Steve POV

Why am I so nervous? It's just a date. Come on, Steve. Man up. My hands wouldn't stop shaking and I was slightly sweating. What was it about Elena that made me react like this? It's never happened before, not even with Peggy.

"Ok! I'm ready!" Elena walked into the living room. My breath hitched in my throught. She wore a soft pink cotton dress that flared out from the waist with thick straps. A thin, brown leather belt was around her tiny waist and she wore white heels. Her hair was curled and she wore natural make-up. She was gorgeous.

"You l-look breathtaking," I stuttered out nervously. Pretty women always made me nervous.

"Thank you, Steve," she replied with a smile, "So where are we going on this date tonight?"

"It's a surprise," I told her as I offered her my arm. This time she took my gentlemanly gesture without a second thought.

"I love surprises," she whispered as she looked up at me from beneath her lashes. My heart skipped a beat. Those eyes. . .

"I'm glad," I responded a little late, considering that I was so lost in her eyes that it prevented me from forming any words in my head. Elena was pure beauty. Elena began to walk towards the car, but I pulled on her arm to stop her.

"We won't be taking the car," I said a little hesitantly, "We'll be walking. Is that alright?"

"Yeah, I like walking." I nodded my hand and lead her to the right direction. Her arm still tucked into mine, we walked side by side. We made small talk, asking each other about our day and commenting on the weather. "It's not much farther," I reassured her as we approached our destination. She seemed to perk up a little and began to walk faster. I really hoped she liked what I had planned. I placed my hands over her eyes, not wanting to spoil the effect of the surprise as we neared our destination.

"Steve, I can't see!" Elena said as she stopped walking, not wanting to continue without her vision.

"Don't worry. I'll guide you." She huffed a little in annoyance but listened to me nonetheless. I led her slowly over to the little dinner I had set up. Late last night, I had snuck out of our apartment to set up a small dinner table and chairs hidden behind the big trees of a nice park we had passed by yesterday. Once you got past the trees, there was a little area of grass, which was on top of a hill. From there, you could see the water. I had gone to the cafe we had eaten at on our first day and had gotten them to deliver the food to our little spot. I really put a lot of thought into this and I was just hoping that Elena would like it. "Ok," I told her as I stopped her in front of the little setup,

"Open your eyes." I unconvered her hands to reveal to her what I had done fro the evening. She gasped and moved her hand to cover her mouth.

"Oh, Steve," she said in a whisper, "This is absolutely lovely." She turned to look at me and gave me one of her breathtaking smiles. I smiled back, happy with her reaction. "Well, I'm glad you like it." I said to her as I lightly grabbed her hand and led her over to the table. I pulled out the chair for her and she thanked me quietly as she sat down. I went over and started to set up the food. My back was to her as I prepared the food. I finished quickly, wanting to continue with our date. As I brought the food over to the table, I noticed Elena looking out into the water.

"It really is beautiful," she said as she looked back over to me. I placed our plates on the table and she thanked me once again.

"I ordered from the Blue Mushroom," I told her as I finally sat down to eat. She nodded her head and told me she recognized their food. We ate dinner comfortably as we talked about all sorts of things, such as more of our interests.

"What do you like to do in your free time, Steve?"

"Well," I began, "I enjoy reading and drawing. I also like to go to the gym and spend a few hours on the punching bag. It's a good way to let out stress." She nodded her head.

"Yeah, whenever I have a bad day I usually go to the gym as well. If I'm really upset I'll get either Clint or Natasha to fight me, just so I can let out my anger."

"Is being a SHIELD agent really that stressful?" I questioned her as I took our empty plates away.

"Is being Captain America really that stressful?" she responded sarcastically with her eyebrows raised. I laughed. She did have a point.

"You could say that again," I told her as I reached for her hand. She took it willingly and I puller her up from her seat. I held onto her hand as I led us over to another part of the clearing behind another set of big trees.

"Where are we going, Steve?"

"Don't worry," I told her as we maneuvered are way through the trees. It had already gotten dark and it was a little spooky going through them at night. We finally reached the little clearing and Elena let go of my hand to look around. It was a circular meadow filled with wildflowers in the colors of orange, pink, yellow, and meadow was completely surrounded by trees, but I knew the way out. I had set up a little blanket for us so we could stretch out and look at the stars.

"You really did think of everything, Captain," Elena said as she walked over to the blanket and elegantly sat down. She looked at me expectantly as she patted the spot next to her. I slowly made my way over to her and sat down next to her, unfortunately not as graceful as she had. I landed with a light thud and scooted myself closer to the beauty next to me, just close enough for our arms to almost touch. We looked at the sky silently for a few minutes before Elena had decided to lay down, and me soon following her actions. We laid together for what felt like hours as we looked up at the sky, pointing out certain constellations and stars.

"Steve," Elena said quietly, almost nervously.

"Yes, Elena?"

"What was it like?" she questioned as she moved to lie on her side, facing me. I turned to my side as well and propped my head on my bent arm.

"What was what like?" I questioned her. She looked at me unsure for a few seconds before she spoke quietly.

"The war." I immediately stiffened as memories of the past flooded though my head. All these years had passed, but to me it felt as if it were a few days ago.

"I'm so sorry, Steve. I shouldn't have asked." Elena rushed when she noticed my change in posture.

"No," I told her as I looked into her blue eyes, "No, it's okay. The war was . . . hard. Watching men, some of them even close friends, getting killed in action to protect our country. I lost my best friend, Bucky, in the war. You two would have gotten along well." She nodded understandingly. "I also became good friends with Howard Stark and Peggy Carter."

Elena looked at me for a second before she murmured quietly.

"You loved her." I looked at her shocked as she stared back with a calm expression.

"How did you know?"

"It's obvious," she told me as she picked one of the flowers and began to twirl it in her hand. "When you said her name, your whole facial expression changed and the look in your eyes said it all." I sighed. My mother did always tell me I was an open book. "She's still alive, you know," Elena whispered as she rolled over onto her stomach and continued to pick flowers. "She lives somewhere in England. I can give you her phone number if you want."

"No," I said quietly, "That's alright. I need to let her go. It's in my past and I need to start living a new life." Elena looked at me with a small smile on her face.

"That's a good attitude," she told me as she got one of the pink flowers and tucked it behind my ear. She giggled and continued to place the flowers in my hair. I laid back and let her, loving the sensation I got whenever her hand brushed against my skin. She finished putting the flowers in my hair and she sat back to look at me and burst out laughing.

"I need to take a picture!" She laughed as she reached into her purse for her phone. She grabbed it and held it in front of her face.

"Smile!" she said. I did as she said and Elena quickly took the photo. She had already showed me how her phone worked, including the camera. It really amazed me how far technology had gone. It sure was far more complex than the technology from my decade.

"Oh, Steve! You look so pretty!" she teased me as she showed me the photo. I laughed as I saw all the flowers she had placed in my hair. I shook my head back and forth quickly and the flowers flew out around me. Elena squealed as the flowers went everywhere.

"Here," Elena said as she got closer to me,"You still have a few." I let her pick out the flowers from my hair. She moved her hands gently as she pulled out another seven of them.

"There," she said as she finished. She looked at me with a smile on her face and I couldn't help but stare. I had never seen such a beautiful woman, not even Peggy could compare.

"You are so beautiful," I told her as I raised my hand to softly caress her cheek. She blushed and looked down, but I caught her chin and moved her head back up to look at me. She was only a few inches away from my face and I could smell her sweet perfume as it's wonderful aroma surrounded me. We stared at each other for what felt like hours, but in reality it was only minutes. I closed my eyes and slowly began to lean forward with my hand still holding her chin, and I felt Elena lean foward as well. Our lips barely met when an explosion had gone off and sent us flying.