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another fluffy and cliche
oneshot involving comfort
and insomnia
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here's a steve oneshot for you! t includes the cliche nightmare topic in the beginning but I just couldn't hold back from writing another one :)
so I've done my research and apparently the compound is located near this huge river but for my oneshots I've always been locating it near the ocean because it worked better that way lol. so I made the correction and put it near the river, and instead of upstate it's around 30 mins from downtown nyc.
(i'm just gonna have it near the river like it really is but the location itself will be changed to make my oneshots go better with it reee) if that makes sense haha
once again I'm sorry if this is cringey. I typed up most of this draft at like midnight so I mean, insomnia. iykyk
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After tossing and turning all night in your sleep, being unable to calm down enough to drift off again, you jolted up into a sitting position. Beads of sweat dotted your forehead and streamed down your face as your body shook violently and your heart beat at what felt like a million miles per hour.
You wrapped your arms around yourself and looked around your room, convincing yourself that you were no longer in the environment of the nightmare, that none of it was real in the first place. But it felt so much more vivid than your previous ones had and left you with shivers running down your spine, making your blood run ice-cold.
Letting out a yawn, you laid back in bed, determined to actually fall into a peaceful sleep this time. Counting sheep and chickens didn't seem to work, so you simply laid there with your eyes closed until you felt the familiar tug of fatigue at your eyes.
But a mere few minutes later, you jolted awake screaming with the image of bloody corpses, Steve and the others among them, flashing by, which was rather hard to forget about now that it was stuck in your head.
The digital clock on your nightstand read 2:27 a.m, glowing a bright red. You slid a hand down your face and sighed, knowing that if you tried falling asleep it'd be pointless because you'd wake up screaming again.
Steve awoke with a start, hearing someone's screams travel down the hall and when he came to realize it was you, immediately got out of bed and slid his feet into his slippers, quietly padding down the hallway to your room.
He pushed your door open and carefully closed it behind him, making his way over to where you sat in a cold sweat, the sheets wrapped tightly around yourself. You looked so much younger in this state, almost like a little girl, except you were scared out of your wits and looked as if you were going to break down at any moment.
"You okay?"
You inhaled sharply and shook your head. "No."
"Another nightmare?"
You shook your head again. "I-I guess. It was bad this time, and no matter how many times I keep convincing myself that none of it is real, it feels like I'm actually living it, and-"
"What was it about?"
"I saw death all around me," you croaked out, blinking back tears, "and there was no way of escape. People were dying right before my eyes and I couldn't do anything about it. You were there, and I was too late to save you, I was too late to save the team. It felt so real, Steve, it-"
"I know, I know," he murmured in a low voice, rubbing your back. His eyes showed a gentle concern in them, and when he wrapped an arm around your shoulders you didn't flinch at the contact, instead being soothed by it. Allowing him to pull you close, he spoke to you in a soft and soothing voice, his words comforting and covering you like a blanket.
You attempted to stifle your sobs by covering your mouth with your hand, but it didn't do you any use. Heaving sobs clawed their way up and ripped through your chest and you were overcome by a heavy flood of tears, spilling over the brims of your eyes and slipping down your cheeks.
But he didn't say anything and simply held you there in silence as you sobbed into his chest, telling you that everything was going to be okay. You didn't have to tell him with words that his company alone was all that you needed at the moment because you couldn't stand to be by yourself with your thoughts.
"I haven't been sleeping," you admitted quietly after several minutes passed by without either one of you saying anything. "After I get woken up I can't get back to bed, so I just don't sleep-"
"How long has this been going on for?"
"Uh...five days..."
"Y/N..." his brows knitted together in concern, the worry clear in his tone as he spoke. "Why didn't you say anything about it to anyone else, or to me, for that matter?"
"I didn't want you to feel pressured to constantly watch over me," you mumbled. "I'd feel bad if you did."
"You shouldn't feel bad," he sighed, "I don't like seeing you suffer. You've already gone through enough as it is, and it'd make me feel better knowing that you didn't feel burdened by the weight on your shoulders."
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Neither one of you felt like falling asleep and Steve didn't want to let you out of his sight for the time being, so you ended up deciding to pull an all-nighter together. The majority of it was spent sitting on the couch in the lounge wrapped up in thick blankets, drinking hot chocolate and talking about whatever came to mind.
It seemed as if you could talk for hours, until Steve stopped and looked down to check his phone.
"It's 5:26," he stated.
"Already?"
"We can go out and catch the sunrise, if you want," he offered. "Nice way to relax and unwind. It's going to happen in a few minutes, though, so we should probably hurry."
"Sure, that sounds nice," you shrugged, setting down your mug on the coffee table and following him out to the massive patio, leaning against the railing as he stood besides you. The patio was probably one of your favorite locations in the entire compound. You loved where the HQs was situated, in the woods not too far from downtown New York and near a wide, winding river, providing the most stunning views of the city and water at the same time.
You could barely hear the sounds of birds chirping in the distance, and the tall skyscrapers of NYC peeking through the tops of the tall trees.
"Look," he whispered, pointing ahead at the horizon, a thin, fine line. "Can you see it?"
"Mhm," you followed to where he was pointing and could see a sliver of sun peeking over, its rays beginning to spread out around it. Color slowly began to seep into the pale grey sky, a soft orange cresting over the tops of the trees and illuminating the water of the winding river beneath with a hazy glow.
Following the rising of the sun over the horizon, the sky appeared to burst into flames, various hues of orange and gold and even hints of cotton candy pink blending together into one stunning overall picture that was almost impossible to look away from.
"Stunning, isn't it," he murmured, sliding an arm around your waist, pulling you close into his side. You allowed yourself to relax and lean against him as the sun shone its rays over the dense foliage, and made your faces light up.
Steve looked down at you, your face lit up by the sun's rays cast down on you and wearing a calm expression. He took the opportunity to simply observe you for a moment, thankful that he didn't have to see you screaming and crying and instead, looking peaceful for once.
"What are you looking at?" A small smile tugged at the edges of your lips when you met his gaze and realized he'd been staring at you for a while. "Is there something on my face?"
"No, it's nothing," he shook his head, tightening his grip around you. "Nothing at all."
You and Steve didn't really focus on feeling tired as you were too wrapped up in spending time together. So when Sam and Bucky woke up and walked into the kitchen to see you two chatting animatedly and eating breakfast with bright expressions, they were confused.
"How did y'all get any sleep last night? I got to squeeze in about two hours, but that was it," Sam groaned.
"I didn't sleep," you shrugged, taking a bite out of one of Bruce's homemade blueberry muffins.
"She couldn't sleep, so we stayed up all night and watched the sunrise," Steve explained.
"Awww, how romantic," Bucky snorted before a yawn took over him and he stretched his arms up in the air. "Two insomniac lovebirds."
"I'd like to say the same of your relationship with mashed potatoes, Barnes," you raised a curious eyebrow at him. "The amount that you can consume on Thanksgiving and Christmas...is scary. Who knew a man can devour four servings in three minutes? I will never see potatoes in the same way again."
"Do I make out with mashed potatoes? Do I, Sam? Tell them I don't make out with mashed potatoes unlike these two, who jump at each other every chance they get."
"He doesn't," Sam agreed. "He isn't wrong, I mean, I see the way y'all look at each other."
"That's baloney, Wilson," you snorted. "I'd die before getting the chance to fall in love with someone."
"But you're not dead, and you're in love."
"Steve, tell him I'm not in love with anyone."
"I can't confirm nor deny that, Y/N, when you haven't given me any insight to your love life," he answered simply.
You scoffed, placing a hand on your chest. "Excuse me?"
"That's 'cause he's in love with you and you're in love with him!" the Falcon sing-songed, skipping out of the room with the Winter Soldier close behind.
As they left, you and Steve exchanged a knowing laugh and burst into a round of quiet laughter.
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Unfortunately, you were both wrong in thinking you wouldn't be tired at all and would be feeling energetic for the entire day. It was around late afternoon shortly after lunch that the fatigue was beginning to kick in.
"Y/N? Captain?" Wanda called out as she walked through the halls of the compound, peeking into every room. "You there?"
She rounded the corner and saw Thor sitting on the couch in the lounge with a box of Pop-Tarts in his lap as he intensely focused on the TV screen playing Grey's Anatomy in front of him.
He turned around and noticed the young woman standing there, and gave her a quick head nod. "Hello, Lady Maximoff. Are you looking for someone?"
"Steve and Y/N...I haven't seen them all day."
The Norse god simply pointed next to him and she stepped closer, peering down to find that both of you were fast asleep, wrapped up in each others arms with your head resting on top of the super soldier's broad chest and his arm draped across your stomach in almost a protective sort of manner.
"They aren't together yet?" she questioned, grinning at the sight. "Everyone's wondering when they'll become official."
"Not yet, sadly. They keep denying that there's anything going on between them but we all know the two Midgardians are thinking that they want to become more than simply acquaintances."
Wanda slid out her phone form her pocket and snapped a quick picture of the two of you cuddled up together. "Hm. Well, it'll be hard for them to deny it once they see this."
"Oh, Sir Stark will never let Lady Y/N hear the end of it."