Bucky's note said 10 a.m. So of course Steve arrived by 9:15. As he begins walking through the complex where he grew up he remembers everything that happened to him there.

"I got beat up on the playground over there. And again in front of the steps leading up to the apartment Mom and I shared. Then the bullies dumped me in the trash bins. That was when Bucky showed up. Two of them ran away, but the third insisted on fighting him. I remember how one punch took him down, and a kick to the ass sent him scurrying away. I can even remember our conversation like it was yesterday:"

"Steve, why do you keep letting them do this to you?"

"I gotta stand up for myself, Buck. If I run away, they'll just keep doing it."

"Then you know the offer still stands. Come with me to the boxing gym. I can teach you to defend yourself."

"Thanks, but you know I have to learn on my own. You're not always going to be there."

"That's a load of crap, buddy. I'm with you to the end of the line."

A week later, the bullies came back. And like always, Bucky was there to protect his best friend. This time, things changed. Steve didn't argue again. After his broken nose and three broken ribs healed, he was at the gym every day learning to fight. School ended and by the time he turned sixteen, he had grown another foot in height. His asthma was less of a problem, and he was finally reaching his own full potential. The bullies shied away from him. It was then that he knew that Bucky was more than his friend, they were brothers. Remembering all the good times they had later, he looks down at his watch. Fifteen minutes until he has to be at the pavilion. He walks over and waits for the appointed time. When his alarm starts beeping the hour, he's still lost in thought when a song from the past starts playing, from the chorus:

"But then I fooled around and fell in love,

I fooled around and fell in love

Since I met you baby

I fooled around and fell in love

I fooled around and fell in love"

When the recording stops, he smiles to himself. He now knows who wanted him to come. That was the song they had their first dance too. He was always a terrible dancer, but only managed to step on her feet three times.

"Hi Steve."

As he turns around to see her, the first words out of his mouth are an apology.

"Nat, I…I'm sorry for leaving you. I'm sorry I didn't trust you with my decision to enlist. If I could go back and do it all over again…"

She stops him by placing a finger to his lips. And when he looks into her eyes, he sees only her understanding.

"Steve, you don't have to apologize. I didn't understand why you needed to join the Army back then. Yes, it hurt me."

He starts to look down, ready to apologize again. But then she gently cups his face, raising his chin so she can look into his eyes.

"I understand now. I read all of your letters. I knew Bucky was a brother to you. But I couldn't see past my own selfish wants. No one had ever made me feel like you did. And when you told me you were enlisting, I was afraid you were going to die overseas. Just like our Dads did. I couldn't face it, so I ran. In the fourteen years you were gone, I've only dated one other guy. Just one and I turned down his proposal because he wasn't you. When Carol talked sense into me the night I ran away from the bar, I realized that I was still angry because you went to join Bucky. Then I remembered how accepting you were of my friendship with Clint. I know. I know it's a little different, but the same principal applies."

"You read my letters?"

"Only recently. I kept them filed away, the whole time you were away. I guess I kept them sealed because I felt it was the only way I could hold on to you. I was afraid of what they'd say. Maybe you met someone else. Maybe you wouldn't still need me."

"It was always you, Nat. No one could ever replace you. But you didn't read them all."

Steve pulls an envelope out of his back pocket. He'd been carrying it with him since he saw her the night of his birthday, in case he ever got this chance. As she slowly opens it and reads what it has to say, tears fill her eyes. It ended the same way all the others did. But the difference is the back of the paper feels a little more rough, when she turns it over, she sees a sketch of herself. When she looks up her tears are falling again.

"W-when did you draw this?"

"When we were in college. It was the night after we met. You remember when I bumped into you? There was this fire in your eyes, and I just had to capture it."

Natasha is speechless. When they were together, she'd always watched him with his sketch book. Drawing whatever he saw. But she never knew he did this one until now. For a moment neither of them speaks, he just pulls her close. When she buries her head against his chest, he runs his fingers through her hair. After all these years apart, it feels like time stands still while they hold each other. Then:

"I still love you, Nat."