Work Text:
6 months after The Blip
She's currently sitting in her car, playing a game on her phone while one of her playlists plays through the car speakers.
Her dad had surgery on his foot last week. Nothing major, but since he's now wearing a boot on his right foot, he can't drive. So, she gets to drive him to his support group for the next 4-6 weeks. He told her the sessions typically only last about an hour, so she opts for just waiting in the car rather than leaving and coming back. She doesn't mind, she'd probably be listening to music and playing a game on her phone at home as well.
Just over an hour after arriving, she notices a small group of people start to file out the door. She puts her phone back in her pocket, expecting her dad to be among them.
A dozen or so people have left, but her dad still hasn't exited the building. She waits a few more minutes. Maybe he stopped by the bathroom on his way out.
Once nearly ten minutes have passed, she decides to exit the car and go look for him. What's taking so long?
It takes her all of five seconds to find him once she's inside, wrapped up in a conversation.
Her dad had told her a while back that Steve Rogers was the one who had organized the support group he attended every week, that part didn't catch her by surprise. Even so, actually seeing him in person though? She almost feels intimidated. Almost. The guy is nearly a foot taller than her, and very broad.
Did she check him out upon seeing him? Possibly. No one can prove it.
"Dad," she calls across the room, both of them turning towards her voice.
"Elaine! Come here," her dad says, waving her over.
She walks over to join the two men.
"This is my daughter, Elaine," he says to Steve.
Steve holds out his hand to her to shake, which she accepts.
"Steve Rogers."
"Elaine Shaughnessy."
She shoves her hands in the front of her hoodie.
"I was wondering where you were, Dad. I was starting to wonder if you fell in the bathroom or something."
"Very funny. I'm not even 60 yet, you're not allowed to make Life Alert jokes until I'm at least retirement age."
She notices the corner of Steve's lips quirk up.
"I'm going to use the restroom before we go, I won't be long. I'll make sure to give you a call if I fall and can't get up," her dad says dryly, walking off towards the bathrooms.
She hears Steve huff out a breath, presumably trying to hold back a laugh and only half-succeeding.
"A friend of mine got me one of those as a joke, once." Steve tells her.
"A Life Alert?"
"Yeah. Said all senior citizens should have one, even the ones who don't look their age."
"Sounds like he's either your best friend or an obnoxious asshole," she tells him, making Steve chuckle in response.
"A bit of both, if I'm being honest."
She chuckles as well.
"Your dad talks about you a lot," Steve tells her before silence can settle over them.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. Says you're the best thing in his life."
Her heart pangs at his words. Her dad has told her he loves her, plenty of times. They've always had a good relationship. Even so, it pulls at her heart strings to hear that.
She's silent for a moment before responding.
"I feel the same about him," she admits.
It's just been Elaine and her dad for a few years now. Her sister, Monica, disappeared along with half of the world's population. Her mom died a couple years later, when her cancer returned. Her dad started attending the support group a few months after her death.
Monica was gone again as quickly as she came back. Everyone reappeared exactly where they disappeared five years prior. For Monica, that meant the middle of a crosswalk. Elaine doesn't think she even has time to process that any time had passed before the car hit her. It was no one's fault; the car had a green light, and it's not like Monica knowingly walked out into the street. Just unfortunate circumstances.
Elaine and her father were still processing the fact that everyone had returned when they got the call about her sister. They had already mourned her years before, but it still hurt all over again to learn that, maybe, they could have had her back if circumstances had been even slightly different. Elaine had to take a week off work after that, she could hardly get through a day without breaking down in tears.
"My dad has talked about you a lot too. He says you've helped him a lot, both recently and after my mom died."
"I'm glad. That's really all I'm trying to do here," he says, gesturing to the circle of chairs and table of snacks that are still set up.
"I'd say you're doing a good job."
He gives her an appreciative smile.
The bathroom door opens before either of them have the chance to speak again.
"I'm ready if you are, hon," her dad says.
"Yeah."
She faces Steve again.
"It was nice to meet you."
"You too. Hope to see you around."
The smile he gives her is blinding. Even his teeth are perfect. She would expect nothing less from the guy who was picked to be Captain America.
She smiles back, giving him a wave before turning to leave.
~~~
The second week, she gets out of her car to go inside when she notices people getting up from their chairs. She's definitely not going inside hoping to talk to Steve again. The donuts on the table just looked especially tasty last week. That's the only reason she's going inside.
When she's inside and past the group of people leaving, she sees her dad walking into the restroom. Steve is the only person still left in the room, starting to stack the chairs.
"Hey," she says.
He turns around, giving her a polite smile.
"Hey. I think your dad stopped by the restrooms."
"I saw that. I also saw that there were donuts, I was hoping I might be able to sneak one while no one's looking."
His smile turns playful.
"If I turn my back for long enough, you might even have time to grab two," he replies.
She can't help the smile that forms, looking down at her feet for a moment before looking up at him again.
"Can I help you clean up or anything? As payment for the donut."
He gives her a crooked grin.
"You don't need to, not like you were using any of this stuff to begin with."
She shakes her head.
"I don't mind. Otherwise I'm just gonna stand here eating my donut and stare at you until my dad comes back. It'll be super awkward."
He huffs out a laugh.
"Well, we can't have that."
She starts stacking some of the chairs as well, sliding her stack across the floor for Steve to add to his own stack. He puts his stack on top of hers, then lifts all of them like they weigh nothing, moving them to the side of the room. She knows that he's strong, but it's still a sight to behold. Christ, he's muscular.
She walks over to snag a donut off the table before she can let her thoughts wander too far, taking a large bite. She realizes she was too busy thinking about how she took too large of a bite to notice Steve had said something.
"Hmph?" She mumbles through the donut.
Steve huffs out another laugh at the sight of the chipmunk cheeks the donut gave her.
"I said what do you do? Once you can speak again."
She holds one hand up to say 'hang on', and uses the other to cover her mouth, so he doesn't catch sight of the half chewed food in her mouth while she tries to speak.
"Grant manager, at a non-profit. I basically just find grants and apply for them so we can try to get more funding, and I do a lot of the work on the ones we already have. It's a lot of accounting and admin-type stuff. I know it sounds kinda boring, but I like the work a lot."
"No, that's amazing."
"Ah... thanks. I'm just good with numbers, nothing particularly impressive."
"I wouldn't say that. Anyone being able to find something that they like, and that they're good at, I think that's impressive."
She smiles.
"Thanks. You're nice to say that."
Her dad walks out of the bathroom at that moment.
"Hey, hon, I didn't realize you came inside. You ready to go?"
"Yeah."
She turns to Steve.
"See you," she says with a wave. "And thanks for the donut."
He grins at her.
"See you, Elaine."
~~~
It's a similar routine for the next few weeks. She talks with Steve for a few minutes before she and her dad leave. She helps him with chairs, and he insists every time that she doesn't need to. She takes a donut a couple more times.
The sixth one is the last one she'll be driving her dad to, since he can stop wearing the boot on his foot in a few days.
She feels a brief flash of disappointment at the thought of not seeing Steve again. She wants to look for an opportunity to give him her number. Assuming he's actually interested in talking to her again after today. She might have to buy herself some ice cream on the way home if he doesn't.
She walks inside, past the exiting crowd.
"Elaine," her dad greets her. "I'm just going to use the restroom before we head out." He has a hinting tone in his voice that she's not sure she appreciates very much.
She nods, narrowing her eyes at him slightly after he turns around, then walks over to Steve.
"Hey."
"Hey," he replies with a smile.
"This is the last week I'll be driving my dad," she tells him.
"He mentioned that he'd get to take the boot off later this week."
"Yeah."
She looks down at her feet. Actually trying to ask him if he wants to keep in touch is more intimidating, now that he's actually in front of her. That goes for anyone, she always gets nervous asking someone on a date, not just Captain fucking America.
"You could come here too, if you want," Steve tells her. "You can come to one of our meetings, even if you're not bringing your dad."
She looks up at him.
"Maybe. I'm not sure if I'd really want to share a bunch of personal stuff in front of my dad, though."
"That's fair. Maybe you'd just want to share with me, then? Over coffee?"
Steve shoves his hands in his pants pockets, looking down briefly and shifting his weight between his feet before looking back up at her.
Holy shit. Her face is hot. She might actually combust. She nods, unable to help the smile that appears on her face.
"Yeah, I'd like that."
"Yeah? Okay."
He looks down at his feet again, this time with a smile that matches her own.
"Can I see your phone?" She asks him.
He pulls it out of his pocket and hands it to her, letting her enter her number.
"Can I help you clean up?" She asks after handing him back his phone.
"You don't have to."
"I know I don't, I'd like to think you know me a little better than that by now, though," she says with a teasing grin.
After giving him her stack of chairs, she walks over and takes a donut from the food table.
"I take it you like donuts?" Steve asks as he walks back over to her.
"I'm more of a cake person, honestly, but I'll take about any dessert if it's free. Unless it's a fruit pie, I don't like how mushy fruit gets once it's baked."
"Even apple pie?"
She scrunches her face and shakes her head.
"The flavor's fine, but it's a texture thing for me. I can't do tomatoes either, only tomato sauce or ketchup. Don't tell me your favorite dessert is apple pie."
He shrugs.
"I don't only like apple pie."
"You have to realize you're only fueling the 'average American' stereotype," she says with a finger quote gesture.
"I can't help my tastes."
"Isn't your birthday also on the 4th of July?"
He looks away without answering, pressing his lips together in a failed attempt to hide a smile. She covers her mouth with both hands to hold in her laugh.
"I swear I'm not making fun of you. I can tell you something embarrassing about myself to make us even. I have this scar on my arm because I jumped off the diving board at a friend's house while they were cleaning the pool, just to see what it would be like while there was no water in it. I was eight. My dad says it's a miracle I didn't break anything."
His eyebrows fly up. "Why would you jump off a diving board when there's no water in the pool?" He asks through a chuckle.
"I don't know, I was eight. I thought it would be neat, I guess? Wanted to see if I could?"
The sounds of her dad exiting the restroom cuts through the conversation, and he walks towards the two of them.
"I hope neither of you are planning on moping around after tonight because you're too shy to ask each other out. She thinks you're handsome, you know," her dad says to Steve.
"Dad!"
She could die. It doesn't matter that Steve has already asked her out, or that she's 32 years old. It's still embarrassing to have her dad try to set her up. It's embarrassing her dad even knows she has a crush on someone in the first place. She wishes she could make herself vanish from existence.
A bashful smile grows across Steve's face and he looks down at his feet.
"We already made plans, Dad, don't be embarrassing."
She pulls up the hood of her hoodie and pulls on the strings until she can only see the floor through the inch-wide opening.
Her dad barks out a laugh and gives her a pat on the shoulder.
"That's my job, hon. Ready to go?"
"Yeah," she mumbles through the fabric of the hoodie.
"I'll talk to you later, Elaine," Steve says.
She loosens her hood enough that she can make eye contact with him.
"Bye," she replies quietly, a shy smile overtaking her face.
She follows her dad out to the car, loosening her hood and putting it down.
"As far as son-in-laws go, Captain America would probably be the best one I could hope for."
"Dad! Oh my God, he and I haven't even talked outside of this building before."
"I'm just saying. I'm only teasing, you know. Half-teasing. You haven't dated much since Evan, I just want you to be happy."
She gives him a close-lipped smile.
"I know. You could at least wait until I've actually gone out with him before making jokes, though."
"Oh, I do plan to embarrass you after you've seen him again, you can take my word on that."
She shakes her head, huffing out a laugh.
She spends the drive home thinking about what she wants to say to Steve the next time she talks with him.
~~~
Steve calls her the next day. He actually texts her first to ask her if he can call her, which she finds very endearing.
"I've seen a couple movies that said you're supposed to wait three days before calling a girl, that never made sense to me. But that might also only be for after the date actually happens. I'm not really sure, to be honest."
She's glad he can't see her face, it would be very obvious she's trying not to laugh.
"I'm glad you didn't wait that long, I'd probably start wondering if you had changed your mind, or something, if you had waited three days. Not cause I think you would do that, or anything, I would just get anxious after that long of hearing nothing."
"I wouldn't do that even if I had changed my mind. Not that I'm going to to change my mind, that's not what I meant."
She chuckles. "I assumed so. I appreciate the clarification regardless, though."
She hears him huff out a laugh.
"Is there a day that would work best for you? To get coffee?" He asks, shifting the subject.
"I'm not busy on Saturday, if that works for you too?" She asks.
"I can do Saturday. There's this place downtown I like, if you're up for that. Does nine sound okay? Later works too, I don't have anything specific planned."
"Nine sounds good, do you want to send me the address?"
"Yeah. I'm looking forward to seeing you again, Elaine."
She's glad he can't see the stupid smile that spreads across her face.
~~~
Saturday comes, and Steve is already at the coffee shop when Elaine arrives, despite her getting there a few minutes early.
"I'll get our drinks if you want to save the table. What do you want?" Steve asks.
"Iced mocha?"
She can't do hot coffee, she drinks it iced year around. She would have to be really fucking cold for her to actually want hot coffee over iced.
She thanks Steve when he returns to the table with their drinks.
"What is it you do?" She asks Steve. "I mean, I obviously know what you do with your free time once a week, but what about the rest of the time? If you don't mind me asking."
"I find ways to fill the time. I don't really have a regular job anymore. Money's not really an issue, so I probably don't ever have to get a job again if I don't want to. I'm not saying that to brag, or anything, promise," he quickly adds, "but 70 years of pay from the Army added up."
"What do you like to do with your time, then? What do you enjoy?"
"I see my friends, when I can. I like watching movies. I like drawing, too."
She rests her elbow on the table and leans her head into her hand.
"Yeah? Are you good at it? Or do you just do it for the love of the game?"
He cracks a smile.
"I'm decent. I love doing it, though."
"I'm going to assume you're being humble right now and are actually very talented. You don't seem like one to brag about your own talents."
He throws his hands up in surrender.
"Guilty."
She and Steve talk for well over two hours, and decide to get lunch as well when she says she's getting hungry.
"I don't mind paying for my food, you know," she tells Steve when he stands from the table and asks what she wants. He just waves her off.
Elaine pulls apart her sandwich after a worker brings them their food. They forgot to take off the tomatoes.
She notices Steve smiling when she glances over at him, but he doesn't say anything.
"I don't like the texture," she says.
"I remember. I know to never bring you apple pie, either."
The corner of her mouth turns up. She likes that he remembered.
They continue to talk as they eat their sandwiches. When she looks down to check her watch, it's nearly one in the afternoon.
"I need to go grocery shopping sometime this afternoon," she tells him.
He nods in understanding.
"I didn't mean to keep you so long."
"I didn't mind. I had good company, after all."
He looks down bashfully at the table.
"Can I see you again?" He asks.
She nods immediately.
They exchanged shy smiles again before parting ways.
Her dad does make fun of her when she talks to him later that evening.
~~~
She and Steve have been on a couple more dinner dates in the three weeks since they first went out. Tonight, he's coming over to her apartment to watch a movie. She's planning to make dinner for them as well. Just grilled cheeses, nothing fancy. She does expect him to be impressed regardless, she makes a mean grilled cheese.
She's felt a bit frazzled all day, and has been straightening her apartment since she got home from work half an hour ago. She's excited, of course, she wants to see Steve again. Her nerves won't leave her, though, despite cleaning her living room and kitchen. She hasn't liked anyone this much in a long time.
She starts making food about ten minutes before six. She knows he'll be early, he's been early to all their other meetings.
Sure enough, she hears a knock on the door before she's even finished buttering the bread.
"Hey," she greets him with a smile. "I'm just starting the food, you can come sit."
Steve sits at one of the bar stools in front of her kitchen counter, watching as she works on the sandwiches. Within ten minutes, she's sliding him a plate.
"I appreciate this, you didn't have to cook," Steve says.
"I don't mind, you're the one who's been paying for my food every other time I've seen you. And I like grilled cheese."
She ushers him over to the couch so they can turn the TV on as they eat. She turns on a comedy she likes when Steve says he doesn't have a preference for any movie.
Her cat, Rosie, makes a brief appearance, demanding head scratches from both of them before making herself cozy on the cat bed in the corner of the room.
She sneaks glances at him throughout the movie. She likes it when he smiles. It makes her smile too, he has a really nice smile.
At one point, when she glances over, he's already looking at her, and she looks away with a shy smile. He's smiling as well when she glances back over again a few seconds later.
When the movie ends, they just sit on the couch and talk. She brings her knees to her chest and turns sideways to face him, her arms wrapping around her legs.
"How was your day?" He asks her.
"It was good. I'm glad tomorrow is Saturday, though, I need a break from work. I had some especially annoying emails today."
"That sucks."
"Yeah. I like my work, but some people are really annoying."
He gives her a crooked smile.
"I think that's a given at most jobs."
"Very true."
Steve looks down at the couch, like a thought has crossed his mind.
"What are you thinking?" She asks him.
He shakes his head.
"We're having a nice night. You don't need to hear about all the stuff going on in here," he says with a gesture to his head.
They're silent for a moment.
"Can I tell you something?" She asks.
He nods.
"Of course."
"I like you a lot, Steve."
He gives her a small smile.
"If we want to keep seeing each other, I want to know everything about you. Even the not-so-fun stuff."
His smile drops a bit, but he nods.
"You're right."
She waits for him to speak again, and silence falls over them while he thinks about his words.
"I told you a few weeks ago that I thought it was impressive that you found work that you enjoy, and that you're good at."
She nods in confirmation.
"I just..." He trails off. She waits for him to continue.
"I don't really know what I'm doing anymore."
He looks down, picking at an invisible thread on the back of her couch.
"What do you mean?"
"Just, now that I'm not out there avenging anymore..." His brows furrow. "I guess I just don't really know what I am without Captain America. When I woke up here... I at least had that. Everyone and everything I knew was gone, but I had that. I'm not saying I want to go back to that life, I don't. I don't regret giving Sam the shield. I just... I don't really know what to do with myself now. I'm not sure what my purpose is now."
She frowns.
She loosens her hold on her legs so she can scooch herself closer to him, her feet nearly touching his leg.
"Do you have any ideas at all of what you want to do now? Anything you like, or anything you've wanted to try?"
He shakes his head.
"I don't know."
She places a reassuring hand on his arm. Silence falls over them.
"I know I'm just one opinion, but I think that you like helping people. Not just as Captain America, I think you like doing that. I can tell you have such a big heart, and that you're such a good friend. And I know I haven't known you especially long, but I don't have any doubt that you'll figure out what you want to do. And if you have a hard time with that, I want to help you. If you want me to, at least."
He gives her a grateful smile.
"I know it's not quite the same, but I was super lost at the beginning of the blip. I was in an awful place for months. I don't think I really came back to myself until a couple years ago, after I started my job and made more friends."
"Your dad has talked about Monica a lot. That's awful, what happened."
She nods in agreement.
"He's also mentioned that you went through a breakup a few weeks after she disappeared."
She winces at that, which Steve notices.
"I didn't mean to dredge up anything, you don't have to talk about it," he says.
"No, no." She shakes her head. "It's okay. What has my dad told you? About that?"
"Just that you had been together for a couple years. And a few weeks after your sister disappeared, you both realized it wasn't going to work. That's it."
She nods. That's about all she ever shared with her parents. She hesitates for a moment before she speaks again.
"It was a bit more complicated than that. I never really told my parents all of the details."
He raises an eyebrow, but stays silent.
"There was... an incident, back when everyone disappeared."
He frowns.
"Did he...?"
She shakes her head immediately.
"No. God, no, Evan would never. It wasn't that."
"Then-"
"I was pregnant," she blurts out, making Steve go silent.
She continues. "I had only known for a couple weeks. I was riding the bus home, and a car slammed into the side of it when the driver disappeared. The whole bus tipped over, and everyone inside was thrown around. They took me to the hospital after that, and I wasn't injured or anything, beyond some scratches and bruises, but I had a miscarriage before I could even be discharged."
She pauses to press her fingers into the corners of her eyes. Just thinking about it doesn't usually make her feel too emotional anymore, not after some time to process it all, but talking about it out loud is making all of her feelings come rushing back at once.
"We broke up a few weeks after that. Not on bad terms, neither of us blamed each other or anything, but... we were both really excited, and it was just hard to be around each other after that. I know he's married to someone now, but we haven't talked since I moved out. I never told my parents about that either. With Monica, and my mom's health, and everything. I didn't want to give them something else to be sad about."
She attempts to sniff back tears, but her hands fly up to cover her face when they fall anyway, her face crumpling.
She feels a light touch on her arm, and when she parts her fingers, Steve has turned his body to face hers more and is holding out an arm to offer a hug, a sad look on his face.
She falls into it, bending her legs down so she can lean forward into him. Both of his arms immediately wrap around her. She cries into his shoulder, his hand moving up and down her back in a soothing motion.
She pulls back a few minutes later, once she's stopped sniffing. There's a wet spot left behind on his shirt - it's a miracle none of her mascara rubbed off as well.
"I wasn't planning on dumping a bunch of personal shit on you tonight," she says, looking away and huffing out a humorless chuckle.
"I don't mind." he replies.
They're silent for a moment.
"The same goes for you too, you know," he tells her, making her look back at his face. "I like you a lot too. I want to know anything you're willing to share with me."
She nods, a couple more tears escaping. He's so sweet.
She reaches over to grab a tissue off of the table next to the couch.
"I must look like a mess." She blows her nose once, then uses the corner of the tissue to swipe under her eyes where any makeup residue may have ended up.
"You look beautiful," Steve says with no hesitation.
She frowns at him, as though to say 'really?', and tosses the tissue onto the table.
"I mean it."
"Takes one to know one, I suppose. Have you seen yourself? Gorgeous."
She makes an up-and-down gesture towards him.
The bashful smile she likes makes a reappearance, and he looks off to the side.
Despite her heightened emotions, a small smile spreads across her face as well.
"I like your smile," she tells him. She's not sure what possessed her to say it. Her face flushes in embarrassment.
He runs a hand across his face, still smiling, like he's not sure where to look or what to do with himself. He looks adorable, in her personal opinion.
She slides herself closer to Steve, stopping with her legs leaning against his own.
He looks down at the contact, then up to meet her eyes.
She puts both hands on his face, making his eyes flick down to her lips, and she pulls him towards her, just slowly enough that he has time to stop her if he chooses. He doesn't stop her, and a flash of heat courses through her as soon as their lips touch.
After a couple tentative kisses, he winds his arms around her so he can place his hands on her back and pull her further into him. His hands feel so large against her. It sends a shudder down her spine, thinking about how they might feel elsewhere.
His kisses turn more confident after that. Elaine tilts her head and wraps her arms around his neck in an attempt to kiss him more deeply. When his tongue grazes her bottom lip, she sighs into his mouth.
He starts shifting his kisses into her cheek, then to her jaw, and she lets out another sigh into his ear. He places a couple kisses on her neck, then turns his head and places his forehead against the top of her shoulder, letting out an exhale.
One of his hands slides from her back to the side of her waist. It doesn't wander beyond that, but just that contact makes her shiver.
"We should probably slow down," he says, lifting his head from her shoulder.
She nods. She's been on a few dates, but she hasn't been with anyone since Evan. She predicts she would probably start to feel overwhelmed if they were to do more than kiss right now.
One of Steve's hands moves to the side of her neck, and he places on final kiss on her jaw, making her smile at the sweet gesture.
She leans on to steal one more kiss from his lips which turns into two, then into many.
"Okay, okay," he says, breaking the kiss with a wide smile and making her giggle.
She wraps her arms tightly around his neck and buries her face in his neck.
"Thank you," she says, her voice muffled in his skin.
He hugs her back, and she feels him press his lips in her hair.
"Of course."
~~~
A few weeks later, Elaine and Steve are spending a lazy Saturday at her apartment. She's folding some laundry while Steve sits on the couch, drawing in a notepad.
Their original plan was to have a movie night again, but after talking on the phone earlier in the morning, she told him he could come over earlier if he wanted to. He said he didn't mind that she would need to get some cleaning and other tasks done during the afternoon, that he just likes being around her.
Steve's phone rings, breaking him out of his focus.
"Hello?"
Elaine doesn't pay much mind to his conversation, just listening to her music through the one AirPod she has in her ear. Well, not an actual AirPod. She doesn't care about having name-brand stuff, the ones she has are just some cheap knockoffs she found online.
"What?"
Steve's tone catches her attention. He sounds alarmed, or concerned. Maybe both?
"Shit."
He presses his fingers into his eyes.
"Okay. Just... Let me know if I need to come down there, or something."
Elaine realizes she's stopped folding anything and is just standing there holding a pair of jeans, waiting for Steve's call to end.
"Okay. Thank you, Sam, really. I appreciate it. Okay, bye."
He hangs up the phone, then tosses both it and the notepad next to him on the couch, letting out a deep exhale as he rubs his temples.
"Is everything alright?" She asks, dropping her jeans on top of her pile of clothes and walking around to the front of the couch.
"One of my friends was arrested."
"Shit. Do you need to go?"
"No."
He sighs, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. She sits next to him on the couch, also leaning forward so her face is at the same level as his.
"What happened?" She asks.
"Bucky has these court-mandated therapy sessions he goes to every week. Apparently he missed this week's. I want to go to him, but... he's in Baltimore, and even if he wasn't, Sam is already with him. I just..."
She offers her hand for him to take, and she places her other hand on top of his after he accepts.
"I just feel useless, sitting here and doing nothing."
She nods in understanding.
"Can I do anything?"
He shakes his head.
"I don't know. I don't know what I'm supposed to do."
She taps his shoulder to get his attention, then holds her arms out to offer a hug. He falls into her arms, wrapping his own around her waist and resting his chin on her shoulder. She rubs one of her hands on his back.
"You let me know if I can do anything for you, okay?"
She feels him nod against her shoulder.
They sit there like that for a couple minutes, until a meow breaks the silence. Steve huffs out a laugh, pulling back from the hug to look at the sound.
"Well hey there, sweet girl," he says in a gentle voice, letting Rosie run her nose against his finger before picking her up in his arms. Rosie has never been a very large cat, but she looks particularly tiny in Steve's arms.
Elaine smiles at the sight. She pulls her phone out of her pants pocket, snapping a picture of them.
She sets the phone down next to her on the couch, noticing the face-down notepad again when she hears the crinkle of paper.
"Can I see?" She asks, tapping her finger against the paper.
He looks over to where she's pointing.
"It's not done yet."
"Is that a no? I'm not gonna look if you don't want me to."
He hesitates for a moment, then shakes his head.
"No, you can look, if you want."
She picks it up and flips it over. It's a sketch of her, but clearly not of how she looks today. In the picture, her hair is in a half-up ponytail, she's wearing flowy wide-leg pants, and she's sitting with her knees pulled to her chest and her arms around her legs. It's not the bun and sweatpants she's currently wearing, it's how she was dressed the first night Steve came over to her apartment. He must be drawing this from memory.
She's impressed by how much detail he's managed to put in using just a ballpoint pen on paper. A few simple curved lines strongly resemble the curls of her hair, and a few diagonal lines make it clear where shadows are supposed to be.
"I love it, Steve. This is amazing." she tells him, looking up.
He doesn't respond, but a small, bashful smile appears on his face. He diverts his eyes and looks down at Rosie, scratching her between her ears. Her eyes are closed, a content look on her face. She's grown fond of Steve in the few times he's come over.
She gives him a poke in the cheek, making his smile grow.
"I mean it. You're really talented, sweetie. Can I keep it?"
He nods.
"Sure."
"For someone who can't have a conversation without making the other person feel good about themself, you're not very good at accepting compliments."
He chuckles.
"You're not too bad at that yourself. Making me feel good."
"You're lucky no one else is around to take that out of context. From what you've told me about them, I have no doubt most of your friends would."
He lets out a genuine laugh at that. The noise seems to startle Rosie, because her eyes open and her ears stand straight up, then she climbs out of Steve's arms and hops to the ground.
No longer occupied with the cat, he turns his attention to Elaine, leaning one of his elbows against the back of the couch.
She can't decide what the expression on his face is. Fondness? Amusement? Maybe both.
"What?" She asks with a smile when he continues looking at her without saying anything.
He purses out his bottom lip and shakes his head.
"Nothing."
"Nothing?"
"Nothing."
"You sure?"
"Mm-hmm."
He looks like he's holding back a smile.
She shakes her head in amusement, standing from the couch.
"I need to finish folding my clothes before I lose motivation."
He smiles as she walks back over to her pile of clothes. As she's folding the pair of jeans she tossed aside earlier, she notices he hasn't looked away.
"You hoping to sneak a peak of my underwear or something?" She teases.
"Of course not." He looks sheepish as he finally looks away.
She smiles. It's cute when he gets shy.
"If you ask nicely enough, I'd probably show you."
His brows fly up to his hairline, making her snort when she sees the look on his face.
She might enjoy teasing him just a little too much.
~~~
Steve looks like he wants to punch something. Or launch himself into traffic. She imagines the only reason he hasn't done anything at all is because they're currently sitting on a bench in a somewhat busy park.
Apparently his friends have just broken someone out of a very high security prison, and have manged to get themselves involved in stopping some extremist group on Europe. Steve looked angry when he ended his call with Sam, but he also seems unsurprised.
She's at a loss for what to say to comfort him. Sorry your friends just risked their lives and committed multiple felonies, want to go get some ice cream?
Steve sighs deeply, then leans forward to rest his elbows on his knees.
"You don't really seem surprised," she finally says after an extended silence.
"It's not the first time either of them have done something insane. Or stupid. I just..."
He buries his face in his hands while he sucks in a deep breath.
"I just can't believe Sam would let Bucky get involved with something like that. He doesn't need more that the government can try to use against him. It took enough work as it is to get him pardoned, it may not have happened at all if the king of Wakanda hadn't gotten involved."
She doesn't know what to say. It's not like this is a situation she's encountered before.
Steve seems to pick up on that when he glances over at her and seea her fidgeting with her hands in her lap.
"I'm sorry," he says, sitting up. "I know you can't do anything about any of that. I'm just..."
"Angry?"
"More worried. But that too. Buck's stubborn, having Sam tell him to go home probably just made him want to tag along out of spite. I just... I don't think it's right to say that I want him to get back to a normal life - I don't think that's possible for either of us anymore, after everything. But..." He trails off, seemingly unable to find the words.
"But you want him to be happy?"
He nods.
"Yeah. I just don't want the past to loom over him for the rest of his life."
She nods in understanding, and rubs a hand on his shoulder. He reaches up to grab her hand, holding it between his own in his lap.
"Thank you." He says.
"For what?"
"Being here. Being able to talk with you, it helps." He gives her a small smile, and she returns it.
"I don't expect it to make everything one hundred percent okay, but I've found that having ice cream never seems to make things worse," she says with a not-so-subtle side eye towards a nearby ice cream cart.
Steve huffs out a laugh, then stands from the bench. She follows since he's still holding her hand.
"Funny, I've noticed the same," he replies with a smirk.
~~~
Today is the first time Elaine is visiting Steve's apartment.
He told her that he insists on making dinner for her tonight, since she's made food for him on more than one occasion. As if he hasn't been paying for any food or coffee she gets anytime they go out somewhere. He hardly owes her anything.
She decided to dress up slightly more than she typically does. She picked a red skirt and floral patterned tights, which in itself speaks to how much she likes Steve. She rarely wears skirts or dresses. He'd better take in the sight while he can - seeing her in something besides pants is a once-in-a-blue-moon opportunity.
"I feel underdressed," he says upon seeing her.
"I don't know what you mean, that looks like a very high quality t-shirt."
He breathes out a chuckle and shakes his head.
He gestures her inside, and she drops her shoes and her purse by the door. She looks around, taking in his place.
There's not a lot of unnecessary decor, but it doesn't feel sparse. He has a large bookshelf filled with various books, and quite a few pictures both hanging and in frames. Some of it is framed artwork, a couple of which she suspects are his own drawings, but quite a few of the frames contain pictures of his friends. A couple of the pictures, assumedly of him and Bucky, look significantly older than all the other photos.
She walks over towards one of the far walls, where he has a number of frames displayed on a table. She can guess who a few of the people in the pictures are, based on descriptions Steve has given her, but she's not sure who all of them are.
She only spots one picture of Bucky that looks semi-recent. Based on his expression in the photo, he doesn't seem fond of having his picture taken.
The person she sees in the most photos is a red haired woman. Quite a few of those pictures look like selfies that she took of whoever happened to be in range of her camera at the moment. That must be Natasha - Steve has only talked about her a couple times. Elaine hasn't brought her up in conversation herself, since he always looks sad when he thinks about her. She understands that.
She hears footsteps approach behind her, then she feels a hand pinch a section of her hair while another pulls the clip out.
"What are you up to back there?"
"Some hair fell out of the clip," he replies.
She can't explain why, but it feels intimate having him fix her hair. It makes her face flush.
After messing around with her hair for a few seconds, the clip is secure in its spot again. One of his fingers grazes the back of her neck, sending a pleasant shiver down her spine, before his hands pull back. Her hands automatically go to the back of her hair to try and feel what he's changed.
"Which one were you looking at?" He asks.
"I wasn't looking at any one in particular." She points to the one recent picture with Bucky. "He doesn't look very pleased about having his picture taken," she says with a smile.
"He wasn't. He was having a good day, though, Sam was able to convince him to not knock the phone to the ground while he took a selfie of the three of us."
Steve smiles at the memory.
She feels him place his hands on either side of her waist, then around her front in a hug, pulling her against him so he can lean his chin on the top of her head. He's not touching her in a way that's suggestive, but the contact still makes her entire body feel hot. She's not a particularly small person, she knows this, but his hands feel so large against her.
She turns around in his arms and wraps her arms around his neck, pulling him down into a kiss. His hands move to grip her hips.
Their kisses now feel different than any of their other ones. They're more passionate, a bit more urgent. Hotter.
He walks her a couple steps backwards until her legs hit the back side of his couch, one of her hands flying down to grip it and balance herself. His hands move further up her sides - if he were to slide them another inch or so towards her front, he would be touching her breasts.
A particularly loud pop of oil on the stovetop makes them break the kiss, making Steve rush over to make sure nothing is burning or splattering hot oil all over his kitchen. Elaine, still breathing heavily, puts her other hand on the back of the couch as well, resting her body against the top edge.
After a couple minutes of shuffling around, Steve announces that food is finished - he cooked salmon, rice, and some carrots.
She walks over to take a seat at his table, and he brings over both of their plates of food, making another trip back to the kitchen for wine and glasses as well.
"I hope you don't mind," he says as he sets the glasses on the table.
"As long as you won't be offended by me not being able to taste how expensive it is. Eight dollars or eight hundred, it all tastes the same to me."
Steve chuckles. "I promise I won't quiz on what notes you taste in it."
He pours some for both of them before taking his own seat.
"Didn't you say alcohol doesn't actually affect you at all?" She asks before taking a sip.
"Yeah, it's more for the act itself and not the effects. Even if I chugged that whole bottle, it would barely do anything to me."
"Well, now I'm just picturing you actually chugging that whole thing, that would probably be entertaining."
Steve huffs out a laugh at the comment. "Unfortunately, that's more of a first anniversary performance, so you'll just have to be patient."
She snickers. "Lucky for you, that's also when I break out my very impressive Christopher Walken impression, so I guess we have lots to look forward to in a few months."
He's fully laughing now, and it makes her smile widely in return.
They make light conversation while they eat. The food is delicious - she makes sure to let Steve know that, and earns a bashful smile in response.
She offers to help clean up when they've both finished, but Steve insists that she stay seated, since "guests don't need to clean up".
Elaine moves over to the couch instead, to make herself more comfortable. She starts to lose herself in her thoughts while she's sitting by herself. She's unsure where she thinks the evening is going to go once Steve joins her on the couch.
Just based on the few kisses they shared before dinner, will he want to sleep with her? She knows he would never make her if she didn't want to, that's not the issue. And she likes him a lot too, possibly even loves him, that's also not the issue.
She hasn't been with anyone since she and Evan split up. That was about six years ago now. She knows, logically, that Steve would never judge her. But revealing that much of herself to someone, and being intimate with them for the first time? That's intimidating.
Steve sitting next to her on the couch draws her out of her thoughts. The smile he gives her manages to ease her mind a bit.
She stills finds it impressive how such a large man can come off as a safe and comforting person rather than imposing. To her, at least - she imagines certain people would immediately run at the sight of a large man who's strong enough to throw a car, if they're one of the people who the car might be thrown at.
"Movie?" Steve asks.
She nods. She insists on letting him choose something - she's been the one to choose most of the movies they've watched, since Steve usually insists he doesn't have any preference.
He pulls her legs up and over his own, and he throws his arm around her when she leans into the side of his chest. He's so warm. She wraps one of her arms around the front of chest as far as she can reach, letting out a small sigh that catches his attention.
At the edge of her vision, she sees his head turn down to look at her, and the hand not wrapped around her shoulders reaches over to graze her cheek and push some of her hair behind her hair, most of which immediately just falls back down to the side of her face.
She tilts her head up to look at him as well, a silent question in his eyes.
"Hey," she says softly.
"Hey," he replies with a smile. "What's on your mind?"
"You."
He breathes out a chuckle, suddenly looking a bit bashful.
"Yeah? What about me?"
A smile grows slowly over her face, and after a moment, she just shakes her head and presses her face into his chest. She suddenly feels flustered, being put on the spot like that.
Steve laughs, and she turns her head back up at the sound, still smiling.
Before he can inquire any further, she pushes herself up and wraps an arm around his neck, connecting her lips with his. The arm around her shoulders moves down to wrap around her back instead. Her other hand cups the side of his face, and she tilts her head slightly to deepen the kiss.
When their tongues meet, his hands move down to either side of her waist. She throws one of her legs over his lap and sits up so that she's straddling him, their lips still connected. The motion makes her skirt bunch up around her upper thighs.
His hands slide down just slightly further, and she shivers when his hands touch the small gap of bare skin below the hem of her shirt. Part of her finds it sweet that he doesn't try to take too much too quickly, but another part of her really wants him to touch her more. To actually put his hands fully on her skin.
She reaches down, nudging one of his hands to push her shirt up and rest entirely against her bare waist, the other one following suit without her prompting. His hands then slide around and up her bare back, and she lets out a shaky sigh, breaking the kiss.
His forehead leans against hers, and they're both breathing heavily. His lips look shiny from the lip gloss that's rubbed off of her own mouth.
God, he's gorgeous.
She can't resist leaning in to kiss him again. This kiss feels more desperate than the previous one. It feels like neither of them can get enough of the other one, like he's trying to pull the air from her lungs. Their teeth accidently clash at one point when she tries to reach her tongue back into his mouth.
Her hips involuntarily roll into his, making Steve groan into her mouth. The sound makes arousal course through her. She can feel that he's getting hard, and another flash of heat goes through her body, hearing and feeling what she's doing to him.
She rolls her hips again to see if he'll make the same sound. He does, but this time his hands fly back down to her waist and grip her tightly, preventing her from moving her hips again.
"Elaine," he breathes out, voice slightly strained.
She leans her forehead back against his, looking into his eyes.
He has beautiful eyes.
"What is it?" She asks, also sounding breathless.
He opens his mouth to speak, but closes it again. His eyes shift down to her mouth, but it's not the same look as when he wants to kiss her, it just looks like he couldn't hold eye contact and that's the most convenient place he could look instead.
Her hands move up to cup his face, thumbs making a couple soothing motions on his cheeks.
"What is it?" She asks again, more softly this time.
He hesitates for a moment.
"I just haven't done this much."
"That's okay."
He looks unconvinced.
"I just don't want you to be disappointed. If you have high expectations."
"Steve," she says firmly.
His eyes flick back up to meet hers again.
"I don't care about that. I've only ever been with Evan, you think I'm not nervous? I was worrying earlier about disappointing you."
He shakes his head.
"You couldn't."
"That's how I feel about you too." She pauses for a moment. "I love you a lot, you know that?"
His face relaxes, and he smiles. His hands loosen and move up slightly, resting on her waist.
"I love you too."
She's smiling now too. She leans in to kiss him again, this one unhurried. When she pulls back, she combs a hair through his hair before sliding it back down to rest against his jaw.
"We'll figure ourselves out together, okay? And there's no pressure for anything to happen."
He nods.
"For the record, though, you're not going to hear any arguments from me if you ever want to throw me on the bed and rip all my clothes off."
He chuckles, running a hand through his hair like he tends to when he's flustered.
"I'll keep that in mind."
She lets out a giggle before planting another kiss on his lips, then his cheeks. She keeps placing kisses all over his face until he starts laughing. He puts his hands on her face to stop her, and puts another kiss on her lips before moving his hands back down to her waist, fingers grazing her bare skin again.
She puts her hands on his shoulders, pushing herself off his lap and back next to him, throwing her legs back over his and leaning back into his chest. His arms move back to their original positions as well, one around her shoulders and the other holding her legs against him. Even though they haven't payed attention to the first portion of their movie, they watch what's left of it. Steve turns off the TV after it's finished.
"Are you doing anything this weekend?" He asks her.
"I thought I might go look for a new rug. The one in my living room has seen better days. I don't have anything else planned though, if you want to make plans?"
"Maybe we can go to that restaurant you've been telling me about."
"Hell yes. The one with the turtle ice cream pie? I'm always down for ice cream pie. Saturday?"
He gives her an amused smile.
"Yeah, it's a date."
~~~
She's quite positive she won't be getting her turtle ice cream pie today.
Somehow, a phone call between Steve and Sam ultimately spiraled into them setting up plans for her to take Bucky Barnes furniture shopping. Now, she's in Ikea, sitting on a display couch and waiting for him to arrive. Apparently Sam heard that she'd be shopping for a new rug today, and his mind somehow connected that to how offensively undecorated Bucky's apartment supposedly is. She's not sure herself exactly how or why he made that connection, or why he can't just take the man shopping himself, if Bucky truly is that bad of an interior decorator.
She doesn't mind having company while shopping, but she desperately hopes it's not awkward. She's never met Bucky before, and Steve has told her he's pretty reserved. She's been thinking about some things she can try to talk to him about if needed. Rather, topics she can talk at him about if he's not feeling chatty.
The way she'd eventually like to decorate her kitchen. The time her high school made national news when this guy in her graduating class accidentally created mustard gas in the chemistry lab and the whole school had to be evacuated. Why Die Hard is indeed a Christmas movie. Why Joey and Rachel are a much better pairing than Ross and Rachel. She's prepared to talk for hours if necessary.
She also hopes he likes her. The day being awkward would be one thing, but if he doesn't like her? If he finds her annoying? Would her relationship with Steve fall apart if Bucky says he doesn't like her?
She decides to push that thought away, she doesn't like thinking about that. Early in their relationship, she once made a joke to Steve that didn't land, and her thoughts eventually spiraled to the point of wondering if he might find her too awkward or boring and eventually dump her. She nearly cried, she was almost to the point of having an anxiety attack over it. She's now sure what she would do if his best friend says he doesn't like her.
She feels much more comfortable in their relationship now, but a small part of her still feels anxious. Bucky is basically his family, she's sure Steve would pick him over her if it came down to it.
He's unmistakable when he walks in. She can't see his metal arm, since he's wearing long sleeves and has his hands in his jacket pockets, but the all-black outfit and looming presence give him away.
"Bucky?" She asks, standing from the couch.
She gives him a wide smile as she approaches him. Not too wide, though, she's not trying to weird him out within five seconds of meeting him.
"Yeah." He gives a close-lipped smile. "Sorry you got roped into being here with me."
She waves him off.
"I was gonna be here regardless. Shopping's more fun with other people anyway."
She gestures for him to follow her as she grabs a cart.
"Do you have a list of anything you need? Or are you just here to watch me shop because your friends asked you to be?" She asks with a teasing smile.
He smiles and huffs out a breath.
"I think it would be rude to say the second one."
She smiles.
"I promise I'll tell them you at least browsed with interest, even if you don't actually buy anything."
He chuckles at that. If nothing else, she's glad that she can at least say she's made him laugh today. Things are already going better than the worst case scenario she's imagined. He speaks again as they start walking through the showroom area.
"Aren't you buying a rug? What do you need a cart for?" He asks.
"It's too easy for me to impulse buy things here, and I don't want to have to carry a bunch of things around in my arms. And rugs are heavy."
"If it's just about the rug, I can carry it. It's not a problem."
"How am I supposed to impulse buy things if I don't get the cart?"
He pauses for a moment as bafflement spreads across his face.
"But if you don't get the cart, then you can't impulse buy a bunch of random stuff. Unless you want to have to carry it. It sounds like you want to impulse buy things you don't need."
"Have you never been to Ikea before?"
He shakes his head.
"This place isn't just about the furniture, it's about the experience. It's not a valid trip to Ikea if you don't buy at least one thing you don't need. I'll help you find something you don't need, don't worry."
He looks baffled. It's a bit funny, if she's being honest.
"Swedish meatballs!" She blurts out. "We have to get Swedish meatballs too, you better be hungry by dinnertime."
"Meatballs?"
"Yes, they're delicious."
"Isn't this a furniture store?"
"Yeah, but there's a restaurant here too. We have to stop there, I can't come to Ikea and not get Swedish meatballs."
He doesn't seem sure what to make of everything as they wander through the store, occasionally stopping when something catches her attention.
She doesn't find anything to buy in the show rooms, but they still have another half of the store to get through. But before that, she parks the cart against a wall so she can get in line for food.
"Lingon berries?" The worker asks Bucky as she scoops food onto his tray.
"Yes!" Elaine interjects before he can answer. "Yes he does. Yes you do." She aims those last words at Bucky.
Once they're sat at a table, she quickly cuts a meatball in half and shoves a bite in her mouth. Delicious. Then she waits for Bucky to take a bite. She might be genuinely disappointed if he doesn't like it.
He pops an entire meatball in his mouth.
"Damn," he says between chews.
"Right? Isn't it good? Try is with the berries, I know it sounds weird but it's so good."
They don't make much conversation as they're eating, but the silence isn't uncomfortable.
They clean up their dishes and start making their way though the rest of the store. She occasionally asks him if he has certain items in his apartment. She knows he has basic furniture, but based on Steve's description, it sounds like his place is pretty bare-bones.
"What do you mean, you don't own a dish rack?"
He shrugs.
"Where do you put dishes after you've cleaned them?"
"Just... on the counter? Or in the cabinet?"
She throws the dish rack in the cart.
"You need that," she tells him.
She also adds a whisk and a wall-mountable grocery sack holder to the cart as they pass by them.
"Why would I need a place to keep grocery bags?" He asks.
"Because you never know when you'll need a bag."
He looks perplexed, but doesn't say anything else.
She passes him the cart when they make it to the rug section, and he leans his arms against the handle.
She ends up deciding on a multicolored one that matches some of her other decor. Bucky offers to grab it for her. She expects him to put it in the cart with their other items, but he just carries it in one arm, like it weighs nothing.
"You don't have to hold that for me."
He purses out his bottom lip and shakes his head.
"I don't mind."
When they get to the plant area, she tosses two mini fake terrariums in the cart. She imagines his place could use a pop of green, but it's cute enough that she can't resist getting one for herself as well. She's a sucker for fake plants.
They finally make it through checkout, and they walk over to Elaine's car first, since her rug is the biggest item either of them purchased. Bucky slides it into her car for her after she pops the trunk.
"I appreciate it, you didn't need to carry it."
"I didn't mind," he repeats.
"I had fun today, I'm glad you came," she tells him.
"Me too. I wasn't really sure what I was going to think of today. Not because of you, just... Steve or Sam pushing me into doing something I probably wouldn't do myself."
"I get it. I'm glad you decided to come."
He gives her a smile.
"Can I see your phone?" She asks.
He hands it over, and she enters in her phone number.
"Here. Now we're friends too. And I promise I won't force you into going shopping again if you really don't want to."
He chuckles.
"I appreciate that."
Elaine collects the rest of her purchases from the cart, and waves as Bucky walks back towards his car with the cart and his purchases.
Today went better than she imagined it was going to. She's excited to tell Steve later.
~~~
"Would you want to move in with me?" Steve blurts out one afternoon.
She's too stunned for a moment to verbalize a response.
"We usually just spend time at one of our apartments anyway, so I think it makes sense to just pay for one place. To me, at least. If you think it's a good idea too."
His hand starts nervously rubbing against the back of his neck.
"Really?" She asks.
"Yeah. Only if you want to, I mean. Obviously there's no pressure if you're not comfortable with it."
She throws her arms around his neck and kisses him before he can start back tracking. He reciprocates immediately, his hands moving to her hips and pulling her closer.
Realizing she hasn't actually answered his question, she pulls back.
"Yes," she says with a nod.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
She feels him smiling when he connects his lips with hers again.
The kiss quickly turns heated, Steve's hands moving under her shirt to rest on her bare waist. The contact makes her shiver. She decides to do the same, sliding her hands down until she reaches the hem of his shirt, then slowly moving them upwards until they're resting on his abdomen. She feels his muscles contract beneath her hands. His hands shift as well, sliding up her sides until his thumbs are resting just below her breasts.
She breaks the kiss just long enough to pull her shirt off and toss it to the side, then wraps her arms around his back and she reconnects their lips.
This kiss is more frantic. She wants more, just kissing isn't enough. She slides her hands underneath the back of his shirt, running her hands up his back.
"Can I take this off?" She asks.
His only response is a nod.
She wraps her arms back around his neck once his shirt is off, and his wrap around her back to pull her back against him, locking their lips together again. Arousal shoots through her when their bare skin makes contact, and she moans into his mouth.
His arms briefly tighten around her, then he surprises her by moving his hands down to the backs of her thighs, hoisting her up and wrapping her legs around his waist like she weighs nothing. She lets out a gasp.
"Is this alright?" He asks.
She nods. "Uh-huh."
He walks them into his bedroom, laying her down on top of his bed with him hovering over her. She tightens her legs around him, using her feet to pull him as close as possible. Their hips connect, and he lets out a strangled moan. Feeling that he's already hard turns her on even more.
He leans in to press his lips to her jaw, leaving a trail of kisses down the side of her neck. She shudders when his tongue grazes the base of her neck, one of her hands flying into his hair. She grips it harder than she was intending, and he bites lightly into her neck in response. She groans at the sensation, which Steve seems to mistake for distress rather than pleasure.
"Shit, sorry," he says, placing a light kiss over the same spot in apology.
"Do it again," she says.
He hesitates.
"Yeah?"
She nods.
"It was good. I want you to do it again."
She pushes his head back into her neck. He leaves a few more kisses, then sucks a bite into the side of her neck. Her grip in his hair tightens as she sighs in pleasure, and he groans into her skin.
She uses her feet on his backside to nudge his hips into her again, and he lets out another, louder, groan.
"Elaine." His voice is strained when he says her name.
"Yeah, baby?"
She lightly runs her nails up his back, making him shiver.
He places one more lingering kiss on the side of her neck, then turns his head down so his forehead is resting on her shoulder. One of his hands makes a couple up and down motions against her waist, in an almost soothing motion. She suspects it's more for his own sake than for hers.
"Should we stop?" She asks.
He shakes his head.
"Slow down, then?"
He nods. "This won't last very long if we don't."
She doesn't care about that, but she also wants him to be comfortable.
She taps a finger under his chin, and connects their lips when he looks back up at her.
That's all they do for a moment, she wants to go at his pace.
His hands start roaming across her body - carefully, like he's trying to memorize how her skin feels. At first, his movements stay respectful. As respectful as possible when touching her half-naked body, that is. His thumb grazes the underside of her breast, and she breaks the kiss.
"You can touch me. I want you to."
Having her permission, his hand slides up to cover her whole breast, thumb grazing over her nipple in the process. She lets out a sigh at the sensation, her head leaning back into the bed.
His mouth moves back to her shoulder, then leaves a hot trail of kisses to her collar bone, then to the softer tissue of her breast. When he makes it to the edge of her bra, he hesitates.
"Steve, please," she pleads. If she weren't so turned on, she might be embarrassed at how desperate her voice sounded.
This clearly spurs him on, judging by how quickly he yanks down the cup of her bra and swipes his tongue across her nipple. When he wraps his lips around it, she lets out a soft groan and buries her hand back in his hair. His other hand moves to the other side, pulling down that side of the bra as well to cup her breast in his hand. She loves that his hand is large enough to hold it in its entirety.
When his mouth moves to the other side, the air in the room feels cool when it hits her reddened nipple.
"Take it off, Steve," she moans.
He complies almost immediately, sliding his hands behind her to reach for the clasp.
He feels around for a moment, then his mouth pulls back. His brows are furrowed as he feels around the back of her bra. The snort she lets out is involuntary - the look on his face is unexpectedly hilarious.
"You need some help there?"
He smiles bashfully.
"There's no need to make fun of me."
"I'm not making fun of you! I just wasn't expecting your face to look so... determined? Focused? You look like you're on a mission."
He chuckles.
"I'd say it takes some amount of focus to do anything blind."
She laughs, then reaches behind her to undo the fastening herself.
"I would've gotten it myself," he tells her.
"I don't doubt it, Captain, but I was getting impatient. I want your hands back on me."
His eyes darken, and his line of sight shifts back down to her chest, taking in the sight. His hands slide back around to her sides, and he leans back in to press his lips to her sternum.
"Gorgeous," he says into her skin. She shudders when his tongue swipes across her skin.
His kisses start moving down her stomach until he reaches the top of her pants.
"Can I?" He asks.
She nods frantically.
"Yes. Please."
He undoes the button and zipper on her jeans, thankfully much more quickly than when he attempted to unfasten her bra. When he pulls her jeans down, her underwear catches on the fabric and also starts to roll down, so he pulls those down too, leaving her completely bare. Probably just as well, she knows her underwear was no longer hiding just how wet she is.
The look in his eyes isn't one she's seen on him before. It's hungry. His eyes are blown out with lust. He looks like he wants to devour her.
"Fucking beautiful," he groans.
He plants a kiss on her pubic bone, so close to where she wants him to touch her.
His hands move to the outsides of her thighs. He leans his head back slightly, and she can feel his breath against her core.
"Steve."
He slides his hands to her inner thighs, pushing her legs further open. One of his thumbs swipes across her opening and up across her clit, making her hips twitch.
While she still has some semblance of clarity, she reaches over and grabs one of his pillows by the corner of the pillowcase, lifting her shoulders just enough to slide it beneath her, giving her a better view of him without having to strain her neck.
He paused for a brief moment while she situated herself. Once she was still again, his eyes moved back down to her core, and then he dove in.
His movements are slow at first, testing the waters. His tongue alternates between swiping over her opening and circling around her clit.
It doesn't take long before she needs more. The slow movements aren't enough.
"Need more," she sighs, not caring to be any more eloquent than that.
He gave her clit a particularly hard suck after that, making her hips twitch again.
"Like that, yes," she moans.
He focuses more attention on her clit after that, quickening his movements with his tongue. She feels that familiar tension start to build up in the pit of her stomach.
His hands wrap around the uppermost part of her thighs to hold her in place, then he moves his tongue even faster, unpausing and unrelenting.
"Fuck, Steve," she groans.
One of her hands flies into his hair, and the tension comes to a head. Her hips move of their own accord as she comes. He doesn't slow his movements, drawing out her orgasm for as long as possible.
She's touched herself plenty of times, of course, she certainly hasn't gone years without having a single orgasm. Having someone else be the one to touch her, though? Just being able to feel all of it and not have to worry about her arm getting too tired? She forgot just how good it can be.
She's grateful that he seems to pick up on when his movements start to become too much, and starts slowing down. She may have accidentally pulled too hard on his hair again if he hadn't.
Still breathing heavily, she makes a grabbing motion with her hand to gesture Steve back up to her.
She quickly swipes the back of her hand across his mouth, making him laugh.
"You want me to go brush my teeth?"
She shakes her head and pulls him in for a kiss.
"Don't want you to leave," she says between kisses.
His hands grip her thighs as she wraps her legs around his waist. They kiss deeply, like they're trying to get even closer to one another, but can't.
Her hips jolt when the fabric of his pants brushes against her still sensitive core. She thrusts her hips into his against, and his hands tighten on her legs. She pulls back slightly, lips still close enough to graze against his.
"Take your pants off," she tells him.
He pulls back enough to unbuckle his belt and unfasten his pants, pulls them off and tossing them off to the side. She hooks her big toes under the top of his boxers, pushing them as far down his legs as she can. He pulls them the rest of the way off, then climbs back over her. She reaches a hand down and strokes a finger across the underside of his cock, making him groan and lean his forehead against her shoulder.
"Can I?" She asks.
He nods against her.
She wraps her hand fully around him, and he lets out a moan as she circles her thumb around the head. She brings her hand to her mouth to lick a generous stripe up the palm, then puts her hand back on him, starting slow up and down strokes.
He's breathing heavily into her skin, one of his hands tightly grasping the sheets next to her head.
She can feel herself getting wet again, watching him start to unravel on top of her. God, he's so hot. He'd probably blush if she were to tell him that - not that that would be a bad thing. She can imagine how he'll look when he comes. It sends another spike of arousal through her. Part of her wants to try to make him come right now, but the other part of her so badly wants to wait until he's inside her.
She starts twisting her hand and speeding up her movements slightly, making him let out another groan.
"God, Elaine."
"Yeah, sweetie?"
She gives him an experimental squeeze.
"Shit," he groans, grabbing her wrist.
He leaves a trail for kisses up the side of her neck and jaw, then kisses her sloppily, their tongue intertwining.
He stands from the bed and walks over to his nightstand, opening the drawer and pulling out a condom.
She sits up as he walks back over to her, wrapping her arms around his neck to kiss him again. He wraps an arm around her waist to pull her against him. They kiss a few times, then she twists their bodies around to make him fall back against the bed.
"This okay?" She asks.
He nods, then scoots himself further back into the bed. She throws a leg over him so she's straddling him.
She takes the condom from his hand, tearing off the wrapper. She slides it down his cock, his hands tightly grasping at her hips as her hands touch him. She shifts her hips forward, sliding her core against him before lifting herself above him. God, she can't wait to have him inside her.
He keeps his hands on her hips as she lowers herself onto him, then makes a couple back and forth motions after he's fully seated inside her.
"Christ, Elaine."
She gives her hips another shift forward and back, and Steve's breath catches.
"You're so hot, Steve. Love you so much," she breathes out as she starts a continuing forward and back motion against him.
She was right, he does blush after she tells him that. She loves seeing him start to fall apart underneath her - it spurs her on further.
"Love you too," he groans.
His hands slide up to her waist, and then around to her front, touching every part of her he can reach. He reaches up to touch her breasts, fingers teasing her nipples. She lets out a sigh as he starts teasing them, and she thrusts particularly hard against him when he starts twisting them in his fingers.
"Fuck, Steve," she moans.
Her movements start staggering. His hands move back down to her hips.
"You good?" He asks.
"Uh-huh," she nods. "Legs are just getting tired."
He sits up, wrapping his arms around her, then stands up. He turns them around and lays her down underneath him.
"This okay?" He asks.
She nods.
He sits on his knees and hitches her legs around his waist, hands moving to her hips. Her hands grasp the sheets above her head as he starts thrusting into her. His hands start roaming her body again - sliding across her legs, across her ass, up her hips. She clenches around him when his thumbs graze across her nipples again, and he groans at the sensation.
"Steve," she moans.
"Tell me what you need," he says.
Rather than responding, she grabs one of his hands, moving it down towards her clit. He starts using his thumb to circle it, and she grasps the sheets again.
"Like that, yes. Please don't stop."
"I got you," he tells her.
He continues thrusting into her as he touches her clit, and she can feel another orgasm beginning to build up.
"Harder," she says.
He complies, speeding up his thrusts and pressing harder against her. That pushes her over the edge. She clutches harder at the sheets as he works her through her orgasm.
"Yes, yes, Steve."
He keeps circling her clit until she grabs his wrist to stop him, the sensations becoming too much. He runs his hands over her legs and hips as she comes down from her high. Still breathing heavily, she runs her heels up and down his back.
"You too, hon." She tell him. "I'll give you whatever you need. Take what you need, Steve."
His hands grasp her waist tightly, and he starts thrusting into her again. She starts touching his chest, and anywhere else she can reach.
"Wanna feel you come, Steve. Bet you look gorgeous when you're falling apart, you always look gorgeous."
His brows furrow, and his pace starts to become uneven. His hands tighten on her hips.
"God, sweetheart."
She clenches around him again, making his movements falter for a moment, before he starts thrusting into her at a quick pace again. She scratches her nails down his back, and after that, she feels him twitch inside her, and she clenches around him again. He groans as he comes inside her, still thrusting at a slow pace as he works himself through his orgasm. She was right, he does look gorgeous when he falls apart.
After he stops moving, he leans down, kissing her once before rolling to the side, laying down next to her. They both just lay there for a few moments, catching their breath.
"That was hot," she tells him.
He snorts.
"I'm serious, it was even better than I imagined it would be."
He shakes his head, smiling.
"You imagine it a lot?" He asks, breathing heavily, skirting around the compliment.
"Obviously. You're gorgeous. And I love you. Of course I've thought about it. You saying you haven't?"
He says nothing, looking away from her. He definitely has.
She laughs at the bashful look on his face. She loves teasing him.
~~~
Elaine is jolted out of her thoughts after Steve comes back from a run. She's been sitting cross-legged on his couch for the last half hour, laptop in her lap.
"Hey. How'd you sleep?" He asks her, leaning in to place a kiss on the side of her head.
"Good, I slept past eight. I haven't slept that late in a long time."
"Good."
An iced coffee appears next to her head.
"Ooh! Mocha?"
"Mm-hmm."
"Thanks, hon."
"Of course. What are you working on?"
She pats the spot next to her on the couch. He walks around the side and sits next to her, setting his own coffee on the coffee table in front of them.
"I've been looking up some jobs for the last few weeks. Volunteer stuff, things like that."
"For you?"
"No, I've been researching things I thought you might be interested in. Obviously if none of it interests you, I won't be offended or anything. I just thought hearing some ideas might help you figure out if there's anything you might be interested in doing."
His lips part slightly, but no words come out. When a few seconds pass in silence, she continues.
"If you're not interested, I can forget it. I just thought it might interest you, if you could still help people in some way. 'Cause I know you love doing that. I know art therapy is a thing, I thought that might interest you. There's also this program where volunteers can basically advocate for children who have to be in court? I wasn't as sure about that one, I thought I'd at least bring it up, though. I have some other stuff too, I made a small list."
She knows she's rambling. She's not sure how to take Steve's silence. Is he grateful? Has she overstepped?
"Why?" He asks.
"Why?"
He nods.
She shrugs. "Cause... I wanted to? You said you weren't sure what you want to do, and I wanted to help you figure it out. I just want you to be happy, Steve."
He surges forward to kiss her, and her hands fly into his hair in response. They kiss frantically as Steve's hands move under her shirt, and he groans when his hands reach her breasts, realizing she's not wearing a bra.
Their clothes form a trail as they make their way into the bedroom. They stay there until the afternoon.
~~~
She falls asleep not long after they have sex again. Not for a long time, only about half an hour has passed when she looks at the wall clock.
Steve is sitting up next to her on the bed, holding his sketch pad and a pencil. He's put his boxers back on, but nothing else. He doesn't seem to have noticed she's awake yet.
"What are you drawing?" She asks.
He looks down at her, giving her one of those smiles she loves. One of the ones she's only ever seen him give to her, and no one else.
"You. Is that alright?"
"Do I get to see it?"
"When it's done, if you want."
"Then yes." She returns his smile. "Are you making me look good?"
"Impossible not to, you always looks beautiful."
She suddenly feels flushed. Her hand moves up to cover her face, hiding the big smile forming.
"Don't do that," he says, nudging her hand with one of his fingers.
She moves her hand back. The look he's giving her is intense, in the best way. She's liked the way she looks for a long time, now, but when Steve looks at her like that - like he's looking at artwork in a museum, or a particularly beautiful sunset - it makes her entire body heat up. She feels like a kid again, having her crush tell she's pretty for the first time.
His hand moves a strand of hair behind her ear, then cups the side of her jaw, his thumb grazing across her bottom lip. She lays there, unmoving, as he looks at her. He's not touching her in a very suggestive way, his thumb is just grazing back and forth across her lip, but she feels arousal course through her regardless.
She parts her lips, sucking his thumb into her mouth. What was supposed to be enticing becomes the opposite - the taste of graphite makes her face scrunch up, and she sticks her tongue out in disgust after he pulls his thumb back.
"Eugh, what the fuck? I was trying to be sexy, that was so gross. Why do your fancy pencils taste so bad? What the fuck, Steve?" She wipes the back of her hand across her tongue to try to get the flavor out of her mouth.
Steve leans back against the headboard, hand moving to rest over his chest and eyes squeezing shut as he lets out a loud belly laugh.
"You have to taste it too now, it's only fair," she tells him.
He gives her an incredulous look, smile still plastered on his face.
"I'm not eating one of my pencils."
"I never said you have to eat the thing, you wacko, you just have to lick it."
"You're telling me to lick one of my pencils, and I'm the wacko?" His eyes squeeze shut again and he falls back into laughter.
She starts laughing as well, turning to bury her face in the pillow.
Once they've composed themselves, Steve leans down, pressing a sweet and lingering kiss to her lips.
"You're ridiculous. You're perfect for me, you know that?"
"How convenient, you're pretty perfect for me too," she quips, giving him a wink.
He kisses her again, smiling against her lips.
~~~
She's strongly debating just turning her car around and going home.
She waits until a week that her dad won't be at the support group to take Steve up on the offer he made so many months ago. She doesn't think she would actually be able to convince herself to go in if she knew her dad would be hearing all of the things that have been plaguing her lately.
For the most part, Elaine thinks she's done a decent job of not letting her past stop her from living her life. Does she still have bad days? Of course. If one of Monica's favorite songs comes on, it usually leaves her in a funk for the rest of the day. Sometimes she smells a food that reminds her of her mom's cooking, and that does the same. She's always able to pick herself back up within a day or two, though.
Three weeks ago, she learned from Instagram that Evan and his wife are having a baby. She's pretty much just been running on autopilot since then, making herself go to work and eat at least one actual meal everyday even though she'd rather just lay catatonic on her bed all day.
She decided to come to the support group after talking with Steve a few days ago. He didn't ask her to come, and she hasn't told him yet. Mainly so she could still back out if she changed her mind, and he would just never know.
He looked so sad when she didn't want to talk about what was going on. He wasn't upset, he would never ask her to share anything she wasn't ready to talk about. She could tell he wasn't happy, though. She cried after he left her apartment that night. She felt horrible for being the reason he looked sad. Hopeless. They've only talked a couple times on the phone since then. She hasn't seen him in days.
In a brief second of courage, she forces herself out of the car before she could change her mind.
She throws her hood up. She knows it's not actually covering her face, but it helps her feel like she can hide herself at least a little bit.
There are five other people already sitting in chairs when she walks inside. Steve is nowhere in sight. She chooses a chair that leaves at least one empty seat on either side of her. She knows they'll probably be filled, but she can at least hope no one will sit next to her. Maybe Steve will sit next to her, that would be better than strangers.
She pulls her feet up so her heels are resting on the edge of the chair seat, and wraps her arms around her legs, resting her forehead on her knees. She knows she looks like she's hiding herself, swimming in a large hoodie and making herself physically smaller.
She flinches when a hand lightly touches her back. She didn't hear anyone come up behind her.
"Elaine?" Steve whispers. He's learned over, so his head is about a foot away from hers. He must have recognized her hoodie, she knows he couldn't see her face or hair if he came from behind her.
"Is it alright that I'm here?" She whispers back.
"Of course it is. I just didnt know you were planning to be here."
"I didn't want to say anything. In case I changed my mind."
She gives him a small, nervous smile.
"I'm glad you didn't."
The smile he gives her in return is a genuine one.
She suddenly feels emotional, eyes stinging. She squeezes one of her hands tightly in the other - she doesn't want to cry before the meeting even starts. She didn't realize just how much she missed him. Missed those sweet, comforting smiles of his. Missed his big bear hugs. She feels guilty all over again.
"I'm sorry." She says quietly.
He shakes his head.
"You don't have anything to apologize for."
The sound of one of the folding chairs squeaking across the floor as another person sits down cuts through the end of his sentence.
"Let's talk more later, okay?" He tells her.
She nods.
His hand gives her back a comforting rub before he stands up straight again, walking over to grab a bottle of water from the snack table.
About 10 minutes later, most of the seats are filled. Steve did, thankfully, take one of the seats next to her. She unfolds her legs and puts her feet on the floor as Steve starts the meeting.
She only half-listens at first, her chest suddenly feeling like it's tightening up. She shoves her hands in the front pocket of her hoodie, and one of her legs starts bouncing up and down - a habit she picked up from her dad.
It helps a bit hearing other people talk about themselves before speaking herself. Maybe she feels less like they'll judge anything she has to say, now that she's heard some of these other people talk about their own experiences.
One woman talks about how she tried downloading a dating app last week. Apparently her husband had gotten remarried during the Blip, and she had to basically start her life over when she came back.
A girl who looks no older than college-aged talks about being able to get some of her parent's belongings back. Both of her parents died during the five years she was gone, and their belongings were sold off in an estate sale years ago. They were her only family.
One man talks about his 2 year old son. He and his wife split up after their son disappeared, but have made good progress co-parenting their son ever since he reappeared.
Steve is so encouraging towards everyone. Telling them how taking that first big step will make the next steps easier, and asking if they feel that talking about their struggles has helped them.
She finally decides to speak up before she can chicken out.
"I'm Elaine. I'm Jim's daughter, I assume you all know him."
A few people nod in confirmation.
She pauses for a moment. She's not sure where she should even try to start.
"Um... I avoided coming here for a really long time. I only decided to come today 'cause I knew my dad wouldn't be here this week. I didn't really feel like I needed to, for a while. I felt like I was handling everything well enough after my mom died. And after Monica died last year. Not that I didn't miss them, or grieve, or whatever, but I still went to work, and I saw my friends, and I got on with my life."
She fidgets with her hands inside the pocket of her hoodie.
"Probably... three weeks ago now? I found out my ex-boyfriend is having a baby."
She sees surprise briefly flash across Steve's face when she glances over at him, but he says nothing, letting her continue.
"We had been together for years, we met in college. We broke up not long after everyone disappeared a few years ago. Because... A few weeks before that, I found out I was pregnant, and when the driver of the bus I was on disappeared, we crashed and I was taken to the hospital. I wasn't hurt badly or anything, but I miscarried at the hospital. Our relationship just didn't really recover from that."
She sees a couple nods of understanding from other people.
"Now... I don't want to say that I'm not happy for him, cause it's not like I don't want him to have a life, or be happy, you know? But, I felt like I shut down after I found out. And not cause I'm jealous, or want to be with him, or whatever, cause that's not it. I think I was just angry that I had to find out online instead of finding out from him? If it were different circumstances, I don't think I would think that. If he was just someone I dated for a few months, or if something horrible hadn't happened to both of us, I don't think I would even care. I think..."
She tries to piece together her thoughts.
"Maybe it just felt like he doesn't care about what happened anymore? Like he didn't care about our baby. Just the fact that he posted it online like that horrible thing never happened, and he couldn't even be bothered to acknowledge it or say something to me first? I don't know, it just feels kinda complain-y now that I'm saying it. And maybe it is childish, but it really hurt to find that out online and not from him, like me and our baby never mattered to him."
She squeezes one hand hard in the other when she feels tears prick at the back of her eyes.
"I've just been in a weird place since I found that out. I thought maybe coming here might help."
She looks down at her lap.
The first woman who spoke is the first one to speak after Elaine has stopped talking.
"That's not childish," she says. "If someone you care about, or used to care about, makes you feel like they don't care about you as much as you care about them, that hurts. You're not wrong for being hurt."
Multiple people nod and give hums of agreement.
"I agree," Steve says.
She's nervous to hear what he has to say. She hid all of this from him for weeks, after all.
"Do you think it did help? Coming here?"
"I think so. I'll probably have a better idea later, though."
The last few minutes of the meeting pass in a blur. She stays in her seat while other people start standing to leave, wanting to talk to Steve alone.
The woman who spoke first - Brianna, she learned - came over to Elaine after the meeting, telling her she should be proud of herself for coming tonight, and that she hopes she'll come again. Her words made tears prick at her eyes again.
After everyone else has left, Steve walks back over to her, moving his chair so it's directly in front of hers and taking a seat. He holds out both of his hands towards herself in an offer. She removes her own from her hoodie, leaning onto her elbows and putting her hands in his.
"Why didn't you tell me you were coming tonight?" He asks.
"I wasn't sure if I would change my mind. I didn't want to tell you and then disappoint you by backing out."
"I wouldn't have been disappointed."
Part of her wants to say that he can't possibly know that. If it were anyone else, she probably would say that. Steve has always beenunwaveringky honest with her, though - she believes him when he says he wouldn't be disappointed.
"Why didn't you tell me?" He asks after she doesn't respond.
"I just didn't want to, at first. I didn't want to think about it."
He nods.
"More recently, I just... I guess I didn't want you to think I'm still hung up on Evan, or something? 'Cause I'm not. I don't know why it hurts so much."
She chokes on the last few words, her face crumpling.
He uses a hand to scoot his chair closer, then wraps both of her arms around her. Her fists clutch his shirt as she cries into his shoulder.
"I'm sorry," she chokes out.
"You have nothing to apologize for."
"I felt horrible after you left my apartment last weekend. I missed you so much."
She wraps her around him to pull him closer as she cries, and his arms tighten in response. She feels him press a lingering kiss to the side of her head.
He holds her until her tears slow down. When she pulls back, he moves his hands to cup her face, using his thumbs to swipe the wetness off her cheeks.
"I love you so much," she whispers.
He gives her a smile.
"I love you too."
He leans in to give her a sweet kiss, then leans his forehead against hers.
"Will you come back to my apartment tonight?" She asks him.
He nods.
"Of course."
~~~
When the end of her lease finally approaches, Steve recruited both Sam and Bucky to help move her things out of her apartment. She decides to leave the moving of boxes to them as she continues packing some of her remaining belongings, music playing from her phone on the counter. Rosie is asleep on her bed on the opposite side of the room.
As she's wrapping towels and newspaper around some of her dishes, Sam walks into the kitchen.
"Want a hand with that? I figure those two can handle the heavy lifting themselves."
"Sure."
He grabs a stack of plates, helping her wrap them before putting them in boxes.
"I don't think I've ever met someone under the age of 60 named Elaine," he tells her with a teasing smile. "Your parents big fans of Seinfeld or something?"
"I know you're making a joke, but the answer is yes. Guess what my sister's name is."
"What, Rachel?"
"So close, her name is Monica. My parents might be the biggest 90s sitcom fans ever. It's a good thing I'm a girl, my name might've been Jerry otherwise."
Sam throws his head back and barks out a laugh.
They make small talk as they pack her dishes, until YWCA starts playing.
"Really?" Sam asks, eyebrow raise.
"Why the hostility? It's a great song, it's so catchy. You can't tell me it's not."
He throws his hands up in surrender.
"You have to do the dance or you're not invited to our apartment," she tells him.
"Oh? I'll only get an invite if I do the dance?"
"That's right," she says with a smile.
That's exactly how Steve finds them moments later when he walks into the kitchen.
"Very busy, I see," he says with an amused smile.
"Sam started it," she says quickly.
Sam's jaw falls open.
"Excuse me? You're the one who threatened to not invite me over if I didn't do it. It was blackmail. She threatened me," he says to Steve.
Bucky walks in as Sam is speaking.
"You two need to go to timeout, or something?"
"Sam just doesn't know what good music is, I did nothing wrong."
"I'm gonna fly myself to the window outside your apartment and scare the shit out of you one day, Elaine, you just wait."
"Excuse me? Who's threatening who now? I know we just met this morning, but you're a terrible friend. Bucky would never treat me like this."
"You're ranking me below Barnes? Jesus, this is a new low."
Bucky backhands him in the arm, hard enough to make Sam wince and rub his arm.
"You got more for us?" Bucky asks.
"There are a few along the wall that can go, there are some in the pantry as well if you haven't gotten those yet."
Bucky throws her a thumbs up, grabbing more boxes to take outside.
Steve walks over next to Elaine, and Sam quickly excuses himself, joking that he doesn't need any mental scars on top of his physical ones. They both lean their elbows forward on the counter.
"Hey," she greets him.
"Hey."
He gives her a smile.
"I'm excited," she tells him.
"Yeah? Me too."
"I'm glad. I pour my milk before my cereal, you know. I hope that's not a deal breaker."
He chuckles.
"I'm willing to look past that."
She smiles, leaning in to kiss him.
~~~
Today is their one year anniversary. It's also Steve's first day at his new job. He's officially the new Pantry Manager at a homeless shelter in the city. It's perfect for him, in her opinion. She's excited to hear about his first day when he gets home.
She's making them dinner right now, they have a lot to celebrate tonight.
The front door opens as she's pulling baked potatoes out of the oven.
"Hey," she greets him.
"Hey. It smells good in here."
"Thanks. Food's almost done, if you want to change or anything first."
She puts the last finishing touches on their food, and moves everything to the table, Steve walking in as she's setting down their plates. He walks up to her, putting his hands on her waist.
"This looks great, sweetheart, thank you."
He kisses her, and she puts her hands on his face to keep him against her longer.
"How was work?" She asks after he pulls away.
"It was good. Not that I've actually started doing a lot yet, it's only been one day."
"Yeah? I'm glad. I was really excited when you told me you were applying, I hope you love it."
He gives her an appreciative smile, leaning in to kiss her again.
She's so glad to see him happy. He's made her life so much better over the last year. He's helped her deal with the parts of her past still plaguing her. She hopes she's done the same for him.