A/N - This chapter was requested by user @bisadene: I ended up listening to 'Tennis Court' by Lorde whilst I was writing, and used it for a little bit of influence. In this chapter, Reader is in their late teens. I hope you all enjoy it.
Mission. Work. Mission. School. Work. Mission. Work. School. Meeting about missions. Mission. More School. More Work. Sleep? God. How had you not factored in sleep when you were working out your rota for the week. And shit, this wasn't even the first time that you'd forgotten to make time for yourself whilst you were planning out your week. It was starting to become a bit of a bad habit. Fitting in showers, and dinners, and naps whenever you had a spare couple of minutes between meetings, and lessons, and briefings.
In fact, your little napping sessions had been what had tipped Steve off to your innate inability to actually form a productive, healthy schedule for yourself. You'd been curled up in one of the chairs in a meeting room, your legs tucked up under yourself as you dozed. It's not like he hadn't noticed how tired you were recently, either. He knew you were overworking yourself. So, he'd shooed away anyone trying to get into the room, pushing the meeting back until the next afternoon, and letting you sleep for as long as possible whilst he kept guard in one of the seats near the door, flipping through his paperwork.
You'd stayed asleep for another two and a half hours, a sign of just how tired you had clearly been, and you'd woken up all groggy and confused, your brow furrowed as you watched Steve flip through the file in front of him.
"Is the meeting over?" you hummed, sitting up a little straighter, and trying to clear the sleep from your voice.
"It got moved until tomorrow," he uttered, finally flipping the file shut and looking over at you, a soft smile on his face.
"Oh," you started. You pulled your phone out, checking the time, and your body tensed as you got up, shoving your stuff into a back pack. "I'm late to class," you muttered, the anxiety rising in your chest.
You paused when Steve rose to stand with you, a hand resting on your arm. "I called your professor. She said you could drop a couple of classes this term and still pass-"
"I need all of those classes to graduate this year," you interrupted. "Or I have to wait another year to finish college, and then I'll be behind."
A small frown pulled at Steve's lips as he nodded. "Y/N, when was the last time you slept in an actual bed, for more than a couple of hours?" You opened your mouth to speak, but nothing came out as you searched your mind for the answer. "Come on, Kid, you're going to burn yourself out if you keep overworking yourself like this."
"Well, I can't drop classes or I'll fall behind. I can't stop working or I won't be able to pay my rent. And I can't just drop out of missions-"
"Why not?"
You finally dropped your backpack into the seat next to you, slumping down into your chair. "Because, you guys'll find someone else to do my job, and then you won't need me anymore."
"We wouldn't just replace you. You're our friend too-"
"But we don't hang out outside of missions, do we? So if I stopped coming, I'd never see you anymore."
Steve sighed, frowning slightly. "We would make more time-" He paused when you raised a brow at him, clearly not believing him. "Well, we could sort the job issue, then. Get Tony to put you on the pay roll. Get you a room here; all bills included. It might not be as close to campus for your classes, but you're here all the time anyway. It'd save you the commute."
You contemplated his suggestion for a moment, your brows furrowed as you tried to do the math in your head. You weren't paid fantastically at your shitty little diner job anyway, and most of your bills and rent were covered by your extortionate student loan, so with a little salary coming from your S.H.I.E.L.D. work you could actually cover yourself pretty easily.
"You sure Tony wouldn't mind?"
"Kid, he adores you. And if he knew it was going to stop you working yourself into a very, very early grave, he'd be more than happy to help."
You nodded slightly. "Okay."
"Perfect," he murmured, offering you one of the sweetest smiles you had ever seen. "Now, go call your boss, tell them you aren't coming back, and then get some proper sleep. I'll sort everything with Tony."
You gathered your bag back up, getting to your feet and hesitating for a moment, before wrapping your arms around Steve's middle. You'd never really had anyone else to look out for your before, and knowing that he cared enough to actually make an effort was enough to really touch you. "Thanks," you uttered against him, your words muffled as the shock wore off and he let his arms drop to hug you properly.
"You're welcome, Kid. But I better not catch you sneaking around taking little naps anymore. Proper nights of sleep or we'll have a real problem, alright?" You chuckled when you released him, feeling him shove you slightly. "I'm not kidding. If I find out you're overworking yourself again, there'll be hell to pay-"
You held your hands up in surrender, backing towards the door as you continued to chuckle. "I believe you," you told him, letting your hands drop as you sent him a final smile. "I'll start taking better care of myself."
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MCU (Avengers) Imagines Part Two
FanfictionJust a few MCU themed, reader insert Imagines
