summary: you and steve are obviously head over heels for each other, but you won't admit it. so, the team decides to step in.

word count: 1245

trigger warnings: none, just a fluff piece

Sneaky glances. Casual brushing of the hands. Beet-red faces. Awkward encounters.

This basically summed up your and Steve's relationship over the past five months, and the team was sick of it. It was obvious to practically everyone but the two involved how crazy for each other you and Steve were. So, Natasha, Clint, Bruce, Thor, and Tony hatched a plan to finally get you together.

Tony's original idea was to lock both of you in what he called a "Avenger proof" reinforced steel closet until you agreed to admit your feelings, but the rest of the team feared that this would cause more harm than good and shot down the idea almost immediately. Instead, they decided to embarrass the hell out of you both until you finally admitted your feelings.

After several days of preparation and meticulous planning, they were ready. The plan was that Thor would lure you into the tower's common space on the pretense of teaching him how to use the television (a skill that he'd mastered long ago), and then Natasha would conveniently come in with Steve, discussing tactics for your upcoming mission. Clint, Tony, and Bruce (who was very reluctant to go along with this plan) were to then come in, and Tony was going to flirt with you while Clint whispered to Steve about how Tony had a thing for you. And hopefully, that would rile Steve up enough to admit his feelings for you.

It was a complicated, possibly doomed plan, but it was the best one the team had. And besides, they fought monsters for a living. How difficult could it be to get two stubborn superheroes to convince their feelings for each other?

And so the plan was put into action.

"Thor, I don't understand why you're making me do this," you whined, trying to tug your arm out of Thor's grip as he pulled you into the common room. "How long have you been coming to Earth now? And you're just finally figuring out how to use a television?"

Thor laughed and pulled you down next to him on one of the sofas. "Lady (Y/N), I do not have time for such simple Midgardian things!" He picked up the remote and started jabbing buttons at random. "Come to life, tiny moving box!"

You sighed and rubbed your temples. "Look, this is the power button, okay? You press it to turn the 'tiny moving box' on-"

Just then, Steve and Natasha walked into the room, heads buried in the tablet that Natasha was holding. She was murmuring to Steve in a low voice about something that you couldn't understand, but you assumed it had something to do with your upcoming mission.

Just then, Steve glanced up, and your eyes met. He blushed immediately and lowered his head, but you couldn't take your eyes off of him. He was honestly the most perfect human being you'd ever seen, if you were honest with yourself. Strong, kind, intelligent, handsome... And not to mention, about a hundred times out of your league. You sighed quietly to yourself and went back to assisting Thor.

Just a few minutes later, in walked Tony, Bruce, and Clint. Tony made a beeline for you, lightly shoving Thor out of the way so he could sit by you. You were confused, to say the least, because yes, you and Tony were good friends, but you didn't have much one-on-one interaction.

"Hey, doll, how're you doing today?" Tony asked you in a low voice, throwing his arm around your shoulder casually.

You awkwardly smiled at him and tried to think of an adequate response. What was Stark playing at here?

"Um, fine, I suppose. I was packing for our mission until someone decided that it was time for another lesson in the world of humans," you looked across Tony to playfully glare at Thor. "How's yours been?"

Tony smirked. "Not gonna lie, it was pretty shitty until I saw your pretty little face."

You felt your cheeks turn hot as Tony spoke. You were definitely uncomfortable now, and the last thing you wanted was for Steve to see Tony flirting with you. Steve already only saw you as a friend, you didn't want to give him the impression you were taken on top of it all.

On the other side of the room, Clint had casually joined Steve and Natasha's conversation, and carefully steered it in the direction of team gossip.

"So, have you noticed that little thing going on between Stark and (Y/N)?" Clint asked in a low tone, gesturing to you. From this angle, it looked like you were leaning into Tony's side, and your blush could have been mistaken as a sign of affection. "He's been all over her for weeks now."

Steve immediately stiffened, and Natasha had to resist smirking. "Is that so? I never took (Y/N) as the type of girl to buy into Tony's billionaire playboy deal. I think they'd be good together, though," she mused. "What do you think, Steve?"

Steve tore his eyes away from you and Tony and blinked at Natasha. He tried to think of something intelligent to say, but all that came to mind was the fact that he wanted to take Tony and throw him off the roof of the Avenger's tower-

"C'mon, (Y/N), why don't we go out tonight, huh? Just me and you. We can get Shawarma." Tony said, very loudly, with an exaggerated wink.

And Steve couldn't control himself anymore. It's like he was seeing red, and it was all he could do to not lift Tony by the front of his shirt and punch the hell out of him. Instead, he walked over to you and pulled you to your feet.

"Actually, I was planning on asking (Y/N) out tonight, if she would do me the honor of taking her out for dinner." Steve said, and although his face was flaming, he kept his voice steady.

Tony smirked and put both hands in the air as if he were surrendering. "Alright, alright. I can see where I'm not wanted. Whad'ya say, Banner? Me and you tonight, then?"

You didn't hear the rest of what Tony said, because now, you only had eyes and ears for Steve. He was staring down at you, breathing heavily, and it was all you could do to not kiss him full on the mouth right then and there. Instead, you opted to press a lingering kiss to his cheek.

"I would love to, Cap. I'll expect you at my door at 7:15 tonight, and not a second later. Am I understood?" You smirked playfully and laid a hand on Steve's arm.

Steve looked at you dumb-founded for a moment, but he quickly recovered and grinned. "Yes, ma'am, 7:15 on the dot."

You smiled happily at him, but then a thought occurred to you. "Wait a second- are you telling me that you've liked me all this time, and it took Tony flirting with me for you to admit it?"

Steve scratched the back of his neck awkwardly and blushed.

"Er, yeah, that's exactly what I'm telling you," he said sheepishly. "Better late than never, right?"

And you couldn't help yourself anymore. You leaned in and wrapped your arms around Steve's neck, oblivious to the fact that the entire time was smirking at you two, and that Tony was sure to give you hell for weeks, because you didn't care. Finally, after all this time, Steve Rogers was yours.