I'm out of my head - hs AU

9

« I need help. »
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"What are you up to nowadays, Steve? Skipping school, detention...is there something you're not telling me?" Sarah asked, a few minutes of silence had passed around the dinner table before Sarah asked. She had seen Steve slouch and absent, came to think of the detention he had been to the day before.

All Steve could think about was Tony and his condition. He heard what had happened at lunch, and he wished he had been there to help him. He collapsed after Tiberius Stone and Aldrich Killian had approached him, luckily the two of them didn't do anything to him. They had the respect not to attack someone who couldn't defend themself.

And he didn't come to school the next day. It would make sense, he wasn't doing well enough for that. At least Steve thought so.

Steve didn't respond, and he wasn't eating. That would worry any parent, she let out a deep sigh before looking at him further. To try and pinpoint what was wrong with him through simple and pure intuition and through body language.

Steve was picking at his food while supporting his head with his hand. In other words: not how you sit at a table. And that's something Steve knew and never did.

"Steven. Answer me." Sarah put on a harsher tone and as Steve lifted the fork once more to sink it into the meat on the plate Sarah pulled it away, causing him to stick the fork in the table. He then looked up.

"What?" He asked, not realizing Sarah had even spoken to him.

"I'm talking to you." She shoved the plate back to him. He huffed and sat up straight and stuck the fork in a potato and ate it.

"Why did you get detention, Steven?" For some reason Sarah always sounded more sinister once she said Steven, it could be the sweetest sentence but if she said Steven then he would be intimidated and fear for probably his life.

"Didn't they tell you that when they called?" He asked, not daring to look into her eyes.

"They said it was because you were in the hallways during a lesson."

"Well, that was it. That was what I got detention for." Steve rolled his eyes, acting like an A-typical teenager.

"Alright," Sarah began, feeling tired of Steve's dismissive attitude. That was something pretty new for him. He was often a ray of sunshine. "So why were you in the halls during class?"

Of course she's gonna ask that question. There... there's really no reason to try and hide it. I don't need to tell her about Tony dying, she heard of the incident of him collapsing though, but... she's my mother and she has always supported me. Why would this time be any different?
Steve thought as he watched Sarah patiently waiting for an answer.

"I—I was helping Tony Stark... he wasn't feeling well and I helped him before he left me there. I just kind of stood there," he explained, truthfully. Sarah did a slight tilt of her head, indicating she was listening closely. "It's just that... I've never... I've never really—" Steve stopped himself once he felt his heart beating faster as he looked into his mother's eyes.

He began having doubts about telling her. He wasn't even quite sure himself, and Sarah could see he was worried. About something, and she knew he wanted to tell her. But he seemed reluctant. She put down the cutlery in her hands and reached for Steve's hands across the table, took a gentle and reassuring grip of them.