Captain America: The Phoenix

26. When the Party Ends

The rest of the party went on as parties normally would. With all of the new thoughts racing through her brain, Quinn found the fireworks display quite underwhelming. She'd watched it on the balcony, with Nat and Wanda for just a few minutes, before walking back over to the bar for another drink. 

Steve stayed out on a quieter, less populated area of the balcony, not really paying attention to the fireworks that everyone else was reveling at. He stood, leaning against the railing as he stared out over the city. This time, he could hear the sounds of the streets, alongside the music from inside and the explosions from above. It didn't really help him figure out his dilemma. He wasn't sure how to tell Quinn how he felt about her. 

Before that evening, he wasn't really sure what he felt. At that point, he knew. He just had to tell her.

After the fireworks finished, however, Steve was caught up with the people lining up to bid him goodbye and happy birthday and as much as he searched, he couldn't spot Quinn anywhere in the crowd. Not long after, however, nearly everyone was gone, the last few people filing out towards the elevator down.

Steve, amongst the last of the few out on the balcony, retreated back inside, his eyes scanning the room through the passing guests, finally spotting the figure in the deep navy dress. She stood with Wanda, talking with her in a most friendly and relaxed way--looking like she truly saw these people as friends. It was comforting for him to see.

Her phone seemed to ring, however, the low sound of her ringtone heard from across the room. She then excused herself from Wanda, turning and disappearing into the corridor that he'd once accompanied her to. He assumed it must've been some important call--he hoped nothing about work. Steve wanted her to have this evening, just until the sun came up in the morning, to not worry about a thing. 

He let out a slightly concerned sigh, though as he had to wait a little while more until she got back from that call to talk to her. 

"Alright, well, Stark forgot to call up his chopper to get us home, so we had to call in a quinjet," Sam appeared beside Steve from where he stood awkwardly staggered away from the bar. "You okay?" Sam rose a brow as he glanced at Steve, noticing this dazed look on the man's face.

"Yeah. Of course." Steve told him.

"Who's that from?" Sam curiously asked, referring to the red box still in Steve's hand.

Steve only then remembered that he'd been carrying it around the whole time. "Oh," he gave a short, sheepish chuckle, "it's from Quinn."

"Hm. How nice of her."

"Don't start."

Sam lowly chuckled.

Steve wasn't able to catch Quinn again, not until he had already boarded the quinjet and she walked up onto it, the last aboard. It seemed the call had taken her quite a second.

"Any longer and we would have left you here," Sam commented from the pilot's seat as Quinn finally sat onto the quinjet, beside Rhodes at the bench.

"Sorry, guys. Had a call to take." She told them as she put her phone back into her purse.

Her eyes landed on Steve's for just second, him catching this expression in her face. He couldn't read it, but he knew that it was no neutral, passing glance. It worried him, a little. Her gaze broke away from his quickly as she turned her attention to Rhodes, who begun to speak with her.

"Alright, let's go home," Sam said as he closed the back hatch and prepared the jet for takeoff. 

The ride was quick and filled with casual conversation. For some reason, everyone was in the mood to talk that evening. As Quinn and Steve had their respective conversations with different people, across the walls of the quinjet, they could both feel each other wanting to talk to each other.