The Child of Winter ~ Book 1

14. Gaining Back Lost Trust

~ This is what Peggy looks like and the song Steven played for her.~

    Over the next few days, Steven tried to gain back Peggy's favor. He set beautiful flowers on the mantle beside her door, he was polite towards her even when she was curt, and would even offer to drive her around the city whenever she went out. His persistence began to grow tiresome to Peggy and she tried to avoid Steven; however, it began to grow on her as she saw the gentleman he'd always been to her.

    Steven even swept her off her feet one morning, totally unexpectedly, and Peggy yelped as he drew her into a gentle waltz! His low chuckle rumbled in his chest and she blushed fiercely as she struggled to get away from the crazy boy. He'd let go immediately when he felt her trying to get away, not trying to force her to do anything else that she didn't want to do and headed for the piano.

    The young woman watched him slowly sit down on the bench and listened in awe as he began to play the old tune "Angel" written by the 1980's star Sarah Mclachlan. He played the beautiful, soul-filled song with a gentleness she couldn't begin to describe and suddenly began to sing the lyrics with his rich voice. His eyes fluttered closed as he sang; never missing a note with either his voice or his fingers as they flew over the keys. The song ended in a gentle chord and Steven's voice faded along with the notes as he slowly removed his hands from the ivory. Steven then slowly rose from the bench and sent a dazzling smile in Peggy's direction before he slowly headed off to his room.

    She stared at his vanishing back for a moment in silence. Peggy shook her head slowly and then went out for a walk around the city to clear her racing mind. Her heart was doing little flips as she could still hear Steven's gentle voice ringing in his ears. She shook her head, "He's the exact same charmer Bucky must've been in his heyday." The city lights surrounded her as she wandered through the shopping district of the bustling city. She blended into the crowds and slowly returned to the tower a few hours later, feeling a little better after her short walk. As the elevator doors opened, she spotted Steven's legs hanging over the arm of a chair and crept up to take a look.

    Steven had his sketchbook laying over his chest with several pencils littering the floor from when he must have fallen asleep there. His chin rested against his chest and she couldn't help but smile at how his bangs hid his face from view whenever he exhaled.

    Gingerly, Peggy picked up the pencils and then went to grab the sketchbook. She eased it out from under Steven's metal arm as carefully as she could, so as not to wake him, and then looked to see what exactly he had been drawing. Her eyes filled with tears as she saw that he was drawing out a photo they had taken when they had gone out to the park on one of their several sneaky dates.

    It wasn't quite finished; however, Peggy could easily imagine the sunlight in Steven's hair that afternoon, his stunning smile, the way they had just sat together and talked. She gently closed the book and set it on the coffee table before heading off to her room. Moments later it seemed, she came back out and threw a blanket over Steven. She smiled as he sighed softly and snuggled into it, ending up whispering to him, "You are strange, Steven... Very very strange."

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    Steven sluggishly woke the following morning with a wide yawn. He snuggled deeper under the blanket... Wait, a blanket?! His eyes snapped open as he sat up and gazed at the blanket someone had thrown over him. "Was it Pepper?" he thought to himself as he gently rose from the chair to stretch out his stiff muscles. A familiar scent then came to him as he folded the mystery blanket: vanilla bean, Peggy's favorite scent in the world. He chuckled softly under his breath, "Thanks, Peggy."

    A scream rang out then and the teen was running towards the source before the blanket even hit the floor. Peggy! Her name rang out in his mind and he knocked on the door a couple times. Upon hearing another scream, Steven took a few steps back and lowered his metal shoulder as he burst through the door like a human battering ram. His eyes scanned the room for any dangers; however, he only saw Peggy thrashing about in her bed with tears streaking her face as she screamed. Steven took up her shield and filled a glass with cold water from her bathroom sink before bracing himself for the next step. With a deep breath, he threw the icy liquid in Peggy's face and cowered behind her shield as she launched awake.