Happy

He let Grace pick their spot, which happened to be an open bench that was nestled perfectly for their view of the fireworks. The committee of the festival had strung soft white lights into the trees, giving the park a gentle glow. They settled onto the bench, and Steve rested his arm along the back, giving Grace the opportunity to snuggle into his side if she wanted, which she gratefully took advantage of. That was one thing Steve did like about this era, women weren’t so shy and timid.

Grace smiled at the children that seemed to dance around them, sparklers in their hands as they chased after one another, their laughter filling the warm night air, and creating a relaxed atmosphere. A soft, content sigh escaped from her lips and she looked up at Steve, appreciating his strong jaw and soft eyes. Blushing when he caught her looking at him she let her head rest against his shoulder, thankful that he said nothing but gave her shoulder a soft squeeze. Jumping when the first firework burst into the air, she giggled and turned her gaze towards the horizon, aweing softly at the colors lingering in the sky.

They walked hand in hand back to her home after the fireworks had ended, chatting lightly and laughing every so often. It was a perfect first date, Grace thought to herself as they neared her front door. She had figured out where she had recognized him from, and didn’t blame him for not saying anything about it. Grace had decided to let him tell her on his own terms, hoping that he’d trust her enough eventually to tell her. They ascended the steps to her front door, and she turned to him with a gentle smile.

“I had a great time tonight, Steve, thank you.”

“I did too, Grace.” He murmured softly, giving her hand another soft squeeze. “I would like to take you out again, if that would be okay with you?”

“I’d love to see you again, Steve.”

Steve grinned, leaning down and pressing a gentle kiss against her forehead, not having been able to work up enough courage to give her an actual good night kiss. Grace didn’t mind though, old fashion values and all. So instead she wrapped her arms around his trim waist and gave him a tight squeeze.

Stepping up onto the tips of her toes to press her lips against his warm cheek, she giggled at the red lip stain that was left behind. She wiped it away with her thumb, and felt the blush work its way up Steve’s neck and onto his cheeks.

“Good night, Grace.”

“Night Steve, I’ll see you soon.” She murmured, unlocking her door and stepping inside. Not being able to help himself, Steve leaned in and gave her another kiss on her forehead before pulling her door shut, softly. Waiting until he seen lights in the house turn on, he whirled on his heel and hopped down the steps, grin pinching his cheeks as he headed back for his apartment.

After talking on the phone a few nights later and discovering that Grace had never rode on a motorcycle, Steve had asked her if she’d want to take a ride the following Saturday. Grace had excitedly agreed, giddy to be doing something that she’d never been able to do before. She woke up early that morning, since they’d decided to leave by ten o’clock, so that they would have time to ride and enjoy themselves. Taking a quick shower and drying her hair, Grace pulled it into a low pony tail and swept on some makeup quickly. Heading for her closet, she rummaged around until she found a pair of jeans and long sleeved shirt like Steve had requested that she wear. Quickly dressing, she found a pair of socks and the leather boots that she owned, shimmying those on she stood and headed for her kitchen to enjoy a cup of coffee before she had to leave.

Grace could hear the motorcycle before she could see it. When Steve pulled up in front of her house, she pulled open the front door and hopped down the steps, a grin plastered across her face, she let out a whistle.

“She’s a beaut.” Grace murmured, eyeing the bike in an appreciative manner. Stepping up onto the tips of her toes when Steve climbed off of the bike, she pressed a kiss to his cheek and sighed softly when his lips met her temple.

“Well you look like you’re ready to ride.” Steve chuckled softly, rounding the side of his bike and pulled out a helmet. “The only thing that I request is that you wear this.”

“Sure,” Grace nodded, “Oh, shit, hang on I forgot my jacket.” Running back into the house, she grabbed her soft, tan, leather jacket and slipped it on. Smiling as she headed back outside, she laughed when Steve plunked the helmet down on her head and buckled it for her. “Thanks.”

“Of course.” Steve murmured, looking over his shoulder at her as he climbed onto the bike. Waving her over, he held out his hand to her and helped her onto the back of the motorcycle. “You’re going to want to hold on,” Steve told her, letting the bike roar to life, “If you want to stop, or you get uncomfortable, just let me know, okay?”

Grace nodded, adrenaline making her heart thud harder than normal as she wrapped her arms around his waist, peeking her head over his shoulder as he merged out into traffic. She let out a squeal when he accelerated and Steve couldn’t help the chuckle that slipped passed his lips. Steve loved riding his Harley, it was one of the only times that he let himself not worry about anything other than the road in front of him. He’d be lying if he said that it didn’t feel good to have a woman on the back, with her arms wrapped securely around his waist. He felt her giggle every so often, or her hold on him would tighten when they went around a curve. Steve wasn’t exactly sure where they’d end up, but he didn’t think that it really mattered much.

Grace felt exhilarated on the back of Steve’s bike. She loved the feeling of the wind whipping around her, and surprisingly wasn’t scared like she thought that she would be. But, she knew that had a lot to do with the man driving the machine. She relaxed her grip on his waist eventually, getting use to the etiquette of riding. She didn’t put much thought into where they were headed, because she knew that as long as she was with Steve she’d be okay. At one point she’d even rested her cheek between his shoulder blades, watching the scenery fly passed her. She felt a lot more relaxed then, the sun felt amazing on her face, she was so wrapped up in herself that she didn’t notice that Steve was slowing the bike, turning off onto an exit that would take them to a state park.

Lifting her head from between his shoulders, she looked around and smiled when Steve reached down and gave one of her hands a soft squeeze, “Thought you fell asleep back there.” He teased, slowing to a stop in a parking space and shutting off the Harley.

“No,” Grace murmured, “Just relaxed.” Reaching under her chin, she tried to undo the strap of the helmet and huffed in anger when she couldn’t get it. “Steve?”

“Got it,” He chuckled, pulling himself off of the bike and leaning over so that he could undo it for her.

Smiling, he pulled it off of her head and hung it off of the handle bar. Offering her his hand, he helped her off and held on to her arm a little more firmly than normal so that she wouldn’t stumble, knowing her legs likely felt like jelly after a ride like that. “So I take it you enjoyed the ride?”

“Oh hell yes, it was awesome once I got use to the leaning with the turn and all that.” Grace said smoothing her hand over her hair to make sure that it hadn’t gotten too mussed up. She looked around and took in their surroundings, “Have you been here before?”

“Nope,” Steve admitted, happiness shining in his blue eyes, “I figured we could explore together? What do you think?”

“That’d be great; I love this kind of stuff! I’m glad I wore my boots.” She admitted to him, pulling her jacket off as it was quite warm without the wind whipping around the bike. Draping the leather across the seat of the bike, she looked up to him and waited as he shrugged off his jacket as well.

They trekked along the trials, just enjoying one another’s company and the sounds of nature, neither one of them feeling the need to fill the silence. Steve helped Grace over the fallen trees, and kept a hold on her hand afterwards, making Grace smile to herself. She caught herself watching him and the way his muscles would move under his gray t-shirt when he climbed over larger trunks or huge rocks that had somehow found their way to the forest. Blushing scarlet, she pushed not so pure thoughts out of her mind and took his hand when he offered it to her.

Gasping lightly once they reached the top of one of the rock formations, she realized how far of a jump it would be down. Pulling her bottom lip between her teeth, she worried it as her eyebrows furrowed together. Steve jumped down with ease, landing steadily on his feet as he looked back up at her,

“You coming?”

“There’s a reason my mother named me Grace, Steve…that’s because I don’t have any.”

“You’ll be fine, Grace. There are a few dips and hollows that you can use to climb down if you don’t want to jump.”

Peeking over the edge, she spotted what he was talking about and nodded, “Okay, that’s better than jumping. You’ll spot me, right?”

“I won’t let you fall, Grace, I promise.” Steve smiled at her, encouraging her as she plopped down on her butt and then turned over to her belly, feeling for one of the crevices, she then stuck her boot into it securely and felt along for something to grasp. Once she felt secure, she moved her foot down to the next dip in the rock, moving slowly down until she had almost reached the bottom. “There, I’ve got you, now.” Steve murmured softly, reaching up and grabbing her by her waist and lifting her rest of the way down, she wrapped an arm around his neck for security and smiled at him.

“Thank you, Steve.”

“That was pretty impressive if I do say so myself.” He murmured, letting her feet settle onto the ground, but keeping his hold on her hips for a moment longer. Lifting his head, he listened for a moment, “There’s moving water somewhere close, do you want to go check it out?”

“Well yeah! I didn’t come all of this way for nothing, you know.”

Steve laughed, shaking his head and holding his hand out for Grace to take once more. Grace took it gratefully and let him lead her lightly along as she wasn’t sure where to head. She hadn’t been able to hear the water yet.

“We’re getting close, do you hear it? Sounds like a waterfall, or something like that to me.”

“I hear it.” Grace agreed, the whooshing sound of the water moving rushing to her ears, and as they crested a final ridge, they saw it, and it was in fact a waterfall. “Oh my god, Steve. This is amazing.”

Pulling his arm into her, she wrapped her free hand around his forearm and stared in awe at the powerful water falling. They stood for a moment, taking in the beauty around them, when Grace looked up to see Steve looking down at her. Smiling softly, Grace turned so that she was facing him and ran her hands up his thick arms to rest on his shoulders. His hands fumbled for a moment before coming to rest against her hips. She rocked herself onto the tips of her toes and closed the distance between their lips.

She let her eyes slide closed when she felt one of his hands find the nape of her neck and rest softly there. His hand that was still on her hip pulled her closer against his chest as his lips moved softly against hers. Grace couldn’t help but giggle when she found she wasn’t tall enough to link her fingers together around his neck. She felt Steve’s smile against her lips, and he placed one last soft kiss against her lips before pulling back a hairsbreadth to look at her. Steve enjoyed the twinkle that had found her brown orbs when she opened them once more, and couldn’t help but drop one more kiss against her lips.

He let his hand slide down her spine gently, and took grasp of her hip once more. Her hands had slid down to grip his biceps as she lowered herself back down onto her flat feet. Lifting his hand, he tucked a stray hair back behind her ear and let a content sigh slip passed his lips.

“I’ve wanted to do that since our first date.” He admitted softly, blue eyes sparkling with happiness.

“I would have let you, you know.” She teased gently, giving his biceps a tender squeeze before she took a small step back so she wouldn’t have to crane her neck to look up at him. Sliding her hand down his arm gently, she linked their fingers together and turned back to look at the waterfall, feeling the spray from the water hitting her face gently, and cooling her off. Her lips tingling from the sensation of Steve’s against hers. Resting her head against his shoulder, she sighed softly, looking up at the blond haired man when he cleared his throat.

“Grace, look…there’s something we have to talk about…”

“Okay?” She questioned, the worry that filled her brown orbs making Steve wince. He sighed and ran a hand over his face, trying to find the right words to say to her, to not scare her off. Finally, he turned towards her and took her other hand into his own, holding both of them gently between them.

“I’m uh; I’ve got to be honest with you.” He paused, “I really, really want to see where this is going between us. But, there are certain risks with being involved with me…and I could never allow you to become involved with me without knowing them first.”

His eyes danced over her face, watching to see how she would react. She kept her eyes calm, even though her heart was pounding harder than normal. She nodded, encouraging him to continue. Her hands giving his a soft squeeze of encouragement. He didn’t speak for what felt like ages, not sure as to how to tell her about his second identity, until it finally just tumbled out of his mouth.

“I’m Captain America.”

“And?”

“And?!” He questioned exasperatedly “That’s all you have to say about it? Doesn’t the thought bother you in the least? What about all that could go wrong?!”

“Why think about all of that? Why ruin something that’s just beginning?” She sighed, “Listen, Steve, I understand your concern but I’ve learned with life that you never know what could happen, or when it’s going to end. I’m not going to let my happiness be tarnished by just possibilities and chances. If something ever happens, we’ll work our way through it. Together. I didn’t agree to go out with you because of you being Captain America. I agreed to go out with you because I’m fond of the goofball that is Steve Rogers…we can’t not take a chance, Steve. Don’t you think you have the right to happiness?”

He stared at her, and she could practically hear the gears turning in his head. His eyes had darkened to a deeper shade of blue, and he had pulled his bottom lip between his teeth. His hands were still holding hers, his thumbs rubbing over her skin as he thought things through.

“You’re right,” He murmured softly, looking over her shoulder for a moment before meeting her eyes,

“I deserve to be happy, and you make me happy Grace.” His plump lips tugged up at the corners, a smile taking over his face. “Do you think…?” His face stained scarlet, “Would you, uh, would you be my girl?” He murmured softly, scratching the back of his head in nervousness making Grace giggle softly.

“Yes, Steve, I would love to be your girl.”

A grin made his cheeks dimple as it took over his face. He wrapped her up in his arms and hauled her tightly against his body, dipping his head and pressing his lips to hers. To ‘seal the deal’ as he told her later after they parted. He enjoyed the soft pink color that flushed her cheeks and neck, and the way her eyes sparkled when she looked up at him with a grin spreading across her face. Steve didn’t know what the future held, but for the first time in a long time… he didn’t care. He was content,happy, and that’s all that mattered in that moment.