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right where you belong

pairing: college baseball player!steve rogers x college student!reader

summary: your study buddy steve rogers invites you to one of his baseball games and though you think he means it as just a friendly invitation, he decides he's hidden his feelings long enough.

warnings: idiots in love, mutual pining, not much plot, mostly feelings, fluff, kissing, cuddling

word count: 3.9k

a/n: day 27 of my 30 day writing trope challenge is college au, which i had quite a few ideas for, but ended up going in this direction. it helps that baseball season is starting soon and i've always kinda wanted to write steve as a baseball player! there's not much plot to this but it came out pretty cute and fluffy so i hope y'all enjoy!

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“Come to my game this weekend, sunshine.” The earnest request was murmured in the quiet, deep voice of Steve Rogers from across the table you were both sitting at. It took a moment for his words to sink in and for you to drag your gaze away from the notes you’d been studying—your whole reason for being in the library on a Tuesday night—to look at your…friend. Were you friends?

You’d met Steve Rogers in the library, on a Tuesday evening just after the start of the spring semester. There hadn’t been anywhere else to sit except the seat across from you at one of the study tables so when he’d asked if he could take it you of course said yes. An hour or so later, you’d caught the campus baseball star pilfering from your open bag of pretzels. He’d flashed a charming, if sheepish grin, and you’d been a goner.

After that, you and Steve fell into a routine. Once a week, you’d study at the same table together. He’d steal some of the snacks you brought—though occasionally he’d order takeout for the two of you if he was particularly hungry—and he’d walk you back to your dorm at the end of the night. While you’d developed a full-blown crush on him, you weren’t sure how he felt. He’d never asked you out, after all, and considering how confident he always seemed, you didn’t think he was too shy to ask. So you’d just settled into the routine, happy to have one night a week with the guy who made you feel safe and happy.

Which was why his invitation felt so out of the blue. Steve had never invited you to anything and nearly half the semester had gone by. Still, you couldn’t deny him, when he looked at you like that—his big blue eyes wide and hopeful, a tentative smile curling the corners of his mouth, his blond hair messy from where he’d raked his fingers through it while he wrote his paper. You were just about to say yes when he spoke again.

“Please, sunshine?” Steve asked when you didn’t respond right away. His expression shifted slightly, his eyes going impossibly wider and his mouth pulling into a pout.

Steve’s puppy dog face did funny things to your insides, your heart fluttering and stomach flipping. In that moment, though you were slightly afraid of what this break in your routine would mean, you couldn’t imagine saying no. “Okay,” you whispered.

Instantly, Steve’s expression changed, a happy grin blooming across his face and happiness sparkling in his eyes. Before you could help it, an answering smile curled your mouth. Excitedly, he told you all about the game—who your school was playing, where the field was and what the best seat on the bleachers was to really see the action. His excitement was infectious and you couldn’t help anticipating the game.

That was how you found yourself attending your very first college baseball game that Saturday. As you made your way to the field on the edge of campus, you turned your face up toward the shining sun. It was one of the first truly nice days heralding the coming spring, warm enough that you’d worn a cute little sundress with a light jacket, the soft breeze ruffling the skirt around your thighs.

When you got to the field, you found the bleachers on the home team’s side, just as Steve had instructed, and sat on the second row from the bottom, in the seat Steve said was the best. All around you, groups of friends were chatting about the game—and the guys on the team—while parents mingled, presumably there to watch their sons play. You knew baseball wasn’t nearly as popular as football, but there was a sizable crowd and it made you happy that Steve always had people cheering him on, even if you were a little sad it had taken him so long to invite you.

Shortly before the game was meant to start, the players jogged onto the field to start stretching. You spotted Steve immediately. He was all broad shoulders and narrow waist, the navy blue shirt of his uniform accentuating his body where it was tucked into the tight white pants he wore. With his back to you, you got to admire the way his uniform pants hugged the curve of his ass. You’d never really had a chance to appreciate his back side before, since it was usually seated across from you, but Steve had a really nice ass.

As you watched him, he turned to the stands like he was looking for something, but stopped when he caught your gaze. “Sunshine!” he hollered, jogging over to the fence separating the field from the fans. He gestured you to meet him, so you stumbled off the bleachers and walked to the chest-high fence where he stood. “You came,” he said, surprise and, if you weren’t mistaken, a kind of fondness in his tone.

Pushing your sunglasses up on top of your head, you smiled up at your friend. “You invited me,” you answered shyly, fingers gripping the top of the fence like you needed it to keep you steady. Your knees wobbled at the way Steve was looking at you, so different to how he looked at you in the library. You couldn’t put into words how it was different, it just felt heavier, more significant.

Those blue eyes of his broke from your gaze and raked down your body, taking in your outfit, right down to the tennis shoes you wore. “You look pretty, sunshine,” he rumbled in a quiet voice meant just for you. “Didja dress up just for me?” he asked with a grin that was just a little bit cocky, his eyes back on yours.

Your cheeks heated at the praise, but something told you not to admit your outfit was for him, even if that was the truth. It felt like giving away too much—like if you admitted you’d worn a dress so you’d look nice for him, it was as good as admitting you had a crush on him. So instead, you said, teasingly, “No, this is just the first time you’re seeing me outside of the library.” You grinned cheekily up at him to soften your words.

Steve rocked back on his heels, his eyes wandering down your body again, lingering on the slope of your neck, the curve of your waist. He let out a low whistle. “Well sunshine, I guess I’ll just have to see you outside of the library a lot more then,” he commented, but there was a heat underneath his words and in his eyes when he recaptured your gaze.

A warmth coursed through your body that had nothing to do with the bright sun and everything to do with the intent way Steve was staring at you. After a moment, he finally broke the charged silence.

“Me and the guys always go to Shanty’s after a game,” he said, referencing a local bar as he glanced over his shoulder at the other members of the team. You recognized some of them from around campus or the gossip mill your roommates were far more tapped into. But then Steve turned back and blocked your view of the other players, his broad shoulders the only thing you could see before you tilted your head back and caught the hopeful look in Steve’s eye. “Will you come, sunshine?”

“Sure, Steve,” you said, unable to say no to him when he looked at you with such earnest hope in his expression. Not that you wanted to say no, the thought of spending even more time with him outside of the library was more than a little appealing.

At your answer, Steve grinned down at you. He seemed to hesitate for a moment, then reached some kind of decision, ducking his head and planting a kiss to your cheek. “Wish me luck,” he murmured in your ear before he was gone, jogging back to his teammates.

It took you a moment to recover from his sweet kiss, the smell of his cologne overwhelming you—something fresh that paired well with the scent of cut grass hanging in the air around the baseball field. When you did, you called out, “Good luck!” Your voice was a bit too breathy, but you could tell Steve heard you from the way he threw a grin over his shoulder at you.

After making your way back to your seat, you settled in to watch the game. Baseball wasn’t exactly your favorite sport to watch, but it was far more enjoyable to watch Steve play baseball. The way the muscles in his arms and shoulders bunched when he hit the ball, the way his thighs worked beneath the soft white pants he wore when he was running the bases. It felt like an ember of heat had sparked to life in your core when Steve kissed your cheek and watching him play baseball kept it alive, humming beneath the surface of your skin, throughout the whole game.

When it was over—after Steve had scored a couple runs and helped your college’s team to victory—he jogged back over to the fence while his teammates were celebrating their win, much of the crowd rushing onto the field to congratulate them. You met Steve at the fence and he hugged you tightly, your face pressed into his heated chest. He told you to wait on the bleachers for him while he showered and got changed, so you did, idly playing on your phone.

After a little while, when the sun was starting to dip below the horizon, Steve emerged from the locker room and walked to the bleachers with his sports bag. He held his hand out to you and you slipped your fingers into his big palm, letting him help you down from your seat. “Ready, sunshine?” he asked. When you nodded, he threw his arm around your shoulders and led you to his car.

Something about being tucked into Steve’s side, his arm around your shoulders, felt right. He hugged you sometimes, when he dropped you off at your dorm at night, especially if you’d been really struggling that day. Having his arm around you, like a public statement you belonged to him in some way, reminded you just how good it had always felt to be in his arms. The rightness of it burned in your chest, making you want more—making you want to really be Steve’s girl.

When you got to his car, he opened the passenger door and helped you inside, his hands careful as he shut the door behind you. If you didn’t know any better, you’d have thought it was a date with the way Steve was acting. But you told yourself that was silly. He’d asked his study buddy to come to his game and now he was giving you—his friend—a ride to the bar. You kept telling yourself that was all it was.

But then, when Steve got in the car, he held his right hand out to you, palm up. He gave you a sideways look until you threaded your fingers with his, your hands locking together. He squeezed your hand before turning the car on and pulling out of his parking spot. It sent a little flutter through your chest, but you told your heart to calm down. As far as you knew, you were still just friends.

At Shanty’s, Steve held tight to your hand as he led you through the crowd, finally finding the rest of the team gathered around a bunch of tables in the back corner. A cheer went up when they noticed Steve and he grinned confidently. Then he pulled you into his side and introduced you to everyone. You smiled and waved shyly. When they’d all nodded in greeting, Steve guided you to a seat beside a guy you knew was his friend—Bucky Barnes. Then he got your drink order and headed to the bar.

Bucky turned in his seat, giving you a onceover, his gaze reserved as he took a drink from his bottle of beer. “So you’re the sweet little nerd girl that’s got our Stevie all twisted up,” he said, catching the attention of Sam Wilson, who was sitting on his other side.

Sam turned to you, interest lighting up his brown eyes as he looked you over too, though he looked away long enough to throw Bucky an annoyed look. “Just because she studies doesn’t make her a nerd, Buck,” he said a little scornfully before he turned a charming smile on you. “Don’t listen to him—I never do.”

You laughed at Sam’s comment, his joke making you feel a little more comfortable even as Bucky still watched you closely. But then his serious expression broke and he grinned at you cheekily, leaning in like he was going to tell you a secret. “Truthfully, I’m just glad you exist,” he said, humor sparkling in his icy eyes. “I was starting to believe Steve made you up—the way he goes on about you.”

You didn’t get a chance to ask Bucky what he meant by that because Steve returned with your drinks, plopping down on the bench seat next to you and tossing his arm around your shoulders. He tugged you closer, tucking you into his side, and watched you take a sip of your drink. Only when you smiled up at him to let him know it was good did he look to his friends. Your heart warmed in your chest and you couldn’t help yourself from staring at him a little longer before turning back to the group.

The guys quickly fell into a conversation about the game and the rest of the season, making sure to include you—even asking if you enjoyed the game, to which you responded you did.

When Bucky and Sam left the table to get more drinks, you turned to Steve, having to tilt your head back against his arm to see his face since you were so close to him. “Why didn’t you invite me to a game before today?” you asked a little shyly. “I really enjoyed seeing you play.”

The corners of Steve’s mouth kicked up in a grin, but it fell as fast as it appeared and he took a drink from his beer to hide it. When he set the bottle down, his thumb picked at the label, almost like he was nervous. “I wasn’t sure you’d like it,” he said slowly, like he was picking his words carefully. “A lot of people think baseball is boring.”

“I’d never find anything you do boring,” you said before you could stop yourself. You winced a little, realizing how close that statement came to admitting your feelings for Steve. When he glanced at you, you just tried to smile at him in a friendly way.

“Thanks, sunshine,” Steve murmured, his blue eyes deep and dark with some emotion you couldn’t identify. “That means a lot to me.”

“Of course, Steve,” you said, your voice a little high pitched as your heart pounded in your chest. The way he was looking at you… it almost looked like he wanted to kiss you. You panicked a little, and said the first thing that came to mind. “Friends support each other, right?”

Steve blinked and you watched as your words sunk in. His jaw muscle ticked and he looked away. Steve seemed to gather himself before he looked back at you, none of the intensity left in his blue eyes. You mourned its loss as he gave you a charming grin that felt a little fake. “Right, sunshine,” he said.

Bucky and Sam returned not long after that and you all got sucked into a conversation about classes and midterms. It was a fun night, and Steve’s friends helped to make you feel comfortable. You laughed as you watched them get progressively drunker and sillier while you nursed your drink. You couldn’t help noticing Steve only had the one drink, too, though he offered to buy you another one.

Many hours later, when you hid a yawn behind your hand, Steve tugged you up off the bench and started making his exit. He towed you along after him once you’d both said goodbye to all his friends and teammates. He led you back to his car and helped you into the passenger seat. Then he drove back to campus, parking near your dorm.

Despite your protests, Steve insisted on walking you to your door, his hand still holding yours. When you got to the front of your dorm, he tugged you to a stop, spinning you to face him. He stared down at you, but didn’t say anything.

“Thanks Steve,” you said, breaking the slightly awkward silence. “I had a lot of fun today—thank you for inviting me to your game, and to Shanty’s.” You smiled up at him, your heart fluttering at how handsome he looked in the warm glow of the street lamps that lined the path to your dorm.

For long moments, he was quiet, like he was thinking hard about something. Eventually, he seemed to make some kind of decision with himself and he took a deep breath, as if preparing himself. “Here’s the thing, sunshine,” he said, looking down at your hands still tangled together, a tether between your bodies. He looked up at you from under his lashes, carefully watching your reaction. “I like you.”

The air froze in your lungs and your heart felt like it stopped for a second, before it leapt into action, pounding in your chest. Your thoughts were too tangled up to tell if they were frozen too or moving too fast and all at once. All you could do was tilt your head to the side in confusion and ask, “What?”

“I’ve liked you for weeks,” he explained, tucking some of your hair behind your ear as he stepped closer.

The warmth of his body washed over you, his scent fresh and clean and mixed a little bit with the smell of beer, all of it going straight to your head and making you feel a little light-headed. You had to make yourself pay attention to what he was saying.

“I didn’t know if you liked me too, but I figured if you could sit through a whole baseball game for me, then that must mean something,” he said, his eyes hopeful as he watched you process what he was saying. He paused, then asked, “So did it—mean something?”

Dazedly, you nodded. You tried to speak, but your throat was dry so you tried again. “I like you too, Steve,” you confessed.

Steve made a happy sound, and then he was grabbing you around the waist and lifting you into his arms. He cheered as he spun you around. “She likes me, too!” he yelled up into the night sky, whooping with happiness. All you could do was giggle.

When he set you down on your feet, his hands cupped your face gently and he stared down at you with a soft, affectionate expression. “You like me, sunshine?” he asked, like he just had to be sure. You nodded, unable to contain your smile, and he ducked down, pressing his lips to yours.

Happiness surged through you, twining with the low simmering warmth in your core, making you shudder in Steve’s arms as you pressed closer to him. His arms wrapped around your back, tugging you into his hard body as he tilted his head and deepened the kiss. His tongue traced along your lower lip, making you gasp and he took the opportunity to slide inside. Kissing Steve was heady, and you threaded your fingers through his soft blond hair, holding him like he was the only thing keeping you grounded from flying away.

As the kiss was winding down, Steve smiled against your mouth. “You’re all mine now, aren’t you, sunshine?” Steve’s hands were fisted in the back of your dress, holding onto you just as tightly as you were holding onto him.

Catching your breath and panting against his lips, you nodded. “I’m all yours, Steve.”

Steve grinned and hiked you up higher against his body, until you were pressed to the full length of him, only your tiptoes touching the ground. You wanted to squirm, your body needing him to help you with the aching feeling in your core, but you didn’t want to give up the feel of being so close to him. Steve chuckled, recognizing your plight. “Let me take you home,” Steve murmured.

“I am home,” you said on a sigh, referencing your dorm. But a distant part of your brain thought about Steve’s arms when you said the word home.

“No, no, my home, sunshine,” Steve said, pressing a kiss to your neck and making you shiver. “Wanna kiss you all night.”

“Mmm ‘kay,” you murmured, the warmth of your body conspiring with your tiredness from the day to make you sleepy.

Steve chuckled again and helped you back to his car. The drive to his apartment was short, and then he was tugging you up the stairs to his place. When you got to his room, Steve gave you some of his clothes to sleep in, and then left you alone.

Though you wanted to poke around and discover everything his room had to reveal about him, you changed quickly. Steve returned, dressed only in low-slung lounge pants that made your brain short-circuit for a minute. It took your sluggish mind a moment to realize it was the first time you’d seen Steve shirtless, and you had to hold yourself back from tracing every ridge and line of muscle on his torso with your fingers.

Instead, Steve handed you a toothbrush still in the package and pointed you in the direction of the bathroom. When you got back to his room, he was laying on top of the covers of his bed, but he pulled them back for you. He slid beneath them with you. You lay on your side, facing Steve, biting your lip a little worriedly.

“Are we just going to sleep?” you asked, unsure how you wanted him to answer.

Steve yawned loudly into his hand, his own eyes going heavy-lidded from exhaustion. He hooked an arm around your waist and dragged you closer to him, close enough he could tilt your chin up and press a short and sweet kiss to your lips. “Yeah, sunshine—I know I promised more kisses, but I think we both need some sleep.”

Pressing your face into the pillow, you muffled a yawn and nodded. “Yeah, you’re right.”

With a happy little hum, Steve rolled you over until your back was to him, then he gathered you into the cradle of his body, wrapping around you from behind. Your bodies fit perfectly together, which only made you smile sleepily to yourself. Steve let out a deep, contented sigh, and you melted in his arms, both of you relaxing together.

“So glad you came today, sunshine,” Steve mumbled, his warm breath ruffling your hair. “So glad you’re mine.”

Your heart gave an excited little flip at his words, but it wasn’t enough to fight off the coming sleep. Still, you hummed and wiggled slightly to show your agreement.

As you both drifted off, Steve clung to you tightly and mumbled, “This is right where you belong.”

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