Steve drug himself onto his floor, dropping his bags next to the elevator. He'd unpack the luggage tomorrow. He always felt so emotionally drained after these trips and the weather delay didn't help his mood much. Steve could've driven and been back faster, but he didn't want to deal with the hassle of renting a car and leaving Tony's plane behind.

That didn't matter anymore though, since he was home now. No use worrying about what had already passed, especially after being immersed in memories all weekend. Yet another thing he wouldn't be unpacking tonight.

Steve slumped into the kitchen, in search of something quick to eat. He'd stayed on the plane during the delay, wanting to be ready to go as soon as possible, so he only ate the random snacks Tony had on his plane. And some of that he'd ended up giving to the crew, so they wouldn't go hungry either. The common floor was always an option, but he didn't want to run into anyone tonight.

He opened up the fridge, not expecting to find much, but was pleasantly surprised to find a plate covered in plastic wrap sitting on the top shelf. There was a bright pink sticky note with his name written on it. He tore off the wrapping, revealing some sort of casserole underneath. Steve smiled, feeling oddly touched at the thoughtfulness of the gesture. He hadn't expected Celia to set aside something for him, but he shouldn't have been surprised. She was always doing something nice like this. Steve felt a little bit of the tension from the weekend slip away as he warmed up the food and started eating.

After he finished and set the dishes in the sink for tomorrow, he tiptoed down to his room. Sleeping on the couch was probably the smart move, but he wanted to check and make sure Celia was okay after his time away. Steve knew nothing had happened, since someone would've called him, but he still wanted the peace of mind that came from seeing it with his own eyes.

He poked his head in the room and found her sleeping in her usual spot, only this time she was clutching his pillow to her chest. Steve didn't want to wake her, but seeing the comfort of his bed was irresistible and he carefully crept to his side of the bed, laying down on top of the covers. He turned to lay on his side facing Celia, checking to see if he'd woken her up. It seemed like he hadn't.

"How was your trip?" Celia murmured without opening her eyes.

"Oh no, I didn't mean to wake you up," Steve sighed, mentally kicking himself for disturbing her.

"It's fine. I wanted to see you when you got back," Celia brushed off, finally looking over at him.

"Well, try not to move too much. Maybe you'll be able to fall back to sleep," Steve suggested.

"Yeah," Celia agreed, shooting him a little smirk.

"Did you have trouble sleeping here without me? I hope it wasn't too uncomfortable."

"You really don't need to worry about me so much," Celia laughed. "Are you going to tuck me in every night when my bed finally gets here?"

"Maybe. I'll at least have Jarvis monitor you for a while," Steve replied slyly.

"Okay Tony," Celia snorted, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, that did sound a bit like something Tony would say," Steve acknowledged.

"Well, the first step toward getting better is admitting you have a problem," Celia chuckled.

"I'm sure you'll be there to help me through it," Steve murmured, letting out a big yawn.

"How about we continue this in the morning?" Celia suggested, closing her eyes again.

"You stole my pillow," Steve whispered, closing his eyes with a smirk.

"We can share," Celia breathed out. Steve shifted closer, resting his cheek on the pillow and throwing one arm around her waist. He didn't feel so stressed anymore.


"This weekend? Are you serious? It's Thursday!" Celia exclaimed, staring up at the ceiling.

"What's the problem, Cece? Are you busy this weekend?" Tony's voice asked through the room's speakers.

"Cece?" Steve asked. Celia just waved him off.

"Well, as you like to constantly point out, I don't really have an appropriate wardrobe for something like this!" Celia hissed.

"I've given you a whole day to figure it out. And maybe next time you won't be so stubborn and accept the clothes I offered to buy you," Tony snickered.

"And you couldn't have told me before now that you were planning a party to show off the new clinic?" Celia growled.

"You knew we were opening it up on Monday."

"But I didn't know there would be a party!"

"There is always a party! Tell her Steve."

"I'm sorry. Tony really is a fan of being over the top every chance he can get," Steve sighed.

"It's no big deal. Just rubbing elbows with the people we are going to convince to help pay for the damn place," Tony laughed.

"And what does that have to do with me? I'm going to be seeing patients, not dealing with finances," Celia grumbled.

"The people with the money like to see the kind of people they are paying for. And interrogate them, but only slightly."

"Tony!"

"Oh relax! It's not like you're going to have to make a speech in front of everyone. I cut that part out already," Tony scoffed. Celia looked a few seconds away from exploding. "I have an important call to take. Let me know how the new bed treats you!"

"Tony!"

"I apologize, Ms. Burke, but Mr. Stark is no longer receiving messages at this time," Jarvis said. Celia made a noise of exasperation and threw her hands in the air, stomping over to the sink to pour herself a glass of water. The new bed had been delivered earlier and Tony called up to ask if everything looked good before dropping the bombshell on them. Apparently there was going to be a gala on Saturday to unveil the new clinic. All of the staff were going to be on hand to answer questions and Steve could admit it sounded like a nightmare. He was glad he was only going as a faceless guest.

"When do I get to start training with Tony?" Celia growled, knocking back her glass of water like it was a shot of booze.

"Probably not a good idea for him to have visible injuries before a big event," Steve winced.

"I told you, Clint's black eye was barely my fault."

"I know, but you know as well as I do that if you leave a mark on Tony, he'll weave it into every conversation at the party," Steve laughed, remembering the time he complained for days about Natasha scratching his arm during a training session. He only stopped when she threatened to cut it off altogether.

"What am I supposed to do at this thing? Hobnobbing with the rich and powerful is not my style."

"It's not really my style either, but you get used to it. At least I hope so," Steve cringed. He still hated it too. "Take it from someone who did stage shows, this really isn't that bad."

"They're gonna know I don't belong here," Celia sighed, setting her glass down in the sink. "It's hard enough settling in this place, having something else make me question it even more isn't something I need right now."

"It hasn't been all bad, has it?" Steve asked, feeling a bit discouraged. He thought they had fallen into a nice rhythm so far.

"You've been my silver lining in all this. I never would've made it this far without you," Celia said sincerely, shooting him a soft smile. "Do you think you can put on a wig and take my spot for me on Saturday?" Steve barked out a laugh, picturing how terribly that would go.

"Wouldn't that be something?" Steve chuckled, shaking his head in amusement. "I'm not sure how I would look in a dress."

"Neither do I. I can't remember the last time I wore one. Probably when I was a teenager. I should just wear this and really piss Tony off," Celia snorted, gesturing to her usual attire.

"You didn't wear one on your wedding day?" Steve asked quietly, hoping he wasn't crossing a line.

"Actually, no. It was kind of a spur of the moment thing. We just ran off to the courthouse and wore whatever we had on. I thought it was so romantic at the time. It could've been, if it weren't for everything that happened after," Celia replied wistfully.

"I'm sure you still looked beautiful," Steve murmured, feeling his cheeks heat up when he realized what he said. He cleared his throat, trying to find something to do to distract from the discomfort he'd just created. "You can probably borrow a dress from Natasha."

"We are nowhere near the same size!" Celia snorted, seemingly ignoring Steve's earlier statement, to his relief. "That would be like me telling you to just borrow a suit from Clint."

"So what are you going to wear?"

"I guess I'll have to check one of my storage lockers tomorrow and see what I've got. I'm sure I've got a pantsuit tucked somewhere."

"Ah yes, the fabled storage units. Can I come with you? I'm very interested to see what all you have stashed away. How many do you have?"

"Enough to keep things interesting," Celia answered evasively. Steve wasn't even sure he knew what that meant.

"If all else fails, I'll let you borrow one of my suits. It might be a bit baggy on you, but at least it will adhere to the dress code."

"A regular suit or your Captain America suit? Might be a good way to throw the press off your trail."

"Goodness, I can see the headlines now," Steve chuckled, hiding a yawn behind his hand. "Something to keep in mind for the future."

"We should probably head to bed," Celia said, raising her eyebrows as he tried to stifle another yawn.

"I'm not tired," Steve lied, trying to surreptitiously shake himself awake. He wanted to put off going to sleep as long as possible. It was like the presence of the new bed was taunting him, reminding him that he wasn't going to be there to comfort Celia at night in case she needed it. Steve knew it was ridiculous to feel like this, because she hadn't needed his help for a while now, but it was still nice to just be there. Down the hall felt so far away.

"Sure you aren't," Celia giggled, walking around the counter and linking arms with him. She drug him toward the bedrooms, stopping just outside his room. Not their room anymore. "Are you going to be okay alone?"

"I'm supposed to be asking you that," Steve grumbled, slumping his shoulders.

"And you have, multiple times. My answer has stayed the same. I'm gonna be fine, I promise," Celia said, patting him on the arm.

"But you'll get me, if you need something?" Steve insisted. He didn't want Celia to be too proud to ask for help and suffer in silence. It was completely something she would do.

"I know you're only a word away. Jarvis is like the most high tech baby monitor anyone could ask for," Celia said, slowly backing away from him. Steve impulsively grabbed her hand before she could get too far away and they stood there for a moment just staring at where they were connected. It would be so simple for him to ask her to stay with him, but somehow nothing seemed more difficult. But that wouldn't be fair to her, if that's not what she wanted. Steve didn't want Celia to feel pressured to stay with him, if she really wanted her own space. He needed to accept that things were changing.

"Goodnight Celia," Steve whispered, squeezing her hand once before letting it go. Celia licked her lips, flicking her eyes up toward his face before staring down at the floor.

"Goodnight Steve."