Soft kisses were brushed against his cheeks and then against his lips. Steve kept his eyes closed, but smiled against Natasha's lush lips. What a great way to wake up.

"Good morning." Natasha whispered softly and stroked her thumb cross his cheek.

He opened his eyes and was greeted by his favorite sight in the entire universe. "Good morning, gorgeous."

"Gorgeous? I thought I am your sweetheart?" Natasha grinned at him.

"You are. And you're my love, my darling, my everything. And you're gorgeous." He smiled the lopsided smile that Natasha had used to liked so much. He had been able to get her to agree to things when he'd smiled at her like that.

"Oh, that smile is very dangerous, handsome." She nipped on his lower lip. "You're trouble."

Natasha's hand moved from his face into his hair and he wrapped his arms around the small of her back. They'd only kissed so far and those kisses were pretty tame and sweet, but they meant everything to him. He and Natasha shared a few more kisses until they decided to get up.

They did the same morning routine they had done in the last three days. Natasha went downstairs to make them breakfast, and Steve checked the perimeter and the security footage of the night. Nothing suspicious caught his eye so he helped Natasha. They were going to have oatmeal and coffee for breakfast, like every morning so far. Natasha had started a sourdough and he couldn't wait to try her bread, but she'd told him that the starter needed time to evolve and it would take a few more days.

They sat down on the tiny veranda in front of the cabin and enjoyed their breakfast. It was a nice Spring morning, the sun was shining brightly but it was still quite cold, so Natasha had burrowed one of his sweaters. She was already done with her breakfast and watched him eat his much bigger portion with a grin on her face. He'd admitted the first morning here that he needed more food than the average person due to his enhancements. He needed his full strength to protect her.

"You know how people say that grandmothers give their grandchildren way too much food? I think you'd even put a Nonna out of business."

"I'm a growing boy!" He fake-gasped at her.

"Sure, you are." Natasha smirked at him before she took another sip from her coffee. She looked around the wooded area. "It's so beautiful here. I almost forget that we're hiding here. Almost feels like a little vacation."

He promised her that he would try for them to experience this as much as a vacation as possible. He was conflicted about so many things, but this wasn't about him. It was about Natasha's safety and that she felt comfortable. She was the only thing that mattered.

After breakfast Natasha asked if they could take a walk and he decided it was safe enough, but he did tell her that they couldn't leave the woods. They were holding hands and Natasha had rested her head against his upper arm. He really felt like he was dreaming, he couldn't express how happy he was right now with Natasha holding his hand. He was focused on Natasha, but he also used his enhanced hearing to listen for anything unusual. But they were the only two people around.

They went back to the cabin around noon and Natasha offered to make lunch for them. It started to rain, so they had their lunch at the kitchen table. The one thing Steve noticed was that Natasha needed to sleep more than she'd had before her death. He theorized that it had something to do with the Soul Stone and that Natasha was more tired than usual because she was fighting unconsciously against the stone. The old Natasha was slipping through the cracks. She sometimes said things that reminded him so much of the old days that he had to be careful not to slip.

"I'm gonna lie down." Natasha yawned and kissed his cheek.

"I'll join you."

"You don't need to." She gave him a knowing look. "You don't need as much sleep as I do."

"That's true. But I like to hold you in my arms while you sleep." He admitted and Natasha smiled.

"You're too sweet." She took his hand and led him to the bedroom.

Steve got into bed first and Natasha joined him and rested her head on his chest and slung her arm across his waist. He wished her sweet dreams, but she had already drifted off. He played with a strain of her beautiful hair and listened to the sounds outside. Everything was quiet except for the animal sounds. And Steve just enjoyed the moment. All he could see, feel and smell was Natasha. And he'd never thought he'd have that again.

Natasha woke up an hour later and the first thing she did when she looked at him was smile. The way she smiled at him took his breath away.

"Hi."

"Hi. Had a good nap?"

"The best with you holding me!" She moved until she was sitting up and straddling his waist. "You're the perfect pillow!"

"Glad to be of service, ma'am!"

She bit her lip and leaned down to kiss him, her hair covering them like a curtain. Her kisses were different this time. Her kisses were more urgent and passionate. He wrapped his arms around her and poured himself into her kisses. Natasha sighed happily and slipped her tongue into his mouth. He flipped them and Natasha laughed when she landed on her back and grinned up at him. Before he could say something, she cupped the back of his neck to pull him into another intense kiss. He'd kissed before, not many women, but even the skinny guy had sometimes scored, but none of those kisses had made him feel like this.

"I love you." He breathed against her lips.

"I love you, too." She smiled and slanted their lips together again.

He was getting lost in her more and more and he knew that it was time to slow down. But it wasn't easy with the way she felt underneath him, the noises she made and that she was kissing him like her life depended on it.

"Sweetheart, we need to slow down." He panted between kisses, knowing that she wasn't ready yet. And while he wanted her so fucking much, he wasn't sure if he was ready yet either.

"You're right." Natasha gave him another incredible kiss. She cupped his cheek and smiled softly at him. "Thank you for being so understanding."

He shook his head slightly. "Don't thank me for that." He pecked her lips. "You decide when."

"You're too good to be true. You're perfect." She smiled softly at him.

"I'm not perfect." He shook his head at her. He really wasn't. He had done so many things wrong, he'd failed her so many times.

"Then you're at least perfect for me." She pulled his head down for a kiss. It was a sweet and gentle one. "You make me happy. I used to worry so much about my unknown past and it bothered me so much that I don't know who I was, but since you came into my life I only think about my future. With you. And about the person I want to be. Someone you can be proud of."

He lied back down on his back and pulled Natasha with him. "Oh, sweetheart. I'm already so proud of you. I'm so in awe of you. You've been through so much, and yet you're so full of life and hope."

"You bring it out in me."

"No, that's all you." He kissed the top of her head.

"I like it here. I hate that you're in danger-" A knot tightened in Steve's stomach. "But I feel like we're safe here. No one can find you here. And I really like that it's just the two of us. It's so quiet and peaceful here and you don't have to drive back into the city. And it's selfish of me because you have a whole life in Brooklyn, but I hate it when you leave me. I wish I could go with you." She looked up at him like she was ashamed of what she'd just said.

"I hate it, too, when I have to leave. I want to stay with you. All of the time." He assured her, brushing her hair behind her ear. "One day you'll be better and we can live wherever we want. In Brooklyn, above the bakery, or somewhere completely different."

"Like I said you're perfect." She smiled at him and snuggled closer to him. "Can we stay here for a while? Just like this?"

"Of course, sweetheart." He whispered softly and Natasha sighed contently. He ran his hand down her arm and closed his eyes, overwhelmed by his feelings for Natasha and the excitement of a long future together.

Watching Natasha make bread was fascinating to him and something he'd never thought he would witness. Natasha kneaded the dough and told him that Betty had taught her to make bread and that it was her recipe. She formed the loaf into a perfect shape and put it into the preheated oven.

"Tonight we can eat our stew with some bread on the side."

"I can't wait to try it! I haven't had homemade bread in forever." Steve beamed at her. The last time he'd had homemade bread had been when his mother had been alive and well. "Thank you." He pulled her into his arms and lifted her up to twirl her around.

"Never thought bread would make you this happy." She laughed.

"You make me this happy." He corrected her and kissed her. "Only you can make me this happy."

"You're such a dork." She chuckled and gave him another kiss. "But I love it."

"I love you." He said between kisses and Natasha smiled against his lips.

He carried Natasha to the couch and they kissed and caressed each other until the timer went off and Natasha checked on the bread. She announced proudly that it was done and just needed to cool off. It already smelled divine and he was sure that it would taste even better.

"Smells amazing."

"It tastes even better. It's the best selling item in Betty's bakery. People from the whole area come to us to buy it." She said proudly.

"And she shared the recipe with you. You mean a lot to her."

"She means a lot to me, too. She's like a mother to me. I hope she doesn't worry too much about me." She seemed to be lost in thoughts about Betty.

"I'm sorry you're so far away from her."

Natasha shook her head and came over to him. "Don't be. I made my choice. I want to be here with you. And I know that Betty can understand that, deep down. She's been in love before. She knows that I love you." She wrapped her arms around his waist and looked up at him. "She would have left with the man she loved, too. She's secretly a big softie. She has tons of romance novels. And some of them are really spicy. Like full on explicit sex scenes." Natasha said with shy smile on her face. "I actually blushed the first time I read such a book."

He thought about all the times Natasha had teased him about intimacy and sex. He wasn't technically a virgin, but he was very inexperienced compared to other people his age.

"What made you blush?" He grinned at her, liking that the roles were reserved today.

"You want me to talk about sex?" Natasha chuckled. "I don't even remember the last time I had it."

"Same." He said without thinking. The last time which had only been one of a very few times had been before he'd gotten the serum with a girl from his neighborhood. He hadn't been completely unsuccessful with women, but none of them had thought he'd be able to protect them and provide for them, so they hadn't wanted a relationship with him.

Natasha raised an eyebrow at him. "You don't have to lie to make me feel better."

"I'm not. Really. After I joined the Army and got the serum my body changed. I didn't always look like this and I could see that women were only interested in me for the wrong reasons. Only superficial reasons. There was one woman I could see things going somewhere, but we never even went on one date. War and life got in the way and we both moved on. I promised myself that I would only sleep and be with someone who saw me. And not just my body. I waited for you."

And he had waited for her. He wasn't lying. He had waited a decade for her. Had waited for Natasha to finally notice him and to share his feelings. He hadn't looked at another woman since he'd realized that he was in love with her. And he wasn't the guy to sleep around while he was in love with someone else.

"I'm a bit scared to have sex with you." She whispered and he opened his mouth but she used her finger to shush him. "I'm not afraid of you. I know that I can trust you. But I don't remember sex. I mean I know how it works and all, but I don't remember what it's like. How it feels, if I'm any good at it. I want to sleep with you. I just...I don't want to mess it up. I don't want to disappoint you."

"We'll wait until you're ready to try. And I don't believe for one second that you could mess it up. That we could mess it up. We love and trust each other and we'll figure out the rest together."

"Are you attracted to me? Do you want to have sex with me?"

"Yes, very much. To answer both of your questions. You're the first woman in forever I want to be intimate with. I want you. A lot. But I can wait. As long as you need me to."

"Thank you." She brushed her lips against his. "When I read Betty's books, I couldn't even imagine sleeping with someone. Maybe that's why I blushed because the whole concept of sex felt so strange and terrifying to me. I felt too vulnerable to expose myself like that to someone, but with you I don't feel like that. I know that I am safe with you and that I can tell you anything. That you won't judge me."

He rested his forehead against hers. "I feel the same. You don't know how happy you make me and there's no better word for it- how peaceful I feel around you. We'll sleep together when the time is right. There's no rush."

Natasha titled her head and kissed him. "I don't know what I did in my first life and sometimes I fear I wasn't that good of a person, but I'll do anything to be worthy of your love. You're the best man I've ever met. That I do know."

There was a part of him that felt uncomfortable with the way she saw him. He was lying to her and keeping something huge from her and while he was doing it to protect her, it didn't change the fact that he was a liar. He just hoped that Natasha would forgive him once she remembered everything and could see that he had done it for her sake.

"I love you. More than you know. Always remember that, sweetheart."

Natasha looked at him with tears in her eyes. "I will."

Natasha was sitting on the bed, reading a book, when he came out of the shower only in his boxers because he'd forgotten to take a shirt with him. She looked up from her book and just stared at him with wide eyes.

"N-Sweetheart?"

She blinked a few times and shook her head. "God, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ogle you!"

Oh, that was why she had been staring! He had to admit he was kinda flattered. "It's okay. You can look."

"Can I touch?" Her face flushed. "Forget I just said that."

He walked over to the bed. "You're the only one who is allowed to touch me."

She smiled at him and reached her hands towards him, her fingers brushing against his stomach. "You're really beautiful. And I don't just mean your face and body." Her hand moved upwards to his chest. "Your heart and soul are so beautiful." She placed her hand over his heart. "You can touch me, too." She used her free hand to gently grab his and placed it on her chest. "You're the only one who is allowed to touch me."

He took a deep breath, completely lost in the way she was looking at him and the feel of her skin on his. He moved his hand over her chest across her stomach to her waist.

"Kiss me." Natasha whispered and he closed the gap between them to press his lips against hers.

They ended up on the bed, their bodies intertwined and kissing each other deeply and slowly. Natasha's hands roamed all over his upper body and his hand was underneath her shirt on her lower back to press her closer against him. He knew that she could feel how desperate her was for her because she gasped hotly every time his pelvis touched hers, but she didn't pull away from him. No, she slung her legs tighter around him and licked her way into his mouth.

A loud thunder startled them and they paused, both panting heavily. For a second Steve thought that Thor had found them, but it was just an ordinary thunder storm.

"I should start breakfast, honey." Natasha whispered and kissed him softly.

"I'm sorry I got carried away." Suddenly he felt like he'd taken advantage of her.

"You didn't. I wanted it and I really enjoyed it." She kissed him again. "Baby steps."

He sat up so Natasha could get out of bed. She pressed another kiss to his lips and then left the room. Steve took a few deep breaths to collect himself. He had to control himself better. Natasha was calling the shots, not him. He pulled on a shirt and went downstairs to check the security footage of last night.

It rained and stormed the entire day so they stayed inside and played card games and watched movies. They couldn't light the fireplace because Steve was worried that someone could notice the smoke coming from the chimney and Natasha decided that he was her heater and ordered him to cuddle with her underneath a blanket.

Natasha got a headache during the afternoon and he wondered if being around her 24/7 was doing something to her lost memories. Was she fighting against the Soul Stone, would her stay here with him make her remember eventually? She went upstairs to take a nap and Steve was trying to decide if he should contact Strange, but decided against it. He would only use the satellite phone to contact Fury to get them out of here. Any other call was too dangerous. He was sure that some people already noticed that Steve Rogers had basically disappeared from the face of the earth and wanted to know the reason for it.

He was cleaning the kitchen, trying to keep busy, when he heard Natasha getting up and coming downstairs. He stopped cleaning the sink and looked up at her.

"Feeling better?"

"Yes. I probably didn't drink enough. Don't worry. I emptied an entire water bottle before I lied down. I'm fine."

"You want me to make you something to eat?" She nodded at him. "Grilled cheese?"

"Sounds great."

Natasha wasn't too happy that he wanted to check the perimeter after dinner because it was still raining and storming. But it had to be done, he had to check the motion sensors and cameras. He kissed her forehead, threw on a rain jacket and left the cabin. It really was raining cats and dogs and he'd rather be inside the cabin with his love, but this was important. Natasha was more important than his comfort.

Steve was completely drenched when he came back inside and Natasha was nowhere to be seen.

"Sweetheart?"

"I'm in the bathroom. Come!" She yelled from upstairs.

He left his wet jacket and boots by the front door and jogged up the stairs. The bathroom door was open and he could smell a vanilla scent.

"I drew us a bath." Natasha was sitting on the edge of the bathtub, dressed in a bathrobe. "Do you want to take a bath with me?"

"I'd love to." He studied her for a second. "Are you sure you want this?"

"Yes." She simply answered and stood up. She opened the bathrobe and let it fall to the floor. His jaw almost hit the floor and Natasha looked very pleased. She really was a vision. He'd never seen her naked before and he knew no one was more beautiful than her.

She got into the bathtub, the bubbles and water covering most of her, and gave him a cheeky grin. "Get naked, soldier!"

"Yes, ma'am!" He peeled off his wet clothes and appreciated the look Natasha was giving him. She made room for him in the bathtub and he sat down behind her.

"This is really nice." Natasha sighed after she leaned her back against his chest and rested her head on his shoulder.

"It is."

He pressed a kiss to her temple and Natasha laced their fingers together and wrapped their linked arms around her. They stayed inside the bathtub until the water got cold, just talking and kissing. It wasn't that late, but they decided to go to bed anyway. He was Natasha's big spoon and it was his favorite job ever.

That night Natasha had a nightmare, waking up Steve. She was tossing and turning, accidentally hitting and kicking him a few times. He tried to wake her, but she didn't open her eyes. She was groaning and her forehead was glistening from sweat. He was really fucking worried about her. It didn't feel like a normal nightmare.

"Steve!" She screamed in her sleep and he froze. Was she remembering?

"Nat?" He said very quietly. "Sweetheart?"

"Where are you? Steve! Please come and get me, Steve!" She sounded so scared and there was nothing he could do. What was she dreaming about? "Steve, I'm scared!"

He gently shook her shoulders again. "Wake up! Can you hear me? I'm here. It's just a nightmare. I'm here!"

Natasha's eyes shot open and she needed a moment to focus on him. "Grant? What happened?"

That name broke him a little. A small part of him had actually believed for a second that she finally remembered. "You had a nightmare."

She sat up against the wooden headboard. "I don't remember what I was dreaming about." She pressed her hand on her chest. "God, my heart is beating so fast. I just remember that I was scared. Everything was so dark and gloomy."

Had she dreamed about Vormir?

"You're safe here." He pulled her into his arms to comfort both her and himself. "Nothing can hurt you. I won't let that happen." Again.

"I know." She whispered and he could hear her heart beat starting to slow down.