Sam winced as the door of the elevator opened with a loud noise. It wasn't really that loud, but anything sounded loud when it was 3 AM and the the whole tower was asleep. She stepped into the spacious living room and dropped her pursed nonchalantly next to the couch as she scanned the place for signs of her father; It seemed like the usually nocturnal Tony Stark had broken his MO and wasn't up and about in the middle of the night.
The young Stark stood in the middle of the room for a second, her mind running a millions thoughts in about a second; Sam huffed, annoyed with everything her brain was coming up with, how was it possible that she was the one making herself feel even worse?
She took out her phone as she walked into the kitchen, deciding that maybe a snack would make her feel better about her horrible night. Quietly, not letting her heels make too much noise she headed to the kitchen, eyes still glued on the phone as she walked towards the fridge; Just as she had her head deep in the refrigerator a sudden touch made her squeal and shoot up, her head colliding with a hard surface.
"Oh shot! Sammy,"- his voice sounded hoarse as if he had been screaming just a few minutes ago- "I didn't mean to scare you" Sam groaned as she turned around to meet the tall blond man towering over her, his blue eyes shining with guilt.
"Steve? What are you doing here at three o'clock in the morning?" She asked as she rub the tender spot on her head, her eyes quickly scan the room, noticing a few ingredients scatter on the long counter, her gaze returned to Steve who was now a few steps away from her, leaning into the counter as he rubbed the back of his neck.
"Baking cookies" she heard the Avenger mumble. Sam frowned, realizing just now that it smelled like fresh baked cookies- "Why?" the black haired woman questioned as she took a sit on the breakfast bar, her legs tangling from the cool marble of the surface. Her eyes momentarily left Steve's tall frame as she made herself comfortable on the table.
"Three am isn't the usual time for baking Rogers" she informed him as her eyes returned to him, she scanned his wrinkled clothes and realized that they were his pjs; He was barefoot and his blond hair was a mess, very uncharacteristic of the soldier. Sam didn't think herself an expert when it came to reading people but it was obvious that the man was a mess.
Steve looked away from the young woman and instead settled for the tip of her black heels which were swinging back and forth lightly as she watched him- "I was just having some trouble sleeping" He shrugged indifferently as he spit the words out.
They both spend a few minutes in silence, both their minds racing with thoughts of the other. Just as Samantha opened her mouth to voice them, Steve quietly walk over to the oven while slipping on an oven mitt. Sam watched as he carefully took the pan full of cookies and dropped each one into a plate with the hand that wasn't holding the hot tray.
"You should talk to someone Steve" Sam decided to break the silence as the super soldier finished his work. She noticed his back tensing slightly and she felt a wave of concern washing over her. He'd been having nightmares ever since they met. She didn't know what caused them exactly, if the memories from a war that had happened many years ago that still felt like only yesterday to him, if the idea of a whole life he lost and could never get back or the most recent war he hand fought only a few months ago; Or perhaps were all those things together and so much more. Steve would keep that to himself, always dismissing the idea of talking about the reasons behind them, but he occasionally told her what happened in the dreams. "You alright?"
Steve returned to his earlier spot in front of her, this time with a plate of cookies in his hands- "Yeah, I'm okay" He pulled a face as she lean towards him to take two cookies from him, smirking she leaned away from him, quickly biting into the treat. Steve raised an eyebrow, an easy smile pulling at his lips as he grab one for himself.
"So how was your night?" he asked as he sat the plate beside him. He was sure that Tony told him that she wasn't coming back tonight.
Sam sighed and closed her eyes as if it pained her to think about it, immediately Steve felt intrigued to know what has happened- "Well, kinda scary actually" she felt his eyes on her face as she watched the tip of her heels- "Some guy couldn't take the hit and kept harassing me, I honestly thought he wouldn't give up"- she quickly looked up to Steve when she heard his cookie snapping, if the situation was different she would had laught at the avenger for crushing his cookie without meaning to, instead she gave him a tight smile trying to ease the frown carved on his face.
"Don't worry, when he went for my ass I punched him,"- Sam made a punching motion towards Steve as she smirked- "Right in the nose" Steve tried to smile at her antics but instead he ended up deepening him frown. The young woman shrug and finished her second cookie with a thoughtful look on her face. Steve couldn't comprehend how some people could treat women so badly, how was it possible that they held so little respect for another human being? He could feel the rage raising from the pit of his stomach as he imagined Sammy in the uncomfortable situation; He was particularly over protective of the young Stark, and for a minute he mulled over the idea of going out and hunting the punk, but he quickly shot the stupid idea down.
"Is your hand alright?" he asked after a few seconds, he had manage to calm his breath, his rage slowly subsiding and instead turning into annoyance and impotence.
She nodded her head as she finished chewing her cookie- "Yeah it's okay, just a bit bruised" Sam say after swallowing, she held up her hand waving it trying to be comical, but before she could make a smart comment her breath caught in her throat as Steve softly took her hand and lean forward to inspect it.
Her brown coffee eyes watched as Steve's ice blue ones inspected every inch of her hand, he was holding her with such care that Sam heard her heart beat twice as fast- "It's a bit bruise but nothing too bad"- Steve declared as he gave it one last look- "Does it hurt at all?" he asked looking up to meet her eyes, both found themselves taken back by the lack of distance between them, Steve too distracted by her slightly parted lips to noticed that Samantha took a minute too long to answer him.
"Uh, it's fine really. I was just scared" she barely managed to mumbled the words as her attention was still concentrated on the heat of his skin against hers, they were so close that she could notice the small specks of green on his sky blue; Steve on the other hand was trying hard to memorize every aspect of her face, he had been secretly drawing her for sometime now and he wanted to get every freckle right, every expression line, her dimples whenever she smiled, the curve of her full lips and the endless and mischievous glint of her dark eyes.
Neither could tell how long they stayed like that, just inspecting one another; On one side Sam was trying to pinpoint her confusing emotions, she was seeing Steve, the one guy who was always there for her, in a different light; While Steve was fighting off his already growing feelings, he knew he wasn't the best option for the young Stark and he would never forgive himself if he was the one thing bringing her down.
"It's getting late" the super soldier was the one to break the trance they were in, he gave her hand a gently squeeze before letting go - "I think you should get to bed" his voice sounded breathless even to his own ears, if Sam noticed she didn't comment, instead she blinked a few times before smirking defiantly at the man.
"Was that an order captain?" Steve couldn't help but to chuckle knowing that he would never be able to order her around; One trial that she shared with her father was their stubborn nature, the only difference was that she actually held some respect for authority unlike her infamous father
"I wouldn't dare,"- she raised an eyebrow waiting for him to elaborate- "You're a Stark. You would do the exact opposite" he explained as if it were obvious. He smiled hearing her laugh lighting as she jumped down from her spot, instead of landing without problem, her legs gave away causing her to stumble and land against him- "Oh shit"
"You alright there?" he asked as he grabbed her waisted trying to steady her, like a true gentleman Steve tried to touch as little of her as he could. Sam looked up and gave Steve a sheepishly smile, trying hard to lean away from him- "Yeah, my leg just fell asleep" Steve shook his head lightly before leaning down towards her, for a second she was sure he was going to kiss her, but instead she found herself being lifted up.
"What are you doing?" she asked as they moved towards the doorway, half her body was pressed against his chest, the warmth of his bare skin burning against her bare legs- "Taking you to bed" she tried hard to appeared unbothered by their closeness, he wasn't even paying her any attention, his eyes fixed on the dark room as he made his way across the living room and towards the hallway where her room was located.
"I have legs that work you know" her hushed words sounded loud around the silence of the rest of the floor; She looked up trying to make his face in the darkness, but she could only see the online of his lips- "Not at the moment" she swore she could heard see his lips pulled into a smirk.
They were silent the rest of the way and in a few minutes Steve found his hand grasping the doorknob of her bedroom door. When he was a few steps away from her bed he put her down gently, letting go completely when he was sure that her legs would hold her weight.
They stared at each other for a few seconds, both of them unsure of how to act or what to say; Sam found herself suddenly nervous, something that had never happened in the presence of the Avenger. In the end, it was Steve who gave her a small smile and kiss the top of her head, as he had done countless of times before, telling her good night.
"Wait Steve" Sam called out when his was about to open the door, he turned around with a questioning look- "Can you stay until I fall asleep? I don't want to be alone" she explained ashamed of her childish behavior, Steve surprised himself when replied with a soft smile- "Of course Sammy"
Steve waited a few minutes for Sam to get out of the bathroom, all the while he tried to calm his racing heart and relax, when she finally emerged he found himself smiling at her appearance, she was wearing one of her father's old t-shirt with a far too big pair of pants and her face was washed of all the makeup from the night. To Steve she looked as breathtaking as ever.
Sam crawled into the bed with a grateful look as she saw that Steve was still there and was quickly to settle by his side. They stayed next to each other for a few minutes, careful not to touch, even if they were both craving even the most innocent one.
"Hey Steve"- Sam asked in a whisper as she turned to look at him, mimicking her actions Steve turned towards her; They found themselves once again staring into the eyes of each other for the third time that night- "Who taught you to bake cookies?" Steve could hear her genuine curiosity as well as the sleepiness.
"My mother" was his reply, for a few seconds a sad looked haunted his eyes before he refocused on the woman lying next to him- "I can teach you sometime if you want" he offer with a small smile. Sam smiled as well, her eyes already closing no matter how hard she fought to keep them open- "I'd really like that"
"Good night Steve" she mumbled as she snuggled to his side, not giving the super soldier a minute to process the sudden lost of space between them as she laid her hand on his chest.
"Night Sammy" he murmured as she drifted off quickly. He let his chin rest on top of her head as he closed his eyes, promising himself that he would only rest his eyes for a few minutes before making his way towards his room.
The next morning was the first time that Steve missed his morning run and the first time that the young Stark slept in. But none of that matter because when they woke up, wrapped in each other's arms, they never felt so happy.