Scott grabbed your hand, trying to quell the tremor caused by your raging nerves. The two of you had talked about this moment several times and thought it was finally time, but now you were having second thoughts.

"Hey, you're gonna be great, trust me."

You nodded silently, smiling weakly at the house in front of you, rather than at him. The nervous energy in your stomach was growing more uncomfortable and a lump built in your throat as your emotions began to swell. "I don't know, Scott. Maybe this isn't such a great idea. Maybe it's too soon."

"If you don't go in there willingly, I'm just gonna have to throw you over my shoulder and haul you in there myself." He stepped in front of you and put his hands on your waist, forcing you to make eye contact. "(Y/N), why are you so scared? I've never seen you scared of anything. You're an Avenger, right? I mean, I assumed that's what your suit was for, but maybe you're just into really weird role play or something..."

"Not appropriate."

"Let's. Go."

Before you could take another step closer to the house, the front door flew open to reveal your fear. Moving quickly towards you, you knew there was no escape now; you were spotted. Eye contact was made. You were marked.

"Daaaaaaaaad!"

Scott knelt down to grab Cassie in a hug, standing to spin her around until they were both dizzy and laughing at the sensation. He really was great with her; it was clear that she was everything to him, and it was important for you to meet her and for her to approve. When they finally stopped spinning, he set her down to greet you.

Cassie was still laughing as she walked towards you, but her balance was thrown off and her gait was sloppy. She tripped over her own feet, landing soundly on her bottom. "Daddy, spin (Y/N) next!"

He glanced at you with a smirk and a wink that she couldn't see. "Don't worry, honey. I'll give her a spin later."

"Stop it!" you mouthed silently. Your eyes widened when she approached you, and the shaking returned to your hands. Kneeling down to face her, you held out your hand to introduce yourself. "Hi Cassie, I'm glad I get to finally meet you."

She suddenly charged at you, full speed. You opened your arms to catch her, and the force of her impact knocked you back onto the ground. Scott was no help, laughing at the sight of you being tackled by a child, when he has seen you fight and win against assailants twice his size.

"Daddy told me that he likes you a lot. Are you going to be my second mommy?"

Now his laughter stopped. You caught the change in his stature at her words, and now you were the one laughing at him. "Well, sweetheart, we haven't talked about that, but if we do, you will be the first one to know, I promise." You stood and lifted her to her feet, wiping the grass and dirt from your clothes.

Cassie smiled at you, happy that she would be the first person you would tell such a big thing to. "Daddy, can we get ice cream now?" Apparently, meeting you was done to her liking, and now it was time for the really important business.

"I don't know, honey, it's really close to dinner time. I think we should probably wait."

"Come on, kid," you grabbed her hand and led her to your car, smiling back at Scott as you walked away, "it's on me. Us girls gotta stick together, especially for something as important as ice cream."

~~~

"So I'll see you next weekend, right?"

"Yep, it's about time you come to me for a change."

"Okay, that's not fair." Scott said, "You get to use the team jet whenever you want. I still get to fly coach and sit way too close to people that I really don't want to be that intimate with."

Having a long distance relationship had its challenges, with Scott in San Francisco to stay close to Cassie, and you in New York with the Avengers, but so far you had made it work. And yes, having liberty with the jet helped a lot. "You know," your voice was soft as you began, looking at both of his hands in yours, "if you joined the team, you could use it whenever you wanted, too. You could stay with us and fly back to see Cassie anytime."

"(Y/N), are you trying to make an honest man out of me?"

You paused, holding his gaze as you contemplated the thought. Not ready with an answer for him, you leaned in for a goodbye kiss, grabbed your bag, and headed home without another word.

~~~

The tower was filled with activity when you arrived home, but Sam always made it a point to welcome you back, no matter what else was going on. As you disembarked from the jet, he was there waiting for you. He looked pissed, but you searched your mind and couldn't think of why.

"Where the hell did you go?"

"What? I told you where I was going." You threw your bag at his feet and he willingly grabbed without question, seemingly trained by you to do so. "Besides, since when do I need to report to you? Steve's my S.O., not you."

"But I'm your best friend. You didn't even ask me if I wanted to go with you. I'm hurt, (Y/N). It cuts me deep." Sam put his hand to his chest, feigning the pain caused by your lack of invitation. "So where the hell do you go every weekend anyway?"

You smiled inwardly, knowing that Sam wouldn't approve of your choice in boyfriend. He and Scott didn't have the best meeting the first time, and you weren't in any hurry to get them back together. You were certain that Sam didn't want a repeat, especially when the team was home now and it wouldn't be kept a secret this time around.

"To see a friend."

"Mmm hmm. A friend."

You nudged him with your elbow to his ribs as you walked, earning a surprising high-pitched yelp from him as you laughed out loud. "And as my best friend, you should know better than to go digging around where you don't belong. You might want to watch yourself, I happen to have some embarrassing inside info that makes for wonderful blackmail."

~~~

It felt as if it took forever for the week to pass, but it was finally time for Scott to arrive at the tower, undoubtedly ready to regale you with tales of life in coach. He insisted that you not pick him up, so you were now waiting anxiously on the sidewalk outside. Cabs passed by over and over, but none of them stopped, and you were beginning to grow anxious.

"Hey, you up there."

You closed your eyes and sighed, exasperated. When you opened your eyes again, you looked down to see him waving enthusiastically at you. "Scott, did you seriously use the suit? What would Hank say?"

He popped up to his full size in front of you, opening his helmet to reveal a shocked look on his face. "I think he'd be okay if he knew it was to get to my girl." He leaned in to kiss you, but you pulled your head back, out of his reach.

"No, I mean what would he say if he knew you were standing in front of the Avengers tower wearing it? Did you forget that they don't know about you yet?"

"Oh, shit." He was about to shrink down, but paused, grabbing you and dipping you backwards in his arms. "I need this first." Scott pulled you up to meet his lips, wrapping his arms around you, with your arms tightly around his neck.

"Ahem." You both quickly separated, recognizing instantly that Sam was standing behind you. "Does anyone want to tell me what the hell is going on here?"

Casually running your hand across your lips, you cleared your throat to regain your voice before trying to introduce them. "Um, yeah...Sam, this is Scott. Scott, this is Sam...but I believe you two have already met." You looked back and forth between the two men, watching for one to make a move towards the other.

"Right! Sam!" Scott pointed his finger and looked at Sam excitedly. "I totally kicked your ass! I kicked your Avenger ass and didn't die! How cool was that?!"

Both of your hands were immediately covering your face, astonished by how stupid your boyfriend could be. "Scott..." you groaned his name quietly under your breath. He gave you a quick kiss and closed his helmet, immediately gone from your sight.

"Okay," you turned to Sam, who was looking at you with a stunned expression, "how about I won't tell anyone that you got beat up by an ant, and you don't tell anyone that I'm dating one?" You paused, considering what you had just said, "Yeah, that sounded better in my head."