Stealing Hearts

Chapter 14 - Getting to Know You

Steve Rogers' POV

"Ms. Stark?" I am confused as to why my new neighbor is at my door and in new clothes.

"Hey I made way too much food for me to eat alone and I figured since you just moved in you probably wouldn't have had the chance to go grocery shopping so I thought maybe you would like to join me for dinner," she starts talking very fast and offers me a nervous smile. "If you would rather be alone I can just get you a plate." I can tell she is nervous probably expecting me to reject her, but I know I need to get to know people in this century. And who better than my absolutely beautiful neighbor?

"If it's not too much of a bother I would love to." Immediately I am glad I accepted as she smiles even brighter at me. I reach over to grab my key off the hook next to the door and quickly step out. I am still in the same clothes I was in earlier when we met and I haven't even taken my shoes off so I just follow her to her apartment after locking mine.

The moment I walk into her apartment I can smell whatever she made for dinner and I must say it smells delicious. I quickly take my shoes off and walk after her looking around her apartment as I go. Her apartment feels nice and warm and homey if that's an accurate description. It seems very personal and I feel like I am intruding as I see pictures of what must be her and her brother and pictures of her parents but she is in shockingly few of them and very young. "Welcome to my humble abode, sorry if it's a little messy." I look around her tidy apartment trying to determine what mess she is talking about, other than a few books on her coffee table nothing is out of place.

"Your apartment is..." I don't know what to say.

"It's not what you expected from a billionaire," she offers and I can't help but nod. I feel bad for thinking she would be as flashy as I knew her father to be.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to assume." Oh boy. She is going to kick me out cause I offended her.

"Don't worry, you are quite alright. I shocked my own brother when I told him I didn't want to live in a flashy penthouse, I mean I broke the internet when they found out a billionaire was living in a two-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn," she laughs as she dishes up what I assume is our food.

"Why did you choose to move here? If you don't mind me asking."

"Well I got shot a little less than a year ago and I almost bled out." My eyes widen at the monotone way she is telling this story like almost dying is normal. "I needed somewhere away from everything while I healed and I found this apartment. It's close enough to work that I don't have too long of a commute and far enough away from people I can get some peace and quiet. Now I hope you like Italian food because I made shrimp scampi."

"I am sure that anything you have made is better than the food they gave me at S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters," I assure her. In reality, I haven't had a home-cooked meal since '42 when I joined the Army so I am grateful for any meal she has made.

"Ah yes. S.H.I.E.L.D. food is horrible, I had to eat there for the three months that I was in the recovery wing after being shot. For the first month I could only have liquids and jello it was the worst," she tells me as she hands me my plate and we sit down at her kitchen island.

 "Why were you at S.H.I.E.L.D. and not a normal hospital?"

"I was at a normal hospital in Malibu but they transferred me once I was stable enough to move. It's just standard procedure when agents get injured." Wait, Agent?

"You are a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent?" I ask cautiously, I don't really trust S.H.I.E.L.D. since they lied to me when I first woke up.

"Only part-time. I went there earlier today to try and get a new mission, that was when Fury told me you were moving in. He wanted me to spy on you but I refused." I look at her shocked. Fury wanted to spy on me? She refused? From what I have learned Nick Fury is not someone to refuse.