Tony
I sat at one of the workbenches in the lab, staring over something I'd been working on for quite a few weeks now as Black Sabbath blared over the speakers. War Pigs. Usually, I was focused on my work and not the words coming through the speakers, but after being with Chelle for a few months, and her insisting I pay more attention to the world around me - like I didn't already- I tried to notice even more. That included music I'd known since I was a young boy.
But the more I focused on the music, the more I focused on the project in my hands. It was still a hologram, blue like the light in my chest, but I wanted to get it right. We were coming up on our three month anniversary and I wanted to get her a gift that would mean something. She loved the blue orb from my chest, so I was making her something she would love as much as she loved that. Alright, so maybe that was a stretch, but it could at least represent the thing she loved so much.
I jumped when I saw Steve standing right beside me in my peripheral. So much for paying more attention to my surroundings.
"Fuck, Steve! You think a man as big as you would make more noise," I shouted over the blaring music.
"Yeah, well, if you ... noise playing... you would ... hello!"
"What?" Rolling my eyes, I told Jarvis, "Mute."
Steve sighed slightly, nodding his head in appreciation. Turning his attention to what I still held grasped in my fingers. "What are you working on?"
I turned off the holographic image in my fingers and turned to face him. "Not completely sure yet." I looked him over once. "Where's your little trinket?"
If there was one thing that the two of us were asking each other lately was where our significant others were. It was rare when they weren't hanging around the two of us. Chelle had to be on the set today. I wondered if Erin was already back in California. Steve didn't see like a kid whose dog had just got run over, so I was sure that hadn't happened. Chelle was set to head back for Hollywood next week, and I had to admit, the idea was enough to bring my world in around me.
"Downtown with Chelle." Steve took a seat on the stool beside me, crossing his arms over his chest. "I need some advice."
I did my best not to snicker, but the very idea that Captain America was coming to me for advice, I'm sure in women, made the little boy inside me have a laughing fit. "What about?" as if I didn't know.
"I want to tell Erin something, but I'm not sure if it's too soon or-"
Clapping him on the back, I stood, walking around Steve to grab us each a water. Long hours down here in the lab, I had to stay hydrated, and even though I thought this was cause for celebration, I didn't think breaking out the bubbly was a good idea. Handing him the water, I twisted my cap off.
"When you feel it, that's when you should say it." I shrugged my shoulders. "But then what do I know? I've never been the one to say it first, so this is uncharted territory, Cap."
Steve nodded his head. "She just makes me feel... like no one ever has, you know? She still doesn't see me as Captain America. I'm just Steve. I'm not even Steve from 1943 to her. I'm just Steve, and I love being that with her. I love that she is with me because of who I am and not because of who I am."
Smiling, I swallowed. "Most of the women in this world would kill to be with either of us. I think if you're feeling it, you should tell her." I winced. "Unless you're worried about scaring her off." Steve's eyes widened and I let a slight laugh escape. "Chill, Capsicle. I'm sure she won't run screaming!" That would be a sight.
Steve smiled, musing at the unopened bottle of water in his hand. "Were you afraid?"
I almost choked on my water. "Scared? Hell yeah!" I cleared my throat. "I'm still scared, Steve. This is the big L we're talking about. I have always been afraid of it. Why do you think it's taken me as long as it has to actually get to this place? I've never been more afraid of anything as I am of being in love!"
Steve
I looked up at Tony. I couldn't believe he was afraid of anything. Yes, I had seen him when he and Pepper were together, worried that every moment she was going to get hurt, especially because she was Iron Man's girlfriend, but if there was one thing I was sure Tony was afraid of even more, it was hurting Pepper. He was nearing three months of being with Chelle and he and Pep hadn't even gotten that far. I was wondering if he was afraid of screwing it up with Chelle. Not that he had screwed things up with Pepper, but I could see that being one of the things he was afraid of, especially if he was admitting to being afraid of love itself.
Me... I wasn't sure I was afraid of love or the fact that Erin might not love me in return. I'd never had this sort of closeness with a woman. I felt like I could be myself with her. And not Captain America. I was just me, Steve Rogers, and I loved that I could be that with her. There were only two other people who I could ever be that with, and one of them had been gone for 70 years. I still missed Bucky to this day, but I had Tony and Erin in this time, and I wasn't going to dwell on the things I had lost. I was only going to be thankful for the things I had now.
"I will tell her. I mean, what's the harm it could do?" She could scream. She could cry. She could slap me. Ok, no, I don't think she'd actually slap me. She might turn around and leave right there on the spot. So, I was thinking of all the negative things that could happen. I should try to think of things that could happen if she was in love with me too. My eyes widened. What if she wasin love with me? Then what would I do?
I was starting to panic. Did the idea of us being in love frighten me more than if I loved her with no reciprocation from her end? I felt Tony's hand on my shoulder and snapped back to the present.
"You've got this, Cap. Don't worry about it. You love her. You tell her. Simple as that. Seize the day!"
"You're right." I stood from my chair and walked over toward the door. Stopping, I turned to look back at Tony. "Whatever that was you were working on," I nodded. "She's going to like it."
He hadn't said what it was, but I could tell by the way he was acting about it that it had to be something for Chelle. Usually, he didn't hide things he was working on from me. He must have not wanted me to know because he wanted Chelle to know first. I didn't see any other explanation for it. If I could make things as amazing for Erin, I would. But then it struck me. I knew exactly what I could do for her.
I headed upstairs to my bedroom, taking the stairs and not the elevator. The elevator would take longer than the stairs would, and I had to do this now.
Coming into my room, I picked up a sketchbook and started to draw. I drew Erin from our first date. No, what did she call it? Our not date? Walking down the sidewalk with her, when I realized how wonderful it was to be with someone who was there with me and not with Captain America. The look on her face when I told her I was from the 1940s and that I had been frozen in an iceberg for 70 years. It was a lot for her to take in. I had to admit, it was a bit far-fetched but sometimes I think to myself that that's why it's so believable.
Finishing up the sketch, I wrote on the back of it, For giving a man out of his time a reason to smile, a reason to laugh and a reason to love. Steve.I hoped that wasn't too corny. I hoped she knew what it meant that I was giving this to her. I hoped she knew what she meant to me. I loved her and I didn't want her to go another moment without knowing.
I slipped the drawing in a protective sleeve and headed out of my room, this time taking the elevator so I could look at the drawing on the way down. She was beautiful. I knew I was in love with her, more than anything I knew I was, and I hoped she knew just how much. She was one of only two people who I could even open up like this two, and I was glad she was one of them. She was amazing, and I wasn't going to let the chance to tell her I loved her pass me by. I was seizing the day, taking advice from my best friend.