lower lip, what if it was too soon to say that. But my worries were unfounded because not even a second later the message came back "I love you too. Sleep safe." came back.
With a smile on my face, I put my phone away and scrunched up my pillow. As soon as my head touched the pillow, I fell asleep.