Avengers Imagines: Volume I

Bruce ("I Love You")

You silently clenched as soon as the words left your mouth. "I love you." You whispered, desperately hoping he'd say something, but silence followed your words. Bruce's eyes went wide with astonishment.

"You love me?" Bruce asked, obviously bewildered. "Why?"

"Why not? You're sweet, kind, extremely smart. I know you don't believe me, and that's okay. I'm not expecting you to love me back or anything." You rubbed soft circles onto his knee, completely avoiding his eyes.

Without looking at his face, you saw him look down towards your hand, watching the small movements it made, "I don't know." He looked up at you, his eyes focusing on your cheek.

You nodded softly, blinking back tears. It's not like you expected him to say it back. You hoped, but you weren't holding on to it. You knew that Bruce had a hard time with these things. Because of the Hulk, he tended to push people away, and you were well aware that he would push you away too, if things got too fast.

"(y/n)," Bruce placed his hand on top of yours, "You know I can't..."

"I know." You nodded again, daring to look up at him, "It's okay. I just needed you to know."

Glad for what little control you had, you stopped your tears from falling on your face, but Bruce picked up on the glossiness of your eyes, "Please, don't cry. I care about you. God, I care about you so much! I just...I can't."

"Bruce, really, I promise it's okay. As long as you know that I love you, and as long as this," You gestured between the two of you. "Is okay. I don't want to lose you, but I understand if it's all too much."

Bruce didn't say so much as another word, before he engulfed you in a hug. The hug was tight, and unyielding. His arms seemed to be fused to your shoulders, with no intention of letting go. And that's when it happened, the tears that you held back began to free fall. You choked on your sobs as you cried into Bruce's shoulder. 

"(y/n), you need to know that I want to love you. I want to love you so much, but I...I don't know if I can. I don't want to hurt you. It would kill me if I hurt you."

You nodded against shoulder, trying to calm yourself down. 

After a few minutes of silent tears and soft circles over the shoulder, you finally calmed enough to look up at the beautiful man in front of you. Glancing up at him, you saw the soft trails of tears that ran from his eyes. Without so much as a second thought, you pulled him in, and kissed him softly. 

"You never have to love me, if you don't want to, but I'm here, and I don't plan on leaving until you tell me to. If you ever decided that what we have is something you no longer want, I'm gone." You pulled him close, holding him like he could break at any second.

In a way, he did. It was like a dam breaking. Tears flowed freely from his eyes as he clung to you, "Don't go." He croaked out, breaking your heart into a million pieces.

"I'm not going anywhere, honey. I'm here." You whispered, running your fingers through his hair. "I'm here."