"I kissed Natasha!"

Bucky just nodded and stepped aside to let Steve into his apartment.

It was quite late, but Buck was a night owl. Steve had come to his best friend right after they had been finished with the Grinch. He needed to talk with someone. Sitting next to Nat after their kiss, or rather almost kiss, had been torture. He'd wanted to touch her so badly, but he had no clue if Natasha would have wanted that. He couldn't ruin what he had with her. She was the most important person in his life. He loved her with all of his heart. He couldn't lose her. He'd already lost her once and it almost destroyed him.

"You want a beer or-"

"I kissed her. Well, I didn't really kiss her kiss her, but I kissed the corner of her mouth. I was too chicken to really kiss her, even though I really wanted to. Still want to, to be honest. And I just want her s-" He stopped his rambling because Bucky looked like was trying really hard not to laugh. "Really, Buck?!"

Bucky cleared his throat. "Sorry, punk. It's just kind of hilarious to see you all flustered and rambling. Reminds me of the time when we were kids." He motioned for Steve to take a seat on his couch. "I'll get us beers and then you start right from the beginning. You haven't told me yet how it came to that almost kiss."

Steve waited for Bucky's return and started to pick his cuticles. Something he did when he was nervous.

"Stop picking at your skin!" Bucky yelled from the kitchen.

Steve stopped. "I'm not doing that!"

Bucky came back to the living room with two beers. "Sure, Jan."

"I hate that Sam's sending you memes!"

"You're just jealous you're not in our group chat!" Bucky handed him a beer and sat down in his arm chair.

"Two people texting is not a group chat!"

Bucky waved him off. "Whatever. Now talk."

"I was spending the afternoon with Natasha and her sister, and Nat and I went to get cookies, because ours didn't turn out so great; and Yelena had hung up mistletoe while we were gone and told us to kiss when we got back. And I just did. Well, I kissed her on the corner of her mouth. I wanted to give her a real kiss, but I also didn't want to cross too many boundaries."

"Okay...What did Natasha do?"

"Nothing really. She just looked at me and she was pretty quiet during the movie. I think I ruined everything. She's freaked out, she doesn't feel the same and doesn't want to hurt my feelings."

Bucky sighed. "Stop jumping to conclusions, Steve! You don't know what she feels for you, because you've never asked. Maybe she feels the same, but worries you don't."

"No, she doesn't. I've seen how she is when she's interested in someone, and she's not that way with me." It hurt to think about Natasha's infatuation with Bruce. He'd already been interested in her back then, but she'd only had eyes for Bruce.

"Steve, every interaction is different. You can't compare how she was with someone else with how she is with you. Ask her on a date. Take her ice-skating or-"

"We already done that."

"And?"

"She looks really beautiful when her cheeks get pink form the cold."

Buck smiled. "Don't let your fear get in your way. Yes, she could reject you. But what if she doesn't? I know that you love her. I can see it in your eyes every time you talk about her. You never had that look in them before, not even when you talked about Peggy."

The next day after Steve had gotten home from art school, he was staring at his phone. Should he take Buck's advice and ask Natasha on a date?

He wanted to go on a date with her, God he wanted so much more with her. He wanted a real relationship, but he was too scared that she didn't want the same. What friendship survived unrequited love? The one not in love would draw back to not give the other false hope.

He had Natasha back and that was more than enough. When Clint had come back alone... It had hurt when Steve had realized that he'd missed his chance with Peggy, and he had been devastated when she'd died but that pain was nothing compared to what he'd felt after Natasha's death. He'd died with her.

And Natasha really seem to have no clue that he was in love with her. Otherwise she wouldn't have asked him why he hadn't gone back to Peggy. He was always going to be where Natasha was. He was never going to lose her again. And if that meant he had to keep his love for her a secret, then so be it.

His screen lit up and he saw that he got a text from an unknown number.

Hi! This is Yelena! I stole your number from Tasha's phone, I hope that's okay? Do you want to come with us today? We're going to buy a Christmas tree!

He smiled. Yelena was a good kid. He liked her a lot and he loved to see Natasha as a sister. He was about to answer Yelena when he got another text.

This is me trying to get you to carry our tree if it wasn't obvious enough!

He chuckled.

I'll buy you a hot chocolate as a thank you!

Or I'll hang up more mistletoe, so you'll have an excuse to kiss my sister again!

Shit, did Yelena know about his feelings for Natasha?!

I'll come with you. No need for any kind of thank yous.

He hoped that Yelena didn't say anything to Natasha about her possible suspicions. She didn't seem like the type. At least he really hoped so.

Yelena texted him back, telling him that they were going to pick him up in an hour. Right, Natasha had a car and they probably needed one. He could carry a tree around the city, but that would make people notice them. And he didn't want that. He just wanted to spend time with Natasha. And Yelena, of course.

He was waiting outside his apartment building for Natasha and her sister. What if Yelena had talked with Natasha about him? What if she told her older sister that she'd thought Steve liked to kiss Natasha. Well, if he was honest, he wanted to do more than just kiss her. A lot of his thoughts about Nat were not really pure. He really benefited from the wrong belief about him that he was a prude. He definitely wasn't one when it came to Natasha. Okay, he needed to get a grip before Natasha and her sister picked him up.

Five minutes later he heard honking and then Natasha's SUV came into view. Yelena was driving and honked again. She wore her antler headband again and waved at him. He waved back. Natasha was smiling at him and he noticed that she was wearing the headband he had given her. Her smile turned shy when she noticed him looking at it.

Yelena rolled the window down. "Get in, loser. We're going Christmas tree shopping! Get it? It's a reference to-"

"Mean Girls." Steve chuckled. "I know. Your sister made me watch it, too." He got into the backseat and Fanny who was also sitting in the back barked happily. "Hey, Fanny." He scratched the dog under her chin. "Hi, Nat."

Natasha turned her head to look at him. "Hi, Steve. Thank you for coming with us. Even though Yelena and I would have managed to carry the tree up to my place. Sorry, she roped you into this."

"Nah, don't worry about it. I'm here out of my free will." He assured her and Natasha nodded. "Where are we going?"

"To a Christmas tree farm in Westchester! We can cut the tree ourselves!" Yelena sounded very excited and he realized that this was probably going to be her very first Christmas tree.

"Sounds great!" He told her and Yelena gave him a proud smile before she turned around and started the engine.

They listened to Christmas music on their way to the tree farm and Steve felt normal. This was something that normal people did every year and now he was doing it too. He was just a normal guy now, doing normal and mundane things and he loved it. Natasha turned to look at him and gave him a beautiful smile. God, he loved her so much. Just her smile alone could bring him to his knees.

The tree farm even had its own little Christmas market, a shop and a cafe. It was really beautiful and festive. Yelena looked very happy to be here. She was walking in front of Steve and Natasha, holding Fanny's leash. Natasha watched her sister with a smile on her face. It was a beautiful look on her. He wanted to hold her hand or at least wrap his arm around her shoulder, but he couldn't.

"This one!" Yelena pointed at a tree that was even taller than Steve. "I like this one!"

Natasha nodded. "It looks good."

"Can I cut it down?" Yelena asked almost shyly.

"Of course." Steve handed her the axe. "Go for it."

She grinned and gave him Fanny's leash in return. He didn't know why he was surprised that Yelena was done after three strong hits. She was Natasha's sister after all.

"Good job!" Natasha had taken a video of Yelena. "I'm sending this to Melina and Alexei!" She put her phone back into her purse. "Okay, who wants a hot chocolate or cider?"

"Me!" Yelena raised up her hand and Fanny barked.

Steve gave Natasha's little sister the leash back and took the axe from her. "I'll deal with the tree and then I meet you at the Christmas market, okay?"

"Thank you, Steve." Natasha rested her hand on his arm and raised herself on tiptoes to press a kiss to his cheek. "You're the best."

"Uh-huh." He mumbled like an idiot. He loved it when she kissed his cheek. Focus, Steve, before you do something dumb like grab her and kiss her.

"I did not see any mistletoe!" Yelena cackled and Natasha pulled away from him to glare at her sister who gave her an innocent shrug.

"Um, I...Do you want me to order something for you so it's ready when you come to us?"

"Yeah, a hot chocolate would be great." Steve answered her. The whole exchange felt awkward.

"Okay. Let's go, Yelena!" Natasha looked almost embarrassed and walked away. Yelena mumbled a quiet sorry and followed her sister.

The tree was on the roof was Natasha's car and he was looking for the two women. He found them on a bench near an open fire. Fanny was laying on their feet and next to Natasha was a mug that was probably his hot chocolate.

"Just drop it, Yelena. Never mention those damn mistletoe again!"

He know he shouldn't eavesdrop, but it wasn't his fault that his hearing was so good, was it? Natasha hated the kiss and didn't want to be reminded of it again. He sighed deeply, he knew it.

"Don't trick him into something he normally wouldn't want to do."

What? Natasha thought he'd felt forced to kiss her? No, no, no, that wasn't what had happened! He'd wanted to do more than just brush a kiss to the corner of her mouth.

Natasha looked up and saw him. "Not a word to Steve, got it?"

"Yeah." Yelena grunted and sounded like a teenager. At least he was relieved that it didn't look like Natasha knew that Steve could hear them over the chatter of the other people.

"Tree's all set." He said in greeting and accepted the mug that Natasha offered him. He sat down next to her and asked Yelena what she had in her shopping bag. She told him that they had bought ornaments for the tree and she sounded really excited about it.

Natasha suddenly shivered next to him. "Are you cold?"

"No!"

"I told you to wear the wool sweater, sis! I knew you'd get cold without it!"

"I'm not cold!" Steve was about to get out of his coat. "Don't even think about it, Rogers. I'm fine! Yeah, I should have worn a thicker sweater, but I'm fine!"

"Do you want to go home?" Yelena asked and Steve could see that she didn't want to go yet.

"No." Natasha said softly. "I'm fine. I'll just need to move around for a bit. I'll take another stroll around the market. And when I get back we'll go to the reindeer." Natasha stood up, Fanny huffing unhappily that she got woken up.

Yelena nodded towards the Natasha's direction. "Go with her, Steve. Fanny and I will be fine."

"You sure?"

"I promise to not set the place on fire."

"That's not what I was implying."

"I know, Steve. You're a good guy. I like you."

"I like you, too." He smiled at her and she returned it. He emptied his mug and got up to follow Natasha. She was looking at a stall with different kinds of Christmas lights.

"Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah. I underestimated how cold it would get today. But I'm fine. And if it gets too bad, then I'll just buy one of those wool anoraks I saw at the shop."

"You can have my coat."

She smiled. "I know, but I don't want it. You've been cold long enough."

"That's not the same." It was thoughtful of her, but unnecessary. "I don't get cold in this climate. The serum protects me. I honestly just wear the coat because someone told me I look good in it.

Natasha grinned. "And I'm right about that! Are you sure?"

"Yes." He got out of his coat and helped Natasha into it. Seeing her in his clothes woke something deep inside of him. All he could think was Mine.

"Thank you!" She gave him a sweet smile and his heart fluttered.

"You're welcome. You wanna go back to Yelena or continue your stroll?"

"Let's take another look around before we go to the reindeer, okay?" She suggested and Steve nodded.

They both heard her phone chime and Natasha got it out of her purse to check it.

"It's a text from Alexei." She read it and chuckled. "Is that Captain America I hear in the background? Has he told you girls about the time I've thrown him through a wall in the late 80s? It was the second time I defeated him!"

"I wasn't around in the late 80s. I've never met the man." He was confused.

"I know. We all know. Hell, I'm sure even Alexei knows. But he's kinda obsessed with you. If you ever see a really tall, slightly overweight Russian running towards you, it's probably Alexei."

"Your dad's gonna fight me for your honor?" He joked and realized too late what that could imply.

Natasha bit her lip, her eyes dark. "Is my honor in any danger when I'm with you?"

Holy shit. Be cool, Steve. "Depends on what you want me to do to you." Fuck, that was the opposite of being cool!

"That sentence can make a girl imagine all kinds of things." Holy shit, was she flirting back?

They were getting closer and closer to each other. Their chests almost touched. "What kind of things?"

"Question-" Yelena was suddenly standing next to them. He hadn't even heard her coming, he had been solely focused on Nat. "How big are my chances that you two are gonna look the other way and let me steal a reindeer?"

Natasha was still looking at Steve who tried to control his hormones. Had he really gotten turned on at a tree farm with Natasha's little sister around?!

"You're not stealing a reindeer!"

"Fine, I'll buy one." Yelena whined, sounding ten years younger.

"That's not going to happen either."

Natasha was still looking deeply into his eyes and he hadn't taken his eyes off of her as well. Even with Yelena right beside them, he just wanted to bury his hands in Natasha's silky hair and kiss her until kingdom come.

"Fine. Can you two at least stop eye-fucking each other so we can finally go pet the reindeer?!"