Just Steve

E I G H T

Anxiety. Dread. Terror.

Wracking your brains, you tried to find a word to describe exactly how nervous you were but no word seemed strong enough. In the hours since you said goodbye to Peter on the bridge your nerves had been steadily growing.

The day seemed to fly by, the frightening moment coming closer and closer. Doubts and second thoughts crossed your mind as you made your way downtown. You had agreed to meet Peter a block away from Stark Tower at six, and it was already five past. Normally you loved to be early, being late was actually a pet peeve of yours. However, your feet seemed glued to the concrete streets, wishing you could melt into the sidewalk and just disappear. In short, it was taking everything you had not to turn the opposite direction and run as far as possible.

The only thing keeping your feet moving forwards was the mantra of positive thoughts you had been repeating to yourself throughout the day. As much as you didn't want to tell Steve about the baby, what was really the worst outcome? Even if Steve didn't want anything to do with the baby you knew you'd be fine. It's not like you were asking him for help, you were just giving him the chance to be involved if he wanted to be. All in all you thought that was pretty generous of you considering how your last interaction had gone. 

Looking up at the street sign above you realized you had made it to the tower. Across the street you could see the familiar face of your newest so-called friend. He waved at you, running across the street, calling out as he got closer.

"Hey, you showed," he chuckled walking up to you. "I thought I was gonna have to track you down somewhere." 

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this," you groaned, staring up at the tower. You remembered how ominous it had felt seeing it loom over you the last time you had been here. Unsurprisingly, that feeling was still as strong as ever.

"How have you been feeling?" he probed as he gave you a little push into the lobby of the building. 

"Well I went to the doctor this morning and they confirmed that I'm pregnant." The chance that the test had been a false positive was the last hope you had been holding onto. This hope had been quickly squashed by the doctor congratulating you enthusiastically multiple times. 

"At least you know now, that's better than being unsure right?"

You grunted half-heartedly as Peter pressed the button for the elevator. The doors swung open and you both walked in. You had hoped Peter would let you ride the elevator in silence but no such luck. 

"Are you ready to tell Steve?" 

"No, but I don't have much of a choice, do I?" you sighed, resigned to your fate.

"Well, not really I guess" he shrugged, obviously unsure of what to say next. The elevator opened into a brightly-lit living room that you recognized. The remaining sunlight streamed in through the floor to ceiling windows giving a pink and orange tint to the room. Following Peter's lead you left the elevator heading further into the currently empty room. 

"Steve should be around here somewhere," he commented as he walked around the room opening a few doors and peeking his head in.

Half-hoping that Peter had been wrong in assuming Steve would be around you were about to ask him if you should just come back another day when you heard a noise behind you. The sound of footsteps echoed from the long hallway that you recognized as the one leading to Steve's bedroom. You stared at your shoes not wanting to see whoever was coming towards you.

Please don't be him. Please don't be him. Please don't be him.

When the footsteps came to a halt abruptly your curiosity got the better of you. Looking up you saw crystal blue eyes, making your breath catch in your throat. Steve had traded in the cotton t-shirt for his uniform. You had seen pictures of him in the stars and stripes before but these hadn't done him justice. This man was too attractive for his own good, he didn't need the uniform to help him, even though it did.

You searched his face trying to decipher what he was thinking. His eyes were wide and one eyebrow was raised, showing his confusion and surprise, but that was understandable given the circumstance. Willing yourself to speak and break the tension in the room you tried to talk but no words come out.  

"Hey (Y/N)," he spoke softly, quickly regaining his composure and plastering a neutral expression on his face. 

"Steve," you responded simply, your feet shuffling nervously.

"It's good to see you again."

The words seemed sincere enough but you were still fighting the urge to run for the elevator. Figuring it would be impolite to not return the sentiment you responded giving a tiny wave.

"Yea you too."

 Peter's head shifted back and forth between the two of you, as if he was watching a tennis match. Before Steve or (Y/N) could continue their awkward conversation Peter jumped in.

"Alrighty then, I'm gonna give you guys a moment to talk," he said hesitantly, slowly starting to  backpedal out of the room, towards a long and winding staircase.

"What? No, Peter you promised!" you glared at him as he continued to walk further away.  

"Just talk to him (Y/N), I'm going to wait upstairs, if you need anything you can come get me." 

You gave him your best death stare, but he just laughed as he left the living room leaving you alone with Steve. Traitor. You should have known better than to believe the stupid spider-boy and his stupid promises.

Steve had been watching the interaction curiously. As far as he knew, Peter had only been watching you from a distance but it was obvious that they had started some sort of friendship. He didn't think too much of this as something Peter had said was making him uneasy. Just talk to him. What was that about?

"So..." Steve broke the awkward silence, "Peter said you wanted to talk to me about something?"

You looked into his eyes seeing they were laced with concern but also burning intensely. Not knowing how to handle the intensity of his gaze, you looked back towards the ground.

"Yea I do I umm..." shit. 

You trailed off, trying to remember the words you had been practicing in your head. This was a delicate situation and you wanted to handle it like the adult you now had to be, but your mind was blank. Why did this keep happening to you? Normally you couldn't shut up but today it felt like someone just kept pushing your mute button. Steve could obviously see you were struggling so he took his best guess at what you were going to say.

"Look if this is about what happened when you left the other day I-" Steve started to say but you interrupted him, not even wanting to go down that path.

 "Oh no no, that's not it."

You sighed closing your eyes, preparing yourself mentally. Looking up to meet his eyes again, you stood tall trying to exude the confidence you were lacking.

"Steve, I'm pregnant."