#chuck refuses to allow his middle name to be spoken into existence

[scoobydoodean]

Headcanoning his full name as Dean Mary Winchester

[cozy-the-overlord]

Dances and Daggers

Summary:   The Summer Festival is upon Asgard, as is the tradition of the dagger ceremony, where each unmarried gentleman chooses a lady to bestow with the honor of carrying his dagger for the night. As Prince Thor’s betrothed, Teki’s only goal is to accept his dagger with grace and hope that her violent stepfather doesn’t find fault with her in the process. But Prince Thor is unpredictable, and when he ignores his engagement on a whim Teki finds herself in a desperate situation. Luckily, Thor isn’t the only prince in Asgard…

Pairing: Loki x Original Female Character

Chapter 2: The Piano

Previous Chapter  |  Next Chapter

Word Count: 3,715

Chapter Summary:  In the wake of the Summer Festival, Teki gets a summons to the Queen's chambers.

A/N:  Here it is! Like I said yesterday, I’m going to be posting a chapter a week every Tuesday. I’m really excited for this story and I hope you all enjoy it! 

Thanks for reading! :)

TW: mentions of child abuse

Tags: @lucywrites02

Read it on Ao3!

The Great Hall was roaring.

The last night of the summer festival always called for feasting and revelries, singing and shouting, shattering glasses and toasting from tabletops, and the people of Odin’s palace were only too happy to comply. Frantic servants navigated through the chaos, pressing overflowing goblets into outstretched palms. The drunken celebration consumed the room, the one time a year every noble allowed themselves to act like peasants.

Well, almost everyone.

“What a filthy display,” grumbled Osvald, glaring at a couple kissing passionately, the woman sitting in the man’s lap. He chucked another goblet over his shoulder. “If I wanted to watch sluts tonight, I would’ve gone to the whorehouse.”

Teki didn’t say anything. She dabbed at her mouth with her napkin, balancing stiffly on the edge of the bench on the other side of the table. Any other year, her stepfather would be happily participating in the debauchery engulfing the room. She knew that he was only spitting poison tonight because of what happened two weeks ago, on the first night of the festival. On their way back to their rooms, Osvald had tripped at the top of the staircase and hurt his back, cursing and spitting and moaning about how he had been pushed. He had refused to go to the healers.

“What do want me to tell them?” he snapped at her mother when she broached the subject. “That I can’t walk down a flight of stairs?” With that, he hobbled off, insisting that he was fine.

Two weeks later, he still was hunched over in pain.

It gave the family an odd atmosphere. On one hand, Osvald’s frequent foul moods had turned into a perpetual foul mood, and Teki was frequently finding herself on the receiving end of his tongue-lashings for merely existing. On the other hand, they were only tongue-lashings. She had spent enough time with an injured back to understand that her stepfather was hurting too much to be bothered to hurt her, and that brought on a tentative sort of peace.

Brant tugged at her sleeve. “Teki,” he whispered. “Can you cut my food?”

She smiled. “Sure. But first—” she scanned the table for something with writing on it, settling on the nametags marking their seats, “Can you tell me what this says?”

Brant squinted at his name, mouthing out the sounds in silence. Teki waited patiently. She had made it her goal this summer to teach her little brother to read—honestly, he should have already been assigned a tutor a year ago, but since he was so shy around others, her mother had decided to wait. She had laughed when Teki had explained her intentions, but Brant was smarter than his parents often gave him credit for.

His eyes lit up. “That’s me!” he cried out. “Brant Osvaldson!”

“Right!” she grinned. “Good job!” Teki reached over with her knife and fork to chop his meat into smaller bites. Beaming, Brant turned towards the partiers. He turned back around rather quickly.

“Teki!” he hissed, pulling at her sleeve again. “Teki, he’s looking at you!”

“What?” Teki twisted around to see what her brother was talking about, following his gaze to the raised platform where the royal family and their close friends were eating. She locked eyes with the dark-haired prince for only a second before Loki whipped his head back towards his mother.

Teki turned back to her table quickly as well, cheeks burning. She hadn’t spoken with Loki since he gave her his dagger on the first night of the festival. That was likely due to action taken by both sets of parents, who sought to cover up the embarrassment of the Crown Prince giving his dagger to the wrong girl by making certain Thor danced with Teki multiple times every night since. It was … awkward. While Prince Thor was always perfectly polite, it was painfully obvious that there were other activities he’d rather be doing than dancing with a girl several years his junior, whose head barely came up to his shoulders.

She had wanted to spend more time with Loki, but that was awkward too. Teki was supposed to be marrying Thor, as her parents made a point of reminding her. She needed to be spending time with him, not his inconsequential little brother. So, Teki played the model daughter, model princess, model queen-in-training and danced only with those her mother told her to.

But she couldn’t forget how nice Loki had been. How he had sat with her when she cried, healed her rib, gave her his dagger—she still had his dagger, stuffed under her mattress. Usually, the whole “dagger-holding” ceremony was just that: a ceremony that ended with the night. But when Teki tried to return his blade, Loki wouldn’t have it.

“You should keep it,” he said. “To remember the night. If you want, that is. I have plenty.”

Teki’s instinct had been to refuse, to insist that it was his and that he needed to take it back, but something caused her to bite her tongue.

“Thank you,” she whispered. She was relatively certain he knew she wasn’t just talking about the dagger.

Osvald was sure to lose his temper at her if he caught her sneaking weapons into his rooms, so she was careful to keep it hidden. It was rather stupid, the more she thought about it (why would she ever need a dagger? What would she supposed to do with it?) but there was also a strange kind of thrill that would come over her when she took it out its sheath and admired her reflection in the pointed blade.

Brant was back to tugging at her sleeve. “He’s looking at you again,” he whispered. “Why does he keep looking at you?”

“He’s not looking at me,” she said, forcing a smile as she poked him in his tummy. “He’s looking at you, because you’re not eating your food, even after I cut it all nicely for you! You didn’t even say thank you!”

He giggled and pulled his plate closer to him. “Thank you, Teki.”

“You’re welcome.” Teki watched him shovel food into his mouth, trying to fight the urge to look over her shoulder again. The temptation soon became too much, and she allowed herself one quick peak.

Brant was right. Loki was looking at her again.

Teki turned back to the table, keeping her features completely neutral to hide the strange warmth that seemed to be glowing in her chest.

…

Teki stood stiffly in the middle of the Queen’s sitting room, picking at the sash on her dress with nervous fingers. The servant who had led her in had told her to make herself comfortable while she waited, but she was far too tense to even consider sitting down.

The Queen had sent word to her mother that morning that she wished to see Teki in her quarters, but she hadn’t given any explanation as to why. Of course, her mother wasn’t concerned with an explanation. She spent the morning fussing over what dress Teki was to wear, how she should fix her hair, whether or not she should put on jewelry (it was decided she shouldn’t, as her mother feared giving the appearance of putting on airs before the Queen). For most of the morning, Teki had been playing the role of a mannequin as her mother draped different fabric across her shoulders, hoping that her stillness could hide the churning in her stomach.

The Queen had never asked to see her before. They had spoken many times at balls and feasts, but Teki had never been singled out for a private audience. She told herself it made sense—after all, she was of age now, perhaps the Queen simply wanted to get to know her future daughter-in-law��but what if it was something else? What if she had done something wrong? What if the Queen was angry at her? What if (and this was the “what if” making her feel as if she was about to vomit) Loki had told her about Osvald?

Teki swallowed, pulling harder at her sash. She hadn’t outright told him about her stepfather, but she was clear after that night that he knew what was going on. He had offered to tell his mother for her, but she had refused. Doing such would only result in scandal for her family, and if Osvald thought she was spreading rumors about him … all the back pain in the world wouldn’t stop him.

She tried to push the thoughts away. Loki wouldn’t have told. He wouldn’t have! She had specifically asked him not to. What kind of prince would he be if he couldn’t keep his word?

But as time went on, with Queen Frigga still not entering the room, Teki’s anxiety began to be replaced with impatience. What was going on? How much longer would she have to wait? She found herself scanning the room for the first time since she walked in.

It was a lovely sitting room, although not quite as extravagant as she would have thought from a Queen’s quarters. The walls were of simple wooden paneling, the furniture matching with blue and golden accents. Sapphire curtains opened into a gold-plated balcony overlooking the palace courtyard. And in the corner of the room… Teki’s breath caught in her throat.

It was a piano. A beautiful, polished, mahogany piano. She found herself walking towards it without making the decision to move. It had been so long since Teki had last seen a piano. Music had been the first thing her mother purged from the household upon her father’s departure. She had taken all Teki’s sheet music away that first day and sold off the piano by the end of the week. While Teki was never directly banned from playing music, there was an unaddressed chill in the air whenever she brought the topic up. And so, after a while, she had stopped bringing it up.

Her fingertips grazed the keyboard cover, aching to lift it so they could stroke the ivory keys. She couldn’t, of course—what would the Queen say if she found her messing with her piano without permission?— but she longed to play. She missed the thrill of dancing across the keys, that feeling when you had the instrument singing for you perfectly in tune, so much going on at once but knowing that you were perfectly in control. Teki sighed, still unable to tear her eyes from the piano. Oh, it was so tempting…

She jumped out of her skin when the door opened.

“Mother?” Prince Loki called. “Father wishes to speak with you. He—” He stopped abruptly when his gaze landed on Teki.

Her eyes dropped to the floor, sinking into a curtsey out of habit. “Prince Loki,” she murmured. For some reason, her cheeks were burning.

Her curtsey seemed to spur Loki to action; he bowed politely. “Lady Teki,” he said. “Forgive me, I didn’t expect to see you here.”

He remembered my nickname!

“No worries, my prince,” she replied, looking up again. He was smiling, albeit a bit awkwardly. “I was just waiting for Queen Frigga. She—she asked to see me this morning.”

Loki nodded. “Ah. I see.” They stood there for a few moments, glancing around the room as if searching for something to break the silence. Teki shifted uncomfortably. Say something! she screamed at herself, but it seemed her tongue had turned to lead.

Finally, his gaze landed at the instrument by her side. “Oh, do you play piano?” he asked.

“Oh-uh- I did. Or I used to,” she stuttered, shifting again. “I—haven’t, in a while.”

“My mother tried to teach my brother and me. Neither of us were very good,” he grinned. “I did better than Thor, at least, but that’s not saying much.”

Teki smiled. “I’m sure you don’t give yourself enough credit, my prince.”

“I’m sure you’re just trying to be nice. I was terrible,” Loki laughed, shaking his head. “The only piece I actually learned was this silly little duet I used to play with my mother, and even then I could only do the easy part.”

That sounded familiar. How many songs had she learned by playing alongside her father? Teki’s chest expanded with warmth.

“What duet?” she asked.

“Here, I’ll show you.” He sauntered over to the piano and rolled up the keyboard cover as if it was nothing, as if he was completely unaware of how Teki had been agonizing over that very thing minutes before he walked in. She eyed the Queen’s bedroom door. Would Frigga be upset if she found them disturbing her piano? But if Loki did it so easily, then surely it was allowed, right?

Her anxious line of thought was cut off abruptly as the prince began playing a simple melody with one hand, a string of eight repeated notes that she recognized immediately.

“Wait, I know that!” she cried. “That’s Elf Song!”

He nodded. “Yes, Elf Song. That’s what it was called. I’d play this, and my mother would do the hard part.”

Teki choked on her own laughter. Oh, this was ridiculous. “What do you mean, ‘hard part’?” she giggled. “The other part is just chords! It’s easy!”

Loki laughed too, holding his hands up in mock surrender. “I told you, I’m bad!”

“But it’s so easy—here, I’ll show you.” She sat down next to him on the piano seat without thinking about it, the notes just flowing from her fingertips. Oh, she had missed this, feeling her hands on the keys. It was over far too soon.

“See, that’s hard!” Loki protested. “You’re using both hands! That makes it hard!”

“That’s how you play piano!” Teki cried in amused exasperation. “How can you play piano with only one hand?”

“Like this!” He returned to his chopstick melody. This time, Teki was certain he was making a point of being as stiff as possible. It was becoming increasingly more difficult to control her giggles.

“Here, you do that, I’ll do the chords.” She began playing alongside him. It was terribly disjointed—Loki was completely off tempo and finished way before he was supposed to, but by the time she caught up to him they were both laughing hysterically.

“You’re the worst duet partner I’ve ever had,” she said, wiping the tears from her eyes.

“But I’ll bet I’m the most entertaining,” he smirked.

“Sure, I’ll give you that.” Teki returned the smile. It was nice, just sitting here and laughing about something stupid. Relaxing, almost. For once, she realized suddenly, she didn’t feel nervous about anything.

“You should play a real song,” Loki said, motioning towards the keyboard. “If Elf Song is so beneath you, then let’s see what a true pianist can do.”

Teki hesitated. Fooling around with what was essentially a child’s exercise was one thing, playing an actual piece in front of someone was another. She wasn’t even certain she could remember any of the songs she once had memorized all the way through. She must have taken too long to respond, because Loki was quick to backtrack.

“Or not, if you don’t want to,” he said hurriedly. “I was only jesting, I didn’t mean to—”

“No, that’s fine.” There was something in the way he was looking at her, the pure apologetic sincerity, that made her determined to perform something. “It’s—it’s been a while, since I played, so I—I’m probably rusty, but, uh, here—”

It was funny, because she didn’t remember making the decision to play one of her father’s pieces. At first, she didn’t even realize that she was playing one of her father’s pieces. It just… happened. He had called it Aster Breeze—she remembered when he was writing it, ages ago when she still had to sit on his lap to see the keys.

“Do you hear that, Teki?” he’d ask as he played a new sequence of notes. “That’s the wind in the tree branches. Can you hear the wind?”

All Teki ever could hear was the piano, but if Daddy said there was wind, then there was wind. She nodded vigorously. He laughed as he continued playing.

Now, at the Queen’s piano, the notes flowed through her as if she had never stopped playing them. She still couldn’t hear the wind, but she felt it, tugging her soul forward and enveloping her in the music. It was an exhilaration she had forgotten she missed—by the time she reached the end of the piece, Teki was out of breath and grinning ear-to-ear.  

She turned to Loki, who was watching her with wide eyes. “That was rusty?” he cried incredulously.

Teki burned. “Well—I—”

“That was absolutely fantastic!” he insisted, breaking into applause. “How can you play all that from memory?”

“I—I don’t know,” she stammered. “I-my father was a court musician, so maybe I got it from him?”

“Well, it was brilliant.” Loki’s tone had a definitive air to it as he nodded. “You should play more often.”

Teki’s heart, which had been soaring high above the trees, crashed back into reality. “Oh—” she mumbled. “I—I can’t—”

“I didn’t know you played, Tekla.” Teki jumped at the regal voice, spinning around so quickly that she nearly tumbled over. Frigga stood in the doorway, her golden curls pulled back behind her head, hands clasped and smile wide.

Heart pounding, Teki sank into a curtsey. “Your Majesty.”

Loki was significantly more amused. “Mother,” he grinned, merely standing in greeting.

“Rise, child, there’s no need for formalities here,” Frigga laughed, moving to sit on the couch and motioning for Teki to join her. “After all, we are to be family sooner than later.” Slowly, Teki followed her on shaking legs.

“Mother,” Loki interjected, voice authoritative and professional. “Father’s finalizing the plans for the Alfheim trip. He wanted to know if you wished to check the dates.”

“Yes, I will,” she affirmed. “I’ll look at those as soon as Lady Tekla and I have finished here.”

Loki nodded. “I’ll tell him to wait to send them in. Mother. Lady Tekla.” With an exaggerated bow and a slight smirk as her official name left his lips, he made to leave. Teki flushed, biting her lip to hold back the giggle. Loki seemed to have a knack for making her smile when she was stressed.

Frigga turned back to her. “Please forgive me for making you wait so long. I was working out the logistics of our upcoming trip and lost track of time.”

“It’s fine, I don’t mind,” Teki said, far too quickly. “Your Majesty.”

Frigga laughed, a melodic tinkle. “Yes, I could tell. It sounded as if the two of you were enjoying yourself.”

Teki’s stomach turned to ice. “Oh, forgive me, Your Majesty,” she stumbled. “I shouldn’t have—”

“Relax, darling, I’m not angry,” Frigga soothed gently, rubbing her shoulder. “I’m glad that someone was appreciating the piano. I’m afraid I don’t give it as much attention as I’d like.” She smiled encouragingly. “And you played so beautifully—how could I be angry? I can’t say I recognize that piece, though.”

Teki forced herself to swallow. “My father wrote it, Your Majesty,” she whispered. “I don’t really think anyone else would recognize it.”

“Your father must be quite talented, then.”

It occurred to Teki that the Queen probably thought she was talking about Osvald, and her heart sank even deeper than it was before. Still, she didn’t bother to correct her.

“I’m surprised Áslaug never mentioned your gift for music,” Frigga continued on, unaware of Teki’s discomfort. “She’s always so eager to sing your praises.”

Teki cringed. The mental picture of her mother obnoxiously bragging about her to the Queen was horrifically easy to conjure.

“Mama—my mother doesn’t like music very much,” she said softly. “I doubt she’d talk about it.”

“Really?” Frigga frowned. “Well, I adore music. Perhaps you could come and play for me every so often?”

“I—” Teki stuttered. The Queen wanted her to play for her? There was something frightening about that thought, but at the same time, something deeply exciting. “If you’d like me to, Your Majesty. I’d be honored.”

“I’d be honored to listen to you,” she beamed. “But now to the matter at hand.” Teki tensed again. “The Summer Festival made me realize that we’ve done a horrible job of including you in our family.”

Norns, she had to have been talking about the dagger ceremony, wasn’t she? That’s what this had to be about. Her long-forgotten nausea from earlier came racing back all at once.

“I’m sorry about that, Your Majesty,” she whispered. “With Thor, and the dagger—”

“No.” Frigga cut her off sternly. “That was not your fault in the least bit, Tekla. Don’t let anyone convince you otherwise. It’s we who owe an apology to you.”

Teki frowned. “Thor already apologized, Your Majesty.” It had been an awkward, stilted apology, on the dance floor the night after the dagger ceremony, but it was an apology nonetheless, and more than Teki had expected.

“Good. I’m glad to hear it,” she said. “But I think it’s time we went beyond words. Asgard should learn to see you as its future Queen, just as it sees Thor as its future King.”

“But…” Teki was so confused. “What—how would that happen?”

Frigga smiled. “I think it’s time you began appearing as a part of the royal family. Taking your meals with us, traveling with us, sitting with us, and so forth. I think it would also help you and Thor become better acquainted with each other if you started spending more time together.” She studied her seriously. “Is this something you would be ready for, Tekla?”

Teki’s head was spinning. Becoming a part of the royal family—it was something she had always known to be prepared for, but that had still only lingered in the distance future. Everything was happening too fast. She wasn’t ready for it at all.

But her mother had trained her well. With what she hoped was a glowing smile, she looked straight into the Queen’s cobalt eyes. “I’d be honored, Your Majesty.”

[marvel-writer]

Holding on and Letting Go. Part 3.

Holding on, and letting go. - Steve Rogers.

 Pairing: Steve Rogers x Reader.

 Time Set: 2023, After Thanos’ death.

 Summary: You were always close to the infamous Captain America, as being a member of the Avenger team since the alien attack in New York. So after defeating Thanos’, losing Tony and Natasha.

You realize that you also were going to lose your first true love – Steve Rogers, to his only love – Peggy Carter. Since he was due to return to her on his mission to out the stones back.

 Word Count:1,908.

 Warnings: Sadness, Screaming, Language, Fluff.

 Abbreviations: (Y/F/N) = Your First Name, (Y/L/N) = Your Last Name, (H/L) Your Hair Length, (H/C) = Your Hair Color, (Y/N/N) = Your Nickname. Part 1. / Part 2. 

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If looks could talk you would be crying, sobbing, screaming in confusion type of mess state. However, you refused to be that person right now especially after having such a good night, Steve Rogers was not going to break you any more than he already had.

“How the hell are you even here?” Bucky spoke before you could, Steve took a shaky breath as he stood up.

“I came back the way I left, how else?” Steve questioned quietly.  That response made you look to Bruce who had stood in the doorway, which he gave you a small innocent smile in return... You weren’t too hard on him, considering that he had lost a loved one too due to Thanos, Natasha.

 “I left it open for 24 hours, call it a natural reaction,” Bruce mumbled defensively as you rubbed his shoulder to ease him. Steve nodded his head at the man, taking a breath.

 |

“I don’t get it; shouldn’t you be older? Like actual age-old since you went back to Peggy?” You questioned, your tone coming out in a more sour-like attitude. Bucky at that moment was a bit proud, the fact you were holding your ground comparing to your mental break down earlier.

 “I would be yes if I would have stayed with Peggy,” Steve stated in return, although he had an expression of hurt on his face. Must have been because of your attitude, you didn’t care or at least you didn’t want to.

 “Why didn’t you? There was a delay with you coming back here.” You had retorted, the rest of the group looking among themselves. Pepper shoving them out of the room for your privacy and Steve’s.

 “I just- “Steve started as he rubbed his scruff. The words he was trying to say were all jumbled up. It was safe to say how annoyed that made you because although you were fuming at this point you refused to shed even another tear over him.

 “You know what, I shouldn’t be interrogating you… Welcome back.” You said, taking a deep breath as you decided to retreat to your room. Steve was confused, the Avengers had been listening to the entire time, you were fed up and just wanted to sleep at that point.

 |

Steve had frowned, slightly upset you hadn’t given him the chance to speak to you as Bucky walked back into the room. “You know, I knew you were an idiot. I just didn’t think you would be a complete and utter moron.” Bucky mumbled as he shook his head.

 “Oh, come on Bucky, not you too.” Steve groaned in annoyance, watching his best friend as Bucky was walking off... Yet Bucky stopped and turned around to face Steve.

“Not me too? Are you joking right now, Rogers? Admit it or not you left for Peggy. Somehow you wised up, got smart, and realized you were fucking up. I can’t help however to think that if (Y/N) didn’t exist you would have left, without warning. Bucky stood there taking his finger and poking him in the chest harshly.

“Bucky, I’m sorry... I know I screwed up. I just realized my mistake after my decision. That’s why I skipped the time of coming back to Peggy and instead I stayed afterward to apologize and then I left.” Steve explained as he allowed Bucky to push him.

“Doesn’t matter now, you would have stayed if she never existed. “Bucky mumbled as he began walking towards his room. “Till the end of the line my ass.” He stated, just loud enough for him to hear.

Steve sighed, rubbing his face as he collapsed back into the sofa, his defeated figure staying in place.

 | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The next day ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You decided to train, HYDRA still existed. You couldn’t allow the events of what happened with Steve get to you, so why was it getting to you?

 Steve had walked into the training room, not sharing even a glance your way. Which you didn’t care, not entirely. It hurt of course, but you didn’t want to have your personal feelings interfere with your work life.

It was utter silence, not a single word from either of you. Which killed you because it didn’t help you concentrate much on the target in front of you.

That was before you heard a large impact sound, glancing over it was a punching bag against the wall. More than just a few feet away from where it hung.

“Christ Steve, can’t you try to be fucking easy. Tony made this place so you can train in it, not wreck it.” Your mouth had spoken before your brain could stop you.

Steve scoffed slightly. “I think it’s called a training room for a reason.” He muttered as You rolled your eyes, you could’ve sworn by now they should have fallen out of your eye sockets.

“A training room, yes. Destruction room? Not.” You replied before turning back around and continued to take the aggression from Steve out on your punching bag. |

“Will you stop acting like this? You’ve never snapped at me before why now?” Steve raised his voice, which took you by surprise.

“Like what, Rogers?” You snapped; you were over keeping your cool at this point towards him. “Did you think that I wanted you here after your hesitation?  That we need Captain America and his Super-Soldier abilities to keep saving the world? Sorry Captain Douchebag but we don’t, do yourself a favor and jump back into the timeline where you want to be!” You had been practically yelling at the point, that was before you took a plant and chucked it at his head even though he dodged it with ease.

“I don’t get it, you’re the one who told me to do what I had to do to be happy!” Steve had retorted in frustration, tugging at his hair before deciding to stupidly walk closer towards your anger-infused body.

You took a few steps away from him with a sarcastic laugh leaving your lips, shaking your head. “You just need to go back to your girl Roger’s.” You snapped as you walked out of the Training Room and into the Family room with Steve following close behind you.

| 

The Avengers had been listening by the door, all of them had quickly moved into the kitchen when you two went into the Family room. All of them staying huddled together as they continued to listen to what would happen next.

 “I did go back, but not to be with her (Y/N)!” Steve yelled at you, your feet stopping reluctantly in the middle of the room.

 “That makes absolutely no damn sense Rogers” You managed to say in a collective tone, although you felt the need of the tears threatening to leave your eyes you had denied the chance for a river flow if you turned to face him.

 “It does because I went back after she got married and after she had kids. To let her know I was alright, and to apologize for not keeping my promise to her about the dance. And when she asked me why I didn’t instead just be in the format time before she did get married.” Steve rambled as he walked up to you, placing a hand on your shoulder.

 “So why didn’t you?” You muttered annoyed and frustrated at yourself. You didn’t want to turn around, but he made you look at him.

 |

“Because I told her that she found love that made her happy... That she was happy with her life at that point and she agreed, I didn’t want to take her marriage or her kids away from her.” Steve said, looking down at your (E/C)'s with a sad smile. “Wouldn’t have been worth ruining a marriage over.” He added.

 “I told her that I also found someone here, that somehow made me feel normal again. Pre-Serum Steve normal, that didn’t care about me being the man in the suit. Just the person inside it. That’s when she told me that it was okay, that things were meant to be for a reason.” Steve mumbled, his hands sliding down to hold onto your hands with a strong grip.

 “Steve stop-“You started softly, biting your lower lip as you felt a tear stream down your face to attempt pulling out of his grasp. Steve, however, wouldn’t allow you to as he gripped your hands a little harder. Of course, not enough to hurt you; just to keep you in place as you looked up to him.

 “No (Y/N), Hear me out okay?” Steve begged softly as you nodded your head, taking a deep breath. “For the past Eleven years you have done nothing but beyond needed for me. You helped me on missions and tried to make the modern-day seem easier. You made me feel as if a soldier in World War 2, had finally returned home. You gave me a shoulder to cry on, a friend to count on.” Steve said as he took one of his hands to caress your cheek.

|  Sam had groaned softly from behind the kitchen door that led into the family room. “Did he admit it yet?” He asked as Wanda and the others had hushed him, Pepper and Bucky slapping Sam on each of his shoulders.

 “Isn’t that what friends do Steve?” You whispered softly as he shook his head. “Maybe, but people who fall for each other do that too,” Steve said with a soft sigh before his hands cupped your face. “I love you (Y/F/N) (Y/L/N). I always have, Tony saw it and so did the rest of the team. Everyone did, except me.” He said before leaning down, your heart feeling as if it were to leap out of your chest.

Then it happened, his lips brushed against yours before kissing you. A soft tender kiss filled with love and compassion, as you returned the kiss entirely. It didn’t feel real, but you knew it was. Steve Rogers was finally kissing you.

|  The team was silently celebrating; it was a proud moment for them. Yet Peter’s clumsy self-had knocked over a glass and broke it. Causing Steve and You to pull away. “I think we have an audience.” You teased with a laugh. Your heart feeling contempt again.

Steve chuckled and nodded his head. “Yeah, I think so too.” He said before pulling you in closer, his arms wrapping around you as he once again kissed you.

So maybe, just maybe. Holding on and Letting go isn’t always going to mean goodbye, they come back if it’s meant to be. Steve and you were meant, and you knew Tony and Nat were smiling and having a celebration of their own wherever they were. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I am so so so so sorry this is so late. I hope it makes up for it!!