CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

( TO BINGE OR NOT TO BINGE )

THE MICROWAVE IS beeping, alerting everyone that it was done heating. The smell of popcorn wafted throughout the loft, making it smell of butter. It was enough to make Rudolph drool on the wooden floor. "Hey!" Jo scolds the golden retriever as she comes out of the hallway towards the kitchen, throwing on an over-sized bomber jacket, her duffel bag slung over her shoulder. "We don't beg," she coos the command, ruffling the fur on the top of his head.

Quinn shuffles her way through the kitchen, headphones placed over her ears as she dances to the song playing over the speakers. She grabs a bowl from the cupboard and takes out the popcorn from the microwave, hissing at the hot steam that hits her fingers as she dumps it into the bowl.

She would never be thankful that she got hit in the face a few days ago but, it did come with certain perks like not being able to attend work until it was fully healed - a stipulation that Fury had to address since Steve and her lessons had to be discreet. The music in her headphones disappeared as Jo slid the headphones off her ears and around her neck.

"Did you hear me?" She questions her roommate. Quinn shoves a handful of popcorn in her mouth, shaking her head, causing Jo to roll her eyes. "I'm headed out to Josh's. Are you going to be okay?" Quinn groans as she chews, nodding her head, a new form of communication that they've grown accustomed to. No one had time to chew fast or answer with a mouthful of food.

She sticks the bowl of popcorn out in front of Jo to offer some. "No thanks, I'm on a diet," Jo declines, making Quinn furrows her brows. "What diet won't allow you to eat popcorn? Each kernel is like one calorie," she questions after swallowing the bite of popcorn. "The diet that doesn't let me eat popcorn, duh," Jo huffs out her voice dripping in sarcasm.

Quinn rolls her eyes. "So what are your plans for tonight?" Jo questions her, earning a shoulder shrug in return. "Just watching movies,"

"Alone?" Jo inclines, raising a brow for measure. Quinn's lips press into a small smile as she tries to force herself to have a straight face. She fails. She just didn't want Jo to stick around and make him feel like a celebrity, Lord knows that's what she'd do.

"With Shmaptain Shamerica," Quinn mumbles out, swaying from side to side as she places one kernel in her mouth while watching Jo make the connection.

"I knew it," Jo says with a confident smirk - as if she's found out a huge secret. "What are you watching? Documentaries?"

"Star Wars," Quinn shrugs, earning an annoyed expression from Jo. She didn't feel like lying to her about little things like what she was going to be watching, she didn't mind being judged for indulging in convincing Steve to watch the intergalactic battle saga.

"Doesn't sound like a history lesson," Jo notes, gripping her keys in her hand.

"Star Wars shaped a generation, it's a classic and it's referenced a lot. So in a way, it's a history lesson," Quinn counters with a smirk, forcing Jo to roll her eyes.

"Prequels or originals?"

"Originals first, then the prequels to show him where they went wrong,"

"Are you going to wear your slave Leia outfit?" she asks with an eyebrow wiggle. Quinn huffs out a sigh of frustration as her roommate laughs at her uncomfortableness. Even with Jo implying that she had feelings for Steve made her heart start aching as if it was actually yearning for Steve's attention. No matter how good looking he was to her, she couldn't let it get to her. He was far out of her league.

"You wish," she replies, shoving more popcorn in her mouth to avoid talking to her even further. A few drop to the floor where Rudolph had been patiently waiting for her to drop some. Both of the roommates look down at the retriever and then to each other, Jo has a slightly irritated expression. "He shouldn't eat people food,"

"He's a dog, and it's one kernel of popcorn. His heart won't explode," Quinn counters, just as Rudolph looks back up at them for more food. Jo shakes her head, living with Quinn made her a little stressed but it was something she had become accustomed to. Her stubbornness had rubbed off on her as well, making each argument a challenge between the two.

Instead of sticking around to bicker with her, Jo pet Rudolph on the head and rounds off towards the door. "I'll be back in the morning, some of us have work," Jo reminds her.

It's a bit of a slap to the face but Quinn had gone from being absent for most of the day to being home constantly, loitering around in the kitchen and on the couch. It was like she had given up on trying. She narrows her eyes at Jo as she places another handful of popcorn in her mouth. Jo was one to talk about being an adult, she would miss out on work religiously if she had a long night out partying.

It hadn't been until recently where she stopped and that was only because she had a boyfriend. Guarantee that if he wasn't around she'd be out at a bar by now. She decides not to state any of this as she watches Jo put her shoes on. "See you tomorrow," Quinn bids as Jo opens the door to leave. Jo gives her a quick wave and heads out of the loft. As soon as she out of earshot she looks down at Rudolph and drops a few more pieces of popcorn on the ground for him. "Your mom can be such an ass,"

It isn't until a couple of hours later and another whole bowl of popcorn when Steve shows up, sending Quinn into a slight panic as he knocks on the door. It was something she's never felt before when Steve had come to visit her in the past. She never felt anxious or nervous but after the last encounter, something had burrowed its way into her chest making her feel somewhat excited whenever he was around.

She curses herself for not doing any makeup but the bruise on her face protested anything covering it. It was just a beacon of how she got her ass handed to her. She tries her best to place and stray strands of her locks into her ponytail while wiping any popcorn crumbs off of her shirt. She looks to Rudolph who is patiently waiting by the door, tail wagging and whining at the guest behind the door.

She only catches his attention when she crosses over towards the door, her arms out from her sides as she twirls, wanting an inspection from the dog as if he could tell her what was wrong. She huffs out a sigh as he returns his attention back on the door. You can do this, she reminds herself. It's just some stupid crush, it'll go away in a couple of days,

She places her hand on the cool golden knob as she sucks in a deep breath, waiting for the right amount of courage to strike her until she can open the door. When she does she's not disappointed. Steve stands in the hallway, grey t-shirt on with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s emblem embedded on the sides of his sleeves, a black baseball cap placed upon his head. He gives her a tight-lipped smile as he crinkles a bag of chips in his hands, drawing her attention away from him for just a moment.

"Hey," she breathes out, leaning on the door frame. "Hey," he greets back. There seems to be a mutual nervousness between the two, but neither can tell.

Rudolph's tail whips from side to side within the confines of the loft, he whines angrily as Quinn's leg prevents him from exiting the loft to jump on Steve. The whine pulls Quinn's attention back to reality, she opens the door wider to invite him in.

Her hand instinctively hooks on to Rudolph's collar, holding him back from jumping as Steve enters. He laughs a little as he crosses his way into the kitchen to drop off the chips on the surface of the island. He then turns his attention back to Quinn and Rudolph as he patiently waits, whining, for Steve to come over and pet him.

"Let him go," he instructs Quinn who gives him an odd look. He nods his head, indicating it's okay for her to let go of Rudolph. Her hands release their tight grip on the leather collar that held the retriever back, she watches as he bolts over to him. Steve braces himself and pats his chest for Rudolph.

The dog jumps up into the air, just in time for Steve to clutch him in his arms. Quinn stares at the two as Steve begins cooing at Rudolph, it's something she's never seen before. Quinn could never pick up Rudolph that easily, Steve is gallivanting around with him in his arms like he weighed nothing. She can't help but avert her eyes from his arms as she feels heat boil in her cheeks. She now hated that shirt on him.

"So what's the plan?" Steve asks, placing Rudolph down, perking Quinn's attention. Quinn makes her way over to the coffee table to pluck out a thick DVD case from the center of it. "We're watching the best movie franchise that ever existed. Steve squints his eyes to read the cover of the movie. "Star Wars?" he reads off with a questioning tone.

Quinn nods her head as she crosses the room towards the kitchen where he stood. She plucks the chip dip from the fridge before opening the chips he had brought over. "It's an interesting movie series, I don't think they thought it was going to be as popular as it is," she informs him, pushing forward the bowl of popcorn in exchange for the chips.

"Can I get you anything to drink?" she offers as she heads towards the fridge once again, opening it up. "We have water, Coca-Cola, Diet Coca-Cola, beer-"

"I can't have beer," Steve speaks up earning a quizzical look from Quinn. "The serum sped up my metabolism so whatever goes in just gets watered down. Beer is just like gross tasting water,"

"That sucks," Quinn replies, leaning out of the fridge after noting how it's starting to hurt her knees. "So you've never been drunk before?" she questions, placing a water bottle in his hands as she watches a small smile build on his face. "Never said that," Steve quips as he remembers the only time he got drunk before the serum.

"Well, in all honesty, I can figure that you can still get drunk even with your high metabolism. You'd just have to drink a lot, like maybe twenty beers or a whole pint of that," Quinn points over to a stout bottle of patron. Steve notes that half of it is gone.

"We call it forget-about-it alcohol. A few shots of this and you'll be blacked out before the nights end," she says with a fraud smile, tapping on the clear glass of the bottle. "You drink this stuff?" Steve questions, his voice fills with concern as he looks at the proof on the side of the bottle. Quinn shrugs her shoulders.

"We put it in margaritas, sometimes Jo will do a shot if she brings over friends," she specifies as she plucks the tequila from his hands and places it back down on the counter. "But you don't drink it all the time, right?" he continues to ask, drawing an exasperated sigh from Quinn.

"Are you suggesting I'm an alcoholic?"

"No, I just wanted to know. Just in case-"

"I was an alcoholic?"

Steve bites down on his bottom lip as he tries not to admit that she was right. He only worried for her being but the coldness in her tone suggests that he struck a nerve. "You-" Quinn let's out a frustrated sigh as she buries her face into her shoulder for a moment, trying to hide the fact that her eyes were swelling up with tears. She tries to convince herself that Steve was just being courteous and concerned about her, she would be too. But something didn't sit right with her.

"You do remember how my brother passed right?"

It hits him like a freight train. He had forgotten about that factor as he remembers how he died. He kicks himself for bringing this up. "Quinn, I am sorry," he whispers out an apology but she quickly shakes it off. The tears in her eyes have disappeared but the hurt still lingers in them making him feel guilty.

"It's okay, let's just get started on these movies since they're a little long," she suggests with a fraud smile. He tries to apologize once again but Quinn has already turned her shoulder to him, quickly exiting towards the couch. He sighs as he twists the water bottle in his hands, grabbing a hold of the chips and popcorn she had left behind in favor of escaping. Even though Quinn praised the movie he wasn't going to be able to concentrate.

~ BOOK ONE: WINTER SOLDIER ~

THE SOFT LULL of symphony music startles Steve awake. His senses are groggy as he takes a look around at his surroundings. The television in front of him had the menu screen on from Return of the Jedi playing its classical music score. Rudolph's head remains in his lap, snoring softly. He tries to turn his head to his right but he's taken back by the fluffy feeling of hair against his jawline.

He peers down to see Quinn resting her head against his chest, her hand coming up right beside her cheek to rest on it comfortably. He smiles, nestling his head against hers once again wondering how they ended up in this position and if he could fall back asleep somehow. Of course, he couldn't. He doesn't need to look towards the clock to realize that it's late, later than what he was supposed to stay for.

He retracts his arm which was laying behind Quinn as he stretches his arms over his head, causing Quinn to groan sleepily from the sudden movement. His hand instinctively rests on the top of her head, smoothing down her hair to get her relaxed once again.

Slowly, he nudges Rudolph off his lap before taking his free arm and placing in underneath Quinn's knees. He lifts her up within his arms, causing her to groan uncomfortably as she continues to sleep. He paces his way into her room, which is only illuminated by the moonlight. He's thankful that she has a window in her room, otherwise, he'd be lost in the complete darkness trying to find her bed.

He places her down gently against the plush pillow, before covering her up with the thick comforter. She hums as she's tucked in from Steve. Once again, he smooths her hair away from her face, smiling down at her relaxed features. "Thanks...mom..." she hums out, forcing Steve's smile to fade as he retracts his hand. He had forgotten that he had upset her earlier. He wouldn't be able to forgive himself for that.

Rudolph's body jumps into the bed, he watches as he circles and plants his body against hers, his head resting against the crook in her leg, his eyes resting on Steve as he heads towards the door. Steve smiles at the dog and his sleeping friend. "Keep an eye on her," he whispers out the instruction to the dog who wags his tail in agreement. He looks at Quinn once again, feeling a tremendous amount of guilt, before leaving. He wouldn't blame her if she never spoke to him again.

A/N: Enjoy the fluff because it's not going to be around much longer :)