More than a gift

Cold feet

11:30 PM two weeks before the wedding

He was having doubts.

Real ones.

Like, really real ones.

'I don't think I can do this', real ones.

He had been crazy to think that he of all people would ever be able to have a happy ending. Since when has Steve Rogers ever gotten what he wanted out of life? The moment any real happiness came along it was snatched away from him.

His mother.

Gone too soon.

He joined the army and became Captain America.

He'd lost Bucky.

He loved Peggy.

He lost her when he put that plane down in the ice.

He found Bucky?

He lost him again.

Found Buck again..

He lost Tony and half of his friends and family for almost two years...

No, nothing in Steve's life has ever been easy. Now that he had Elena and Buck and was blissfully happy he was just waiting for the other shoe to drop. He waited every day for one of them to tell him they'd made a mistake and that they didn't want him anymore. That they just wanted to go back to being friends, or worse that they wanted nothing to do with him at all.

After this last rough mission he'd suggested to Thor and Bruce that they go out for a few drinks away from the Compound. Not shocking anyone Thor had said of course. Surprisingly Bruce said he'd come, that he really needed a drink or two. Steve just needed some space to think and clear his head and didn't want to drink alone. This was how Steve found himself in a bar he'd never been to with two of his friends and teammates drinking whiskey that did nothing for him, not even with a dash of Asgardian whiskey added in.

"Enjoy tonight, my friends. We've earned it after a hard battle won." Thor boomed after filling Steve's glass for the fourth time. Picking up his own, he lifted it up to make a toast. "To many more glorious battles!"

Bruce lifted his beer bottle and took a long pull from it. He looked tired after having to be the other guy for most of the day. Steve never liked having Bruce/Hulk come on missions. Sure it made some of them easier, but at the end of the day it felt like he was helping people at the expense of hurting his friend.

He knew Banner himself was torn about his life with the team and about using the other guy. He liked using Hulk for good, but was always worried that he would end up hurting innocent people. That one day he wouldn't be able to come back to being Bruce and would be stuck as Hulk.

Steve had seen in the last two years that he was slowly becoming happy with Natasha and the life he had built with the team. It was Nat though that brought out a more relaxed and fun side to his serious friend. Steve could tell though that he was having the same doubts with Natasha like Bucky had with Elena at the start of their relationship.

"Yeah, glorious." Bruce gave a grimace of a smile that Thor misinterpreted as real camaraderie. He gave him a sympathetic smile as he took another sip of his whiskey.

"Come now, what's with the dour faces? Rogers you are usually more jovial than this. We won and as far as I know no one we saved was seriously injured!" The boisterous Asgardian tossed back the rest of his drink before flagging down the bartender. "Two pitchers of your best ale and keep them coming, my dear."

He flirted with the pretty woman for a moment, he couldn't help himself. Unlike Tony, Thor had a natural charm that was always reciprocated. It probably helped that he was very good looking, a prince and a literal god.