Hearts Collide

"Steve!" Alex cried out as she pressed the elevator button repeatedly out of frustration.

"Y'know, pressing the button harder isn't going to make the elevator come any faster," she heard Clint's voice say from behind her.

Her eyes widened at the sound of his voice and she immediately turned to face him. "What do you want, Clint?" she asked with a mixture of annoyance and hurt in her voice.

"I wanted to see if you we're alright."

"Clint, Steve just walked out on me after everything that just happened. How do you think I feel?" she scoffed.

"I'm guessing not so good," Clint mumbled awkwardly.

"You think?" she snapped.

"Look, Alex. I was just joking around back there when I said you wanted me. Don't be mad at me."

"Well, it wasn't very funny," Alex began, "And if Steve breaks up with me because of this—"

"He's not going to break up with you," Clint stated.

"What makes you so sure?" she asked with doubt in her voice.

"Because he loves you the same way you love me," he pointed out.

"Clint, we just went over this. I don't love you like that."

"But you still love me," he began as Alex gave him a quizzical look. "As a friend, I mean. And even though you're mad at me, you're not going to stop being my friend."

Alex let out a long sigh before she looked at Clint and stated, "You're right." Clint grinned a bit as he noted her eyes softening. "As much of a jackass as you just were, you're still my friend," she sighed. "So what am I supposed to do about Steve?"

"Well, he seems pretty upset."

"You think?"

"No need to be snippy," Clint defended. "Just give him some time; he'll get over it."

"I hope so," Alex uttered as the elevator doors opened and she stepped inside.
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Alex sat idly on her bed as she continuously pressed the 'x' button on her controller.

"Dammit," she murmured when small orange box on the screen hit the black wall, causing her game to restart. She let out a sigh as she began to get ready for another round. However, before she was able to, a knock on the door interrupted her.

"Come in," she responded, not bothering to ask who it was.

"Hey, Alex," she heard Pepper's voice say.

"Hey, Pepper. What's up?" she asked.

"Well, Tony asked me to check on you and—"

"See if I was still mad at him?" she interrupted.

"Is it that obvious?" Pepper questioned.

Alex nodded in response. "Yes. My dad might be a genius, but I know all the tricks he tries to use on me. 90% of them involve you," Alex stated bluntly which caused the older female to smile. "Anyway, you can tell him that I'm not mad at him, but he's going to help me rig that bracelet he made me so it doesn't seriously hurt anybody," she sighed.

"Is everything alright, Alex?" Pepper asked with concern in her voice.

"Now why would you ask that?"

"Because you're fidgeting with that necklace Steve gave you," Pepper pointed out which caused Alex to cease what she was doing. "Do you want to tell me what happened?"

"Do you want the short story or the long version?"

"You tell me," Pepper responded.

Alex let out a long sigh before turning off her x-box and saying, "It all started when I went to see Steve yesterday."

Alex explained to Pepper the events that had occurred within the last few hours. From her sleeping with Steve to the talk she had with Clint.

Pepper sat there listening to everything Alex had to say and comforted her when Alex talked about Steve walking out on her.

"And now I don't know what to do," Alex admitted as a frown appeared on her face and she gripped onto the charm on her necklace. "I don't want to wait around for him not to be mad anymore, but I don't want to see him when he still is. Ugh—why is this so hard?"

"Because you love Steve," Pepper smiled as she wrapped an arm around Alex's shoulder. "And trust me, being in love with someone is never easy. But you should always try to make it work out— even if you do mess up on the apology part," Pepper stated, mumbling the last part.

"So what did my dad do?" Alex asked as she raised an eyebrow at Pepper's direction.

"Well," Pepper began, "It was a while ago. When I was mad at him. He brought me strawberries and an apology gift."

Alex shot Pepper a look of disbelief before saying, "But you're allergic to strawberries."

"I know," Pepper sighed. "But, your father thought I loved them and bought me a whole lot of them and eventually…I forgave him like I always do."

"Wow," Alex uttered as she released her grip on her necklace and stood up.

"Where are you going, Alex?"

"I'm going to go babble about how much of an idiot I am and how much I love Steve and hope he takes it as an apology," Alex grinned as she made her way out of her room. "Thank you, Pepper."

"You're welcome, sweetie," she smiled.
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Alex let out a long sigh as she stood in front of Steve's bedroom door. She slowly lifted her hand and formed a fist before she knocked on the door three times.

Knock. Knock. Knock

"Steve?" she called out but got no reply. Knock. Knock. Knock. "Steve?" she repeated, but still no answer. Alex let out a soft grunt before pressing her back against the wall and sliding down so that she was sitting on the floor.

"Listen, Steve," she began as she bit her lip. "I know you're mad at me— you have every right to be, but hear me out. Last night when my dad told me about you being in S.H.I.E.L.D's hospital wing, my heart stopped— I was so worried about you and I wished that there was something I could do," she sighed. "But I couldn't, so I thought getting drunk was the next best thing. Which was a stupid idea because what kind of an idiot tries to drink their pain away when someone they love is hurt," she stated, her voice full of regret. "Anyway, I'm really sorry for kissing Clint; I would have never done that if I knew that it wasn't him…or wasted for that matter, but I want you to know that you're the only guy I want to kiss. I love you, Steve and I hope you're able to forgive me."

"So you're not going to kiss your dad anymore?" Alex heard Tony's voice ask.

She looked up at Tony before asking, "So how much of that did you hear?"

"Just the last bit," Tony commented as he motioned for Alex to get up. "So why are you talking to an empty room?"

"What?" Alex asked in confusion.

"Yeah, I saw Steve leave on his motorcycle like an hour or so ago," Tony pointed out.

"Great," Alex sighed. "So much for an apology."

"That's not exactly true," Tony uttered.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Pepper told me that you weren't mad at me and that you wanted to go work on that bracelet I made you, so I accept your apology," Tony said cockily.

"That's the worst apology ever!" Alex grinned as she playfully punched Tony on the arm.

"I know, it's not my fault you're so bad at them," Tony joked which caused Alex to smile.

"Of course," Alex sighed. "So are you going to help me fix that weapon you made me?"

"Sure. Let's go to the lab right now," Tony suggested as he began walking towards the elevators.

"Hey dad," Alex called out which caused Tony to stop in his tracks. "I'm sorry for freaking out on you before. It's just—"

"It's fine. I forgive you," Tony stated before he continued to walk to the elevators.
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Steve stood behind the closed door silently as he listened to Alex leave with Tony. He had thought about everything Alex had said and he had felt a bit of guilt when he recalled events in his own life that were similar to what had recently happened. When he watched Bucky die right in front him, Steve desperately tried to numb the pain just as Alex tried to numb her pain when she heard he was hurt. And when Peggy had caught that blonde woman kissing him, he tried to explain to her that it wasn't entirely his fault, just like kissing Clint wasn't entirely Alex's fault.

Steve let out a small sigh as he clutched onto his dog tag and whispered, "I'm sorry, Alex."