American Mouth | S. Rogers x OC

Ch. 6 - Confess

As the door opened, Dorothy saw Steve's head shoot up from where he lay on his bed, a journal or something in his lap with a pencil in his hand. "Dorothy? I wasn't expecting you–" She winced at his choice of words. "What's goin' on?"

"I've wanted to talk to you for a while, and I guess I just... finally found the motivation to now."

"Alright." Steve set down the journal and pencil beside him, giving her his full attention. He patted a spot in front of him on his bed. Dorothy shuffled forward and sat on the edge. "What do you wanna talk about?"

"I have to confess something to you, and I don't know how you'll react or what our relationship will be after this, but you deserve the truth. Just... promise you won't be mad at me?"

"Why would I be mad at you?"

"Please, promise me."

Steve's hand found hers that were folded on her lap. He gripped her palm. "I could never be mad at you."

Dorothy took a deep breath, avoiding eye contact. Her heart was beating out of control. Should she ease into it? Should she just come right out with it?

"Steve... we're soulmates."

Oh God, she messed up. Why would she just outright say that?? He doesn't like her. He's way too good for her and he knows it. Shit, why did she bother?

Her eyes met his in embarrassment. His eyebrows were knitted together with a harsh crease in the middle. His mouth was downturned into a frown. The way his face and body language emulated disappointment made her shrink into herself as her heart sank.

"This whole time? We could have..."

She felt so awful. "I'm sorry, Steve."

His head tilted to the side as he took in a sharp breath. "What did I say to you?"

Her throat was dry, and she knew if she talked she'd start crying, so she held out her open wrist for him to see the words he said, permanently inked into her skin.

The pads of his fingers delicately traced his own handwriting. Dorothy shivered at his warm touch, goosebumps spreading up her arm. It felt a little too good for him to touch her. Even when she was trying to brace herself for rejection, she still found herself lowering her guard around him.

"I'm so sorry, Dorothy. I wish I said something different, I wish I realized." He brought her wrist to his mouth and kissed the words. His lips brushed her skin as he said, "God, no wonder you didn't tell me. I'm so sorry."

She watched as he desperately apologized to her. Why was he apologizing to her? It should have been the other way around.

"No, Steve. I'm sorry. I should have told you sooner and–"

"Dorothy, no. You don't need to apologize. I understand why you didn't tell me, I can't imagine your thoughts with those words all your life." He squeezed her hand comfortingly. "I want you to know that I meant those words with the best intentions."

"I know that, I was just scared. I've lived my life thinking my soulmate would hate me, so I was shocked to find that you didn't."

"I knew there was something, I just didn't know what it was until now. I'm sorry I didn't realize it was you, my word..."

"Generic, I know. I apologize for that."

"No, it's okay. I probably would have done something stupid if I knew."

They laughed together, and the awkward tension in the room slowly dissipated.

When the laughs died down, Steve continued, "We, um, don't have to jump into anything official right away, we can get to know each other more and see where it goes from there. I don't want to push you into anything you're not ready for."

"I'd like that very much." Dorothy smiled with adoration shown brightly on her face. Steve just alleviated so much of the anxiety that plagued her these past weeks about this talk. "Why do you have to be so wonderful?"

He shook his head sheepishly, then looked back at her. His eyes were so sincere. "Dorothy, for whatever it's worth, I'm glad you're my soulmate."

"I could not have hand-picked a better soulmate myself," she said genuinely.

He smiled. His body leaned forward like he wanted to kiss her, but he second-guessed himself and retreated. Dorothy was a little disappointed, but mostly relieved. She didn't know how she'd react if he kissed her now, or if she was even ready for that step.

To break the awkwardness after their serious conversation, she asked, "Were you journaling?"

Steve looked beside him and picked up the journal. "No, actually it's a sketchbook. I was just drawing a bit."

She drew in a breath and asked, "Can I see?" She pursed her lips as she waited for his response.

"Yeah, sure."

Steve eagerly flipped open his sketchbook, visibly excited to show her the one true talent he had. He motioned for Dorothy to come closer, so she crawled up the bed and sat next to him. Mere inches separated them, a space that could be easily closed but they didn't dare themselves to do so.

Steve was more artistic than she would have imagined. There were drawings of buildings, landscapes, and even people in different styles and mediums. Who would have thought that Captain America had a knack for drawing, of all things? Looking at all of the lines and shading everywhere, it seemed so intimate to see where his mind wandered as he did something he was passionate about.

"You know, I went to art school," he commented on his own, "I've discovered that not a lot of people know that."

She glanced at his face, his side profile. "Do you think they don't know because... people only care about your title rather than who you are?"

"Yeah, I do. It's not their fault, though. I was a nobody before the serum."

"I don't believe that."

Red crept up onto his cheeks, and they let the conversation come to a comfortable lull as Steve flipped through more of his sketches.

Dorothy's eyelids suddenly got heavy on their own accord. She was really tired from all the training earlier today. She told herself that she should probably go to bed, but it was too late. Her head dropped onto Steve's shoulder as she fell asleep feeling secure for once.

~~~~~~~

Steve knows now, but they're not together yet...