Chapter Text
Steve’s morning started with waking up, taking a shower as fast as possible, dressing up and leaving the house in a hurry. Of course that wouldn't be happening had he not spent the night before out, drinking with his coworkers at their usual spot.
And of course he had to walk and take the bus considering his chunk of a car broke down a week ago and he wouldn't get it before two weeks at best.
He made a stop at the Starbucks nearby to pick up his and his boss' morning coffee, he wasn’t sure he would be able to withstand anybody, let alone the man he worked for, without his proper caffeine and sugar intake.
The barista, Jake, gave him two cups of 'the usual'. The guy was sweet, nice enough Steve could have a laugh and a pleasant conversation with him when he wasn’t in a hurry to get to the office and not to forget handsome.
He should remind himself to ask him out sometime after work.
"Two cinnamon dolce latte for you." He said, smiling brightly at the blonde man.
"You're a lifesaver, thank you." He said giving him the money, not bothering about the change as he swiftly walked out.
His boss, as everybody on his floor would put it, was a conceited asshole, a man child, and of course he would know better than anyone else, he was his assistant after all.
Three years later and he still wonders how he put up with him for so long.
Walking as fast as humanly possible while making it through the crowd of people without spilling the coffees, and so far he had done a good job, he finally made it to the building quickly enough to get in the elevator before it closed.
Finally having a moment to catch his breath, he fixed his shirt and tie and made sure his hair didn't make him look as if he ran like a mad man.
His day could only get better from now on, at least he hoped so.
On his way to the office in his car, Thor was on a call with T'Challa, a famous writer and he's been trying to get him to do an interview with Carol Danvers on her show for a long time. While others gave up after being faced with a 'No' and the phone hung on their faces, that was definitely not the case with Thor, he had his way convincing people.
"So you're going to do it?" He asked, he knew the answer was yes, so when he got the confirmation from the man on the other side of the line, he smirked to himself satisfied with finally getting him to do the interview.
"You know you made the right choice, if there's anyone who can convince people to read your book instead of binge watching a show on Netflix it's Carol; and you know what all the people she's interviewed have in common? They're all winners of prestigious awards."
Finally having settled the interview with T'Challa, he walked out of his car to the building feeling pretty much invincible the world was his to conquer.
Just as he thought he was out of trouble, as he made his way to Thor's office he bumped into another worker on his floor, Clint Barton, and one of the coffees spilled on his white shirt now brown.
Everyone knew he wasn't the type to get mad at people, no matter what happened. He was always calm but today was not the day.
"Jesus Clint, do you even look at where you're going?!" he yelled. "Just find another shirt, it's not the end of the world." he said as he walked away with the cart.
He needed a change of clothes as fast as possible, any moment from now Thor was gonna walk through the elevator and he wasn’t going to be caught dead with a coffee stained shirt by him.
The way Thor’s eyes lingered for a little too long and that look of disdain he had in his face, like he wasn’t worthy (although he would never be caught dead admitting that.) had a way of making him feel uneasy.
So his next best option was to walk straight to his best friend James, Bucky as everyone called him, who was talking with Sam in his cubicle.
"Hey Stevi-" He couldn't even finish his sentence 'cause Steve cut him off. "I need the shirt off your back. Literally."
Both men looked at each other confused as to why their friend was ‘literally’ asking the shirt off their backs until their eyes traveled to the big coffee on his shirt, both letting out a sound 'oh'.
"You're kidding, right?" Bucky asked, with a playful smile still on his lips hoping Steve would start laughing, saying he was just playing, but the look on the other man’s face seemed to indicate that his intentions were pretty straightforward.
"I'll give you my two concert tickets and you can go with whoever you want, you have five seconds to decide." Steve eyes discreetly wandering off to Sam so only Buck would understand what he was trying to imply.
Before he even started counting down Bucky had already agreed to quickly undressing and giving Steve his shirt. “I owe you one Buck.” The blonde man said to his best friend as they both put their exchanged shirts on. “Sure you do.”
As soon as the elevator doors opened up and people started fleeing away from Thor, a couple employees spotted him and started going back to their work, it didn’t take long for the rest to catch up and go back to their respective positions too.
He was texting Carol's team and setting up the interview with T'Challa and not paying much mind to his surrounding but he did notice what was going on, how some were murmuring a "Good morning, boss" and how others were trying not to do anything to go unnoticed and others leaving whatever activities they were doing prior to his arrival.
He scoffed, muttering a quiet “Of course” as he just ignored them and kept walking.
Steve welcomed him with a "Good morning, boss." and a ‘not too well hidden’ frown accompanied by his beloved coffee as he proceeded to remind him of what he had in store for the rest of the day.
"You have a conference call in thirty minutes." He said walking behind Thor eyes scanning the iPad on his hands at his boss’ schedule.
"Yes, about the marketing of the spring books, knew that."
"Staff meeting at nine.".
"Did you call the lady with the pretty hands, what's her name?" Thor tried remembering tapping his forehead with his index and middle finger but all that he could recall was how soft her hands felt in his and how pretty they were, and she was quite stunning herself.
"Hope. Her name’s Hope Van Dyne." Steve said, rolling his eyes at his antics.
"Yes, her!"
"Called her and told her that if she doesn't bring in her manuscript on time you won't give her a release date also your immigration lawyer called, he said it's imperati-" Thor cut him off already getting tired of his speaking.
"Cancel the call, push the meeting to tomorrow and keep the lawyer on the sheets. By the way, get hold of PR and have them start drafting a press release T'Challa is going to Carol's show." Thor said, grinning as he said the last part, piling up the manuscripts he had on his desk.
All Steve managed to let out was "Wow, well done."
He knew how long Thor had been trying to get T’Challa to do it and now he finally accomplished that and even though he would never say it out loud he was kind of proud.
"Didn't ask for your praise, but I won't complain, I won't lie I did a great job." He said with a smug grin on his face,and there was the irritating man he knew.
Picking up his coffee from where he put it down, Thor couldn't help but notice a name and a number on it.
"Who is Jake and why does he want me to call him?" Thor asked, with a raised brow at Steve, turning his cup to show the writing on the cup saying 'Call me!' his number and his name. The corner of his lips slightly curling upwards the hint of a teasing smirk on his lips.
Steve felt slightly embarrassed, feeling the heat creeping up his neck to his cheeks but he didn't let shame completely wash over him.
"That was supposed to be my cup." He said looking at Thor in the eyes. His crystal clear blue eyes.
"And why am I drinking your coffee?" He asked a stupid smirk growing on his lips.
"Because your coffee spilled." He said, still holding his gaze he wasn’t backing down..
"So... you drink cinnamon dolce latte?"
"I do, it feels like fall season in a cup." He said still trying not to make any sudden nervous move under his boss scrutinizing gaze
"Is that a coincidence?"
"It actually is, I wouldn't happen to drink the same coffee as you just in case yours spilled, imagine how pathetic that would be." He said and just in that moment the phone rang, just as they say 'saved by the bell'. Thor chuckled to himself before turning to the computer at his back.
"Morning, Mr Odinson's office. Hey Peter."
At the mention of Peter's name, Thor signaled the other man that they were headed to his office.
"Actually, we're headed to your office now. Yeah." Confused on why they were going to the man's office in the first place.
As soon as he dropped the call, he looked at a standing Thor and asked him. "Why are we headed to Quill's office?"
"Well..." Thor stated, stretching out the ‘L ’ and giving Steve a knowing look and what was going to happen. "I know." He said sighing, unfortunately for him he did know what was in fact going to happen next.
Walking out before Thor, he texted everyone saying 'the man-child is coming watch out' and everybody went back to their working positions before he caught them out of place.
Walking up next to Thor he asked, "Have you finished the manuscript I gave you two weeks ago?"
Going by his facial expression Thor seemed pretty unfazed and Steve knew that nothing good was going to come out of the man's mouth, he still didn’t know why he expected a different outcome any time he gave the man a manuscript, but this one… he was going to fight for it.
"Read a few pages and wasn't impressed." He said checking his watch.
"Can I say something?" "No." Thor said, but that definitely never stopped Steven from saying what was on his mind.
"I've read thousands of manuscripts, and this is the only one I've given you. There's an incredible novel in there, like the ones you used to publish." He said keeping up with Thor's pace.
As they were walking they both caught a glimpse of Bucky wearing Steve's coffee stained shirt, 'pathetic' Thor thought to himself and Steve mouthed a ‘sorry’ as he walked by.
"Wrong and I think you ordering the same coffee as I do just in case my spill would be cute in another situation but perhaps..."
"Or it could be considered impressive!" Steve bit back.
"I'd be impressed if you didn't spill it in the first place Rogers, now remember you're just a prop in here." Thor said, opening the door to Peter's office.
"Won't say a word." He said following him.
At their entrance Quill didn't look too pleased by their presence but he did try to hide it behind the fakest smile Steve had probably ever seen on Thor, charming no less, not like he didn't see enough of those they almost reminded him who he was working for.
"Our fearless leader and his protégée. Do come in." Peter said Thor sighed and rested his hands on Peter’s desk.
"Let's get over with this already. Peter, you have to go."
"Sorry what?"
"I asked you a lot of time to get T'Challa to do the interview, and you didn't do it. You're fired." He said with a stone cold expression that Steve has seen him wear only a few times.
Peter looked at Thor then to Steve for some kind of support in the battle that was brewing between the two of them but Steve knew why Thor had to do it so he averted his gaze and stood there awkwardly.
He wouldn’t say he was close with the guy but they were friendly enough to go out for drinks alongside their other coworkers but other than that he couldn’t really take his side, and with how unpredictable Thor was he couldn’t risk losing his job.
"I told you that's impossible, T'Challa hasn't done an interview in years." Peter uttered as his face reddened in rage.
"Interesting, I just got off the phone with him and he's in." Thor replied, leaning on the window waving his phone to Peter., stunned the man blinked not believing what he just heard.
"Excuse me?"
Steve really didn't know what to say. He knew what was coming but he still didn't want to be there when it happened.
"You didn't even call him. Now I'll give you two months to find another job and you can tell everyone you resigned." Thor said not even giving him Peter the time to speak as he left the office with Steve silently, nobody daring to make a single noise just watching them walk back to their office.
"Four... Three... Two..." Thor counted looking at his watch, and at count of one he heard the door bang and stopped in his tracks.
"Don't do this Quill." He said to himself before turning around.
"You fucking arrogant piece of shit."
And if nobody was looking at them before they sure were now, two men squaring up and Steve standing uncomfortably behind Thor..
"You can't fire me! You don't think I see what you're doing here? Sandbagging me on the interview thing just so you could look good to the board? Because you feel threatened by me and you're a monster."
"Quill, stop." Thor kept his cool, nothing was going to throw him off, not even Quill's tantrum.
Steve on the other hand was quite entertained, sure he might have felt sorry for Peter but if he did his job right this could've been avoided.
"Just because you have no life outside of this office, you think that you can treat all of us like your slaves. I feel sorry for you, because on your deathbed you're gonna have nothing and no one."
Just like that Thor moved dangerously slowly towards the other man, stopping just mere inches from his face.
The truth is Peter's words couldn't touch him, he had heard them all; talks between colleagues, the messages before he walked in every morning, he had heard and seen them all. Peter was just verbalizing what he already knew.
"Listen here Peter, I didn't fire you because I felt threatened? Norns above, no. I fired you 'cause you're lazy, entitled, incompetent and you spend more time cheating on your girlfriend than you do in your office. Another word and Steven here is gonna have you thrown out on your ass." He said with a smile on his face, and when the other man was about to retaliate he cut him off.
"Another word and you're out of here with an armed escort and Steve will film it on his phone and post it on social media so everyone can have a good laugh. Is that what you want?"
When he didn't hear a word he patted the man's shoulder and walked away.
"Thought so, I got work to do."
“Did you really have to do that?” Steve asked, feeling bad for Quill he didn’t stand up to him because he was right. Peter had already thrown in the towel even before trying and yes he had been slacking but it wasn’t always like that.
“I know you’re trying to play devil’s advocate but we both know it was a long time coming.”
"By the way, I need you this weekend, we have to go through his manuscripts and review his files." As they continued on their way to their office. Steve stopped in his tracks and looked at Thor.
This weekend was his birthday. His parents had already planned everything and having Thor tell him that he had to cancel and spend the day at work didn't sit right with him.
"This weekend?" Steve asked.
"You have a problem with that?" Thor replied to his question with another question.
"Well of course I do, it's my birthday." He replied and Thor looked at him for a moment before he said. "Then cancel your plans." and walked away.
On the phone with his mother Steve tried to explain that he couldn't make it since Thor decided to make him work anyway, when he heard the other blonde's footsteps he quickly said his goodbyes to his mother before hanging up.
"Your parents?" Thor asked, leaning on Steve's desk. "Yeah." Steve replied with a heavy sigh."Told you to quit?"
"Everyday." He said.
The conversation didn't continue any further since Sam knocked on the door to inform Thor that Mr. Stark wanted him in his office.
"I heard the news about the interview, congratulations Point Break." Tony said once Thor appeared in his office.
"Thank you, so is this about my second raise?" Thor said, chuckling nervously not knowing what to expect from the man.
He was never this nervous when he was in Stark's office, whenever he was there it was always good news for him, but today was different he could feel it.
"Thor, do you remember the time we told you not to go to Paris Book Fair because you weren't allowed out of the country while your visa application was still being processed?"
Of course he did remember but he went anyway, he had to close the deal with the writer before anyone else got to her.
"Yes, I do." Thor said with a proud smile on his face.
"And you still went."
"Yes, I wasn't going to lose the deal."
Tony then took his legs off the table and pushed himself closer still keeping his gaze on Thor.
"The law doesn't care if you lose a deal or not. We just spoke to your immigration attorney." Tony continued.
"Your visa application has been denied and you're being deported back to Norway." Rhodey, Tony's work partner and best friend, said reading the paper he had in his hands.
"Deported? That can't be possible." Thor was surprised to say the least and panicked as he didn't know what he was going to do.
He had work left, he had a life here, what was he going to do?
It all came back to him in a rush, every time he had told Steve to push back his meetings with the immigration lawyer after Paris and by the time he actually did fill the papers it was too late.
"We can reapply but you have to leave the country for at least a year." Rhodey continued.
"Not ideal but I can make it work from there, skype call-" Thor tried saying before getting cut off by Tony.
"Unfortunately you can't work for an American company if you're deported." Tony said playing with the pen he had in his hand and writing down something.
"Until this is resolved I'm gonna turn operations over to Peter Quill."
"You can't be serious, I just fired him." Thor said exhausted at this whole messy situation, anyone but Peter Quill.
"We need an editor in chief and he's the only one beside you with enough experience." Rhodey said giving Thor a sympathetic look, he knew how much all this meant to Thor but there was nothing he could do to help him.
"You cannot be serious, I-"
But before he could speak any longer, Steve barged in the room.
"What, Steven?" Thor asked with a seriously annoyed tone he hoped for him that it was an emergency for him to be interrupting such a crucial moment in his career and by his tone it seemed like it was.
"Carol's team is on the line, they need to speak with you right away. I told them that you were otherwise engaged."
Suddenly he wasn’t listening to Steve speak anymore, it was like a sign from God that he interrupted in that precise time because then Thor found the solution to all of his problems. It wasn’t practical or ethical really but it could work, it had to work.
A big smile then appeared on his face as he looked at Steve, as the other man couldn't comprehend the reason for why his boss' face went from distressed to smiling like a mad man.
He enthusiastically signaled Steve to enter inside, when he caught on he was right by his side.
"I understand the predicament we're in, and there's one more thing you should know." Thor snaked an arm around Steve's waist and held him closer to himself, making not only the other man blushing furiously but also making his two bosses look at them with wide eyes.
That was a reaction he’d pay to see again.
"We're getting married." He announced as he held Steve tighter, who was still stiff and red under his touch and could barely make out a sentence.
"W-who's getting married?" He asked.
"Don't be silly babe, you and I, I think it's time to finally tell them." He said, a fake smile completely formed on his lips now. The thing was that if he didn’t know Thor that well he’d probably melt under his touch and believe every word that came out of his mouth, because yes he was that convincing but he knew better and he knew he was doing this to gain something; what exactly Steve was going to find out.
"Yeah." Steve replied.
"Isn't he your secretary?" Rhodey inquired, still not completely understanding what was going on, Tony did seem to understand and he didn't look very pleased with it and Thor couldn't help but notice how Steve looked down.
"Assistant." Steve replied.
" Titles . The truth is I never thought I'd fall for Steve." Thor said.
"No, you never did." Steve said sarcasm dripping from his voice.
"All those late nights, weekend book fairs... it just happened." Continued rambling piling up lies over lies but if that saved him from deportation he was going to go with it.
"Yeah." Steve said tight lipped and glaring holes into Thor's skull.
If looks could kill, this one would've killed him immediately.
"Can't fight a love like ours, so, are we good? Because we're happy." He finished caringly caressing Steve’s face, his blush going from a faint pink to a crimson red.
"Well, congratulations then." Tony said, still looking at Steve.
"It's amazing, just make it legal okay?" Rhodey said, giving them his sincere regards.
"So we need to get ourselves to the immigration office, right sweetheart?"
"Yeah, my love."
Before he knew it the news spread like wildfire on his floor, everyone knew not one single person that wasn't talking about it.
Some people looked at him as if he betrayed them, others congratulated him as if he just won the lottery, very few people didn't care.
When Bucky walked past him he looked at him with a shiteating grin on his face. "You're marrying the man-child, really? So that’s why you never went on any of the blind dates I set for you." he said trying his best not to laugh.
"Tell me about it, and no that’s because you try setting me up with everybody." He answered, rolling his eyes and catching up with Thor in his office.
Thor was pretty nonchalant about it, as if he just hadn't told his boss he was marrying his assistant, which was not true, and now he was reading the manuscripts he piled up that morning as if everything was normal.
"I don't know what is going on but I'm not marrying you; not now, not ever." Steve stated the minute they closed the door
"Aw I don't know if I should be hurt by that."
"I'm getting deported." Thor continued still not taking his eyes off the papers he was reading.
"That's exactly what makes it illegal. You can't marry me to avoid deportation, that's your problem." Steve said, ,index finger pointed at him.
"Yes I can."
"Elaborate further." Steve said, sitting in front of him, crossing his arms on his chest ready to listen to any bullshit excuse Thor was going to give him to avoid being deported.
"The second I'm gone, Peter Quill is going to be in charge and first of all he's going to fire you, that's for sure. That means you're out on the streets looking for a job. Which will make all the time we spent together, the lattes, the canceled dates and late night food run all useless and your dreams of being an editor? Gone."
Silence fell upon them as Thor finished, it wasn't often that Steve was left speechless or without a comeback to anything Thor had to say, what he said did make sense, their work and everything would be going down the drain if he had to leave and Quill was to take his place and he worked way too hard for it to go to waste.
"Don't worry we'll get a quick divorce and get done with me, until then you're the future Mr. Odinson, don't get too excited though."
"Odinson-Rogers, let's be clear on that."
Once at the immigration office, they both couldn't help but notice the long line in front of them and Thor wasn't about to wait hours, his day was already stressful enough with all the problems that came with avoiding his deportation and firing Peter Quill.
So he skipped the line and got straight to the desk. Steve followed right by his side looking how both men and women let it slide that he was taking their places by just giving them a simple smile.
"I need you to file this fiancé visa for me please." Thor said as he gave the woman the file with all of the papers.
The woman scanned it thoroughly before pausing and looking back at Thor.
"Follow me please." They were led to a room where they were supposed to wait for the officer who they had to talk to.
Steve remained quiet and composed, not wanting to show how he was panicking inside.
The man who walked in was a black man dressed in all black with a patch on his left eye.
He looked stern, scary almost, that it almost made Steve scared for his life, Thor stopped texting the minute his eyes connected to the man's. They sat there in complete silence before the man spoke out.
"Nick Fury, Immigration officer. You must be Thor Odinson and Steven Grant Rogers." The man said, pointing at each of them respectively.
"Yes sir." Steve said.
"We appreciate you for seeing us on such short notice." Thor said, finally sitting next to Steve.
"Let's get this straight. Are you committing fraud to avoid his deportation so he can keep his position as editor in chief at Starks Books?" The man said without beating around the bush.
Thor was a bit taken aback by that but it didn't let that crack is façade, he smirked before replying to Nick.
"Offic-"
"I wasn't talking to you." He interrupted Thor before looking back at Steve whose leg was uncontrollably bouncing.
"You know you're gonna face five years in federal prison, and a fine of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars and he is gonna get deported indefinitely. If you're committing fraud, say it right now 'cause if you get caught the odds will not be in your favor." Nick said.
Steve looked at Thor, indecisiveness written all over his face, if they got caught he was going to be the one getting the short end of the stick. If he came clean about everything he would be losing his job and everything he worked for, but if he helped Thor this one time he could keep his job, and even get a little something out of it and that's when it hit him.
"The truth is, we were never meant to fall in love." Steve said, taking Thor's hand in his. surprising the man.
"All the time we spent together, we grew closer until we couldn't pretend anymore. Given the fact that he was going to promote me to editor-" Steve said and Thor coughed looking at him with wide eyes and he just continued.
"It wasn't really ideal to come out with our relationship without having everybody else saying it was because of our relationship and not my hard work." Steve finished still holding Thor's hand.
"Are your parents aware?" The man asked as he looked at them unmoving, trying to find even the slightest sign of weakness.
"Well they don't actually, I was going to tell them this week."
"Do they live here in New York too?"
"Actually no, they live in Decorah, Iowa. We're going to visit them for Steve's birthday this weekend."
Thor said and Steve was actually surprised he remembered that from the conversation they had earlier.
Officer Fury still didn't look impressed but he let it slide.
"I'm going to control everything. I'm gonna be asking friends, parents and coworkers. You're going to be interviewed next week and if your answers don't match you already know the consequences."
He said before standing up and leaving them sitting there and looking at each other.
Finally out of the immigration office, Steve made his way towards the publishing house, stomping his feet in anger and ignoring Thor calling his name. Admittedly it was childish but Steve was really pissed off.
He was mad at him and himself. How did he manage to get himself into this trouble? It's not like he gained anything out of it, the promotion yes, but that was long overdue he deserved it a long time ago.
He just wanted all this to be a nightmare, where he was going to wake up in a reality where his boss only acknowledged his presence for work and never asked for a personal favor such as marrying him, but life didn't quite work that way.
Thor saw the anger and sadness in Steve's eyes, he wanted to reassure him that everything was going to be fine but, how could he after that scary encounter they just had with who was possibly the scariest person ever? That would be a bold face lie.
"Steve? Please listen to me?" Thor pleaded as he walked to catch up with the other man, his demeanor softer than he’d ever shown anybody.
"What? Haven't you done enough? You heard what the officer said, two hundred and fifty thousand dollar fine and five years in federal prison if we get caught." Steve snapped as he turned around and poked the taller man in his chest, pushing him back and looking him dead in the eyes. "I know and I-"
Mad and reasonably so, he didn't let him finish because what on earth could he say to excuse being such a bad person?
"And what? You've never done anything for me, nothing, not days off, not even giving my books any chance, I'm tired."
Thor really couldn't come up with anything about everything he said maybe because they were partly true but all he could say was: "I'm sorry, okay? I promise you once this is over you'll be getting your promotion and I'll be out of your way in no time."
Steve looked a little more at ease, he wasn't happy but it calmed it down a bit.
"If you want this to work you gotta make this right, so propose like you mean it." Steve said, smirking as the words were finally out.
Thor wanted to say no, but the look on Steve's face told him that he either had to do so or the whole thing would be off. "Fine. Marry me." Thor said.
"You need to do it on one knee and with passion, like you actually mean it."
Thor rolled his eyes and got on one knee, holding Steve's hand as he said. "Steven Grant Rogers, you are the love of my life, my darling, will you make me the happiest man on earth and marry me?"
Before they both knew it a small crowd of people gathered around them cooing and smiling at them, Steve didn't mean for it to be this serious but seeing Thor in distress, being the one in control of the narrative for once was funny.
"Yes, sweetheart." He said and everyone cheered and applauded. Thor was about to stand up and walk away as fast as possible towards his car when someone yelled
"What about the ring?"
"Right, the ring?" Thor said and everyone laughed, he took the silver band encrusted in diamonds and slid it in the other man's finger and the cheers, cooing and applause were even more and louder.
Steve just laughed, a genuine laugh that maybe warmed Thor's heart and made him smile a bit.
"Show's over, bye." Thor said standing up and dragging Steve away from the crowd to his car.
"That was fun." Steve said as he put his seat belt on, Thor scoffed and started the car.
"To you."
"Yeah it was."