Steve sat at the bar in the common room, his tie off and somewhere on the floor.
He was onto his third beer, and the music was starting to get on his nerves.
No-one else was around. As far as he knew, he was the only person to come back from the reception early, while everyone else still tried to make a night of it.
"Hey."
He turned his head and spied Darcy coming toward the bar, carrying the majority of her long dress in her arms, her legs on display.
She swapped whatever she was wearing earlier for a scuffed pair of Vans, and Steve knew those sneakers well.
She wore them every day to work.
"Hey," he said. He watched her come sit beside him, leaning her elbows on the bar's countertop.
She plucked the veil from her head and tossed it aside.
"People wondered where you went."
"Well, I'm here now," she said, giving a small smile that lacked any real joy. "So people can stop looking."
No-one was looking for Darcy. She was the one who called off the wedding, leaving her groom to explain to everyone that she left him.
With the ceremony cut short, Steve headed to the reception with everyone else, but he couldn't enjoy any of it.
"They're not looking for you."
"I guessed not," she sighed. "You drinking?"
"Yeah."
"I won't start. Because then I won't stop."
Steve tried to look her in the eye, but she seemed lost in dark thoughts.
"What the hell happened, Darcy? What did he do?"
Kevin the groom was nice enough, in his own perfectly ordinary way, and Steve supposed that was a comfort to people who were in this line of work. The craving for normalcy could still be so strong.
"I realized I didn't love him."
Steve shouldn't have asked. He wasn't the type of person to dispense good advice. Instead of saying something worthwhile, he just muttered:
"Yeah, that'd do it."
She burst out laughing at that, and kept going until she slumped forward in her seat, smothering the sound with her arms, shaking all over.
Steve could only stare at her until her laughter finally died down and she wiped at her eyes with her hand, sighing.
"Oh, fuck. I think I'm actually cracking up right now."
Steve just nodded, and Darcy rolled her eyes.
"I realized he wanted me to fit into his life and I knew I never would. And then, I knew I didn't love him anymore."
"Just like that?" Steve asked, taking a sip from his beer.
"Just like that," she echoed. "And now I'm in this stupid dress because I'm a literal runaway bride. I threw off my shoes and jumped into a cab."
She gestured to her dress. "Can you believe I had to fight to not have a train as well?"
"Is that the part at the end?" Steve asked, and she nodded.
"Yeah."
"It's a nice dress, though," he said.
Darcy smiled at that, shrugging one shoulder.
"Why are you here all alone?" she asked, and it was Steve's turn to shrug as well.
She knew Darcy well enough that he wasn't easily embarrassed around her. The problem was that she made him feel so comfortable he missed her when she wasn't there.
He only went to the wedding because she invited him.
"Didn't feel like partying."
"Me, neither," Darcy murmured, and sighed again.
She made the point to pout, but humor left her seconds later, and Steve saw her throat bob with emotion.
"I don't feel like I fit anywhere. I don't belong. Not with you enhanced guys, not with the other people outside of work."
Her words surprised him, because Steve always thought she was happy living in New York working with the Avengers.
"Kevin said I should get used to being alone if I kept acting like this. He said that when I said the wedding was off."
Steve frowned, and saw her eyes start to well with tears.
"Oh, well," she mumbled, sucking in a breath before letting it go in a shaky exhale. "Maybe marriage isn't for me."
"Darcy."
Steve touched her arm, making her blink and glance at him, eyes wider.
"You belong wherever you go. You make everyone else around you feel like they're home."
Darcy just stared back at him for a pregnant pause, causing Steve to finally look away, his fingers slipping from her skin to the bar.
She turned from the bar and hopped off her stool.
"You want to get out of here?"
Steve would say – if anyone asked – that he went with her because he was worried about her wellbeing, going from laughing to sobbing and all. The truth was he hoped they could be alone for months, ever since he met her.
She took his hand and they went to the elevator, and before Steve could quite register what was happening, she slammed the emergency stop button and crowded him into a corner, reaching for him.
They kissed, and soon her tongue was sweeping into his mouth, making him sigh and moan like he was touch-starved, when in reality Steve was just surprised this was actually happening.
"This was meant to be my wedding night," she gasped, as he kissed her neck, trailing down to her heaving chest.
"I'm not complaining," she added, her hands on Steve's fly, pulling it down and reaching inside to cup him, making him buck against her. "I just thought it was funny."
"Just a different kind of wedding night," Steve whispered, and Darcy stroked his cock to life.
Reality set in and he lifted her, placing her on the rail, his hands in her skirts to find her underwear.
A tiny white thong with a little pink bow was what Steve pulled down and threw aside, and he could feel her soaking his fingers when he grazed her slit, her hips canting toward him.
Steve spat on his hand, and palmed his dick while Darcy watched with dark eyes, her chin lifted.
He shoved her against the metal of the wall as he pushed inside her, her cunt tighter than he expected, making him almost freeze up as he seated inside her.
So maybe it had been a while since Steve fucked somebody, but Darcy didn't seem to mind, kissing his face, letting her tongue tease his top lip.
She sucked his tongue into her mouth and Steve moved in shallow thrusts before Darcy began to moan, and then he just wanted to hear that sound over and over.
"Fu-uck," she moaned, and Steve obliged, Darcy's hands everywhere until they settled on the railing.
The legs were in the air, the dress covering the majority of her still.
Steve was aware that his pants were down to his ankles but his jacket still covered his ass.
"Touch my clit," she hissed, and Steve fumbled, holding her up with one arm while his other hand snaked down amongst the skirts, searching.
She sucked in a breath when he rubbed in the wetness he couldn't see.
"Up higher – yes, there, fuck," she moaned, getting louder as Steve pressed and rubbed in rough circles.
It was like 'fuck' was her favorite word, but Steve loved how lost she was in her own pleasure, and she was soon convulsing around him, grunting as he never slowed down –
He shoved in as deep as he physically could and came, shuddering against her, his forehead resting against the metal wall.
Once they parted and got their clothes back on, Steve finally pressed the emergency stop button again to revive the elevator.
"Worse ways to spend my wedding night," Darcy muttered to herself, patting her hair that stuck up at the back.
They locked eyes and smiled, both their faces wet with sweat.
Steve supposed it was best that her dress was covering her thighs that showed the mess they made together.