Steve's staring. He knows it's weird and he should probably stop, but he's not sure he can. It will probably get weird soon—is it already?—but he's not sure he knows how to stop staring when the most beautiful girl he's ever seen is still standing in front of him.

She asks him something and he panics.

"Uh—what?" Great, now she knows he wasn't paying attention to a single thing she was saying.

"Do you always answer the door and then not pay attention to your visitors?" she asks, raising a brow at him. "Or am I just special?"

"Special," Steve repeats. She laughs and he's broken out of his trance as his cheeks begin to heat up. "Sorry, I don't mean it like—I just—Sorry, what were you saying?"

Still laughing softly, she says, "I just moved in across the hall, so I thought I'd come say 'hello'."

"Oh, welcome! Hello!" Steve resists the urge to bash his head against the doorframe, but just barely.

"Hello." She smiles and offers up a plate of what looks like cookies. "Would you like a cookie?"

Steve nods quickly and takes one off the plate, immediately shoving it in his mouth. She laughs again and he feels his cheeks heat up, but there's no way he can say something stupid with the cookie in his mouth, so he considers the world must not hate him too much. At least he can't make things worse.

A second later, he chokes on the cookie and turns into a coughing mess. The girl—why does he not know her name yet?—drops her smile and looks at him in concern.

"Oh gods, I'm so sorry!" she exclaims. Steve tries to wave her off and assure her that he's alright, but he's still choking on cookie crumbs and can't really form the right words. "Do you need water? I'll get you some water!"

She hurries into his apartment and opens the correct cabinet the first time. Steve coughs again and she's at his side with the glass of water in hand instead of the cookies. He willingly takes the glass of water but is careful when he drinks it. There's no need to make his current situation worse by coughing water all over her.

Thankfully, the water does its job well and by the time Steve finishes the glass, the cookie has made its way through his throat and he's no longer coughing. His face is still red and he feels like an idiot, but at least now he's breathing.

"I am so, so sorry," the girl says, looking at him with wide eyes. "Please don't sue me."

"I'm not gonna—why would I sue you?" Steve asks, confused for a moment. "It's not your fault that I don't know how to eat properly."

This earns him a small smile and in return, he grins widely.

"I'm Diana, by the way," she says, holding out her hand suddenly.

Steve shakes it and feels like fate itself has just aligned in front of him. Instead of saying so, however, and possibly scaring her off, he says, "Steve."

"It's nice to meet you, Steve," Diana says. She picks up her plate of cookies from his kitchen counter and looks at them curiously. "Do you think I should give out the rest of the cookies? I don't want everyone to choke on them."

"No! No, they're delicious," Steve assures her. His face feels warm yet again as he mutters, "I just choked."

She doesn't look too convinced, so Steve takes another from her plate before she can stop him and eats it slowly, being careful not to choke on it again.

"See?" he says around a mouthful of cookie. "Delicious!"

She smiles and nods. "Alright."

Steve grins victoriously and moments before he chokes again, he manages to convince the cookie not to ruin his life.

"I'll see you around, Steve," Diana says, walking back towards his door. "It was nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too!" Steve calls after her. He coughs as a cookie crumb lodges itself in his throat, but he refrains from coughing too loud until the door is firmly closed and Diana is nowhere nearby.

As soon as he recovers for the second time, he groans loudly and stares up at the ceiling. So much for not looking like an idiot.

* * * * *

Whether it's luck or not, Steve runs into Diana again the next morning. She's dressed in leggings with her hair pulled back in a ponytail and it looks like she's just come in from a morning run, but Steve's still sure she's the prettiest person he's ever seen.

"Good morning, Steve!" she greets cheerfully and he almost melts in his doorway because god, she remembered his name.

"Hey," he replies, waving at her from down the hall. "Sorry again about yesterday."

Diana shrugs and stops in front of him, standing just outside her door. "As long as you aren't going to sue me, I suppose it's alright. I've heard Americans like to sue people."

Steve's lips twitch into a smile. "Did the others like your cookies?"

"I didn't take them." Diana frowns. "I was worried someone else might choke on them, so they're sitting in my kitchen."

"They really were delicious," Steve promises. He stuffs his key in his pocket and adjusts the book bag hanging from his shoulder. "I just don't know how to eat, I guess."

They part ways shortly after; Steve going to meet Sameer and Charlie before classes; Diana going to do god knows what. He finds her in the school library later that afternoon, though, to both of their surprise.

"You go to school here?" Steve asks, stopping in front of the table she's sitting at.

Diana looks up at him, first confused and then smiling.

"Steve! Sit," she invites. Steve immediately does so, perhaps with a little too much enthusiasm.

"What's your major?" he asks, eyeing the strange book in her hands.

"Archeology," she answers. She flips the book so he can see the cover, but as far as he can tell, it's not in English. She must notice his confusion because she tells him, "We're studying ancient Rome right now."

"So your class materials are in latin?" Steve asks.

Diana shakes her head. "I'm just reading this for fun."

Because of course she would do that, Steve tells himself. Out loud, he says, "I'm an engineering major. I'm hoping to join the Air Force when I'm done."

"That's so cool!" And coming from her, Steve actually thinks it is. She puts away her book and turns to face him more. "Do you already know how to fly planes?"

"Well, no," Steve admits, scratching the back of his head. "But I know enough about them I could probably figure it out."

He forgets why he came to the library in the first place and spends his entire free block talking with Diana. She's interesting to listen to and interested in what he says, two things Steve never would have expected about her when he first opened his door the day before. They end up agreeing to meet up after classes (who would have thought they finish at the same time?) and Steve watches her disappear down the halls.

It's only then he remembers he had reading material to get through and technically, the report was due the very next block. In a panic, Steve races through the halls to get to class and crosses his fingers in hope that one of his classmates is nice enough to give him a summary.

* * * * *

Diana, he discovers, is a very interesting person. She's also very smart and is up at strange hours, but it works out alright because Steve is too captivated by her to get annoyed. Even when she firmly knocks on his door at 10PM and asks if he has any coffee because she just ran out and her paper is due in two hours, but she hasn't started it at all.

She finishes it before midnight and they spend another hour talking in the lamp light in Steve's makeshift living room. The one room flat doesn't offer much space, but the couch is large enough that they can both curl up on it.

Steve decides he must sound incredibly boring to her, but she asks so many questions and seems genuinely interested, so he goes with it and tells her what she wants to know. While Diana grew up in Greece, raised by her mother and several aunts on a small island, Steve grew up on a farm with two working parents and a sister. Diana speaks several languages (Latin, apparently, being the least interesting one) whereas Steve is struggling to hold onto his high school French. What they both have in common, however, is an affinity for strange Netflix series and a love of chocolate.

She's kinder than Steve could ever imagine too, and he makes a note to make sure no one takes advantage of that. He's not sure she ever had to worry about others using her as a stepping stone growing up, but he knows how some people are and makes it his responsibility to keep her from ever experiencing it.

After the third night of Diana knocking on his door in the evening, asking after one thing or another, they make it into a bit of a routine. Steve starts keeping tea in his cabinets right next to a supply of dark chocolate just for Diana and in return, Diana makes them both elaborate dinners and tests Steve's knowledge of French.

"You can't speak seven languages!" Steve argues, kicking her from across the couch. "It's impossible. You're not allowed to know more than four."

Diana throws back her head and laughs, making Steve grin as well. "Latin doesn't count. I don't speak it."

"Well, you certainly don't speak German and Italian either," he argues, pointing his fork at her. "I've never heard you."

She says something in a language he definitely doesn't know and Steve stares at her blankly. She says something else in a different language and Steve frowns.

"Huh?"

"Now you have," she says, though Steve doesn't think that's what she'd said. "Now you've heard me speak every language I know."

"Not Latin," he smirks. Diana rolls her eyes and mutters something he's certain is Latin, but it's a dead language so he refuses to consider the possibility of her actually pronouncing words out loud.

So yes, Wednesday evenings are always for Diana, but there are usually two other days a week where she stops by unannounced as well and Steve would be a liar if he said he didn't await her happily. Somehow, he even manages to keep his major crush on her a secret despite hearing from Sameer that he gets this goofy look on his face sometimes.

Unfortunately, everything comes to a bit of a crashing stop when one Friday evening, Diana walks into his apartment while Sameer and Charlie are over.

She heads straight for the kitchen, books and pans stacked so high in her arms she must not see Sameer and Charlie, because she says, "So I still haven't finished that research paper on what we know about Assyrian hierarchy, but I was thinking about trying this recipe I found in one of our old textbooks that they really enjoyed in order to help inspire my writing. What do you think of figs?"

Sitting across from him, Charlie grins and raises a brow at him. Sameer snickers.

"Not a fan, but I'll try them," he tells her, turning on the couch to look at her. "You might want to know that we're not alone, though."

Diana's head whips up from her notecard recipe and she locks eyes with Steve. He can hear Sameer snickering louder and Charlie joining him, but he refuses to send Diana out even if he knows he'll get teased for it.

"This is Diana," Steve tells his friends, gesturing to her. From the kitchen, Diana waves. "Diana, this is Sameer and Charlie."

"Do you like figs?" she asks them, holding up two figs for emphasis.

"No," Charlie says, but Sameer nods quickly.

"Wonderful! You'll love this!" she exclaims, turning back to the kitchen as if she had fully expected to find two of Steve's friends in his living room. Under her breath, Steve hears her mutter, "At least, you will if I can figure it out."

"If you need help, let me know," Steve offers. Sameer wriggles his eyebrows and Charlie blows him kisses, making Steve's cheeks warm up.

"Thank you, but unless you learned Greek in the past two days, you might not be able to," she says, not looking up from where she was reading the recipe. "Menalippe had to translate the original for me and nothing against you, but she's not a fan of English."

He knows she doesn't mean it to make him feel bad, so he doesn't get offended. Instead, he feels a burst of pride at the looks of surprise that cross Sameer and Charlie's faces.

"She speaks Greek?" Charlie whispers.

Steve nods proudly. Holding up a hand, he lists off, "Also German, Italian, Latin, French, and Arabic."

"I thought Latin didn't count?" Diana calls from the kitchen. Steve rolls his eyes.

"Focus on your figs, angel," Steve says, giving her a look that makes her laugh. When he turns back to look at his friends, they're giving him amused looks.

"Angel?" Charlie teases. Steve scowls.

"Just wait until Etta finds out about her," Sameer chuckles and Steve pales.

"Don't you dare!"

* * * * *

He gets a message from Etta the next morning, so apparently he wasn't very convincing.

Even after Sameer and Charlier had left at nearly two in the morning, Diana had stayed to finish her paper and ask for his honest opinion on the fig recipe ("Not bad, but maybe don't make it again."). As usual, they'd fallen asleep on the couch, but luckily Diana had managed to complete her whole paper before then. At least, he thinks she did.

He's still half asleep on the couch, Diana's legs tangled in his from where she fell asleep, when he hears Etta say over voicemail that she'll be there at 9AM for him to explain himself. A quick glance at the clock lets him know he has two minutes, but Diana is fast asleep and there's no hope for them by now, so he settles back on the couch and sends Etta a text.

Be quiet when you come in.

Less than a minute later, the door is quietly pushed open and Steve twists around on the couch to meet her eyes.

Etta squeals and Steve flails his arms, trying to shush her before she wakes Diana. It's no use though, and Diana blinks at the unfamiliar sound. Still covered by a blanket, she looks more like a confused toddler than a sleepy college student when she rubs her eyes and mumbles something in what Steve has come to recognise as Greek.

"I thought they were kidding when they said you'd found a girl!" Etta exclaims. Diana hums and turns to bury her face in the couch cushions, tugging the blanket over her head. Steve smiles and Etta covers her mouth before whispering, "I'm so proud of you!"

"You didn't have to come all the way here," Steve grumbles. He careful untangles himself from Diana's legs and picks up her cold tea cup from the floor. "Diana's just a friend anyway."

"A friend who sleeps on your couch and makes you dinner."

Steve scowls but Etta seems to be unaffected. She sighs happily and peers over the couch where Diana was sleeping.

"How'd you manage it after all?"

"Etta, we're not dating," Steve repeats. He starts the water heater and rinses out Diana's cup, mentally deciding not to tell Etta that she had a designated cup already. "She comes over to work on her papers because somehow—don't ask me how—I'm helpful."

Sitting up on the couch, Diana speaks up and draws both of their attention. "You talk nice."

Steve's lips twitch into a smile as he walks over to the couch, fresh tea in hand. Ignoring the way Etta coos at them, he asks, "You mean in the one language I speak?"

Diana nods resolutely. "You speak very well. It's nice to listen to."

"Glad to help, angel." Steve hands her the cup of fresh tea and makes a point not to stare at her. With the blanket pooled around her waist and her t-shirt falling off one shoulder, she really does look like an angel. He vaguely remembers her putting her hair up the night before, but it's long since lost its original shape and is now just a misshapen mess on the back of her head.

"Are you sure you're not dating, Steve Trevor?" Etta demands, drawing him out of his revery.

"Etta!" Steve scolds. Beside him, Diana laughs quietly and takes a small sip of her tea.

"You call her angel, Steve," Etta says fiercely. She gives him a look and Steve avoids her eyes, glancing back down at Diana who's smiling up at him in such a way it makes his stomach flip. "You might as well ask her out if she's already making you dinner and complementing your English skills."

"Etta—"

"We do go out," Diana interrupts. Both Steve and Etta look at her with varying emotions. Diana looks at Steve curiously. "Remember? We get coffee on Tuesday mornings, before your first class and during my break."

"Yes, but what Etta means is more like a date," Steve tells her. Surely she knows this, right? They have dating in Greece, don't they?

"I know."

Oh. Oh! Oh my. Well, okay then, that's—that's good to know, Steve supposes. However, he seems incapable of words at the moment and is instead left to stare at her dumbly.

"So you would want to go on a date?" he manages to ask.

Diana smiles and sips her tea. "It's a bit overdue, no? After all, I have my own mug here and you provide a steady supply of tea."

"Oh my!" Etta's gasp is forgotten as Steve smiles down at her.

"Then consider it a promise," he tells her, pulling the hair tie from the knot on her head and handing it to her. "Perhaps we don't go anywhere with cookies though, yeah?"

Diana laughs and once Etta gets over her shock and joy, she wants to know the whole story. To Steve's chagrin, Diana is awake enough to tell it in full detail, so he decides the best place for him to be is in the kitchen making breakfast. He only manages to shoo Etta out of his apartment with the promise to take Diana out that very afternoon, making sure to turn off his phone for the rest of the day in order to fully enjoy what he would consider their first official date.