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"What are you doing?" Steve asked but you only sighed and continued making your bed on the couch. Once Tony had set up the penthouse for Steve and you, Steve had let you keep most of your things in your room in case you ever wanted to go back for some alone time. Frankly, you'd expected a lot more from Tony but he had only given a small guest apartment to you. While you didn't mind it, you hated how closer it pushed you towards Steve with the limited space. There was only one bedroom with an adjoined study, a living space with an open kitchen. Steve, on the other hand, couldn't thank Tony enough. You didn't have to think too hard to know how happy Steve was with the apartment.

"Y/N, I'm talking to you." He said louder.

"Well, what does it look like I'm doing, genius?" You said, putting your pillow down. "I'm sleeping on the couch tonight, we can switch every other day. I'm not just giving you the bed FYI."

Steve merely rolled his eyes as he turned his phone off like he always did before going to bed. "Why do you always have to be so immature?" He asked. "Don't get defensive, it's just an observation," Steve said before you could say anything and it made you even madder. "Come on, Y/N, we're both adults here. If you can manage to keep your hands to yourself, I'm sure we can sleep on the same bed."

"Fuck off." You said, grabbing your pillow and comforter and heading to the bed. 

"You're going to want to mind that tongue from now on," Steve said in a stern voice. 

"Fuck all the way off. Fuck off to the fucking '40s you fucker." You said, knowing it was getting on Steve's nerves. You couldn't do much so you might as well get back at him this way. You felt a sudden tinge on your skin and you knew the light was calling. You looked away and took a  couple of deep breaths before putting your bedding back on the bed and saw that  Steve was just standing at the edge with his fists clenched. "Aw, you mad?"

"I'm serious here, Y/N. What do you think the people will think of me if my own husband can't respect me? I'm not just talking about the cameras here. Who's to say someone from the team won't talk to the press and bring questions back to us?" He said with his brows furrowed. He pinched the bridge of his nose when you just sniggered, ignoring his comment, and grabbed your phone. "Trust me, you don't want to make me mad." He added in a dangerously low voice, his baritone vibrating in your ears even with the distance between you two.

"What happened, Captain? Finding it hard to keep your hands to yourself?" You said and couldn't help but grin as Steve realized you were just trying to piss him off. This felt good. Making him mad, leaving him at the edge just like he always did to you, making him feel equally as frustrated as he made you feel. 

"Goodnight." He said and laid down to sleep. You sighed and went to the bathroom to brush your teeth and change. When you got back, Steve had already turned off all the lights. You went to the window and opened the curtains to let the city lights in. "I can't sleep if there's light."

"Stay up then." You said and walked back to the bed, tucking yourself in. Steve sat up and was about to get up when you spoke again, "Touch the curtains and I swear to God-"

"I'm getting water, calm down." He said and went to the kitchen. You huffed and put your phone on the bedside table. You were really tired and your feet had been hurting all day from the travelling and going over some of the pictures that Mark had selected for a press event. Seriously, people were starving to death and being killed around the globe every day and the media was concerned with who Captain America is fucking? Having gotten in bed had only made it worse and it felt like your feet had shot. You were debating whether you want to get up and take some painkillers or not but before you could decide, you felt sleep take you over.

You were suddenly brought back by a light sensation and noticed that Steve had put his hand on your waist. "Don't," You said, your voice droopy with sleep and exhaustion but stern nonetheless. Steve removed his hand at once and turned over to face the other side with a deep sigh as you went back to sleep.

***

You woke up to breakfast next to you on Steve's side of the bed. Steve was already dressed and was sat on a chair facing the window as he sipped on his coffee with a newspaper in his hand. You sat up and took a bite from a strawberry that was on the tray. Steve must've heard you as he looked back. He didn't say anything and just continued with his routine before he saw the clock again and started putting on his shoes. 

"You want anything else?" he asked as he walked over to you. 

"No, thanks." You said. You just wanted to hate him, why on Earth was he making this hard? It wasn't just this. You hadn't always hated him. You very vividly remembered how you had felt on those dates before everything had gone down. How you had actually begun to like him, hell you could even see you two in a relationship. But nah, he had to mess up and bring it all to this. "Where are you going?" You asked.

Steve seemed surprised that you had asked. "I have a meeting with Mark and some paperwork for SHIELD, you?"

"Oh." 

"You got much?" He asked and you shook your head. Steve nodded and looked around awkwardly, "Well, I shouldn't be long. Let's go out for lunch, yeah?" You looked at him. 

You let out a breath as you looked at him, "My feet still hurt," you said.

"Fine." He said as his face grew set as marble. You just rolled your eyes and took a sip from your coffee. Of course, he thought you were making an excuse but again in his defence, you'd probably have made an excuse even if your feet didn't hurt. "I've picked out your clothes. Can you at least pack your bags? Take a look and try everything on it fits well by the way." He said. 

"Bag for where?" You asked and that's when you saw real anger in Steve's eyes. You genuinely tried to remember but nothing came to you about going anywhere. 

"Mark sent you the tickets and details on your mail. We talked about it just yesterday." He said and you could hear the restlessness and frustration in his voice. And though his face was set hard and blank, his eyes were leaking anger. "You never listen to me."

"In my defense-"

"God, Lios, enough with the witty responses okay? Just be ready by seven today." He said and left. You opened your mail and saw that Steve had booked a beach house in California for a week. Obviously, the mail included an itinerary of what all you'd be doing there and especially what you'd be wearing each day. You wouldn't be surprised if Steve was planning to hire a personal photography team for the week for his fake-candid pictures. You sighed and tried dialling Phil to let him know about the trip but the call didn't connect. You sat back and ate the breakfast. You kind of felt guilty, even though you know you shouldn't, and were wondering if it'd just go easier if you played along with Steve. You were perfectly happy with him before the media got involved. If you could just ignore that and learn to be with Steve naturally, wouldn't it be easier? Unfortunately with your luck, nothing came easy. 

Helios (Steve Rogers x Male!OC x Darkling)Where stories live. Discover now