A/N: Eh, not sure how I really feel about this one. I feel like the plot kind of got away from me somewhere in the middle. Anyways, I hope you enjoy it! Fic inspired by the Taylor Swift song 'Begin Again'. And this it's unbeta'd, so sorry if there are any horrible mistakes.
Usual disclaimer: If I owned any of it, Darcy would have been in the Avengers movie.
Darcy took a deep breath and looked at herself in the mirror. She looked good, if she said so herself. She was rocking a pair of dark wash skinny jeans that she'd topped with a cream colored t-shirt and a jacket that she could never tell if it was supposed to be a lightish brown or a plumish color. And while spring was around the corner, it was still chilly enough that she also threw on one of her many scarves and her pink knitted hat with cat ears. But it was the shoes that she loved the most. She had found the awesome pair of grey knee-high boots in the clearance section of her favorite store and they had heels. Almost three inches of heels. While it had been a while since she'd broken up with her ex, she still wasn't over relishing the fact that she could wear heels without hearing Jake complain about her being taller than he was anytime they went out. Jake wasn't short, but dude had some serious issues about girls being taller than him.
One more look in the mirror and Darcy was satisfied with how she looked for the date her boss and everybody else she worked with had practically demanded she go on (Jane really needs to learn that 'secret crushes' are just that. A secret! Last time she talks to Jane about stuff like that). She grabbed her big purple bag and headed out the door, putting her headphones on as she waited for the elevator to take her down to the lobby so she could walk to the cafe she was meeting her date at. As Darcy was heading out the doors of the lobby and letting herself be pulled into the flow of people walking by, a certain song started playing on her ipod. She almost laughed out loud because of course this particular song would come up on shuffle today of all days. Jake had never understood Darcy's obsession with music, had never understood why she liked to delve into the meanings of lyrics in certain songs. This was one of those songs Jake just never 'got', which considering the history of their relationship, was more than a bit ironic to say the least.
It had only taken Darcy about five minutes to walk to the cafe on the corner of 5th & 42nd and while she was right on time, she walked in totally expecting her date to be late (Because every single guy she'd ever gone out with had. It's like the male species just doesn't understand the concept of time). So Darcy was surprised to see her date already there, waiting at a table for her. But then again, her date was Steve Rogers, Mr. More-American-Than-Apple-Pie himself, so it really shouldn't have been a surprise that he was on time.
Steve stands up when he sees her walk in and waves at her over the small crowd of people inside the cafe. Darcy walks over to the table and greets him with a shy smile and a quiet hello. Steve then does something that completely throws Darcy for a loop: he pulls out her chair and helps her sit down. She honestly can't remember the last time a guy pulled her chair out for her. Darcy's fairly certain that Steve was just acting on the Boy Scout manners his mother probably ingrained in him while growing up over 70 years ago, so she's sure that he has no idea how nice gestures like that really are to her. Maybe chivalry isn't dead after all. Maybe it was just frozen in ice for 70 years.
Darcy says that last bit out loud, causing Steve to throw his head back in laughter like a little kid. A waitress comes by to take their order (Steve raises an eyebrow when Darcy orders pancakes for lunch. "Pancakes are an anytime food." is her reply), and while they're waiting for their food and drinks to come out, Darcy says something else that makes Steve laugh. She thinks it's strange that Steve seems to think she's funny because Jake never thought she was.
Steve brings her back from her musings on her ex by continuing their conversation on the type of music they both like to listen to. He mentions that sometimes when he's feeling homesick for the 1940s, he'll listen to recordings of radio shows from his day. Darcy's eyes light up because she loves listening to the old radio shows and they start a lively debate about which one is the best (they both agree that The Bob Hope Show is the best). Their food comes out then and as they start to eat, Steve tells her that he's yet to meet somebody that likes to listen to the old radio shows from his day and Darcy makes a quip about hipsters that causes the most adorably confused look to appear on Steve's face.
As they continue eating, they both share stories. Most of his are of the team when they're called out, while most of hers are of the mad scientists that she helps wrangle in the labs. Darcy felt herself loosening up, enjoying her meal and the company, and becoming more at ease around Steve. He's not as intimidating sitting across from her in jeans and a sweater, digging into a double bacon cheeseburger and a basket of fries with some ketchup on his chin (and Darcy will denying it till her dying day that she had the briefest fantasy of licking said ketchup off of Steve's chin), as he is when she sees him around SHIELD and the tower.
Steve pays the bill when they're finished ("My treat. You can get the next one." he told her with a grin and a wink. A wink!), and since it was such a nice afternoon, they decide to walk to Bryant Park to enjoy the sun. As they head out the door, Steve puts on his aviators (they help hide his face he told her) and a hat Darcy hadn't noticed before. Combined with the leather jacket he also put on, he looks really, really good, and Darcy has a hard time not saying so out loud. Though she does make a smartass remark about his hat, to which he replies that someone wearing a pink hat with cat ears isn't allowed to comment on his choice of headwear. Darcy pouts and smacks his arm, which just makes Steve laugh.
When they're about halfway to the park, Darcy realizes that they're holding hands. She's not sure which one of them initiated the contact, but she doesn't have a problem with it and judging by the small smile on Steve's face, neither does he. As they enter the park, Darcy can't help but marvel at how well their hands seem to fit together. That was something else Jake just never could get right. Darcy had hated holding Jake's hand. (He always held her hand too tight and his hands always felt damp from the hand cream he was always putting on. Dude was practically OCD about not having dry hands. For their three month anniversary, he gave her a bottle of lotion. And not even the good kind! It was a bottle of some dollar store brand.)
She was about to bring up her ex when Steve started talking about all the movies Tony and Clint have been making him watch in order to catch him up on the 70 years of cinema that he missed. Darcy doesn't want to interrupt him with complaints about her ex and for the first time in eight months, she leaves the past in the past. She asks Steve if they've made him watch any of the more contemporary Disney animated movies and he says no. Darcy tells him that she's going to make him watch them all in order and she won't take 'no' for an answer because 1) Disney flicks transcend age so any arguments that he's too old to watch them are totally invalid and 2) they make a simple, straight-forward crash-course in how cultural attitudes have changed over the decades. With a laugh and "yes, ma'am", Steve stops at a bench to sit down and tugs Darcy down next to him.
They sit there enjoying the late afternoon sun, and just talk. They talk about any and everything. They continue the discussion of music from earlier and then move on to books and Darcy gives Steve a list of books that he must read. They also end up talking about food and television. She eventually starts telling him stories about her childhood, and he starts telling her stories of his best friend, Bucky, and of the Howling Commandos.
Later, as they head back to the tower, holding hands again, Steve tells her in a quiet voice that he's never told anyone that much about his past. Darcy doesn't know what to say, so she just hugs his arm and squeezes his hand. When they get back to the tower, they ride the elevator together up to the residential floors. Steve, ever the gentleman, walks her to the door of her suite and tells her how much he enjoyed their afternoon together. And then asks her if she'd like to go out again, maybe dinner next time? Darcy replies that she also enjoyed the afternoon and yes, she like to go to dinner with him and before she can stop herself, she gets up on her tiptoes and gives Steve a quick peck on the cheek before heading into her suite and shutting the door behind her.
She changes into some comfy clothes and curls up in one of her squishy chairs next to a window that overlooks the city. She thinks about the afternoon she had with Steve and she decides that she's glad she went on the date that Jane (and Tony and Pepper and Clint and Natasha and even Bruce and Gladys, the receptionist downstairs in the tower's lobby) had insisted she go on. It had been eight months since she'd broken up with Jake. Eight months she spent thinking that all love ever does is break and burn and end. Eight months she'd spent building up walls around her heart. And in less than a day, Steve Rogers had managed to chip away at most of them with his manners and charm. Darcy sits there, watching the busy streets below, and slowly realizes that on a random Wednesday in a cafe, she watched love begin again. And she smiles.
A/N: The song that comes up on Darcy's ipod is Paramore's 'For a Pessimist I'm Pretty Optimistic'.
The part where Darcy is talking about Disney movies is a reference to MaySoFarAway and her totally awesome Darcy/Steve fic 'Kids Movies' which you should all go check out! (also, what Darcy said to Steve in that part is a paraphrase of a line from ch. 2 of Kids Movies)
And if you'd like to see the outfits Darcy and Steve are wearing, I put them together on my polyvore: .com. They're labeled 'Wednesday In A Cafe' and 'Wednesday'.