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

If You Stumble... Pt.1/3

You'll probably want to have light dinner before the date.

It was only one piece of info at time and you could hear the mysterious smile in his voice every time he refused to tell you more. To be fair, you had a good idea of what was going to happen. You were going dancing. Which was a bit funny and bit intimidating, because you had already tried something that might resemble that activity on his birthday and your technique definitely needed improvement. However, you trusted Steve; if you were about to do an ass of yourself, he would make sure it was in private at least.

Then the last piece of information came when you were talking on Friday night: wear dark nylons.

"...what?"

You had thought your outfit through; you were making your best effort to look a bit like the women of the old days, but not overwhelmingly so for Steve. To say you were surprised by his request was an understatement; you would have never imagined Steve would want you to wear anything in particular and you had no idea what to think of it.

"Just do, please?" he pleaded, the trademark smile of past few days no doubt creeping into his tired voice. The upcoming meeting had been keeping him busy, you knew that much if only because you had managed to meet for lunch once and that was it, but tonight, he sounded just exhausted.

You bit your lip when an idea on raising his spirit occurred to you.

"So... is that a practical issue or is it simply something you like on a girl?"¨

It worked. He chuckled, surprise and disbelief colouring his next words.

"Doll! Come on!"

"What?" you asked innocently, laughing at his exasperation. He was blushing. You were sure of it. "Alright. I'll make sure to dress to your liking, Mr. Rogers."

"Not to be too daring, but you're being mean today."

"Are you complaining?"

He sighed. "I guess I'm not. I hate to say goodbye, but I gotta go."

You huffed, knowing he must have had tons of work still ahead.

"Okay. It was good to hear you, Steve. Take care? I'll be thinking of you so you survive... figuratively speaking!"

"I'll try, doll," he reassured you and you imagined his smile turning tender. "Hey, I... I'm looking forward to seeing you tomorrow. I miss you."

Your heart swelled in your chest, happy grin finding its way to your face.

"I miss you too, Steve. I-" love you "-I can't wait. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

He ended the call and you whined, hiding your face in your palms. The urge to confess your feeling was getting stronger each day. If he wasn't going to tell those words soon, you might actually slip. Would it be so bad, though? If you said it first? Hard to tell.

With a determined huff, you made your way to the bathroom, wanting to wash away all the worries in the shower stall.

Well. You could at least try.

---

You were giving your make-up the last touch when the ring echoed in your apartment. Slow smile spread on your lips, as finished, grabbed your purse and a thin sweater and nearly ran downstairs; well, as much as one could run in heels.

When you opened the front door though, you were met with an unfamiliar dark-haired man in a suit. He stood straight, hands by his sides, face serious, but inviting.