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“How on earth do you put up with this weather?” Chris asked incredulously, wiping the sweat from his brow.
You couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s only thirty degrees; it’s not even that hot.” You said, pulling out a water bottle from your bag and handing it to him.
“Not even that hot…” He muttered, unscrewing the lid from the bottle and filling his mouth with water.
The pair of you had decided to spend the weekend in Sydney, seeing as Chris finally had some spare time and you were eager to show him the many sights your country had to offer. Today you had brought him to Bondi Beach. You’d only been there once before, and remembered the scenic walk that followed along the water. You had walked a kilometre or so before you reached the first lookout point, where you stopped to take in the view.
“You’re lucky there isn’t a heatwave. Then you’d have a reason to complain.” You said, taking the bottle from him and letting the cool liquid run into your mouth.
“You mean to say that it can get hotter than this?” He said. “You’re joking.”
“I’m not joking.” You said, “We’ve had forty degree summers, sometimes worse in some places.” You added, causing his eyebrow to rise.
“That is insane.” He said after a moment, turning to look at the view. “It sure is beautiful here though.”
Swapping your water bottle for your camera, you aimed the lens and snapped a picture of him looking out over the ocean. Yes, it sure was beautiful. He turned at the sound of the click and reached out for the camera.
“Your turn.” He said, trading places with you.
You crossed your arms and pouted, you preferred being behind the camera, not in front of it. But you turned around anyway, standing as he had before and looked out onto the open ocean. The ocean breeze felt wonderful against your skin, and you closed your eyes, getting lost in the moment. You didn’t realise that you had raised your arms out to the side, like a bird, until you felt a strong arm wrap itself around your waist.
“Are you going to fly away, little bird?” He whispered into your ear, before taking another photo.
You opened your eyes at the sound, lowering your arms. “Not yet.” You said, before turning and pressing your lips against his. You heard the camera click again before you broke apart.
“Come on, there’s still more to see.” You said, gently coaxing him to let go of you, and instead taking his hand in yours.
“Alright, okay.” He said, following your lead.
You spent another hour or so walking along the path at a leisurely pace, stopping now and then to take more photos. Toward the end of the scenic route you came across a small café and stopped for a bite to eat, before beginning the walk back to the main beach. You couldn’t help but smile as you walked, it had been such a peaceful day, and you knew Chris was enjoying himself, despite the fact that it was a bit warmer than he would have liked. As Bondi came back into view, you lead him down to the beach.
“What are you doing?” He asked, watching as you slipped off your shoes and set them down along with your bag.
“You asked me before how I put up with this weather. I’m going to show you.” You said, looking at him expectantly. “You probably want to take off your shoes as well, and your shirt maybe.” You wiggled your eyebrows.
“Are you sure people won’t see us?” He asked, unsure.
You had seen that the tabloids knew Captain America was in town, but you figured Australians were a lot more laid back. You pointed at the crowded beach.
“I think we’ll be okay. Besides, they’re probably looking for Hugh Jackman, not you.” You said.
Chris shrugged, “Alright. But if I see my picture in a local newspaper tomorrow I’m going to blame you.”
You grinned as you watched him pull off his shirt. “I’ll be sure to send a copy to your mother; she can add it to her scrapbook.” You teased.
Chris blushed, poking his tongue out at you. “Come on then, what are you waiting for?”
“Ah but wait!” You said, reaching into your bag. “The sun is particularly evil here in Australia. You’re gonna need sunscreen.” You said, squirting some of the lotion onto his chest and rubbing it in.
“Any excuse to get your hands on me.” Chris muttered, grinning.
“Well can you really blame me? You remember who you are right?” You said, moving around to get his back. “And I really don’t want you to get sunburnt. You don’t need a picture of you looking like a tomato in the papers.”
Chris laughed. “And what about you? Won’t you get sunburnt?”
“You just want to get your hands on me.” You said, grinning. “You can do my shoulders; I don’t get burnt anywhere else.”
“You Australians are tough aren’t you.” He said, as he rubbed the lotion into your skin.
“Of course.” You said, as he tossed the bottle onto your bag. “I mean pretty much everything here can kill us, so…”
“Drop bears aren’t real though, right?” He asked, completely serious.
You stared at him wide eyed. “Oh no they’re real.” You said, “They like to prey on extremely attractive men though, so you’ll be fine.” You grinned, before sprinting out toward the water.
“You are such a dork!” You heard Chris yell as he ran into the water.
You turned to face him, poking out your tongue. “Is Captain America really afraid of drop bears?” You said, giggling, as you made your way through the crowds of people.
“He most certainly is not!” Chris yelled, closing the distance between you.
“There’s nothing to be ashamed of babe.” You said, finding a reasonably clear spot in the water and waiting there.
You watched as Chris moved his way through the water, noticing dozens of pairs of eyes following him along the way. You could see a few of the girls whispering to each other, and you knew they had their suspicions, but you hoped they had enough sense to keep the information to themselves. You caught one of their gazes and pressed a finger to your lips, hoping they’d get the message. If they were lucky, Chris would probably hang around and take photos later if they asked.
In the time that you were watching everyone else, you didn’t notice Chris until he was right there in front of you. He grabbed at your waist and spun, pulling you down onto him and into the water, causing you to let out a small squeak of surprise. You surfaced a few seconds later and laughed as Chris appeared beside you.
“I am not scared of drop bears.” He said after a moment, before wiping the water from his face.
You grinned. “Alright.”
He pulled you toward him, and you immediately wrapped your legs around his waist, your arms lazily resting on the tops of his shoulders.
“I’m not afraid of drop bears.” He repeated.
You looked at him questioningly. “Are you sure? I mean…I’ve seen pictures. Those things aren’t pretty.”
“But they’re not real.” Chris said, and you couldn’t help but notice several people were watching you.
You turned to a group of guys who were talking to your left. “Hey,” You said, getting their attention. “Drop bears are real aren’t they? My boyfriend here doesn’t believe me.”
One of the guys noticed the small smile on your face and nodded. “Oh yeah, those things are terrifying. My mate got bitten by one once, it was nasty.”
You turned back to Chris. “See?”
He remained silent for a moment, and you could see his mind reeling.
“They’re not real.” He said again, certain of it. You shrugged.
“If that’s what you need to tell yourself then okay. They’re not real.” You smiled. “Let’s talk about something else.”
Chris looked at you curiously, and you looked back innocently. “What?” You said after a moment.
“I’m gonna google it when we get back to the hotel.” He said.
“Okay.” You said with a smile, running your fingers through his damp hair. You’d had enough of teasing him, for now.
You rubbed your finger along the crease in his forehead until his expression softened. Most of the people around you continued to splash and swim around, but there were a few who kept glancing at the pair of you every now and then. You turned your attention back to Chris, who now had his eyes shut and was simply enjoying the coolness of the water. His hands were clasped against your lower back, holding you in place against him. He looked so peaceful, but people were staring. You cupped his cheek in your hand, his stubble prickly against your skin. Leaning forward, you pressed a soft kiss to his lips before wrapping your arms tighter around him and resting your head against his neck.
“There are people watching.” You whispered into his ear. “Do you want to go?”
“Let them watch.” He mumbled, “I don’t want to leave just yet.”
“Okay.”
“Even though I really want to know about the drop bear thing.” He added after a moment.
You lifted your head and stared at him, grinning stupidly. “You’re still thinking about that?” You said, laughing. “They’re not real, I was just teasing.”
“How do I know I can trust you?”
You thought about it for a moment. “Just look it up when we get back to the hotel.”
“That’s what I thought.”
You could see he was smiling now; and you laughed again, you were both as silly as each other.
“I think the girls over there are gonna start fangirling soon. Your beard isn’t a good enough disguise.” You said, running your fingers through the course hair.
“You didn’t exactly help by saying Captain America.” He said, opening his eyes to glance over at the girls you were talking about.
You watched as the girls squealed in delight as he smiled at them. “You think that’ll do?” He asked, turning his attention back to you.
“I’m sorry but I don’t think so. You’re too much of a babe.” You said, “They’ll definitely want pictures.”
He shrugged. “Alright. But if it gets too crazy we’re leaving, deal?” He said, releasing his hold of you.
“Deal. Shall we?” You said, moving into shallower water before taking his hand in yours and leading him back to the beach.
You managed to grab your things and head up onto the walkway, thinking that maybe, just maybe people were going to let him go in peace. Chris was standing under one of the beach showers, rinsing off before putting his shirt back on when the same group of girls approached.
“Hi, um, excuse me?” A young brunette said nervously, “Are you, you’re Chris Evans, right?”
Chris turned to look at the group of girls, a warm smile lighting up his face. “Hey, yeah. That’s uh, that’s me.” He said nervously.
“Could we get a picture with you?” The brunette asked.
“Yeah sure.” Chris said, moving away from the shower and over to the girls.
The girls giggled in delight as they each got their picture taken with the one and only Captain America. You stood a few metres away, watching, smiling, listening as the girls complimented Chris on his work. He chatted to them happily, and you noticed more people had come by to have a look. After half an hour had passed though, he strode over to you and grabbed your hand.
“Time to go?” You asked, looking at the group of people that watched you curiously.
“Time to go.” He said, before turning to wave goodbye to the group of people.
You knew there were people following you as you made your way to a taxi, but Chris remained calm, and so did you. The cab ride back to the hotel had been quick, and you were glad that no one had caught wind of where you were staying. You’d gone straight to the shower when you got back, keen to get the salt water out of your hair. As you stepped out of the shower, you heard Chris’ footsteps coming toward you.
“They’re not real! I knew it!” He yelled.
You wrapped a towel around yourself, trying to hold back your laughter. “I told you!”
He stopped in the doorway of the bathroom, narrowing his eyes.
“I love you.” You said sweetly, walking over to him slowly. You moved up on tip toe to press a kiss to his cheek. “Even though you’re afraid of drop bears.” You added cheekily, ducking around him.