Lessons in Rule Breaking and Other Reader-Inserts*Steve Rogers*Reader*

Hug It Out - Pt.2/4

J-whatever never got to finish his sentence – with wide eyes, you watched you saviour move his hand in an indescribably way, wide shoulders blocked your view and the next thing you saw was a body being flipped and then pinned to the ground face down.

"Oh my god!" you shrieked, stumbling back on instinct. Your hand shoot up to your mouth as the blonde's knee dug into J's back.

"Alright, alright, I'm leaving! Let go, you asshole!!" the guy yelped as loud as he could with his head on the pavement and – as you guessed – his ribcage terribly squeezed.

"Get lost before I lose my nerve," the blond man hissed before releasing him.

While he stood up and straightened, J-whatever scrambled to his feet and without as much as a glance over his shoulder, sprinted away. A righteous glare of fury followed him.

And you were left alone with a guy to whom you should be – and were too – grateful. Stuck standing here with really big dude. Who could apparently flip people and pin them to the ground without breaking a sweat. And had shown up at your side about half an hour after your first encounter.

Why? Was he... watching you?

You gulped. The J-guy was a jerk and was making you very uncomfortable, but if this guy went down at you, you would stand no chance. You resisted the urge to step back from him. The paranoia might have been getting the best of you at the moment, but you didn't give a shit.

Survival instincts, dude.

Your feet shuffled indecisively and the blond noticed, turning his stern face towards you. A glint of something scary in his eyes disappeared when he noticed your probably pathetic expression and he quickly distanced himself from you as if he understood your fear.

"I'm sorry for that. Are you okay? I'm... I'm not gonna hurt you. He just--- he really pushed a button," he offered reluctantly, offering a tiny innocent smile. You weren't entirely convinced, your alarm bells still set off. He could snap you in half easily, cute smile or not. "I'll leave. No harm done."

He raised his hands in a gesture of surrender, walking backwards with a guilty frown on his handsome face. You weren't a girl to trust a pretty face, you knew better than that.

But you did read facial expressions. You understood how much could be said only with one's eyes.

And this stranger's eyes meant no harm to you, neither did he expect a reward for his rather heroic act. No, this was a man who only wanted to help and if a frightened girl sending him away was all he was about to get, he would accept it.

Reading his face and remembering your earlier interaction, genuine and sweet, you felt your tense shoulders relax. The only threat he was posing to you was to your heart, which seemed to speed up just remembering his cute wave of goodbye, this time for a completely different reason than fear.

He was about to turn around a walk away when you sprang after him.

"Wait!"

He let his hands fall, eyeing you, while patiently waiting as you told him so.

You licked your lips nervously as you suddenly noticed just how many pairs of eyes were watching your little exchange ending with the hero nearly walking away because of your fear. Great, you jerks, now you're watching, huh?

You breathed in and out slowly, hoping your heart would slow down.

"I'm sorry. I'm not—it's not that I'm not grateful, I really really am. I just..."

"No, I get it-"

"-you're really huge and look like you could just snap me in half-"

"-I could be another— what?" he blurted out, his cheeks catching a hint of red as if your claim caused him to blush. Which was so endearing it almost made you forgot what you just let slip.