DAY 38
Part One
Honey had ultimately decided that she had procrastinated long enough.
Not because she felt as though she had kept Steve waiting, or because she felt pressured into this deal whatsoever - but because the anticipation growing inside of her stomach had reached staggering heights. This keenness only increased after Honey woke up the day after Jeremy's birthday to a clean apartment and a lavender sticky note on the fridge that said "come see me when you're sober and not destroying things."
Steve Rogers, the guy who wasn't the friendliest and had zero patience when it came to anyone, had cleaned up her entire chaotic, drunken mess.
And still wanted to see her again.
So after an entirely too long week of class and closing shifts at the coffee shop, Honey decided to put on one of her favorite, petite dresses with a purple cardigan to match and hop on her bicycle to ride to Steve's apartment. Her dark-colored waves flitting around in the cool, May breeze mimicked the butterflies in her stomach with every moment she grew closer to arriving. Even her hands felt shaky as she gripped onto the handle bars, her knuckles white from squeezing so hard.
The trembling only seemed to grow more obvious once she reached his apartment complex and ascended up towards the floor where he resided on one of the bright, sleek elevators. In an attempt to rid her body of any nervousness, Honey shook her hands lightly, wriggling her arms and her feet around as she shook her head disappointedly at herself.
"Pull yourself together," she mumbled under her breath.
And with that, the elevator doors glided open, forcing Honey to take a deep, shuddery breath as she stepped out into the hallway and made her way to the apartment door with the number nineteen on the outside.
Lifting her unsteady hand to rap her knuckles against the door, she swallowed the forming lump inside of her throat as she listened to the sounds of movement coming from behind the door before it swung open swiftly - revealing a beautiful red-headed woman with full lips and vivid green eyes. At first, Honey was completely stunned by the stranger's appeal and wondered how on Earth someone could even look that pretty, but then the dread clouded her tummy as she remembered that this ravishing model of a woman was inside of Steve's apartment.
Any confidence she thought she had flew entirely out of the window.
Before either of the two could say the first word to the other, Steve's face soon appeared beside of the Greek Goddess, only making Honey's stomach churn uneasily as she examined the gorgeous pair side by side. His blue eyes seemed unfazed by the situation entirely, but rather tense as he shared a look with the red head that Honey didn't recognize.
"I'll leave you to your conquest," the woman quipped in a raspy voice, adding even more sex appeal than she already had, before ripping her eyes from Steve's long enough to flash Honey an amiable, close-lipped smile.
As she maneuvered around Honey and walked down the hallway, her hips swaying as she moved, Honey couldn't help but watch her in utter astonishment. With her fingers fidgeting together anxiously, Honey's brown eyes trained on the red head's retreating figure until she wasn't in sight anymore, her mouth parted faintly.
"I-I didn't mean to interrupt-"
Before Honey could finish her sentence, Steve had encircled his fingers around her tiny wrist and pulled her into his apartment, kicking the door shut behind them with his foot as his hands fell on her hips. Walking her backwards until her back pressed against the wall, his lips found a home on the sensitive spot along the base of her neck as he mumbled, "You weren't interrupting anything."
Feeling moisture pool between her legs as his lips devoured her neck hungrily, Honey squeezed her thighs together as her eyes fluttered closed, her head tilting sideways as she allowed him more leeway to leave a trail of kisses up to her jawline.
"Are you sure? She was really pret-"
"Do you know how fucking good you look right now?" Steve interrupted her once more in a low voice, bringing his hands up to her shoulders as he slid her cardigan slowly down her arms, his lips parted as he examined her thoroughly with hooded eyes.
"We're supposed to be having a long conversation," Honey reminded him shakily, goosebumps trailing across her newly exposed skin. "That's part of the deal."
"Talk," he instructed coolly, tugging the cardigan from her arms and letting it fall in the floor before entangling his hands through her waves, bringing his lips down to hover lightly over her own. "I'm listening."
Honey could marginally focus on anything but his lips that were merely grazing hers, not quite making contact, as if he were purposely making it difficult for her to form a complete thought. "It's, uh, really hard to focus," she breathed, her eyes flickering up to his before looking back down at his mouth. "Like this."
"Hmm," he hummed softly, brushing his lips across hers once more.
"You're doing this on purpose," Honey teased with a small laugh, taking her shaky hands and shoving Steve back a few inches. "No touching, not until we're done talking."
With a small groan, Steve stepped away until he was hardly within arms reach now, placing his hands behind his back as he raised one eyebrow tauntingly. His blue eyes observed her patiently as he stayed quiet, allowing Honey to release her nagging questions that he was sure she had been building inside of her since the day they had met.
Steve had undoubtedly been sexually open with many people, there was no question in Honey's mind about that, so she felt it was only fair for him to be open with her through communication if she was willing to be sexually open with him. He wasn't partaking in anything he wasn't already comfortable with, whilst Honey had never been one to do this sort of thing before.
The least he could do was just give her this.
"Who have you lost?"
The question was a doozy, she knew that, which was confirmed when Steve's eyebrows pulled together almost immediately as he stared incredulously at her. "That's not a very ... specific question."
"During the blip," she continued, leaning against the wall as she took in the way his facial expression would change with every word. "Who did you lose?"
His adam's apple bobbed up and down as he swallowed loudly, his chest heaving as he sucked in a deep breath, as he averted his eyes towards the ground now. Honey could physically see the pain ripple through him as he stood there awkwardly trying to decide how he should answer her question - the way his jaw clenched, the way his shoulders tensed, or the way he avoided eye contact.
"Too many people."
"And you feel like it's your fault?" she assumed quietly, messing with the hem of her dress.
"I don't feel like it is, I know that it is my fault," Steve scoffed under his breath, cocking his head sideways as he titled it back up, still not directly looking at her.
Sympathy tore through Honey's veins as her heart lurched at his words. Deep down, she already knew that he felt this way, but it was different hearing him say it out loud to her. "That is too much blame for one person," she murmured softly. "How can it be solely your fault?"
"Because I didn't kill that son of a bitch like I should have," his voice grew louder with each word. "People died because I didn't try hard enough, I didn't do enough. Your family died because I couldn't save the day like I was supposed to."
Honey's full lips popped open silently as she listened to him speak more words than she had ever heard from him before. Sadness washed over her in waves of goosebumps as she watched Steve blink slowly, staring off at the wall without looking at her. This subject was clearly a sensitive one, one she didn't want to push any further than she needed to, so instead, she stepped forwards as she reached her hand out towards him hesitantly.
"Okay," she said simply. "We don't have to talk about it anymore."
Steve's sad, blue eyes met her commiserative ones before he took her outstretched hand into his, his shoulders slumping slightly as he nodded almost in relief.
The pair were almost nose to nose as Honey peered up at his melancholy features, her tiny fingers squeezing his as she said, "Do you want to forget with me now?"
Pain left his blue eyes as lust quickly began to take its place.