These are the Hands of Fate - Steve Rogers x OC

Thirteen: I Once Believed Love Would Be Burning Red but It's Golden

June 18, 2022

The sparkling piano melody drifted through the church's chapel, bouncing from the stained-glass windows, that streamed colorful light into the room, as it surrounded the tittering guests with its music. Flowers decorated each pew's end, lining the aisle with ivory tulle and baby's breath, speckled with verdant foliage that was reminiscent of a secret garden. As each woman descended the aisle, their bouquets of muted pinks and greens clasped in delicate hands, Steve was impatient as he awaited the entrance of the only one that he wanted to see.

With a coy smile on her glossed pink lips, he watched as Maggie appeared between the open double doors that separated the wedding hall from the atrium. In her presence, it was like all of the air had been siphoned from his chest. The click from her heels was muffled beneath the length of her dress as she got closer to him with each measured step. When she finally met his adoring eyes, she shot him a cheeky wink as she breezed past him to take her place at the alter with her small group of friends.

Gone were the days of shotgun weddings; 'snap weddings' had become the new vogue with the barrage of nuptials in the past few years. Too many couples had decided that, since the universe-altering event, there was no time left to wait and it was better to embrace love as long as they had it. An old friend from her days in Ukraine had called only three months earlier and asked Maggie to take part in her spur-of-the-moment ceremony.

Lily had been her first friend when she'd arrived in the new country and they'd kept in touch after she left, while Maggie had chosen to extend her program for a second time, not yet ready to return back to life as she hadn't known it. Excitedly, she'd quickly agreed to her friend's inquiry after she caught her up on the still unfolding love story.

She felt a little silly for how nervous she'd been as she approached Steve to ask him to accompany her to the small wedding. Things had died down over the course of the past four years though no one had really forgotten who he was. Perhaps it was the facial hair that threw off unsuspecting store or restaurant patrons who spotted him and didn't give the broad man a second glance. It seemed as though he was mostly left alone when they went out nowadays.

Steve had casually agreed to escort her, and Maggie let out a surprised 'oh' at the unexpected but definitely not unwelcomed response. She'd been prepared to give him an out, but she hadn't even needed to—perhaps it was also because she was nervous for the event. It was their first appearance in public as a couple; one where people would see them both and know who they were and know they were together. It was intimidating even if there were only going to be fifty other guests in attendance.

The quick flight to the unfamiliar city a few states over had passed without incident; she'd only ever been to Chicago once as a young child and Steve hadn't since his days on the USO tour so, suffice to say, things had changed. Flights were few and far between after the Snap, so they'd had to cope with a very quick turnover; flying in the night before the ceremony had been the only possibility if she didn't want to miss an entire week of work. She'd kissed him goodbye as she left the hotel early in the morning to head to the venue, leaving the invitation so he knew just where to go when the rest of the guests began to arrive.

It wasn't long before Pachelbel's Canon replaced the old song that had faded away quietly. As Lily walked down the aisle, she was a vision in ivory; a beautiful cathedral length gown made with yards of satin and lace stitched together so precisely with pearls scattered across the bodice and disappearing into the full skirt. Though Maggie stood with the rest of her friends at the altar, in the eye of the storm, she found herself unfocused on the celebration at hand.

While everyone else in the room had turned back to watch the bride make her entrance, Steve couldn't tear his eyes from her. She felt butterflies in her stomach as she let herself bask in his tender gaze from so many feet away, as if she were the only other person in the room. It washed over her like rain, saturating her with a warmth that reminded her of home; something she could sink into and drift away in with no second guesses. It had taken time, and so much patience on his part that she was endlessly grateful for, but no longer did she believe that love was painful.