𝐇𝐎𝐍𝐄𝐘 | 𝟏𝟖+

25 | Avengers, Reunite!

Steve blinked a few times before clearing his throat, taking Bruce's hand in his as they shook them for a fraction of a second, retreating it back into his jacket pocket soon after. "Uh, good. I'm good. How have you been?"

One would have to be blind not to see the obvious discomfort in Steve's stance, and his facial features. Honey wondered what kind of animosity had grown between all of them since the blip, but it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that Steve more than likely had pushed everyone away. Perhaps they weren't fond of the new person that he had transformed into.

Honey was so fixated on the encounter in front of her that she hadn't even realized that a familiar red-haired woman had joined in on the conversation. It took approximately three seconds for Honey to recall that she had seen this woman coming out of Steve's apartment that day he kissed her for the first time, the insanely gorgeous one with striking green eyes. 

"If drinking yourself into liver failure and a sustainable amount of hookups is what you call good, I'm scared to see what great is." 

The boys glanced over simultaneously at the raspy voice - Bruce's lips lifting into one of his friendly smiles as Steve rolled his eyes obnoxiously at the sight of her.

"Natasha," Steve greeted lowly. 

"Rogers," she quipped swiftly, the corner of her lip lifting into a sly smirk. 

So Steve wasn't doing as good as Honey was made to believe, the mentioning of a sustainable amount of hookups was enough to make her stomach churn uneasily. Why would he try putting on such a normal face for her when he was, in fact, not doing normally at all? Did he want to just avoid having deep conversations with her in general? 

The thought made her feelings hurt. 

"So, is that what you've been up to these days?" Banner teased Steve, taking a sip of his steaming latte before reaching up to rub his chin as he tried to hide his obvious smile. 

"I don't see how this is anyone's business," Steve grumbled with a fake, squinty smile towards Natasha, before clenching his jaw in annoyance. 

"We're just worried about you," she shrugged innocently. "That's all."

"We're?" Steve repeated irritably, his eyes flashing towards Honey as he spoke, his eyebrows furrowing deeply. "What is this? Some kind of fucking intervention?"

Of course he had thought Honey had something to do with this strange coincidence, of course. Because why wouldn't the girl who was so focused on how he was doing and why he was the way he was set up some dumb intervention just to piss him off?

Honey shook her head slightly, her lips parting as she intertwined her clammy fingers in front of her. "I-I didn't-"

"I don't want to sit down and tell you the sob story that is my life so you decide to force it out of me?" he continued, interrupting her attempts at denying the whole situation. "How many times do I have to tell you that I don't want to have any fucking deep conversations with you?"

The tears pricked her warm eyes as she stared blankly at him, scared that if she blinked even once, the flood gates would open. Her full lips formed into a thin line as she struggled to keep her trembling chin under control, hoping no one would notice that she was two seconds away from bursting into tears.

"Hey, asshole," Bruce's smile faded now as he tilted his head in almost disbelief towards Steve. "Honey didn't set anything up, no one is here to play therapist with you. This is literally just one big coincidence that we are all here at the same time."

"Yeah," Natasha chimed in sarcastically, placing a firm grip on Steve's shoulder. "That's no way to talk to the only conquest who puts up with you, is it?"

Conquest. 

Honey couldn't hear anymore. 

Twirling around on her heel, she made a quick bee-line for the door that led to the back of the coffee shop, bursting through it as she clamped a hand over her mouth to quiet the sobs that had began to rack through her chest. Her feet didn't stop moving until she was locked inside of the employee bathroom, sitting with her knees to her chest on the tile floor as she bit down on her bottom lip so hard that she thought it would draw blood. 

She was embarrassed that their "relationship" was placed out there for everyone to ogle or even scowl at.

She was upset that Steve didn't even hesitate to humiliate her in front of everyone.

She was frustrated that they kept taking two steps forward, and three steps back.

But most importantly, she was disappointed in herself for allowing her heart to create feelings towards Steven freaking Rogers.