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It was going to be perfect. The other Avengers were all on a mission somewhere and Steve and (Y/N) were staying alone at the tower.
Together.
They'd been dating for just over two months, and despite having lived together in the tower for close to three years, it was something of a new relationship, but well established nonetheless. (Y/N) had a feeling Tony was very supportive of it, seeing as he'd organised for the pair to be alone all weekend.
In the two months since Steve and (Y/N) had started dating, they hadn't actually had much time alone. They'd always be interrupted or there'd be a mission but now, this weekend, they'd have each other all to themselves.
———
It was Friday night, or maybe Saturday morning, and Steve woke to feel (Y/N) disentangling herself from his arms, her comparatively negligible weight leaving the bed. Inwardly, Steve shrugged. She probably just woke up for some water or to go to the bathroom.
It wasn't until he heard the sudden splash that Steve realised something was wrong. He leapt out of bed, running as quickly as he could to the bathroom where (Y/N) was vomiting. She was hunched over the toilet, looking ashen, as she tried to stop herself. Steve crouched next to her, pulling back her hair, some of which already had vomit in it, before the vomit finally stopped, leaving lines of spit hanging from (Y/N)'s mouth.
She groaned, one hand moving to her roiling stomach in an attempt to massage it and alleviate some of the pain.
"Hey, (Y/N), it's alright, you're alright," Steve began murmuring, seeing the panic and shame flashing across her face. At his words, both emotions subsided and (Y/N)'s eyes began to well with tears as she hiccuped wetly. In all their time in the tower, (Y/N) had never been sick and it was unnerving to see the young woman so unwell and fragile.
Steve knew he had to do something, they couldn't stay near the toilet forever, so he flushed it and then began rubbing circles on (Y/N)'s lower back. She released a low moan of pain and fear as she felt her mouth pooling with saliva and a tickling feeling moving back into her throat.
Having been sick an awful lot as a child, Steve knew that while rubbing someone's lower back would make them vomit more, it'd help in the long run. Sure enough, (Y/N)'s body tensed and she threw herself forward as she began vomiting again. Steve kept rubbing, worried by the sheer volume of vomit coming from her and waited for it to, eventually, stop.
Steve stopped rubbing as (Y/N) began spitting into the toilet, her body convulsing as she dry retched, but it seemed that most of it was gone now. Then, the tears that had pricked her eyes before, began falling and (Y/N) was sobbing onto Steve's chest as the soldier held her against him, unmoved by (Y/N)'s sweat and vomit-covered hair touching him.
"(Y/N), how're you feeling? Do you want to get back into bed? I can bring out a movie if you'd like?" Steve said as the sobbing began to subside and the young woman began hiccuping.
"'M sorry," was all (Y/N) replied, her voice wavering and hoarse from crying and vomiting. Steve slowly prised himself away from her grip, grabbed the glass of water from beside the sink and gave it to her.
"Not an issue, (Y/N/N). Take small sips, ok?" (Y/N) gave a small nod in response and Steve almost cried out as she took a massive gulp, only to find she was just rinsing our her mouth. Then, she began taking small sips, just as Steve had directed. He'd been so focused on his girlfriend that he was surprised to find he was still standing, looking down at (Y/N), legs bent beneath her as she clasped both hands around the cup like a child.
(Y/N)'s face was flushed and her eyes were still wet. Occasionally, a small tear would escape her and renew the paths of other tears down her cheeks. Then, (Y/N) put down the glass quickly, at an angle. It tipped, the remaining water spilling out, and (Y/N) put both hands over her mouth.
Inwardly, Steve swore, before crouching down to pull back her hair once more. "(Y/N), you've gotta let it out now."
"I don't want to," (Y/N) hiccuped. Then, her body tensed and vomit came right out through her fingers. Once again, tears were pouring out her eyes as she waited for the onslaught to stop. Steve has only seen (Y/N) cry a couple of times and it was unnerving to see the normally cheerful Avenger so upset and unwell. Finally, it stopped and Steve let go of (Y/N).
She made a small whimper as the larger man's body heat left her, but Steve was busy placing one towel over the spilled water and dampening another to wipe off (Y/N)'s vomit-covered fingers and hair.
Steve took (Y/N)'s hands, her left then her right, and gently rubbed them down, removing the vomit. Then, he refilled the water and gave it to her to sip as he cleaned her hair, making a mental note to properly wash her hair when she was feeling a little better.
(Y/N) hiccuped quietly and miserably as Steve rubbed the towel over the dirtiest parts of her hair, removing the vomit and whispering what he hoped were comforting words. As he rubbed her hair, the towel brushed over (Y/N)'s neck.
The relief this brought was immense and (Y/N) accidentally let out a small moan, so Steve brought back a clean corner and held it there, soothing (Y/N)'s feverish skin. Mentally, Steve cursed himself for failing to realise his girlfriend was running a fever. He ran naturally hot, due to the serum he assumed, and occasionally found it difficult to distinguish when someone was warm and when they were merely warm because of him. Not only this, but he really should've realised she would have a fever when she was being sick like this.
Once she was clean again, Steve carried (Y/N) back to their bed, tucking her in with two pillows behind her back. Then, he quickly fetched her a bin, "just in case" and finally left to go and find some fever reducers or something for nausea.
(Y/N), feeling exhausted, guilty and cold, shuffled down in bed, allowing herself to more or less lie down. Unfortunately, sleeping when she was this cold was apparently unreasonable and chills wracked through her body as she curled into a ball.
"Jarvis, heat please," she murmured, knowing full well the robot could hear her.
"Sorry Miss (L/N). You have no clearance over the thermostat when you are feverish," the robot replied and (Y/N) let out a small groan of defeat, tears welling in her eyes at how badly she felt and how unfair it all was.
Somewhere, a small part of her mind was trying to tell her that if she was crying over something like this, something must be very wrong with her. Unfortunately, (Y/N) ignored it.
Finally, Steve returned. He held a tray with all sorts of items on it, including two different packs of medicine, some ginger ale and water crackers and a cup of peppermint tea. Upon seeing (Y/N), curled away from him in a shivering ball, he had Jarvis turn up the heat just a few degrees and set the tray on the floor, before moving around the bed so that he could see (Y/N)' s face.
"Hey, (Y/N/N), what's wrong? Do you want to sleep?"
(Y/N) gave a small shake of her head. "Alright, then I've brought some things to help you and we'll watch a movie. How does that sound?"
This time, Steve received a small nod, and (Y/N) began pulling herself back into a sitting position. Seeing she was wearing only a pyjama t-shirt, Steve fetched a small blanket to drape around her shoulders and warm the young woman.
It didn't take much effort to convince (Y/N) she'd be better off with the tablets inside her, and it took less effort to convince her to drink some ginger ale too. Then, Steve set up the movie and settled himself against the pillows, close enough to (Y/N) that she could reach out and lie on him if she wanted, but far enough that she wouldn't feel cramped.
It took only ten minutes before (Y/N) was forced to accept that she was tired and slid down to rest her head on Steve's shoulder, the larger man adjusting himself for her to do so. Then, thirty minutes later, (Y/N) was well and truly asleep and Steve moved her head down into his lap so she wouldn't wake up with a sore neck.
Apparently (Y/N) wasn't quite as asleep as Steve had thought, a muffled "sorry, you don't need to be here," escaping her.
"I'll always be here, (Y/N/N)."