Word Count: 1,742
I WILL DO A PART 3, I WILL NOT STOP UNTIL I GET MY HAPPY ENDING BUT I'LL WRITE AN ALTERNATE ENDING TOO IF YOU GUYS WANT SADNESS.
Also, fun fact, the picture at the top is my Home Screen, I just shrunk it so it fit. (Not that you care, but my Lock Screen is Michael Scott)
Your outfit (only changes after time skip, it's the same one as it was last part before the skip):
Steve's outfit (only changes after time skip, it's the same one as it was last part before the skip):
The cabin in the woods (it's next to a river for convince, ok?):
•••
You woke up on Steve's lap, who was awake and looking up at the sky, the clouds rolling by. Last night was still replaying in your head and your sleep was not so peaceful.
Steve had watched you twist and turn throughout the night and pitied you, but God forbid he let it show. "Did you even move last night or did you just stay here?"
He looked down at you and gave you a small smile, brushing a strand of stray hair from your cheek. "Well you looked comfortable, and you deserved to rest."
"We both do. Speaking of, did you sleep at all last night?"
"No ma'am."
"No need to call me that. Ever. I'm not my grandmother."
"Force of habit."
You smiled weakly and sat up, stretching briefly before bringing yourself to your feet. As you straightened, you nearly collapsed. Your legs felt like Jell-o and your heels were killing your feet. Steve shot up next to you and placed one hand on your back, the other on your arm. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, just sore."
You chuckled weakly and bent down, taking off the heels and rubbing your feet, exhaling in relief. You straightened up and looked back at Steve, who was still supporting you. You smiled a little and stepped back from him, taking in your surroundings. "If the tunnel lets out here, there has to be some sort of safe house nearby. My great-great-grandfather may not have been a wise ruler, but he wasn't a stupid man."
"That's true. There also must be a reason this is where the tunnel let out, maybe there's a river or lake nearby?"
"Everything needs water to live, if we find animals, we find the water."
"Alright, we have a plan. Which way do you want to go?"
You looked around for the best direction, the least amount of rocks and roots or wildlife that could lead you to water. Thankfully, you spotted a small rabbit not far to your right. You pointed towards it. "That way. Thank you, dear bunny. I really don't feel like sleeping on the forest floor again."
"Always thinking ahead, aren't you?"
"It's kinda my job."
He laughed and you two set off towards the rabbit, following behind it carefully, which was hard to do in a ball gown. You walked for a while, watching the beautiful autumn leaves fall around you.
Steve trailed just behind, his sword drawn but his eyes focused on you, a small smile plastered across his face. You'd rarely left the castle grounds, your parents were paranoid something would happen to you, but now that you were out, he could see you smiling- even if it was faint.
You spun and faced him, glancing at his sword and back up at him. "My theory was correct."
"A river?"
"Just ahead, I can hear it. That probably means there's a cabin."
"Alright, let's go then."
You two walked up until you reached the river. Sure enough, down stream you saw a waterwheel, meaning there had to be some kind of building attached to it. You took off towards it, there were trees along the river bank, so the quickest route to it was through the river. You jumped in and got your dress soaked, but you made it to the cottage- splashing as you walked- much to Steve's dismay. "You couldn't have walked around the trees?"
"No. I took the direct route."
"The water must be cold."
"I'll live."
"Come on, get out."
He extended a hand from his place on the river bank and you took it, pulling yourself out while he smiled at you. You two walked around to the front of the house and pushed open the door with a loud creak as you stepped inside. It was old, no doubt about it, and looked like it hadn't been used it years, but it would work. Steve drew back the curtains on one of the windows and sunlight shone in, illuminating the dusty floors. He looked down at it. "I'll start sweeping, you go look for a change of clothes, I'm sure there has to be some around here."
"Yes sir."
He smiled at you and you saluted before laughing, heading up the stairs to the bedrooms- well, the bedroom. The entire second floor had been converted into one giant room.
You opened one of the windows- with great effort, mind you, that thing was heavy- and allowed the light to tumble in before looking for clothes. Thankfully, you found in a chest tucked away in the corner, that had to have clothes in it, right? "Please don't let there be moths, please don't let there be moths..."
You lifted the lid and smiled, no moths, but clothes. You pulled out a dress and a tunic and pants for Steve, apparently whoever was here last came prepared. You closed the chest and examined the two outfits, making sure they weren't damaged, before slipping off your wet dress and putting on the new one. There were more in the box, but these would do for now.
•••Time Skip•••
It had been a week since the night of the ball, and the realization had finally hit you. Your parents were probably both dead, your brother might also be dead, and your kingdom had probably been thrown into chaos or overthrown by outsiders.
Steve was worried about you, to put it lightly. You barely left the bedroom and when you did, it was to eat something- which happened very rarely- most of the time he had to bring you up food.
He wasn't even sure you were sleeping. Whenever he went up to check on you, you were always wide awake. He himself chose to sleep on the couch, but he wanted to sleep upstairs with you and make sure you were safe. Even at the castle, his room was just down the hall from yours. You hadn't slept on separate floors since you were little kids and you hadn't met yet.
To keep him occupied and to give you space, he'd been working on the cabin, sweeping the floors or cleaning the furniture, which was in relatively good condition for a cottage so old. It had really come together the past week or so, but all the work didn't distract him from you.
You were lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling when you heard Steve trudge up the stairs and knock on the wall lightly. He was trying to be quiet, but his footsteps were always loud, even when you were little. "Y/N? Are you awake?"
"Yeah."
He walked towards you and sat down on the bed next to you, swinging his feet up and propping himself up against the bed frame. You stayed still, continuing to stare at the ceiling above you. It wasn't an interesting ceiling or anything, but you knew if you looked at him you'd probably end up crying.
Steve hated seeing you like this, he felt powerless. When your grandfather died, you were a wreck and the only thing that could cheer you up- even a little bit- were memories that you and Steve talked about. He slid his hand under yours, rubbing his thumb in a circle on your palm.
"Do you remember the day that you hit the bullseye in archery for the first time? I was helping you and you got so excited that you hit me in the face with your bow when you finally struck it. You felt so bad that for the remainder of the week, you treated me like I was the royal one. Your grandmother got so mad at you for that, saying you were the princess and I was the guard, not the other way around. Do you remember that, Y/N?"
You nodded weakly, thinking about the memory. You apologized so many times for hitting him, but you never felt like it was enough. He looked down at you and you smiled a little at him. He kept rubbing the circle on your palm, he kept his eyes focused on you, but every now and again he'd look down at himself before talking again.
"What about that time that we decided to slide down the portrait hall in only our socks to see who could get the farthest? That was a bad idea, I mean, the floors were made of marble. You won, but you insisted I let you win even though God knows I sucked at it. We went for the rematch and you fell face first, smacking your head off the floor. I felt terrible for that one."
"I still have the scar on my eyebrow."
"Really?"
You looked up at him and nodded raising your free hand up and pointing at it. He leaned down to look, letting out a small chuckle when he found it and tracing his finger over it, giving you butterflies. You'd never mentioned it before to him and he never asked about it. When he finally pulled his hand away you wanted nothing more but for him to put it back. "Well I'll be damned. Now I really feel bad."
"You should have felt bad about it before."
He smiled and you rolled over onto your stomach, propping yourself up on your elbows. He let go of your hand and you stared at him before cracking a small smile. It was the first time he'd seen you smile in weeks. "Thank you, Steve."
He shrugged, "It's what I do."
"It's what you've always done."
You moved closer to him and rolled back over, laying your head against his chest and listening to his heartbeat. Your brow furrowed. "Your heart's beating really, really fast."
"I uh, moved some of the furniture around, that's a workout. Do you know how heavy that stuff is?"
"No, and I don't really want to if your heart's still going a mile a minute."
He did one of those exhale laughs and smiled, shaking his head at you. You curled into his chest deeper and felt your eyelids getting heavy. You hadn't slept in days, but finally, you drifted off.
Steve held his breath, barely moving. He examined your face and could tell from the bags under your eyes you needed to sleep, and he was afraid that if he moved, you'd wake up. He stayed there well into the night and he eventually fell asleep, too.