Steel Hearts

- 22 -

After getting in contact with Sharon, we were all jammed into a small VW Beetle on our way to meet her under an abandoned bridge at the edge of the city. I had chosen to sit in the back with Bucky, behind Steve so I didn't have to look at him. Although I could feel him glancing back at me through the rearview mirror occasionally as he drove. I didn't know where we stood anymore.

When we had stopped, Steve got out to speak with Sharon. Sam cranked his seat back as far as it could possibly go, hanging his arm behind the driver's seat.

"Can you move your seat up?" Bucky asks.

All Sam responds with is, "No."

"I'll switch you," I roll my eyes at my friend. As awkwardly as humanly possible, we trade seats. I stand as best I can, leaving him room to slide where I had been before toppling over into his previous seat. Clinging onto Sam's seat, which he had moved up when I traded seats with Bucky, the three of us just watch Steve speak with Sharon. She passes our gear over to him and leaves with a handshake.

"Sam, could you let me out please?"

Without a word, he steps out of the car and pulls his seat forward. I duck out of the car before he gets back in, wrapping my arms around myself and stepping forward. My heart dropped, suddenly not wanting to speak with him again.

"You know, you're the only one who knows the full story about my dad," I admit, hugging myself tighter to ease my nerves, "I trust you with everything I have. But there are some times I wish I didn't."

Steve takes note of my closed-off body language and drops the two duffle bags he was had in his hands. He exhales, closing his eyes and shifting his weight, "Is this where we end?"

Shaking my head, I answer, "I don't want this to end. But I knew going into this that you would do anything and everything to get Bucky back. Even if that meant leaving me." Taking a deep breath, I step forward away from the car out into the open. "And I get it. He's the last little bit of normalcy you have in this crazy new world that you've been forced into. He's the last part of the home you knew."

He takes a few steps forward so that he's standing in front of me, cupping my face gently in his hands, "You're my home now."

I close my eyes, tears streaking my face for what feels like the millionth time today, "I love you, Steve. More than anything. But you don't need me anymore."

Running his thumb across my cheek, his eyes were pleading. Begging me to understand and I did. He's a man out of time and he wants his friend back, but he was willing to go as far as needed to do so and I couldn't follow knowing that I would just be left with a broken heart. 

As soon as I nod, he ducks his head down to mine. Having to stand on my toes to meet him, he kisses me with an intimacy that we've never experienced before. He pulled me closer like he had so many times before and was incredibly delicate. It made my stomach twist into knots as my heart threatened to beat out of my chest. I loved this man, but we were stuck in a position we never thought we'd be in. In a perfect world, we could run away from all of our problems without a second glance back, but our world wasn't perfect and neither were we.

Steve pulls back just far enough to whisper, his lips brushing mine as he spoke, "I love you, Dove. I'll always need you."

If anyone had told me years ago that I would be in love with Steve Rogers, I would've laughed in their face. Nonetheless that he would love me as well.

I place my head on his chest, arms locked around his abdomen to comfort myself while I listened to his elevated heartbeat. He places a gentle kiss onto my forehead before a small round of applause pulls the moment to a full halt. Sam and Bucky were sitting in the car, grins on their faces as their heads bobbed in approval. They were proud of the two of us and their body language made me smile through the pain in my heart.