Steve Rogers/Captain America One Shots

Enough

The soft moonlight twinkled like a million tiny stars, as it shone against the water of the pool. Each wave in the water blown by the timid breeze, sparkled like diamonds were floating within the ripples. It made everything else that stood around the pool, look out of place. For the chairs laid out that encompassed the large pool, were old and slightly rusted toward the bottom. And the tile floor badly needed scrubbing to clear the history from it's floors. And even the building that you rested in now, looking down at the glimmering pool from the window, looked too cheap to have such a sight in its vicinity. But it was as though the world said that beauty could be found anywhere, even in the most rundown of locations. 

"I know it isn't much," His voice makes you jolt from the surprise, and draws you from your lost daze. "but I figured as long as we had a roof and four walls for the night, we'd be alright."

Turning your head in the direction of the voice, while you crossed your legs one over the other, you looked towards Steve Rogers. He had returned from the adjoining room, the one Natasha Romanoff occupied at the moment, and had shut the door so softly you hadn't even heard it click. He stood a few inches from the foot of the bed you sat on top of now, but even with the space,  you could still feel the tension rolling off of him like clouds of steam from a shower. It was palpable; the stress. It hung in the air like a dark storm cloud. But even as you knew his mind ran wild, and his shoulders tightened with the newly added weight, his eyes looked to you with a softness that only Steve Rogers could posses. 

"It's alright Steve," You assured him kindly. Hoping to at least ease a small fraction of his worries. "I don't need much." 

You could swear you saw the very edge of his lips twitch, as though they wanted to softly smile at your answer, but it faded as soon as you saw it. 

The motel wasn't much, he was right about that. But it was a place of safety after a day full of running and trying to disappear. And a place you could rest for the time being at least. The wallpaper on the thin walls peeled, no doubt from the age that plagued the pale pink shaded paper. And the bedspread that you rested upon, was patterned by ugly flowers that you were sure your grandmother would've enjoyed at one point or another. But it had a bathroom with running hot water, and it was a room where you could actually hear the thoughts in your head finally. And for that, it was enough. 

"I feel guilty." Steve run a hand over his jaw, that was beginning to shadow over with the beard coming in. It was a different look for the man, and one you were still growing accustomed to seeing every time you looked to him, but it wasn't one you disliked. It was just... a change. Just like everything else these days. 

"About what?" You whispered softly, and wrapped your arms around your knees as you brought them inward towards your chest. 

"That you're here," He replied, and you could definitely hear the twinge of guilt trailing in his voice. "that this is how you're having to live now."

"It wasn't fair to you, making you fear for your safety and freedom...and causing you to uproot your entire life like I did. It isn't fair for you to be here in this dingy motel, wondering how long we'll have a place of shelter. Or if you'll ever be able to see your family again. I feel guilty that I put you in this position." 

Steve ran a hand through the growing locks on top of his head, and looked down towards his boots that had tracked in dirt across the pale grey carpeting. He hadn't taken off his uniform since you arrived at the motel, in fact, he hadn't changed out of it for days. But in this place, in this moment, he seemed oddly out of place. As though he stood out like a sore thumb in an ancient looking motel, while you sat in a frumpy oversized t-shirt with leggings, on an old comforter. 

"Steve?" You spoke his name into the dense air of the small motel room, and he lifted his head at the sound of your soft voice. And he watched with tender eyes as you patted the spot on the bed beside you. Your silent request for him to join you, and without any words spoken to confirm his answer, he began to walk towards the bed. Feeling as the mattress dipped under his weight and you listened as it creaked slightly.

Bending your legs back down beneath you, your hands reached out towards the stiff and tense man who sat beside you. So closely that if you moved an inch forward, you knee would brush his thigh. Curling your fingers hesitantly over his hands, you could feel the way his tendons were tight and clenched. But as your warm touch spread against his hands as you held tightly to his own, you slowly felt them loosen. As though you were enough to get his clenched muscles to calm. 

"When you came and found me, after everything that happened with Tony and the accords and Bucky, I was just happy to know you were alive. I didn't care that you were telling me that you had to leave for a while, and you didn't know if you'd be able to come back. I didn't care that I was aiding a fugitive in my home. I didn't care Steve, because I knew you were alive."

Squeezing his hand in your grasp gently, you ran your tongue over your dry lips before continuing your thoughts. "When I begged you to let me come with you, it was because I was being selfish. Not you. You didn't put me here, you didn't put me in any situation. I choose this..." I choose you.

Steve shook his head, and his eyes dropped to look downward at your intertwined hands. "I should've stopped you."

"Why?" 

"Because I knew better than to let you get swept up in my life."

There was an emotion hidden in the tone of Steve voice that pricked at your heavily beating heart like a needle. It was an emotion you hadn't heard from him before, and it made you anxious. But at the very same time, his words made your heart hurt. For he was pushing you away. He was putting distance between the two of you, and even though you knew it was because he thought he was protecting you, it didn't stop your heart from faltering at the knowledge.

Releasing a soft sigh, you gazed at Steve nervously. "Do you know why I wanted to come?"

Steve stayed quiet a moment, before he lifted his eyes hesitantly. "Why?"

"Because I knew I couldn't spend another day of my life, wondering if you were alive or not. And I knew, that if I let you go, I'd always be left wondering."

Steve's eyes looked intently into your own, and it felt as though he was searching them for something. Doubt perhaps, a sign that what you were saying was something other than the honest truth. But you knew he came up empty handed as his eyes fell once again. 

"I care about you Steve Rogers," You whispered timidly into the dense void. "that's why I'm here."

The words that you feared would scare him further away, were the ones that brought him closer. For his eyes lifted as soon as your raw words met his entuned ears, and he looked at you with that soft kind of look that made your knees weak and your insides turn to mush. It was quiet in the motel room, as though all sound had been drained in that single moment. For your racing heart felt like a drum lost in a cavern deep in your ears, thumping loudly in your head. And you felt your breath fall, as his hand escaped your grasp, and gently lifted to touch your cheek. It was the first intimate touch that Steve initiated on purpose. He'd touched your hand on occasion or comforted you like any friend would. But this touch, this move, was on another level. And you both felt the shift as soon as he did it.

"I care about you too," He breathed out vulnerably, and you could feel the warmth of his breath fan against your skin. "and maybe that's why I didn't stop you."

You knew that this wouldn't be easy. You knew that this choice was bound to come back and bite you in the ass one day. But you didn't care. Because you were with Steve. And whether you were to live or die, you would do it together. It wasn't much, especially when your world had just been flipped upside down, but to you... Steve Rogers was more than enough. He was everything.

A/N: The idea for this one kind of came out of no where, but I knew it was one I wanted to try and write. I wanted something intimate and honest. And the location of a small motel, forcing two people to face their true feelings in a stressful and unknown situation, seemed like the perfect place! This one is different than some I've written in the past, and might be a tad fluffy (is that really a bad thing??) but I can say, I am happy with what I have created. I hope you all enjoyed it, I'd love to hear what you thought!💙