a ghost's endeavour

by mynameisvaleria

0.5.

"I haven't seen you here before, did you just move in?"

Hayley jumped, and swore beneath her breath. To this day, six months later, sudden noises still gave her mini heart attacks. She turned to face the owner of the voice, who was wincing in guilt (presumably).

"I'm sorry, ma'am, I didn't mean to startle you."

"No worries," she said quickly, her inner Canadian sending him a quick polite smile. "I'm just looking after this apartment for my friend for a few days while she's on holiday. It's nice to meet you, I'm Hayley."

He took the extended hand and shook firmly once. "Steve. Nice to meet you too."

She let her eyes sweep down his figure, but only involuntarily. He blushed, catching her size up, but otherwise made no inquiry about it.

"You should come up for coffee or tea sometime," he blurted out, not knowing why he did what he did. There was just a vulnerability wrapped within her that made him want to breach the hard exterior— he wanted to fix her, he realised.

Hayley was surprised, but managed to keep the smile on her face. "Sure, why not?"

He nodded, a small smile creeping up his face. "Well, I'll see you around then."

And then she smiled at him and disappeared into the vicinity of her apartment. Leaning down, she patted her former roommate's cat, and put away her groceries. Then, she sat down to read for fifteen minutes before deciding to go for a run to take her mind off the memory of the incident that was threatening to surface.

. . .

She was hovering right outside his door, still hesitating if she wanted to go in with the tray of brownies she had just baked up this morning. She hadn't really planned it, but she woke up with an urge to bake brownies and in her excitement she had made too much with no one to share it with.

Raising a fist, she prepared to knock only to retract it on second thought. She was about to walk away when the door opened anyway, and she was met by a flustered Steve. "Hi," he said sheepishly, his arm reaching to the back of his neck.

"I made some brownies this morning… I just thought maybe you'd want some," she replied, smiling, "They're vegan, so I hope you don't mind."

"Vegan?" he frowned.

She cracked a smile, unsure why he had not heard of the term, but nonetheless finding it endearing. "Well, it just means there are no animal products in it," she explained, "not that I'm vegan— I'm just vegetarian, but the recipe was there and… well."

"Oh," he realized that she was just standing by the door awkwardly, "come in, I'll take those in for you."

Hayley smiled, and stepped in (albeit warily), her eyes sweeping around the room nervously. Her fingers found entertainment in themselves, and she shuffled her weight from left to right constantly.

"Would you prefer coffee or tea?" he asked politely.

"Um, coffee's fine," she replied, eyeing the sofa as if she wanted to sit, but did not dare to.

Steve popped his head out of the kitchen to see her staring intently at the sofa, and chuckled, "You can sit if you want to, Hayley. Don't worry, it's clean."

She blushed profusely, and shook her head, "No, that's not what I meant, it's just… I don't want to intrude. It's something I've always been particularly cautious and sensitive about— just… a part of who I am."

He looked at her for a while, and she shook her head, laughing, "I'm sorry, I don't always tell strangers my life story, you just seem very honest and… as if you deserve the truth."

He smiled, "Well, thanks for being honest for me, Hayley."

And then he retreated to the kitchen again to finish off the coffee he had been brewing.

Hayley smiled down at hands, wondering how she had managed to be attracted to someone who (if was not, at least seemed like it) was actually genuinely nice. For the past nineteen years of her life, she had always been attracted to the wrong type of men (or boys, mostly). This time around, she seemed to have finally stumbled onto an opportunity, and she prayed that her past would not come back to haunt her.

Why am I even thinking about this yet? I'm not even sure he would return my affections.

"This is really good."

His sudden compliment surprised her a little bit, and she had to work to keep herself from jumping in her seat. Steve Rogers noticed, but chose to keep quiet about it— he figured that if she wanted him to know, she would tell him eventually.

She looked up to see him holding the coffee out towards her with one hand and eating a piece of brownies with the other. "I forgot to ask you if you wanted the sugar and milk but I figured it was too late."

"Oh, that's disgusting," her lips turned down at the corners as she looked at the milky brown liquid.

Steve blushed, and then reached for the cup, "I'm sorry, I'll make another cup for you if you—"

"No, I'm joking, Steve, sugar and milk are fine," she laughed, "I enjoy being sarcastic and I take it way too far— especially with strangers. I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it," he replied, dismissing her apology.

Her eyes eventually swept across the room, and found the shield that had been discarded casually at the side of the room. Her eyes widened, but did not comment on it, fearing that a confrontation would lead to an escort to the door, or an invasion of his privacy. Yet, he followed her gaze to it, and realized why she had been strangely quiet for the past minute. "Work, you know," he said, almost shyly, "I forgot to put it away, I'm sorry."

"No," she hurried to defend the gaze, "I was only curious, I didn't mean to pry. I'm sor— God, we both need to stop apologising."

Steve laughed, "But really, the brownies are really good— you should have one yourself."

"I hate to say this because it makes me seem really boring and annoying all at once but… calories. I already had one today," she smiled wryly. Perhaps he would not understand, she thought— most of the times most people did not understand whenever she mentioned it because she weighed only 110 pounds while standing at a height of 5"3.

Hayley sipped at her coffee, and then put down her cup slightly. "You should get an Italian roast. They make great espresso. Besides, it's kind of cheaper and more environmentally friendly, I think. Come up sometime, I can make you coffee."

She didn't know why she said it— she had never been one to trust anyone (so soon), especially after the incident, and although given the fact that he was the Captain America, it was just uncharacteristic of her.

"That would be great," he nodded. "And don't you ever hesitate to call on me if you need anything."

"You mean, whenever you need help with technology for you, right?" she cracked a smile, causing him to chuckle.

"That too."

Hayley eyed the plate of brownies on the table, and reached for one, "You know what, fuck calories— apologies for the language."

Steve laughed.