Searching

It has been one long lonely year since I have last saw Steve Rogers.

He had left me that day after the kiss we shared together to go separate ways. It was hard to see him leave me, but I knew that it was the best. It took me awhile to realize that he was right about us aging. He couldn’t live to see me die. All I knew was that he did care and loved me like he told me that he did.

I moved from New York to California, to get away from the city that constantly reminded me of him. I was drowned in my sorrows. My gallery was slowly dying because I lost muse to paint and draw. My light was gone. My inspiration left me. Even if we were on talking terms, it had hurt to be in the same place that he resided in. I knew that I was bound to run into him in the city, so that is why I had to get away.

It’s pathetic to run away from a person that you love, but it was the best way that I could cope.

Jonathan left me alone to much surprise. He just couldn’t stand the fact that Captain America was my choice, and not him. His plan was to get rid of Steve, and it worked. His tactic scared the Captain off, to my disliking. It was a horrible feeling to know that Jonathan had scoped out things about Steve to use against him, and to have it work.

After a long year of absence, I knew it was time to return back to the city that I loved most. It wasn’t going to be a permanent stay, but a simple visit. My grandfather wanted to see me, which I did. He would tell me stories about how Steve would come to the apartment just to talk to him. That kept my grandfather happy, and I was glad that Steve would continue to do that even if the apartment reminded him of me. What a good man with a big heart.

Today I sat in my old art gallery. I didn’t sell it to anyone, since it was my own. I made payments on the space to keep it so I can always come back to it to remember what I accomplished in this building. It was bittersweet. My work station was still in the same place, and the walls were still white.

I still remember back to the conversation that I had with Steve from the last time I saw him. My fingers went to my lips as I remembered our kiss that sent electricity throughout my body. Tears came to my eyes as I remembered the three words that we said to each other before we departed. Who knew those words could affect a person so much?

My back was to the door, just staring at the blank walls in front of me. They used to hold my pieces of work, now they were bare and all of the art was sold to respective buyers. I still remember when Tony bought that piece for more than I was selling it for. That was a pure honor. I wondered if that was still hanging up in the entryway of the tower.

“It seems like you have the fascination with Captain America. Why all him?”

That voice, I remembered it so clear. I smiled when I heard that voice, not wanting to look back and spoil the surprise for myself. “He saved me. If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t have open this gallery because I would have been dead,” I repeated. The same words that I answered with when we first met at my gallery.

“That is quite moving, ma’am,” he returned, and I looked back to him with a big smile on my face, “It is nice to see you again, Miss Bensworth.” He smiled at me.

“Likewise Captain,” I replied back.

He opened up his arms to me, and I ran into them with no questions asked. We embraced each other, and we laughed together. My feelings rushed back to me all at once, and I couldn’t help myself from crying. “I missed you so much,” I whispered.

“And I missed you,” he told me, keeping our embrace.

One moment, we pulled away from each other, and then looked into each other’s eyes. Big smiles on our faces, he wiped my tears away with his thumbs.

“I still love you,” I told him, not being scared to tell him those words.

He then kissed me, and I kissed him back without hesitation.

When we broke apart, he smiled down at me. “And I still love you as well,” he told me, placing a kiss on my forehead. With that done, he sealed my lips with his own once more as we held each other.

Steve Rogers, I will always be searching for you, and I hope that you will always be searching for me.