- 2012 -

My boyfriend of one year, Daniel, had become a very controlling man. At first he was quite kind, had a little bit of an ego but I naively looked over it because he was attractive. We moved in together pretty early on, me believing that I would be happy with the man but a couple months after us living together he began to change. He was in charge of everything, I wasn't allowed to have a social life without him, the only solace I got was at my place of work: the gym.

Daniel hated the fact I worked at a gym, but he didn't actually know the full extent of my job and I was too scared to tell him. I was actually specifically assigned as a personal trainer to the one and only Captain America, and it was my duty to help keep his Super-Soldier serum-ed up body super. I knew that if Daniel found out I was training the world best soldier he'd be furious, but Steve Rogers was a kind and gentle man who I loved spending time with, and I had a dangerous feeling I was developing a crush on him.

"You come back home at 19:00. No later," Daniel demanded as he drove me right up to the entrance of the gym. "Do you understand?"

"I don't finish my shift until 19:00, there's no way I'd be able to get home in time," I huffed, going to get out of the car but he grabbed my wrist.

"Fine. If you come back any later that 19:15 you will seriously regret it," he growled and I gulped. All I could do was nod and he let go of my wrist, me letting out a subtle sigh of relief. As quickly as I could I clambered out of the car and headed towards the gym, feeling Daniels eyes on me as I disappeared inside. When I reached my locker I let out a sigh of relief, heading down to the more private area of the gym where I saw Steve waiting for me. As soon as I saw him a smile came to my lips, my fear disappearing and being replaced with a warmth in my heart.

"Hi Steve," I greeted the man who was stood next to one of the strung up punching bags, his hands wrapped.

"Hi (y/n), how are you?" He asked sweetly, a charming smile appearing on his lips.

"I'm okay thanks," I lied convincingly but there was a slight waver in my voice, one I think he noticed. "So lets start with the warm up. You've done your morning run I assume?"

"13 miles, 45 minutes," he said.

"Good, we keep doing that and maybe we'll be able to get it to 30 minutes," I teased. "So you started without me?" I gestured the punching bag and he shrugged.

"Thought I'd come in straight after my jog-,"

"Your 'jog'? Looks like we need to add a couple of miles," I interrupted him and he chuckled. "C'mon then. Show me what you've got on the bag."

We began our training session, us mainly focussing on his legs today. Despite being strong everywhere, his legs were his weakest point. Plenty of lunges, squats, kicks and balances later he was laid on the floor, sweating and panting. "You've never worked me this hard before," he breathed and I chuckled, looking at the mess I'd made of him.

"You'll thank me for it in the long run," I said, holding my hand out to him and helping him off the floor. "And now that all of your injuries from the attack on New York are healed you can expect more intense training."

"You mean you've been taking it easy?" He raised an eyebrow, a glint in his sharp blue eyes.

"Damn right Cap," I winked and saw a blush on his cheeks. Just being in his presence was enough to make me happy, and throughout the day I definitely confirmed that I had feelings for the man which I knew was going to make life difficult. I trained with him every single day, he was so sweet and kind to me, but the main issue was that I had a boyfriend.

All throughout the day I tried not to think about him, hoping instead that I could simply just get by and focus all of my attention on Steve. It was impossible to say whether he felt the same way, whether he reciprocated my feelings but I knew that whether he did or didn't I needed to get out of this toxic relationship that I was in. "Are you sure you're okay?" Steve asked as we neared the end of our session.

"Huh? I'm fine... why?"

"You seem distracted," he said.

"Sorry- sorry, it's just I've got something on my mind," I admitted.

"Well if you need someone to talk to... I'm here," he assured me, stepping closer to me and I gulped, looking up at him.

"Thank you Steve," I finally found my voice. We spent a moment simply looking at each other before we realised what we were doing, but we quickly stepped back and attempted to distract ourselves from the moment. "Right - er - lets move onto combat training. Step into the ring," I gestured the boxing ring and the two of us began work again.

I began to get lost in the time I was spending with Steve, when a vibration in my pocket caught my attention. Steve carried on whilst I checked my phone, and my stomach dropped when I realised it was 19:15 and I had received three missed calls from Daniel. "Fuck," I whispered, my language catching Steve's attention.

"Everything alright?" He asked, sensing the fear in my tone.

"Yes- sorry, we'll have to leave it there- I-I was supposed to be home by now, my boyfriends ringing demanding- I mean asking where I am," I said quickly and Steve's face fell.

"You have a boyfriend?" He asked and I gulped, realising he didn't know.

"Er- yeah..." I muttered awkwardly and he looked somewhat crestfallen making me feel guilty. It was in that moment that I wondered whether he too had a little crush on me like I did with him, but the vibrating phone in my hand forced me to turn my attention away from Steve. "Hello?" I whispered nervously when I answered the phone.

"You should be home by now!" Daniel shouted down the phone loud enough for Steve to hear, his expression turning from slight sadness to evident concern.

"I know I just got caught up with- some colleagues," I couldn't tell him the truth.

"Well if you don't get home in five minutes you will seriously regret it," he growled and irritation grew within me.

"You know it's impossible to make that journey in five minutes- Daniel!" I shouted but he had hung up. I clenched my phone in my fist, Steve then catching my attention by coughing slightly behind me.

"Do you need me to ride you home?" He asked sweetly.

"Thank you Steve, you're a lifesaver," I smiled, although I didn't want to leave his company. I wanted to stay with him, now and into the night. He rode me on the back of his motorbike to the road I lived on, but I told him to park not too close to my house incase my boyfriend saw. We both clambered off of the bike, feeling a little sad that I didn't have an excuse to wrap my arms around him anymore. "Thanks for the lift."

"(y/n) I don't mean to pry but... is everything okay? Between you and your boyfriend?" He asked and I gulped.

"Yeah, why wouldn't it be?"

"Because he sounded really angry on the phone. He's demanding you come home and you're asking me to park at the end of your street so he doesn't see us together... doesn't he know you're my personal trainer?"

"No," I admitted with a sigh. "He thinks I just work at the gym, he doesn't know what I do exactly."

"That's another reason then. That and- well I don't want to jump to conclusions but it's felt as though you've been... flirting with me recently," he finally said with caution, a blush on his cheeks. I gulped again, feeling a little embarrassed at the fact I was caught.

"I'm sorry. God you probably think I'm so disloyal right now," I laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of my head. "Truth is I guess I've not been happy for a while. With Daniel, I mean. And then I met you, we get on so well and you're so kind to me. I'm sorry, I'll understand if you want a new trainer," I muttered.

"No, I don't want a new trainer. The truth is I feel the same," he said and my eyes widened. "Why are you still with him if you're not happy?"

"You heard him on the phone. He's so controlling, he has to be in charge, he controls the house, the money. I guess I've just sort of gone along with it," I shrugged.

"Are you still going to go along with it?" He asked softly, stepping slightly closer to me.

"No. Not anymore," I said firmly and a smile flickered on his face. I looked at my house down the road, pulling together all the confidence I had.

"Want me to come with you? I think he needs to learn how to respect a lady after all," He said with a mischievous glint in his eye.

"Thanks Steve but I need to do this myself," I said.

"It's probably too early to ask since you haven't actually ended things yet but... tomorrow, do you wanna grab a cup of coffee?" He asked with an adorable nervousness about him.

"Sure," I said, the two of us smiling. I bade him a goodnight and headed for my house, my heart racing as I knew Daniel was going to be very angry, and his anger would only increase. As soon as I unlocked the door he was in the hallway, and he grabbed me by the scruff of my neck before slamming me against the wall.

"Where the hell have you been?!" He spat in my face making me wince but I tried to hold onto the confidence I had built up. "And why the hell were you with Captain America?!" He slammed me against the wall again, a photo frame that was hung up falling to the floor and shattering.

"Let go of me!" I shouted, trying to wriggle free from his grasp but it was no use.

"Answer me!" He yelled.

"Because I'm his personal trainer dipshit!" I pulled at his fist, him finally dropping me. I breathed out a sigh of relief, but yelped out in pain when he grabbed me by my hair and dragged me to the living room.

"Are you telling me you've been cheating on me?" He growled deeply and threateningly, this change in tone frightening me a little.

"No, I've just been doing my job!" I defended myself despite having fallen for Steve.

"Liar! You bitch, well from now on you're not allowed to work! You're going to stay in here, cook and clean like a proper woman does!" He threw me onto the sofa but I stood up sharply.

"No I'm not. I'm breaking up with you," I said the words and there was a deathly silence, when suddenly my head was thrown to the side, my cheek was stinging and the sound of a slap reverberated around the room. Anger grew within me and I pushed Daniel back, him apparently surprised by my strength. I stood up straight, a glare in my eye determined to fight my own battles. "I am leaving you. Tonight. Right now in fact. Not only that but this is my house so you can get out!"

The next thing I knew I had been pinned to the floor, him trying to punch me. I knew self defence moves and I was able to get him off of me, but he soon had his arm wrapped around my throat squeezing the air out of my body. Suddenly there was an almighty bang as the front door burst open, and I could finally breathe again as Daniel was being prized off of me by Steve. Steve threw Daniel up against the wall, him then falling down on the floor in a heap.

"I had him," I lied, clambering to my feet.

"Sure you did," Steve said casually, standing Daniel up.

"Thanks for the assist, but I can do this on my own," I said firmly and Steve stepped aside, letting me approach my ex boyfriend. "I am leaving you Daniel and you won't stop me. If I have to get the police involved I will. But lets face it, you're a coward, so you're going to hand everything that's mine back to me. Oh, and get the hell out of my house," I glared at the man. He glanced over my shoulder and huffed. "Hey! It's me you should be worried about," I added and Daniel scoffed.

"What can a whiney girl like you do- FUCK!" He yelled out in pain after a punched him hard, directly on his nose. "You bitch! You broke my nose!"

"I said get the hell out of my house," I threatened, clenching my fist tightly. He cowered and finally left, clutching his broken nose as the blood seeped through his fingers. I watched him run down the street from the lounge window, him turning the corner out of sight.

"That was impressive," Steve said, looking at me fondly.

"I've learnt a few self-defence moves over the years," I said nonchalantly.

"Are you okay though? A punch like that can hurt the fists," Steve turned into his caring self causing the corners of my lips to turn up.

"I'm fine. Hey I'm - er - sorry I led you on when I had a boyfriend. I mean I do like you, I do have feelings for you but I should've broken up with him sooner," I mumbled.

"It's alright. It's done now, right?" He asked rhetorically but I still nodded. "So... about that coffee?"