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“Guys,” you whisper, tiptoeing into the common area. Those already gathered there - Tony, Nat, Clint, Bruce, and Bucky - look up at you with varying levels of concern.
“What’s wrong?” Bucky asks urgently. He looks on edge, glancing around like some sort of threat is going to suddenly burst into the room. Understandable, you know, because it’s two in the morning.
“Nothing’s wrong,” you inform him. “I just…you know what day it is today, right?”
Again, varying expressions from the rest of the group. Bucky and Tony look thoughtful, Nat is frowning, and Bruce and Clint just look confused.
Then… “It’s the fourth of July!” Clint announces triumphantly.
You shush him, glancing around to make sure no one was woken up by his outburst. “Yes, it is, but what else is today?”
Bucky smiles softly. “It’s Stevie’s birthday.”
“Bingo!” you cheer quietly. “I have a surprise planned for him, but I needed some help. Ergo, two AM meeting.”
“A surprise?” Tony asks eagerly.
You laugh, “Yes.”
Nat leans forwards, elbows on her knees. “I’m in. What do you need us for?”
-----
Steve wakes up at 5 every day to run. Ever since moving to the Avengers Compound, he no longer has to run in public places - and deal with people - and can instead stay on the grounds, admiring the natural beauty as the sun comes up.
When he comes back an hour or so later, he tends to take a more scenic route through the kitchen to see you. You’re not a chef by any definition of the word, but you enjoy making breakfast for the team on the days where you wake up early. He tells himself that it’s just that he wants first dibs on the food, and not because of you…but lately it’s been harder to believe that.
Today, though, you’re not there. In fact, nobody else seems to be awake. He can usually hear noises from Tony’s lab at all hours, but right now it’s silent. Huh, he thinks. Maybe they’re sleeping in. It is a holiday, after all.
The Fourth of July. America’s birthday, and Steve’s as well. He’s not expecting anything, in all honesty. Maybe a birthday card from the other Avengers, a small present from Bucky, a large, overly extravagant present from Tony if he remembers. But nothing much.
That’s why you’ve decided to change that.
You know he doesn’t like surprises in the typical sense - a jump-out-and-yell-happy-birthday sort of surprise is more likely to give him a heart attack. But a few nice presents, a few cool experiences? That’s more his style.
The first one is waiting for him when he enters the living room. It’s, in typical Tony style, a giant teddy bear holding an American flag. But you guys had given it a few personal touches, like a hand-painted Captain America shield and a birthday hat. He smiles when he sees it, picking up the card next to it.
You’d been pleasantly surprised to learn that all members who live in the compound, as well as some who don’t, had made cards for him. It made your life all the easier. You didn’t read any of them, just trusted that they’d written nice, appropriate wishes, and put them in the right spots.
Tony’s is a glittery monstrosity, and you watch as Steve picks it up gingerly and opens it, stepping back to avoid the shower of sparkles that falls out. He looks directly at the security camera, as if he knows people are watching him, and wrinkles his nose. Glitter? he mouths.
You snicker, switching off the feed and heading out for the next stage in your plan: breakfast. While he’s been distracted in the living area with the card, you’ve been stealthily making your way to the kitchen with the food you’d prepped earlier. You’re banking on the fact that he’ll go looking for Tony to thank him for the card - which he does - and while he searches, you’ll be cooking.
“Alright, Grandmaster,” Tony says, using the nickname he’d come up with earlier. “He’s on the move towards the lab. I’d say you’ve got ten minutes?”
“Why are you physically incapable of using my name?” you wonder aloud, setting down the three trays you’d been balancing.
“Codenames are more fun,” Tony replies. “He’s in my lab now, by the way.”
“It makes me sound old,” you gripe.
Tony shoots back, “A grandmaster is a prestigious title in chess!”
“We’re not playing chess, are we?”
“Focus on the mission, Grandmaster.” You can hear the smirk in his voice.
You sigh. You’re cooking a good old American breakfast - bacon, eggs, pancakes, and fresh orange juice. You got most of it done in an upstairs kitchen, but you’d left the oranges in here so that you wouldn’t need to carry several pounds of oranges (or several glasses of OJ) down the stairs.
You finish juicing just in time, setting the table hastily as Tony says, “He’s coming down from the lab. Hurry it up in there!”
“It’s ready!” you tell him, depositing the last of the glasses on the table. “Everyone come in!”
The rest of the team hurries in, taking their seats quickly and engaging in conversation as if they’d been there for hours. You bite back a smile as you slide into your seat right as Steve enters the room. He blinks, a grin spreading across his face as he notes the empty seat at the head of the table.
“Is this-” he shakes his head with a laugh, “Is this for me?”
You glance up at him innocently. “It’s breakfast. For everyone. Like most days?”
He gives you a look, clearly not believing you, but you manage to keep a straight face. Breakfast continues like normal, though you do catch Steve looking around a few times, trying (and failing) to figure out how you’d all just suddenly appeared in the kitchen despite him being in there not even ten minutes earlier. You hide your grin behind your cup of juice.
-----
Besides his morning run, Steve doesn’t really have many more routines - it’s kind of hard, in his line of work. So the rest of your plan hinges on the rest of your teammates distracting him while you set up more presents. He’ll find them in no particular order, but you’ve also got time-sensitive experiences that you’ll need to get him to on time. But: presents first.
The next one to hide is Nat’s, a simple white envelope with a card and a vintage Captain America action figure, and you’ve decided to put it in the gym. Thankfully, since you just ate, Steve has gone elsewhere and the gym is empty. Tony’s on surveillance duty to make sure he doesn’t stumble on you setting up the present, but you figure you’re safe.
The plan is to rig a mechanism that will lower the card and gift when Steve inevitably knocks the punching bag off the chain, without damaging the present. Tony had helped a little with the design, but you’re pretty proud of your ingenuity: when the bag is knocked off the chain, it also would unclip from a separate cord you’d rigged. As that cord goes up, the present comes down, and bam! Instant surprise.
To ensure that the bag comes off, you loosen the chains so that one good punch will send it down. You smile to yourself. The look of surprise and happiness on his face when he’d seen Tony’s gift had already made your day; getting to see it more would just make your day even better.
“Stop smiling like a lunatic, Chess,” Tony teases through your earpiece.
“Oh, so it’s ‘Chess’ now?”
“You didn’t like ‘Grandmaster’, remember?”
You stick your tongue out at the nearest security camera, listening to Tony’s laugh in your ear. “I’m done here, ‘kay? Where’s Steve?”
“In the living room with Bucky,” he replies. “Anyway, let’s get back to your big smile from a few seconds ago? Still harboring that not-a-crush on Mr. America?”
“It’s-”
“Not a crush, I know, you told me.”
You sigh. “That’s not what I was going to say.”
“Enlighten me, Chess,” he says playfully.
“No, I don’t think I will,” you say with a smirk. “Let me know if he leaves the living room, okay?”
Tony’s still grumbling as you leave the room.
-----
Several hours later, you’ve hidden six more presents and Steve’s found three of them. DUM-E had handed him one when he’d walked into the lab, and his perplexed expression had been priceless. That one was Bruce’s, and you had no idea what it was besides the fact that it was a thick envelope with the words Do Not Bend on the outside. You’d been hesitant to give it to Tony’s robot, but he’d assured you that while DUM-E might drop the present, he wouldn’t bend it. Probably.
Steve had also gotten Clint’s gift, a Hawkeye t-shirt, and had found Nat’s when he went to work out. Each time, the smile on his face had made you grin like an idiot, which only led to more of Tony’s teasing.
Now, Bucky and Steve are out in the city for lunch so the rest of you can set up the compound for the party part of the day.
“Fury and Maria are here!” Nat calls, letting the two agents into the foyer. You wave from your perch atop a ladder, stringing up a banner that reads “Happy Birthday Steve!”
Everyone is put to work, from blowing up balloons to taping up streamers and banners. You survey the scene happily, noting the red, white, and blue decorations. Obviously, as Captain America, Steve’s July 4th birthday is perfectly on brand. But you happen to know that his favorite color is blue, so there’s a lot of that splashed across the compound.
Bucky calls you as the team is putting the finishing touches on the entryway. “We’re on our way back,” he says.
“Roger that!” you chirp, hanging up and yelling to everyone else, “Get set up; they’re almost back!”
Setting up the last sign - a large “Happy Birthday America!” poster that you’d added the word “Captain” on - you shoo everyone inside and close the doors. The way the car has to come into the compound would hide the decorations for a while, but once they pull into the driveway, he’ll see all the work you guys have done. You smile, then quickly compose yourself before Tony sees and makes a snide comment.
Maybe you do have a crush. But so what? Steve’s been through so much, in two different centuries, and probably didn’t have many good birthdays. So crush or not, you just want him to be happy.
You’re shaken from your train of thought as the car pulls into the drive. Steve and Bucky both jump out, looking around in awe. Bucky has a large smile on his face, and as Steve goes to explore, he walks over to you.
“This is amazing,” he tells you. “You didn’t have to do all this.”
“It’s his birthday,” you reply.
“Yeah, but…not many people would go through all this trouble.”
You smile. “You would.”
“I’m his best friend,” Bucky scoffs. “Of course I would. But just- thank you.”
“No problem. Oh!” Your eyes light up and you run back towards the main building, Bucky in tow. Steve turns around to look at you and you gesture for him to open the doors. When he does, the team jumps out, cheering.
Bucky slaps him on the back. “Happy birthday, punk.”
“Jerk,” Steve retorts. He turns to you again, a smile growing on his face. “Did you plan all of this?”
You feel your face burn under the intensity of his stare. “Maybe.”
“Thank you,” he says earnestly. “This is incredible! The breakfast was special, and you’re the one hiding the presents, aren’t you?”
You shrug again, still flustered. “You’ll have to wait and see.”
“There’s more?” He laughs and opens his arms for a hug. “You’re the best.”
Tony leads him inside when he lets you go, but you wait on the porch for a few moments more, still savoring the feeling of his warmth and smiling so wide there’s no way you could ever hide it.
-----
Steve finds the rest of the gifts - Bucky’s, Nick and Maria’s, one from the whole Barton family, and Peter and MJ’s. But while you’re having fun watching him, you’re practically vibrating with excitement by dinnertime, because the best is yet to come.
Leaning on the railing overlooking one of the green spaces in the Compound where Tony has set up a massive outdoor kitchen, you’re startled by a voice behind you.
“So, whatta’ you got planned now?” Steve makes his way to the railing, resting his forearms on it as he gently bumps you with his hip.
“Dinner and then a fireworks show,” you admit. “Dang, it was hard keeping that a secret all day!”
He smiles, “I can imagine.”
“How has your birthday been?” you ask. “Like, genuinely. You can tell me it all sucked, I won’t be mad. I promise.”
“No!” he says, genuinely upset that you would think that. “No, not at all. It’s been amazing. Dare I say…the best birthday I’ve had?”
Your face flames, but you force your voice to remain steady as you tell him, “I’m glad. You deserve a good birthday.” You deserve everything.
“I can’t believe you planned all this. How long did it take to set up?”
“Not long,” you say with a laugh. “I’ve been planning for a bit, but I only told the rest of the team about it last night.”
He nudges you with his hip again, a playful smile on his face. “You’re incredible, you know that?”
Honestly, you don’t think you can be any more embarrassed. You glance away, cheeks on fire. “Thanks, Steve. You’re incredible too.” You change the subject, “Now go get some food! You’re the guest of honor.”
He chuckles, heading down onto the green, and looks back once to give you a kind smile. Gosh, you think, I definitely have a crush.
Dinner is a chaotic affair, but the food is delicious and nothing gets set on fire or explodes, so you consider it a success. The sun is almost gone by the time everything gets cleaned up - despite your protests, Steve insists on helping pack up - so you send Tony to go prepare the fireworks.
They’re his own creation, a form of environmentally friendly pyrotechnics that don’t leave large amounts of smoke in the sky and don’t make crazy loud noises. He’d originally wanted a drone show, which you’d agreed on until he’d realized that he didn’t have enough drones (or patience) to choreograph the kind of spectacle he wanted. So fireworks it is.
Tony, along with some of his firefighter friends to ensure nothing goes up in flames, is stationed farther out on the property so everyone can watch from the front lawn. It’s a whole spectacle, because of course it is, it’s Tony. So the lawn is pretty crowded, and you’re not really feeling social, so you head up to the balcony with the comfy chairs to watch the show from above the chaos.
You’ve only been out there for a few minutes, though, when the sound of the sliding door opening alerts you to Steve’s presence. “Hey, you,” you tease, leaning back in your chair to look up at the night sky.
“Hi,” he says quietly, not really sure why you both are whispering but unwilling to break the stillness of the moment.
“Need a breather?”
“Yeah. Same with you?”
You bite your lip. “There’s just…a lot of people down there. It felt safer up here.”
“I feel that,” he replies.
The two of you sit in comfortable silence for a few more minutes before the first of the fireworks lights up the night. You lean forward, a smile growing on your face as the red, white, and blue sparks flash across the sky.
Steve scoots a little bit closer to you. Is it your imagination, or is his knee inching towards yours? “Thank you for this,” he says. “I know I already said it, but it means so much to me.”
“My pleasure,” you reply, voice just barely above a whisper. You turn your head slightly to see him gazing at you, his unfairly long eyelashes feathering across his cheeks as he blinks slowly. Despite you catching him staring, he doesn’t stop, just keeps looking at you like you’re something beautiful and perfect, and you feel like you’re melting.
Slowly, he reaches out and touches your cheek, his large hand gentle as he wipes away a tear you didn’t even know had rolled down your face. “You know,” he says conversationally, as if he’s not aware that he’s making your brain short-circuit right now, “I’ve always had a massive crush on you.”
If you thought you weren’t functioning properly before, you’re basically a dumpster fire now. “You- I- what?”
He laughs, but you know he’s not actually laughing at you. “You didn’t know?”
“No?!”
“Well, now you do.” He shrugs, “What are you going to do now?”
You sputter, “I already planned a huge birthday surprise for you! What else do you want?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” he says, leaning closer. “But a kiss would be nice, don’t you think?”
He stops, waiting to gauge your reaction. You have no doubt in your mind that he would instantly pull away if you told him you didn’t want it. He would do anything to make sure you’re comfortable. But…you do want it.
So you lean in, closing the gap between your mouth and his. Steve’s lips meet yours as Tony’s light show goes into overdrive, and it’s sweet and wonderful and you’re wondering how on earth you could ever have insisted you didn’t have a crush on him.
And it’s cliche, but the kiss? It feels a lot like fireworks.