"Steve, it's snowing!"
It was amusing to hear the excitement in her voice through the phone. Steve looked out the window to his balcony where snow was building up. "Didn't you live in Russia?"
"Okay, so I have a thing for snow."
He smiled for moment. "You're not sick of it?"
"Not one bit," she said. "I would do anything to do a snow angel right now."
"A grow superspy doing a snow angel?" he asked.
"Don't judge. You want to meet up and do something?"
Steve paused for a moment, watching the snowflakes fall. "Sure. When?"
"How 'bout at noon?"
"Today?"
"Is that a problem?"
A large grin spread cross his face. "Not at all. Want me to meet you at your place?"
"Nah, I'll come over to yours."
"Okay, see you then. Bye."
"Bye!"
Her phone clicked on the other end. Steve put his phone down and went to his closest.
Snow. He felt a tad bit fearful inside. After all, he was frozen for seventy or something years. He knew he wasn't going to do that again and that everything was going to be okay, but it was that initial fear. Those powerful feelings from the experience came and went at least once a week. All those times he clutched at his sink, trying to clean himself up but never could. The thing was the sink couldn't fix memories. The sink could only put water on his face.
Snapping out of his thoughts, he pulled out warm clothes and started changing. Natasha lived about twenty minutes away. He had time.
After putting his clothes on, he went and combed through his hair. When he noticed he had been in the bathroom for a while combing his hair, he laughed, admitting to himself that he was rather obsessive with his hair when it came do these things.
Finally, he put on cologne. Natasha knocked on his door after he had finished. "Coming," he said, opening the door.
Natasha smiled up at him, wearing a soft, maroon coat. "You ready?"
Steve nodded. "Let's go."
"You don't mind if we hang outside, do you?"
He hesitated for a brief moment. "That's fine."
Natasha either didn't hear the hesitation in his voice or ignored it because she said, "Great. To the park it is."
The fountain was frozen over, icicles hanging from the edges, making it look even more wondrous than before. It was strange seeing the park so empty, though. Natasha and Steve had only seen two people throughout their whole walk. Steve remembered their park date back in October. Had it really been two months ago when they strolled through here, watching kids play and lovers stroll and dogs bark?
"It's weird," Natasha commented out loud. "Seeing nobody here, I mean."
Steve looked over at her. "You just read my mind."
"I like it," she said. "Nobody can watch you like a zoo animal."
"Were people doing that before?"
She thought over what she was going to say for a moment. "You know how people walk by, and you watch them, just because you have nothing better to do, not because you're genuinely interested in what they're doing?"
"Yeah?"
"That's what I mean," she finished.
Steve looked around at the abandoned, snowy park. "So, if no one is watching us, does that mean I can do this?" He picked up some snow and threw it at Natasha.
She gasped, looking at him with wide eyes. "Steve!"
"What?" he said innocently. Inside, he was that he didn't end up on a missing persons list.
She didn't say anything at first; instead, she stared at him for a few moments before swiftly bending down and throwing snow right in his face. He sputtered, trying to wipe it off as he heard her run as fast as the frosty ground would let her.
"Natasha, you come back here!" he said, running after her.
Natasha was grinning like a mad man as she threw another hunk of snow at Steve. He attempted to dodge it, only to be hit on the right arm. "Okay, you asked for it!" he shouted, bending down and grabbing a huge pile of snow.
She squealed as it came showering towards her. The snow doused her hat and jacket, falling softly by her feet. She blew air through her mouth, snow shooting off her lips. "Rogers," she said, maliciously.
"Oh, dear." Steve turned to make a run for it, only to be pursued by Natasha, hands full of snow. He felt the hard impact of the contents in her hand hit his back.
"Don't you know better than to try and run from me?" Natasha said, standing there with hands on her hips.
He turned around. "Can I do this, then?" He lunged towards her, grabbing her arm and falling backwards into the snow. She let out a cry as she fell backwards. As soon as they landed, they both got silent for a moment, their breathing a little faster because of the cold air and running.
Then she laughed.
The hair prickled on Steve's arms as she laughed. It was an enchanting, mesmerizing sound. He quickly sat up to see her face. Her eyes were closed, her mouth open wide. The sides of her mouth were creased in the perfect spots, her hair dripping with snow and sprawled behind her head. Her chest moved up and down with each laugh. He watched her, taking in the laugh, feeling extremely happy. He laughed himself. Soon, she was sitting up.
"Look at us. We look like idiots," she said merrily.
"Two maniacs in the middle of a snow drift in a deserted park," Steve added.
Natasha's laughs started to fade. Their eyes locked on each others. Steve grew silent as well, staring into her eyes. His breathing grew heavier. Her lips looked so soft and beautiful, her eyes so captivating, her face so bright. If only he could put his lips on hers, wrap his arms around her waist….
"I never heard you laugh before," he said softly.
The passion in her eyes seemed to fade as he talked. "Oh, yeah," she said. "I don't laugh much these days."
"You told me that before," he said. "I'm really glad I got you to laugh."
"Why?" she asked.
"Now I know another part of you," he said. "I found the fun, childlike side of Natasha Romanoff."
She sighed. "Good luck, Steve. I'm hard to figure out."
"That's why my mission is unlocking Natasha Romanoff," he murmured.
She didn't say anything for a moment. "Why?" she asked. "What's so special about me?"
"I could tell you a lot of things," Steve said timidly. "But I can't put my finger on why you're so special. Natasha, I… I really like you."
She looked a tad bit taken aback. "You…."
"I'm sorry if I made you feel awkward," Steve said. "If you don't want to do that, then… I…."
"Shh." She smiled. "I like you too."
"But—"
"I really like you."
Steve gave a small smile before looking away. The park was absolutely quiet.