Aftershock

Epilogue: New Beginnings

"Steve." A voice whispered. Steve groaned, wondering if he was hearing things again. "Steve, wake up." The voice continued, a hand touched his shoulder. Opening his eyes and blinking several times so he could see better, Steve found Willow at the side of his bed. "Scoot over." She whispered.

"Willow?" Steve questioned. It felt like those dreams he had whenever he imagined that Willow and Bucky were alive and well and in the 21st century with him except, this wasn't a dream. Steve knew, for once, that Willow was actually there.

"Yes, it's me now move over." She said with a slight roll of her eyes as Steve scooted towards the middle of the bed, under the covers. Willow climbed in next to him, smiling lightly.

"Are you okay?" Steve questions, brushing a lock of her hair back gently. She had cut it, not long after she was deemed suitable to live outside of the S.H.I.E.L.D Facility. Steve had wanted to protest, telling her how much he loved her long hair but he realized how determined she was when she said,

"I need a change. So much has happened between the forties and now that.. I don't even feel like the same person anymore. If I don't feel like the Willow from so long ago, I shouldn't look like her."

Willow scooted closer to him in bed, their foreheads nearly touching. "Bad dream." She whispered. Though Willow hadn't wanted for them to get too close again, seeing as how much pain and destruction she had caused in the past, it was hard to not fall back into old habits. Willow and Steve were all they had from their old lives, apart from Bucky who was on the run, and so they clung to each other, reminiscing and enjoying each other's company. "Remember how we slept over at each other's houses as kids?" She continued to speak softly. Steve smiled.

"Yeah. Back then you were comforting me when I had a bad dream." Willow smiled lightly.

"I liked comforting you, taking care of you." She murmured.

"It made me feel weak." Willow shakes her head at Steve.

"You were never weak." Closing her eyes and sighing, Willow settles into the pillow they're sharing. Steve thinks she's fallen asleep again but a minute or so later, she breaks out into a wide grin and opens her eyes. "If we slept together in the same bed like this back in the forties, people would have a conniption." Steve chuckles.

"I'm surprised you're not more uncomfortable with the idea actually." He replies. Willow shrugs her shoulders. "It took me a while to understand that relationships in the 21st century are a bit more.. Relaxed here in America now."

"I don't see the problem with it anymore." Willow says softly. "We're best friends, I've known you for years. Why shouldn't people sleep in the same bed with someone they love, despite being married or not."

"Do you still consider us only friends?" Steve asks. In the six months that Willow had been awake, they had never done anything more than this; sleep in each other's beds, hold each other tightly and kiss each other's cheeks. Willow sighs.

"I love you Steve." She murmurs

"But are you in love with me?" He pressures. Slowly, Willow sits up and Steve copies her motion. Her short hair falls just below her shoulders and Steve really wants to reach out and run his hands through it, though it might be inappropriate if Willow doesn't love him the way he has always loved her.

"Of course I am. My heart will always belong to you." As if pulled together, Willow and Steve lean in and share their first kiss in over seventy years. His hands go up to cup her face while Willow trails her own over the muscles of his arm, leaving her left hand on the mattress to prop herself up.

"I love you." Steve whispers against her lips. Willow doesn't reply but she doesn't need to, Steve already knows what's in her heart. Steve wants nothing more than to deepen the kiss, to get lost in their love for one another but Willow pulls back.