Hearts Collide

Sunlight entered the small room and hit Alex's face causing her to scrunch her face up in discomfort and shift so that the light was hitting her back instead. In the process of doing so, Steve also shifted and moved the arm he had wrapped around Alex, pulling her close to his body. Alex grunted at the feeling of being jerked to the side and woke up from her half sleep.

"Steve?" she questioned as she poked him in an attempt to wake him up.

He let out a soft grunt before inhaling deeply and whispering,

"Morning, Alex."

"What are you doing in my bed?" she asked, the sleepiness in her voice causing Steve to smile softly.

"You asked me to sleep with you after…y'know."

"Oh my God," Alex mumbled as she buried her head in her pillow. "You mean me getting drunk wasn't a weird dream?"

"No, Alex. You really got drunk and acted…weird," Steve stated trying to use a word that wouldn't offend her.

"I'm so sorry, Steve. I didn't mean for any of that," Alex apologized as she turned her head to face him. "You were supposed to have that nice Christmas I promised you. Now all you have is—"

"Christmas morning in bed with you," Steve interrupted as he tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and allowed it to linger there. "It's fine. I said that all that mattered was spending Christmas with someone I cared about. I didn't think I'd be waking up to the sight of that person lying right next to me."

"Aww, Steve," Alex cooed before leaning forward to give Steve a short sweet kiss.

"Merry Christmas, Alex," he smiled.

"Merry Christmas, Steve. Now come on, let's go down stairs. My mom's probably making pancakes," she chirped as she rolled out of bed. Steve chuckled at her enthusiasm as he went to his room to change into a pair of sweat pants and a white shirt. When he entered the kitchen, Alex was already eating and she gestured for him to take the empty seat next to her.

"Good Morning, Steve," Christina sang as she flipped the pancake she was making. "And Merry Christmas. Eat up," she said as she served him a stack of pancakes.

"Thank you," Steve replied. "And Merry Christmas."

"Did you guys have fun at the party last night? You know before Heather tricked Alex into drinking?" Christina asked nonchalantly as she took a sip of her coffee.

Alex practically choked on her pancake at her mom's statement and reached for her glass of milk, clearing her throat before asking, "How did you know about that?"

"Steve told me when he asked to borrow my car. How do you think you got home last night?" Christina questioned.

"I don't know," Alex admitted as she frowned a bit. "Sorry about all of that, mom."

"It's fine, Alex. It wasn't your fault. They should have never let that girl in there to begin with," Christina sighed. "Now eat your pancakes," she demanded. "They're going to get cold. Same goes for you, mister."

"Yes, ma'am," Steve joked as he took a bit of his food.

The rest of the morning was spent talking and enjoying the food that Christina hads made. Christina did most of the talking—she talked about how she would spend her Christmases taking care of patients in the hospital while Alex was visiting Tony and she told stories about Alex's childhood. Steve smiled and laughed when Christina was explaining how Alex tried to catch the tooth fairy and how she tried to make a robot dog. Alex just sat quietly, her face turning a slight shade of red from embarrassment.

"And there was this one time," Christina began, "that Alex was afraid of a monsters coming out of her closet in the middle of the night. So she—"

"Okay mom, I think that's enough," Alex interrupted. "How about be we go to the living room and open gifts," Alex averted. "I want you to see what I got for you."

"Alright," Christina agreed. "I can tell Steve about your monster trap later," she stated as she left the kitchen.

"Thank God," Alex muttered to herself.

"I'm having fun listening to all of those stories," Steve teased. "You we're a pretty interesting child."

"No. I was pretty weird," Alex sighed.

"Alex, I think you were an adorable child," he declared as he kissed her nose before pressing his forehead against hers. "And you're a beautiful lady now."

"And you are a sexy man that needs to go open his Christmas gift," she grinned before she stole a quick kiss and left the kitchen.

"Alex, here," Christina said as she handed Alex a red and white striped box that was lying under the Christmas tree. "Merry Christmas, honey. I hope you like it."

Alex slowly began removing the wrapping and opened the box to reveal a black knitted scarf with a stitched in Yoshi and Toad design on each end of it.

"I love it, mom," Alex whispered as she wrapped the scarf around her neck. "Thank you."

"I'm glad you like it. I made it myself," Christina smiled as she hugged Alex. "And thank you for the boots. Steve, I have a gift for you too," she stated as she handed Steve a blue and silver stripped box.

Steve took the box and opened it, revealing a blue knitted scarf. When he took it out of the box, he noted the red and white stripes at each end accompanied with a white star. Steve smiled and thanked Christina for the gift. She mouthed a small 'you're welcome' before asking, "So what gift do you want open next, Alex?."

"Mom, I'm not five," Alex scoffed as she picked up a green box with a note that said 'To: Alex. From: The Greatest Dad in the World'. She giggled slightly at the note before ripping the green wrapping and opening the box. "No way," she gasped as she saw what was in the box.

"What is it?" Christina asked. "What did Tony get you?"

"He got me a Nintendo 3DS with an Iron Man case!" she squealed as she hugged the 3DS to her chest.

"Wait. I thought you already had a 3DS. Why would Tony get you a new one?"

"Thor broke my old one when I was showing him how to use it," Alex stated with a hint of sadness in her voice. "But now I can play Cooking Mama," she grinned.

"Of course," Christina scoffed as she headed to her room to put away the boots that Alex had given her.

"So," Alex began as she turned to face Steve, "did you open the gift I got for you?"

"No."

"Then what are you waiting for?" Alex questioned as she playfully punched him in the arm.

"I'm waiting for you to open the gift I gave you," he replied as he picked up a white and gold box from under the tree and handed it to her

Alex accepted the box and began to unwrap it. She let out a small exhale before she finally opened the box. She gasped in shock when she saw a small circular charm attached to a silver chain. She took the necklace out of the box and closely examined the charm. It had a star in the center and three rings around it. "Your shield?" she asked when she recognized what it was.

"Yes," he responded as he took the necklace from her, moving her hair to the side and helping her put it on. "When Fury sent me on that mission a while back, I couldn't stop thinking about when I would see you again…or if I would see you again."

"Steve, where did Fury send you that would make you think that you wouldn't—"

"That's not important," Steve interrupted. "What is important is that even with my shield there keeping me alive, you were the one thing that truly kept me going," he continued as he ran his fingers through her hair.

Alex stood in silence as she fidgeted with her necklace. Small tears formed in her eyes, but she wiped them away before they could fall.

"Alex, are you okay?" Steve questioned when she didn't say anything. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No," she giggled, clearing her throat her bit. "It's perfect. Open your gift," she stated as she handed him a small red box with a gold bow on it.

He took the box and causally unwrapped and opened it, not knowing what to expect. A small grin formed on his face when he saw the shiny dog tags with an engraved image of Mario and Princess Peach.

"Turn it around," Alex piped.

Steve did as he was told and read the words 'Alex's Mario' on the back of it. He chuckled before asking, "Does this make you my Princess Peach?"

"Yes. But don't go around calling me that., I'm a tough girl," Alex declared as she flexed her arm.

"That's right, I did train you," Steve joked as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in for a sweet kiss. Alex kissed back, wrapping her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss, which caused Steve to smile.

"Woah! Easy there, you two. You're not even under the mistletoe," Christina joked as she entered the room, interrupting the moment the two were having.

"Mom!" Alex pouted as Steve pulled away, hiding the pink forming on his face.

"Sorry, kiddo. I only came to get my coat. I'm going to the hospital. You guys can continue making out," she stated as she grabbed the coat hanging in the hall before leaving the house.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I can't believe Fury's making you go back to New York," Alex pouted as she drove him to the air port.

"I can't believe it either, but he said it was urgent. Sorry, Alex," Steve apologized.

"It's okay. I'll see you in 10 days and, when I do, it's going to be a new year," she chirped before pulling over.

"Call me when you get back, okay?"

"Don't worry. I will," she replied before leaning forward to give him one more kiss until she returned to New York.

"Bye, Alex," Steve said as he got out of the car and entered the airport terminal with his luggage.

When he disappeared from her sight, Alex let out a big sigh. "It's just 10 days," she thought. "What could possibly go wrong?"