enjoy this crappy oneshot. im sorry my writing sucks lol :) fyi in any oneshots when tony's your dad, you're going to be 25 while Steve is 26. lol
"Morning, Cap," you waved as Steve walked into the kitchen, running a hand through his messy blonde hair.
"Hey," he greeted, quickly kissing your forehead before sitting down in between you and Natasha. "Anything new?"
"No," Natasha answered for you, "Except for the fact that you guys are acting like a couple."
"We're not a couple," you and Steve said at the same time.
The team was right when they said you and Steve were really close, though. Having known each other for over five years, you'd grown to be really good friends. You were always friendly towards each other, and it had become a customary thing for him to greet you with a kiss on the forehead or a hug so you didn't really think much of it.
And that was what drove everyone crazy, beacuse they could all see that you were acting like a couple but were failing to realize the fact.
"Y/N, honey," Tony gave you a hard stare. "Really?"
"What?" your eyes widened as you reached over to Steve's plate, taking a bite of his toast. "Why are you guys all looking at us like we killed someone?"
"You know why."
"Tony," Steve warned. "Don't."
"I'm not giving up on my ship."
"Yes, I must agree with the Man of Iron," Thor nodded, a wide grin on his face. "You guys are quite adorable together, I have to say."
"Thor. Seriously?"
"I cannot give up on this boat."
"Ship, Thor. You mean ship," Bruce corrected.
"It's not called a boat name?" he tilted his head to the side slightly.
"No, it's called ship."
"Then, I ship it," the grin on his face only widened and he got up, patting your head. "Good luck, little people."
You groaned and buried your head in your hands.
...
Now that the team had brought up the idea of you and Steve potentially being the 'best couple ever', you were having trouble focusing as Fury debriefed your next mission. You refused to meet Steve's gaze across the glass table, knowing that if you made eye contact it'd only make you even more distracted and cause your heart to race.
You zoned out, doodling on your notepad until Fury stated that on the screen was the list of names, put into groups for the missions. Looking up, you saw that you were with your father, Natasha, and Clint.
"You alright?" Bucky asked as the meeting was concluded and everyone scattered, preparing for tomorrow morning. "You seemed distracted."
"Hm? What?" your brows furrowed together in confusion as you walked down the hall side by side, "I'm fine. Why?"
"Is it Steve?"
"N-no," you lied quickly. "I don't like him that way."
"Sure," he smirked. "Sure you don't."
"I don't! Just because he hugged me doesn't mean we're together!"
"But you guys cuddle...a lot..." he raised an eyebrow at you, "I could probably list everything that proves you guys are in love, but I'm just saying that you shouldn't take any of it for granted."
"What are you talking about?"
"You'll see for yourself. You know how you've always been paired up together, but this isn't the case."
"What exactly are you trying to tell me, Buck?" you sighed tiredly as you leaned against your doorframe.
"Fast forward to tomorrow morning and all you'll be able to think about is him. You won't realize how much you're going to miss his presence until you're apart on the mission."
"O-kay..."
"See you in the morning, Y/N. Night."
"See you. Goodnight."
You let out another sigh and lazily changed into sweats and a tank top, crawling into bed and closing your eyes.
You still didn't realize how true his words were going to turn out to be until later on, though.
We're always around each other, I'm sure I can handle a little time away from him, you reassured yourself as you drifted off to sleep.
...
"Y/N? You ready to go?" you heard Wanda knock on your door the next morning, and when you didn't answer, she simply came in on her own. "We're leaving in a bit."
"Hm? Yeah, just give me a sec," you yawned and rubbed your eyes, getting up and quickly changing into your suit before coming back out.
Once you were ready, the two of you walked out to the hangar bay together and boarded the Quinjet, taking your respective seats.
You caught Steve's eye and he gave you a small smile, which you returned.
The ride over to the base was mostly silent; you were just focusing on the touchscreen in your hands, swiping left and zooming in on the map, adding annotations of your own as you analyzed the blueprint of the base.
Soon enough, the Quinjet was hovering over the drop zone. And before you could change your mind or develop any second thoughts about it, you tenatively stepped over towards Steve as everyone began to stand up and make their way over to the back gates.
Your heart was pounding as you made your way over to him, and you didn't know whether it was out of fear or plain nervousness from being so close to him again.
"Steve," you said quietly, looking at him then looking back down.
Steve didn't say anything, and simply took your hand in his in response and laced your fingers together, giving you a reassuring squeeze.
He hesitated in the beginning, then cupped your face in his hands and for a moment, you closed your eyes and let yourself lean into his touch, briefly resting your forehead against his before pulling apart.
"Good luck," you whispered. "Go kick some butt."
"Stay safe," he smiled softly, "and try not to die."
"I'll try," you cracked a small grin, adjusting your parachute and jumping out the back with Clint and Natasha. "As long as you do the same."
"You've got it bad, don't you," Sam sighed as he watched his best friend look at you smoothly glide down towards the base with your group.
"What?"
"You love her so much, it's not even funny."
"We're just friends, Sam," Steve sighed, running a hand over his face before attaching his shield to his back and putting his parachute on.
"Mhmmm..." he hummed, "sure, that's what they all say."
...
"Steve?" you pressed your earpiece on. "Status update?"
"I'm okay," he replied, and you heard him flinging his shield forward, which made a metallic clang sound as it bounced off the wall and hit its targets, "and you?"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I finished off the main level and I'm making my way back with Clint, Dad, and Nat."
"I'll be there in twenty. Still have the second floor to take care of."
"Alright. See you soon," you said, wincing upon hearing your voice crack at the end.
"Are you okay?" You could clearly hear the concern laced in his voice as he spoke.
"Just fine. See you soon, Steve, and stay safe for me," you managed to get out before the comm link was turned off and you choked on a sob.
Then all at once it became difficult for you to breathe, your heart constricting and the lump in your throat threatening to choke you. And despite feeling the world starting to spin and your vision blurring at the edges, you forced those tears to stay back and it burned to do so. Despite feeling as if your legs were going to break at any second, you kept sprinting along with your group back to the Quinjet as fast as you could go, knowing that you'd probably get shot if you slowed down.
Every part of you was aching and you wanted nothing more than to turn back time to the way things were before, though you knew to do such a thing was impossible.
You didn't know what had gotten into you all of a sudden, but you felt guilty for thinking that he would even think of you as something more than a friend, and at the same time you found yourself wishing that he would feel the same way about you. But why would he, though? He was busy with upholding the tasks that a superhero had, and besides, you were nothing more than close friends.
Now that you were away from him, after constantly spending time with him and being around him, you were beginning to regret taking all those little gestures for granted. You regretted not thinking much of all those hugs and the casual hand-holding. It had only been a few hours, yet you felt yourself missing him terribly, the ache in your chest worsening by the second.
What if he didn't make it back to the jet? What if you had to live the rest of your life out carrying the burden of not confessing your feelings to him?
You couldn't stand it.
You were in and out of the building in almost a flash. You and Clint stayed to fight off the rest of the guards, acting as a distraction so that you'd be buying Tony and Natasha extra time to retrieve the flashdrive from the computer room down the hall.
"Bastards," you muttered, shooting an electric blast at a guard, sparks flying everywhere. You let out a grunt as you dodged several bullets flying over your heads, ducking around the corner and coming back out when you deemed it safe enough to.
"Y/N, sweetheart. Can you hear me?" you heard Tony speak through his comm.
"Yeah, I can hear you. Did you get the flashdrive?"
"Nat has it. We just got out."
"Alright. And the others?"
"They're alright."
...
You'd thought you'd killed all the guards when you got out of the building with the others, but there had been a few agents who managed to escape and were shooting down at you from the trees.
Clint had shot at the remainder of the soldiers shooting at the three of you with his arrows, you anxiously paced in front of the jet back and forth, hoping and praying that Steve would show up.
"Steve!" you shouted into your comm as you jogged around the jet, frantically looking around for his familiar figure. "Where are you?"
"I'm coming," he responded, sounding out of breath, "I'm on my way out with Buck and Sam and the others."
"Oh my god, Steve," you pressed your fingers against your temples, "please tell me you're okay."
"I'm okay, I'm okay," he reassured you, but he couldn't help but feel a pang in his chest at the desperation in your voice. "I'm okay, don't worry."
"Steve!" you shouted as you saw him approaching in the distance along with Peter and the others. "Took you long enough to get here!"
"Y/N!" he began sprinting across the field and when you saw him come into your view completely, you let out a heavy sigh, your shoulders sagging in relief upon seeing that he hadn't suffered any severe injuries. "I'm so sorry, we got held back by a few guards, and---"
He didn't get to finish his sentence before you launched yourself at him, throwing your arms around his neck and pressing your lips against his.
When you pulled apart, you didn't bother releasing yourself from his grip, resting your head on his chest and letting his arms wrap around your waist as he held you close.
"It's only been an hour," Pietro stated bluntly as you all boarded together. "Why are you guys acting if you haven't seen each other in a year or something?"
"And this is what I was talking about!" Bucky exclaimed.
You shrugged and rolled your eyes, taking your seat next to Steve and securing your seatbelts.
Peter grinned as he exchanged knowing looks with Wanda, Natasha, and Bruce. "You know, Cap loves you."
"Is that so?" you raised an eyebrow at Steve, who's cheeks were surprisingly slightly pink.
"Yup! He's in love with you."
"I know," you smirked, resting your head on his shoulder.
"Did you just...pull a Han Solo on me?" Steve sounded mock-hurt.
"I sure did."
"Awww, he's sad," Pietro teased.
"I'm kidding, I love you" you looked up at Steve again, grinning at him.
"I love you too."
"CUT! SAM, YOU OWE ME TWENTY BECAUSE I BET THAT SHE WOULD SAY IT FIRST!" Bucky yelled.
Sam grumbled to himself as he went to where his duffel bag was, pulling out his wallet and handing a 20 over to him.
And when you fell asleep in Steve's lap shortly after the jet took off, Tony made sure to snap a picture so he could use it as future blackmail.