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Once you were away from the moaning and grunting of your neighbours you found it was easier to look Steve in the eyes. You had a spur of the moment idea to see an old movie, Psycho, at a local movie night in a cafe. It was interesting to see Steve’s reaction to the big reveal at the end, since you knew what happened before even seeing it yourself. Still, he seemed to enjoy himself, and when you left the cafe neither of you suggested going your separate ways. You ended up wandering the streets of New York until you ended up with ice cream cones in a park, sitting by a pond on a starry night. You were taking your time on the ice cream with the chill in the air, but Steve finished his quickly.
“So what else haven’t you seen that has obvious endings?” you asked.
Steve reaching into the inner pocket of his jacket. “Actually, I’ve been making a list.” He passed you a little black book which you took, curious to see what he wanted to find out.
Carefully flipping it open with one hand, you took a bite into your cone, holding down the page with one finger. “Well this political and war stuff I know nothing about. Star Wars though, I can do.”
“I hear it has a couple good twists,” Steve said.
You wanted to keep flipping pages in his book, but the list wasn’t long enough to keep going. So you closed it, denying your curiosity, and passed it back to him. “I guess...I don’t really remember what I thought of it--was too young when I saw it for the first time.” You took another bite of the cone, licking at your thumb as a line of vanilla ran down it. “Oh, have you seen Jurassic Park? It’s not really surprising but it’s great.”
“I’ll add it to the list,” he said. He pulled a pen out of his pocket and wrote down your suggestion. You felt a little proud of yourself for adding something to the list--you couldn’t imagine what it must be like for him in this century. If you were flung a seventy years into the future you probably would by a shut in.
Steve tucked the book and pen away. He was facing you, chest pointed in your direction and elbow resting on the back. You suddenly felt too close to him and turned to look at the pond, taking smaller bites of your cone. Stars reflected off the water and you began to think of Tony in his lab.
“I’m sorry for everything you’ve had to go through,” you blurted. You covered your mouth, unable to believe you’d said that. It was such a nice night, and you went and brought up bad memories for him. You tossed the remained of your cone in the garbage beside you, desperate for some kind of movement to get rid of your jittering.
“Thank you,” he replied. You nodded at him nervously before standing. “It’s getting late, we should probably go. Parks aren’t the safest...place...at night. That probably doesn’t matter to you though.”
Steve gave a small smile and stood. “I’ll walk you home.”
“Thanks.”
Just as you started for home your phone began to ring. You pulled it from your pocket to find Tony’s face on the screen, already answered. “Where are you?” he asked.
You replied, “Out. Why?”
Tony pressed a button on the screen and burning building came up. You watched the news report scroll across the bottom, revealing that the burning building was yours. Tony’s face reappeared. “That’s why.”
“Crud,” you muttered. “Is everyone okay?”
“Looks like,” Tony said. “You need a car to get you?”
You looked to Steve who shrugged. Before you could answer Tony he asked, “Are you with someone? A date?”
You laughed and pointed the screen to Steve, who nodded at Tony. When you brought it back to yourself you told him, “I think I’m okay to walk from here. Wait, where am I walking to?”
Tony gave a small shake of his head. “The tower. You can stay here until you get a new place.”
You blinked twice at the screen, trying to wrap your mind about it. Your mind was still lost in the happy haze of a night out, and it wasn’t sinking in that your entire apartment was currently on fire. Maybe that was why Steve was looking at you so weird.
“You okay?” Steve asked.
You blinked a couple more times and took a breath. “Yes? I mean...I...there’s nothing I can do to save my stuff. Most of it I can replace…” You lowered your hand at the thought of you photo albums from your parents, the irreplaceable family memories. You hadn’t looked at them in years, but knowing you never could you felt a sudden sense of loss. You force a weak smile on your face. “I’ll figure it out in the morning.”
“Uh, excuse me,” Tony’s voice said, drawing your attention back to your phone. You quickly lifted it up.
“Sorry!”
“Just make it back here in one piece,” Tony instructed. He then hung up, and you stuck your phone back into your pocket.
“Nobody ever says bye anymore,” you complained.
At the tower Tony showed you to your room, one that was larger than your entire apartment. With a queen size bed, a sitting area with cushions softer than your own bed, you wanted to know what Tony's room looked like if this was for guests.
You scratched the back of your head as you set your bag on the coffee table, the sole survivor of your shopping trip. A pressure fell on your chest at the thought of all your new clothes burning to a crisp in your living room. What a waste of money.
Tony was standing in the room with his arms crossed. “If you need anything ask JARVIS, you know where the kitchen is.”
“And the elevator works for me now and everything.”
He smirked. “You gonna give Cap a kiss goodnight before he leaves?”
You pretended to think it over. “I guess I could give him another one.”
Tony flinched, lowering his arms. You pointed towards the door, where down the hall you knew Steve was talking to Natasha. They’d look serious when you had left them, and wondered what they were talking about.
“I’m kidding,” you told Tony. You stood. “I should thank him though.”
You started out the door and down the hall, finding Steve and Natasha. Just before you approached you heard Steve say, “You think it was intentional.”
Not a question, but a statement. When Natasha’s eyes met yours her posture changed from pensive to relaxed, as did her features. It was so subtle you barely saw it, but it was enough of a change to make the back of your neck tickle.
“I just wanted to say thanks for walking me back,” you said to Steve, smiling up at him. “And for getting me out of the apartment.”
“Thanks for the movie,” he replied. “Sorry the night had to end.”
You waited for him to add “like this” but the words never came. But you couldn’t question him about his choice of words, as you were too distracted by the way he stood, eyebrows raised. Too innocent.
Each of them said their goodnights and you were left alone. Behind you Tony said, “Well they’re hiding something.”
You turned. “So it wasn’t just my imagination?”
“You’ve got a good instinct, I would trust it,” Tony told you. “Now, you want to find out what they were talking about?”
Your new trust in Steve was strong, but your mistrust of Natasha was stronger. You nodded. “Hell yes.”