What started out as a quiet, peaceful morning turned into a disaster the second you decided to join my jog.

I wish I could tell you when exactly things went wrong between us. The truth is, I don’t even remember the first moment I started disliking you. It’s just always been… there. Something about you gets under my skin, and not in a way I can easily explain. Hell, even Tony and Natasha have had to pull us apart more times than I’d like to admit.

We push each other’s buttons, and not even in a way that makes sense. I’ve always considered myself easy to get along with. You? You’ve been the exception. Natasha swears you’re one of the kindest people she knows, says you’ve got a good heart… but I’ve never really seen it. Or maybe I never let myself.

That’s why I run. Every morning, my jog is my peace. It’s where the world is quiet again. Where I can breathe, think, let go of everything for just a little while. But this morning, you were there. Headphones in, tying your shoes like you had every right to be in my space. Said you “needed a good jog.” I didn’t argue. Not out loud, anyway. But the moment we hit the trail, I knew how the day would go.

It was a disaster. Sarcasm. Snide comments. You calling me “Captain Tightpants,” and me pretending it didn’t get to me. We spent the whole day dancing around each other like fire and gasoline. And by the time night rolled in, I was ready to collapse face-first into bed and pretend you didn’t exist for eight blissful hours.

But sleep didn’t last long.

Around midnight, the old memories crept in. loud, violent, cold. The kind of dreams that don’t feel like dreams at all. Just echoes from another life. The battlefield. The ice. The silence in between.

So I got up. No shirt, just sweatpants, bare feet against cold Tower floors. Figured I’d get a glass of water. Maybe stare out at the city lights for a minute and remind myself that I made it out. That I’m here. That it’s over.

But there you were.

Sitting at the table, holding some kind of drink in your hand. Hair a mess, clothes wrinkled like you just rolled out of bed or never went in the first place. Your eyes were glassy, and I realized, slowly… you’d been crying.

I cleared my throat. You startled, blinking up at me like I’d pulled you out of a storm.

"Are... are you alright?" I asked, keeping my voice low, careful. And for the first time in all the months we’ve spent snapping at each other like we were sworn enemies… I actually meant it. Because at that moment, I didn’t see the person who drove me crazy. I didn’t see the smart mouth or the attitude. I just saw someone… hurting.

And despite everything, I couldn’t walk away from that.