https://youtu.be/bpOSxM0rNPM

Have you got colour in your cheeks?
Do you ever get that fear that you can't shift
The type that sticks around like summat in your teeth?
Are there some aces up your sleeve?
Have you no idea that you're in deep?
I dreamt about you nearly every night this week
How many secrets can you keep?
'Cause there's this tune I found that makes me think of you somehow and I play it on repeat
Until I fall asleep

~~~

God, Steve hated working with you.

But, it wasn't that he hated you; he was your best friend. He loved you.

That was the problem. He loved you, and to work side-by-side was getting to be too difficult for him. You were a distraction. You were a great distraction happening at the worst possible time, and you had no idea what you were doing to him. When you were at his side, his perception was off and the shield was frequently lost to leave the team in the midst of a frantic search. When you weren't there, he was fine, and everyone around him was beginning to take notice.

"Cap, seriously, what's going on with you?" Tony snapped through the comms. "You couldn't hit the broad side of a barn today."

"I'm good, Stark, just mind your own business. Don't you have enough to do up there?"

"I'd mind my own business, but when you ping that damn shield off my head it kinda becomes my business."

"Oh," Steve backpedaled sheepishly now, "yeah....I-I suppose it does. Sorry about that."

"Cap, I could use a hand," you called out to him, breaking into their discussion, "I'm going 2-on-1 over here and Sam's on the other side of the field in his own mess. I'm not sure where Barton ran off to-"

Steve's blood ran cold as he envisioned the battle that you had found yourself in, and the risk of you being outnumbered. He waved Tony off as he flew past in the same direction, wanting to be the one to reach you first and to be your savior, but it was a primal, dominant feeling that he found terribly uncomfortable. You weren't his to protect or save; you weren't his at all. Tony would reach you first, and he had to force himself to feel thankful for the help, when all he wanted to do was to be your knight in shining armor so that you could finally understand.

"I'm on my way," he finally answered once he found his voice again. Steve ran to follow Tony's direction towards you, but when he traversed over the final hill and saw you surrounded and clearly outnumbered just as he had feared, his feet froze in place. All that he could see was you, fighting like he had never seen from you before, skillfully holding your own just as he had taught you and looking beautiful doing it.

"Hey, Cap?" Tony broke in again. "You wanna maybe join in? Your girl is showing you up over here."

The Captain's jaw set tightly, his teeth grinding together at the insinuation from his teammate, and from the clear faux pas; you weren't his in any way, shape, or form. As much as he tried to push the thoughts away and to focus on the job in front of him, you were dominating them and he couldn't shake free. You were interfering with his ability, and everyone could see his incompetence because he couldn't hide it anymore. Without a single thread of rationality, he made it completely your fault and none of his. You did this.

Despite Tony's urging and when Barton finally appeared to try to draw him in, Steve had already decided that he was of no use here. It took too much of his focus to simply turn away and return to the jet, when all that he wanted was to take you away from all of this and have the chance to show you exactly what it was that you were doing to him. What he wouldn't do to have that chance; even if only to find the right words when your mere presence made him mute. Ripping the comm from his ear and tossing it aside, he could do nothing more than to just walk away.

"She's not my girl."

~~~

So have you got the guts?
Been wondering if your heart's still open and if so I wanna know what time it shuts
Simmer down and pucker up
I'm sorry to interrupt. It's just I'm constantly on the cusp of trying to kiss you
I don't know if you feel the same as I do
But we could be together if you wanted to

~~~

"What are you gonna do, Cap? Take me over your knee?"

Steve choked on his own air at your playful suggestion, doing his best and completely failing at smiling through the awkward flush of red in his cheeks that wouldn't clear before you could see it. His mind was running wild with what that would look like, to see you draped over his legs, his hand hovering over your skin and ready to strike, and the picture wouldn't stop. He could almost feel the sting in his hand with the longer he envisioned it.

"You're crossing a line, (Y/N)," he warned quietly, his eyes cast down towards the drink in his hand, swirling the ice cubes in the last few drops left behind. The alcohol itself had no effect on him, but something in its flavor had given him comfort, and maybe even a little bit of that old Rogers confidence that he hadn't felt in far too long. Maybe it was time to test that with one more swallow and a leap of faith. "That's a line that you can't cross back from once you've stepped over. Be careful there."

"You're the one who said that I could use a good spanking, after yesterday's mission," you chided teasingly. "I'm just calling your bluff."

The tiniest curl of a smile appeared on his lips as his glass touched them, and he dropped his voice to a near whisper. His eyes still refused to move to look at you, as if they would give him away and you would see that he wasn't joking like you were. "Who said it was a bluff?"

You had been friends with Steve since almost your first day with the team. The first day was an utter disaster and you came pretty close to dying if it hadn't been for him and a perfectly timed toss of his shield back when he still had aim. It was the second day when your friendship began, and you were immediately connected as if you had known each other forever. You had never looked at him as anything more, even though you found him inconceivably attractive and smart, funny with just the right mix of nerd and doofus. Steve Rogers would be a prime catch for anyone; you had simply never considered that he might be for you.

Deciding that you would take the bait he was tossing at you unabashedly, you took a step to stand at his side as he sat at the bar, taking great care to be certain that he could see the curves of your leg when you put your foot on the low rail to hold yourself steady. You could hear him suck in a harsh breath at the sight of your skirt hem sliding aside to expose your skin, and just to fan the flames a little more, you used the confidence of alcohol to turn your butt towards him with a little push up to make it well within his reach. "Prove it, Rogers."

Before his hand could do so much as twitch in either acceptance of your challenge or to merely set his empty glass down, the entire exchange was nearly over before it began.

"Hey, guys," Clint interrupted, reaching over the bar for a new beer, "things look a little serious over here. You're not still arguing about the mission from yesterday, are you? That whole thing was a shit show, and neither one of you were right, if you ask me."

"We didn't," Steve snapped, still not looking up.

"Well, damn, I'm sorry," Clint shrugged as he backed away, "didn't mean to piss you off, Cap. It's a party. Maybe lighten up a bit." He exchanged a curious glance with you before turning around to leave, and you were cautious to not give anything away; not that you were even sure of what was actually happening.

"Steve, I'm just playing," you offered. "If you're still mad about the mission, then let's talk about it. Maybe Clint's right, we were both wrong, and I'm sorry about how it all turned out. You and I have been friends for too long to let this mess things up, okay? I got in over my head. You're the Captain, and I should have deferred to your lead. When we're on the field, you're in charge-"

"Not only on the field," he growled under his breath, setting down his glass and kicking the bar stool away with a push of his foot as he stood. He just couldn't take it anymore, and he didn't care who knew it. He turned and slid his arm around you, twisting your body to face him with a force that took your breath away for a second. You couldn't catch it again before his lips were on yours, commanding attention and demanding your reply. The weight of him pushed you against the hard bar table, and when you winced at the painful sensation of it, his arm shifted to rest on your back to cushion the contact. Steve may have been lost in the moment and finding it hard to resist temptation, but his gentlemanly manners were still in there somewhere.

They may have been in there somewhere, but he just couldn't seem to find them when, as if without purposeful direction, his hand connected to your backside with a resounding slap that left you wincing from the sensation and the pure shock of it.

"Steve..." you gasped, looking up at him with a newfound insight. "That...that was..."

"Late," he answered heavily, his voice low and thick with a need that barely found its sound. He swallowed his desire away and looked up to see around the room, finding that no one had been paying close enough attention so that he could steal you away from a party that neither of you wanted anything further to do with. "Come on," he whispered, taking your hand, "I think the party's over."

"Do I wanna know where we're going?"

"Doll, if you haven't figured it out by now, I guess I'm gonna have to make sure you never need to ask me again."

Ever thought of calling when you've had a few?
'Cause I always do

Maybe I'm too busy being yours to fall for somebody new
Now I've thought it through
Crawling back to you