Not sure how I feel about this one, but I had to write it out. So here you go!

Amelia sighed as she slid into the back booth. The bliss of sitting down for the first time in hours during a shift was something she would never take for granted. Taking off her hat and not caring how flat or disheveled her hair was underneath, she placed it in the space next to her and spread out the stack of papers she had been carrying. Inventory forms, order forms, new hire paperwork and termination paperwork awaited the rest of her shift. Normally, she'd handle all of this in the back office, but it was being used by the other shift manager training for a promotion. She shouldn't be bothered anyway, there was more than enough staff behind the counter and they weren't too busy in the afternoon.

She sipped her iced coffee and started with the order forms. Those were easy. She knew what they needed and there wasn't anything new, so those were done fairly quickly. Next were the inventory forms the corporate office had faxed over. Apparently there was a miscount and Amelia had to verify that they had counted correctly this morning. There was a lot of signing and making sure the papers were filled out correctly. It was while she was doing this that a tap on her shoulder brought a smile to her face.

"Joe!" She said brightly to one of the regular customers. "Hi!"
His wrinkled face lit up with a smile as he leaned on his cane. "Well, hello there, young lady. What are you doing all in the corner by yourself?"

"Paperwork," she made a face at the word and he chuckled. "Are you going to join me? Need your coffee?" That brought another chuckle.

"It's been a long, long time since a pretty lady asked me for coffee." He carefully sat down in the booth across from her and set his cane down. "Anything interesting in those papers, you got there?"

"I got a whole lot of inventory here. There's coffee…"she flipped a page, "coffee…" flipped another page. "And more coffee."

Joe smiled at her, his eyes crinkling even more. He wore a red plaid shirt today and his veteran ball cap. "People sure do love their coffee. Moving around so fast. It's all that coffee and those uh…oh…energy shots. Nasty things those are."

"Uh oh…did you try one before?" Amelia couldn't help the smile slide on her face.

"I wanted to see what the fuss was about! Grandson drinks them. They're horrible! I told him I could make him a cup o' joe like we used to and it'd knock him off his feet better than those damn things."

Amelia laughed. "How old is your grandson?"

"Twenty two. About your age?" He squinted his eyes at her behind his glasses.

"Close. I'm twenty seven."

"Still a kid, eh?" He winked at her. "I remember when I was 27. The wife and I were married oh…about 5 years, I think. She had dark hair like you. Could sing like an angel. You sing?"

Amelia shook her head. "Oh no, I'm terrible."

"Oh, I wouldn't say terrible."

Amelia whipped around, not expecting to hear that voice. It was hard to not recognize it. Her ex boyfriend Daniel was standing not too far behind her, hands in his pockets, a small smile on his face.

"Hey, baby."

Amelia couldn't speak, not sure what to say, and her chest was tightening. Joe didn't seem to notice the tension and he grinned and waved at him.

"I'll take this as my cue to go," he said, standing up, using his cane for support. "I'll see you tomorrow, sunshine." He patted Amelia on the shoulder as he slowly walked across the coffee chop. Amelia turned away from Daniel, but he slid into the seat Joe had vacated. Amelia's cheeks were burning. Daniel was the last person she wanted to see, especially in a coffee shop uniform.

"You're pretty quiet," Daniel said, looking far too comfortable in the seat. "You were never the quiet type."

Amelia took a breath and forced a smile. "Hi, Daniel."

"Hey, you."

Amelia clamped her jaw shut so hard her teeth began to hurt. She wanted to smack that smug smile off his face. She knew she shouldn't still be angry. It had been four years since she found him with her best friend. Well, she was an ex now too. Amelia still couldn't decide which betrayal was worse.

"What are you doing here?" she asked lightly. "Last I heard you were deployed in Korea."

"I'm on leave for a bit," he said quickly. "Last I heard you were working for a lawyer."

His eyes trailed down taking in her cream colored uniform, spending a little too much time on her chest.

"Battle of New York," she replied quietly.

"Must be tough," he said leaning forward. He still wore the same cologne. "You don't deserve to be working here. You're better than that."

Amelia raised an eyebrow. "What?"

He shrugged, flexing his steroid given muscles in the process. "This place is a dump. You're too good for this place."

"What are you doing here?" She said, mentally counting to ten and trying to take deep breaths. "Why are you talking to me? I made it perfectly clear I never wanted to see you again."

Daniel was quiet for a while, his bright blue eyes unmoving from hers. "I wanted to apologize."

Amelia laughed. "Apologize? No. No, let's not do this here. I'm working. And about to have a shift change come in."

Daniel reached to take her hand but she moved it away. "Babe, come on-"

"I'm not your babe. And I never liked that name. Please don't do this. Please go away."

"No," Daniel said, his voice rising a bit. Amelia took a quick glance to see if anyone had heard.

"No," he continued. "You need to listen to me and this is the only way-"

"Will you be quiet?" Amelia hissed, as the couple across the aisle glanced their way.

"Don't tell me what to do! I'm here to apologize and you're being rude!"

Amelia couldn't believe him. She stared, wide eyed, as his face grew a little red. He was reminding her over and over why she was so very grateful to not be with him anymore. His temper was the thing she hated most. While he never hit her, never abused her, his anger and temper tantrums had been terrible. A few times she had to patch holes in the walls of his apartment.

Taking a breath, she began to gather all the papers she had spread about and he all but demanded what she was doing. "We aren't doing this, Daniel. I don't like you, I don't want to talk to you and I don't want to see you. If you aren't going to buy any coffee, please leave."

She had made it halfway back to the counter before he grabbed her arm rather tight. "I wasn't done, Amy!"

"I am, and for the last god damn time, it's Amelia! And if you don't leave right now, I am calling security." Amelia had never been more angry or embarrassed. They were causing a scene, in front of regular and new customers. Vaguely she saw her workers trying to distract the customers but their efforts weren't working all too well. She yanked her arm from his grasp.

Daniel pulled a face. "You don't have security in a coffee shop."

Amelia let out a huff and took a deep breath. She was not fully aware that they had caught the attention of most of the shop. "Daniel, please. There is nothing to talk about. If you want to apologize, fine. Apology accepted. Now please, if you aren't buying anything-"

"Is there a problem here?"

Amelia whipped around and came face to face with Steve, wearing his ball cap and navy blue jacket when he didn't want to direct attention to himself. Although, with the way he was standing, and the tone of his voice, the cap and jacket were null and void.

"Steve, hey! You're early. I don't get off for another hour," She said, hoping to God this went well. "Um. Steve, this is Daniel, Daniel this is Steve, my boyfriend. Daniel was just leaving."

The looks of shock were vastly different on both faces. Daniel was bordering on disgust while Steve's eyebrows only raised a fraction before he caught on. He gave Daniel a nod before turning to Amelia. "Are you okay?" He stepped it up by gently placing his hand on her arm and leaning in to her.

She smiled up at him, making a note that he gets free coffee for the rest of forever. "Yeah, I'm good. I'm almost done." She turned back towards Daniel, who kept looking between the two. "Goodbye, Daniel. Please don't contact me again." She kissed Steve on the cheek for another added effect and scurried behind the counter and into the back office, not making eye contact with any of her coworkers. She knew Steve could and would take care of the rest. He had jumped to help so effortlessly and she was half in disbelief and relief. She hadn't known him very long, but he was Captain America. He couldn't help but help.

Amelia closed the door behind her to the small office and slid down the wall, burying her face in the binders she held onto tightly. Right in front of everyone at the coffee shop. She hadn't thought about Daniel in years. It had been five since she found them. She had thought that'd be enough time. She wasn't missing him and she didn't have any romantic feelings left, but the hurt finding your boyfriend and best friend together she had thought she was past still lingered. She had been doing so well lately too! She had stopped burying herself in her work and went out more and did more. She groaned and banged her head softly on the books.

"Hey now," came a soft voice a few minutes later. "Don't ruin that pretty face."

Amelia looked up to see Ashley looking down at her with a playful smile. She held her hat out and Amelia took it with a small thanks. "Captain America wants to see you. Douchebag is gone."

Amelia's face burned. "I can't believe I did that."

Ashley laughed, "I can't believe it either! I wish I got a picture! Oh! I bet it's on the security cams."

Amelia groaned again and handed the binders to Ashley so she could stand up. She took a deep breath and walked passed Ashley, who was still smirking at her. Steve was leaning on the corner of the counter, a little bit away from customers ordering and picking up and James was there next to him. Oh. Great. She had just went out dancing with him a few days ago, and now she has to tell him she pretended his best friend was her boyfriend.

"Thank you," she said quietly coming next to them, with a nervous laugh.

Steve smiled at her. "You're welcome," and then his face turned serious. "Did he hurt you?"

"Oh, no," Amelia shook her head. "He was just loud. And annoying. Ex boyfriend. Sorry for leaving you stranded."

Steve shrugged. "Not a problem. He didn't give me any trouble. Left without a word."

Amelia sighed. "Good. Again, thank you. And sorry for making it awkward."

Steve shook his head. "Nothing to worry about. Just glad I could help."

Amelia saw Bucky smile and shake his head. Steve shot him a look and stood straight. "I'll see you later, Buck." He gave a nod to Amelia and left her and James alone.

She blushed and cleared her throat. "Um, if you give me a minute, I can clock out. Go for a walk?"

His eyes softened and he sent her a small smile. She returned it and hurried off. The paperwork could wait until tomorrow morning. It hadn't taken her long and within ten minutes she and James were walking along the sidewalks of NYC.

"You're not…angry-" She started but he didn't let her finish.

He laughed and took her hand in his. "No," he said. "Disappointed Steve got there first, but I wouldn't have went so easy on the guy."

"Well, Steve was great and all, but blondes just don't do it for me."

James grinned and slid his hand from hers to wrap his arm around her shoulders. "Good. I don't feel like fightin' Steve off."