Author's Note: Hello all, it's me again with the sequel to Just Another Day in Paradise called Love in the 21st Century! I'm so excited to be writing this sequel (the first sequel I've ever done) and I was so happy at all the positive reaction that Just Another Day in Paradise received. Like I said before this will follow Steve and Natasha during their dating and how they handle dating in the 21st century. Of course if you haven't read Just Another Day in Paradise then you probably should before reading this. Also you all should listen to the Neon Tree's song "Love in the 21st Century" because it gave me some inspiration and the title of this fic. Also want to say that I wrote this whole thing on my phone because I knew I needed to get this up for you guys. So happy late New Years! As always I'm sorry if anyone is too OOC. Here is Chapter 1: "You've Got My Cellphone Number." This chapter's title comes from "Cell Phone #" by Plain White T's.
Steve Rogers has never been in a cellphone store before and doubted he would ever return. Tons of people were in the tiny space bustling around looking at the newest models, accessories, etc. while about a hundred more people sat on benches anxiously waiting for one of the three employees to call them up to fix whatever problem they came there with.
"Come on, Cap," began Tony Stark as he pointed to a row of phone models against the wall. "Let's go get you a phone."
"Tony wait up! I-I'm really not liking the crowd," said Bruce Banner as he ran after Tony.
Steve sighed as he followed after them, pushing his way through all the people. How did I end up here again? That all had to do with his girlfriend, Natasha Romanoff, and the dinner they had about three nights ago.
It'd been about 6 weeks since the dance which meant it'd been 6 weeks since Steve and Natasha had started dating. Most of their dates had just consisted of them having dinner and working on something on his list. That's what that night was going to be.
Natasha had been on a mission for about two weeks to look into what they believed might be experimentation on orphans in Eastern Europe. She was just getting home that night and Steve was happy to have her back. He'd really be missing her and hadn't had anyway to get in touch with her.
She'd not been allowed to use the phone in her apartment as she was pretending to be an employee at a scientific research firm and they were afraid that the company might have been suspicious and be tracking the phone. She'd had her cellphone (Tony had made it to where all of the teams cellphones couldn't be hack into or tracked) but Steve didn't own any type of phone, cell or house, and Natasha certainly wouldn't pick up from a strange payphone number.
Steve didn't have a house phone because he wasn't ever really at his apartment much except for nights. He felt it would be pretty useless to pay a bill on something he didn't really get use out of. As for a cellphone, Steve didn't like cellphones. They had too many features and those buttons called apps and appeared frustrating enough to those who'd had them forever so Steve could only imagine how he would fair with one. Plus neither a cellphone nor a house phone were as nice as talking with someone face to face.
It certainly was very nice to talk to Natasha face to face when she walked through the door that night. When Steve heard the door open he quickly ran out of the kitchen and over to hug her as she dropped her bags on the floor. He picked her up in a big bear hug before setting her down and moving his arms around her waist. "Glad to be back?" he asked.
"So glad," she began as she put her arms around his neck and smiled up at him. "I literally got off the plane and came straight over here."
"Is that why you still have the lab coat and glasses?" he asked.
"And these pain in the ass heels," she said. "How about I go shower and change while you finish dinner?"
He smiled. "Dinner's done."
She looked surprised. "Oh really? Well what are we having? I would hope you're treating me to a wonderful four course meal to welcome me back."
"How about burgers and crinkle fries?" he asked.
She titled her head back and forth before finally saying, "Well its not the meal I was expecting but considering I've been living off cold potatoes and strange meats and its taken be back to my childhood more than I wanted I think burgers sound good." She then kissed his cheek as she let him go to grab her bag and headed toward his bathroom.
So Steve went and prepared their burgers on paper plates as he listened to the shower run. He was surprised Natasha had come straight there. Sure, they'd had plans to meet but he had expected her to at least stop at her apartment before coming over. Maybe she had been missing him as much as he'd been missing her.
When she came into the kitchen she looked much more comfortable. She'd changed into a pair of black sweatpants, a black tee shirt, and she was drying her wet hair with one of his towels. "So what are we working on tonight?" she asked sitting down at the table.
"Uh, let me check." He pulled out his tiny notebook with his list. "Um, Clint suggested the movie Deliverance so maybe we can work on that. He gave me a DVD."
"I bet you can squeal like a pig," Natasha quoted.
Steve got confused. "What?"
Natasha shook her head. "It's a reference to the movie. Good movie, but it can get a little odd though." Natasha looked at the food in front of her. "Hey, how about we just go in your living room and eat while we watch?"
Steve paused for a moment. "Mom told me food was meant to eat at the table."
Natasha then went over and grabbed his arm and his plate. "Steve it's not the 1940s; its the 21st century. Come on."
So they went into his living room and she started up the movie then plopped down on the couch beside him to begin watching.
After they finished eating Natasha laid down against his chest and wrapped his arm around her. He could smell her freshly washed hair and didn't even mind that it was getting his shirt damp. Gosh he'd missed her so much.
She must have been thinking about the same thing because suddenly she said, "I missed you."
"I missed you too," he said, "a lot."
"It was kind of weird not seeing you for two weeks or even hearing from you," she said, "I felt pretty lonely."
"Me too," he said.
They both paused a moment to watch as Ed and Bobby tried to get the injured Lewis up on a rock with his broken leg and started looking for Drew. Finally Natasha started talking again.
"Maybe you should get a cellphone. It'd be easier for us to keep in touch that way if one, or both, of us are on a mission or something."
Steve paused. It was true that a cellphone would help them keep in touch better but Steve still wasn't sure how much good a cellphone would do him if he couldn't work it. "Maybe but cellphones seem to be kind of confusing. I mean I've had a hard enough problem setting that DVD player up."
"You could always get a flip phone with the big letters," she said. "You know what people your age normally get."
"Haha funny," he began as he kissed her forehead. "I'll think about it ok. Now let's just finish this movie."
And that had been the end of that conversation. But for the next two days Steve could not stop thinking about it. He would think about how much he didn't think he'd like a cellphone but then he would also think about missing Natasha and how much they would be away on missions and how he'd love to keep in touch with her.
Finally he broke down and decided he'd at least go look for a cellphone. Considering he didn't really understand anything about them he decided to call the two guys he assumed knew a lot about technology: Tony and Bruce.
Tony was excited to help Cap 'catch up to this century' and told him he's get him the coolest phone money could buy. Bruce told Steve that he didn't actually own a phone, the sudden ringing would sometimes startle him, his heart rate would go up, and he'd start hulking out. But he did say they he'd come to help keep Tony away from the expensive, confusing phones and help Steve pick out one he could actually use.
And that's what lead to the current moment. When Steve caught up to then Tony was holding a watch not a phone but a watch. "Found the perfect thing for ya, Cap. It's an Apple Watch Edition, 18 karat gold, a phone and a stylish timepiece. Come on how cool is this?"
Steve stared at the watch and just blinked. He thought cellphones were weird enough and now they could be put into watches?
Bruce noticed Steve's confusion. "Tony, Cap won't be able to use that. He needs something with good technology but easy to use."
So the hunt continued and by the end of it Steve was having a headache. All this talk about 3g, 4g, 32 gigs, 16 gigs, contacts, upgrades, data, cameras, Apple, Android, cases, etc., was driving Steve insane. If it wasn't for Natasha he'd probably left the store the moment he came in.
In the end Bruce helped Steve find a sturdy flip phone with a good battery life and big letters, much to Tony's disapproval that it was too lame.
When they got into car, Steve was still looking over his phone, trying to learn all the functions. "Can I call Natasha? I want to surprise her."
"If she'll pick up for you," said Tony, "She'll probably be a little wary of a number she doesn't know."
"I'll still try," said Steve, "Can you give me her number?"
So Tony gave Steve the number and he called.
No answer.
"Maybe if you keep trying she'll just get mad and answer," said Tony.
So Steve kept calling, three more times. On the fourth try she picked up, frustrated. "Look whoever this is you obviously have the wrong number because-"
"Hello Natasha," began Steve, cutting her off.
"Steve?" she said, confused. "Wait whose phone are you on?"
"Mine. I got one so we could keep in touch," he said, "So maybe I wouldn't miss you as much."
"Aren't you a sweetheart," she said in a playful voice. "Hey how about I come over tonight and help you put some contacts in your phone and stuff. I'll bring a pizza and we can work on something else on your list."
Steve pulled out his list, looked at it, and said, "Tony suggested the Godfather movies a few weeks ago."
"Good choice!" shouted Tony.
Natasha must have heard him and laughed, "He's right. Good choice. Ok I'll see you tonight. Bye."
"Bye," said Steve and he smiled. He had to admit that it was nice to talk to her on this phone.
Later that night Natasha showed up at Steve's door with two pizzas and a twelve pack of Pepsi in hand. "Well if it isn't the man who finally caught up to the present."
"Hey," he said as he took the pizzas and Pepsi and kissed her cheek.
"So," she said as they went into the kitchen "can I see it?"
"Sure," he said, pulling it out of his pocket and handing it to her.
"A flip phone with big letters," she said smiling.
"Best for people my age," he said.
She laughed. "Do you have any contacts in it yet?" she asked.
"Only you for now," he said.
"Well I'll help you put some more in. Certainly all of the team. For now though let's fix your background."
"Fix it? What do you mean?" he asked.
"Hang on," she said as she pulled out her phone, tapped around on it, then took his phone and tapped around on it. He wondered what she was doing.
"There," she said and held out his phone to him.
He took it from her and that when he noticed the background of his phone was different. It was a picture of him and Natasha from the dance, him in his uniform, her in that red tea dress. His arm was around her shoulder as they both smiled at the camera.
Steve smiled at the phone then at Natasha who grinned at him from over her can of Pepsi.
"Thanks Nat," he said.
"You're welcome," she said. "Now 'leave the gun, take the cannoli' and lets go get these movies started." She quickly hopped up, grabbed a box of pizza, and headed to the living room.
Steve looked down at his phone and that picture again until a little box popped up saying he had a new message. He pressed ok to open it and noticed it was from Natasha. It read: Left my Pepsi on the table. Bring it.
Steve shouted out to his living room. "Are you going to do this even we're face to face?"
His phone dinged again. Another message: Just until I know you can get the hang of texting for when I'm away. Now reply to this.
Steve couldn't help but sigh and smile at the same time. He decided just to do as she said. But when he looked at the phone he just saw the numbers and the tiny letters above them. How was he going to get to 'ok'?
As if she was a mind reader she shouted out, "Keep pressing the button til you get to the letter you want."
About that time Natasha's phone buzzed. She looked at Steve's message: Nk
Well...he'd get the hang of it.
So here everything starts. Now let me explain that this story is almost more like a collection of one shots than like a classic chapter fic except that they are all connected but the overall plot doesn't really have any conflict or anything; it's just Steve and Natasha's adventures in dating. Sorry that I didn't get this up before New Years like I planned but I was close enough. I don't start school until the 20th so maybe I can get the next chapter up by then. In the next chapter, Steve and Natasha attend a couples Halloween party (why am I writing about Halloween in January, well this takes place after Just Another Day In Paradise which starts in early August and ends in early Sept. so this starts like a week before Halloween). Anyway I really hope you all enjoy this story. Don't forget to follow to keep up with updates. As always reviews and constructive criticism are much appreciated! See y'all next chapter! ;D