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

Nothing but the Truth - Pt.1/8

Sam introduced you to Steve way too early and against your will. Well, not that you didn't want to meet the Captain, alright, but he was the kind of man that was not running in the same social circles – until recently – as you and Sam just brought him to one of your friendly lunch dates in the Tower cafeteria and nearly shook your hands for you. Which was... odd. You were rendered speechless and you didn't say a word during the whole lunch.

However, Sam apparently had a vision in his head, needing his two besties going along perfectly and lunches in three became a regular thing so you would crawl out of your shell. And funnily enough, it worked and you and Steve fell into a rather easy friendship, most of that happening when Sam had been called away and you were forced to have lunch without him. You might have started to enjoy those even more than when he tagged along.

Which brought you back to today.

"Hey, Steve. No Sam today?"

He shook his head and you swore there might have been a tiny eyeroll to go with that gesture.

"Tony needed him, because of the Falcon wings. Urgently," he emphasized, making you chuckle at the billionaire's insistence. It didn't surprise you, you heard of that infamous feature of his enough times.

You most definitely did not run in the same circles as the Avengers, unless they were Steve or Sam; sure, you had met them, because Sam was a mingler who mingled and adored you enough to insist on introducing you – bless his soul – but just because you worked at the Tower, it didn't mean that you were in everyday contact with the Earth's mightiest heroes. You were nothing but an office rat, one of way too many at the Tower, one wheel in the huge machine that was needed to run Stark Industries, which founded most of the Avengers' work.

You just happened to be Sam's – and if you dared to say it, Steve's – friend.

"Where are you today?"

You blinked as he held the glass door opened for you, smiling at him in thanks and snapped back to reality.

"Huh?"

"You keep zoning out on me. Anything... troubling you?" he asked gently as he fell to the line with you, ignoring the menu boards in favour of scanning your face for signs of distress. He was sweet like that.

You just shook your head, deciding on partly admitting the truth; partly, because you knew he wouldn't be happy to hear you say anything resembling him being out of your league (of any kind of social interaction) and you wondering how the hell that happened.

"Eh, just remembering when we started getting lunch here," you shrugged, eyeing the menu absently. "You know, all three of us?"

He hummed in affirmation, following your suit. "You wouldn't talk to me."

"Can you blame me?" A gorgeous man and a hero, biceps size of a bowling ball? With a smile that might as well serve as a powerstation with its brightness? "I was a bit stark-stuck, cut me some slack."

"You wouldn't talk to me until the third lunch." Your heart stopped. He remembered the number of lunches? Worse, he remembered that at all? You felt your face get hot. Not in a pleasant way. "Sam was trying so hard to get us to talk and laugh, but it wasn't working until-"

"Don't," you basically growled over your shoulder, only to see his signature shit-eating grin. Why had you ever thought he was a virtuous man?

You placed a soup on your tray and moved over to the salads.

"-until you attempted to stab a tomato-"