Ghost of You

f o u r

It took awhile for me to snap out of the trance Steve had left me in. The party raged on around me as I recounted the events of our interaction, trying to make sense of it all. Only I couldn't. I had no explanation as to why he would have left me with his jacket or why he was able to bother me so much when I was normally too thick-skinned for jerks like him to to get under it. I shook my head, deciding that I needed a distraction as soon as possible but when I stood up off the stool something fell out of Steve's jacket pocket, clattering to the ground. I bent down, hastily picking up the object off the floor. 

It was small and round, made out of some kind of gold colored metal. There was a small latch on the side and I flipped it open, praying I hadn't damaged it. Turns out it was some kind of vintage looking compass, I had never seen one like it. On the inside of the cap there was a black and white photo of a woman. I didn't recognize the face, my curiosity starting to reach peak levels of interest. A million questions ran through my head, all pushed to the side with one overwhelming observation. She was absolutely beautiful. 

I quickly shut the lid, stuffing it back in the pocket. All I had wanted was to make sure I hadn't broken anything but I couldn't help feeling like I had snooped in some sort of way. That I had moved curtains I should never have had access to, peaking into a small window that looked straight into Steve's private life. 

Doing a quick scan of the room I searched for Steve. I didn't want to keep his jacket, especially knowing now that he had left something in it that was most likely valuable to him. Nobody carried around an object like that at a party if it wasn't important, or held some kind of sentimental value. I wanted to return it to him immediately, only Steve was nowhere to be found. 

For a while I lapped the room looking for him, occasionally getting pulled into conversations with fellow coworkers or friends of Tony's guests. I had no idea where he could have disappeared to but he was definitely no longer in the living room. It wasn't until around one o'clock in the morning, when the room started to clear out that I found him again. 

I had bumped into the man who I had seen Steve play pool with. Turns out he was Sam Wilson the name triggering my memory as to why he looked so familiar. I had seen the footage of him fighting at S.H.I.E.L.D HQ the day it had fallen. He was an ex-military man and a close friend of Steve's, although I had heard Nat complain about him on more than one occasion. He had noticed Steve's jacket in my arms and when I asked if he had seen him, he responded with a coy smile. I did my best to assure him that I only wanted to return the jacket but based on the way he kept calling my "Steve's girl" I had a feeling he didn't believe me. 

Only Tony's main team members and a few close friends remained now. Most were gathered around the couch and Sam had asked me if I wanted to join the group there when Steve pushed through one of the doors that led from the hallway where the restrooms were located. His normally neatly gelled hair was mussed out of place and an additional button from his shirt had come loose. Then a blonde girl in a gold dress stumbled out from behind him giggling slightly as she rushed for the exit, her cheeks tinted pink and her hair similarly out of place. 

I pursed my lips, telling Sam I needed to talk to Steve before walking over to him, the leather of his jacket feeling suddenly contaminated, having the itch to wash my hands. It was silly, I know, since he hadn't been wearing it while he was off with the other girl but it felt dirty now all the same.

"I've been looking for you." I began, keeping a good three feet between us and holding out the compass for him to take. "I wanted to make sure you got this back." 

I forced myself to keep my tone unaffected. After all, Steve could fool around with whoever he wanted. I was just annoyed that for even one second I had let myself be fooled into thinking that maybe he wasn't exactly who he had just proven himself to be. I had expected a sarcastic remark, was waiting patiently for another inappropriate comment to spill from his lips. What I hadn't expected was for his cheeks to turn red as he reached forward, snatching the compass from my hand.