A/N - This chapter is based on the song 'No Body, No Crime' by Taylor Swift feat. HAIM. I hope you all enjoy it.
"You think I did it, don't you?" you hummed, leaning back into the couch and staring up at Steve with raised brows. He hadn't meant to ask so many questions, not really. Deep down, he knew he should trust you, knew that you would never do something so rash. But God, you were trying so hard to avoid the subject that it had begun playing on his mind.
"No, I just-"
"You just think I murdered him," you interrupted, tilting your head to the side as if challenging him to try and cover up his intentions.
Steve released a deep sigh, running his hand over his jaw in frustration. "I know how upset you were about what happened with Este," he uttered, shaking his head. "And you were pretty certain he had something to do with it, and then suddenly he goes missing. You have to admit it's a little suspicious."
You were lucky that as he murmured his words, his hands ran further up his face, covering his eyes for just long enough for you to compose yourself. "I had no doubts that he did it," you told him, allowing a soft frown to pull at your lips. You fell silent. Your next words would be a complete and utter lie. God, you had never lied to Steve before, and it made you feel sick to even consider it. You took a deep breath. "I don't know what you want me to say."
"Tell me you didn't do it."
Fuck. The words knocked the air out of you, and you shook your head as your jaw tightened. "You don't trust me-"
"It isn't about trust. Sweetness, I trust you with my life, you know that. But if you did this and people find out-"
"No one's going to find out," you interrupted, only catch the words yourself when Steve's expression fell. "No one was going to do anything," you finally uttered. "The police were going to let him go about his life like she never existed."
"When?"
God, you suddenly felt like a scared little kid, watching as the disappointment spread through him. "When I was meeting with Este's sister. We had an agreement." You paused for a moment, watching as he pressed his eyes tightly closed, taking a calming breath. "No one will ever know it was me. They haven't even found his body, and-"
"You killed someone," he bit out, his voice so sharp that it caught you off guard for a moment.
"You kill people all the time-"
"Bad people," he corrected.
You scoffed at his comment, sitting up a little straighter in your seat. "He was a bad person." The two of you fell silent for a moment, and you shook your head slightly. "Even if they thought I had any involvement, they can't prove it. And it's not like I intend on making a habit of killing people, I just-" Your words fell off, trailing into nothingness. You swallowed around the lump in your throat. "He killed her, and then he had his mistress move into her house, and sleep in her bed, and live her life. And he was going to get away with it because the police couldn't prove it." You released a shaking breath, your tongue darting out to wet your lips as you waited for any sort of response from Steve. "Please don't be mad at me," you finally uttered, watching as he shook his head slightly.
"I'm not mad," he sighed. You attempted to hide the wince that came so naturally at the disappointed tone of his voice. "But you should have spoken to me before doing anything so rash. We could have talked about it; found some other solution."
"There wasn't any other solution. I told the police everything, showed them all of the texts she sent me about how she knew he was cheating and how she was going to call him out for it. About how he'd been violent in the past. Pointed out the changed tyres on his truck, and the fact that his mistress had moved into his house within two weeks of his wife going missing. There was nothing they could do, so I took matters into my own hands." You paused for a moment, your breathing coming in uneven bursts as you stared at him. "And it sucked. It didn't exactly come naturally to me, and God, I felt sick to my stomach the whole time. But I would do it all over again in a heartbeat if it meant I got justice for Este."
Steve seemed to deflate as you glanced up at him, turning and slumping onto the sofa beside you. "You should've told me."
"I knew you wouldn't-"
"You shouldn't have had to go through that alone."
You choked on your own breath as you absorbed his comment, your mouth flapping as you tried to find something to say. "What?"
"Este meant the world to you. She was practically your sister." He shook his head, risking a glance in your direction, only to find you already staring at him with furrowed brows. "If it had been Bucky, I would've done anything to get justice for him." He pulled you close to him, wrapping his arm around you and tucking you into his side. "I'm not saying I agree with what you did, but I get it."
You nodded against him, clutching onto his shirt and holding him close to you. "Thank you."
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