Being home was something Camryn realized she desperately needed. It had been so long since she had seen her mother and father in person, and of course, like her parents always did, they made it seem like everything was going to be okay. Even if Camryn was left wondering what her future would bring since she quit Shield.

When she had gotten home, her parents didn't press the matter of why she was suddenly taking a break. They just welcomed her with open arms, waiting for her to make the move to tell them.

It had been nearly a month though, and she still hadn't talked about what had happened. She had come to terms with it, understanding there would have been nothing she could have done. And she forced herself to move past Wyatt, reminding herself how horrible he was and that she planned to break up with him anyway.

Camryn wasn't the only Simmons child home who was having a crisis. Her older brother Sammy was too, staying at their childhood home while he was waiting out his broken foot. He had been benched from his Football season, told to stay off his foot so it could heal. All he had to do was continue coming to practices and sit.

"Cami, mind helping me with the horses?" Her dad asked, knocking on the door of her old room.

It was nothing like how Camryn truly was anymore. It was a princess room, pink plastered along every wall. She had simple dreams before she left for Shield, but after losing Christopher, her dreams changed.

Hiding some of the pink was pictures of bands that had shown up as she got a bit older. The stuffed animals were still sitting on her bed, positioned there every morning when she woke up. It truly clashed with her personality now.

"Sure, dad." She said with a grin, standing up and pulling on her wellies. "What do you need?"

"They need a bath. I want to get it in before the storm in a few days." He explained with a shrug.

The Simmons' household was positioned on a fair bit of land. When they were little, the four Simmons children had managed to combine forces and beg for their parents to use the old stables and get a horse.

Somehow, they succeeded, and over time one horse turned into four. Then five. Then six. Their land turned into a mini farm with stray cats, three dogs, goats, chickens, and the horses.

Her mother wasn't as fond of the farm animals, but said that as long as Henry kept up with the maintenance they could stay after all the kids had left.

"Fair enough. How is Ginger doing?" Camryn asked, throwing her hair up into a ponytail.

"She's fine. Her age is beginning to show though. Maybe you should spend some time with her. Go for a ride." Henry suggested, giving her a knowing look.

Ginger was her horse and had been from day one. She was never the fastest horse, or the smartest horse, but Camryn didn't care. There was more to Ginger than what met the eye.

"Maybe you're right. Later though. Right now we have six horses to wash." Camryn laughed, filling a bucket with water at the pump. Her father tossed the bottle of soap at her, Camryn barely managing to catch it. "That was rude."

"You caught it, didn't you?" Her father taunted with a grin.

"Yes, but that's not the point."

"Oh I think it is, poppet."

Camryn rolled her eyes as she dunked a brush in the soapy water, her father moving to remove one of the horses from the stall.

It was nice getting to spend some time with her father. She had missed both her parents badly, and while she had never been really close with either of them, now was her chance to make up for lost time. It was never too late.

Camryn and her dad sat in silence for a while, washing and rinsing the horse they were bathing. Things quickly changed when her father sprayed the hose at her, making Camryn shriek.

"Dad!" She cried out, looking at him in disbelief.

"Oops? It was an accident, poppet. I promise." He said, but Camryn could see the smirk forming on his face. And she knew she had to get payback.

She made a face before slinging soapy water at him. He barely managed to dodge behind the horse in time and Camryn only grew more determined. Her father sprayed her legs with the hose, and the war was on.

"You won't win this!" She insisted, beginning to aimlessly sling soapy water at him in hopes of successfully hitting him.

"Watch me." He taunted with a laugh.

Camryn shrieked a laugh as he sprayed the icy water on her head, over the back of the horse. Midnight was surprisingly unbothered by the water fight going on around him.

Camryn was beginning to run out of ammunition, whereas her father had an unlimited supply. So she knew she needed to make her move, and quickly, unless she wanted to be the only one soaked.

She faked him out, pretending to go left when really she then twisted and quickly moved right, getting around to him and pouring the bucket on his head before he even knew what was happening.

"Ha! I win!" She laughed, frowning as her father looked slowly to her and moved closer to her. He lunged, wrapping her in a hug and getting soap all over her.

"Dad! Dad stop it!" She laughed, trying to squirm out of her father's grasp.

Eventually, Henry gave up his attack, laughing softly and giving her a hug. "I love you, Cami." He said, kissing his daughter's head.

"I love you too, dad." She replied.

"I think we should put the horse up and go get cleaned off." He suggested, looking at the muddy mess they had made.

"That's a good idea." She laughed, grabbing Midnight's leads and putting him back in his stall.

When they went to head inside, Julia quickly stopped them. "Oh no. Do not think you are walking into my house like that. Go around back." She said sternly.

"I think we just got into trouble." Henry whispered to his daughter, making her laugh.

"I heard that!" Julia called after him, making the two quickly speed up.

Once they went around and headed up the stairs, the two parted to take showers like Julia insisted.

Camryn wandered down almost an hour later, a towel draped over her shoulders as her hair drip dried. She didn't feel like getting it to dry straight.

"Hey, Cami! Come here and play a game with me." Sammy called to her from the living room, waving her into the room.

"What game?" She asked curiously, moving to sit down and grab a controller. She would never pass up an opportunity to beat Sammy at anything.

"It's this motorcycle game." He explained. "It's basically a racing game."

He quickly went over the controls with her before starting the first map. He chose the easiest one since it was her first time playing. He wanted an even win against her when they played their final level.

It didn't take long for Camryn to pick up the controls, and they played for a few hours, staying pretty evenly matched in wins, Camryn slowly getting better at the game.

"Final level. Whoever wins this breaks the tie and wins." Sammy smirked. "You think you can do it?"

Camryn rolled her eyes, not falling into his taunting. She knew better than that.

"Just start the level, Sammy." She said, waving him off. She waited until it had loaded before preparing for the turbo boost she would get if she accelerated at the right time.

Three.

Two.

One.

They were off, the house filling with loud curses whenever one of them would crash. They kept trying to sabotage each other, messing with them and their controls to get them to mess up. Sometimes it was successful, and other times it just doomed their own selves. The split screen did nothing to aid them, with complaints that they had looked at the wrong screen and kept messing up.

It was the home stretch now, just one jump left until the got to the finish line. Camryn was just ahead until she missed the jump, crashing and being forced to respawn.

She groaned, arguing her defeat.

"Admit it, Camryn! I beat you fair and square." He said.

"Oh hush, Sammy! I could ride circles around you on a real motorcycle." She shot back, shoving him gently to wipe the smug look off his face.

"Oh, stop it you two! Camryn, stop playing that game and clean up those glasses of yours!" Julia scolded, interrupting the two with her hands on her hips. "I told you to do this days ago."

Camryn held her hands up in surrender. "Sorry, mum. I'll do it now." She said, picking up the glasses from the coffee table and heading to the kitchen.

She paused in the hallway when there was a knock on the door. She set the glasses down in the kitchen before hurrying back to the door.

She opened the door, freezing when she saw who it was. It was the last person she expected to show up, let alone even manage to find her.

"Hey," Steve said softly, his hands shoved in his pockets.

He was about to say something else when Camryn slammed the door in his face, making his brow furrow.

"Camryn who was it? Why did you just slam the door?" Julia asked, coming up behind her daughter and opening the door again. "I'm so sorry, sir. How can we help you?"

"Oh, I'm actually here for Camryn. We're old friends. Used to work together. I'm Steve, ma'am. Steve Rogers," he said, watching as Julia's face lit up in recognition.

"Oh for goodness sakes, why did you slam the door in his face?" Julia scolded her daughter. "Come on in, Steve."

"No! Do not come in. I really don't want to talk to him. Mum," Camryn interjected with a groan.

"Cami, please. Just give me five minutes and I'll go." He said. "We can just talk out here. Please."

Camryn gnawed on her lower lip, nodding after a moment. "Fine. Five minutes."

She glanced at her mother, then back at Steve before pushing him backwards so she could get out the door. She motioned for him to follow her, making sure they were far enough from the house that no one could eavesdrop.

"Why are you here, Steve? If this is some attempt to get me to come back to Shield, you can forget it. I made my choice. I quit." Camryn said sternly, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I'm not here to bring you back to Shield. I'm here because I missed you, doll." He sighed. "After everything that happened I never even got the chance to talk to you before you were gone. It's been months since we properly talked. I miss that."

Her gaze was skeptical as she stared at him, trying her best to gauge if he was telling her the truth. Maybe he was just here to see her. It couldn't possibly be that outlandish a thought.

"You promise you aren't gonna try to get me to come back to Shield?" She asked, wrapping her arms tighter around herself.

"Shield? No. DC? I can't make any promises there." Steve said with a light grin, reaching out to tuck a curl behind her ear. Her hair had long since dried from her earlier shower.

"Fine. I guess you can have more than five minutes." She conceded, staring up at him.

Steve nodded, taking a deep breath before talking. "I'm sorry it has been so long since we talked. I–I thought you didn't want me around." He admitted, giving her a weak shrug.

"What? Why would you ever think that, Steve?"

"Wyatt."

The answer was simple, but it seemed to explain everything. Wyatt had been trying to control her life. Who she talked to, what she did. He was probably threatened by Steve.

"He told me that you were jealous. Mad at me for lying about the stupid rule." Camryn sighed, rubbing her face.

"I was mad… but not at you. Not enough to not talk to you for months." He sighed. "I'm sorry I made you feel like you had to lie."

"You didn't make me do anything. I panicked, and that was the first thing that came out of my mouth. It's just…" Camryn groaned, trying to figure out how to phrase it all. "We hadn't known each other long, to start with. And, Steve, being with you while working at Shield? I didn't want everyone to start questioning if I deserved the missions I was assigned to. I didn't want them to think I only got missions like that because of who you are."

"Cami, doll, that was never my intention, okay? And honestly, you rejecting me made me take a step back… And I'm glad I did. I like you, a lot." He admitted, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "And you doing that made me take a step back and really understand what I was feeling."

"What about Peggy?" She interjected.

"What about her?"

"You loved her. Love doesn't just go away that quickly." Camryn shrugged. How could she ever live up to someone like Peggy Carter? It was impossible.

"Nah. I don't think I loved her. I think I loved the idea of her. But I don't think I ever actually loved her."

"And how do you know that for sure?"

"I guess I don't. But I do know I miss you and not her. I know that those days we spent together were the happiest I had experienced in a while." He said, stepping closer to her and cupping her cheek. "You don't have to make a decision now, but why not try this out?"

Camryn started up at him in surprise. "Like–Like dating? You want to date me?" She asked.

"Of course I do." He said gently, brushing his thumb over her lower lip. He retracted his hand. "Just think about it, okay? I'll head back to my hotel. And if you want to try this… come back to DC with me in a week. If not, I'll leave you alone."

"Steve," she said, making him look at her before he could walk away. "Stay for dinner?"

A smile spread across his face and he nodded. "Of course, doll. If you'll have me."

"Mum won't mind." She said. "You might just get interrogated by my dad."

He laughed softly. "I don't mind if I get to be around you for a while longer."

She smiled, taking his hand and beginning to lead him inside. Before they could get in there, she stopped, tugging on his arm to get him to stop too.

"Steve?"

"Yeah, doll?" He asked softly, turning to her.

"Thank you for coming." She said, standing on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. "I missed you too."

Nothing would ever compare to the way Camryn kissing his cheek made him feel. And he was okay with that. Maybe there was hope for them yet.