Love Me (Steve Rogers Fanfiction)

Chapter 23

AMERICA'S POV

"I can't believe we just saw Coldplay in concert!" I exclaim as we follow the mob of fans our of the venue. "That was incredible!"

"Steve tipped us off, said you really like them," Natasha says. She pushes through the crowd, making a path for us to follow. "Want to get something to drink?"

"Sure. I'm hungry, too," Wanda adds.

We end up in a bar overlooking the city, where Natasha flashed a phony invitation from Tony to get us in. The four of us crowd around a small table with shot glasses, but I warn them that I can't stand it when people get drunk and I'm not carrying anyone home.

"To your new life!" Wanda says, smiling as she lifts her glass.

"To love!" Eliza continues.

"And to America's newest mission: being Mrs. Steven Rogers!" Natasha finishes, a nasty smirk on her face. I slap her arm for it, blushing fiercely. Everyone laughs, including me. "To America and Steve, the world's most patriotic couple!"

We clink glasses and drink. The alcohol burns my throat on the way down, probably because I barely ever have any. There's no use for me.

"You're getting married tomorrow!" Wanda yells over the noise of the dance floor. "I'm your made of honor!"

"I'm getting married tomorrow! And I'm a bride!" It's like a dream. I never would have imagined anything like this when I escaped Hydra, not even in my wildest dreams. Then, I was surviving. Now, I'm living.

A man taps me on the shoulder and I spin quickly, alarmed. Thankfully, it's just a man I spotted at the bar earlier. "Excuse me, miss, but would you like to dance?"

I smile and hold up my hand, shrugging shyly. "I'm sorry, but I'm engaged."

If he's disappointed, it doesn't show. He turns to Natasha. "All right. How about you?"

She looks at me and shrugs, a grin spreading across her face. "Why not?" She lets him lead her out onto the dance floor. A few minutes later, Wanda's out dancing, too, and it's just Eliza and me. She sips on her drink and watches the couples with a strange look on her face.

"You're not dancing," I comment, glancing at her with raised eyebrows.

"No, I'm not," she agrees. She's turned down three different guys already. "Nice observation, though."

"You have a boyfriend or something?"

"No, I don't." She glances down, a faint blush coating her pale cheeks. I must have hit pretty close to the mark.

"Oooh, is he cute?"

"I don't have a boyfriend!" she snaps. Her tone is harsher than I would have imagined, and as soon as the words are out of her mouth, the red on her cheeks deepens. "I'm sorry. That was rude. It's just... it's complicated."

There's a brief silence between us that I can't stand at all. "So, you live in California?" I say, changing the subject as I sip the lemonade I just ordered. It tastes better than the drinks we had.

"Yeah. I do research and go to school at Stanford."

"I never went to college. What are you researching?"

She tucks a dark lock of hair behind her ear and glances around before responding. "Myself."

"What?" Her answer puzzles me more than I want to let on. If she's not an Avenger, she doesn't have powers. So what's so interesting? "What do you mean?"

"Keep this under wraps, but I've been studying genetics, trying to find who my true parents are. I'm adopted," she says quickly to my confused expression. "I'd been running DNA samples, and I found a gene I'd only ever seen once before. And it wasn't human. It was Asgardian."

"Asgardian? Like Thor?"

"Exactly like Thor. Well, almost. If I'm right, I'm only half-Asgardian. So I've been running experiments and tests. It's odd. I don't really understand it, so I have to be careful. I don't know what that gene means for me. But until I do, I've been keeping it a secret. Only Tony knows."

"And now me. Don't worry, I won't tell," I say, smiling to put her at ease. "You haven't told Thor?"

"Oh, I guess he knows too. See, this is where it got complicated. I found out a little before you all went to fight in Sokovia. When I found out, I immediately went to talk to him. He took me to Asgard, where, um, where someone began to teach me a bit of magic. It didn't really last long, though. Bad things happened in Asgard, and people died. Thor was a wreck. He sent me back, and I've been quietly studying on my own since. I don't expect to go back."

Her expression falls by the end of her explanation, with pure heartbreak echoing in her voice and buried in her eyes. It's not something I was prepared to see. Whatever happened on Asgard must have broken her. And then she came back to Earth, and there was no Bruce.

I grab her hand. "Come on."

"Where are we going?"

"We're going to dance. Who needs a guy, anyway? Let's just go have some fun." We join the crowd on the floor and jam out to an extremely loud Shawn Mendes song, shaking any worries or sadness far away. The rhythm is in my heart as I close my eyes and spin. I'm terrible at dancing, but no one notices. We're all just dancing, people with our own problems and lives who showed up to have a good time for a while. I can't wait to dance through all of tomorrow night even though I have no skill at all. Steve doesn't care.

Later on in the night, the four of us decide to walk home instead of taking a cab. We wander down the city sidewalks, stopping to look at Christmas decorations as we go.

"Thank you guys all so much for tonight," I say, slinging my arm around Wanda's shoulders.

"Well, don't think these nights end just because you say 'I do'," Natasha says. She smiles warmly. "We've always got your back, Mer. Whether you're America Evans or Rogers."

"You guys are the best." I love the men at the compound, but nothing beats a night out with my girls.

Next chapter is WEDDING DAY!

To those of you who've been around my account for a while, I hope you liked this little Eliza cameo! Anyone who's interested in her should go check out my other works, "Healing Each Other" and "The Prince and The Sol."

Also exciting news, I posted the beginning of my original book, "A Spark of Gray"! Go check it out, I'd love to hear your opinions! Xo