are you afraid of the dark?

5. leaves

It was getting cooler and windier by the day, but Steve didn't seem to have a care in the world.

Wanna go for a walk, he'd asked. Sure, I had responded, wanting to tell him so badly that I'd do anything with him simply because of the fact that it was with him.

He wanted me next to him as we made our way through the walkways, seemingly trying to escape this metal city we found ourselves trapped within. I didn't mind much, though, because the trees and fallen leaves were a beautiful sight, even if they didn't compare to my friend who stood unknowingly before me.

It had felt like hours had elapsed since we'd entered the park, but, perhaps this was due to the fact that the trees and walkways had been all too confusing for someone like me to keep up with. I was relying on Steve to be aware of where we were because, well, I never come to this part of the city- rightfully so, though, as this part of Manhattan is an hour and a half walk from our houses, or a twenty minute taxi ride.

We made our way down a side-path, one that was narrow, not crowded at all and covered in leaves of every color. He skipped ahead of me and spun around, laughing, taking my hand and pulling me along with him as he took off running. I couldn't help but smile back as we dragged our feet through the piles of leaves.

I watched him as he looked at our surroundings with such inexplicable wonderment, the wind that had picked up rustling through his somehow ever-changing-colored hair and his face lighting up with each new sight to see.

He yanked my arm and I bumped into him full on, nearly tossing him to the ground accidentally. I grabbed him quickly and pulled him into me, not thinking about the after-effect of my actions.

The smile remained on his face while mine fell to the floor and melted into the leaves. His beautifully blue eyes glistened like they were filled with something I couldn't even begin to describe. It felt like they were the only thing of true color around me, seeing as every building and cloud and street and car was grey, every tree and leaf and walkway was brown.

He, luckily, hadn't caught that starry look in my eyes as I stared at him; his gaze flickered from eye to eye as he tried to read me.

"Why'd you catch me?" he wondered confrontationally, raising an eyebrow.

I pushed him immediately over and watched as he fell into the leaves almost softy. "Oops," I replied, shrugging.

He stood and dusted himself off, glaring playfully at me. "You tryna fight, Barnes?"

"Is that a challenge?" I responded, stepping closer to him.

"What if it is?" he stepped up to me.

I bit my lip, trying to squash that vicious feeling compelling me to grab him in broad daylight. I chuckled. "Then you're a dead man walking, Rogers."

He squinted his eyes at me and tried to look tough as he came at me, but I easily intercepted him and held him there so he knew who was about to win this thing. I watched as a tiny bit of terror struck his face just before I pulled him to the ground with me.

He tried to wrestle me for a few minutes as we rolled around, unbeknownst to others, throughout the leaves scattered along this side-path.

Eventually, after he realized he was never gonna win a battle of strength against me, he started laughing with that cute, infectious laugh of his- I couldn't help but to join him.

I ended up on top of him, holding his arms down at either side of his head as we laughed there all alone.

While I was distracted, though, he managed to throw me to the side and lay there facing me, so as to call it a draw. I turned to face him and found that we had been closer than I anticipated- his nose was touching mine. I inhaled sharply as the smile faded into his face. His eyes flickered down to my lips for a moment and I- I wanted to grab his face and just do it...

"I-" I stuttered.

"Uhm, I thin-"

"Yea, I think, uh," I stopped and looked at him once more. He waited for a moment, too.

"I think mom wanted us back for lunch," he finished my sentence eventually.

"Right," I replied as I stood, extending a hand for him to take. He did. "We should probably head back now, then."

"Probably, yea," he seemed almost reluctant as we made our way back out into the street's sidewalks, the way we'd entered.