My Neighbor, Mr. Rogers

Chapter Sixteen - Relationships are Dumb. All of Them. Just the Worst.

'Ugh. Stop being so possessive.

It's a little tricky, sorry. I guess I feel that the drifting apart of my best friend is like a small betrayal; regardless of the fact that he's a superhero, busy saving the world.

Yeah, do you hear yourself? He's saving the world. Cut him some slack.

I know, I know!... I'm not mad at Steve. How could I be? I'm mad at myself for thinking I could keep him. For thinking that while Captain America saves the world, Steve Rogers is just mine.'

Steve isn't mine in any sense of the word. But he is still Steve and because of that, if he needs me, I'll be here.

Ha. If he needs me.

≈o≈

Steve returns a few days later, sometime in the afternoon on one of my days off. I hear him let himself into his apartment, so I grab my wallet and phone and sneak out of my room and down the hall. I'm not avoiding- okay, I'm avoiding him a little. Petty? Yeah, it is. But I not in the right headspace to be around him just now.

I take the bus to the park and start my walk.

'I can make friends. I can. It can't be that hard. Right?'

I see the coffee cart that I always stop at on my walk and I make my way to it. I'm surprised to find that I'm looking forward to seeing Benny, the owner, again. I've made small talk with him before.

'Is that how you start a friendship?'

While I wait in the short line, I busy myself with taking out some cash from my wallet. When I reach the front, I look up to say hello but stop short when I see that it isn't Benny. "Uh, hi."

'Smooth.'

His hair is dark brown and it curls about the tops of his ears. His eyes are a bright green and his smile is slightly crooked. I'd say he's a year or two older than me.

"Hello, what can I get for you?" His slightly Scottish voice rings through my awkward fog.

"Oh, right. Yes. Um, a medium iced Chai latte, please."

He nods and turns to fix my drink.

"Sorry about that. Um, did something happen to Benny?..."

His green eyes glance up from his work. "You could say that. He saved up enough to open a coffee shop over on Kimble. He hired me and a couple of others to run this cart."

"Oh." I'm a bit surprised that Benny hadn't said anything about it last time I saw him, but still, "good for him." I look back to the new guy. He's staring at me. "Is, is there something wrong?..."

He startles. "No, no. Sorry. It's just, you look familiar...have I seen you somewhere before?"

'Isn't that some kind of come on? Is he flirting with me?...'

"I have no idea. Do you go to the library a lot?" I glance at my tea that he still holds in his hand. There's no one in line behind me, but I'd still like my drink now.

The new guy shakes his head, looking like he's genuinely thinking hard. His expression lights up. "Do you go to the gym on 47th?"

It's my turn to be startled.

'He really did recognize me. I guess that wasn't flirtation. There really needs to be clearer signals for that sort of thing.'

"Yes, I do. I take a class there once a week."