Something sweet that I wrote after a field trip to a chocolate factory while I was on the bus and my friend was asleep :)

Disclaimer:
I do not own the Avengers

(Name) stepped into the elevator after a successful, and tiring, day of grocery shopping and leaned her head against the cool interior to close her eyes. She had been Pepper Potts assistant for three months and already wished she turned down the job. Being called up at three in the morning to drag a drunken Tony Stark out of a bar, spending hours cleaning up after huge parties and staying up at late hours to finish paperwork due the next day was not what she signed up for.

There were some good things about (Name)'s job though. One being that the paycheck she got was huge. This made the once-in-a-blue moon shopping sprees very fun, if you could call spending three hours in a bookstore fun. The second was that she lived in Stark Tower and never had to worry about being late for work. The final reason was the people. Even though Tony Stark was one annoying man and Mrs. Potts was the epitome of overbearing, Steve Rogers and Bruce Banner were the sweetest people (Name) ever met, and she looked forward to seeing them every day.

(Name) heard the elevator door slide open and opened her eyes before grabbing her bag and walked into the kitchen. She began to unpack the bags and put them away, when she heard two sets of footsteps behind her.

"I'm almost finished here Mrs. Potts," (Name) said without looking behind her.

A familiar laugh sounded behind her, and (Name) spun around seeing Steve and Bruce standing by the entrance of the kitchen.

(Name) blushed, and stuttered, "I'm so sorry! I thought you were Mrs. Potts coming to check on me-"

"It's okay (Name)," Bruce smiled at her. "We know what you meant."

(Name) smiled lightly at the two, before turning back to the groceries to continue unpacking. Steve and Bruce walked in and started to help.

When they finished unpacking, (Name) took out a kettle and headed towards the sink to fill it up with water.

"You guys want some hot chocolate?" (Name) asked.

Steve and Bruce shared a look before turning back to face (Name), "sure."

(Name) smiled and filled the kettle with just enough water for the three of them. "Hope you guys like candy canes. I found the candy cane hot chocolate mix my mom and I used to buy at this cute little corner store until it closed when I was twelve. I thought that store was the only one who sold it, until I found them at Target today. So I bought a ton of packets, I'm sure I'm good till New Year's."

Steve smiled, "don't let Thor find them then. They'd be gone within the week."

(Name) shot Steve a sly smile, "I won't tell him if you don't."

Bruce watched from the kitchen table as (Name) and Steve had a lover's stare off. The two weren't together, but Bruce thought it was only a matter of time until they were.

Suddenly the kettle started to whistle to signal the water was done boiling, and the sound startled (Name) and Steve out of their stupor. (Name) immediately turned back to the kettle and began to prepare three cups of hot chocolate. She grabbed the cream from the fridge and poured a little into each cup, and reached for the marshmallows in the cupboard before handing them Steve and Bruce. (Name) took her own cup before following Steve into the living room, neither noticing Bruce leaving to head back to the lab.

Steve and (Name) sat down on the couch together. (Name) leaned against the headrest, her legs lying over Steve's lap. She leaned over and grabbed the remote to turn on the DVR to start a movie.

"Is this the Titanic?" Steve questioned, and looked oddly at (Name). "I thought you hated this movie?"

(Name) frowned. "I do."

"Maybe someone else was watching it?"

(Name) let out a short laugh. "Like who? Tony?"

"Now that I think of it, on movie nights he does suggest this…"

(Name) gawked at Steve, "you're kidding. Tony suggested this? You know what; I don't even want to know."

Steve shrugged and gazed at (Name) as she grabbed the remote and began to look at what was on the television. Her brows furrowed as she concentrated, trying to find something good to watch. Steve watched as her eyes lit up and changed the station to CSI.

"I love this show!" (Name) exclaimed. "I used to watch this all the time with my mom."

"You seem close with your mom," Steve observed.

"I was," (Name) mumbled. "She passed away a couple years ago, lost in the line of duty."

"She was a soldier?"

"Police officer," (Name) corrected.

"Oh, I'm sorry."

(Name) sighed, before turning back to CSI. "Let's just watch the show."

"Are you okay?" Steve asked worriedly.

(Name) gave Steve a small smile. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"Not really, but I have to be. No use crying over what you can't change."

"Yeah, but sometimes crying makes you feel better." Steve said, hoping to give some consolation to (Name).

"Yeah right," (Name) scoffed and turned her gaze away from watching Grissom and Sara flirt. "Just tell that to my boss. Besides, I cried when she passed, I have no tears left."

"(Name), Tony's not just going to laugh at you because you're crying from losing your mother. He'd understand."

(Name) sighed and leaned her head on Steve's shoulder. "I guess you're right. I just don't want anyone to think badly of me because of it."

Steve wrapped his arm around (Name) and pulled her into his side. "No one's going to think ill of you (Name)."

"This is why I love you Steve," (Name) suddenly stated.

"Wait, what?" Steve looked down at her, startled.

"You're a 1940's man, a total gentleman." (Name) said, her face tucked under Steve's chin. "You don't take advantage of anyone, and you're so sweet. You always seem to know how to make me feel better."

"I don't know what to say to that…"

(Name) pulled away from Steve and smile up at him. "You don't have to say anything."

Steve let out a smile of his own, and leaned down to place his lips against hers.

(Name) could have sworn sparks flew, as cheesy as it sounded. It was her first kiss, even though she was twenty-three, and she knew she couldn't have had a better one.

Steve was startled at his move, but he didn't regret it. (Name) kissed him back! Their lips fit perfectly together, and Steve never wanted to pull away. Sadly, the two of them had to breathe.

(Name) and Steve slowly pulled apart, breathing heavily with blissful smiles on their faces. Steve spotted tears running down (Name) face.

"Please tell me those are happy tears," Steve said, his laugh having a slight worried tone to it.

(Name) shook her head, "most of them. My mother would have loved you."

Steve smiled lightly, "you really do value your mother's opinion don't you?"

"She was everything to me. My dad left after my brother was born, and my brother went missing when he was five. She was all I had left, and after she died… Well, it's true. You never really know what you have until it's gone."

"I'm sure she's still watching over you, and proud of what you've done."

(Name) cast her gaze upwards and smiled, "I hope so."

(Name) and Steve settled back down on the couch, holding the other close, and continued to watch CSI closer than ever.