March 3, 1933

"Thank you for inviting me for dinner, Mrs. Rogers." I sat with Steve and his mother after he told me she requested I came over.

"Oh it is not problem, dear. Steve has said so many wonderful things about you this year and I wanted to meet you," she replied with a kind smile.

"Mom," Steve said quietly as if to get her to stop talking.

"Well I was looking forward to meeting you too," and I smiled to Steve as well in hopes of letting him know everything was alright and he didn't need to be nervous."Steve is a wonderful friend, and if it weren't for him and Bucky, moving here would have been much harder."

"I love your accent Maddi, where are you from again?"

"Tennessee, a small town just southwest of Nashville." My accent was definitely something I was not aware of until people pointed it out in New York and I was very nervous of how people saw it. It made me happy that Steve's mother liked it.

"I bet a big city like New York is a little overwhelming for you then?"

"Yes Ma'am it is, but try to get my way around with help from friends," and I smiled again at the quiet Steve eating his food as he looked at at me. We continued to eat and talk, with Steve sometimes adding to the conversation but he mainly just listen to me and his mother talk. After dinner Steve offered to walk me home and so we walked to way to my house which was a little over a half mile.

"I hope my mom wasn't too much for you," Steve said about halfway there.

"Oh no, she was just the dearest! I enjoyed talking with her and I hope I can again sometime."

"Well she certainly seemed to like you."

"Well it wasn't hard with you talking me up before I even met her!" I laughed as a playfully bumped Steve's shoulder which was a little lower than mine. He turned very red my words and didn't really know what to say as he stuttered for an answer. "Don't worry Rogers, I'm very flattered by it." Steve was very nice, but sometimes was at a loss for words. Luckily I was very comfortable with talking anyone's ear off once I got to know them. We went the rest of the way with me doing just that until we reached my house and said our goodbyes.

April 14, 1933

It was just me and Bucky walking home from school because Steve had gotten sick. Bucky lived closer to him than I did so he knew what was wrong, "It's mostly his Asthma. Spring is especially hard with common allergies being high already; it makes it really difficult for him to breath."

"Oh dear, I hope he's doing alright!" I worried for him because he got sick often. He was much weaker than most people our age, and we didn't talk about it much but it was very scary to think he could end up so sick it could be fatal. At least Bucky and I had each other to share our concern with. "Wish him well for me if you see him okay?" I asked as we were about to part ways to our own homes.

"Sure will," he replied with a small smile that made me feel like he was thinking of more than a friendly concern for Steve's health.

April 29, 1933

Steve and I were walking to a diner across town to meet Bucky after he had practice for yet another sport he decided to pick up, and before we got there we ran into Jason Gally and a couple of his friends. "Hey Rogers, what are you doing walking alone with Madeline huh?" Jason was under the illusion that I would go on a date with him, and he constantly bothered me hoping I would give in.

"I don't think you have any business to know who Maddi spends time with," Steve replied with confidence.

"He's my friend, Jason. I don't need to explain that to you," I added.

"See, I don't think that will entire fly. I see the way he looks at you Maddi, he likes you. I mean, I don't blame him, but it's just sad to see such a pathetic chap try to go for a prize like you."

"Yeah that's real classy Jason, perfect way to charm me."

"Why don't you come with me and I'll take you on a real nice date, somewhere this loser would never be able to take you."

"I want you and your friends to leave Gally," Steve said stepping slightly in front of me and I tried to stay strong as I thought of how much of a disadvantage we were. Jason and his friends weren't particularly strong, but they certainly outmatched Steve and I.

"You're adorable, Rogers. I'm just gonna have to teach you to stay away from what I want." In less than a second, his two friends came and grabbed me. I tried to kick them away but the two of them held me to tightly that it was hard for me to move. As this happened, Jason punched Steve hard in the face.

"Steve!" I cried as he fell to the ground from the blow. He got back up and held his hands up.

"You let her go," Steve said with blood on his face and I continued to struggle to get to him. Jason just laughed as Steve tried to punch him but he dodge it and threw another hit back. This sent Steve back with just as much force as the first one and I felt tears down my face as I didn't know how to help.

Just as quickly as it started, Bucky appeared and hit Jason square in the face. It spooked the two guys holding me enough for them to loosen their grip. I pushed them off and I fell to the ground. I quickly crawled towards Steve as Bucky told the three guys, all younger than him, "You better leave now or you'll get worse than one punch to the face." they quickly ran but I paid less attention to them as I was focused on Steve still on the floor. I pulled him up to a sitting position to find him with a bloody nose and cracked lip.

"Why would you do that Steve? He hurt you because of me!" I was still crying for my hurt friend.

"He shouldn't talk about you like you belong to him. It wasn't right." he lightly took hold of my arm which I now noticed was slightly scraped from the fall to the ground. "Are you okay, you're hurt."

"You crazy person!" I said with a half laugh half cry. "I'm fine, you're the one really hurt. Bucky help get him up." We both pull him up as I also stand with him.

"Let's go clean you up, pal." Bucky patted him on the back and I followed them to the diner to get some cloths to wash his face.

"As I wipe his face in our booth and Bucky gets our food I say, "Thank you for protecting me, Steve." He just signed in response and his reaction confused me.

"But I didn't protect you. Gally beat me up while his friends grabbed you, If Bucky hadn't showed up I-" he paused and closed his eyes in pain, but clearly not just from the wounds on his face. "I just wish I could have done more."

"You did more than enough. You stood your ground and did everything you could, and I'm glad I had you with me." He finally smiled slightly and I smiled back. We waited for Bucky to return with our food and tried to continue the evening without thinking about the events on our way to the diner.