Early Fourth of July gift for my readers!

34 : TWO PLACES AT ONCE

Steve knew that it was close to her school play. His little red was really stressed out. Every time he finished with his football practice, he would wait to pick her up at the auditorium. She was always too exhausted to go anywhere and just wanted to go to bed immediately.

"You gotta eat something" He said as he carried her on his back, heading to his car.

"Too tired"

"It's not healthy."

"I don't care"

Steve knew he had to take care of his little red.

"Thank you for carrying me, Steve." She said sincerely "My legs were about to fall off."

When they arrived at the bar, Steve continued to carry her to their table with everyone was looking at them. Even if it was becoming a familiar sight to see Steve carrying Natasha, people still stared at the spectacle they created. It was cause for gossip to see Steve Rogers being this gentle and sweet to a girl like this.

"What do you want to eat?" He asked and flipped the menu in front of her.

"A T-bone would be nice" She murmured, her head resting on his arm. "With Cheesy fries and chicken wing too."

"Did you come from war or something because you're eating for an army" He teased and she immediately slapped his arm in respond.

Steve ordered everything she wanted and tried to keep her awake until the foods was served. Everyone kept their eyes on the couple. Some going as far as to tweet about them. Their relationship had quickly became the biggest news on campus

Steve made sure that his little red ate properly and when they were done with their meal, they got up to head back to their dorm. As they were leaving, Tony complained that they couldn't leave yet since they hadn't hung out as a group in over a week.

"She is tired, dude" Steve replied simply "She needs her beauty sleep"

Natasha let Steve carry her. He dropped her off at her room to take a shower before joining him in his room. When Steve came back from taking his own shower, Nat was already waiting for him on his bed.

Steve slid under the blanket with her and Natasha immediately snuggled to his side, resting her head on his chest. They closed their eyes and began to slowly drift off to sleep.

However before they feel asleep, Natasha quietly asked Steve, "Are you still sleeping around? Do you still have someone on the side?" Nat quietly asked.

Steve came instantly awake to answer, "No, little red, there is only you." He replied with a gentle smile and a kiss to the top of her head "Why do you ask?"

"Just curious I guess"

"Well, for the record, I'm all yours, Nat"

Natasha had a rehearsal in the morning so she left her Captain alone in bed but didn't forget to leave him a note and a red lipstick mark on his cheek.

Steve woke up to find an empty bed. He frowned but when he saw her note, his smiled.

'Early rehearsal will be back at lunch, Nat xoxo'

He planned a surprise for her when she came back. A little something to cheer her up after her brutal rehearsal.

He set everything in its place in his room and then headed to her room to put a little gift at her front door.

The director released Natasha half an hour later than scheduled. She had already told Steve about this possibility when she called him during a break and he said he would wait for her at his room. She decided to stop by her room first to change, and when she reached her door she found a rolled parchment of paper.

It was a sketch of her doing ballet with the caption. 'You always take my breathe away'

This was not the first drawing she had received, and she still didn't know who was drawing these beautiful painting for her. But whoever it was, she had to admit it was a very nice of them. She had two or three people in mind as her anonymous gift giving artist but hadn't had time to check it out yet.

She headed to Steve's room to find him waiting for her with a big bright smile and hugs and kisses.

"Hope you don't mind, I already set up our little lunch date here" He said gently guiding her to the couch.

In front of her was takeout from their favorite Italian restaurant including lasagna, spaghetti in tomato sauce, and pizza with her favorite topping.

"Aww, you are indeed Captain Adorable" She said weaving her arms around his neck for a hug. "This was really very nice of you, Steve. Thank you."

She leaned up on her toe to kiss him. He smiled into her kiss enjoying how happy he had made her. They enjoyed the delicious meal together, quickly cleaning up when they were done so they could snuggle on the coach. Natasha was laying on top of her Stevie.

"Could you sing?" He asked

He was always asking her to sing for him because he couldn't get enough of her beautiful voice especially when she sang in her native tongue.

He loved her voice. From the first moment he had heard it all those months ago coming from the auditorium he had been hooked. Since he discovered the owner of that voice was none other than his little red it had become his favorite past time to have her perform for just him. He would ask her to sing and when she was done he would reward her performance with kisses.

Steve slowly began to realize that his world was narrowing down to just him and Natasha. The time he spent with her made the world just disappear, and all that mattered was the two of them in the moment.

He could spend all day kissing her.

But to his annoyance someone or something always seemed interrupt their time together.

In this case their moment was interrupted by "Oh god!" Tony exclaimed and covering his eyes "Guys, it's a public area! Keep it PG!"

"YOU are in MY room, Stark." Steve said

"A public area in your room counts too" Tony replied

"Eww, I never thought seeing my friend making out would be this gross" Pepper frowned at the couple on the couch.

They sat up from their lounging position but Steve never took his arms from around Natasha's waist.

"It's YOU who should be ashamed, Tony" Natasha interrupted "You are the one who is acting NC-17, not us. You are the one banging countless girls in the living room for anyone to walk in on"

"How could you know that?!" Tony yelled.

"Bruce told me that he sometimes walks in on you and some random girl doing it"

"I'll kill him" Tony vowed

"And moreover, my Stevie doesn't sleep around like you anymore, Stark"

Steve kissed Natasha on the cheek in support of her reply causing Tony to break out in mock vomiting sounds.

Steve and Natasha were talking about her play at the bar. Tony and Pepper were dancing while Thor, Clint, and Darcy were having a drinking contest. Darcy very quickly realized that she couldn't compete with these two men when it came to shots.

"Nat, I have to tell you something" Steve spoke up "My mom is coming to your play with me."

"Really?"

"Yeah" He nodded "Do you want to do something fun before your big day?"

"I can't think of anything right now" Nat told him

"Maybe something from your list?" He suggested

"Oh! I can think of just one. I want to be in two places at once"

"You totally stole that line from A Walk to Remember!" He exclaimed "You watched it already?"

"Yes…" She replied "I watched it with the girl some time ago"

Natasha looked into his eyes and she knew that he was planning something in his mind.

"No! Don't you dare come up with some hair brained idea!" Natasha exclaimed

"Baby, we have to do something to alleviate your stress! He said "We are going to do something fun, possibly a little crazy, but you will enjoy it."

"Okay, I'll do whatever you have in mind as long as it's not too crazy. I don't want us both injured before my opening night. She said with a teasing smile. "Let's just start with something simple, okay? Like, take a drive to the middle of nowhere, lay on the roof of the car and just stare at the stars"

Steve took her hands and replied in a very serious manner, "I'll try to keep it simple, ma mhuirnín"

They shared a kiss and for the first time, their usual audience looked away to give them privacy. Even though by this time they had both become used to being the center of attention, and Steve was comfortable with public displays of affection it was still nice to have a moment to themselves.

They got up from their seats and joined Clint and Jessica on the dance floor but quickly retreated when Tony took over to do some stupid dance moves.

Nat clung to Steve's side as she laughed so hard she lost her balance. Steve was also having a good laugh, enjoying his time with Natasha, and feeling like everything in the world was perfect.

Steve felt in that moment, with Natasha at his side, and surrounded by his new group friends that nothing would ever go wrong for him again.

Steve had a plan for his little red. Even though she had made him promise to keep things simple, he just couldn't keep his word. He wanted so badly to surprise her and see her smile that the word simple just wasn't in the cards.

He had been secretly planning for almost a week. He knew that to pull this off, his plan had to be perfect.

He snuck into her room in the middle of the night and tried to figure out a way to wake her up without getting himself kill.

"Wake up" Steve whispered and lightly shook her arm "Come on, Nat"

"I am trying to sleep so please GO AWAY or you'll make me angry and you won't like me when I'm angry"

"Nuh uh babe, I have a surprise for you."

"Seriously, Steve. My play is in two days. I need my beauty sleep or I'll look like some kind of a hulk monster"

"Nat, you're always beautiful even without sleep" He replied in a sugary sweet tone

"Your sweet words won't get me out of my bed this late at night"

"Come on! It will be fun" He said

Nat sighed and got up from bed before dressing quickly. Steve practically dragged her out to the parking lot. Nat was surprised to see that he was opening the door of his pickup truck for her.

"No Lamborghini?" She teased.

"Yeah, doesn't suit the terrain for where we are going."

They headed out on the highway for half an hour before Steve pulled over to a remote spot in the middle of nowhere.

"You said you wanted to sneak off in the middle of the night to somewhere seclude to star gaze on the roof of a car." He said before removing the cover to the flat bed of his truck which was set up with pillows and blankets "Well, how about this instead. We can just lay here all cozy and have some snacks"

There was a mini cooler and a huge bag of snack which Nat found had all her favorites.

"Steve…" She smiled "This is the best idea you have ever had. Thank you so much for this, it's wonderful!"

His heart fluttered in his chest as he gazed at her happy face "I aim to please"

"And you do succeed at pleasing, my Captain"

He helped her climb up to the flat bed before they settled into comfortable position. Steve did prepare everything perfectly and Natasha really loved it. She would have never imagined that a man as macho as Steve would be so sensitive or romantic.

It made her wonder if he had ever done anything like this with Peggy or any other girl for that matter. She wondered if anyone besides her had seen this side of Steve or gotten a chance to be seduced by it.

"So Mr. Rogers, have you taken any other girls star gazing besides me?

"Well, as you know I only had one real girlfriend. We were just kids really, and my health wasn't great back then. She was always afraid that I would collapse at any moment so we mostly stayed at my house, and when I got healthy she broke up with me." He told Nat honestly. "So to answer your question you are the first, and only. I did this for you, and just for you. I've only ever wanted to do this for you."

"Oh my goodness… Steve…. no one has ever….that is the nicest…" Nat tried to say a few times losing her words with the swell of emotion choking her "Steve Rogers" she began then stopped to take a deep breath "This is the most wonderful thing anyone has ever done for me, and I am going to kiss you now."

And Nat did just that. She leaned in and gave him a brief kiss on his lower lip pulling it between her own for a quick suck before releasing it and pulling back. But that was nowhere good enough for Steve so he followed her lips when she pulled away but Nat stopped him.

"Oh no Steve if we keep kissing we won't get a chance to see the stars" She told and gave him a teasing smile.

How could she expect him to wait when she already gave him a suggestion like that? Steve knew that his little red always had fun torturing him but he also knew that he that he wouldn't push her.

"The stars look so different here from my home town." She told as she looked up in the sky.

"They would because they are different longitudes."

"But I still can recognize some"

She went on to name the stars and by the time she was done Steve was astounded by her knowledge of astronomy.

"How do you remember their names?" Steve asked "They all look the same to me"

"I wanted be an astronaut when I was a kid before I discovered that I love dancing and singing more than the stars"

"You would be so hot in an astronaut uniform" He teased. Nat punched him lightly on the arm.

"What about you, Mr. Man? What did you want be when you were a kid?"

"I wanted to own a garage when I was a kid, a motorcycle garage to be precise." He replied "Then my father decided he wanted me to join him in politics but now, I really just want to be an NFL quarterback."

"I bet your dad wasn't happy to hear that"

"Big time. He said it is a short term career and should just be a hobby. He threatened to cut off my trust fund but it didn't work because I have my mom's full support. When he couldn't control my career choice, he decided to focus on controlling who my future wife would be."

"Wow, being you really sucks. Here I thought I had it bad."

"Life styles can't really be compared, but, being General Joseph Rogers's son comes with very high expectation."

"At least your mom supports your dream. Alexei never supported me. He was so afraid of losing me that he was willing to destroy my future just to keep me with him."

"I will never do that to you. It's selfish to force someone to abandon their dreams."

"I dreamed about performing since I was a kid, to make it to Broadway or Hollywood. Maybe I can be the next Meryl Streep or Barbara Streisand or Madonna."

"Or you could just be Natasha Romanoff, the next rising star of Hollywood or Broadway" He told her "You can do it, Nat." He took her hand and kissed it "Just believe in yourself and I will be there to support you."

And there he was, being the supportive boyfriend she had always hoped Alexei would be. Steve not only supported her but he also encouraged her to follow her dreams without the fear of losing her to fame.

How long had he been hiding this part of himself under the douche bag cover? How could he be so supportive? How can one could change this much?

And then the realization hit her. He had changed because of her, FOR HER. He was willing to change everything about himself to make her happy. The thought was so profound that something inside of her finally broke, and the wall she had erected around her heart fully crumbled.

"Hey" He lightly shook her and brought her back from her deep thoughts "Are you still with me?"

"Sorry. I was just thinking about something"

"You look like you were million miles away" He said "What's bothering you?"

"It's not something big. Just thinking about the play." She lied.

Steve didn't ask her again because he knew that she was avoiding the question. If she wanted to tell him, she would when she was ready.

Natasha snuggled against Steve, resting her head on his chest. Steve weaved his arms around her and pulled the blanket over them. He couldn't resist kissing the top of her head.

"You can cross out two from my list, Steve"

"Why is that? We still didn't get to do the 'two places at the time"

"We already are." She said with a secret smile and held her gripped him tighter to her

Steve seemed baffled by her answer but didn't push her to explain.

Natasha didn't know how to explain to Steve that what she meant was being in a secluded area, and being safe in his arms at the same time were two places she always wanted to be. This was perfect, perfect in every way. And it felt right.

Natasha closed her eyes and savored every second with him.

"Nat?"

"Yes"

"What is on the top of your list?" He asked "Can you tell me about it?"

Natasha hesitated but then she realized that she trusted him more than anything and more importantly she wanted to tell him, "To believe in love again"

"Hmm? To believe in love again?"

"Yeah, it's the hardest thing, you know? When someone breaks your heart, it's like they steal a piece of you away, and you can't trust another person not to hurt you again. It takes a lot of courage to open yourself up again after your heart has been shattered. The thought of giving someone else the power to hurt you again takes a lot of courage. You have to trust that they would keep you safe, and help you to get back the piece you lost so that you're whole again.

"I understand. But somehow, you have to move past it. YOU have to take back the piece that person stole so that when you are ready to give your heart to someone else you are whole because you're ready and unafraid not because you're waiting for someone else to fix you. If someone like me can move on, you can too"

"I moved on too, Stevie, I really have" She told him and looked him deep in the eyes, "And I know that you've moved on too, sweetheart"

He stared into her beautiful green eyes and all the feelings that had been bubbling inside of him exploded.

"Nat—I—I" He stuttered. His blue eyes looking into here with nothing but love before he was bent forward to capture her lips in the most passionate kiss either one of them had ever experienced.

Natasha wove her arms around his neck, pulling him closer and kissing him back with everything she had in her. She knew in her heart what he had been about to say. Those three words filled the air even though he hadn't say them.

Now it would be her turn to admit the same to him.

He HAD made her believe in love again.

It was Natasha's big day, the opening night of her play, and she was buzzing with excitement. Everyone in the group including Steve's mother and Nat's parents would be there to support her. Steve dressed up more formal than usual with suit and tie.

They all sat at two special boxes. Steve sat with his mother with a bouquet of roses in his hand. He would give it to her after the show.

The lights dimmed, the curtain pulled open, and the show began to a packed crowd, ending with a standing ovation for Nat.

Everyone really enjoyed the show and Nat's performance was brilliant even Steve's mom praised her. When her voice had filled the room during her solo it had shushed the audience into awe that was palpable throughout the rest of her performance.

Steve couldn't have been more proud of her when she had received her standing O and the loudest of applauses during her curtain call.

The whole group met up with Nat at the backstage. The other members of Nat's cast were excited to meet Sarah Rogers. Sarah was bombarded by young want-to-be Broadway actors who begged for her assistance in getting them their big break. Steve finally found his little red in the adoring crowd surrounding his mother.

"Hey, sweetie" He said "This is for you" He handed her the roses and kissed her lips"You were amazing out there. I believe my mom said BRAVA."

"Thank you, darling. And thank you for being here" She hugged him

"Anything that makes you happy, ma mhuirnín" He smiled "And I have another gift for you"

He reached into his suit pocket and fished out a signature blue Tiffany's boxand opened it. It was a ballet girl charm for her bracelet.

"Oh my! You didn't have to!"

"I wanted to" He said and placed the charm on her bracelet.

The group ended the night at a fancy restaurant for dinner to celebrate the success of Natasha's performance. Steve never let his girl out of his sight for even a moment.

AN:

- Special thanks to my dearest friends, sleeplessinbudapest & internetangie!

- Thank you to my proofreaders, chrwrigh.

- Please kindly leave a review