Steve pulled up to the curb, pulling the keys out of the ignition. He took a deep breath as he swung his leg over his bike and started walking up the steps. The night had been filled with a never-ending cycle of anxiety, guilt and fear. It was almost noon now but it had taken everything in him to not show up any earlier. He was completely torn about wanting to fix things immediately and giving her a little time and space to process what happened.
Before heading out, he had confirmed with Tony that (Y/N)'s phone still showed that she was at her mother's apartment. Did he feel weird about using that information to track her down? Yes. Enough not to use it to go after her. Absolutely not. Even so, he was very conflicted about showing up unannounced like this, desperately anxious to see her and make things right but terrified that he was only going to make things worse.
It was with this roller-coaster of emotions that he found himself ringing the doorbell to the Cobble Hill apartment where (Y/N) had been raised. He tapped his foot anxiously, waiting for the door to open but nothing happened. After a minute or two, Steve tried again, ringing the bell once more but there was still no answer. Maybe she was still asleep? He rang the bell for a third time, adding a few knocks for good measure when the door flew open, only it wasn't (Y/N) as he had hoped.
"I was wondering if I'd be seeing you."
(Y/N)'s mother stood in the doorway, blocking the entrance to the apartment. Her eyes were hard and her left hand was still gripping the edge of the door, as if ready to slam it back in his face.
"I really need to speak with (Y/N)," Steve stated firmly, trying not to let the intimidating woman get to him. He had faced many stronger and bigger foes, but what (Y/N)'s mother lacked in muscle, she made up for in cunning words. This wasn't a fight he was going to be able to win by throwing punches.
"She's not here," she snapped, going to shut the door. Having anticipated the move, Steve quickly planted his foot in front of the door, blocking her from closing it.
"I strongly suggest you move your foot immediately," she said coldly, letting go of the door to grab her phone from her back pocket and showing it to him. "The Secretary of State is a family friend, I could have charges pressed for trespassing so fast you wouldn't even have time to get a lawyer. Except you already have one of those on speed dial, don't you, Mr. Rogers?"
Steve could tell from the look on her face that (Y/N) must have told her everything. It was only one minute into the conversation and it had already taken a turn for the worse. But he refused to give up yet. He wasn't here to reconcile with (Y/N)'s mom, he was here to get his girl back.
"Ma'am with all due respect, I know she's here," he said, removing his foot cautiously from the door with his hands in the air, trying to convey that he had meant no disrespect by blocking her from closing the door. Normally that wasn't something he would ever do. This whole thing was really messing with his head.
"And how would you know that?" she asked, curtly, tilting her head slightly to appraise him.
Steve hesitated for a moment. He didn't want to make the situation worse by lying. The look in her eyes told him that she had already come to the conclusion that he had been able to use his connections to somehow track (Y/N)'s location. He had walked into that trap head first by saying he knew (Y/N) was there. Or maybe it wasn't a trap at all but a test. A test that he felt no matter what answer he gave (Y/N)'s mother would make sure he found a way to fail.
"One of my coworkers was able to track her phone," he admitted guiltily, hating the way the words sounded. "Please, I need to see her."
Before she could respond, a loud, yipping noise could be heard from inside the apartment. She glanced over her shoulder, sighing slightly before motioning for Steve to come into the apartment. He followed her down a lengthy hallway that opened into a large sitting room, where she motioned for him to take a seat before leaving the room. A few minutes passed of Steve wondering what was going on, having half a mind to try and find (Y/N) in the apartment himself when her mother returned with a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel clutched under one arm.
"Catch," she said and for a moment Steve panicked, thinking she was going to throw the dog. Instead, a cell phone came flying at his face.
He caught it swiftly, confused as to why she had thrown it to him. When he looked down, he realized this wasn't her mother's phone, but (Y/N)'s cell phone itself. He confirmed this when he recognized the picture of their baby they had gotten at their first sonogram as her lock screen.
"Like I said, she's not here. She left late last night and left her phone here, saying she figured you would come looking for her sooner or later."
Steve felt a pit begin to form in his stomach looking up from the phone to meet her stern eyes.
"What do you mean she left?" he asked, hesitantly.
"I mean she's gone. She showed up out of nowhere looking like a complete mess and told me about the contract you kept hidden from her. I tried to convince her to stay but she was dead set on leaving, going on about how all of this was causing too much stress and was bad for the baby. Given the number of bags she had packed I don't think she was planning on coming back anytime soon."
All hopes of being able to fix this with (Y/N) today vanished on the spot. This wasn't part of the plan. (Y/N) was supposed to be here. He needed her to be here. How on earth was he supposed to apologize and make things right if she wasn't here? If she wanted to get away from him so badly that she ditched her phone and family to go running off somewhere, alone and upset? What if she got hurt? What if she needed help?
"Do you have any idea where she might have gone?" he asked, his hands clenching tightly around the phone.
"No, I don't," she replied, staring him down. "But to be honest I wouldn't tell you if I did."
Steve watched as she bent down putting the dog on the floor who went scampering back down the long hallway. She put her hands out motioning for Steve to give (Y/N)'s phone back, so he tossed it to her. He knew asking for help from her was a long shot. He wasn't sure if she was telling the truth about not knowing where (Y/N) had disappeared, but he hadn't expected her to tell him either. He just had to ask, because he couldn't live with himself knowing he hadn't tried everything he could to find her.
"You're a fool" she stated, eyeing him carefully. There was no hate or aggression in her voice, it was calm and flat, as if she wasn't even trying to insult him, she was just laying out the facts.
"Take a look around, " she commanded, motioning around the living room. "Does it look like (Y/N) is in the position where she would be using you for money?"
Steve glanced around the apartment. Having been too preoccupied with finding (Y/N) to pay much attention to the surroundings, he was taken aback by the size of the apartment now that he was taking a closer look.
There were three couches, and multiple large chases scattered around the massive room, with what appeared to be a crystal coffee table and matching chandelier. Expensive looking antiques littered the spotless room, resting on the ledge of a prominent fireplace. In the corner there was what looked like a stairway to a second floor, and the long hallway continued past the living room to who knows where.
There was even an oil portrait of (Y/N) holding the spaniel in her lap. It was surprisingly accurate although something with her smile seemed slightly off. He guessed that the painter had to doctor her smile since sitting for oil portraits was definitely not her ideal way of spending the weekend and probably something her mother had conned her into doing.
Steve didn't know quite how much a space like this would go for but he knew that an apartment of this size in as pricey a neighborhood as Cobble Hill would not come cheap. In other words, (Y/N)'s family had money to spare. They may not have been Tony level rich by any means but they were clearly still very wealthy. Wealthy enough that (Y/N) going out of her way to get money from Steve was simply out of the question.
"I offered her a long time ago to give whatever financial assistance she needed but she refused like she always does. Full scholarship to Columbia, still working part time to keep up her expenses... she refuses to take a single penny of even her own family's money, what makes you think she would want yours?"
If it was possible the pit in Steve's stomach seemed to grow even heavier, his chest tightening.
"Do you even know her at all?"
Steve sat speechless, feeling about three feet tall. He had never thought that (Y/N) was after his money, not really. But in a way she was right. There was a lot about (Y/N) that he apparently didn't know, the most important of those being wherever she had run off to. He had known (Y/N) would want space but he didn't know she would try and find so much space that he wouldn't be able to find her at all. But he should have known. This was what (Y/N) always did. When she was upset, she ran. He knew that and yet he let her do it, and what was worse, he didn't even blame her for running from him.
Leaning over slightly, Steve put his elbows on his knees and hands on his head, running his fingers through his hair. Why couldn't he do anything right these days? Why hadn't he just torn the contract up when he had the chance? This was something that had been bothering him all last night and even now because he couldn't find the answer. Or maybe he just couldn't admit the truth of the answer to himself. One day he would have to face that but for now all he could think about was trying to find (Y/N). He needed to know that she was okay. He needed her to come back home where she belonged.
He felt slightly selfish, knowing what he was about to do. (Y/N) was making it very clear that she no longer wanted anything to do with him. But Steve refused to leave things like this. He wasn't going to let her run from him, not this time, even if it meant forcing her to come face to face with the man that had broken down all of her walls only to betray her trust.
"I told you the day we met that you would break her heart," (Y/N)'s mother stated, pulling Steve from his thoughts. "I like to be right about a lot of things but I didn't want to be right about you."