Arden kept visitation in her room to a bare minimum after she woke up. She wanted to get physical therapy and healing started right away. Being so independent her entire life and doing things her own, she didn't want anyone to see her struggling or hurting. The only people she let in the room were the Wakandans, Bruce and sometimes Tony for brutal moral support and sometimes entertainment.
"You know lover boy has been bugging me about coming to see you." Tony popped a pistachio in his mouth.
"One more." Shuri directed, and she raised her leg one more time, straining and shaking the entire room with her powers.
"I said no visitors." She groans, taking a deep breath so her powers don't take over her emotions.
"That's what I said." Tony added. "You okay there?"
She plops back in the bed, as Shuri checks her vitals, leaving them alone.
"Yeah, I just don't want anyone to see me like this." Arden reminded him.
"I'm just surprised you're letting me see you all weak." He pointed all over my body, and she threw the tv remote at him.
"You're like my best friend, you don't count. Plus, you bring me the good snacks." She sits up. She was more than excited to leave tomorrow, everyone insisting she stay at the compound, but being locked away and babied by everyone sounded like more hell than being burnt to a crisp. Instead, she took Pepper's offer to stay at their house, and being around Morgan didn't sound too bad.
"I think you should talk to him." Tony suggested.
"Yeah, I should probably talk to my brother too but here I am." She disses him, but it just welcomes him to sit right next to her.
"I invited him over to the house tomorrow."
"My brother?" Arden asks.
"Steve." He corrected.
"Of course you did."
The next day, she got settled into her old room before Morgan came running in, attacking her leg with a hug. Arden winced, shattering the lightbulb in the room with her powers from the pain, scaring Morgan. Pepper and Tony staring at the glass on the ground then up at Arden.
"Sorry." She whispered to them, Tony immediately went to go grab the broom.
"Up here, munchkin." Arden patted the bed for Morgan to jump on. Her small legs swinging as they were too short to reach the ground. Arden bent down to be more at her level, looking at her cute little face and booped the tip of her nose.
"You kept your promise." Morgan smiled.
"I always keep my promises." Arden smiled back.
"Mommy and daddy said you got sick, so that's why I couldn't see you for a long time." Morgan's smiled faded away. Arden grabbed her little hands, and nodded.
"I was, but I'm getting better. Are you going to help me get better?" Morgan nodded, perking up again.
"Just because you played nurse for me, doesn't mean I'm going to do it for you." Tony commented, finishing cleaning up the broken light bulb. Pepper nudged him and rolled her eyes.
There was a knock on the front door, Arden using the bed to raise herself back up and looked at Pepper and Tony with wide eyes.
"It'll be fine." Pepper reassured her, helping her walk down the stairs. Arden opened the door, Steve turned around with his hands in his pockets, giving her a small smile.
"Hey." He greeted her.
"Hi, soldier." She greeted back.
"Do you want to talk?" He asked, and she hesitantly nodded. Taking a step out onto the porch, leading them both to the seats in the corner of the patio like the last time Steve came out to try to convince them about time traveling. She winced as she lowered herself onto the seat, Steve was quick to try to help her.
"I got it." She reassured him, and he nodded, taking the seat beside her.
"It's good to see you moving around again." He brought up.
"Yeah, getting there." She sighed.
"I hope it's okay that I'm here. Tony said I could." He stumbled, even with her powers flickering here and there from her injuries, she could feel how nervous he was around her.
"I think he would have described it as you begging." She joked, making him chuckle, feeling his aura getting lighter.
"Okay, maybe a little." He admitted.
"What's on your mind?" Arden asked, she didn't even have to use her powers to know that he had something to say. She could just look at his scrunched up face, just like he always had when he had a heavy heart.
"You're not using your powers are you? You should really be taking it easy." He worried, scooting closer to her.
"No, I'm not. I just know you, that's all." She informed him, putting him at ease. She knew him just as well as he knew her.
"There was never a good time, but I just wanted to clear the air about the tension between us."
"What tension? There's tension?" She made light of the situation, and he rolled his eyes at her dodging the subject.
"Arden, come on. We've been going in circles for years now, but we've never talked about it."
"No, we did. And you wanted to be friends." She fought back.
"And it was the biggest mistake of my life." He sighed, grabbing her hand, a small tingle shocking then both at their touch. "I love you, Arden. I have always loved you, even before I knew it myself."
His pupils dilating just talking to her sincerely, her heart beating out of her chest. The words she had been waiting to hear for years, yearning for his acceptance of their feelings for each other.
"It took me almost dying for you to admit it, huh?"
His serious expression, turned light at her comment, brushing his thumb over her hand. "Do I get points for saying them out loud finally?"
"A few." She smirked at him.
"I think this might be the part where you say how you feel back." He pleaded.
"I think you've always known how I felt about you."
"Tell me." He ordered delicately. "I want to hear you say it, so I know it's real."
"Steve, I have loved you in every life I've lived. The moment I laid eyes on you, I knew you were going to change the world, I just didn't know you would change mine." She expressed, every word of it was true. No matter what lie she was telling, no matter the job she was working or color she had to dye her hair, Steve was always in the back of her head. His blue eyes haunting her in her dreams.
"I think you beat me on the love confession." He swallows, resting his hand on her thigh. The both of them laughing when they heard car doors closing, Sam, Bucky and Thor headed their way. Tony following suit from the house, Steve removing his hand from her out of respect of their company.
"Were we interrupting something? I hope we were." Sam jokes, leaning against the house.
"They look to be in a serious conversation." Thor added, scowling at Steve.
"Nothing too serious, just that they finally admitted their feelings for each other." Tony answered the guys.
"Tony." Steve and Arden scolded him.
"I wasn't listening in on your conversations on the camera." Tony outed himself.
"Wow, after all these years. Finally." Sam applauded them.
"Really?" Bucky asked, looking at them both.
"Yeah, we're together." Steve smiled, grabbing her hand.
"I never said that." She denied, his smile dropping, confused at the situation.
"You just said you loved me back."
"I did." Arden confirmed.
"But we're not together?"
"No." She answered bluntly.
"Uh oh." Sam whispered.
"I'm sorry, I'm confused." Steve shook his head. getting up from the chair to stand in front of her.
"I went through hell with you about our feelings. Didn't speak for a while, friend zoned me, hell I even left the planet because I was heartbroken." Arden reminded him.
"She's got a point." Thor backed his sister, Bucky hitting him in the arm to stay quiet.
"If you think we're just going to forget what's happened in the past few years, you're crazy. You've got work to do if you want us to actually be together." She added, there was no way she was going to give into him so easily after what he put her through, no matter how much she loves him. Living so many years and so many lives, she wanted to get her only chance at love right.
"You heard the lady, you better get to work." Tony patted Steve's back, making Steve let out a small laugh finally.
"Prepare to be swooned, Arden." Steve bent down in front of her, grabbing both of her hands and kissing each of them.
"I think I'm going to be sick." Thor pretended to gag, and Arden laughed, accidentally making the porch lights explode, making everyone wince at the broken glass spreading everywhere.
"Sorry, still working on that." Arden apologized.