Okay, so I'm currently obsessed with Brendon Urie's voice, and the chorus of  this song brought on part 2 when I hadn't planned on writing one.

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It's the hardest rule to follow
I really wish that I could call you
You can find another me tomorrow
And that's the hardest pill to swallow, babe

If I woke up and I called it quits
If today I gave up all of this
Maybe I could get you back tomorrow
And that's the hardest pill to swallow, baby

This must be what it feels like to have a knife through the chest.  Steve had been injured in fights before; he had been stabbed, shot, beaten to a bloody pulp, and hung onto his life by each beat of his heart, and it was all easy compared to this moment.

You had been gone for nearly a year the first time he saw you again, in a chance meeting that he had so far successfully dodged with a quick stumble around the corner of the coffee shop.  His frame kept him from being easily hidden, but you were too focused on your own business to notice him.  You were too focused on the person across the café table from you, enthralled in conversation with a look in your eyes that you used to give him.  A small touch of your hand on their arm left his head spinning and he turned around almost frantically, looking for the safest place to vomit the emotions away.

Luckily, the explosion never happened, but the swimming in his head didn't abate and his stomach was flipping and churning with a strange sense of betrayal that was founded in nothing.  You had ended the relationship, very clearly at that, and you had no responsibility to him anymore; it didn't change how he felt, however, and your hypothesis was wrong.  Your idea that a clean break would be easiest was a failure, and he loved you as much now as he did on that final day when you walked through the compound door and out of his life.

You hadn't seen Steve as he approached the building, and if you had, you might have broken into a sprint to go in any other direction.  The truth was that you were miserable without him, but your reason for leaving hadn't changed; his life was still not one that you could share, at least not as it was.  You were fully aware of his dedication to serving the world when you started seeing him, and you never doubted his feelings for you, but you couldn't have anticipated just how much his divided attentions would hurt over time.  Knowledge didn't diminish the anguish, and eventually, it finally broke you and you had to walk away to save yourself when he couldn't.

When your coffee date ended and the two of you passed through the door and onto the sidewalk, Steve was watching and waiting, holding his breath to see if you would leave together.  He had no idea what he would do if you left together, or if you each left alone, or if you would walk towards him and you would see him staring back.  He was frozen in his lack of assuredness, in a feeling that he hadn't known since the 40's.  It was both an immediate sense of relief and a sense of fresh panic when your date left and you turned to walk right towards him.

"Steve?"

"Hey...um, yeah, hey...(Y/N)," he stammered, taking an uneasy step out onto the sidewalk from his once-safe hiding place.  "It's uh...it's good to see you.  How have you been?"

"I've been good," you answered, but in your mind, all you could think was, not as good as you look, though.  "How about you?"

He paused, nodding introspectively, but he wasn't thinking of anything other than how much it filled his soul just to see you, and he knew that he was in so much trouble.  The banal small talk was already killing him, and he was dying for the smallest touch of your hand so that he could feel again.  "I've been okay," he finally said softly, "busy, but that's pretty normal, I 'spose.  I took some time off, to recharge a little, so that was good.  But you look great...oh!  Um, hold on, I didn't...I didn't interrupt your date at all, did I?"

"That wasn't a date, don't worry, nothing ruined," you smiled, and your casual touch of his arm to soothe his worry was all that he expected and more.  "He's a friend from work.  He's been having a hard time with his husband and just needed to talk it out."  When that same hand that had just touched him moved and caught the sunlight, a blinding sparkle immediately caught his attention.

"Sorry, I just assumed.  I mean, I saw your ring-"

"My what?  Oh!  No!  This?" you chuckled, nervously pushing your hands in your pockets.  It was almost embarrassing, but you didn't want him left with the wrong idea.  Especially a wrong idea that could push him even further away so that even maybe a friendship would be ruined before it could begin.  "This is my version of a shield.  I feel a little dumb wearing it, but I didn't realize how much attention I'd get after you and I split."

"What do you mean?"

"The tabloids had a great time with it, Steve.  I'm sure that Tony kept them out of your sight, for liability and all, but I caught them.  It's ridiculous how many guys want to prove that they can upstage Captain America if I would just give them a chance."

"That's crass," he growled, and you could see his mood shift into protective Steve right before your eyes.  "I'm sorry that you've had to deal with that."

"Don't worry, I can hold my own."

"I remember."

And then just as quickly as it came, the comfort shifted as he studied you again, only this time you were in front of him and not being watched from the safety of his hiding spot.  His feet shuffled slightly, kicking at a few rocks on the sidewalk next to him as his gaze dropped to watch.  The silence became awkward quickly, and it was a sensation that neither of you had ever known when you were together; even in the first days of dating, this had never happened. 

"Right," you finally broke the mood, "so, do you have the day off?  What brings you into the city?"

"Oh, um...nothing too exciting.  Errands."

"Errands?  Since when do you guys run errands?  Is FRIDAY offline again?"

"I lost a bet to Sam," he sighed heavily, "and now I have to buy pizza for everyone for dinner tonight.  Of course, they picked a joint all the way over in Brooklyn.  Can't go easy on me."

"No, of course not.  But then again, if they had, you wouldn't have run into me today."

"No, I wouldn't have."  His voice trailed away to nearly inaudible before the few words were finished, and his posture completely changed.  Were you giving him a chance to see you again, or were you just being polite?  He was at a great risk to misinterpret any words or movements from you, his mind taking the smallest hint and running with it to give him hope.  But at this point, Steve knew that he had nothing to lose anymore, after he had lost you.  The past year had been hell on him and everyone around him, so it couldn't get much worse; he took a leap of faith and he decided to take the shot.  "If you're not busy, would you care to join me?  If you're...if you have some time?"

"Actually, I'd love to, but I have to get back to work for a meeting that I can't miss." 

With that, Steve felt that momentary completeness in his soul begin to empty again and he felt like a proper idiot.  "Sure, no problem-"

"It should only be an hour or so," you continued, making him perk up again with a growing smile, "if you can stop by on your way back from picking up dinner, I should be done."

"I know that the team would love to see you," he jumped in quickly, eager to get a commitment before you could change your mind.  "Just the other day, Barton was saying that we need to get you back up there for a visit.  Tony keeps your favorite dessert stocked just in case you ever stop by-"

"Steve, take a breath.  I'll join you.  I'd love to see everyone, and you and I have some catching up to do, I'm sure."

"Yes, we do," he agreed, again taking a shot and stepping forward to close the space between you, albeit still laden with caution as to not ruin the delicate moment.  You didn't balk when he leaned in for a gentle kiss on your cheek, pulling back quickly to be on his way to his errands, just so he could get back to you even sooner.  "I'll see you soon, (Y/N).  It's a date."

You stood steady as you watched him walk away, and you swore that you saw a playful bounce in his step that had never been there before.  You had no idea what you were doing, and what your goal was here, but you were being honest when you said that you wanted to see everyone and to spend time talking to him again.  It was a comfortable decision to make, and you would find yourself struggling to survive the next hour before he could come back to get you.  You stood there until he was out of sight and lost amidst the crowd, smiling to yourself at the realization that maybe Clint had been right all along and that you could never let him know that.

"It sure is, Cap," you whispered, finally turning away, "it's a date."