"I haven't been staying here for a couple of weeks, so don't mind the clutter." Steve had said as he let Natasha inside his suite and shut the door behind them.
He took a moment to slip off his sports jacket, laying it across a nearby arm chair; meanwhile, Natasha stepped out of her heels and abandoned her clutch purse on the entryway table.
"Alright, so we have about thirty minutes. You know where the coffee's at."
She acknowledged him with a slight nod before disappearing in the general direction of his kitchen.
Steve had barely had time to take his dress shoes off when Nat reentered carrying a bottle of rum. The redhead had grinned at him cheekily when Steve's brow began to furrow.
"Uh... where'd you get that?"
She sat the bottle on the table between them, her smirk still in place. "I stashed it here one day when you weren't looking."
"Wh- never mind, I don't even wanna know." Steve said, shaking his head, "But I thought you were making us coffee and that doesn't look like coffee to me."
"How about some coffee with a kick to it? I mean, shouldn't we indulge a bit in the spirit of celebration?" Natasha had asked, throwing him a look that wasn't meant to be argued with.
The redhead must had made a convincing enough case for the rum, because ten minutes later, Steve was reclining on the couch, his legs propped up as he nursed his rum spiked cup of coffee. Natasha, who had already finished her own mug, sat at his side with her feet tucked comfortably under herself.
"Where's Sam?" She was just asking him. "Isn't he heading up to wait with us?"
"He was, but I had overheard Tony luring him away with promises of upgraded gear. It'll be some kind of bird-shaped drone, I think. He's probably being shown designs as we speak."
"Talking shop already. I'm not surprised." Remarks Natasha. "Speaking of surprises, were you surprised tonight?"
That Saturday evening Tony had invited Steve, Natasha, and Sam to join him, Pepper, and Rhodey at a restaurant for a formal dinner. He had claimed it was an impromptu Fourth of July get together on him, but after a few courses, the waiters had come out carrying trays of champagne and a cake that was practically a life-sized replica of Steve's shield. For a finishing touch, the words "Happy Birthday Cap" were done in dark icing across the star.
"Well, Stark's out of the blue dinner invite was a little suspicious, but I admit I was surprised once they brought out the cake. I guess I figured no one would remember my birthday fell on July 4th and I sure wasn't gonna mention it. That cake was really something though." Steve adds with an impressed chuckle.
Glancing over at him, Natasha catches Steve's grin and returns it with one of her own.
"I told Tony you'd probably get a kick out of that." She confesses.
Intrigued, Steve tilts his head in her direction. "Oh, so you were in on it? And after you claimed to have no part in anything."
Natasha does her best to look demure. "Maybe. Maybe Sam was too. We couldn't let your 97th birthday go unnoticed, after all." She gives him an exaggerated little wink just to tease him and receives an annoyed grumble for her efforts
"Thirty! Technically I'm only thirty." He huffs.
"Sure you are, but those senior citizen jokes are much too funny to just quit now."
In retaliation, Steve tries to playfully elbow his teammate in her side, but she succeeds in blocking his attempt with quick reflexes and a pillow.
After some shared laughter and a brief moment of companionable silence, Nat turns to him in question.
"Hey Steve?"
"Yea?"
"Remember last year on the run from Hydra when I kissed you so Rumlow wouldn't spot us?"
Though Steve doesn't visibly cringe, Natasha could feel him shift awkwardly next to her.
"Err… where are you going with this, Nat?"
"Don't worry, I'm not about to proposition you." She reassures him dryly, "Just answer the question please."
He looks a little relieved when he replies, "Of course I remember. Why?"
"Later that day I had asked you if that was your first kiss since 1945…"
"And I told you it wasn't, and I stand by my answer." Steve interrupts.
"I know you did, 'Mr. Ninety-five, not dead.' But I thought maybe today you'd be willing to address the question of 'who.' "
"Who?"
"Yea, who was it that you kissed?"
This time Steve does grimace, "Ugh Nat, come on. I'm not discussing this with you!"
"Why not? I'd been trying to get you a date for the longest and then I find out you've already been locking lips with someone! I think I deserve to know who, don't you?"
"We're still not having this conversation!" Steve laughs.
"Was it someone I know? Have I met her before?"
"Nat…"
"I didn't introduce you two, did I?"
"No, Natasha."
"So it is someone I don't know then?"
"Are we really playing twenty questions right now?"
"Oh! Is it a stranger? Did you think 'what the hell, I aint getting any younger' and then puckered up for the first girl you saw?"
Steve's eyes widen almost immediately. "God no! No, of course not!"
Natasha giggles at his scandalized expression but continues.
"Hey, no judgement here. But seriously Rogers, I'm running out of options. Unless…" She hesitates a few seconds as she studies the stern set of his jaw and then asks quietly, "Did you lie?'
"What?!"
"Maybe you were embarrassed by my question that day and so told a little white lie. That s'kay if you did, I understand."
Steve looks more offended now than flustered. "Hey I didn't lie to you, okay? I just didn't uh…I didn't…" Finally, he trails off into a defeated sigh, "You're not gonna let this go, are you?"
"Nope."
Her predictable reply earns a crooked smile out of Steve and he looks at her again with a fond yet resigned expression.
"Fine," He begins, "Well if you must know, her name was Beth."
"Beth." Natasha repeats, testing the name out.
"Yea, I had met her a few years ago, a little before the incident in New York. I was at that café across from Grand Central one morning and she was a waitress there. Real nice, real pretty too. And it's funny, this old fella sitting near me wasn't afraid to let me know how much of an idiot I was for not getting her number."
Natasha chuckles at that imagery. "And did you? Get her number, I mean?"
"Nah, my head was in a different place at the time. Then next thing I know, Fury's recruiting me and Loki and his army had gone and attacked the city. I think I even saw Beth in a crowd of civilians I saved from a Chitauri bombing. But after a few weeks, I did end up going back to that cafe, several times in fact. She and I got to talking and she actually gave me her number."
"Smart, sometimes a girl's gotta make the first move. So, did she recognize you?"
"As Cap? I don't know…she never really said, though sometimes I think she knew. But anyways, we went out a few times… had dinner, caught a show once or twice, and um, one night I had taken her back home and uh…"
Natasha leans in like a school girl about to get a juicy piece of gossip when Steve stalls to scratch the nape of his neck.
"And?!"
"And y'know, I thought it'd be nice to give her a little goodnight kiss, that's all."
"Awww, that's cute!" Natasha coos. "Cap's got game. Who woulda thought it?"
"Yea yea…mystery explained." Steve mutters dismissively, "You've had your fun, now give the birthday boy a break."
"Hey, not so fast! Every story's gotta have an ending. Whatever happened with Beth? I'm sure you never mentioned her before."
Steve shrugs. "There's really not much to tell. Like I said, we only went out a few times. Plus, she was only in town for college and soon afterward graduated and moved away to take a job in another state. I did enjoy her company while she was here though." He pauses to give Nat a sidelong glance, "Hey, sorry if my story wasn't as scandalous as you had expected."
"No really, all teasing aside, it was truly a very sweet story. I'm glad you told me. Also… if there's any other kissing stories you'd like to share…" She beams at him hopefully, her non-subtle hint left unfinished.
"Haha, nice try. I think that's quite enough kissing and telling for one night." Steve jokes.
Rising to his feet, he extends an arm to Natasha. "C'mon, it's almost 9:20. Let's head to the roof with the others before we miss the fireworks."
"Aww alright…" She mumbles half-heartedly as she allows him to pull her off the couch. "But on a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your two 21st century kisses? And I had better score at least up to an eight!"
Steve's only response is yet another groan of annoyance.
Natasha, of course, simply smiles to herself.
Birthday or no birthday, she'd never get tired of making Steve squirm.
A/N: In case there are some who don't know, Beth is the actual name of the waitress character from The Avengers. She initially had more scenes but they ended up being cut. Also, the "old fella" Steve mentions in this fic is none other than Stan Lee himself. Search Youtube for "Deleted Stan Lee Cameo in The Avengers" to see the scene for yourself!