"Yeah, I mean, I told him to crash here…." Claire looked at him, narrowing her eyes slightly. She tried to read his face – was he jealous? "…but we didn't do anything." She added on after a moment.

Steve fell silent again. The image of Leon – stronger, bigger, better looking than him – wrapped around Claire in bed burned into his mind. "….oh." He felt sick all over again. He felt liable to either throw up or cry, but he wasn't sure which.

She felt another pang of guilt, remembering the way Leon had made her feel the night before. It was an entirely different feeling than she felt when she was with Steve and she didn't know what to make of it. She felt pulled in both directions.

She felt like she should apologize to him, all while knowing she didn't do anything wrong. As much as she cared about him and as much as he loved her, rushing into something with anyone was not what she wanted for herself right now. She needed to be in a healthier place before that was something she even thought about seriously.

"Steve…" She stared at him for a moment, her voice softening. "Are you jealous?"

"No." He said, but the way he turned his face away from her and folded his arms over his body told her otherwise.

"Listen…." She touched his elbow gingerly. "Don't be. Steve, you mean so much to me. You don't have anything to worry about between Leon and I. Okay?"

Steve swallowed the lump in his throat. It wasn't that he didn't trust her, but he'd seen Leon with his own two eyes. He'd seen the way she looked at him, heard the way she talked to him. The way she laughed. "Okay. What's for breakfast?" He gave a weak smile.

Breakfast went relatively smoothly, thankfully. Leon and Steve even shared some conversation and the younger boy seemed to loosen up by the end. Neither seemed to mind the overly crispy bacon, either. Claire wasn't sure if they were just being polite, though.

Leon offered to stay and do the dishes, but Claire insisted she would worry about them later. She really couldn't leave the house, she figured she might as well give herself a to-do list.

There was a silence for a short while after Leon left – heavy on her chest and almost suffocating. It was as if they were back to square one – unsure and uncomfortable of how to react to each other. She didn't like the guilt buried in her stomach and she hated seeing the hurt so plain on Steve's face.

Claire could tell Steve still felt uneasy about Leon. She understood – to a degree. She didn't even know how she felt about Leon, if she were being entirely honest. There was a fuzzy memory of a goodnight kiss the night prior and she definitely lingered too long when she hugged him goodbye. At no point had she had the thought to bring him to bed with her, or join him in the spare room.

"What's up? You wanna talk about it?"

"Nothing, I'm fine." Steve's response was almost immediate, refusing to look her in the eye. He stared at the opposite wall, arms folded over his chest. He felt silly for trusting her, for letting himself get so comfortable. People will just disappoint you. He thought, bitterly.

"Really." He added after a moment of silence, eyes flickering over her. He couldn't hide the sorrow in his voice. He wore his heart on his sleeve and had never been good at faking emotions.

"Are you sure? You can talk to me, you know."

He shrugged lightly, adjusting his blankets absently. "I'm fine, really." He dropped his voice a few octaves, hardly above a whisper. I'm used to being on my own. I don't need anyone to take care of me.

She studied his face for a moment. She knew he was lying.

"I said I'm fine, Claire." He shifted lightly, pressing his palm against his ribs.

She sighed and stood after a moment. She didn't really believe him, but just didn't have the energy to drag it out of him. She sighed and stood, rubbing her palms together as if to signal she were letting it go.

"Okay. Well I'm gonna get the kitchen cleaned up."

She saved the leftover scrambled eggs in a small plastic container and tucked them into the fridge. She would find a use for them and she hated wasting food – especially now. She wrapped a few pieces of her overly crispy bacon in a piece of white bread. It was one of her brother's favorite ways to eat left over bacon – it was always better fresh. She poured another helping of coffee into her mug and drank it – black and bitter.

She was thankful when Rebecca popped in to check on both of them. It helped alleviate some of the tension that had built over the afternoon – all of their interactions short with an overhang of sourness from Steve's side.

"How are you feeling today, Steve?" Rebecca smiled warmly as she checked Steve's vitals. His heart rate, while a little high today, was nothing to worry about. His wounds were mostly healing quickly, even the bruising on his torso beginning to lighten and shrink. "How's the pain level?"

I'm broken, not good enough. He wanted to say, but shrugged instead. "Fine, I guess. A little sore." He was quiet for a moment before he added, "Can't wait until I can walk again."

"I'd really like to wait a few more days until we got you mobile." Rebecca murmured, administering hopefully his last dose of antibiotics. "You should be able to come off of the IV in the next day or two and then it'll be a lot easier to move around." She smiled softly. "The truth is that you're healing wonderfully, Steve." She couldn't help wonder if the remnants of the T-Virus strain was helping move that along quicker. There wasn't exactly any research (that she was aware of, at least) about infection in healthy hosts. She wanted to get him back to the lab for tests as soon as he was able.

Steve seemed to perk up at that. "Really?"

"Well, it all depends on what you're feeling like in a few days. But, tentatively, yes."

"Will I be able to take a shower?" He grew visibly excited at the idea. The sponge bath had helped, quite a bit – but there was no substitute for a real shower.

"If you promise to be extra careful and minimize the amount of time with your brace off, yes." She smiled. "If you and Claire are both feeling up to it." She added after a moment.

Steve grinned in response. The prospect of a shower had changed his whole mood. Claire was glad – partly because she was just thankful he'd stopped pouting, to tell the truth.

Rebecca smiled again. "Something to look forward to, then." She turned her attention to Claire next. "Have those sleeping pills been working for you?"

"Yeah, actually." She'd slept the last two nights with no issue – no dreams, either, but she didn't seem to think that was worth mentioning to the medic. "I've slept really well the last few nights. It's really nice."

"I'm glad to hear it. Do you have any questions for me before I go?"

"I think everything's fine here. Thank you, Rebecca." Claire smiled, watching the former S.T.A.R.S. member pack her supplies back up and sling her bag over her shoulder.

Steve heard the door close and the locks latch. He swore he heard Claire sigh and there was a long moment before she resurfaced in the living room.

"You hear that? You're gonna be as good as new soon."

Steve snorted. "I don't think I'll ever be as good as new."

She couldn't help but give a short laugh at that. "…You're so stubborn, Steve."