Queen

Chapter Eight-Guys My Age

I sleep until eight the next morning, a late time for me, and remember having no bad dreams. The best night of my life turns into the best morning as well. I get up and regrow my hair to its actual length and jump into the shower. It feels like I still have make-up plastered all over my face. I sing quietly to myself the song Steve sang last night. When I'm done I slip on some Sophie shorts and a loose black tank top. I resist the urge to skip to the kitchens and run instead. I pause outside the doors and walk in like a normal person. Although, when I see Steve in the kitchen, I can't help smiling like an idiot. I take a deep breath to calm myself and look around the rest of the room. Everyone else's eyes are already on me. Tony, Clint, and Nat are all smirking in an eerily similar way and I instantly know that they all know. I fix them all with a death glare. Vision is sitting in an arm chair to the right of the couch and my eyes finally find Wanda sitting at the bar. I wave to everyone as a good morning, but go straight to the bar. I slide into the seat beside Wanda and nod to her in greeting.

"Good morning, Shifter." Wanda greets me in a tired voice. I look over and find her face pensive, two fingers on her temples.

"Hey. Are you alright?" I ask, concern in my voice. She nods and waves a hand at me.

"Fine, really. I get headaches pretty often." She tells me and I nod, understanding. She gets up and heads to the couch. She sits near Vision and I watch him look at her softly. I smile a little at the sight. I glance at Steve and see his wide smile as he looks up at me. I smirk at knowing he's happy to see me.

"Morning." He greets me quietly as I turn towards him.

"Morning." I return his greeting.

"Hey...Shifter." Steve hesitates, and I can tell he struggles at not using my first name. "You want to help me over here?" I'm up and at his side before he finishes.

"So, what are we doing?" I ask, excited. He smiles at me and gestures down to the stovetop.

"Since the whole team is up this morning, I thought I'd make some breakfast. Bacon and fried eggs are the most popular so that's what I'm making." I nod and take a deep breath.

"I approve of the smell at the very least." I say as I breath out. Steve laughs and picks up a spatula, then hands it to me. I take it, but look at him, confused. Steve puts a pan in front of me, sprays it, then puts the egg carton on my side of the counter.

"Okay, I'm going to teach you how to make fried eggs. It's easy." He tells me, but I'm not so sure. He turns the eye on in front of me and takes an egg in his hands. Steve cracks it and lets it just fall into the pan. It sizzles and the white of the egg turns opaque. "Alright, now you really have to use your judgement to know when to flip it, but most of the egg should be solid when you do."

"Okay." I focus solely on the egg and do my best to not let Steve distract me. I jiggle the pan a little bit and the yellow part seems harder than before, so I take the spatula and flip it. It lands cleanly and I jump up and down just a little bit. I put a hand on Steve's arm to alert him of my success. "I got it, I got it!" I exclaim excitedly. Steve chuckles and nods as he turns the bacon over.

"Very good! You think you can handle more than one?" He asks. I press my lips together in determination and nod once. I wait until this egg is done and put it on a plate Steve had gotten for me before starting the others. I crack four eggs in the pan and watch them all intently. "You're doing very well, Victoria." Cap says quietly. I smile softly at the compliment.

"Thanks. You're a pretty good teacher." I respond quietly back. I'm guessing we're being quiet to avoid detection, to avoid our dating detection anyway. Little does Steve know that that is already shot. We cook together in silence with just the sizzling of our food to cook by. I've done at least three eggs per person and am on a second carton of eggs before finally calling it quits. I look around the room and see a glass table. I pick up the plate of eggs and head over, placing them quietly on the table. Everyone else is busy watching T.V., so I go unnoticed. Glancing at the television, I see Tony and I front and center. I sigh in exasperation. I grumble to myself as I go back to the kitchen area and get out the plates from where I saw Steve get them from earlier. I set all of them on the table, then head back to the kitchen to get forks. Steve has caught on to what I'm doing and has put all the bacon he's cooked onto a plate beside him. When I pass him to grab the forks he grabs my waist, pulling me close to him. I glance at everyone to them as oblivious as ever before focusing back on Steve. My eyes can't help but go to his lips, then his eyes. He smirks as if he knows my thoughts and leans down to kiss my cheek. When he pulls away I realize that I'm holding my breath, but he doesn't let go of my waist.