Just Steve

F I V E

Steve watched (Y/N) walk away from the tower, regret and guilt quickly taking hold of him.

It took all of his restraint not to run after her. He couldn't help feeling like he had just made a huge mistake. Whether or not she would admit it to herself, Steve knew she had felt something more for him. They had clicked in a way that he had only ever found once before in his life. Yes he had only just met her, but Steve had always been of the mindset that "when you know you know, so don't let go." Only he had let go. For the second time, he had found the possibility of happiness only for it to be ripped from his grasp. He should have stopped her from leaving, forced her to confront her feelings and let her know he was someone she could trust.

On the other hand, after what (Y/N) had experienced with her previous boyfriend, he understood why she would have her guard up. The last thing he wanted was to push her into something she was not ready for. As much as it killed him to say those things, he knew it had been what she needed in that moment. She needed time. She needed space to heal on her own. All he could do was hope and pray that one day, when she was ready, she would find her way back to him.

(Y/N) was practically sprinting away from him now, putting more and more distance between her and Steve, until she turned the corner, disappearing out of sight. Sighing sadly, Steve headed back up to the penthouse of the tower.

Bringing home girls was not something he did very often. He hadn't seen much point in dating since he came out of the ice all those years ago. The one casual relationship he had tried since then had not ended well and he was not keen to relive that experience again. Because of this, he knew that when he walked back into the living room he would have to answer nagging questions, and wasn't at all surprised to see Tony and Peter waiting for him when the elevator doors opened.

"What happened to (Y/N)?" Tony asked seeing that Steve had come back alone.

"I told her to leave, so she left," Steve replied curtly. He really didn't want to relive the whole conversation over again. It had sucked enough the first time.

"What? Why?" This time it was Peter that spoke up.

"Because," Steve replied bluntly hoping he would take a hint and leave him alone.

"Was she mad because you didn't tell her you were Steve Rogers?"

Steve gave a low chuckle. The kid was annoyingly persistent. He knew Peter wasn't much of a kid anymore, but Steve would always see him as that scrawny little teenager he met in Berlin. He couldn't blame Peter for being curious, and figured he was better off explaining what had happened or else he would never leave him alone.

"No, I don't think so. It was definitely a shock for her but she was freaked out the minute she woke up."

"I'm sorry-" Tony interrupted. "This girl stayed the night and then you asked her to leave the next morning? I'm impressed, Rogers, that doesn't seem like your style. Sounds more like mine. Maybe I'm finally rubbing off on you-"

"It's not like that," Steve interjected defensively. "I wanted her to stay but she wanted to leave."

"I thought you said you asked her to leave?" Peter chimed in.

"Look," Steve began, resigned to his fate of describing the painful experience. "She was hurt recently. She lost her trust in the two people closest to her and was looking for comfort and I was there. She woke up upset this morning because she's not ready to trust anyone again after what happened, so she tried to sneak out without me noticing. That's when she bumped into you two."

Peter nodded sympathetically as Steve talked but Tony's expression was blank.

"I told her to leave because I could tell she wanted to but she felt like a jerk for trying to run out this morning while I was in the shower. So I told her it was a mistake and that she should go so she could leave without feeling guilty about it," he finished sadly.