Sorry to leave you guys on an unsolved dilemma! My play was this week, and swim season started getting intense. :{ Updates should be a bit more regular now, though.
Tina slept fitfully that night. The tiniest movement from Steve was enough to immediately awaken her, and her thoughts were keeping her up anyway. She spent the majority of the night comforting Steve, trying to sleep and trying not to cry too loudly. It was a relief when the morning finally came. Steve squirmed a little and mumbled incoherently, throwing an arm around Tina's waist. Tina smoothed Steve's hair back from his forehead and waited for him to wake up. After a while, he blinked a few times, opening his bright blue eyes.
"Hi, sleepyhead," Tina greeted him.
Steve groaned and sat up, rubbing his eyes. He was midway through stretching his arms when the events of last night came flooding back. Steve crossed his arms in front of himself and slumped, feeling extremely embarrassed.
"I-um. I'm sorry, about, well, I-I didn't, it…oh gee," he stumbled through the words. Steve put his face in his hands and drooped further forward, trying to collect himself. "I'm sorry about last night. I really…I…"
"Steve, you don't have to apologize." Tina leaned against him, exhausted.
"I feel so bad, I didn't want you to see that. It's embarrassing…I fell apart."
Tina sighed and flopped back down on the pillows, allowing her tangly hair to fly all over.
"I knew you'd say something like that. You need to…" she threw her hands up in the air, "Agh I don't know. Get over yourself, I guess. It's okay to not be perfect. No one's perfect. So get used to it. No matter if you cry, I'm going to love you, so fall apart when you need to."
Steve turned to face Tina better and lifted a lock of hair off her face.
"What if I bawled whenever we watch sad movies?" he asked, studying her face and the long lashes of her still-closed eyes.
"Sensitive."
"After I have nightmares?"
"Sometimes you need to."
"When you say you love me?"
"Sweet."
"When I get scared at night?"
"You're only human."
"What if…I cry when I'm angry?" Steve asked with a mischievous grin.
Tina sat up immediately, eyes flashing.
"Hey! That was only one time! You have no idea what a jerk this professor is!"
Steve laughed as she tried to beat him with a pillow.
"I was PMS," she growled, "It doesn't even count."
After he fended off the last pillow swipe, Steve got up and started making the bed.
"Okay, okay," he conceded, "It doesn't count. But what's PMS?"
Tina paused midway through tucking in the sheet, eyes wide.
"Oh honey. Hmm. Um…I don't wanna have this conversation," Tina mumbled under her breath. Coming up with a solution, she brightened. "Ask Pepper. She can tell you."
The soldier raised an eyebrow as he threw the last pillow into place.
"Alright…" Steve walked around the bed and hugged Tina. "Really, thanks. I needed you so badly last night, and…I'm glad you were there. I kinda wish I could have you there for all my nightmares," he finished with a chuckle. He stroked her cheek. "I love you. Even though your hair looks like it spent the night in a tornado."
Tina growled and shoved his arm. Steve snatched her hand and pulled her close to his body. The tenderness of his gaze was enough to melt Tina's momentary annoyance, and stood on tiptoe to kiss him lightly.
"I love you, too."
…
Bruce was carefully chaperoning Thor stirring the pancake batter when Tina and Steve walked in, hand in hand. Both were blushing, just a little. Gosh that was adorable.
"Good morning," he said with a smile. Steve looks a lot better than he normally does after a night like that…if we could only bottle her. Liquid Tina, for all your night-terror needs.
"Hello, Captain Steve and Lady Tina!" Thor grinned and waved the spatula in greeting, spraying Bruce with pancake goo.
The scientist silently cringed and removed his glasses, fumbling for the sink to clean them. Tony was half asleep, only present because Pepper got annoyed when he slept in to an 'irresponsible hour'. He held an Iron Man mug full of coffee and slumped forward on the table. Clint was also tilted forward, seeing how close he could get to touching Tony's fabulous facial hair without getting yelled at by said billionaire.
"Clint, knock it off. He hates when you touch his face," Steve admonished as he tried to help Bruce clean himself off. Clint scowled and leaned back, crossing his arms over his chest. Tina slid into a seat at the bar next to Natasha, her toes dangling a foot off the floor. She didn't say 'hi'. Natasha didn't really respond to niceties, so Tina had taken to leaving them out.
"How did you sleep?" Natasha asked very quietly, analyzing the dark circles under Tina's eyes.
"About as well as expected," Tina responded.
The spy chuckled softly under her breath.
"Well you look awful," Tony commented.
"Kind of like someone was beating you up…" Clint added thoughtfully.
"But he thought one shiner wasn't enough," Steve finished.
Tina glared at the soldier reproachfully.
"Next time I'll just let you throw yourself and others off the building, shall I?" she said with irritation.
Steve blushed appropriately and shrugged as he took a seat at the breakfast table and began doodling.
"Well, you're officially a hero now. You can go right ahead and move into the tower. Oh, by the way, I got your painting. You dropped it in the elevator," Natasha said, gesturing to a square-shaped trash bag-wrapped package.
"Painting?" a now batter-free Bruce asked, "The one you wanted to show me?"
"Yeah. I just need some fresh eyes to take a look at it," Tina explained.
Steve looked up from his drawing pad.
"Can I see it, please?"
"No. Not until it's done," Tina said briskly as she dropped down from her stool.
Steve rolled his eyes and continued sketching. The artist tried to peer over his shoulder.
"No, no," Steve said, hiding the book and mimicking her voice, "Not until it's done."
"Wait…" Tony said groggily, "Didn't you already, Tina?"
"Already what?" she asked warily.
"Move in? You're here all the time anyway."
"Oh-oh, I, um," Tina stuttered, unprepared.
"Oh please, Tony!" Steve begged like a child. "Pretty pretty please?"
Bruce nodded fiercely in agreement. She was one of the only people he knew who could entertain Thor long enough for him to hide the Pop-Tarts.
"Your key is on the counter," the billionaire said casually, sipping his coffee.
Tina and Steve wore almost identical smiles, while Bruce laughed and pulled the bag off the painting, studying it.
"This is really good…I like this," he said, pointing, "And how this is in color but this isn't…really expressive. The face, I mean."
Tina grinned widely.
"The class is on expressions, so that's good! Thanks, Bruce."
Steve snuck around the bar and stole the canvas out of Bruce's hands.
"Hey, it's me! It's…wow." Steve stared at the painting in his hands. It was the moment they met. He was depicted leaning on the railing in the park, staring out at the river and longing for another time. He was painted in black and white. The river was its usual gray, and the area directly around him was dull in color, but the further away from Steve, the brighter the colors became. Around the edges the colors were disgustingly neon; too pink, too yellow, too blue, too green. It gave the feeling of Steve's down-to-earth era and contrasted it with modern obnoxiousness and fakeness. "It makes me sad," Steve concluded.
"Sorry," Tina grimaced.
"I mean, it's beautiful, but it's depressing."
"I love it. And it was true wasn't it?" Natasha asked.
"Well, yeah," Steve conceded, "But not anymore."
…
Tina smiled as she handed in her final project. She felt fairly good for having had basically no sleep. That could have been because of the coffee Steve bought for her. Or maybe because Black Widow and The Hulk had both praised her artwork. Maybe because said scientist (with the "help" of a Norse god) made very good pancakes. It could have been because Clint let her put syrup on his pancakes without checking them for poison. A part of it probably had to do with Tony's offer.
Tina couldn't have been gladder to be done with school, stress, finals. She was happy, tired, and relaxed. She was not prepared for what would greet her at her new home.
Ahhh cliffies! Gotta love 'em right? So, let me know what you guys and gals thought of this chapter! As usual, any and all reviews/requests are welcome. Thanks!