you have heart「steve rogers.」

Chapter Thirty-Eight

"Come on, Steve. Tell me," I begged. Here he is, dragging me to the Marydale's Institution building for us to see my mom. Now, don't get me wrong, I want to see my mother but the curiosity about what he has to talk to my mother about is absolutely killing me. 

"I'll tell you later," he said as we entered the building. 

"Tell me now. The suspense is killing me," I emphasized my words. Suspense was killing me. All the things he could speak to my mom about raced through my mind. What if he's unsure about our relationship and needs advice from someone with experience? Or maybe he just wants to hear about my embarrassing moments throughout my childhood? Oh goodness. Anything but that, please. 

"It isn't anything bad." He said as he helped me to the front desk. The receptionist smiled and greeted us. Steve signed us in the receptionist gave us our passes and sent us on our way. I couldn't help but have a nervous feeling in my gut. And what didn't help was the small pain I was getting from walking. Even with all the help Steve was trying to be, it couldn't stop the pain. 

We approached the door to my mom's room and when Steve reached for the doorknob, I quickly grabbed his hand. "Come on, tell me now." I said. He sighed and shook his head. "I'm not letting you in until-" I was cut off them he used his other hand to open the door and then dragged me into the room. 

There, I saw my mom laying in her bed, still had the tubes in her nose and looked as if she had gotten paler over the few days we've been gone. She weakly smiled as she looked at us. "There you two are. I began to worry," she weakly said. I rushed to her side and held her hand. 

"What's wrong, mom? You look paler," I told her. She shook her head. 

"It's nothing, sweetie. I'm fine," she said. Steve shortly joined my side and he placed his hand on my mom's. 

"You don't look so good, Ms. Thompson," Steve said, worriedly. 

"No, I'm happy. You two returned safe." She managed to say. I smiled slightly. 

"Of course, mom. I wouldn't leave you again." I assured her. She smiled and then directed her attention onto Steve. 

"Have you been...treating her right?" She asked him. He nodded his head. 

"Of course. I treat her like a queen and I protect her with my life," he said. I smiled as I felt myself start to blush. He then glanced over at me. "Do you mind leaving for about five minutes?" He asked. My mouth slightly dropped. 

"Why? Can't you say what you needed to say in front of me?" I asked. 

He shook his head. "It's for only your mother and I." He said. I sighed deeply and nodded my head. 

"Fine, but only five minutes. And you're telling me afterwards," I told him. He smiled slightly and nodded his head. I stood up and walked out of the room, and slowly closed the door but left a small crack so I could hear their conversation.

"I know you're standing there," Steve called to me. I sighed and closed the door completely and leaned onto the wall. 

"Just what could be so secretive that I can't hear?" I said to myself. I stood there for some time, reading the room signs and those medical posters that were plastered on the walls. I was about to charge into the room, when Steve suddenly opened the door and looked at me with a smile.  I slightly cocked my head to the side, "what are you smiling about?" I asked him. 

"I wanna go somewhere with you," he said. "But, after we're done here, of course." I furrowed my brows slightly and looked at him curiously.

"What are you planning?" 

"It's nothing big, and I'll tell you what your mom and I talked about." He pulled me back into the room and I joined my mother's side again. She asked Steve and I about what it was like fighting against the aliens and what it was like being considered living legends. I'm happy my mom isn't in the city or else she could have been in real danger. Steve was much more open around her and that made me happier. 

* * * *

After spending hours with my mother until visiting hours were over, Steve and I had went back home. My initial plan was to have dinner and then go to bed, but Steve seemed to have other plans. He insisted that the two of us go out to eat today and promised to tell me at the restaurant. Of course I agreed and expected it to be something simple, but I was wrong. 

Instead, we're walking around Brooklyn, at night, and away from any restaurants. He had me dress up, giving me the impression that wherever we were going was going to be a fancy place. But at this point, I didn't know where we were going. All I knew was that we were walking around a park. "Where are we going?" I asked him. 

"Somewhere nice," he answered. 

"What exactly could be so nice where I had to get all pampered up?" I asked. Steve came to a halt and started to look around the park. "What are you looking for?" He looked in a direction and smiled. 

"There," he said as he started to pull me along. I looked ahead of us to see a bridge and I felt a rush of memories hit me. I finally realized where we were. We were in the Brooklyn Bridge Park, a place my parents always took me to when I was a young girl. Steve and I walked onto the bridge and I smiled slightly as I thought of how my father and I would stare into the river and just talk. 

Steve faced me and held both of my hands as he looked into my eyes. "What are we doing here, Steve?" I asked him. 

"I was talking to your mom about us and...and..." He scratched the back of his head nervously. 

"And?" I urged. "Wait, it isn't anything bad, right?" I asked nervously. 

"No, no, no. It's nothing bad," he quickly said. 

I sighed in relief, "well, if it's not that, then what is it?" He looked down at our hands and gently rubbed his thumb on my hand. "Come on, Steve. You can tell me," I said softly. His eyes slowly met mine and I couldn't help but smile.

"Back in '42, was the first time I had met you. You were the first woman I've ever seen knock a man off his feet, literally," I chuckled lightly by his words, "you are the one that I am proud to call mine. I couldn't ask for anything more, than to have you by my side," he took a deep breath, "Danielle, I love you and I know you're the right partner for me," he took a step back and got onto a knee and reached for his pocket. I felt my throat tighten as he dropped to one knee and pulled out a ring. 

I studied the ring and realized it was my mother's. "You are my partner in fighting justice, my dancing partner, and nothing would make me happier than having you as my partner in life. Will you marry me, Danielle Thomson?" I felt tears start to build in my eyes and the lump in my throat grew, and somehow I managed to squeak out a 'yes'.

His face grew into a huge grin and he stood up, tried to slide the ring onto my finger. His hands were shaking so much, that he barely managed to slide the ring onto my finger. Once he did, I cupped his face and pulled him into a kiss. He pulled back a smiled. "This is what I talked to your mom about," he said as he caressed my cheek, wiping away a few tears.

"This is just," I swallowed hard. "Did my mom tell you about this place?" I asked him. 

He nodded his head, "in this very spot, your dad asked your mom to marry him," he said. My mouth dropped slightly and I pulled him into another kiss. It all makes sense for why they loved this park so much. It held better memories than what I knew of. 

"I love you," I said between kisses. 

"I love you too," he murmured.