Not A Bad Thing || Captain America/Steve Rogers [COMPLETED/BEING EDITED]

Chapter 15: The Letter

AUTHOR'S NOTE: The following chapter has some violent and graphic mention of murder and domestic violence, so please read at your own discretion.

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"Hey Cap, how's it going?" I asked Steve as I walked into the kitchen, ready to raid the refrigerator and cabinets for my breakfast. 

It was around six-thirty in the morning and I looked like I tried to survive in the wilderness on my own. 

Steve looked down at me after retrieving a box of cereal and answered, "Still really tired." 

I rubbed my eyes and nodded, "Same here."

"So, about what you said last night..." he trailed off. I mentally slapped my own face, dreading the upcoming conversation.

"Yeah, what about it?" I asked, hoping that this conversation was not going to go the way I thought it was.

I was pretty sure my heartbeat could be heard in this surprisingly quiet room. 

"Does the team really think we should be together?" 

I nodded, exhaling slowly out of relief that the question I had suspected wasn't asked. 

"Yeah, it's kind of weird. It started with Clint and Nat trying to hook me up with guys, and since the both of us are single, they just put two and two together and here we are." 

He let out a tired laugh, "Did you mean what you said?" 

My breath hitched in my throat. He sounded so hopeful, and his expression seemed to prepare him for being let down. I couldn't answer it. I just didn't want to hurt him, you know, just in case he really did have feelings. 

Because I was probably staring at him with a dumb look on my face, he continued to say, "I mean, because you seemed like you have feelings and you're lovely, but I'm not sure if I'm ready —"

"Oh no!" I squeaked, my voice an octave higher than usual. After clearing my throat I continued, "I did it to get the team off of our backs. They all think we should be together and just now we established that we have no feelings, whatsoever."

"Okay," he nodded. "Sorry if it was awkward."

I let out a small laugh, "Don't worry about it."

"What's going on in here?" A voice boomed. 

I was so startled that I nearly dropped the porcelain bowl I tried to get from an overhead cabinet. 

"Jesus," I muttered under my breath, gently setting the bowl on the counter. "Why would you do that?"

I turned to face Bruce, who was in some loose-fitting pajama pants and an old t-shirt with the words Go Science! printed on it in ugly bold yellow letters.