This is nice

Summary: When Steve asks you, his friend and co-worker, to join him for a hike, you had no idea with would end where it did.

Words: 2049

Ship: Steve Rogers x Reader

Warnings: A little Angst, a little fluff.

A/N: I saw a prompt list somewhere (lost it again) that mentioned the bold sentence and this story popped into my head immediately, so I had to write it. Hope you like it!

Feel free to send feedback!

"I cannot believe you talked me into this!" with shaking hands you checked the safety on your harness, before moving closer to the edge. Edge of a cliff that is. This was not what you had in mind when you woke up this morning. Behind you Steve snorted loudly as he too moved to the edge. He looked down and grinned, that didn't bode well.

"Oh that really is high," he said, a smirk forming on his face as he looked at you.

"You're mean" you groaned before chuckling as you met his twinkling eyes. That spark in his beautiful blue eyes always gave you a warm feeling in your stomach, but you'd be damned if you let him know that. Especially right now. Still, that twinkling made you do things you normally wouldn't do. Like abseiling.

"I'll race you," he was trying to goat you and you knew it. You liked competition. Usually. Not this time though. As much as you wanted to put on a brave face, this scared you.

"I just want to live to tell the tale here, Steve"

"Oh, come on" he exclaimed, rolling his eyes at your dramatics.

"What, I am terrified!" no lie there.

"You've done scarier things"

"Sure, in matters of life or dead. And with Adrenaline coursing through me. Not for fun"

"The adrenaline will come" he wiggled his eyebrows, making you snort. Very attractive that was.

"Not sure why I hang out with you" you joked, before adjusting the look on your features and added, "Just know this: If I die, I WILL haunt you"

He laughed loudly and began descending, "see you down there".

A shiver went down our spine as you looked down again. Heights were never your favourite, even if you had to admit that the view was magnificent. So how the hell did a simple hike turn into this?

That morning you had woken up early and planned to go to the gym. However, just as you were about to leave you room, Steve had burst in, loudly asking if you were up yet. A smile formed on your face as you thought of it. If you had not been awake yet, that surely would've done it.

You had just rolled your eyes at his antics, while stepping out of the adjoining bathroom, looking at him with a slight frown. He beamed at you, asking if you were up for a hike.

Since the gym had never been your favourite way of working out, it didn't take much for you to accept and drop your plan of going there. Besides, it was high time you explored the area around the compound. You'd been living there for months now and hardly got out if it weren't for missions.

Then again that had been self preservation. With your luck, you'd get lost on your own and that would be beyond embarrassing.

Your excitement to explore had clouded your better judgement and you had completely forgotten about Steve's tendency to seek out danger. The captain had turned out to be quite the adrenaline junkie. Not necessarily something you shared. You just shared the love for the outdoors.

Sighing you pulled the robe and turned around so your back now faced the wonderful view. Checking the line one more time, you rolled your shoulders in hopes that it would help them relax a little. Then you took a tentative first step down, and another, and another. So far so good.

A mere 15 minutes later you were dripping in sweat and only halfway down. If you had not been so scared, it would have gone much quicker. If you weren't so scared you would've taken leaps instead of small steps. But your legs were shaking as it was and you weren't risking your arms giving out as well.

Steve was already touching down and yelled up at you to hurry. You couldn't blame him, you were keeping him up. And after this, there was still the hike back to the compound. Surely he wanted to be back by lunch time. Or at your current rate, before dark, you thought grimly.

Caught up in your thoughts, you failed to focus on the placement of your feet. And as you placed your right foot on a lose stone, it dislodged. A moment of terror went through you as you slipped and fell several meters down, screaming loudly. You grasped at the robe that was supposed to guide you down, burning your hands in the process. Finally you caught it properly and stopped your fall.

Completely out of breath, you placed your feet firmly on the rock again, trying to steady yourself and your outrageously fast beating heart. The muscles in your legs were shaking like jelly and your hands were burning as they held the robe tightly. This did not help your fear of heights.

You could hear Steve screaming from below and you chanced a quick glance down at him. The black spots that swarmed your vision made you regret the action and you quickly turned back. You tried to count the petals on a small flower in front of you. Perhaps this could help you regain some focus. The height you were presently at wasn't as bad any more, but it was still a bit of a climb and in your current state it seemed insurmountable.

"Stay there," Steve's voice sounded frantic, "I'm coming".

You wanted to reply, say you were fine, but the words didn't come. Your mouth was dry and your throat sore. Apparently the fall had you lose most motor functions and all you were able to do was hang tight as you waited for him to came to your rescue. It mortified you, the need to be rescued, but you knew there was no way you could get down on your own accord at this point.

After what seemed like hours but was most likely no more than a few minutes, Steve's hand grabbed at your waist. At last you felt like you could relax a little. A long sigh escaped your lips as you leaned your head on his shoulder for a second.

"Are you okay?" his mouth was close to your ear and you could feel his breath on your hair. Still no sound would come from your lips and you offered a nod instead, before straightening up.

Slowly Steve began to lead you down the last bit. Taking small steps, giving you time to control your movements. Bit by bit your confidence returned as did the use of your legs. They still shook slightly, but were no longer like jelly.

"I'm good" you whispered, more to yourself than to him.

"I know" though he didn't let go, his hand still firmly on your waist.

"Thank you"

"Couldn't have you haunt me"

You sniggered, before sighing loudly in relief as your feet touched down on solid ground. You leaned into Steve heavily, as you let your heartbeat return to a normal speed. His arms were wrapped around your waist as he let you catch your breath.

"Let's get you home" he said after a few minutes.

His arm remained around your waist as he supported your weight during the hike back to the compound. Luckily it was mostly down hill now, making it easier and much quicker than the way up had been this morning.

As you reached the compound Steve took you into the infirmary to check out your hands, which were red and raw from robe burn. They applied a cream to ease the burn and wrapped them up in bandages, before sending you on your merry way. Steve then took you to your room, where he told you to lie down.

"I'm fine" you tried to convince him.

"You should rest" Steve pressed, his jaw was tight and you could tell there was more he wanted to say.

"I really am fine, Steve" you tried to look into his eyes but he avoided your line of sight. You could tell he felt guilty and you wanted none of that. You had slipped, it could have happened anywhere and at any time. You weren't exactly known for your grace.

"I...I am so sorry. You didn't even want to do it in the first place" his voice was strained.

"Hey, stop that. I could have walked around," you placed your bandaged palms on his cheeks and forced him to look at you.

"I pushed you" the little shit closed his eyes and you sighed irritated. He wasn't making this easy.

"You know how stubborn I can be. There is no pushing me into anything that I don't want to do"

"But I..."

"Steve, seriously!"

"I was so scared, when I saw you slip"

"Me too" you chuckled, you hands still on either side of his face, "But now I am fine. Truly. A little tired maybe, a little hungry" finally he looked into your eyes.

"I will get you some food"

"See, you know the way to my heart."You were hoping the light hearted joke would ease some of the tension in his body. He felt too responsible for everyone and everything already. He didn't need this added to the weight on his shoulders. He nodded and walked out.

"Come sit with me" much quicker than you had imagined, Steve returned with food and stood awkwardly as he gave it to you. You took his hand in yours, using your bandage free fingers to rub it. His guilt was still apparent on his features and you weren't sure how to alleviate it. It really wasn't necessary.

"Want to watch a movie?" perhaps showing that you still wanted him around would help.

He nodded and you walked to the drawer that held your collection, asking him what he preferred. Settling on a comedy, you sat back down on your bed and patted the spot next to you. Silently he sat down, his body still rigid as he placed his back against the headboard.

Somewhere during the movie, sleep took a hold on you and your head fell onto his shoulder.

He wrapped his arm around you and pulled you closer to him, making you hum slightly, content.

When the credits rolled, you woke up. Finding that your head was on Steve's chest and your arm around his waist, while his arm was still around your shoulders.

"This is nice" you whispered without thinking, half asleep still. Soon, the realization shocked you fully awake. Your eyes went wide and you stayed completely still as you waited to see if he heard it. Perhaps he was asleep. A girl could hope.

"Yes it is," his soft voice replied. His fingers rubbing circles on your shoulder.

You turned your head to look up at him and he smiled down on you lazily. His demeanour told you that he too had fallen asleep at some point. But he was obviously awake now.

"Really nice" he added, the soft gaze intensified as he locked eyes with yours.

You weren't sure how to explain what happened next, but you reached up as he bent his neck towards you. Your eyes still staring into his as his lips hovered over yours, barely touching. Your stomach started doing back flips as your heart started beating out of control. Both of you seemed hesitant to close the remaining millimetres.

Yet finally, his eyes glanced down at your lips, before coming back to your eyes and he pressed down in a soft peck.

Quickly he pulled back, looking at you expectantly and you smiled before closing the distance once more. You moved the hand that was on his waist, slowly trailing to his neck, pulling him even closer and deepening the kiss. The arm around your shoulders slowly was placed on your lower back while his other hand found it's way to your cheek.

The kiss seemed to last forever.

"Really nice" he breathed as you separated for a second. Smiling he pulled you back in. Yes, really nice, you silently agreed.