Life in Brooklyn

Chapter 16

"He didn't do anything."
"I realize that now, he is being released in a few hours."
"Why a few hours? Why not now?" He pressured.
"I'm sorry, but I can't share that. Get well soon mr. Stark." And he left. The officer left. Tonys Andy finished. He still had to push to get steve out of there, he shouldn't be there in the first place.
He was scared, by the fact he knew he wasn't ever going to be with him again. The one good thing.
Steve was released a few hours later, Bucky too.
Steve rubbed his eyes and avoided talking to either of them the entire way home. They asked what happened, what it was all about, but he ignored them or answered vaguely. They'd go on about how much of an ass tony and his friends were, but steve was worried, mad too, but tony was hurt? He seemed fine other than the alcohol disturbing his mind and thoughts and the loss he'd suffered only a week earlier. But he couldn't face him.
Tony couldn't face him either. Not because he didn't want to, but because he was scared to. First, he goes through steves very personal file, then he gets him arrested.
A week later, tony was back home, but didn't want Bruce or Rhodes to stay with him, so he called Thor, who indeed managed to get steve to cover most of his shifts at the diner and the hours he did work, steve wasn't, so tony tagged along.
For once, Loki didn't criticize him. In fact, he was... nice. Loki may seem to be a heartless and mean man, but he was truly nice under that very thick layer of darkness.
Tony didn't go anywhere else. It was in between his house and the diner, always. It was so boring too. Thor was cool, he was, but he and Loki ares the only two people he doesn't refuse to see.
Well, Bruce came to his mansion once. Thor answered at assured him that he was fine and to go home.
Tony was definitely mad at them, just didn't show it at the hospital as much. If they hadn't been so nosy and sneaky, steve might be the one making him dinner and comforting him, not Thor.
Speaking of steve, he'd hidden in his apartment for the first day after being released. Bucky and Natasha knocked at the door a few times, every few hours. Eventually, it for annoying, so he opened the door at 8:34 to Bucky standing in front of him. "Are you ok?"
"I... just want to be left alone." He said sadly with bags under his eyes and slammed the door shut. Bucky had stood there for another minute and put his hand on the door, even contemplating kicking it down, but he gave him his space. And the next day, he was almost back to his normal self. Just, not as happy as he was when he and tony were still a thing.
Weeks and weeks passed, and tony somehow began to forget about steve and move on. He slowly forgave Bruce and Rhodes, they were around his house a lot more now. And they tried to get him out, but he wanted to stay in his lab or under his blankets. JARVIS had located all of the bottles of alcohol in the mansion too, and my God, there was a shit ton. They got rid of them all and tony pouted even if he knew he couldn't with his heart condition.
And steve went from the diner, to the park, to around the entire town for his runs mostly but sometimes Bucky and Natasha would take him out with them. Bucky realized steve wasn't as happy and promised to spend more time with him.
It didn't do much. It wasn't really the war or any PTSD, mostly just the fact he didn't have someone to live as much as he did for tony. Soon, Bucky was going to leave with Natasha to visit her parents, who's age is starting to get to them.
He patted steve on the shoulder and told him to call if he needs to talk about anything, and if he finds some guy who was hitting on him. He smiled and left.
Steve was used to being in his apartment alone, so he didn't know why he felt it so much now. It was quiet, quiet enough to hear the clock ticking and cars driving outside, even bride chirping outside the window. It drove him crazy. So he left to go somewhere familiar, where he actually really enjoyed being. The gay bar.
He smiled the second he got there, some friends greeted him and asked how it's been. He lied and said 'good', but they also somehow found out about the arrest. Well that's just awesome. So he sighed and moved through the crowd to sit on a chair at a small table with his beer on the other side of the bar away from the bar. He sat there everyday when he came, for the next four days. Nothing happened until the fifth.