The long way home
Chapter four
As you sat in the food court and looked at the people rushing in and out around you, you were surprised by the passage of time. Time was going by so incredibly fast. It was already December and you truly felt that you had gotten into a grove here. You were comfortable, at ease. It felt like you belonged here. Classes were gruelling but, you still enjoyed them. And being away from your family was not so hard with the friends you had made. You had never expected to make those quite so easily.
You smiled when you saw Natasha waving as she walked your way. You moved a seat over towards the window, allowing Bucky, Steve and her to slide into the other seats. Natasha sat across from you, next to Bucky, who moved his chair so he sat as close as he could to her. You chuckled at the sight, while Steve pressed a kiss to the top of your head and sat down in the chair next to you.
You gave him a bright smile and said hello to the three of them.
All three of them had just returned from practice in their respective sports and were freshly showered. You on the other hand had been bent over in a chair in the library all afternoon and felt a little crumbled next to them. Then again, in your honest opinion, they tended to look like moviestars most of the time. You on the other hand felt more like the girl next door. Not ugly. Just not...as special. You would think twice to voice those thoughts though. A few weeks ago, you had and Natasha had been quick to berate you. It was sweet, but did nothing to lessen the feelings.
Uni however had been all you had hoped it would be and for some reason it almost felt too good to be true. Your friendship with Steve had picked up more easily than either of you could have guessed. And you had made new friends quite effortlessly. Which, you knew, was mostly thanks to Natasha's outgoing nature. She was funny, sarcastic and incredibly honest. Which most people seemed to like about her. Who could blame them? It was definitely something you loved about her.
You glanced to the side, watching Steve's profile while he spoke animately with Bucky. His hands waving frantically as he tried to explain something, but not finding the words to help him do so.
You smiled as you watched him, while you could hear Bucky's boisterous laughter as he kept repeating that he didn't understand Steve. Something told you that he understood very well what his friend was trying to say. He was just teasing him as Bucky so liked to do. Bucky seemed to thrive on banter, both with his friends and his girlfriend. Which was one of the reasons he and Natasha worked so well together.
After a few moments of gazing, you were quick to direct your eyes to the cup of tea before you. That was when you noticed Natasha looking your way. She winked at you before nodding her head to Steve. She was discreet, though you still checked to see if either of the men had noticed. You shook your head at her and she barked out a laugh. She didn't believe you. You could not really blame her, you didn't really believe it either.
While the men had not noticed the silent exchange, they did notice the laugh that had escaped Nat's mouth and she was quick to divert to attention back to them, telling Bucky to stop teasing Steve. Bucky laughed loudly and Steve's cheeks got a little more colour to them.
Natasha was smile sweetly before turning the conversation towards the match that weekend.
You could not help but smile as you thought back to their first match of the season. It had been a little while ago, but you still remembered the tone in Steve's voice when he had called you. He had been so nervous.
It had been late in the evening when your phone had buzzed. It pulled you from your slumber. If you had not been having trouble falling asleep that night, you might not even have heard it.
As it was, you did. Groggy you had reached for it, expecting a text, but as it kept buzzing you quickly realized it was a call. This had woken you up more and you had quickly turned on a night light, while sitting up straight. Luckily Natasha slept like a log or you would've had to deal with her sleep deprived anger.
With a whisper you answered the call, uncertain who would call at this time of the night. Of course, had you been more awake, you could have checked caller-id.
"Sorry to call this late" Steve's voice had sounded on the other end, unease clear in his tone.
Confused you assured him that it was fine and inquired why he was calling. When you heard the anxiety laced in his next words, you knew what you had to do. When you had been kids, there was one thing that would always help him. So five minutes later, you were meeting Steve outside of your dorm.
You walked around campus for hours listening to his fears, his worries. How he feared that he would muck it up that next day. That they would lose the game and he would be to blame.
To distract him you had changed the subject. Talked about your combined memories and shared interests. The sun was already peaking over the horizon when you said goodbye to a much calmer Steve.
It had surprised you that he would still get so nervous. If you were to believe Bucky, and you did, Steve had been praised for his game ever since his first year of playing back in high school. It had made you wonder how much of the shy little boy that you had known so long ago, was still inside of him.
You pondered who he had talked to, when things made him anxious, before reuniting with him this year. Though you figured it would have been either Bucky or Sam. They seemed to understand that Steve wanted to do right by everyone and hardly ever teased him about that. Well, only light teasing, which Steve could easily return.
Coming back to the present as Natasha softly kicked you under the table, you apologised for tuning out, claiming fatigue. Natasha barked out another laugh, while Steve fussed over you, wondering if you were working yourself too hard. Assuring him that you would be just fine, Bucky finally repeated the question you had missed before.
"Are you coming to the after party?" he said and you laughed, wondering aloud if they were not being to cocky about their imminent victory.
"Win or lose, a party is a good way to end the day" Bucky shrugged, though he still seemed confident that they would not loose. It was a home game after all. There was the added home court advantage. Or as Steve would most likely see it, added pressure.
"True," you agreed, "Of course, I'll be there" you promised.
Steve pulled you into his side and kissed the top of your head once more as he muttered 'good'. You had no time to think about it as Bucky began to explain which dorm house would hold the party, as he would be damned to have it at their off campus apartment.
The game had been intense, making the elation over winning that much greater. The dorm was crowded and hot, making you wonder if the entire student body had showed up tonight. Pushing through throngs of dancing bodies, you finally made it to an empty bathroom, walking in before quickly closing the door behind you. You closed your eyes and sighed as you leaned back against the cool door.
"I thought I'd locked that" Steve's voice startled you and you opened your eyes to see him leaning on the sink with a beer. He smiled and you relaxed instantly.
"Pretty sure it's faulty" you said, twisting the lock a few times, hearing no click.
Steve shrugged and stood straight, looking you over. You could feel your stomach twisting under his gaze and your cheeks got heated. How could he have this effect on you, without really doing much of anything?
"Thanks for being there today" Steve said as he stepped closer and took your hand in his.
Willing your heart to slow down, you smiled as you looked up at his face again. His blue eyes were bright and alert, his smile kind as always. Squeezing his hand you leaned into his side, wrapping an arm around his waist.
"Always" you promised and he wrapped his arms around you, pulling you into a hug.
"Now, tell me, why is the man of the match hiding away?" you asked him a few blissful moments later.
"Needed a moment of peace and quiet" Steve shrugged and you squeezed him a little closer, wanting to comfort him.
"And then I came barging into it" you looked up at him to assess his mood. Did it bother him? You'd leave in an instance if he needed you too.
"I never need you to stay away" Steve chuckled and you smiled.
He bent down to kiss your cheek and opened his mouth to say something when the door burst open and two very drunken strangers fell into the bathroom. They hardly even noticed you and kept kissing and pulling at their clothes. Swallowing his words Steve was quick to guide you to the door and close it behind the two of you. That's when you both burst out laughing and walked away to find your friends.
Two hours later, with the party in full swing you were taken over by yawning. It was nearing midnight and you really wanted to get into bed. It took you another hour to finally excuse yourself and leave. Natasha had decided to join you, while the celebrating men remained behind.
By the time you were in bed, sleep took over quickly. You were ready to leave the long day behind. If only you had known that it would last a little longer still.
A/N:I struggled to get this out today. As of last week I am home from work, with a burnout. It has made me feel a little lost and writing was hard.
Thankfully most of this chapter was already written. i'm hoping it wont effect my schedule of posting but I can't be sure.
Also, this chapter was supposed to end very differently, but it was over 3000 words long and I still could not end it properly. So instead I broke it in two. Not sure yet if it will effect the amount of chapters in the end, but it probably will. We'll see.
Hope you liked this one!