The Abridged Meeting

by silverspacechameleon

Steve Rogers went out for a casual run across the Brooklyn Bridge. Until his run was cut short at the sight of a woman about to commit suicide. Or so he thought. Rated M for future smut. Steve X OFC

18. Thanksgiving

herondaletotherescue: Thanks ^^ I hope you like this one, its especially long xD.

Guest: Thank you ^^.

Dancindonna: Hey, I had never heard of Quote till you mentioned it, but I use Wattpad. Same profile name for that :).

Jo: I know right *_*

Debatable-cerealkiller: LOL I would be just as suspcious, believe me. but Olivia and Steve won't be having any challenges for a while, though there is an incident in this chapter that kinda counts as one ^^. My Halloween was uneventful, we are not really big on celebrating it here xD. How was yours? :).

lovelybreath0735: Aww you are deadly sweet, thank you ;).

TenebrisSagittarius: This is a message, from the future, ooooo. Lol unless you already reached this chapter, then this is awkward .. Aw thank you so much, you are too sweet. I am honored to have made your day ^^. I hope you like the story so far ;).

Allison: Thank you!

I hope you guys like this chapter. Man it was a killer to write. ITS FREAKING 18,500 words! couldn't even process it. It was like wtf and had some weird glitch xD haha, oops.
let me know what you lovelies think ;)
xx
SSC

---

Kevin stirred his mug of milk coffee on the kitchen counter within the staff office. Steve sat at the round, lunch table. He was comfortably leaned back into his chair while reading the that morning's newspaper.

Agent Odell was lost in his thoughts, cradling his cup of Joe in his deft hands. He was thinking about how he had no time to pursue his lead on his lost sister. Fury had been handing him case after case. Not that they weren't interesting, he just had a bigger priority when he first joined SHEILD. Now that he had made his way to the top and received field Agent status, the busier he was.

His gaze vaguely skimmed over the headlines of the back of the newspaper. He eyes suddenly widened when he read the time stamp.

November 25th Monday.

"Can you believe in another few days it will be the end of November? Crazy." He voiced his disbelief and then took a sip of his coffee.

"Yeah it's been a pretty eventful month." Steve mused thoughtfully while folding the newspaper and then placing it on the surface of the table.

"No doubt, how is Olli?" Kevin asked curiously. The agent was amused by how easily a smile slipped on to the Captain's handsome face.

"She is good." He murmured dreamily. "Great."

"Aw." The agent cooed causing Steve to smile shyly. Kevin figured Steve and Olivia had already been on several dates, considering Rogers was in New York every weekend.

"Where did you guys go on your most recent date?" He inquired inquisitively

"We went to the aquarium." Steve responded, eager to share details of his fun day with her. "Olli loves Otters. There was this one called Jacob, this tiny thing he can give high fives and does these spins, real cute."

"Awesome." Kevin laughed "So I am guessing you are spending Thanksgiving with her?"

Steve's smile abruptly fell.

"We haven't talked about that, is that this week?" He questioned, a trifle pale.

Kevin tensed and immediately stopped consuming his hot beverage. He felt guilty for having stirred nervousness in the captain. He could see the way Steve's eyes were clouded in thought, pondering heavily over why Olivia hadn't said anything.

He instantly pitied the man. "Well if you are not doing anything with her, you are more than welcome to join me. I am heading to Reed's place. I am sure he would love to have you over."

Steve smiled even though the worry still lingered in his blue gaze "Thanks for the offer Kev, I'll think about it."

"Sure thing Cap, let me know by Friday though."

"Will do."

It wasn't like Steve wasn't invited for a Thanksgiving dinner. Stark insisted he make an appearance at the Stark Mansion. Steve couldn't believe the national holiday had completely slipped his mind. Then again, there wasn't much else in his head except for Olivia.

Does she have plans? Olli hadn't said anything, should I bring it up?

---

Steve was in the middle of reheating a carton of Chinese food from the night before. He had bought it on the way home from a long trip back from New York and didn't have a chance to eat it all since a mission became priority. He felt too lazy to cook anything new for dinner and settled on the noodles.

He had dumped the contents of the box into frying pan and placed the pan on to a low, hot, blue flame.

He was prodding and poking the strings of pasta when his cell phone rang. He fished out the device from the pocket of his loose, grey, yoga pants. His mood instantly brightened when he saw it was Olivia calling. He quickly answered the call.

"Hey Cap." She greeted equally excited.

"Hi." He breathed, smiling and pressing the phone to his ear.

"What's that noise?" She inquired curiously, hearing the hiss of the oil on hot iron.

"I am making dinner." He announced.

"Ooo, what's cookin'?"

"Left over Chinese."

"Nice!"

Steve didn't think so, but her enthusiasm was amusing.

"What about you?" He asked while lazily

"I don't eat dinner."

"What?" The Captain was perplexed by her whimsical declaration "But we had dinner dates."

"That's when it's served for me, I can't be bothered to make it so I don't eat it." She expressed casually.

"You are strange." He noted factually.

"You are only learning this now? Aw." Steve rolled his eyes.

"You shouldn't skip meals, Olli. You must eat and stay healthy." He gently chided.

"Chill babe, I am fine." She chuckled amused by his concern "I had a late lunch, this is my usual routine anyway. My stomach has adjusted years ago."

As informative as her statement was, there was a snippet of something else he heard that was more fascinating to him. She had said it so easily and left him stunned for a brief second.

"Did you just call me, babe?" He asked tentatively, his frying plate of noodles forgotten.

"...Yes." She admitted in a sheepish, reluctant way. Steve felt guilty at prompting her nervousness.

"Sorry that was a slip of the tongue I'll-"

"No no, I like it." He quickly insisted.

"You do?" She asked, amazed.

"Yes." He confirmed shyly.

"Well then babe." She breathed smugly "How was your day?"

"Good, nothing out of the ordinary. I told Kevin about our trip to the Aquarium."

"Oh my gosh, Jacob! I really want that otter. But shush I mustn't speak of him, Anakit is listening. Hey sugarplum." She murmured in a sugar coated tone to the wailing cat in her background.

Steve grinned to the point where his face hurt. He suddenly found himself wishing he was back in New York, watching her do silly things with Anakit.

"He gets really jealous, you know it's really weird. Every time I am on the phone with you he sits on my lap to listen."

Captain's fair brows raised in speculation.

"Maybe he just likes seeing you on the phone?"

"Nah it's just with you."Olivia insisted lazily. "Anakit, Do you have a crush on my boyfriend?"

Steve's face reddened at the fond endearment.

"As I suspected." She uttered frankly. "No answer."

"How was your day?" He asked, stifling his laughter with great effort.

"Dull, a lot of work. I took a break and went for a stroll outside, its freezing!" She exclaimed.

"I am aware." He noted factually, but a sly idea sparked in his mind. Ideally Steve was frank about topics he wanted to discuss, however this was a more sensitive matter.

"But people are still out shopping for next week." He worded carefully.

"Next week?" She echoed, confused for a moment. Steve waited on the knife's edge, hoping she would take the bait.

"Oh right! Steve, I have to ask you something."

He resisted the urge to sigh in relief and smiled.

"Yeah?" He asked, but then the sudden stench of burning pasta grabbed his attention.

"Shit!" He cursed when smoke began to rise from the depths of his pan.

"One second." He quickly warned her and then proceeded to pull the pan off the flame and turn off the cooker.

"Everything okay?" She asked in cautious concern .

"I burnt my noodles." He uttered pouting down at noodles on his plate that he tediously scrapped off the pan.

"All of it?"

"No just the under bit. It's fine I can still eat it." He insisted, setting the pan on to the marble counter and the proceeding to pick off the overdone strings of pasta.

"What were you going to ask me?" He quickly asked, his priority was more on Olivia's intended words.

"Well um, do you have any plans for Thanksgiving?" She asked hesitantly.

"Stark invited me to his place but I don't want to intrude on their time, so no not really." He answered truthfully, ignoring his plate of food for a moment.

"Okay well if you want. You can come with me to Winterville?" She suggested in a vulnerable manner he was not expecting from her. "I usually head to my parents place for Thanksgiving, tradition and all that. But you'd have to take Friday off too."

Steve was grinning, his heart racing in glee. He didn't know how she thought he could ever say no to spending time with her family. As nerve wracking as it sounded, he was genuinely ecstatic to meet them.

"I think I can manage that. Are you alright with me meeting your folks?" He wondered since the hesitation in her voice had not escaped his attention.

"Of course! I wanted them to meet you for quite a while, but now it's for entirely different reasons." She murmured the last part fondly. "The other one was mainly because my dad was threatening to take away my inheritance if I didn't bring you."

"You've told them about me?" He was surprised.

"The first day we met I called them up. Papa went really quiet, I thought he had a heart attack or something. Neither of them cared that I was on the edge of a freaking bridge trying to rescue a damn cat. They wanted to know if your eyes were really as blue as people say. Cause in the black and white's it's hard to tell."

Steve laughed wholeheartedly at her slightly irritated rant. "How come you never told me this before?"

"I didn't want to freak you out and make you think I just wanted to be around you because you are a superhero. I mean yeah it's great and all but I like you. The old smart ass behind the shield. Not just the good looking guy in tights, though that is a pretty solid deal breaker."

Steve smiled in a tender admiration, the same affectionate warmth flooded his system. He felt blessed for having met her but he didn't know how to voice his thoughts.

"So what do you say Cap?" Olivia asked, filling in his lengthy silence.

"Yeah, I wanna come." He insisted lovingly.

"Great!" She enthused and then chuckled in a soft velvety way that made shivers of desire run up his spine.

"So I was thinking we should take a car there. Make it like a road trip, fun right? Plus I'll get to take Anakit."

Steve pulled out a fork from the drawer, sat down and began to eat while listening attentively to her detailed plan. He would utter a suggestion every now and then which further fueled her rapid train of thought. He didn't mind, he was getting excited himself, he found himself hoping the week would end soon.

---

Steve was quick to get up that morning in the Avengers HQ. He had arrived their Wednesday night and to his relief, there were no calls from Fury with a mission. He hoped his stroke of luck will continue into the weekend.

Jarvis was the first too greet him and then to his surprise, Tony and Pepper. They had been up and tiredly sipping coffee at the kitchen table. Tony was wrapped up in a dark, velveteen blue robe. His chocolate brown hair was sticking up at ends and there was a smudge of grease across his cheek, clearly the man had been working the previous night. Pepper was every the lady, her hair was neatly pulled back into a strawberry blonde pony tail. She was elegantly dressed in her silk, white robe and reading the morning newspaper.

Steve was already dressed, packed and ready for his girlfriend's arrival. When Jarvis announced into the intercom that Olivia was pulling up to the driveway in her borrowed blue Suzuki Celerio. Steve hastily chugged down his mug of coffee, placed it in the sink and rushed to the entrance to greet her.

By the time he had arrived, Olivia had already parked the car, popped open the trunk and stood behind it, no doubt making room for Steve's stuff. When she spotted him approaching with his duffle bag, she beamed brightly, enough to put the sun to shame.

"I am so happy to see you!" She exclaimed eagerly racing to him. Steve was surprised when she hugged him tightly around the torso and then pulled back to show him her arms.

"Look I am shaking!" She said unable to control her jitters of excitement.

"I can see that." Steve mused lovingly and placed a doting kiss on to her hairline. She grinned and Steve released her to toss his duffle bag into the car. He spotted a curled up Anakit from the rearview mirror. He was lazing about in his cage, on the passenger seat. The feline was surprisingly tolerant of his circumstance.

"Disclaimer!" Olivia announced earning his attention ."My weird enthusiasm might scare you but it's because I love going on road trips and you are like my favorite person so this is going to be extra exciting."

"I am excited too." He confessed but with a better hold on his anticipation. Olivia did not doubt him and leaned in towards his body.

"Yay." She murmured as her smiling lips ascended to his. Steve eagerly kissed her.

"No PDA peeps." Tony's voice cut into their sweet moment. Olivia turned to acknowledge the man. The industrialist stood beside his girlfriend, with his hands buried into the pockets of his robe.

"Says that guy who's nudes are tabloid property." Olivia bit back lightly.

Tony smirked with wicked intention."You liked what you saw, eh?"

Steve did not approve of the man's suggestive tone, he looked to see if Olivia shared his dislike, but she was handling the situation with a carefree ease.

"Well it gave me a chance to test out my magnifying glass." She stated with a teasing smile.

Steve grinned at her bawdy jest and Pepper was hiding her smile. Tony shot her a flat look before averting his attention to the captain.

"I told you she is mean." He reminded dryly. Olivia rolled her eyes.

"You guys are going on a road trip? That is so cute." Pepper enthused brightly.

"Oh I made a batch of cookies for you guys!" Olivia suddenly announced. She reached into the back of the car and pulled out a round plastic container with a hot pink lid. She popped open the lid and the scent of freshly baked, chocolate chip cookies, wafted into the air. Tony, Pepper and Steve drew into wards the biscuits like bees to honey.

"Thought I'd start the weight gain early." Olivia added with a smile.

"Well count us in." Pepper exclaimed and quickly picked out the biggest, roundest cookie she could find. Tony snatched one too and began to chew greedily. Steve was a lot more composed but just as eager to eat one of the baked goods.

"When I heard you guys were taking the road, I figured it would be on Steve's Harley." Pepper said with a mouth full of biscuit.

"As fun as that sounds, I think Anakit would have some reservations." Steve insisted good-naturedly, earning laughs from the rest.

"I would have lent you guys one of my wheels you know." Tony stated.

"I shouldn't be trusted with fast cars." Olivia confessed ashamedly.

"Never stopped him." Pepper pointed out flatly. The CEO slanted her boyfriend a crestfallen look. The industrialist grinned innocently.

---

Steve nervously gazed up at Olivia's parent's home.

It was a beautiful, two story house, built in a Victorian style. The navy blue, gabled roof stood out against the snow white colour of the house. There were four windows, three at the top and two at the bottom, on opposing sides of the door .

The windows also carried the same shade of blue in its adjacent, wooden blinders. The home depicted the very epitome of the domestic life with its white porch fence. They even had a mahogany rocking chair at the corner of the terrace.

It was a warm sunny day in Winterville North Carolina and made the cold frigid air more bearable. Olivia was humming happily while locking up her car and then picking up Anakit. Steve was lost in his own thoughts, his mind a mess with a sudden anxiety.

Her parents were behind that door, Steve didn't think he would feel so nervous. Will they like me? What if they don't? I don't want to seem like I am trying too hard.

Steve wordlessly followed Olivia through the front lawn and up the russet red bricks and to the front door. He lingered a little hesitantly while eyeing the blurry oval decorative glass of the wooden door.

" Are you alright?" Olivia's question brought him out of his thoughts.

"Yeah, why?" He inquired while self consciously adjusting his bag strap. Olivia gave him a pitying look. She gently hooked her arm around his and leaned into his body.

"My parents are cool, don't be so nervous." She insisted dotingly while rubbing at the sleeve of his jacket. Steve lowered his gaze bashful of being caught in his anxious state.

"Though my dad will most definitely freak out at the sight of you. He spends most of his retirement days watching World War two documentaries." She added dryly.

"Oh, then we have something to talk about." Steve responded wanly.

"But don't feel like the war is all you have to talk about okay?" She stated softly, holding his gaze with her soul deep, honey brown eyes. "You can talk about whatever you like and I guarantee he will listen with hearts in his eyes."

Steve smiled and pecked her lovingly on the forehead for her assuring words. "I'll remember that."

"Great." She enthused while balancing Anakit's cage in her other hand with the slumbering cat inside. She released Steve and reached out for the door bell.

"Ready?" She asked. Steve shifted his shoulders in his jacket, fixated a determined stare on the door and then nodded firmly. Olivia pressed down on the button, a sharp ring echoed within the house.

The door was open in a matter of seconds revealing a man behind it. He was a tall, older gentleman, with a soft square face and a head full of feathery black hair. He had a very large, intelligent forehead, creased by light wrinkles. His old age was clear in deep, crow's feet on the corners of his eyes and the graying tendrils at the corners of his hairline. He had a pair of moon rimmed, copper spectacles, hidden behind them were a pair of guiltless dark brown eyes.

Steve took in the man's attire. He was very casually dressed in a large white woolen sweater, paired with grey sweat pants. His feet were tucked into a set of black socks and blue flip flops.

"Pa?" Olivia uttered in an amazement that grabbed Steve's attention.

Her father looked to his daughter with a incredulous lift of his light, curved eyebrows.

"Why do you look so surprised to see your old man?" He demanded curiously.

"You never answer the door." Olivia pointed out flatly. A sudden tinge of colour rose to the man's cheeks and he sent a furtive look to the Captain before looking back at Olivia.

"Nonsense, of course I answer the door." He insisted with a proud lift of his weak chin. Steve was quick to catch the subtle signs of the man's exaggeration.

The man slowly looked to the Captain and Steve was surprised by the excitement that lit up his round, beady eyes.

"You must be Captain Rogers." He stretched a open palm for the Captain.

"Olli did inform me of your visit." He noted with a coy, friendly smile. Steve was quick to accept the man's hand and grinned as he returned the firm handshake. Mr. Thorne was taller than Steve had imagined. The man reached the Captain's height but from the lack of his muscle mass and the slight potbelly, he didn't look as athletic.

"Subtle, dad." Olivia grumbled dryly earning another stern look from her father. Steve stifled his rising laughter and continued to smile at the man.

"It's good to meet you Sir." He insisted graciously while releasing his hand.

"Please call me Noah." Mr. Thorne insisted with a kind smile. He stepped back and opened the door further for them.

"Come in, come." Noah said while taking a few strolls deeper into the house. Steve allowed Olivia to pass him first, she strutted in comfortably. She gently set down Anakit's cage a by the shoe rack as Steve shut the door behind him.

Steve observed his surroundings. The entrance hallway was short and spacious and led to another door that he guessed was to the backyard. A few feet to the left was a carpeted, wooden staircase. The corridor branched off left and right. The left was into the living room and the right led to a short dining area which occupied the door to the kitchen.

The home was warm and the fresh scent of spices and the faint smell of sweet dough, wrapped him up in a sense of comfort. He knew in that moment, he could easily slip into the ease and affection the Throne household offered.

"Where is Ma?" Olivia asked while hanging up her scarf on to the wooden peg above the shoe rack. This caught Steve's attention, he was eager to meet Mrs. Thorne.

"She is in the kitchen, we are having apple pie for dessert." Noah announced and then looked to Steve.

" Do you like apple pie Captain? Or do you prefer to be called Mr. Rogers?"

"Steve is fine, Sir." He insisted with a kind smile, his blue eyes dancing in mirth. "And I love apple pie."

"Wonderful." Noah exclaimed and then took quick strides towards the dinning. "Come, you must meet my wife."

Steve was ready to pursue the enthusiastic man but Olivia lingered back which in turn caused him to hesitate.

"I can't believe you got my dad to get off the chair." She murmured in awe.

"I take it that's a good thing?" He laughed.

"Hell yeah." She enthused gripping his arm between her hands and then leaning into him again. Steve was spellbound by the heated look of adoration she sent him from beneath her inky lashes.

"I'll thank you for it later." She promised with a teasing wink.

Steve looked forward to collecting his reward.

They decided not to keep the dad waiting any longer and headed towards the kitchen, where the delicious sent of cooking food came from. However they were stopped on sight when a jumping mass of cuteness bounded in their way. It was a tiny Doberman puppy. It looked barely a year old, with a gleaming, chocolate brown coat. It came scurrying towards their feet with a determined look in his snubbed snout and beady black eyes.

Steve was not excepting the scampering of the tiny dog and immediately stopped to take in the sight of it. A sharp, excited squeak left his girlfriend's lips as she took in the puppy's appearance with wide, adoring eyes.

"Oh my gosh who is this?!" She shrieked, falling to her knees to accept the animal. A high pitched bark left the puppy's mouth and he dived head first into Olivia's open arms.

"This is John Dog." Noah introduced with a wily smirk as Olivia affectionately scratched and petted the creature. The dog was thoroughly enjoying the attention and wagged his tiny, tail in delight.

John Dog? Steve contemplated this for a moment but then a realization slowly dawned on to him and he laughed. I get it, like John Doe but for a dog.

"Clever, Pa." Olivia murmured, equally amused.

"I thought so." Noah added smugly. She giggled when the puppy licked under her chin to gain her attention back.

"Hi John hi." She cooed lovingly as the animal climbed her lap. Taken by the sight, Steve was eager to join them on the floor. He lowered his bags on to the ground and fell to his knees beside Olivia.

The trembling puppy was quick to notice the Captain and eagerly sniffed at the air around him. Steve grinned and allowed the animal to snivel at his fingertips before petting him.

"I brought a friend for you two play with but as a equal playmate and not a chew toy okay?" Olivia spoke chidingly to the puppy. John Dog panted heavily, uncomprehending of Olivia's words.

"You brought Anakit?" Noah demanded in vague amazement.

Steve left her side to quickly retrieve the cat. Anakit had woken up from all the gushing over the puppy and was wailing in his cage. Steve carried the box over and settled it down beside his girlfriend.

"Yah, do you think they will get along?" Olivia asked her dad nervously. Steve returned to the floor and Olivia released the puppy to tend to the cage door.

John Dog waddled over, sniffing curiously at the cage and then peering into the shadows within. Anakit was sitting pompously while waiting for his owner to open the cage. Olivia was a little hesitant to, despite Anakit's demanded calls.

"I think we should just leave him here for now for them to get to know one another." Noah advised.

"Yeah they are still pups, I don't think it would be an issue." Steve agreed nodding to her father.

"You know animal dynamic's Cap?" Noah asked, astonished by Steve's knowledge. The Captain was a little abashed by the older man's admiring gaze.

"I've seen videos on the YouTube." Steve admitted modestly.

Olivia bit her lower lip, resisting the urge to laugh mockingly.

---

After leaving John Dog and Anakit to bond, Steve followed the Thorne's into the kitchen. It was a very simple pantry with light brown cupboards along the far wall, a white marble L shaped counter and a silver fridge at the far end. The open windows brought in the warm, bright sunlight illuminating the steam tendrils rising off the pots on the cooker.

But Steve's main interest was on the woman cooking stirring the open, round tub on the stove.

She was an older woman, Steve guessed her to be in her early sixties. She had dark hair similar to Olivia's in colour, except for a few streaks of grey. Her hair was tied up in a bun on the back of her head. She was a short, slightly rounded woman, but her limbs and neck were willowy. She was dressed in a bright purple woolen sweater that was pulled to her elbows. She had worn the top over the skirts of a white dress with large prints of blue floras.

Steve only got a view of her from the side, she was yet to notice them.

"Hey Ma!" Olivia exclaimed from in front of him. The woman was startled out of her thoughts and her head whipped in their direction. She had a very round face and her age was barely visible on her fair skin. Steve was quick to notice where Olivia had received her almond shaped eyes from. But Steve had to conclude, Olivia carried more of her father's mischievously cute features than her mom's more soft, gentle looks.

"Hi sweetie." The woman greeted, wiping her hand on a nearby dish rag as Olivia ran up to her. They embraced tightly and Steve observed how Olivia was a head taller than her mother. The older woman seemed even more minuscule as Olivia heartily wrapped up in her arms.

Olivia leaned back and her mom observed her features with a doting gaze.

"Claire wasn't kidding, you really did cut your hair." She mused, gently toying with a thick, spiral strand of her daughter's hair.

"What? It looks nice." Olivia defended with a pout.

"But you spent so long growing it." She whined.

"Ma, neglecting hair maintenance for the past few years does not mean I was committed to it." Olivia grumbled with a wide roll of her eyes. "Besides, I like it this way, makes life easier."

"Well as long as you are happy." The woman smiled and gently cupped her daughter's face in her hands. "I'll admit, you do look cute."

Steve watched the two women and smiled at the sight. Olivia seemed almost adolescent under her aging mother's affectionate petting.

"Ma this is Steve." The captain was shot into attention when Olivia introduced him. Her mom immediately fixated her observing stare onto the tall male.

Steve hesitantly stepped forward to greet the woman.

"Hi." She greeted shyly.

"Morning Ma'am." Steve responded orderly.

"Wow how polite." The woman claimed, her sharp, dark brows rising in wonder. "Olivia has told me a lot about you."

"Really?" He mused shooting her a fond glance.

"You came up a few times." Olivia said trying to seem nonchalant.

"Most of the time there was no prompting needed."

"Ma!" Olivia exclaimed mortified, her face reddening from her mom's witty statement. Steve bit his lower lip, humored by his girlfriend's embarrassment.

"Okay okay sorry." The mom condoned with her arms raised in surrender. She turned to island table behind her and grabbed the knife beside her cutting board. "I'm just going to be here quietly chopping these apples."

" Do you need any help?" Olivia offered smoothly.

"Sure thing sweetie, go and freshen up first." The mom insisted kindly and then directed her doting smile to the Captain.

"It was nice to meet you Ma'am." Steve smiled.

"Nice to meet you Steve." She nodded shyly and turned her attention to the sliced apples.

---

"So you will be bunking in the guest room because my parents are pretty much going to treat you like royalty." Olivia explained as he followed her up the flight of stairs.

"Where are you going to sleep?" He asked when they arrived onto the second floor. He was eager to rid of his bag in his sleeping quarters.

"My old room."

"Where is it?" He inquired observing the four doors adjacent to each other along the walls. Olivia twirled around to face him and smiled teasingly.

"Do you want to see it for reference or just to see what an embarrassing teenager I was?" She asked coyly.

"A little of both." He uttered with a cheeky grin.

"Fine, but don't laugh too hard." She warned, he nodded. She stopped at the second door to her right and reluctantly opened the entrance for him.

"This is my room."

Steve was surprised. Not by the state of her room from her high school days, but at its resemblance to her current room in New York.

Except for her signature blue wall with white clouds, the room carried shades of lilac. A single bed was pushed to the furthest corner of the room, the mattress was covered in a dark blue coverlet with printed pink stars in random places. The plush mass of the pillows were hidden beneath.

Opposing the door was a long, rectangular window with thin, slightly transparent, white curtains. Beneath the window was a simple chair and desk that carried a pile of books. On the right side of the room was a simple, mahogany vanity.

"It doesn't look that different from your room now." Steve mused, stepping further in and admiring the posters along the wall above the bed. They were of pale, skinny, males with straight, black, hair obstructing their faces.

"Hey, I've grown up from my poster phase." Olivia defended from beside him.

"No you haven't." He said in a fond murmur. She sighed in subjugation.

"Fine, I frame them now to make it stylish plus I don't have any band posters around. I was really into Screamo then, now I can't stand it." She said while rubbing her chin in thought "Must have been some weird internal rage thing."

"You don't have that now?" He asked curiously, stepping closer to her.

"Well it occasionally comes out, so try not to get me angry." She warned playfully. Steve grinned and rested his heavy arm around her shoulders and pulled her to his side.

"You are not going to Hulk on me are you?" He asked his voice barely above a whisper. His clear blue eyes focused intently on her pretty face.

"I just might." She teased in a silken tone that charmed him. He couldn't resist the temptation and leaned down to claim her lips.

"Knock knock." A familiar voice uttered. Olivia's attention moved past Steve to find her mom meekly linger at the doorway.

When her gaze back to Steve, he was already at a far, respective distance and gazed about like they didn't almost just make out.

Olivia stifled her smile and looked to her mother.

"Some refreshments." The older lady cooed, strolling in with a tray in her hand, balancing two tall glasses. Inside the crystals was a light marmalade colored concoction of some kind.

"Mrs. Thorne you didn't have to bring it all the way up, we would have come down." Steve insisted in a chivalrous concern as he accepted his beverage. Olivia was quietly taking hers and marveling at the delicious scent of her mother's famous pumpkin drink.

"Nonsense, it's nice to pull out the tray after a long time." Mrs. Thorne insisted a little bashful of the Captain's caring ways. "I hope you like it, it's my special pumpkin drink."

"Thanks Ma." Olivia uttered and Steve watched as she gracelessly chugged down the juice.

Steve was a little stunned by his girlfriend's greedy ways. Dispelling his astonishment, he turned to the timid, shorter woman.

"Thank you Ma'am." He said graciously.

"No problem." She tittered diffidently. "Come downstairs later if you like, Noah is watching the game."

"We will be there." Olivia announced with a smile. Her mother nodded and then turned to exit the room. Olivia waited for her mother to depart before turning to her boyfriend.

"Do you watch football?" She asked him while holding the empty glass in her hands

"I'm more of a baseball fan but yeah, I watch it on occasion." Steve answered with a dimpled smile.

"My dad and I usually watch the game, I wasn't into it in my earlier years but I really got into it when Charlie came here."

"Charlie visited?" Steve inquired curiously.

"Yeah we used to have him and his Dad over every Thanksgiving since we became friends." Olivia reminisced with a fond smile.

"How come he isn't here this time?" Steve wondered.

"Claire wanted to introduce him to her parents. They invited us there actually, we can drop in on them if you like."

Steve knew despite Olivia's suggestion, the lack of enthusiasm in her open gaze was clear enough that she did not want to go.

"Didn't you want to go there?" He asked, hoping that his presence wasn't hinder her usual Thanksgiving plans.

"Nah."She drawled with a lazy shrug of her shoulders. "I wanted to bring you here plus Thanksgiving is a time to spend with family so there was no real debate."

"Oh I have to show you this place." She suddenly announced eagerly.

"What is it?" Steve asked curiously.

"The stars are amazing out of the city, I'll show you my favorite spot later, endless if you stay late enough. In the summer milky way."

"Sounds like a great plan, looking forward to it." The captain enthused with a smile.

"Let's sneak out a few cookies too." Olivia suggested slyly.

"And more of this pumpkin juice." She added.

"And apple pie." Steve encouraged.

"Yaaas." She exclaimed making him chuckle.

"Olivia!" They heard Noah call in thickly sweet tone.

"My dad is dying for your attention." Olivia pointed out flatly.

"Well we shouldn't keep him waiting." Steve insisted kindly. She reluctantly agreed and they began to make their way out of her bedroom.

"Don't get too attached." She warned as she shut the door and turned to him. "Cause you are all mine later."

Steve held her glittering gaze, and contained the willingness he held for the promise in her words.

---

"Hey Ma." Olivia greeted while strolling, coyly in to the kitchen. Mrs. Throne was busy chopping away on a cutting board, at the island table in the center of the kitchen.

"Hey sweetie." She acknowledge kindly without glancing up from her sliced stalks of green chili.

Olivia had changed into her favourite cat sweater and grey yoga pants.

"Do you need help with anything?" She asked graciously.

"Yeah can you peel those onions for me?" Her mother responded, pointing the business end of her knife to a sac of large, red onions she had kept to a side. Olivia smiled in amusement, clearly her mother planned on taking advantage of her daughter's help. She didn't mind, it was a good time to bond with her mom.

Wordlessly, Olivia turned towards the counter, picked up the flakey vegetable and started to scrap at the dry skin.

The kitchen was filled with the distant sound of the sports commentary on the TV, and the occasional chatter between Steve and Noah.

"So Steve, he is nice." Her mom conversed casually.

"Yeah he is the best." Olivia stated, resisting the urge to sigh dreamily, but her fond grin did not go unnoticed by her keen mom.

"Are you two...?"

"Yes, but don't make a big deal of it." Olivia pleaded pausing placing one freshly peeled onion on the space beside the cutting board and then reaching for another one.

"It's pretty obvious anyway and how can I not? The nations hero will probably be my son in law." She professed audaciously.

"Ma!" Olivia she exclaimed, her head whipping from side to side to make sure Steve wasn't within hearing range. Luckily it was still just her and her mother within the kitchen. She focused her anxious stare back on to her mother.

"He might hear you." She whispered in warning.

"Does that mean you've thought about it?" Her mother asked, directing a look to her daughter from the corner of her eye.

"What? No, I mean-" She lowered her blushing face to the vegetable in her hand. "It's not a terrible thought. But we've only been dating for a while. I don't want to rush in to anything."

Olivia Thorne did not consider herself to be the type of woman to fantasize about her marriage. In fact, Olivia never considered getting married at all. Not that she was against it, it just wasn't something that ever came up. Truth be told, she didn't think she would be letting anyone in since Norah died. But Steve had changed all that, it was a little disconcerting to what else he could change.

Olivia was brought out of her thoughts when she felt a warm, gentle touch on her wrist. It was her mother's tough, working hand. She followed the limb up to meet her mother's doting gaze.

"Of course sweetie, I know that." She said soothingly sensing her unease. "I am just- I am happy to see you smiling again."

"Am I that obvious?" Olivia asked shyly.

"Yes, but it is a good thing. Such a good thing." Her voice trailed off, relief and intense joy misting her dark eyes.

"No pressure or anything." She added, dispelling the look and smiling up at her daughter who watched her intently. "But if you are going to do it make it soon and not after I've died."

"Make what soon?"

Olivia and her mother immediately tensed at the sudden voice and appearance of Steve at the kitchen doorway. Olivia looked to her boyfriend who was smiling and staring at them, innocently and expectantly. She was tongue tied and internally screaming.

"Uh the a onions, she takes far too long cut them up it's ridiculous." Her mother quickly cut in to the prolonged silence.

"Yeah, slow me." Olivia uttered laughing nervously.

"Oh okay." Steve was instantly alert with concerned and moved his large body towards them.

"Anything I can do to help?"

It was Olivia's mother's turn to be tongue tied, she was not expecting the courteous request of support.

"I volunteer too." Noah announced, racing into the kitchen with a barking John and a meowing Anakit following him.

"Oh do you, now?" His wife mused sardonically. She moved her gaze to Steve and shot him a flat look. "My husband hasn't set foot into this kitchen to help me cook since I broke my arm, summer nineteen eighty."

Steve chuckled at the statement and directed a mock stern look at Olivia's father.

"Don't exaggerate, Habibti." Noah breathed coyly, sliding in to stand on his wife's free side and avoiding eye contact with the Captain.

He grinned down at her like a choir boy.

"I helped yesterday." He reminded.

"Helping me empty the fridge of leftovers by eating them all is not the same sweet heart." His wife corrected sweetly.

Steve and Olivia exchanged amused glances.

"Well now that you guys are here, might as well use them right?" Olivia suggested, pitying her father a little.

"Sure, I am pretty handy with a knife." Steve declared his hand raised up like a boy scout. The Thorne family exchanged looks, they did not doubt that fact.

"Then you can help Olivia and chop." Mrs. Thorne suggested and handed Steve her knife. He grinned, nodded and graciously accepted the task. Mrs. Thorne wandered over to the oven to check on the turkey. Noah took a seat on a stool at the left side of the table, closer to the cooker. He picked up a onion and began to peel.

Steve washed and cut whatever onion that Olivia had so meticulously pealed. He paused in his task of cutting, eyed Olivia's parents and then slide a little closer to his girlfriend.

Olivia was aware of Steve's movements and looked to him curiously.

"Is your mom's name Ha-bib-tee?" He whispered down to her.

"What?" Olivia responded a smile of amusement curving at her lips.

"Your dad called her that." Steve explained unknowingly. Olivia laughed and pressed up against him as if she suddenly lost her balance. Steve did not understand the source of her delight.

"No it's a Arabic term of endearment. My mom is Egyptian." She clarified. Steve's fair brows lifted in wonder.

"Did someone mention my mother land?" Mrs. Thorne chimed in, having heard the conversation through her enthusiastic ears.

"Steve thought your name was Habibti." Olivia announced laughingly. Steve blushed when the parents joined in on her mirth. But it didn't feel like they were laughing at him but in a more adoring way, like how Olivia giggled when he did something she found thoroughly adorable.

"No sweetheart, it's Layla which you are welcome to use by the way." Mrs. Thorne said lovingly, which caused Steve to grin happily and blush at the endearing term."My husband just calls me that because he is more in love with my culture than I am."

"I wouldn't have guessed, from Olli's love for spicy food I figured Mexican or Asian ethnicity." The Captain expressed while pushing aside the diced piece of onion with the sharp edge of the blade.

"Nah, Ma came here when she was eight when grandma remarried and moved to the US." Olivia informed her boyfriend. Steve nodded in acknowledgement but he was still a little astonished. His girlfriend was part Egyptian, he never would have guessed that. He was suddenly curious about the father. He looked to Noah and smiled.

"Did you move here from abroad too, Sir?" He inquired curiously while accepting another onion from Olivia.

"Nope, born and raised in Carolina." Noah beamed. "Though my old man said I am about one eight Chinaman. "

Steve grinned at Noah's proud statement, his girlfriend on the other hand was stifling a laugh.

"Yeah, you can see that in his height." She muttered mockingly under her breath so Steve heard. The Captain did and lowered his head so Noah wouldn't be offended by the man's mirthful smile. She did have a point, there was no indication of the small Asian factor on Mr. Thorne.

"I love experiencing different cultures, Egypt was my particular favorite." Noah continued to proclaim.

"You don't have to suck up so much Noah. You got me, we are married, for more than thirty years now." His wife teasingly chided, earning a pout from her husband. Olivia and Steve sniggered simultaneously.

Well, Steve certainly knew where Olivia got her knack for wit from. He eyed his girlfriend who stood serenely beside him, peeling away at another onion.

"Olli told me about your love of travel. Which is nice, I wish I could travel more. Leisure not work." Steve added remembering the fact from their first date. At the mention of Noah's favourite past time, the man perked up, his eyes shining up at the Captain.

"Yeah?" He echoed, the Captain nodded confidently. "You should join us in the summer. I was thinking about travelling to Barcelona but mind you I am not as spry as I used to be."

"That's cause you spend your days planted to the chair and then complain about joint pains." Layla objected disapprovingly.

"I garden." Noah grumbled under his breath and looked to the Steve.

"That's where the joint pain came from and my back." He defended, a desperate attempt to convince his childhood hero that he wasn't as lazy as his wife proclaimed.

Steve was thoroughly amused. Layla Thorne was a real ball buster. I wonder if Olivia would be like that with me when we get married.

Steve was suddenly struck by the shock of the thought that drifted into his mind. He quickly hid any indication of it on his face and decided to focus on chopping.

---

Layla Thorne was smiling pleasantly to herself as she packed up the leftovers into individual plastic containers to store in the fridge later on. She was smiling because she was thinking about a sweet yet important incident during their Thanksgiving dinner.

The group was eating, sharing stories and merriment. Layla was surprised by how quickly she found herself liking the young man, Mr. Steve Rogers. He had a very shy, humble yet poised air about him. He wasn't at all as intimidating and otherworldly like in the documentaries. In fact, he was just like any other man, pushed into amazing circumstances.

She had to admit she was a little suspicious of him before. He seemed almost too good to be true. It wasn't that she doubted Olivia's taste in men, but she was very protective of her daughter. Her child had suffered through a great deal and love hasn't always been easy for her.

But then the Captain had said something that made Layla's doubt vanish completely.

It was towards the end of the dinner. She had began to serve out slices of apple pie with fluffs of whip cream. Steve was practically salivating at the sight and was trying very hard to hide it.

"Ma are you trying to kill us?" Olivia had exclaimed dramatically while leaning back into her chair and hugging her belly.

"Yes, I thought this might make you feel more willing and it's a kinder way to." Layla had joked earning laughter from her guests.

"You got that right, Ma'am." Steve added graciously accepting his dessert and placing it on the surface in front of him. "I haven't eaten this much since our third date."

"Well we would have eaten more if Charlie hadn't been so greedy." Olivia responded while reluctantly picking up her spoon.

"I can't believe it." Her husband gasped out in amazed, earning their attention. He was gaping at his daughter and Steve with looks of wonder.

"I mean I heard it from his lips but I still can't believe it. My daughter is dating the Captain Steve Rogers."

With his heart in his eyes, Noah looked to his daughter and beamed.

"I am so proud of you." He declared, wiping away an imaginary tear.

"Thanks?" Olivia uttered unsurely with a mouth full of pie and crumbs all over her face. The very picture of lady like elegance.

Layla had rolled her eyes at her husband's eccentric ways.

"Olli runs her own successful business at such a young age." Steve stated factually, his voice astonishingly stern.

"I think that's something more to be proud of." He pointed out casually and then shoved a spoonful of pie into his mouth.

Needless to say Layla and Noah were left speechless at Steve's firm yet courteous protective words. Olivia had stopped chewing to stare at her boyfriend with a dangerously suggestive look full of banked desire, that her mother was uncomfortable to have noticed.

Layla had known in that moment that Steve Rogers righteousness was more than just legend. The man truly loved, cared and respected her daughter. Even to correct Noah, which was something most boyfriends would have been afraid to do, to risk seeming dislikable in the parents eyes.

Layla was thoroughly impressed.

"More whip cream, Steve?" She had presented insistently.

The captain was taken aback by the offer. He was clearly expecting the awkward silence to be prolong. He grinned in such a bashful way that had warmed Layla's heart.

"Yes Ma'am." He had responded and eagerly swiped a spoonful of white cream onto his plate.

Her smile widened as she pushed in the last container into the refrigerator and shut the door. She scanned the clean kitchen once more to make sure nothing was out of place. Nodding contentedly she made her way towards the living room where she knew her husband was, only to stop when something within the room caught her eye.

It wasn't her husband occupying the two seater, hickory brown, leather recliner couch. It was Olivia and she wasn't alone. Steve was with her and the man's large form made the seat look impossibly compact, but they didn't seem to mind.

They were lazing on the couch, curled up into each other's bodies and watching Bugs Bunny commit his latest escapade. But at the famous cartoon rabbit was background noise to them, they were too engrossed in each other.

Olivia was rambling on as usual and Steve was listening intently with a dazed look in his sky blue eyes. He would occasionally burst into a fit of chuckles and Olivia would stop talking just so she could watch the adorable way his nose scrunched up when he laughed.

The couple was yet to notice Layla who hid her body behind the frame of the door and continued to spy on them.

"What are you looking at honey?" She was startled by her husband's voice behind her. She glanced back at him and then to her daughter.

"The most beautiful thing of all." She murmured lovingly.

"Yeah he is a handsome fella." Noah sighed in agreement.

Layla deadpanned and then rolled her eyes.

"Yes him but I am referring to our daughter, look at that smile, Noah!" She exclaimed in a soft whisper, pointing to angled side view they had of their daughter's beaming face.

"Hm, I haven't seen her this happy in a while." Layla confessed sadly.

Noah nodded in acceptance smiling quite happy for her daughter. Even though Steve's remark to counter his jibe earlier had left him speechless, it only made him respect the man even more.

"So I am guessing you don't want to tell her then?" Layla asked softly, the liveliness in her tone had disappeared.

Noah sighed and met his wife's doleful gaze. He gently grasped her by the shoulders and squeezed comfortingly.

"Let's not." He advised a look of sorrow misting his light brown eyes. "I doubt anything will happen during the holidays."

"Wishful thinking never works with our family, Noah." Layla reminded doubtfully. "I want to tell her before she finds out on her own."

Noah didn't want to admit it, but his wife had a point.

---

Noah owned a cherry red, Chevy Silverado, pickup truck. Steve got to drive it all the way to this special spot that Olivia had mentioned.

It was over a hill, past a landscape of tall trees and green grass. He loved the outdoors, he recalled travelling such roads on his first year at modern day North Carolina. As Olivia directed him further away from the town, there was less warm light and more dark skies and twinkling lights.

"Your mother's food is coma inducing." Steve commented out loud while turning into a path Olivia directed to.

"Don't be joking about coma's with your track record." Olivia teased slanting him a smile.

"That was one time" He defended passionately. "And there are no arctic waters around."

Olivia chuckled at his coy joke.

"We are here!" She announced eagerly.

They finally reached the location. Steve parked where his girlfriend instructed him to and waited for further instructions. Olivia on the other hand had planned tasks in her mind and quickly jumped out of the truck and began to work.

Steve was left standing around, pointing the torch for her as she laid out a black blanket on to the metal plank at the crate of the truck. He eventually climbed on and took a seat at the edge of the rectangular space. He leaned back into the metal border as Olivia placed the basket (of food they had stolen) into the corner of the pen. Then she pulled out a lantern. Steve hadn't thought much of it till she lit a short round candle, opened the metal latch of the lantern and tucked in the flame.

It was a black iron, Arabesque style lamp. It's curvy, sinuous shapes guided the light from within and out into the air. The glass borders of the lantern housed the dancing flame.

"Nice lamp." Steve commented appreciatively.

"I know right, but don't touch the top. It's hot." She cautioned and gently set the lantern aside by its handle.

"Well obviously there is a burning candle in there." Steve pointed out factually.

" I know that!" She countered crossly earning a speculatively look from her boyfriend.

"Didn't then." Her heard her mutter reluctantly under her breath. He cracked a smile at her adorably sheepish ways.

"Well Gramps, I see you are resting your bones there." She grounded out with her arms posed on her waist. Steve looked up as she scrutinized him.

"I know the commute from the seat to the back was taxing." She teased with a impish smile.

"How disrespectful, wait till I tell your mother." Steve bit back jokingly. The space between his eyebrows creased in mock annoyance.

Olivia giggled, thoroughly amused by him. She fell to her knees and crawled up to sit beside him. He watched her as she made herself comfortable by crossing her ankles and leaning back into metal walls. She raised her gaze to the skies and Steve followed her actions.

Captain Rogers was wholly amazed by the vast twinkling lights he saw that November night. They were like a million floating diamonds on a sea of black. He was so distracted by the landscape (and his girlfriend) he forgot about the main reason Olivia brought him there.

"Pretty huh?"

"Wow, you weren't kidding." He whistled in amazement, a cloud of chilly air escape his lips "It's hard to believe this many stars exist when living in the City."

"I know right, it's like I entered a completely different world. Where the people are nice and there isn't gum everywhere you step." Olivia said, crossing her arms across her chest to trap heat in to her body.

"Even though I complain I am always happy to go back. I just wish I could take you with me." She added wistfully. Steve smiled and looked to her.

"Yeah well I wish you could too, or you can come with me to Washington." He suggested. Olivia smiled and shrugged pensively.

They fell into peaceful silence while admiring the stars above them. Steve was hoping to spot a shooting star at one point as it streaked across the sky. The air was cold around them but the frigid temperature mainly affected his hands, he rubbed them repeatedly.

"I am thinking about having my parents over for Christmas instead of the usual me coming here." Olivia confided, earning his stare. She looked hopeful from beneath her glasses.

"Would you be able to come by then?" She asked.

"Of course." He exclaimed. "The problem is waiting patiently for Christmas to come around."

"Tell me about it." She grumbled in frustrated manner. She wrapped her arms around his bicep and hugged him to her chest.

"But we got two more days here, might as well make the most of it." She reminded trying to be positive. Olivia knew full well the days will pass by quickly and the next thing she knew it would be Sunday.

"Yeah." He whispered forcing a haphazard smile, after all Steve wasn't looking forward to heading back either. So he decided to focus on something else, like how delectably charming his girlfriend was. She was sniffling occasionally, the cold had undoubtedly aggravated up her weak sinuous. He loved the way her nose would wrinkle under the bridge of her glasses.

Long strands of her bangs fell over her smooth forehead and graced over the top frame of her specs. She looked like a ball off crumpled up wool in her large sweater. He wanted to be the one that kept her warm, tucked under his arms.

"Can you get between my legs?"

"What?" She demanded startled by his request.

Steve's dazed stare vanished and was replaced by a wide eyed look of shame. He turned scarlet and cursed under his breath.

"Sit, I meant sit between my legs." He corrected painfully, his expression twisting in anguish. "That came out wrong."

"Wow and I thought I was the awkward one." She laughed making him blush harder.

"Sure, I'll get between your legs." She winked. Steve rolled his eyes and spaced out his legs a little so she could fit in. Olivia crawled over his knee and sat down with her back to his chest. Steve was still a little stiff from the lingering embarrassment, but he managed to wrap her up into his arms.

The instant rush of warmth that flooded his system, eased his body. Olivia felt it too and relaxed into the support of his strong, firm body. She decided in that moment, she could stay enclosed in him forever.

"I am sorry that came out more inappropriate than I planned." He murmured into her lavender scented hair.

"I was trying to be..."

"Flirtatious?" She cut in smoothly while stroking the length of his forearm.

"Romantic was what I was thinking." He confessed abashedly.

Olivia laughed and turned a little so she could see him. She held his vulnerable stare with glittering eyes.

"Well I like to laugh so you got me either way." She murmured lovingly and pecked him on his defined jaw line. Steve chuckled breathlessly and held her a little tighter. He placed a chaste, doting kiss to her forehead and then looked to the skies again.

"This is a really nice spot." He whispered, admiring the twinkling lights. "Thank you for sharing it with me."

"You are a nice spot." She breathed, shifting her position sideways, so she could wrap her arms around his wide torso. She was always amazed by his surprisingly narrow waist. She curled up into his strong body and nuzzled the nape of his neck.

Steve flinched briefly from the ticklish sensation, a smile of delight turned up at the corners of his mouth. Olivia was very happy for their time alone, she didn't really get a chance to kiss him all afternoon since her parents were around. Also considering the fact that Steve had kept a respectful distance only stirred her frustration.

She craved him, and the warm glow of the lantern combined with the dark starry skies and chilly weather, provided a dangerously seductive setting. But Olivia was never the type to push, besides, it didn't feel right just yet. She knew the time will come, eventually. The last thing she wanted to do was do the nasty on the back of her father's pick up.

No, Steve was too classy for that.

She breathed in the scent of aftershave and honey comb on his skin. She resisted the urge to sigh in frustration. Why did he have to drive her to the brink of insanity with that smell of his?

She eyed the silhouette of his lovely Adam's apple. Giving into her desire, she kissed him just on the corded muscle of his neck. She felt his whole body stiffen up against her and then shudder like a lusty stallion.

She smiled mischievously, quite pleased with the reactions she had brought out. Taking his lack of an objection as encouragement. She continued to trail kisses up his neck and to his jaw.

Steve didn't really know what to do. Olivia was a little unpredictable when it came to certain types of affection. Not that he was complaining, just, he always felt a little inadequate. But he had the feeling his instinctive, heady reactions made her all the more lustful.

"I believe I have to thank you." She murmured her lips brushing against his skin.

"For what?" Steve strained out. She smiled, amused by his breathless voice.

Olivia leaned back and gazed up at his sculpted face. His dazed, heavy lid gaze met hers.

"You sweet little quip at my Pa earlier." She reminded cupping the side of his face.

He flinched slightly, his face etched with remorse as he worried his lower lip. Olivia eyed his mouth hungrily.

"Maybe I shouldn't have been a wisecrack with your old man." He said repentantly. Olivia laughed and shook her head.

"You could tear down a beaver dam and the man will still worship the ground you walk on." She said and kissed the corner of his mouth. Steve wanted more of her soft lips but she suddenly leaned back, denying him her kiss.

"But don't go and break a beaver dam, those little guys worked really hard." She stressed caringly for the wild animals. Steve fixated a flat look on his girlfriend, wondering how she would think he would want to destroy a beavers creation in the first place.

She grinned cheekily, knowing what his stare meant.

"I like that you are not afraid to call people out on things, its hot." She whispered her gaze travelling over him in vague awe.

"I take it that's a good thing." He mused not knowing the lingo she uttered, but assuming from the heated want in her honey brown eyes.

"Very." She breathed her face inching towards him. Steve couldn't wait for much longer and slanted down, capturing her lips in his.

Olivia wrapped her arms around his shoulders and clung to him. Steve gathered her into his strong, strapping arms and pulled her deeper into his body. They were pressed tightly together as their tongues mated.

Olivia was impressed by how quickly Steve had picked up French kissing. He wasn't as shy and hesitant as he was before. He knew when to apply just the right amount of pressure and technique. She wondered, achingly, what else she could teach him.

His released one hand from around her to comb his fingers into her hair. She couldn't suppress the pleasurable moan that left the base of her throat. Steve was immediately encouraged by this and kissed her in a deeper more drugging depth.

This was where they wanted to be. Far away from the world, from their troubles and lost together beneath a sea of stars.

---

Steve and Olivia returned back to the house, frazzled and blushing. Olivia drove back and parked the vehicle just behind hers. Steve was frantically trying to flatten down his tousled hair, determined not to let signs of their feverish kisses, show. He looked to his reflection on the rear view mirror and quickly pulled up at the collar of his sweater, covering up the obvious purple hickey she had left on his skin.

Olivia jumped out of the truck, whistling merrily and quite content with presenting her disheveled state to the world. Her curly head of hair was sticking up in random thick strands, but she hardly cared.

Steve smiled adoringly. He wished he could be a little bit more free like her, not really caring what people thought. But the Captain always wanted to make a good impression, he didn't want her parents thinking he was just fooling around with her.

Olivia rounded the front of the car and to Steve. He reached for her and instinctively she reached back and their fingers intertwined.

"Do you think they are asleep?" Steve asked fretfully, glancing down at his wrist watch and alarmed that it was almost midnight. The entire neighborhood was in darkness except for the streetlights.

"It's okay, we will be real quiet." Olivia responded in loving assurance.

"I hope your dad doesn't have a shot gun with my name on it." Steve gulped and nervously palmed the back of his neck.

"Chill, we hardly did anything. Wait till the fun stuff starts."

A blush filled his skin at the silken suggestion of her words. Despite his silent, virginal reaction. Steve was hoping for the same thing. He had been reluctant to initiate such a act before, plus with his lack of experience he didn't want to risk it, especially if Olivia wasn't ready. But now, seeing how truly comfortable and sensual Olivia was, he wondered if he was the one who wasn't ready yet.

He was considering voicing his thoughts when three figures at the front door caught his eye.

It was Noah and Layla. They stood at the bottom two steps of the house, facing a strangr in a white hoodie. The stranger had their back turned to them and stood on the paved path. Steve hesitated a little analyzing the person's figure. It was masculine, judging from his broad shoulders, trim waist and long feet.

His posture was very slouched and his body language emanated a aura of tenseness and worry. Steve's keen attention moved to her parents. They were talking in hushed tones, creased eyebrows and frowning lips. They weren't having a very pleasant conversation with the man.

"Hey Ma!" Olivia greeted, snapping Steve out of his thoughts. Noah and Layla were startled too. Their mortified expression fell on their smiling daughter.

"Who is-"

The man turned to face them, Olivia was stunned in to silence.

Steve took in the appearance of the odd man. He had a very narrow, craggy face. There were vivid dark circles under his eyes like he hadn't been sleeping the required amount. His hair was dark with the occasional strands of silver streaking up his hairline.

"Olli." He smiled, but it was a timid one and his dark eyes were quivering anxiously.

Steve was surprised by the apprehensive ways of the tall, lanky man. But what surprised him even more was the way Olivia tensed up beside him, her face twisted in a rage he had never seen before.

"What the hell are you doing here?" She hissed, the man flinched and lowered his gaze repentantly. He was trying to hide a thick, Manila envelope under the sleeves of his jacket, but they were quick to see it.

Olivia was furious and Steve didn't know why. Being in the heat of battle. The Captain knew how to anticipate an attack. It was a gut feeling, a spine tingling warning at the back of the neck that something was terribly wrong.

Even though he had no context to the situation, he knew something was brewing. The apprehension in the air was suffocating.

"You have got to be kidding me." She snapped in that same ferocious tone. Steve stared in shock and felt tremors pass through her hands. It was suppressed rage and a lot of it.

"It's not what you think." The stranger murmured unconvincingly.

"Not what I think?" She echoed scornfully, releasing Steve's hand. "I might as well be driving a DeLorean. Are we seriously doing this again?"

Her seething gaze fell to her parents. Steve saw the look of utter betrayal in her glistening honey brown eyes.

"He was returning the money sweetie." Layla said meekly, stepping down from the steps and towards her.

"You lent him money?" Olivia hissed her incensed glare snapped back to the man, her stare was filled with so much flashing anger that Steve was sure the man would catch fire and burn before their eyes.

"Keep it." She spat holding the man's vulnerable stare. "Ma and Pa don't need your drug money, Travis."

Travis? Steve had never heard that name before and it sounded like Olivia didn't know how to say it without gritting her teeth.

"I am trying to do the right thing." The man bit back, even though his voice trembled.

A mocking bark of laughter left Olivia's lips. "A little late for that."

The tension was whipping madly around them, a enigmatic, dangerous energy that Steve knew would get out of control. Travis was no longer afraid. He was scowling up at Olivia and Steve did not like the expression at all. He had seen that look on the Red Skull, right before he attacked.

Steve decided to intervene.

"Is everything okay?"

Travis's head snapped in the Captain's direction, his mouth curling up in a snarl.

"Mind your own business man-"

"Don't talk to him that way." Olivia growled in her boyfriend's defense , rendering the man silent. She stepped in between Steve and Travis so his attention was solely focused on her. She pinned him under her hostile stare.

"You are not welcome here Travis, leave."

The annoyance on his face softened to frustration. He coiled up in to his body, repentant of having bit back at a man he has never met. He glanced between the stern faced Steve and incensed Olivia before lowering his gaze to the ground.

"I am not trying to cause trouble. I was just giving back." He worded sadly.

Steve didn't know how to feel. The man seem genuinely sorry and serious about his intentions. But Olivia's expression was hard and unforgiving. His warm, loving Olivia was the coldest he had ever seen her.

"Not providing for your own daughter is one thing but taking from their pension fund, that's a new low."

Steve's eyes widened in realization and disbelief. It was the context he needed. The pathetic man before him was Olivia's brother, the one she did not like to talk about. It made sense why. He suddenly saw the resemblance in the family, except Travis looked like he came from the backyard of a drug den, compared to the pleasant faces of the rest of the Thorne family.

Olivia and her brother couldn't be more different, but it wasn't just that. Steve understood why she never talked about him, the sight of him made her so angry. There were years of hurt, vehemence and disappointment that made them that way, made her that way.

Travis stood wordlessly, he glanced back at his parents who stared solemnly. Olivia scowled at his desperate attempt to gain their sympathy.

"What are you still hanging around for? Get out!" She roared, shattering the tense silence in a startling intensity.

"Olivia..." Layla called out desperately, but her tender voice fell on deaf ears. Olivia was fuming. Her usual warm eyes were stormy and swirling in fury. Her clenched fists were trembling and her face was twisted in a sneer.

Travis didn't object. He lowered his head and obediently walked past them. They watched him leave, sad, lonely and no doubt bruised by Olivia's tongue lashing.

The moment her brother disappeared out of their view, Olivia fixed her stern gaze on to her parents.

"You have a lot of explaining to do." She warned.

Even her parents seemed terrified.

They quickly shuffled back into the house, determined to not have to have the pending argument publically, where the neighbors could see.

Olivia and Steve lingered behind, and just when she took a step towards the house, he stopped her.

"Olli, are you alright?" He asked kindly, gripping her gently at the curve of her shoulder. She raised her honey brown eyes to his, they were wary and full of youthful helplessness. More than that, Steve saw how truly broken she looked in that moment.

"Sorry you had to see that but I have no filter when it comes to him." She murmured apologetically, hesitant to be close to him.

Steve pressed his lips down to a thin line

"That's your brother, isn't he?" He asked, just to be sure even though he already knew the answer. Olivia sighed and turned away, refusing to make eye contact.

"I was hoping you would never have to meet him, I didn't think he would show up." She said, her voice soft and unsure. Steve didn't know what else he could say that would reassure her. She acted like Steve was the flighty one when all he read in her body language was a determination to get to the truth, consequences be damned.

He knew her mind was a scattered, frantic mess in that moment. He just hoped when things calmed down, she would be willing to open up to him.

"Do you want me to go upstairs?" He asked hesitantly. She slowly looked to him, struggling to make a decision.

"I..." She nervously rubbed the heels of her palms together. Steve waited patiently for an answer. She seemed almost fearful and he didn't know for what reason. Did she not want him to be around if things got ugly with her parents or was she apprehensive of facing them alone?

Olivia didn't want Steve to see this side of her. She felt like bawling on the spot. The weekend was supposed to be a special get away from all the nonsense and it was great, till her brother showed up. She had lost her cool and let her anger rule her body. She knew it would have been worse if Steve wasn't beside her. A silent reminder for her to not lose her temper.

She wanted him there, it brought her a strange sense of comfort and kept her closer to her centre.

"I don't want to hide this from you." She uttered looking to him. The unreadable expression he held softened, a glimmer of relief reflecting in his eyes.

"I understand."

She sighed in relief, the tension in her shoulders melted away for the moment. He smiled encouragingly.

Steve quietly followed Olivia into the house. Her parents were standing around in the living room. Anakit and John seemed to sense their discomfiture and remained by their sleeping beds, too nervous to interfere.

Layla was sitting on the black leather couch, nervously palming her hands. Noah was standing by the fire place, staring into the flames. Steve lingered by the entrance as Olivia stepped into the room.

"How much does he owe you?" She demanded, not wasting anytime.

"Olivia-"

"Tell me, I'll write a check right now." She cut off her mother, readily picking up her purple cultch purse from a top the coffee table.

"It's not a issue about money." Noah pointed out firmly, turning away from the fire place.

"You two must have a lot considering you are back to old habits again." She countered crossly.

"It's not like that, we had no choice." Layla cried out woefully.

"What do you mean?" Olivia bit back, trying her best not to lose her temper with her parents. Noah and Layla fell silent and exchanged guilty looks askance.

Steve was a spectator in the whole issue, sharing Olivia's bewilderment of her parents actions.

Olivia sighed in a mix of frustration and annoyance. "Tell me what could have possibly happened for you to start doing this again? Wasn't Norah's suffering enough incentive to stop?"

"He isn't doing that anymore Olivia, he is trying to change." Layla tried to reason.

"Yeah, just like the last five billion times." Olivia decreed sardonically. She was suspicious of the whole ordeal. She knew her parents struggled to say no to her brother before when he was desperate for money, but this was different. They seemed afraid, and not of her.

"Did something happen?" She demanded. Noah and Layla tensed and refused to speak, Olivia grew aggravated.

"Tell me." She pleaded.

Noah sighed and rubbed his forehead.

"Travis showed up few months ago, said that he had been clean since Norah." Steve saw just how much it pained them to remember the little girl. Noah's aging face seemed worn and beaten by the despair.

"He said he got a job nearby at this department store and he is trying to start fresh. Your mother and I didn't believe him at first but he really was showing change. So we invited him for dinner. It went well but then just when he was leaving a bunch of strangers drove up to the house and started beating him up, right in front of our eyes."

Steve gaped and Olivia fell eerie quiet.

"They threatened him and told him that if he didn't pay all that he owed it would be his life next. We couldn't just stand by and do nothing." Layla sobbed, wringing her hands on the edge of her sweater. "So we gave him what we could to save his life. Travis was just trying to pay it all back."

"Did you call the authorities?" Olivia demanded irked by what she was hearing and struggling to process the news.

"We didn't want to risk endangering Travis further." Layla admitted gingerly.

Steve sighed and Olivia threw her arms in the air exasperatedly.

"Ma what if it was you they came after?" She warned gesturing in her direction.

Her mother fell silent, ashamed by the realization of the impractical decision they had made.

"Did they come back again?" Olivia asked determined not to lose her temper again.

"No they haven't."

She sighed in relief, but the danger still lingered. What if it had been worse? The facts only made her angrier at her reckless brother.

"This sob story of his doesn't change anything. He was in trouble and deliberately put you two in danger." Olivia scolded, every word left her lips in a laser sharp precision. "What if there is more money to be paid? Now they know exactly where you two live. I thought we were done with all this?"

"We couldn't just ignore him Olivia, is our son and your brother." Layla reminded hoping to bring even a glimmer of sympathy from her daughter, but the aide memoire only further fueled her irritation.

"That spineless waste of space is not my brother." She hissed, the rage rising to the depths of her eyes again. "He abandoned his child in her most dire time of need. Left her wondering why she was so unwanted by her own father, even on her death bed. He took a fortune from the two of you to feed his own selfish desire to escape from the world and got himself thrown into jail and that's just skimming the surface of all the shit he has pulled."

"I-" There was a catch in her irate monologue.

Steve grew alert, knowing she wasn't suppressing just her anger anymore, it was her grief too. The heart wrenching memory of everything Travis had done wrongly and hurt Norah in the process.

Steve saw it, how tired and miserable she was, holding to a trust that continued to betray and let her down.

"I don't know how I can get through to you guys." She muttered miserably.

"Olli." Layla tried to console her crumbling daughter.

"I am done Ma." She said, warding off her parents with a wave of her hand while take a step back, towards the staircase.

"I am done." She a vowed, turned and rushed up the stairs.

Abandoning Steve, Noah and Layla in an awkward silence.

---

"Olli" Steve knocked at her bedroom door. "Can I come in?"

"Yeah." He heard her muffled response.

Relieved, he twisted the door handle and pushed open the door. He spotted her sitting on her bed, hugging a fluffy, white swans down pillow to her body.

"Hi." He greeted while shutting the door behind him.

"Hey." She sighed."I am sorry about all that down stairs I- I really have no chill when it comes to my brother."

"I didn't know it was that bad with him." Steve admitted, reaching her in slow strides.

"It's not worth talking about." She grumbled. Steve took a seat at the edge of the bed and turned a little, to face her.

"It's Thorne family tradition to just sweep everything ugly thing under the rug and not bring it up again. I didn't want to lie to Norah, whenever she asked I told her the truth the best way I could." Olivia confessed.

"Sometimes wanting to see the best in someone isn't always a bad thing." Steve said softly.

"Yeah it is Steve." She contradicted, looking to him sternly."What if they came and beat up on my dad for protecting my mom, huh?"

Steve had no answer for that, so she continued on.

"What if they just waltzed in to the house after hurting my defenseless parents and took everything they had?" She listed gravely and then fixated her shivering gaze on to him. "What then? Should I look for the best then too?"

"No it doesn't excuse what he did." He stated firmly, trying to make her understand that he would never console what Travis had done. Her tense, defensive posture sagged, comprehending that Steve wasn't trying to lecture her.

Steve felt confident enough to reach out and gently gather her hands in his. His thumb soothingly stroked her knuckles, making her relax even further.

"But I'm saying you should ease up on your parents." He advised compassionately. "They were put between a rock and a hard place, it wouldn't be fair to expect them to watch your brother be beaten to a pulp and not do anything about it."

"They should have known better." She muttered with ill concealed distress.

"They are parents and damn good ones. They wouldn't ignore their kid when he is in need." He reminded from observation. He knew he spoke the truth, he hadn't known Noah and Layla for long, but they did what any loving parent would have done. He wished there were more people like them in the world.

Olivia nodded, finding truth in his words. She knew either way that her parents weren't whom she was really wrathful at, it was the man that took advantage of their kindness.

"I can't believe him. I am so mad, Steve." She scowled, gripping his hand tightly.

"I don't believe it, not for a second." She insisted furiously, with a wide shake of her head. "I know him, I've seen his so called change and he always relapses, there is no saving that man. I am done giving him chances."

"You don't think there is the slightest possibility?" He decided to chance it with a speculative squint of his eyes.

"You weren't there. He has done some shameful things. He showed up drunk to Norah's eight birthday party made a big scene in front of all our family friends. When I tried to calm him down he..."

She fell silent, her gaze heavy with gloom and the prolonged silence only made Steve jump to the worst possible conclusions. What had the man done? Had he hurt her? The idea made a rush of anger flow through him.

"Anyway I didn't like being shoved against a table and something in me just snapped and I ended up punching him in the face. That was stupid on my part, Norah saw the whole thing. She never asked for a party since then, avoided her birthday like a plague." She told him, despondent over the mental recollection.

Steve blinked, unsure of what to think about the idea of Olivia being violent. but considering her wrath earlier, he wasn't entirely surprised. He pitied Norah, it's not easy to witness family fighting. Verbal or otherwise.

"He wasn't always a bad person." She added quietly with a trace of a smile on her lips. "My brother was annoying, but he was a good guy. But when Sarah died in that car crash, he spiraled. Nothing mattered to him anymore, not even his most precious baby girl."

The glimmer of her smile fell and she began to trace the shape of his slender fingers. Determined to hold on to the straying strength that kept her tears at bay.

Steve studied her distraught expression, his heart clenching. He understood her a little better in that moment. Why it was that she didn't express her feelings of resentment for too long, because it was easier to push them away than spend tedious long hours being miserable about them.

He knew it wasn't the wisest way to deal with emotions. Hell, he was guilty of such things himself. But he didn't want her to feel alone in her chaotic mind.

"Olli." He called lovingly. She hesitantly raised her gaze to his, he held her stare evenly.

"I am not defending him or trying to get you to see a good in him because I know how exhausting it is to be disappointed all the time. But you need to let this hate go." He counseled cautiously.

Her brows creased in bewilderment "I am not hateful."

She wasn't even aware of the cage of resentment she had imprisoned herself in. Or maybe, she just didn't want to admit it.

"Yeah, you are." He whispered, she frowned. But Steve was just a stubborn and continued to explain his point.

"You were trembling." He reminded, squeezing her soft hands in his. The hands he loved so much. "And it wasn't like you were about to vent your spleen. You are keeping this hurt wounded tighter than a drum and one day you are going to burst, just like you did at the party. Unleashing built anger like that ends up hurting a lot of people, including yourself and the satisfaction is only momentary."

She bit her lip and turned away.

"What if I can't let it go?" She asked, avoiding his tender gaze."I don't want to make the mistake of believing him."

"Then don't." He said, his expression sobering. "Believe in yourself, to know that you will not let this man ruffle your feathers. You are greater than he is, you were a great guardian to Norah and a good progeny to your parents, more than he could ever be."

Olivia stared at him, stunned by his words. She had only been on the receiving end of Captain Rogers inspirational speeches once in her life, but that was a different misunderstanding. Either way, it was great to hear. Honest, loving and most of all, encouraging.

She held his innocent gaze and smiled softly. But there was a deeper understanding in his eyes, like he was repeating words he had constantly said to himself.

"Why do I get the feeling you are talking out of experience?" She mused leaning towards him.

He averted his eyes down to their hands again.

"My dad wasn't exactly the best either." He confessed.

Olivia smile fell, her gaze darkening in concern.

"I thought you didn't remember him." She murmured baffled.

"Well not a lot, but I remember mom's bruises."

Olivia stilled and Steve worried his lower lip.

"He relied on his favourite poison to solve his problems too." He admitted. Her heart went out for him, she knew it wasn't easy for him to share that story. She had no idea, Steve didn't show the signs of an abused child, but then again it was his mother that had received the ill treatment. She was relieved that his mother still raised him well, despite the hurt she had dealt with.

Still, it must not have been easy growing up and not being able to help his mother. Olivia was speechless and struggled to find something to say, one thing she was clear of was not prolonging the silence and make him feel even more awkward.

"Do you have any cheerful stories?" She murmured despondently.

Steve unleashed one of his dazzling grins and threw his arm over her shoulder and pulled her into his body.

"You are my cheerful story." He said, nuzzling the side of her face.

"Get atta here!" She snorted while lightly elbowing him in the side. Steve chuckled and held her tighter and littered her face with doting kisses. She was laughing at his affectionate ways while trying to unconvincingly push him away.

"Fine, you made a good point." She gasped out breathless from laughing too hard. Steve smiled contentedly and she rolled her eyes at his obvious self satisfaction.

"I guess I'll have to go talk to them." She grumbled. The captain nodded encouragingly.

---

Olivia and Steve made their way back down the steps. She was expecting to be greeted by a darkened first floor, only to be surprised to find her parents sitting and drinking tea at the dining table.

"Olivia." Layla exclaimed, astonished by her daughters appearance in that late hour.

"Hey Ma." She greeted with a lazy wave of her hand. Steve smiled from behind her.

"You are talking to us?" Noah asked in bewilderment.

"Duh ,what did you think I was going to do, be mad at you two forever?" She questioned sarcastically while taking a seat on the chair, facing her parents. Steve sat down next to her and slumped back into the head of the chair.

"No its just, it hasn't even been a hour." Layla and Noah exchanged frazzled glances and then looked to Steve.

"She usually needs a day or two." Layla noted.

The Captain's fair brows lifted in consideration, Olivia was rolling her eyes.

"I got some new perspective." She murmured, her gaze flickering to her boyfriend.

She took a deep breath and then met her parent's stares equally. "I don't like secrets, you guys know this. Secrets never work well with us."

"We didn't want to get you involved with it, you were finally moving on." Her mother expressed lovingly.

"Then what about him showing up, were you really not expecting that?" Olivia demanded. Steve swiftly reached under the table and grasped her hand in his, a gentle wordless reminder for her to keep calm.

"Well we were hoping you two would never run into each other. When you stepped out we figured you wouldn't return till morning."

Steve and Olivia both turned scarlet at her father's sly, suggestive words.

"Well sorry for being responsible adults and not leaving my senile parents at home, alone." Olivia bit back in feigned annoyance, despite being utterly mortified.

Steve on the other hand was shocked into silence and struggled to make eye contact.

"Senile?" Noah echoed in derision. "Young lady we've managed far longer here without you."

"You wore two different pairs of slippers this morning and they were both for the left foot." Olivia pointed out factually."And you accused mom of taking your glasses while you were wearing them."

Noah gaped ready to fire back only to realize he had no rebuttal. His daughter grinned, smug and victorious. Her father frowned and shrunk into his chair and pouted like a five year old.

"Just tell me when these things happen, please?" Olivia pleaded, her expression somber.

"Yeah we will. I am sorry sweetie." Layla breathed contritely. Her doe eyes were soft and apologetic.

"It's okay." Olivia insisted forgivingly.

Steve smiled, happy that the situation was resolved and there was a peace among the household again.

"She did take my glasses." Noah stubbornly muttered from beside his wife.

The two women groaned in disbelief.

---

Steve was relieved to be lying on the bed in the Thorne guestroom. The mattress was strangely hard. He didn't mind it, he guessed it was one of those special mattress he had heard Clint recommend to Natasha for her back pain.

Even international spies have their aches now and again.

He tucked himself under the fluffy coverlet, switched on the bedside lamp and read a book, hoping it would cast him a sleeping spell, but the book just got interesting.

He was alerted by the sound of the door creaking open. His attention snapped up to find Olivia standing at the threshold of his room, dressed in her Stitch onesie and grinning at him.

"Hey Cap." She saluted with the dark corridor in her background. Steve stared in bewilderment.

"Olli, what are you doing here?" He demanded apprehensively.

She lifted a sardonic brow up at him.

"What do you mean what am I doing here? I am here to see you."

Steve couldn't really argue with that, not that he wanted her to think she couldn't see her own boyfriend. He shut his book and set it aside on the bedside table, his attention solely focused on her.

"Wouldn't your parents have a problem with you sneaking in to a man's room like this?" He voiced his concerns.

"And if it was?" She inquired playfully.

"I don't want to get in trouble with your old man." Steve admitted, palming the back of his neck nervously.

"Chill, Cap." She said with a dismissive flick of her wrists.

"It's not like we are going to do anything that would get us into trouble, are we?" She asked teasingly, with a flicker of mischief in her eyes.

"N-no." He stuttered out, not really sure by what he meant with the denial.

She grinned and shut the door behind her.

"Then there are no issues." She announced.

He observed her carefully, as eccentric as his girlfriend was, he had a gut feeling something was troubling her. She was acting too aloof, edgy even.

"Are you okay?" He asked, alert and concerned.

"Yup." She lied faking a smile. "Feeling a little paranoid but that's unavoidable I guess. Were you reading?"

The hardened precision of his handsome face, softened. Of course she was restless, she had just found out that thugs had beaten up her brother in front of her parents, in a neighborhood that was meant to be the epitome of peaceful.

She didn't feel safe in her home and definitely not alone in her room. He felt guilt for being a little guarded.

"Come here." He whispered his hand thumping noisily on the mattress. Olivia's brows lifted behind her glasses, surprised by the invitation. Steve smiled to assure her and she returned it shyly before inching towards him.

Steve slide to the side as she placed her glasses onto the bedside table and then climbed into bed with him. As she made herself comfortable, Steve reached up behind her and switched off the lamp light.

The room was swallowed up by the darkness. Rogers lowered himself onto the bed, careful not to accidently elbow her. He saw the trace of her silhouette shifting about next to him. She snuggled in to his side, he smiled fondly and gathered her into his arms.

She was quiet with her head rested on his chest. The only sign of life in her was the timed rush of air that left her nose and warmed his skin.

"What's on your mind?" He asked into the night.

The pensive stillness continued until she decided to answer his question.

"I need to go to the hardware store and get some more locks for the door." She stated soberly. "Maybe even invest in a few yard lamps. This neighborhood doesn't get much trouble but it doesn't hurt to be safe right?"

Steve absorbed her words empathetically, he closed his eyes and nodded in agreement.

"Right, I always wanted to try using one of those battery operated drill things, they look neat." He mused enthusiastically.

The weight of her head on his chest, left and Steve felt her gaze on him. He squinted his eyes open and found her watching him.

"You don't think I am being a little crazy?" She asked curiously.

"No." He cupped the side of her face.

A breath of relief left her lips and she turned her head slightly to place a kiss to middle of his palm.

"Okay."She murmured dazedly and returned her head back to his chest. "I just wanted a second opinion."

Steve relaxed into the soft comfort of his pillow. Olivia shifted a little so she could hug his torso. He was amazed by how quickly exhaustion had hit him when her warm body was cuddled up into his. He lovingly kissed her forehead and allowed his body to give into the spell of sleep.

---

"This is just so unnecessary. How can I remember such a complicated lock?" Layla exclaimed gesturing to the strange, black and silver, cylinder shaped device that Olivia had attached to the space above the door handle.

Steve and Noah joined the two women outside on the porch. Olivia wanted to demonstrate to them how the new lock system worked. Steve didn't fully understand his girlfriend choice in modern day security either, but he was eager to learn.

"It's automatic, Ma. I've set up everything for your phones so it's just the effort of keeping your devices charged and at the ready." Olivia explained her tone a little exasperated. Steve sympathized for his beloved, he understood how taxing it could be to repeatedly assure her parents.

"This must have cost you a fortune." Layla murmured contritely.

"Early Christmas present." Olivia grinned.

"What if I get locked out?" Noah demanded eyeing the strange device skeptically.

"You won't Pa, besides there are back up keys and it's in the usual place you keep the valuables. Plus it has a camera so I will be notified who rings the door bell." Olivia elucidated, pointing to the glossy screen of the device.

"A Camera?" Noah echoed in wonder. "Is it automatic?"

"Yeah why?" Olivia demanded suspicious of her father's plotting smile.

"I find out who is the son of a bitch that's been plucking my Blue Stars." He grumbled under his breath. Steve's fair brows lifted in surprise and he exchanged a look with his girlfriend.

"Not that kind of camera, Pa." Olivia sighed. "Look see, I'll show you."

Olivia gently grasped her father by the wrist and pulled him so he was facing the door. She showed him how to use his phone to activate the device. It was just a matter of waving his phone in front of the object and the tiny screen lit up.

Welcome Home Noah.

It read in a very friendly, bright blue colour. The witnesses were amazed.

"Hey look at that Habibti, it's saying my name." Noah exclaimed in wonder to his wife. He grinned smugly and then patted his daughter proudly on the shoulder. "You kids with your fancy gadgets."

Steve grinned at the sight, content that the Thorne couple were easily slipping into the wonders of the new security system Olivia had bought for them. He was a little amazed himself.

After all, Olivia had taken great caution and contemplation when she set her mind on the current system. She hadn't obsessed over it for the entire weekend, just Friday when she showed Steve around town. He had seen how relieved she was once she had consulted a technician at an electronics store and bought the system.

The rest of the weekend was spent with the family. Steve loved it. Of course Olivia was frustrated most of the time because she was in a battle with Noah for Steve's time and Steve felt like the rope in a tug of war, pulled back and forth between the two Thorne's.

Noah was a sly old man, a quality Olivia possessed equally, but of course he thought she was adorable when she did it, which was altogether dangerous.

Overall, Steve had to admit it was the best weekend away he had ever had. From Layla's great food that she constantly insisted he take more servings of. To Noah's passionate introductions to everything Steve had missed in his time in the ice. But his favorite part was the chance he got to learn more about Olivia and her childhood. Layla had sat him down at one point and showed him all the albums she possessed of their children, like any parent would do to embarrass their kids.

Olivia was thoroughly mortified, not so much during her baby days but when her awkward middle school years came around. Steve was shocked by the sight of her extremely bushy hair, thick eyebrows and round chubby face. He was more amused than disgusted because despite her appearance back in the day, she still grinned in that cheeky way she did as an adult.

Olivia decided to install the device on Sunday morning. Steve was happy to help her, it stopped him from fixating on the fact that it was their last day in Winterville.

She had just finished explaining to her parents how the lock worked. Noah and Layla passed through the door that greeted them when they did. Steve decided to follow them into the house. He stepped in to the threshold of the house when the screen of the object caught his eye.

Welcome, Steve.

He stared in utter shock for a moment or two before patting Olivia's shoulder to get her attention. She spun around to face him and she was caught under his wide eyed staring.

"You gave me access, too?" He asked.

"I can give you access to a lot of things Cap." She winked suggestively. Steve deadpanned but he couldn't hide the amused smile that curved at his lips.

"You know what I mean." He breathed out in fond exasperation.

"Yeah, why not?" She responded with a casual heave of her shoulder.

"I just wasn't expecting it I guess, are they okay with it?" He asked glancing at her parents who were heading towards the kitchen.

"Ma insisted on it." She said softly, winding her hands around his strong arm and hugging him to her side. "Figured if you were in the house that's enough protection."

A raspy laugh escaped his lips, she had a point. His gaze twinkled down at her and Olivia grinned lovingly. He was tempted to kiss her in that moment, when a waddling puppy grabbed his attention.

John Dog sat in front of the Captain and stared up at him expectantly. Steve couldn't resist the puppy's soulful eyes.

"Hey pal." Steve cooed, lowering his body to his knees. John eagerly dived fast first into Steve's loving touch. "You are going to be a little confused around here for a while, don't let the bright lights scare you. They are there for your safety."

"I am guessing you are more of a dog person." Olivia noted, observing them fondly.

Steve slowly stood on to his feet with the affectionate puppy in his arms.

"I can't resist puppies." He confessed woefully. "Don't get me wrong though, I love Anakit. I am just not used to cats."

"Neither am I." Olivia murmured, reaching out and petting the small creature nestled in the crook of his elbow.

"Norah was allergic, hence me not having one before." She explained.

"Where is that little bastard?" She mused searching the floor for her cat. At the sound of his owners voice, Anakit meowed and approached from within the kitchen.

"There you are sugarplum." Olivia she fussed lovingly. She bent over and gathered the ball of fur into her hands. Steve watched with glittering eyes as Anakit purred and snuggled up against Olivia's chest as she held him firmly.

"You know if you keep calling him bastard behind his back and Sugarplum to his face, he is going to be confused by the mixed signals." Steve noted factually.

"I call Charlie a bastard and he still hangs around." Olivia pointed out with a cheeky grin.

"Charlie is a special case." Steve stated dryly, Olivia laughed.

Steve reluctantly brought their packed bags down the staircase. He piled them up beside the staircase and then counted them to make sure he had brought them all. He heard the heavy falls of Olivia's footsteps as she descended the stairs.

"Cheer up Cap, we will be back in no time." She assured, wrapping her arms around his shoulders from behind and clinging to his broad physique. Steve grinned and patted her forearms.

Layla appeared from the bend in to the dining area. She holding a light brown wicker basket in one hand while the other balanced a square, plastic container. Steve smiled in greeting and she returned it timidly.

Olivia side stepped along the tread she was on and posed her elbow above his right shoulder and leaned against his body.

"Here you go a little something for the road." She explained and placed the basket beside their luggage. Then she motioned the closed container to him.

"Steve this is for you, apple cake." She said sweetly.

"What?" Steve was taken aback by the offering. He nervously accepted the box and then lifted open the plastic lid. He was amazed by the sight of the four, neatly cut, slices of soft butter cake. He was thrown by the delicious scent of apple and caramel that wafted off the treat. He mouth began to water. He subtly licked his lips and then raised his amazed blue eyes to Layla.

"Mrs. Thorne you shouldn't have." He breathed in astonished appreciation.

"I am a big fan of that recipe myself." She said with a knowing smile. "Let me know what you think of it and, please call me Layla."

Steve grinned and nodded, shutting the lid of the container to treasure the scent of the cake. He held the box protectively to his body like it was the Holy Grail.

"I am sure I'll love it, thank you Layla." He said kindly. She grinned as a blush coloured her face.

"Hey, hey Ma." Olivia chimed in leaving her boyfriend's side to wrap her arms around her mother in a pleading demand, vaguely similar to her cat.

"I did most of the work. Where is my treat?" She exacted with a visible pout.

"I packed you a box of those caramel chocolate tarts." Layla stated dryly. Olivia grinned.

"I love you." She placed a sloppy kiss on her mother's face. The woman rolled her eyes at her daughter's overly zealous affections.

Steve and Olivia said their goodbye's at the door. It was particularly hard for Steve to say bye to John Dog and Noah struggled to let the Captain go. Her parents waited by the door as Steve, Olivia and a caged Anakit, got into the car. Steve took point on driving this time and he was about to roll out of the drive way when Noah's voice caught his attention.

"You bake him an apple cake and he starts calling you, Layla? I can't cook! How long will it take before he stops calling me Sir? It's weird Habibti, he is older than me!"

Steve was immediately struck with guilt and looked to his girlfriend for a desperate solution. Olivia was shaking her head in disbelief.

"My dad sometimes forgets that he is the only one in the house that is part deaf."

"He is part deaf?" He echoed in wonder, a soft realization dawning on to his face as he rounded the wheels onto the main road.

"That makes a lot of sense, I thought he was just naturally loud." Steve muttered thoughtfully, earning a unintentional laugh from his girlfriend.

He smiled watching her express merriment. "I really like them."

"Yeah?"

He nodded, She smiled. "They really like you too Steve. It's only a rare few that they are so unabashedly creepy around."

Steve laughed. "They are sweet in a strange way."

"You are like the both of them." He pointed out.

"Not just my mom?"

"Maybe you two think the same but you have your dad's eccentric, warm personality." Steve stated fondly.

"Aw." She fell into a pensive silence for a moment, her gaze softening sadly.

"I wish I could have met your mom." She added dolefully. Steve was not expecting those words to leave her lips, but at the same time it made sense. From everything he had seen during the weekend, Olivia was more family orientated than she cared to admit, so it was natural for her to want to know more about him and his family.

But the facts hit him hard and he found himself wishing for the same.

"She would have loved you." He stated, staring at the stretch of clear asphalt ahead of him. "Might not understand what you are talking about half the time." He said, slanting a smile in her direction."But she would still adore you."

He knew that as fact, his mother valued his judge of character and Olivia was special to him.