𝙱𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝙸'𝚖 𝚒𝚗 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚎

Chapter Twenty-Three

**The same day, a few minutes later**

Steve's POV

I helped Y/n into the back of the van, and I noticed that she turned her nose up at the interior.

"I thought we came here in a different van....." She spoke with a confused look as she slid down the side of the van in the corner, taking a seat on the floor.

"Well, somebody kinda blew up one of our vans." I spoke sarcastically as I plopped myself down next to her.

     The van that we rode here in had seats mounted to both sides of the van, but this one just had a cargo space and no seats. There were a few unconscious rogue agents squished in the van with us as well, along with two SHIELD agents in the front of the van.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." She said in the midst of a yawn.

      I let out a breath of a laugh at her, and leaned my head back on the wall of the van. It wasn't long before I felt Y/n's body relax, and her head loll over to my shoulder. A soft smile covered my face as I rested my head atop of hers.

     Y/n and I agreed to take things slow, and we were. Of course, we still had movie nights and did practically everything together, that would never change, at least I hoped it wouldn't. Little moments like this, I cherished. She looked so peaceful while she slept. Her features were completely relaxed, as was her breathing. A piece of her hair strayed from where she had it up, and I let it hang there. It made her look even more beautiful than she already was, and she didn't even have to try.

     My mind drifted back to the battlefield earlier today, and I recalled how she took down six men in a break room without being out of breath. I also recalled smacking my best friend upside the head for ogling at her.

     I chuckled slightly as I remembered when she hit that agent across the head with her leg. I did have a broken nose, and it sure hurt like hell, but seeing her standing there, on one leg, panting, it made the pain disappear it felt like.

     This woman laying against me, had done so much for me in the past few weeks. She declined the director of SHIELD because she was at breakfast with me for Christ sake. But she's also come so far since I first met her. She's relaxed considerably ever since she signed the papers to become an official member of the Avengers. She's gotten along with everyone perfectly, cracking jokes with Pietro, smarting off to Tony, and having meals with me.

     That's one thing I looked forward to everyday. We'd at least have one meal with each other everyday. On the weekends, we'd have breakfast at Agatha's diner, or we'd have takeout in one of our rooms while we watched movies. On the weekdays, I'd bring her breakfast or lunch, and we'd eat together right there in her office. I cherished these moments that I had alone with her, since the team loved her just as much as I did. Wait...... did I just admit that I loved
Y/n?

     Okay, yeah. I did love Y/n, I do love her. A smile broke out on my face again as I realized that my feelings for her went a lot deeper than movie marathons and shared meals.

     I was afraid that I was moving on too fast, but I finally put those thoughts to rest when I went to visit Peggy a few days ago, that night that me and Y/n kissed. I told Peggy all about her, and Peggy told me that it wasn't very hard to see that I loved her. She assured me that moving on was what she wanted me to do. I promised Peggy that I'd bring Y/n to her soon, so that she could meet her. Peggy said that she'd like that, but a few moments later, she had forgotten my promise.