She had seen him before; with Steve. Coming and going every so often. But he kept to himself. Occasionally, he would smile at her. Or wave and say hi. A slight smile on his face when he did. He always seemed like he wanted to say something. But it was like he couldn't figure out what. She wanted to have a pleasant conversation with him. But it was hard. Especially with the boyfriend she had.
He was so controlling; manipulative and cold. Even downright abusive. Always telling her how to dress, what to do, when to cook, what to cook, where she could go... It was something she had grown accustomed to, sadly. She didn't dare let him catch her staring at any other guys in public. Even if she knew them. And she hid her bruises so well, nobody suspected anything.
"Alex!" She felt a pain shoot through her arm, and she brought her attention to the man next to her. His facial expression was one of annoyance. She held her hand over the sore spot on her arm. "Did you hear anything I just said?" His voice was harsh.
"Hm? Oh. Um..." She stammered and looked down. "I'm sorry. I was lost in thought." Alex admitted.
"You know I hate repeating myself." David fumed and rolled his eyes. "God, you're so useless..." He muttered. Alex nodded in agreement. "Anyway," David began, "you need to make dinner for four tonight." Alex furrowed her eyebrows.
"We're having guests?" She asked, smiling slightly. "Who?" Alex couldn't help but feel excited. David gave her an odd look. As if she had just insulted him.
"Steve and his emo friend with the weird arm." He replied, the tone of his voice seemed to convey frustration. Alex felt her heart speed up, and she had to force herself to not smile. She liked both of them, and was excited at the thought of getting to know Steve's friend a bit more. A sudden smack to the face made her yelp in both surprise and pain.
"Mn!" Alex whimpered softly and held her hand to her stinging cheek.
"Stop lazing around, and get dinner ready." David hissed at her, looking quite irritated. Alex merely nodded, and stood up from the couch. "You'll need to head to the store to get the stuff." Again, she just nodded.
About two hours later, Alex headed up the apartment stairwell. She had three bags in each hand, and was struggling to make it up the stairs.
"Alexandra?" She didn't even hear the voice as she struggled with the bags. "Hey, Alexandra!" The voice called a littler louder. Startled, Alex turned around as she lost her grip on one of the bags.
"Oh - !" Before she could finish, a hand shot out and caught the bag before it hit the ground. She looked up and found herself staring at Steve Rogers. His blond hair, bright blue eyes and goofy smile brought a smile to her own lips. "Thanks, Steven." She smiled, and tried to take the bag from him.
"You're the only one who calls me that." He chuckled softly, and held the bag out of her reach. "Let me help you." Steve said. Before Alex could protest, he grabbed three more bags from her and carried two in each hand.
"You're the only one who calls me Alexandra." She replied, walking up the stairs beside him.
"Well," he began, letting out another chuckle, "I'm pretty old-fashioned like that." She looked up at him and laughed as he flashed her a playful smile.
"I won't argue with that." Alex teased, prompting Steve to put his hand over his heart in an exaggeration of being offended. It was rare that Alex was able to be so playful. That was one of the reasons she liked hanging out with Steve.
"Making a big dinner, huh?" Steve teased. Alex stopped, and looked at him in confusion.
"But...David told me you and your friend - " She began, feeling somewhat confused and a little panicked.
"I was only kidding! I know about tonight." He reassured her, and stood in front of her. A bit of a worried look flashed across his features. But Alex was sure she imagined it.
"Oh! Sorry. I'm just a bit frazzled." She apologized with a smile. "I'll probably take a nap before I start cooking." Alex nodded as she started walking up the stairs again. Steve resumed walking beside her and opened the door to the stairwell for her. "Thanks." She smiled.
"I'd take a nap too, but..." Steve trailed off with a smile, and Alex nodded.
"Gotcha." She held up her hand and made an "OK" sign with her thumb and index finger. A soft laugh escaped her lips. They arrived at the door of Alex's apartment. "So, what time are you guys coming over?" She asked, setting her two bags down to search for her key.
"Dunno." Steve shrugged, and knocked on the apartment door. Alex could hear David rustling about inside. He had probably fallen asleep on the couch. "How about five-thirty?"
"Sounds good. Gives me about two and a half hours to get everything ready." Alex smiled and picked up her bags as David opened the door. He was in the process of mumbling about something, but stopped as soon as he saw Steve. His hair was tossled, and he squinted in the light. He wasn't wearing a shirt or pants.
"'Sup, Steve?" He nodded in his direction before shooting a glare at Alex. She knew she would be in for it once the door shut. Steve offered a friendly smile.
"Hey David. I was just telling Alexandra that we'll be over around five-thirty." He smiled at Alex, and then turned his attention back to David. "Good for you?" David nodded.
"Perfect. Let me take those." David replied in a pleasant tone that Alex could tell was forced. It made her uneasy, and she didn't want to go in and be alone with him. Steve handed off the groceries to David, and then smiled at them both.
"Alright then. See you guys in a bit." He waved to David, and then innocently patted Alex on the shoulder. He headed a few feet down the hall, and Alex watched him disappear into his apartment.
"Get...in...here..." David hissed in her ear. Before she had time to react, David grabbed her by the shirt and jerked her into the apartment. The door slammed shut behind him.
"H-hey!" Alex stammered as she stumbled into the apartment, just barely managing to stay balanced and keep a hold on the groceries. She placed the two bags on the floor, and then turned to face David. Before she could register what was happening, she felt her head jerk roughly to the side and she fell to the floor with a thud. Her jaw throbbed, and she held her hand against the side of her face.
"What was that?!" He growled at her, standing over her like a predator. She fearfully looked up at him through her lashes.
"Wh-what?" Alex stammered, her lower lip trembling.
"Don't play innocent with me." David crouched down, and roughly grabbed her chin as he forced her to look at him. "Why did he touch you?" Alex didn't understand what he was asking. David tightened his grip to the point that it became painful. But she didn't try to resist. That never did her any good anyway. "Are you cheating on me with that pretty boy super hero?" David whispered with venom in his voice.
"What?!" Alex whimpered as she shook. "Of course not! He just helped me up the stairs!" She explained, tears stinging in her eyes. David scoffed in a mocking way.
"He'd never want you anyway." He smirked, and roughly pushed her head away as he stood up. "Stupid slut..." Alex heard him say, before he gave her a swift kick in the side. She reflexively wrapped her arms around her stomach as a loud cry left her lips. The air left her lungs, and she set her head down on the floor as she struggled to regain her breath.