Tony rose up from his sleep in a daze, his body still undecided whether it wanted to sleep or get up for the long day ahead. Looking at the clock, he noticed that it was a quarter until six. Yawning and stretching a bit first, he looked over to the other body occupying his bed. The blonde teen was still fast asleep. Tony smiled gently before getting up from the bed and tiptoeing over to the bathroom. He brushed his teeth and used the bathroom, opening the door and jumped when he saw his mother on the other side.

"Hello Anthony." She said sweetly. She would always be the first to greet him, most likely hearing him leave his room. Thank God she hadn't walked into his room. He had yet to tell his mother about his relationship, too worried that she wouldn't view him in the same light. She was one of the only people who didn't seclude him in the family, or hate him, and he wanted to keep it that way for as long as he could.

"Hello, Mama." He said, smiling happily at her. She rubbed his hair and hummed.

"Jarvis is making breakfast in the kitchen, make sure you grab something to eat, mon amour. You're getting so thin." She said gently. Tony nodded a bit, before smiling.

"I will, Mama. Just let me get ready for school." She gave him a gentle smile and nodded, going down the stairs and disappearing from his sight. He sighed gently and shook his head fondly, before he went back to his room. He went to the bed and gently shook Steve awake. The teen groaned and slowly look up at him with tired eyes, before he smiled gently and placed a hand on Tony's cheek.

"Good morning, beautiful." He whispered lovingly. Tony laughed a bit, placing his hand a top of Steve's. "Good morning." Steve sat up, and went to kiss Tony, when Tony pushed his face away. "No no no, morning breath. Go brush your teeth, then you can kiss me." Steve laughed gently and stood up, heading to the bathroom.

As Steve was brushing his teeth, Tony began getting ready. He fished around his drawer and found underwear, slipping off the ones he'd worn the night before and replacing it. He pulled out a shirt from his closet and let it fall over his thin body, hiding the large bruise on his stomach, and the small bruises littering his back. By the time Steve had returned from the bathroom, Tony was already fully dressed. Steve pulled his clothes from the night before, and gave Tony a quick kiss. "I'm going to be heading home, I'll see you at school, okay?" He said gently. Tony nodded, leaning on him for a second longer, before pulling away.

"I love you."

Steve smiled at him, before he walked towards the window. "I love you too, kid." He said, popping off the locks of the window and sliding it up. He turned around and gave Tony a quick finger gun, his charming smile making Tony completely forget he said 'kid' instead of 'Tony', and Tony waved back at him shyly.

Then he was gone.

_._._._._

Tony entered the school, feeling his stomach filling up with dread with every step he took down the crowded hall. Once he and Steve were out of their Safe Haven, everything changed. However his love for Steve was too great to let a silly High School reputation tarnish the relationship that they had.

He was ripped out of his thoughts when a hand forcefully shoved against a locker. Air left his body for a moment as he looked up at the attacker. His bright hazel eyes dimmed for the sky blue eyes he loved were now dark like a storm.

"Hello, Stark."

The voice shook his body to the core, for once on school grounds Steve changed from his lover to his bully. Despite all this, Tony reminded himself that once at home things would change and be better, Steve would love him and cherish him. All it required was a few bruises along the way.

"Don't you look so pathetic," the blonde stated before moving a little closer to whisper, "although you are still cute."

Tony kept himself from smiling, for his words always softened the blows to follow. He pulled away, shooting him a quick wink to reassure him that it was all just an 'act for the crowd', before he received a hard blow to the stomach. Tony slammed a hand over his mouth to suppress a grunt from escaping his lips as he was tossed to the floor. His head hit the ground harder than he anticipated, and he felt his vision haze for a moment. Once he fully regained his vision, he saw Steve's cold exterior. He attempted to stand, his limbs feeling weak as if his bones were made out of jelly. He grunted when he was kicked back over to be followed by a foot pressing hard over his heart before moving to his exposed hand, and stomping hard with his boot, crushing it. Tony bit his tongue so hard to suppress the scream that threatened to rip from his throat, he bit right through the muscle and he began bleeding.

"Hey!" Steve looked up at the noise, and felt a hard slap hit his face. He lost his balance and strength for a moment and Tony was pulled out from beneath him. The blonde looked down to Peggy, his eyes practically lighting on fire. "Why don't you pick on someone your own size!" She yelled, anger in her voice as he yelled at him. Steve's hands curled into fists and Tony gasped and coughed.

"Peggy, look out!" Peggy turned to him. Tony tried to get away from the help, not caring for the pain in his chest as he watch Steve's arm reel back. He froze when as he saw another hand grab the arm and twist it behind the blondes back. Steve yelped in pain as his best friend Bucky Barnes grabbed his collar hard. "That's it Rogers, it's over." He growled, before he began pulling Steve away.

Tony then looked behind him at the person who had pulled him away in a daze state, recognizing the strawberry blonde hair. Pepper and Peggy were both helping him up.

Peggy bit her lip. "We have to get out of here before the principal shows up. There's no doubt that someone called this in." She mumbled.

Pepper nodded. "Let's just get him to the nurse. She owes me a favor and is willing to look the other way, unless you want it reported?" She asked, looking over to Tony. Tony's face went pale and he shook his head. Pepper then nodded gently in slight defeat, and didn't speak further on the situation.

The three of them walked down the hall in silence before reaching the nurse. The school nurse, a young blonde haired woman known as Ms. Friday, began patching him up, frowning. "Your hand… You may need to go to a hospital. It looks like some bones may be broken, at least sprained." Tony swallowed hard, trying not to yank his hand away out of instinct. She didn't question further knowing the return by now. Giving him a temporary cast on his hand, her voice changed from a soft tone to a serious one. "This is not permanent. This hand looks much worse than what I am able to do. I recommend you go to the hospital."

"I'll make sure to take him."Peggy nodded.

Pepper took the papers and gave them to her. "I'll go to the Main office and excuse him, and go to his teachers to give him his work, and the excuses. He's principles list with the last name Stark, he'll be fine." She said gently.

Pepper and Tony were neck and neck for being Valedictorian for their class, her only being ahead because of the amount of times that Tony would miss school due to the injuries that Steve gave him. Peggy nodded and put a hand on Pepper's shoulder. "Be careful, he might still be heated and he try to take it out on you." Pepper gave her an understanding smile and chuckled. "I'll be careful, although I think it is a certain brunette he would be after right now." Peggy gave her a gentle smile before she became serious again and began helping Tony. "I'll meet you later, okay?" Pepper nodded, and they parted ways.

Peggy led Tony out of the school building to her car and helped him inside, before getting in herself. As they drove, Peggy stole a glance at Tony who was watching the scenery of the suburbs silently. She decided to break the silence. "Tony-"

"I know what you're going to say." Peggy gripped the steering wheel for a moment, before loosening it.

"If you know what I'm going to say, then why don't you take my advice? You know that I'm going to keep telling you the same thing over and over Tony. It's just gotten worse since the last time. He broke your hand for God sakes!" She said, her voice betraying her and her emotion slipping through her normally cool facade. Tony didn't respond and gave her a moment to collect herself before he spoke.

"He's not always like this, Peggy. You don't know how he is when we're alone. He's so sweet, and kind. He always treats me right, he tells me he loves me." He said quietly. Peggy could feel tears threaten to escape her eyes, and she let the heavy silence fill the air.

She didn't understand, why couldn't Tony see what Steve was doing to him? She couldn't bear to see Tony live out like this, and she didn't want it to get to the point where she would end up hearing about his death on the news, all because of Steve. He was the reason why he was still a junior, for god's sakes. Tony tried to lie about it, say that he wanted to enjoy his high school years, but she wasn't blind. Steve got off on that power dynamic, she could feel it. He loved feeling that he was better, smarter than Tony, simply because he was a grade higher. Pepper stayed with Tony in the same grade, because she didn't want him to stay alone. Peggy only accepted it to shove it into Steve's face that they were equal now.

When they arrived at the hospital, Peggy called Jarvis to let him know where Tony was, and they entered the hospital. Being the son of Howard Stark had its perks, and being the daughter of one of the highest practitioners in the hospital, they were allowed to walk in the hospital and demand assistance without question.

Well, most of the time.

"Ma'am, you can't just walk in here without-"

"Get me Hayley Carter, tell her that her daughter is here and it's an emergency, before I contact her and tell her myself." The woman gave her a side eye, before she got Mrs. Carter on the line. Mrs. Carter answered her phone, sliding her glasses off her face. "Yes?"

"Mrs. Carter, a young lady by the name of…?"

"Peggy."

"Peggy is demanding to see you immediately, claiming that she is your daughter. Would you like me to send security to remove her?"

Mrs. Carter stayed silent for a moment, before she spoke. "Glynda are you threatening to send security to my daughter."

Glynda felt a chill reach her bone and she gasped. "N-No Mrs. Carter! I'll send her up now!" She said quickly, before she stammered an apology and let Peggy and Tony go up. They walked up to the room where Hayler would usually meet them in, and Peggy helped him up. Hayley walked in shortly after, sighing and rubbing her temples. "What happened this time?" She said, her voice hiding the disappointment she had. She wasn't upset at Anthony, and she didn't want him to think she was. She knew how he would beat himself up, and the last thing she wanted to do was make him think that this was all his fault. She gave him a soft, warm smile. When she found out who was hurting her poor baby, she was going to kill them.

Peggy explained what happened, and Hayley sighed gently and sent them toward the X-Rays, she needed to know how much damage was done to his hand before she would do anything. They managed to snag a quick appointment, and she stood outside of the room, Peggy by her side while they waited for Tony. She brushed her salt and pepper bangs out of her eyes and she looked over the report. "Did you talk to him?" She asked quietly. Peggy sighed and looked over to the room, before responding.

"Yes. He gave me the answer he always gives me." Peggy tried to hide how upset she felt, but her mother could always read her like an open book. She was pulled into a warm hug.

"I know that it's hard. I know that you want to do something, you want to yell and scream at the world. Why does someone as sweet as him deserve this?.." Peggy tried to swallow around the lump that was forming in her throat.

"Sometimes bad things happen to good people. It's what helps them grow into better people. He's hesitant now, but he's a smart kid, he'll open his eyes eventually. I know you are worried hun, but I also know you won't give up on him. Just keep helping him, that all you can truly do right now."

"Mom, this has been going on for a year and a half now!" She whispered, it almost reaching the volume of a yell. "Why can't he leave, why doesn't he understand-" She put a hand over her mouth to contain a sob as tears pooled again. She cursed at herself for getting so worked up. Hayley put a hand on her shoulders.

"Because when people are in relationships like this, abusive ones, they don't see what's happening to them personally. There are multiple reasons why they stay in the relationship. Whether they think it's their fault or they were raised up around it, he might just think that this is just what he needs to go through in order to have his lover show him affection." She said gently. "It could be a year, it could be eight. It takes time, and it takes his will for him to break free. The mind is can be easily manipulated, healing the damage takes time and patience."

"But mom, that's what I'm afraid of… What if time runs out before he relieves?"

Before Hayley could respond, Tony was brought back in a wheelchair by a nurse. "Sorry for the wait Miss, we had a few patients before him." Hayley nodded, regaining her composure. "Have the reports faxed to me as soon as possible." The nurse nodded, and Hayley lead Anthony and Margarita to her office. Tony played with the wheels of the wheelchair, not wanting to talk in fear that they might bring up Steve again. They heard the small noise of the fax machine printing out the result, and Hayley picked it up.

She read over what it said, and sighed in relief. "It's not broken." Tony and Peggy both exchanged the same sigh, before Hayley put the paper down. "But that doesn't mean that there's no damage." She said seriously. "What you have is a fracture, just a small one, but I recommend wearing a hand brace." She said, filling out another report. "I'll be right back, I'll get the brace.

When she returned, she helped Tony put on the brace, and instructed him to put ice on his hand at least four times a day, and to not move it so much. She sent them on their way home, giving them both a hug goodbye. Once they were in the car again, Tony pulled out his phone. His right hand was damaged, but he was ambidextrous, and it wouldn't be that much of a problem to do his daily tasks. Getting dressed would be a little difficult though. He shot Steve a text that he was alright, and that he'd see him later during the night. He saw the icon go from delivered to read, and he received nothing back from Steve. He put the phone away, trying not to think about that. Was Steve really not concerned over his well being? He shook the thought away when he arrived home. "Get some rest, okay?" Peggy said gently. Tony nodded and smiled at her. "I'll be okay. Thank you, Peggy. I love you." Peggy gave a gentle smile and sighed.

"I love you too, Tony. Stay safe."