in the shadows ? steve rogers

009 ? an army base date

"Kiss her?" Steve repeated, anxiously. "Oh, this was a bad idea."

"Steve, you're not the little guy from Brooklyn anymore," Bucky told him, letting out a breath. "If you're worried about her not liking you because you're smaller than her, that's not gonna happen. Besides, she talked to you at the Expo."

"She was just being nice," he contradicted and the brunette on the bed rolled his eyes.

"And how do you know that?" he asked, becoming increasingly more annoyed by his friend's lack of confidence. "Maybe she was actually interested in listening to you. Despite what you thought, Steve, you were a good person when you were small. And still are."

"Buck—"

"For crying out loud, Steve, go to her tent and take her to dinner!" Bucky exclaimed with a groan. "And let me read the Hobbit in peace. And don't forget to be a gentleman! And give her your jacket if she gets cold!"

Steve let out a breath before nodding and leaving. Bucky shook his head as his friend disappeared from view.

"I deserve an award for this..." he muttered before returning to his book.

⸻ ~~~ ⸻

"𝐎𝐇, 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐊 𝐁𝐄𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐈𝐅𝐔𝐋!" Peggy exclaimed, clasping her hands and smiling at her friend. Grace was standing in front of the mirror she had in her tent, smoothing out the dress she was in. "Steve is going to be absolutely speechless!"

"You think?"

She nodded. "Of course he will! Red truly is your color. And when the two of you get married, be sure to thank Sergeant Barnes and me for getting the two of you off the base."

Grace frowned. "We're not getting married, Peg. It's only dinner."

"You say now..." Peggy smirked before leaving the tent. Grace shook her head at her friend before glancing at her watch.

"Wow..." She looked up and saw Steve standing at the entrance of her tent. "You, uh... you look beautiful."

A blush spread across her cheeks and she looked down. "Thank you. So do you. Nice uniform."

"Yeah, I, uh..." He cleared his throat. "I don't have anything else to wear."

Grace smiled. "I don't mind. It brings out your eyes. Besides, you earned those honors." She bit her lip and Steve glanced behind them.

"Shall we?"

She nodded and quickly grabbed her clutch before following him out of the tent. They walked in awkward silence for a while before Grace cleared her throat.

"Are you ready for your upcoming fight against Hydra?" she asked him, looking over at the blonde beside her. "I think I have four chests full of weapons ready for you. And many more coming."

"Already?" he asked with a chuckle. "That's impressive. I think we're as ready as we'll ever be."

"And your friend?" Steve looked over at her. "Is he ready after everything that happened to him?"

"I think so."

"Good." Grace looked down when she noticed a paper fall from Steve's coat. "I think you... dropped this..."

Steve glanced behind him and scratched the back of his neck. "Oh, um..."

Grace looked up with a small smile. "Is this me?" she asked, looking back at the drawing she was holding in her hands.

"Well..."

"It's really good," she said, admiring the artwork. "Are my eyes really that sparkly?" She turned back to look at him and smiled. "You know, if the Army doesn't work out, you may have a future as an artist."