He did see her again, at the same bar two weeks later. It took him that long to be able to pull together enough courage to even step foot into the bar. To actually speak to her was a whole different thing.

She came walking through the crowd, not even seeing him. He took a deep breath and stepped into her path.
Maria looked surprised at him, so he smiled but she didn't smile back.

"H-hi," Steve spluttered out. Maria took a deep breath, shit.

Why was he here?

She had spent two weeks trying to not think about him, just hoping he wouldn't come back. She shouldn't have opened that door, not even by an inch. She had allowed him to come into her life and it was her mistake.

A mistake she wished she hadn't made. So she played it off as if she had forgotten him, even though she had spotted him the second he had walked in.

"Hi," she replied, "may I help you?" She asked which only caused Steve to frown at her.

"It's me... Er... S-Steve," he said, hoping to jog her memory.

"Sorry no, I don't remember," Maria said, and as she said that his face dropped. Why did he have to do that?

"Oh ok... Erm, sorry I bothered you," Steve began, releasing that she didn't remember her. Maria watched him turn away from her. He could just walk out of her life right now and she wouldn't see him again. However, something stopped her. She didn't want him to go, after two weeks of wishing he did.

"I was joking," Maria called out and Steve turned, his face lifting slightly.

"You are?" He questioned not believing her. Maria nodded, swearing at herself to stop.

"Of course, I wouldn't forget dancing together," Maria said and Steve's face brighten, a smile appearing on his lips.

"Erm... Well I came here wondering if I could, you know... buy you that drink?" He asked sheepishly.

Shit.

"I would like that," Maria said and Steve nodded, quickly moving to the bar.

"You're an idiot Maria," she told herself before following Steve to the bar.

That night, Maria learned about Steve's wish to be in the army. She didn't laugh at his wish, just nodded and told him he could do it. He respected her for that. He didn't learn much about her life but getting to talk to her, he could see she wasn't someone to spill everything about herself. It was like trying to read a book while it was closed.

The day before Bucky was sent off to the army they went to the Stark expo and Bucky had surprised him with a date. He didn't really want to go, whoever it was he knew she was going to ignore him. It was just the way it was. He wasn't attractive or anything.

However his date... Surprised him.

Maria was there.

"How did you?" Steve began to ask and Bucky just smirked.

She didn't know how she had ended up here. Bucky was too persuasive.
Near to the end of the night, Steve had gone wondering after Stark's flying car had failed. Bucky and Maria found him and Maria stepped back, watching the two chat.

She said goodbye to Bucky with a smile and both gave each other a nod.

"You better look after my little Steve here, he's a precious kid," Bucky joked but Maria knew he was being serious. Steve blushed slightly, mostly out of embarrassment.

"Will you please stop calling me your little Steve?" He begged but knew Bucky wouldn't stop.

"What about my little punk then?" Bucky questioned and Steve just shook his head. "Don't get into a lot of fights Steve, I know what your like," Bucky ordered before Steve told him to get going, calling him a jerk as he did.

"He cares about you," Maria said to him as they walked into the open expo. "I can tell even after spending little time with you two," Maia said.

"That I know, he's my best friend after all," Steve said and Maria nodded. "And the time thing, we can always changed that," Steve said, his confidence while around her building every second. He slipped his hand into hers, hoping she won't slap him. Maria gave him a look, ignoring his comment and hand holding before continuing.

"I know, but I mean he truly cares about you. You can see it in his eyes, you're like a brother to him. I mean, you are his brother," Maria said and Steve smiled down at the ground.

"I guess so," he replied and Maria squeezed his hand. "I'll walk you home if you want," Steve said.

Maria knew saying yes was a mistake, a big mistake. But it was how he looked at her which made her say yes. She hated that.

"Yes," Maria said. Steve looked up from the ground, a smile appearing on his lips.

Thank you so much for the reviews, they mean a lot to me. Hope you enjoyed this chapter and tell me what you thought of it :)