Title: BFF's (4/4)
Series: Anywhere That You Tell Me
Author: Vashti
Fandom: post-Avengers
Characters: OC, Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, Pepper Potts, Bruce Banner, Natasha Romanov, Clint Barton, Darcy Lewis, Erik Selvig,
Rating: G
Summary: Sure she was going to be horribly broke next month, but it's worth it for these moments of happiness with the people she loves.
Length: ~1120 words
Disclaimer: See chapter 1
Author's Note: fourth and last in the BFF's arc. This well isn't dry, but only because, y'know, they're BFF's. Unfortunately, it's all head-canon.

Even with her employee discount netting her a serious deal on renting public space in Stark Towers, Sophie knew she'd be paying off this night of fun for months if not a whole year. She'd spent the many hours it had taken her and an entire art department decorating the space with a 40s theme not thinking about how much it was costing her. The art dept and the decorations were probably the cheapest things on her list.

But now, with music from the live band (a cappella!) going, drinks and food flowing, everyone dancing, and the photog she'd hired (another student) clicking to his little heart's content, Sophie couldn't be worried. She as having too much fun watching everyone else. While she herself was a terrible dancer—oh em gee, so bad—it seemed that everyone else had been born with wings on their feet. Only Dr. Bruce was staying off the floor as much as she was. As party-thrower she couldn't stay with him all night, but he seemed to be having fun every time she swung by.

And oh the dancers! The party was a 40s theme, so she'd wrangled a dance teacher (couldn't find a student who was available, argh) to give everyone a quick and dirty lesson on swing-dancing. She'd warned against trying some of the more exuberant moves that made swing dancing look like so much fun, but the stuff she'd taught them seemed to be going over just fine. Sophie envied how quickly so many of her friends had caught it so quickly. The only place she was graceful was underwater where fewer people could see her.

The teacher's instructions didn't stop some of the more adventurous from trying fancier moves. Her mom and Tony, for instance. Or, more likely, Tony and her mom. Sophie had no illusions who the risk-taker was in the pair. Still, she'd been thrilled to circle her mouth with her hands and bellow a few "Go Mom!" and "Go Mr. Stark!"s whenever she caught them doing something gravity defying.

Natasha and Clint were no surprise at all, except that they'd come. Sophie had a hard time getting a read on Natasha, knowing only that Tony had a lingering resentment to the woman but that her mother had gotten over it. She was beautiful, she was graceful, she rarely seemed joyous, and she was frighteningly blank when she forgot herself. Sophie had to work hard to fight her natural inclination to make the woman like her. Instead she trusted her mother's assertion that Natasha didn't dislike her and that was probably as much she as could get without a lot more time and personal interaction between them—both of which were unlikely to happen given their lifestyles: marine biology grad student and super-spy.

It made Clint feel like an open book, in comparison. He made so many off-the-wall comments—similar but different from Tony—and put so much physical distance between himself and everyone else in the tower, however, that Sophie wasn't sure she could trust what seemed so obvious. She knew what it was to seem open and while holding everything important close to her chest. She had no idea what to make of the two of them, except to goggle with wide-eyed wonder at the some of the stunts they pulled. There was so much going on that they weren't drawing particular attention to themselves, but still… Sophie found herself muttering "How is that even possible?" more than once. They just looked smug.

But the best, the best part of the entire night was Steve. Steve who had been shocked to the roots of his blond hair that all of this had been for him. Sure it was a wildly belated birthday present, or a super-early one, and maybe it was just a wild birthday present but…well…

Okay, it wasn't a birthday present at all. Birthdays were a wonderful excuse for throwing parties, and now was a great time to throw one, before her coursework got too crazy, the world lost it's mind and while most of the gang was home. (She could not coordinate with Dr. Jane and Thor to save her life. Darcy, though, seemed to be having a great time with Sophie's classmate Jamal, and Dr. Selvig was enjoying the bar and conversation with some of the undergrad professors Sophie still kept up with.) When he wasn't working or working out, Steve seemed lost and sad. Most of them were too busy with their day jobs to really hang out with him. Plus, he was twenty-something! He should be in grad school or something, with people his own age, not just soldiers and smug billionaires and abnormally calm scientists. Sophie didn't expect the fifty or so people filling the hall to become Steve's new besties overnight. If he made friends with five she'd be over the moon. It was, however, a chance for him to have fun, a fun he didn't have to think about too hard except to wonder where Sophie had found a replica of his Army uniform in his size.

And of course there was Min. If Sophie wasn't mistaken, Steve and Min had been dancing together for thirty minutes at least—the entirety of the last set. She knew that her bff was still deeply hurt by what her ex-fiance had done to her, cheating so openly not long after proposing, but all of her pain seemed to fade around Steve. Sophie wondered how long it would take one or both of them to realize that she'd been throwing them together since the disaster that had been Christmas. She wondered if they'd have finally seen what she was seeing by then.

Maybe they would. Maybe not. Min still loved Fernando, though he'd broken her heart and proved himself to be a real bastard. She'd spent years loving him, after all.

And while for the rest of them it had been eighty years, for Steve it had only been about two since he'd last seen his Peggy. But right now…

For right now everyone was happy. Everyone was smiling. The only person missing was her Uncle Phil and his cellist. Sure she was going to be horribly broke next month, but this moment, all these moments, were worth it if something good could come out of it.

Leaning against a wall and feeling more than a little satisfied with herself, Sophie was startled when a tall lanky figure stepped in front of her, blocking her view. She looked up and grinned. "Dean! Hi!"

His inky black hair falling into his eyes, he bowed and offered her his hand. "My lady?" When he looked up, he was grinning too.

Sophie threw back her head and laughed. Why not?

Fin[ite]

AN2: I think this is technically the first BFF story that was floating around in my head while I was writing Where You Lead. It's morphed somewhat, but the basic ideas (40s theme party, Steve and Min dancing, renting space in Stark Towers) have stayed the same. Actually, this is the reason why Min's love life took such a nosedive. Sorry Min!

Also, I'm almost caught up with myself. I have one more story that's written, another I hope to finish tonight, and two more ideas that are sketched but may never make it out of my head. Plus, y'know, NaNoWriMo is almost over...