I did the challenge of writing ten song drabbles within the time that those ten songs played, and this is (part of) what happened. There are more one-shots like this that I'm going to be posting later... Enjoy!:)
1. We Danced – Brad Paisley – Steve/Maria – 201
Steve didn't need this job; Tony could've easily supported them all, but he was about to lose his mind sitting around the tower, so he'd taken a job as a waiter at the restaurant near the tower. Now he was left after closing hours, sweeping up and seeing to other last-minute things… and thinking about Agent Maria Hill, who had coincidentally stopped in for dinner here earlier in the day.
She hadn't seen him then… but she was back now, he noticed with a start, walking in the door.
"I'm sorry, but we're closed," Steve managed, trying not to panic.
"I… Captain?" Steve nodded jerkily, and Maria took a deep breath, saying, "I left my purse."
"I know; it's back here. I was going to bring it back to you after I'd closed this place."
"Then may I have it back?"
Steve considered for a moment before he took a deep breath, and then took a chance saying, "Only if you'll dance with me."
Surprise came onto Maria's face… and then a slow smile as she held her hand out to him, agreeing to his terms. And it was then that Steve knew that he had finally found his dance partner.
2. What a Beautiful Day – Chris Cagle – Steve/Maria-114
He hadn't meant to run into her; he wasn't the type to make moves like that. But Steve couldn't say that he minded meeting Agent Hill on a personal level – especially not once he realized that they had spent the rest of the day together. Not that it was a date – of course not.
Their first date wasn't until a week later. Their first "I love you" had been a couple months after that. Then Steve's proposal had been six months later. The wedding had been exactly a year after that first chance meeting.
That had been a beautiful day – but then, every day had been beautiful once he had Maria in his life.
3. Young – Kenny Chesney – Steve - 167
Steve couldn't help but laugh sometimes at the way he and Bucky had been way back in the 1930s. The Great Depression had been raging around them, but Bucky hadn't been the type to care, and he'd dragged Steve down with him, taking him around town to locations that they were too young for and dates that they had no business being on.
The dates had always been the best and worst part of hanging out wit Bucky. The girls had flocked to Bucky, and every once in awhile his friend would talk one of them into going out with Steve. He had never known how to handle himself around girls though, and had never been on a second date in his pre-serum days.
Now the girls began flocking to Steve in this strange twenty-first century, but he didn't know how to handle them any better than he ever had. With as much as had changed in his life, that unfortunately had not, and it never would.
4. In Color – Jamey Johnson – Steve and Peter - 138
"Why do you like this one?" Peter asked, curling up his nose as he took in the battered, yellowed picture of a strand of soldiers. "It's kind of awful looking."
"Yeah, I guess it is," Steve said, smiling softly as he looked over Peter's shoulder at the photo.
"Wait a second, that's you, isn't it?" Peter asked, pointing to Steve in the photo.
"M-hm."
"Who are the rest of these guys?"
"Well, that's-" Steve pointed to the familiar face standing on one side of him. "Bucky Barnes. The closest thing to a brother that I ever had."
"Who's the girl on your other side?"
"That… is Peg. Agent Carter."
"There's a story here with the three of you, isn't there?" Peter asked, looking curiously at the trio in that photo.
Steve laughed. "There's a thousand stories there, Pete."
5. How Do You Like Me Now? – Toby Keith – Steve - 115
Steve didn't mention that he'd seen Hodge again. The now-aged soldier had been at the veterans' hospital that Steve visited every once in awhile, and both knew that they'd been seen by the other. Neither said anything about the incident, or even to one another. There really was nothing to be said between them, because, as two mature men, they'd thought it best to follow the rule that if you can't say anything nice, then don't say anything at all.
But Steve had to fight desperately not to be immature. It had taken a surprising lot of self-control not to look the old man in the eye and ask, "How do you like me now?"
6. That'd Be Alright – Alan Jackson – Steve - 96
This strange new twenty-first century world startles Steve with all of its light, technology, and glitter. He's not sure he likes it, and he's certainly sure that he could live without it if it weren't shoved in his face all the time.
He's already known as a simple guy at heart – even in the 1940's. Sometimes he thinks it would be a whole lot easier if everybody in this new USA just took on a little less and gave away a little more of the things they didn't actually need. It'd certainly be alright with him.
7. Chicks Dig It – Chris Cagle – Steve – 120
"I'm not so clueless with women as you think I am, Tony," Steve said. "I used to do stupid stuff all the time to get a girl's attention. Heck, there was even this one time when I was six, I think, that I convinced my neighbor's granddaughter to come over and play with me. I tried to showing off by climbing a tree. I ended up getting stuck in the tree, having an asthma attack, and breaking my arm from eventually falling out of the tree."
Tony laughed out loud as Steve shrugged, grinning as he added, "But that neighbor girl felt so sorry for me that she kissed me on the cheek before she ran back to her grandma."
8. Breathe – Taylor Swift – Steve/Peg – 162
Sometimes it still hurt Steve to think about Peg, even if she was now an old woman. Even though he hadn't seen her in technically seventy years. Sometimes he thought he still loved her, and that was the hardest thing. Because he couldn't love her – not really, not the way he had once upon a time.
There love story was never supposed to look anything like this, ending so abruptly and so strangely.
But that's what had happened, and so he was left to try and find a way to carve a new life for himself in this new version of America – without Peg. And it wasn't half as easy as he liked to pretend it was. Getting used to this new way of living wasn't as simple as he acted like it was. Sometimes, when it hit him that she could never be his, he found it hard to even breathe – and those were the moments that truly hurt the most.
9. Boondocks – Little Big Town – Steve – 145
No one quite understands what Steve means whenever he says that he's from Brooklyn. Nowadays, he isn't exactly sure what he means either. The Brooklyn that all of these people know isn't the Brooklyn that he remembers.
He loves the Brooklyn that he remembers. He's proud of that place. It's a part of his very heart and soul. Not only of who he is, but why he is who he is. He was a little more saddened then perhaps he should've been when he went back to the area where he grew up only to realize that it wasn't the place he remembered it to be, and no one was able to see that place that meant so much to him anymore. Because that place is still home, and he's still proud of where he came from – whether or not that place exists any more.
10. God Gave Me You – Dave Barnes – Steve/Maria - 143
Maria doesn't believe in God; she told him as much once, and that doesn't really surprise him, considering the job that she has. But Steve still believes – it's old-fashioned, maybe, but he's keeping his faith regardless, thanks.
That's not to say that his faith has been shaken – especially since coming out of the ice – because it has. However, that wavering faith received a great boost a few months back, in the form of a hard-headed atheist that he found himself in desperate need of.
He and Maria probably shouldn't work, but they do somehow, and for that he's more than grateful. The only reason he can come up with for her still being with him is that it's an act of God, and more often than not, he's entirely inclined to believe it.
After all, he's also convinced that she is his angel.