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Tugging your ballcap down a little lower, you walked into the Captain America exhibit hall that you almost religiously come to visit at least once a week. You were surprised that no one had recognized you yet, seeing as how you were part of the Avengers. Well, not a core member of the team by any stretch, but you were close friends with all of them and you did go on missions with them a lot of times. People still knew you when they saw you out and about though, but oddly enough no one had noticed you hanging out here yet.
Meeting Steve Rogers a few years ago had changed your entire life, and it had all been by complete accident that the two of you ever met. You'd been minding your own business the day he woke up and tore out of the building that SHIELD had been keeping him in. Steve had quite literally run into you and sent you both sprawling onto the ground. But he'd wrapped those arms around you, shielded you from getting hurt as he let his own body take the impact of the fall.
He'd apologized profusely as he'd gotten up, bringing you with him and sitting you on your feet like you didn't weigh an ounce. And you had been so awestruck by him that all you'd been able to do was stare up at him like some kind of mental case.
You'd made it a point to join SHIELD after that, and because they had needed trained operatives at the time, Fury had brought you in without question. Once Steve had found out you had joined, he brought you into the main fold of the team, introducing you to the other Avengers. People who you called your friends now, who were an integral part of your life ever since the battle of New York against Loki and his Chitauri army.
Yet here you were, sneaking around in the Smithsonian every week to come and look at all of the things from Steve's past life. But you were most interested in the man he used to be, the scrawny little punk who never backed down from a fight. It made you smile every time you stood in front of that life-size image of him pre-serum.
He was handsome now without a doubt, but you had always thought he was just as handsome back then before the serum changed him. There was just something about the small man with the biggest heart you'd ever known, and that was why you kept coming back every week. So you could stand there, smiling stupidly at a man you already knew, but one you didn't know all at the same time.
What you weren't aware of was that Steve and the others had started to get concerned about where you disappeared to once a week. It wasn't something you talked about, never said where you were going, just that you were going out. And it had bothered Steve and Clint enough that the captain himself had gone after you this time to make sure you weren't in any trouble.
Standing a good distance behind you, he watched quietly as you lingered in front of the panels that told about his life before the serum. His blue eyes taking in the way you were smiling so much at the image of himself that he'd never much liked. He'd always wanted to be something more than that, to be able to serve his country like every other young man he'd known.
But seeing the way you smiled now made him wonder just what in the world was going through your head to make you look like that. For now though, he stayed out of sight and just followed you as you moved slowly through the exhibit as you always did. Not lingering very long on anything else there, save for the couple of minutes you spent staring at the tribute to Bucky.
Though once you'd finished there, you returned to the image of his pre-serum self, sliding your hands into the pockets of your hoodie. He saw you smile again as you gazed at the image of him before you turned and made your way toward the exit.
Slipping through the crowd, he followed behind you as you left the hall and then the museum itself a couple minutes later. Once outside again he followed you around the corner of the sidewalk before he saw you come to the realization that someone was following you.
He held his hands up just as you whirled around to face him, ready to attack if you needed to, but as soon as you saw him you relaxed instantly, “Steve? What...are you following me?”
Lowering his hands, he offered a soft smile in your direction, “Yeah, I'm sorry, Y/N. We were just worried about you sneaking off every week, so I followed you this time to make sure you were okay.”
Your cheeks felt like they were on fire as you blushed, “Oh god...you followed me in there didn't you?”
“There's nothing to be embarrassed about, I'm just not sure why you're going there when you already know everything about me.” He commented with a soft laugh that helped to assuage some of your embarrassment.
Shifting a little, you turned and started walking again and he fell into step beside you, “It's stupid Steve, just forget you saw that.”
That had him glancing down at you for a moment before looking back ahead again, “Y/N, it isn't stupid. I'm just not real sure why you go. There's nothing wrong with it though.”
Scoffing at that, you shoved your hands further into the pockets of your hoodie, “What were you like back then, before the serum? I mean, I know what the museum says, but that's not the whole story.”
Glancing back over to you, Steve reached out and cupped your elbow, guiding you over to sit down on a bench. He sat down beside you and turned so that he was somewhat facing you, “There's not a lot to tell you that isn't in the museum, Y/N. But why do you want to know about some dumb kid from Brooklyn?”
Keeping your gaze away from him, you kept your mouth shut about the reasons why, hoping that your face wasn't as red as a fire truck. It was embarrassing enough to have been caught, but even more so if you had to tell him why you were interested.
It was clear from the way he was pointedly watching you that he wasn't going to let this drop, no matter how painfully embarrassed you were. Puffing out your cheeks a little, immature you knew, you slumped down a little and decided to accept defeat. Not like you could, you know, outrun Captain America or anything.
“BecauseIthinkyou'rehot.” The words came out rushed and jumbled, and you were just wishing a hole would open up and swallow you before he deciphered that.
Steve laughed softly and leaned toward you to peer at your face even though you were trying to hide from him, “That's what all this was about? You're adorable, Y/N.”
Jerking your gaze back to him, you frowned a little, “What do you mean 'that's all'? I just told you I thought you were hot!”
His grin widened at the same time as your eyes when you realized that you had just said that so plainly, and that had likely been his intention in the first place. Please Thor, just zap me where I sit, please! You thought to yourself as you quickly looked away from Steve again.
A warm hand landed on your shoulder a half second before you were pulled up against Steve's side, his arm dropping down to curl around your waist. His head rested against yours as he held you there firmly, with absolutely no chance for you to escape. Though...being this close to him..you really didn't want to escape right now.
“I know you realize this, but I'm still that same guy you go to see in the museum, Y/N. The serum only changed my physical appearance and cured all those ailments. On the inside though, I'm still the same dumb kid from Brooklyn that Bucky had to keep pulling out of trouble." He said as he tightened his arm on you a little, hugging you closer to him.
Drawing in a slight breath, you finally relaxed against him and rested your head on his chest, “Yeah I know but...I don't know...I feel kind of stupid now...”
“Why, because you thought the dumb kid, who you could break in half, was attractive? It's flattering really, you're only the second woman to think like that.” Instantly you knew the other was Peggy, you knew that whole story and it had always seemed so unfair.
Risking it a bit, you lifted your head to look up at him, finding that those deep blue eyes were focused on you intently, “Well it still seems stupid...”
“No, not really. The only stupid thing was worrying all of us by sneaking off over here once a week. But other than that, not stupid at all.” Steve commented back with a soft smile that made you feel like you were absolutely going to melt right there.
“I'm sorry I worried you, Cap. Won't happen again, promise.” You said as you offered him a slight smile, which had him shaking his head a little.
“Considering the circumstances, Y/N, just call me Steve.”
Blinking a couple of times, you felt a slight frown cross your face, “Circumstances? What circumstances are you talking about?”
He leaned down and pressed his lips to your cheek in a feather-soft kiss, “The circumstances where I'm asking you to have dinner with me, to let me date you.”
It was impossible that your eyes could have gotten any wider at this point, because this was not what you had expected, at all. All the years that you've known him never once did you expect him to ever ask you out on a date. You were just you, nothing special really, but he was Captain freaking America.
“You know, if you keep staring at me like that, I'm going to have to kiss you, Y/N.” He teased as he leaned forward a little more, causing you to blush almost instantly.
Before you lost your nerve, you leaned in and pressed your lips to his for a few seconds before you leaned back enough to meet his now surprised gaze, "I'd like that...Steve."
“You mean the kissing or the dating? Because I kind of thought they went hand in hand, Doll.” He answered back with that charming smile before he leaned in and kissed you this time, slow and soft just like you knew it would be.
When he finally leaned back, you were somewhat breathless and he seemed terribly pleased by that, “I meant both, but I really like the kissing part.”
Laughing at that, he stood up and pulled you with him, taking your small hand into his larger one, “I'll kiss you more later, after I take you to dinner.”
Brushing a strand of hair away from your face, you smiled up at him and gave his hand a soft squeeze, “I'll hold you to that.”