𝕙𝕒𝕚𝕝 𝕙𝕪𝕕𝕣𝕒

"Hello, dear," a lady in her 50s stood at the entrance holding a bowl filled with cookies. She pushed the bowl into his arms, "Welcome to the building."

"Aww, thank you, ma'am," Peter thanks, shyly scratching the back of his neck with one hand and accepting the bowl in his other hand. "My name's Peter Parker."

"And I'm Joanne Roth from downstairs; it's nice to meet you, Peter," Joanne responds, a warm smile on her face.

Before Peter could get another word out of his mouth, the pair could hear footsteps coming up the stairs that were right next to Peter's door.

"Hi, Y/N," Joanne greets the figure that appears. It was a girl Peter's age and although it was the middle of summer, she had a hoodie on.

"Hi, Ms. Roth," the girl greets back with a small smile, but her eyes never make eye contact with either of them. Peter looked at her curiously and his spidey senses told him something was weird about her.

"I better get going," she mumbles before rushing upstairs.

"Oh, sweet girl," Joanne whispers. "Always the timid one."

"Does she live alone?" Peter asks, listening to her open and closing her apartment door above them.

"No, I believe she lives with Fredrick, her boyfriend," Joanne answers. "She moved in roughly three years ago and he moved in last year or so? She hasn't been the same ever since."

"How so?" Peter questioned, curiosity eating him up.

"Oh, look at you, getting to know everyone," Joanne chuckles. "You'll get there soon enough!"

Peter chuckles nervously before thanking her again for the cookies and closing the door behind him. He puts the bowl on the counter and checks the time on his watch.

"5:48?" he groans. "I'm gonna be late."

Peter jogs over to his bathroom window, opening it and right before he jumped out, he swore he could hear muffled sobs coming from the window above his.

"Kid, you're 2 minutes late," Tony comments as he sees Peter swing in one of the windows.

"Sorry, Mr. Stark, there was this lady that came by and-"

"Whoa, hold up, you've been living in that apartment for 2 hours and there's already a lady?" Sam asks, pointing at Peter with a fork and squinting at him.

"No, no, it's not like that," Peter exclaims, waving his arms around.

"Alright, you two, save the bickering for after dinner," Nat adds before either could say anything more. She puts a try full of roast chicken on the table and everyone gathers to the table.

It was roughly 9 PM before he left the tower. Tony had asked him to come to the tower for 'intern duties,' a.k.a training at 7 AM the next day, so by 11 PM, Peter was in bed and ready to go to sleep.

Just as his eyes closed, Peter hears the faint sound of glass shattering from the floor above him. His eyes shoot open and just as he was about to dismiss the sound as an accident, he could roughly hear a voice talking loudly and muffled sobs follow — damn spidey senses for picking the sound up.

Concern floods over him when he realizes where the sound was coming from. He quickly hops out of bed, puts on his slippers and heads upstairs.

Peter stares at the door, rethinking if he should knock or not. Did he react too rashly when he heard the sounds earlier? Right before he decided to turn around and head back downstairs, a loud thump could be heard from behind the door. Peter didn't hesitate this time and knocked on the door.

The difference between being a door apart and a floor apart was that he could hear everything now. He didn't miss the deep voice that let out a string of profanities and footsteps that walked further into the room. He could hear the voice talking to someone else, tell them to see who was at the door.

Another minute and a half later, the door opens and in front of Peter stood Y/N with a jacket on and zipped up. It was like the hoodie she wore earlier; it covered most of her upper torso. The first thing he noticed was that she barely looked in his eyes.

"Uhhhh, hey, Y/N," Peter greets, trying to get a peek of the inside of her apartment.

"How do you know my name?" Y/N mumbles, slightly closing the door and only having her head sticking out.

"I heard Joanne mention you earlier today," Peter admits. Y/N slightly lifts her head and makes 2 seconds of eye contact before looking away again and nods at his explanation. "My name's Peter."

"Can I help you, Peter?"

"Um, yes," Peter stutters. "I, uh, just wanted to check on you, I heard some glass shattering and crying from up here."

Peter noticed how Y/N visibly stiffened a bit before looking into Peter's eyes again and an awkward smile made its way to her face.

"Thanks for caring, Peter, it's nice of you to come check up on me," she begins. "I was just about to go to bed, so I'm not too sure what those sounds were."

"I have to go back in," she quickly adds when a faint pair of footsteps could be heard walking towards the door.

"But I-"

"It's an old building, it must've been some pests in the building or something," she assures Peter. "Or it must have been the wind."

And with that, she bids him goodbye and closes the door, and Peter is once again where he was several minutes ago, staring at their door.

Peter lets out a big sigh before walking back downstairs.

It was almost midnight now, and Peter was lying on the cool concrete floor of his apartment. Man, it was summer, but he still couldn't figure out why she had been wearing clothes meant for cooler days.

He couldn't shake off the bad feeling he had, but sleep eventually took over him and he drifted off to sleep.

Peter got up at 6 AM the next day to prepare to go to Stark Industries. At exactly 6:45, as he was ready to swing out the window, he picked up the sound of someone crying. It didn't take his sharp senses to hear it; he stuck his head out the bathroom window and looked up. He figured the placements for all the units should match, which means right above him was Y/N's bathroom.

"Hey, Y/N, don't forget to pick up some rock candy on your way back. I'll let Josh know," he heard a voice say.

"B-But Fred, we'll be blowing this week's rent and-"

"Shut it," the voice hissed, cutting her off, "We'll figure it out."

"Kid, what's up?" Tony asks Peter who he's noticed spacing out all day.

"Mr. Stark, if you knew something bad was happening, would you stop them?" Peter finally lets out after pondering for a few hours.

"I mean, we are superheroes, isn't that in our job description?" Tony responds, taking his sunglasses off.

"I mean, I guess," Peter mumbles. "But what if it was something Peter Parker knows, not what Spider-man knows?"

"Well, as a citizen, you gotta do the right thing without letting others know about your secret, right?"

Instead of swinging home, Peter decided to walk back. He wanted some time to think about what he could do for Y/N without intruding too much - and right as he turned around the corner, he could see Y/N into the apartment entrance with a bag of groceries.

"Hey," Peter calls out, tapping Y/N on the shoulder. Y/N, in a panic, drops everything she was holding and flinches away.

"Whoa, easy," Peter exclaims, putting both of his hands up to show her he wasn't trying to hurt her.

"Jesus," Y/N grunts when she realizes who it was. Peter could see tears form in her eyes as she bent down to pick the things she dropped up.

"I-I didn't mean to startle you," Peter stammers, bending down to help her pick her stuff up. He looked over to her hunched figure and noticed a small clear bag that had a crystal or two in it in the pocket of her sweater but decided not to say anything.

"It's ok, sorry for freaking out," Y/N responds.

"Let me help you with that," Peter offers, grabbing one of the messily packaged bags from her hand and they both start making their way upstairs.

"Hi Joanne," Peter greets as they both pass by the same woman from yesterday. She gives them both a tight smile before hurrying back into her unit.

"Thank you," Y/N says as they arrive outside her apartment unit, grabbing the bag Peter was holding.

"Anytime, Y/N," he responds and quickly adds before she could close the door behind her, "If you ever need to talk to someone, I'm here."

The next couple of days, Peter would make sure to get back to the apartment the same time every day to make sure he gets to walk upstairs with Y/N. On the third day, Peter started to panic when she outside the building at precisely 5:45, making her way upstairs.

As Peter headed up the stairs, he was a tall figure walking down the stairs. Without any introductions, he knew it was Fredrick. There was just something about his aura that was unsettling. Peter could finally put a face to his voice.

The last few nights had been relatively quiet; there wasn't any glass shattering or crying, but the moment Peter walked his apartment that afternoon, he could hear the loud sobbing drifting through his open bathroom door.

His heart broke the moment he heard the sound - he had a talk with Steve about situations like this yesterday and was advised not to push or confront victims because they may get defensive or retreat into their shell.

With a big sigh, Peter sits by the window still for a bit, listening to the sobs. Deep inside, he hoped she knew that someone knew she was suffering.

The next day, at the same time, he gets excited when he sees Y/N in her usual not-so-summer getup walking back to the apartment. As he catches up to her, his eyes widen in shock as he sees the big plaster right across her forehead and some minor discoloration on her cheek.

"Y/N, what happened?" Peter asks, a hint of rage in his voice.

"Oh," Y/N awkwardly chuckled. "I wasn't paying attention when I opened the bathroom cabinet and it hit me in the face."

He knew what happened even if she didn't tell him the truth.

The two awkwardly make their way upstairs and right before Y/N disappeared into her unit, Peter calls out her name.

"Yes?" she asks, glancing into his eyes and looking away after a bit.

"If you ever wanna just chill or something, you can always come over to mine."

"Thank you, Peter," she smiles, an actual genuine smile he reckons as it was different from all the other encounters they've had.

Later that evening, Peter could hear Fredrick leaving the unit. It was 7 PM, he did that every few nights and wouldn't be back until early the next morning.

When Peter was sure Fredrick had left, Peter sat by the window still, waiting for Y/N to prepare for bed, the usual routine she had. It wasn’t hard to pick up stuff when you have heightened senses. 

As he heard the taps upstairs running, he quickly got his phone out and took a deep breath.

"Here goes nothing," he mutters before leaving his phone on the still and pressing play. Lean on Me by Bill Withers start to play and he knows she can hear it.

Lean on me, when you're not strong And I'll be your friend I'll help you carry on For it won't be long 'Til I'm gonna need Somebody to lean on

You just call on me brother, when you need a hand We all need somebody to lean on I just might have a problem that you'll understand We all need somebody to lean on

Just before midnight, as Peter was preparing for bed, a faint knock came through his door. Peter sits up in surprise; it takes him a second before he jogs over to the door and opens it.

Peter's eyes widen in shock as Y/N's figure stood outside his apartment door in short sleeves, very different from her usual attire, hands holding a box of pizza from Domino's. He could see the faint scars and bruises on her arms.

"Hey, Peter," she greets, a small smile on her face. "I wanted to take up your offer from earlier and was wondering if you're busy? Do you feel like a movie and pizza? I know it's late but-"

"Sounds perfect," Peter answers her and opens his door to let her in.

He watches her figure settle on his sofa and thought, 'We can talk about the noise when you're ready, but 'til then I'll say, "It must have been the wind."'

____________________________

"Sammy...?" Steve chokes out, his eyes stinging.

"Stevie!" the girl cries in glee before running over to Steve and hugging his suit-clad legs. "Eww, what are you wearing?"

Steve chuckles with a small sniffle and picks the little girl up in his arms, who happily wraps her arms around his neck.

"Stevie, you look different," the little girl commented after taking another good look at her older brother. "You got big."

"Aww, darl'," Steve responds, adoration evident in his voice. More tears find its way to Steve's eyes as he remembers where he's standing - the big flower field 3 minutes from where their house used to be. Samantha always had the tendency to sneak to the field and pick flowers for his ma or him. By the time she hit 12, right before Steve was accepted for Operation: Rebirth, Samantha got really ill and eventually passed away before Steve started the process.

"Stevie, why are you crying?" Sammy asks, her head tilted to the side in wonder. A smile forms on her face as she wipes Steve's tears and kisses his cheek. "Don't cry, I'm here."

"I know you are," Steve mumbles, his hold on her tightens. "I love you."

"Love you too, Stevie" Sammy responds with a giggle and tucks one of her daisies behind Steve's ear like she always did.

The beeping from Steve's watch breaks the moment. With a frown on his face, Steve puts Samantha down. "Sorry, darl', I have to go."

"I know," she responds. "You gotta go play with Bucky now."

"Exactly, love you, squirt," Steve tells her over the beeping and turns her around before his helmet appears, and he shrinks back down.

In seconds, he finds himself back on the compound, breathless and more than a handful of eyes on him.

Nat rushes to the front and puts a hand on Steve's shoulder. "Hey, hey. Look at me, you okay?"

Steve catches his breath before looking at Tony. "It worked."

Nat smiles when she spots the daisy in Steve's hair.

______________

"I can't believe you, Y/N," Nat sighs. "You're young, have no family left, have zero interest in men or women, how can you be so contented with your life?"

"Nat, we've been through this," you remind her in a sing-song voice. "You guys are my family, remember? And it's not that I have zero interest in people; I'm just not interested in relationships."

"So whatever is going on between you and Barnes is considered nothing?"

"Yes, Nat, it's nothing," you tell her. This was probably the 20th time you've said that to her since you and Bucky started sleeping together casually. One night, you wanted someone to come warm your bed, Bucky offered, and so it began. "It means nothing, trust me."

"How do you know that?"

"Because..."

"Because?" And right on cue, they hear a door open and slam shut before a half-naked Bucky walks into the kitchen.

"Good morning, Buck," you greet him, passing him an empty mug. "Chloe's over?"

"Mornin'. How'd ya know?" he asks you before popping his neck and making his way over to the coffee machine.

"It's 11AM on a Sunday, you're usually up by 8, and you only get up later when you have company," you explain, jumping off the kitchen counter.

"Didn't know you were so interested in his life, Y/N." Nat teased.

"Observation skills, hun," you wink at her before turning around and heading back to your room.

Nat didn't miss the way Bucky watched your retreating figure, and at that moment, she knew.

Two hours later, at precisely 2PM, you emerge from your room and make your way to the lounge where Steve and Bucky sat watching the Sunday news.

"You look nice, Y/N," Steve compliments as you pop yourself next to him on the sofa, not missing the new coat or make-up you had on. "Got a date?"

Bucky tried to ignore your presence when you walked in the living room, but at the word date, he focused on the conversation you were having with Steve.

"Nope," you tell him, popping the P at the end. "Just spending some me time."

You bid Steve and Bucky goodbye after receiving a text from your Uber driver and make your way downstairs.

"Looking good, Y/N!" Tony calls out as you two pass by each other on your way to the elevator.

"Thanks, Tony!" you get to add before the elevator door closes.

"Is she going out with someone?" Tony asks Steve and Bucky.

"She said she wasn't," Steve answers Tony. "You think she is?"

"Probably not, she always looks nice when we're not on missions, nothing new," Tony shrugs before making his way to find Bruce in his room.

Bucky groans as he hears his phone ring. Steve throws his friend a sympathetic look as Bucky picks up.

"Hey."

"Baby, are we meeting for dinner?"

"Chloe, you just stayed over."

"I KNOW, but I miss you."

"Steve says there might be a mission tonight, I'll see you another day." he doesn't even wait for her to reply before he ends the call.

"Must be tough having a girlfriend," Steve teases Bucky, who looked like he wanted to rip his hair out.

"She's not my girlfriend," Bucky mumbles with his arms crossed, focusing back on the news reporter on TV.

"Well, it's even more tough to be pinning someone who doesn't even like you back," Nat adds, coming out of nowhere and joining to two on the sofa.

You walk into the brightly lit shop. The counter was lined with almost 50 kinds of different cakes and you couldn't wait to try at least 5 of them.

"Y/N!!!" you hear someone call out from your right. You turn to see Chloe in line to order.

"Hey, Chloe," you greet as she waves you over. She had been seeing Bucky on and off the last 2 months so you two were acquainted. Bucky had told you they were just seeing each other, so you still occasionally slept with him. If Chloe knows or not, isn't any of your business.

"What a coincidence! Did you come alone?" you tell her you did come alone and she offered to sit with you.

Both of you sit down with 10 slices of cakes to share and start chatting. It was the first time you've exchanged so many words with her and you were beginning to see how in love she actually was with Bucky.

"So, Y/N, enough about Bucky and I," she giggles. "What about you? Seeing anyone?"

"Not really," you honestly tell her. "I mean, I sleep with people occasionally and I think it's fun to talk to randoms on Tinder, but other than that, nothing serious."

"You're so gorgeous though, Y/N," Chloe tells you, a pout on her face. "Bet you have the people you sleep with waiting for your every command."

You laugh at her statement and sip your tea quietly.

"James Buchanan Barnes!" you call out when you get back to the living quarters of the compound. "We need to talk!"

"Full name doesn't sound good," Bruce mumbles as he, Tony, Steve and Bucky hears you call from the dining hall.

"That's our cue to leave," Tony tells Bruce and Steve before dragging them both away.

"BARNES IS IN THE DINING ROOM!" Tony shouts loud enough for you to hear before winking at Bucky and disappearing with the other two.

Bucky gives you a small smile when you enter the dining room and you give him a smile back. You drop a take away box in front of him and sit on the seat across from him.

"It's for you, I know you like cheesecake," Bucky peeks into the takeaway box to see 2 slices of cheesecake.

"Thanks, Y/N." he grins.

"And Chloe knows that too," you add.

"Excuse me?"

"You haven't been very fair to her, Barnes. She's clearly madly in love with you, but you brush her off like she's just some random chick from a bar."

"She fell for me too fast," he mumbles, stabbing the cake with a fork and taking a bite. "I don't really like her."

"Well damn, Barnes," you shake your head. "Stop leading her on then!"

Bucky just stared at you. If only you knew the emotional conflict he was going through, you wouldn't be saying these to him.

"I think we should stop sleeping with each other till you figure things out with Chloe, Buck."

It's been a week since you last spoke to Bucky about anything personal. You tried your hardest not to make things weird, but the owner of a certain pair of steel-blue eyes refuses to let you play it off as nothing. He'd try to walk up to you and talk about what had happened, but you kept playing it off. You've started avoiding missions altogether now too.

"Hey, Y/N," Steve greets as you enter the kitchen one morning.

"Mornin', Steve." you greet back, pouring yourself a glass of coffee.

"So, there's a mission tomorrow and I was hoping you and Buck-"

"Sorry, Steve, I promised to help at the pet shelter tomorrow," you tell him with a smile and walk out of the kitchen.

"Not like you can tell her no, she's helping animals," Nat comments as she walks into the kitchen after listening in on the conversation.

"Why is this so difficult?" Steve mumbles, running his hands through his hair.

"Maybe because you're meddling," Nat tells him while walking over to the counter and pulling out a pan.

"I'm just trying to help!" Steve defends. Nat shakes her head before getting back to her eggs.

"Y/N, can we talk?" Bucky asks, grabbing your wrist as you pass by him in the hallway.

"Yes, Buck?" you face him, a fake smile on your face. "What can I help you with?"

"Why are you avoiding me?"

"I'm not," you let out a chuckle, lightly pulling your wrist from his grasp. "I've just been... Busy."

"Y/N, please-"

"No, Buck, you please," you finally break the facade and tell him. "Stop messing with other people's feelings. Chloe is such a nice girl and you made her think-"

"I called it off." You stare at him, trying to process what he said. 

"Excuse me?"

"I stopped seeing Chloe."

"Oh my God," you shake your head at what he said. "Did you at least lay it down slow? Or did you just ghost her?" Bucky didn't say anything.

"Unbelievable." you mutter.

"I like YOU, okay?" Bucky finally admits. "It's always been you!" 

"Goddammit, Barnes! That's not what we agreed on!" you yell out before walking away.

The next few days were unbearable. Word of you and Buck's falling out had gotten to the rest of the team and they didn't want the team falling apart. You had always been the friendliest one, the one that acted most normal and that gave them a sense of normality too, but the last few days, you've started to pull away and that kinda scared everyone. Nat might have thought meddling was unnecessary, but she began to meddle too.

By week 2, you've had it. Stark had thrown enough parties and organized enough team building activities the last 2 weeks to last the year, Steve and Nat had tried to get you on as many missions with Bucky as you could, and everyone else has tried to get you to sit next to Bucky at every meal.

"That's it," you mumbled after dinner one night and headed back to your room.

The rest of the team was confused, but Wanda knew what was about to happen.

"Hey, Y/N?" Wanda called out, knocking the door to your room. "Can Viz and I come in?"

"Yeah," you yell as you continued to pack your clothes.

"Where are you heading to, Miss Y/N?" Vision asks, looking at the suitcase on your bed.

"Away for a bit, Viz," you tell him with a smile. "I was thinking of sipping some coconuts in the Bahamas or something."

"That's a far place to go to sip coconuts..." Wanda mumbles, a sad tone to her voice, but you knew she understood.

"I think it'll be good for the team if I went away for a while, Wanda," you tell her, pulling her into a hug.

"But Miss Y/N, does Mr. Stark know?" Vision asks.

"Viz, there are somethings Mr. Stark doesn't have to know," you tell him.

The next morning, the whole team woke up to an unoccupied room at the end of the hallway and a handwritten letter on the kitchen table.

"Dear World's Mightiest Heroes," Steve reads out loud, chuckling at how she addressed it. "You guys, I don't know where to start. But also, before I start, hand Wanda a tissue because she probably cried all night, and it's probably gonna happen again."

"Wait, you knew?" Tony exclaims, looking over to the brunette and cutting Steve, who was reading the letter, off. "You didn't stop her?"

"Don't blame the poor girl, Tony," Steve continues, reading off the letter before Wanda could defend herself. "Did I assume what he was gonna say right? Anyway, none of you blame yourselves for what happened, please. I chose this path, and it was inevitably gonna happen, ask Bruce."

"I- what?" Bruce mumbles, thinking about what the letter had just said.

"Has she ever said anything to you about leaving before?" Nat asks him, her eyes getting teary.

"She mentioned wanting to live somewhere deep in the mountains or on a secluded island before... Would that be it?" Bruce questions.

"Keep reading," Sam tells Steve as he glances at Bucky, who looked deep in thought.

Steve clears his throat before continuing. "I'm still deciding between going to live in Bhutan, buying an island in the Bahamas or getting a house built in Africa -"

"Wow, nice flex, Y/N," Clint snickers.

"Where did she get all the money?" Tony mumbles.

"We get paid for missions, Tony," Nat reminds.

"Yeah, but not enough to buy a private island? Or build a house in freaking Africa?" Sam adds.

"Yeah, well, she used to take some of your photos candidly and sold them to fanboys and fangirls online," Nat nonchalantly adds in.

"Yeah, I remember that she made tons off of those," Wanda nods.

The rest of the team stares at the two girls in disbelief. Unsure on how to process that new bit of information.

"Steve, the letter?" Bucky reminds, finally speaking up. He wanted to know everything the letter contained.

"Can we please try to minimize the interruptions?" Steve tells the team before glancing back at the letter. "No one should feel sad or upset that I've left. I came into the team as a temporary when Rhodey was unwell and all of you extended your arms and welcomed me into this family with no questions asked, especially Thor, and I will forever be grateful for that. The feeling I had when Steve asked me to officially be part of the team? Best feeling in the world, I felt like I finally belonged somewhere. But even then, I had told Steve I would leave the team eventually, he knew I would."

"All in all, this isn't about who was the reason for me going away," Steve continues as Bucky glances out the window. "Or if you guys weren't worth the blood, sweat and tears for, but I just wanted to be a bit more selfish and think of myself. You all know my history with HYDRA, I think I've done enough good for this world, I think I deserve this retirement. I know Tony can find me effortlessly, so can Clint and Nat, and I won't blame you if you do, but please remember that I chose this for me. I already have a good thing going for me, so don't tell me I can have better."

___________________

He quietly sips his coffee, staring out the window. The sound of a pen dropping breaks the silence and he looks forward to see a woman taking the items on the chair across the table.

The woman tried to be quiet, but when that pen fell, she knew her presence was known. She looks to see Steve staring at her, so she picked up her pace and started shoving it all in her bag. 

"I'm sorry," she apologized, turning around to leave, but Steve's hand shot out and grabbed her wrist before she could take a step.

"It's ok, I'm the one who didn't notice that someone had already taken this table," Steve tells her and gets up with his coffee.

"Don't worry about it, sir," she assures him. "There are a lot of tables around."

Steve's eyes widened in surprise when she called him sir. Did she not know who he was? He sat back down and motioned for her to sit in the seat across him.

"Why don't we share the table? Seeing as we both are here alone anyway." The woman nods with a shy smile before setting her drink and bag on the table. 

He takes a glance at the contents in her bag and spots a Stark Industries folder. Wanting to find out of this girl was a threat or not, he decides to play along and pretend he didn't see the file.

"Pleasure to meet you, ma'am," he says, putting his hand out to shake. "The name's Steve Rogers."

"Sophia Dumont..." she replies, shaking his hand timidly.

"Do you work around here?" he decides to ask her.

"Um, yes, I work at Stark Industries."

Steve thought it was weird, he has been in and out of Stark Industries, and her face wasn't familiar to him at all. Well, not that he ever bothered to pay attention to all the 1,000 staff that worked for Tony. 

As their conversation kept going, Sophia started opening up to Steve. She was more outspoken and wasn't afraid to talk about anything. He could safely assume that she wasn't a threat and she really had no idea who he was.

The way she spoke and expressed herself was so strong, but there was something about her that reminded him of his pre-serum days - it felt like any minute now, she could fall and break apart.

Soon, minutes turned to hours. They noticed it was becoming darker by the second. They knew they had to part ways.

"Well, it's getting late now, we should get going," Sophia said as she stood up and stretched her arms. They've spent nearly 3 hours in that cafe. "I'll see you soon."

That night, when Steve got back to the tower, he heads straight for Tony's lab.

"What's up, Capsicle?" Tony asks the moment Steve walked in. He was currently working on a new prototype for Rhodey's suit, and it was near perfect.

"What do you know about Sophia Dumont?"

Tony drops whatever is in his hand and looks at Steve. "Excuse me?"

"I said, do you know -"

"I heard you, I just wasn't sure if I heard you."

"Tony, that doesn't even make sense."

"Alright, alright," Tony sighs, standing up from where he was sitting. "Sophia Dumont, you said?"

"Yeah," Steve nods.

"She works in the legal department. So whatever mess we make, properties we may accidentally destroy and people claiming to have our babies? Yeah, she's part of the team that takes care of that."

Steve winces what Tony says, not realizing they had a bunch of people cleaning up their mess. In that regard, he's still surprised she doesn't know who he is, especially since she's in charge of making sure they don't go to jail.

Since it was 2 weeks before Christmas and Tony, being a fantastic boss, decides to give 3 weeks off to all the employees and that meant the Avengers could relax for a bit too unless there was an earth-shattering emergency. 

Steve would find himself in the same cafe every day for the next few days and sure enough, Sophia would be there too, but compared to the first time they met, he noticed many things - some days, she'd be a talker and others, she'd be as quiet as a mouse and let him do all the talking. Some days, she'd look abnormally pale like she was sick, and other days, her cheeks would flush rosy pink. Some days, she'd talk politely, and other days, she'd talk with no filter on, and as amusing at it all was, Steve found it weird, it was like she was another person sometimes.

The cafe was closed from the 24th to the 26th, so Steve couldn't make his way to see Sophia. He spent the holiday back the compound celebrating with his close friends, and because of Tony's big mouth, they now knew the reason why Steve would disappear in the afternoon and come back in the evening - Sophia Dumont.

"Sophia from Legal?" Pepper asks Tony, who nods. "She's cute."

"Oh, Captain has a girlfriend now?" Clint teases, bumping elbows with Steve, who looked like he did not want to be there at the moment. Bucky stood at the corner with a small smile on his face, he was glad Steve was interested in someone.

"They're so old fashioned though, they just meet at the cafe! He doesn't even have her number," Tony exclaims, which earns him a jab in the gut by Pepper.

"Don't listen to him, Cap," Nat tells him, walking over with a glass of wine. "It's cute."

On the 27th, at the exact same time as the other days, Steve makes his way to the cafe. 

After 2 hours of sitting alone, he realizes she wasn't showing up. No big deal, he had done the same a few days ago when there was a robbery on Grant Street and he had to lead the team.

Well, it was no big deal until she didn't show up the next day. When Monday rolled around, he walks into the legal department, hoping to see a familiar face.

"C-Captain America," one of the ladies comes up to him. "Can I help you?"

"Sophia Dumont, is she here?" he asks her, a sudden feeling of panic in his system.

"Afraid not, she took the whole week off."

Throughout the week, Steve continued his ritual of going to the cafe in hopes of seeing the familiar face he got used to seeing almost every day. 

On the 4th day he showed up with no Sophia in sight, he got tired of expecting. He wasn't mad; he no right to be; it wasn't like they decided on a time or date to meet anyway. So, why should he be disappointed he couldn't see her anymore?

These last 2 weeks, this cafe had become like a second home to him. If he wanted to be away from everyone else for a bit, he'd make his way here. It was that moment when Steve decided that whether or not she'd be there, he'd still keep coming when he could.

Guess life must love messing with him because the next day, Steve shows up and couldn't contain his smile when he sees the woman he had been looking for the last few days at their usual spot.

"Hey," Steve greets as he takes a seat with his coffee.

"Hey…" she greets back with a smile that had a hint of sadness in them.

" What happened to you?" he couldn't hold back and just asked.

"Oh, that? My sister died," she replies, the same sad smile still plastered on her face.

"I'm sorry for your loss…" he mutters. He silently smacked himself for only thinking about being 'stood up,' not thinking that something significant might actually have happened.

"I-It's ok…" she tells him and looks up at the clouds. "I know she's living in heaven with no regrets…" Then, her face lights up like she remembered something.

"Here! She wanted me to give this to you!" she tells him, handing over a medium-sized box to Steve.

"What are you talking ab-" he was going to finish his sentence when she lifts the lid of the box, and on top is a photo of a pair of twins in their early teens smiling at the camera.

As he rummaged through the box, he saw many things, diaries, sketchbooks, photo albums, and a paper folded neatly on top of everything.

Dear Steve,

  By the time you read this, I'm probably not around anymore, not physically anyway. I'm probably up in the sky laughing at you as you read this. 

This probably sounds weird to you but thank you for giving the last days of my life so much meaning - I haven't looked forward to anything in a long time, I was always waiting for the end game. I didn't feel so lonely after I met you… Being stuck in the hospital was tough, but meeting you made my day every time I saw you… My sister is probably brawling her eyes right now, so be a man and comfort her in my place, will you? I wish you the best and I will see you again soon.

Love,

Olivia

"She talked about you a lot…" the real Sophia tells him. "At first, I thought that if Olivia and I traded places for a while, and let her be alive for one more time, I could help her. Then she met you…" with that, Sophia started tearing up. 

Steve tried his best not to choke on his tears but ended up crying anyway.

"I-If you'll excuse me…" Sophia mumbles before leaving the cafe.

The rest of the night, Steve sat in the cafe, reading and looking through all the things Olivia had left for him.

The last page of one of the diaries caught his interest. Looking at the date of the entry that said December 25, he knew it was her last entry. After reading the entry, Steve let out a big sigh. He puts the lid back on the box and walks out of the cafe.

December 25, 201X

Dear Diary,

I feel it coming. I hate to quote a The Weeknd song at a time like this, but I think this is it for me. I'm so scared, but at the same time, I feel content. I guess I was always just afraid to be forgotten, but in the last few weeks, I've come into the realization that maybe being forgotten is for the best. I just want everyone to box all the memories they have of me and store it away. I've let Sophia and mom and dad suffer and worry about me for so long, they deserve some peace at heart too, this is inevitable. I just pray and hope that they all carry on for me. This will be the last and final entry.

-Olivia

______________________

It may be because people knew Spider-man patrolled a lot of the nights, and the neighborhood was safe if he was around, but where was Spider-man when you were being robbed by a group of college students who looked like they were on something? They stripped you off of everything, even your winter coat.

Guess even Spider-man couldn't be bothered to save you, so where does that leave you? Freezing at the bus stop, holding onto your broken nose after you had tried to fight them back. Man, they really didn't mind hitting a girl.

You sighed and got up from your seat. The roads and sidewalks were relatively empty now because it was close to midnight on a weekday, but you tried to keep your head down, so no one could ask questions.

Three steps onto the street, you bump into something - or someone. You mumble an apology, but the person grabs your shoulder before you can run. Great, what now? Is this where I get murdered?

"Y/N?" the person muttered, the foreign hand never leaving your shoulder. With your hand still covering your broken nose, you turn around to see Peter Parker, your classmate in Chemistry. His eyebrows were furrowed as he tried to analyze the situation you were in.

"Jesus, Y/N, what happened?!" he yelps. "Are you okay? Do we need to take you to the hospital?"

"Peter-" You try to speak, but it seemed like he couldn't hear you as he continued to talk and looking around.

"Oh my god, this is terrible! Should we call the cops?" he continues, "Dammit, the one-night Spider-man decides to have a night off."

"Peter-" you try again, wanting to ask him why he mentioned Spider-man, but he started going on about how students shouldn't be out so late and blah, blah.

"Peter!" You yell after you realized he wouldn't be stopping any time soon.

"Yes?" his attention snaps back to your face as it dawned on him that he was rambling.

"I'm okay," you assure him, but the way your teeth were clattering in the cold, seeing how chapped your lips were and how much blood was coming out of your nose told him you were far from okay.

Peter quickly takes off his jacket and passes it to you. Normally you would reject it, but you could barely feel your fingers, and you were sure you were gonna get hypothermia or something, so you thanked him and put the coat on. 

"How about we take you to the hospital, and we can call your parents from there?"

The two of you walked side by side to the hospital that was thankfully only 3 blocks away from the bus stop you were sitting at. You've never really spoken to Peter before, but you were thankful he was kind to a stranger.

He, on the other hand, had always had a small interest in the new girl in his Chem class. She was always quiet and tried to keep the spotlight away from her, but from the few conversations he has heard her have with MJ, he could tell she was witty and smart as hell and could only wish from 2 tables away that she'd come to speak to him one day.

Peter was mentally beating himself up. He had been invited to Ned's for dinner, and they had worked on a project after, so he decided to take a day-off as Spider-man but who would've known that something would actually happen to someone he knew while Spider-man took a break.

"Peter," You called for the third time since he zoned out.

"Yes?"

"Thank you, I can go in the hospital myself," You tell him, nodding towards the hospital entrance.

"Y-You sure?" he asks, "I mean I can come with, it's no big -" 

You stop him by pulling him in for a hug. When you break apart, you take his jacket off and give it back to him. 

"Thanks again, Parker!" you call out as you jog towards the hospital entrance. "See you at school."

Peter stood by the sidewalk a bit longer, watching your figure disappear into the building. He smiled a bit when he realized there was no point standing out there any longer and whistled the whole way home - he couldn't wait for chemistry class tomorrow.

__________________

Her head shoots up too quickly at his voice, making her hood fall off the top. With his cigarette between his lips, Bucky's blurry eyes take second to recognize the girl – it was Y/N Y/L/N – the student council president who was known to be a huge nerd but had the face and body of a model. She was well known for paying zero attention to anyone who tried to hit on her and was always focused on school-related work.

"Well, Mr. Barnes, the café next to campus closes at 2 AM, so I'm heading home now." She responds to him in a matter-of-fact tone.

"You know who I am?"

"Who doesn't?" she rolls her eyes in a bored manner. Bucky's eyebrows shot up in surprise. He wasn't used to girls other than his friends Wanda and Nat talking to him in their normal voice, they usually had their shy or sultry voice on when speaking to either him or Steve.

"You study from day to night?" Bucky asks, shoving his hands in his pocket, the cold air blowing.

"Not just studying," she replies, shifting the books in her arms. "Not today anyway, I was preparing the proposal for the winter formal."

Bucky's mouth formed an O. For a second, he forgot campus events don't just happen, someone had to be behind them.

"Get home safe, have a good night," Y/N says before she starts to walk away.

Grinning as he thought of the most random conversation he has had in a while, Bucky throws the rest of the cigarette stick on the ground, stomping on it before he heads back inside.

The next day, Bucky wakes up in his bed. After heading back inside the house after his chat with Y/N, he got Steve, who gave him a weird look when he told him he wanted to go home, and they both headed back to their shared apartment.

"What's up with you?" Steve asks Bucky as he came out of his room.

"What?" Bucky asks, plopping himself on the sofa and letting out a big yawn.

"We usually don't come home till the sun starts rising," Steve explains, learning on the kitchen counter with his arms crossed.

"Dunno didn't feel like it," Bucky answers before turning the television on. Steve rose an eyebrow at his answer, that was so unlike him but decided to drop it.

A few moments later, there's a knock on their door. Steve gets up from his spot on the sofa and opens the door.

"Hello, knuckleheads," Nat greets as she walks in, plopping herself on the spot Steve was previously sitting in.

"Good morning," Wanda chirps, setting paper bags down on their kitchen counter. "We come bringing bagels."

"This is why Wanda is my favorite."

"Shut up, Barnes."

The four friends sat around the dining table, feasting on the bagels and coffee the two girls had brought.

"What are you two up to today before the party?" Nat asks before taking a sip of her coffee.

"Nothing at all," Steve answers. "Did you girls want to do something before then?"

"Can't," Wanda tells him. "I have student council meeting at 2."

Bucky's eyes widen at what Wanda said. For a second, he forgot she was the secretary for the student council.

"What torture, having to do school things on the weekend," Nat comments, waving her hand dismissively. Wanda pouts at her friend.

"It's honestly not that bad, President Y/N always treats us to yummy afternoon tea when we do weekend meetings," Wanda defends.

"President Y/N, huh?" Bucky mumbles, taking another bite of his bagel.

"What a shame, that girl," Nat tuts. "Killer body and killer face, but she doesn't want to use them for her advantage."

"Didn't know you were into girls, Nat," Steve chuckles.

"Won't say I am, but if I were a guy, I'd go for her," Nat explains. "More coffee?"

"Yes, please," Bucky replies, sticking her mug out for Nat to pour more coffee and added 1 and a half teaspoon of sugar. "Hey, Wanda, where did you say your meeting was going to be at?"

At exactly 1:50 in the afternoon, Bucky escorts Wanda to Café 19XX by the school's main entrance. Steve and Nat had decided to stay in and have a South Park marathon and Wanda had questioned him when he offered to walk her to her meeting.

"Okay, time to spill, Barnes," Wanda says the moment they arrive at the door of the café.

"' Bout what?"

"You've never taken an interest in my extra-curricular activities and even laughed at me when I said I was running for student council secretary." Bucky just shrugs at what she pointed out and pushed the door open for Wanda. They both make their way to the counter, and right in front of them in line was Y/N.

"President!" Wanda greets, tapping her shoulder.

"Hey, Wanda," Y/N smiles at the girl as she took another step forward in line. Her eyes drift to the tall figure next to Wanda and she raises an eyebrow.

"Hey, Miss President," Bucky greets her with a boyish grin.

"Barnes," she greets back with a nod.

"Hey, Y/N and friends! Welcome to Café 19XX, will you three be ordering together?" the man at the counter asks.

"Yes, we are, Scott," Y/N answers. "Can I get one mocha latte with low-fat milk," Wanda smiles as she realized Y/N was ordering for her. "And you, Mr. Barnes?"

"Americano with one and a half teaspoon of sugar," he answers her, taking a step closer to the counter and reaching for his wallet.

"Actually, make it two americanos, both with one and a half teaspoon of sugar," Y/N tells Scott and Bucky's eyes widen in surprise.

"Alrighty, that'll be $11.70," Scott tells them after putting their orders in. Before Y/N could take her purse out, Bucky passes a credit card over to Scott. Y/N furrows her eyebrows and looks over the Bucky, who was 'focused' on the slip Scott was asking him to sign. She grabs a $10 note from her purse and passes it to him.

"Don't worry about it," Bucky tells her, pushing the bill back.

Wanda stood behind the two with a small smile on her face. She had no idea when the two had started talking to each other, but she thought it was adorable.

Bucky sat on a table a couple seats away from theirs while they held their meeting. The meeting was nearly 2 hours long, but Bucky didn't mind at all. He kept his eyes on his phone, but his ears were eavesdropping on their meeting.

"So, all we're missing for the winter formal is the list of candidates running for Winter King and Queen?" Wanda asks, ticking off the list on their agenda for today.

"Yes," Vision, the treasurer, answers. "The list should be in by Monday next week."

"Are you signing up this year, Y/N?" Tony, the vice president, asks.

"Tony Stark, does it look like we have time to be signing up for things like that when we have to be on our feet all night during the event?" Y/N raises an eyebrow and chuckles when Tony mumbles a no.

Bucky looks up when he hears her chuckle. He has never really seen her smile and it was refreshing to see her joking around.

"Alright, that's it for today, guys and Wanda," Y/N announces, standing up from her seat. "Thank you for your time."

The other 5 follow her and stand up. They say their goodbyes and everyone starts to leave except Y/N, who sits back down.

"Alright, let's head back to yours?" Wanda asks, walking over to where Bucky was sitting. He glances back over to where Y/N sat and Wanda glances over to where he was looking. 

"She usually stays until really late at night."

Bucky nods in understanding as the two start making their way back to Bucky and Steve's shared apartment.

By 7 PM that night, the 4 made their way to Sam Wilson's house, who luckily only lives 3 blocks away from where Bucky and Steve did.

"You made it!" Sam cheers as the 4 walked in, handing them each a beer.

"Let's go dance!" Nat shouts to Wanda over the music before pulling her away from the group.

Bucky bobs his head to the music and scans the room. In the corner, he sees Tony Stark talking to some of the freshmen and he starts to wonder if Y/N would be here too.

A couple of drinks and dances later, Bucky decides to step out with Sam for a smoke.

"So, what's been up with you?" Sam asks him.

"Not much, we don't go back to training till spring, so Steve and I have just been hanging around."

"Yeah? Thinking of getting a girlfriend to keep you company this winter?" Sam asks him then takes another puff of his cigarette. The corner of Bucky's lips curved up when Sam mentions the word girlfriend and that doesn't go unnoticed by Sam.

"Eyyy," Sam teases, nudging Bucky in the arm. "Who's the lucky girl that has Mr. James Barnes all smiley?"

Bucky jabs Sam back and tells him to shut up, but that little smile never leaves his lips.

Bucky quickly glances at his watch before the two make their way back in. Realizing it was only 10 PM, he decided to grab his coat and head out, telling his friends he was feeling a coffee and getting weird looks from them.

"Why the hell is he getting a coffee at 10 PM at night?" Nat asks, watching Bucky's figure walking out of the door.

"I know where he's going," Wanda sings and skips over to the refreshments table to get another drink.

"Hi, welcome to Café 19XX, what can I get you?" a younger male greets Bucky as he walks in the warm cafe. He takes a quick glance around as he made his way to the counter and sure enough, he sees Y/N sitting in the same table as this afternoon.

"Could I get two hot Americanos with one and a half teaspoon of sugar in each," Bucky orders.

"Oh wow, that's specific," the male behind the counter, Peter, mumbles as he punches the order in. "That's how Y/N always orders it."

Bucky's ears pick up Peter's words and decides to ask him how often she's at the cafe.

"Oh, well, she comes nearly every night except Wednesday nights because she volunteers at the pound on 8th street," Peter says before shutting up, realizing he had said too much. "That'll be $5.70."

Bucky quickly hands him a 5 and a 1 before telling him to keep the change. He stands aside as he watches Scott make their coffee.

"So, you're here to see Y/N?" Scott casually asks him. Bucky's eyes widen in surprise, he didn't know how to respond to that.

"I'm just observant," Scott explains, putting the coffees on a tray. "You were here with her this afternoon, and Y/N doesn't usually hang out with new faces, so I'm guessing you're a new friend."

"You could say that," Bucky tells him as he grabs the tray the counter and walks towards the tables.

Y/N's eyes were so focused on the screen of her laptop she didn't see someone put a tray on the table, pull back the seat across her, or sit down. She only looked up when someone's knees had lightly bumped against hers when they tried to adjust their position on their seat.

"Hey," Bucky greets with a small smile. "Coffee?"

Y/N's eyes widen in surprise before she sets her laptop aside and takes one of the mugs from the tray.

"What brings you here?" she asks him.

"Oh, nothing, I was in the area and I saw you still sitting here."

"Bull, Barnes," she tells him, leaning forward with her elbows on the table. "You were at Sam Wilson's party."

"What makes you say that?" 

"Your eyes are a bit bloodshot, meaning you've probably been drinking, and you're in that leather jacket you wore yesterday night at that party," Y/N explains. "So, what brings you here?"

"I figured you'd still be here, so I decided to ditch and check," Bucky finally confesses, a boyish grin never leaving his face.

Y/N couldn't hold back the small chuckle that escaped her and she shook her head. Was this the 'bad-ass' James Barnes everyone on campus gushed about? 

In the middle of their conversation, Bucky's phone that sat on the table starts ringing and they both glance down to see Steve was calling.

"Sorry," Bucky apologizes.

"Nothing to apologize for," Y/N tells him. "Go pick it up." There was a tiny part of Y/N that would be disappointed if he had to go, but she couldn't tell him that. She expected to see him take the phone call elsewhere, but he had picked it up in front of her.

"Hey, bud," Bucky greets. "What's up?"

Y/N could hear Steve's voice over the phone and she pretended to be occupied with the edge of her mug.

"Buck, where y' at? Are you coming back?"

Bucky takes a glance at the girl in front of him staring intently at her mug. Her eyes peek at Bucky and when she realized he was looking at her, her eyes went back to the same spot she was staring at. 

"Actually, I'm not. Get the girls home safe," he tells Steve before hanging up.

He puts his phone away and looks back at Y/N to see her smile at him, and two continue their conversation until Scott kicks them out.

Back at the party...

"Bucky's not coming back to the party?" Nat asks in surprise. "He loves parties!"

"I know," Steve whispers, looking at his phone. "Was that really Bucky I was talking to? He's always the last one to leave parties and he hasn't even made out with anyone yet."

Next to the two, Wanda stands up from her spot on the staircase.

"Well, with her love, he's a better man."

______________________