"𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐒𝐊𝐄𝐃 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐓𝐎 dinner?"
Peggy was standing in Grace's tent while the inventor frantically dug through her suitcase. She had received a frantic note from her friend and found her pacing the length of her tent, avoiding her large inventions.
"Yes!" Grace exclaimed, still digging through her clothes, which didn't have many options given that she never thought she would be going on a date at an Army base. "And I have nothing to wear!"
Peggy frowned before walking over to her nervous friend. "First of all, Gracie, you need to take a deep breath. Worrying will do you no good, darling. Secondly, of course you do. What about that red dress that you wore a few weeks ago? A little birdie told me Steve couldn't keep his eyes off you."
Grace pursed her lips before shrugging. "I do like that dress..."
Her friend smiled softly before pulling the dress out of the makeshift closet beside her bed and holding it up to the inventor. "It will be perfect. I'll lend you my red lipstick, you have heels. He's going to swoon."
"Does it seem strange that we're getting dinner?" Grace asked, fidgeting with her fingers. "I mean, we have jobs to do."
"No one ever said you couldn't have a little fun," Peggy replied with a wave of her hand. "Gracie, we're in the middle of a war. It's important to do something other than make bloody good weapons for the army."
Grace chuckled and nodded. "Okay. It's just..." She let out a breath. "What do you do after dinner?"
"Have you not gone out to a dinner with a man before?" Peggy asked, tilting her head. Grace shook her head. "Why?"
"Because when I was nineteen, Howard practically locked me in the house when he found out about it," she replied, fidgeting with the scarf around her neck. "I haven't told him about this."
Peggy nodded. "Smart." She smiled at her best friend. "Nothing horrible happens. You just get to know the other person and have fun."
"You promise?"
"You already get along with him," she said, shrugging. "You'll be just fine, Gracie. Now, let's get you dressed. I feel like a proud mother."
"I'm older."
"But I've gone on a date before."
⸻ ~~~ ⸻
𝐁𝐔𝐂𝐊𝐘 𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐃 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃 in his hand and watched his blonde friend pace in front of his bed. "This is ridiculous," he said, annoyed. "Why are you panicking? She's already said yes to dinner. It's not like you're asking her to marry you."
"Bucky, I don't do this very often!" Steve exclaimed.
"What, date?" Steve glared at him and the brunette held up his hands. "Sorry. Look, it's not that complicated. You take her out for a nice dinner, you pay for that nice dinner, you walk her home, and if you're feeling bold enough, you kiss her goodnight."
"Kiss her?" Steve repeated, anxiously. "Oh, this was a bad idea."
"Steve, you're not the little guy from Brooklyn anymore," Bucky told him, letting out a breath. "If you're worried about her not liking you because you're smaller than her, that's not gonna happen. Besides, she talked to you at the Expo."
"She was just being nice," he contradicted and the brunette on the bed rolled his eyes.
"And how do you know that?" he asked, becoming increasingly more annoyed by his friend's lack of confidence. "Maybe she was actually interested in listening to you. Despite what you thought, Steve, you were a good person when you were small. And still are."
"Buck—"
"For crying out loud, Steve, go to her tent and take her to dinner!" Bucky exclaimed with a groan. "And let me read the Hobbit in peace. And don't forget to be a gentleman! And give her your jacket if she gets cold!"
Steve let out a breath before nodding and leaving. Bucky shook his head as his friend disappeared from view.
"I deserve an award for this..." he muttered before returning to his book.
⸻ ~~~ ⸻
"𝐎𝐇, 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐊 𝐁𝐄𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐈𝐅𝐔𝐋!" Peggy exclaimed, clasping her hands and smiling at her friend. Grace was standing in front of the mirror she had in her tent, smoothing out the dress she was in. "Steve is going to be absolutely speechless!"
"You think?"
She nodded. "Of course he will! Red truly is your color. And when the two of you get married, be sure to thank Sergeant Barnes and me for getting the two of you off the base."
Grace frowned. "We're not getting married, Peg. It's only dinner."
"You say now..." Peggy smirked before leaving the tent. Grace shook her head at her friend before glancing at her watch.
"Wow..." She looked up and saw Steve standing at the entrance of her tent. "You, uh... you look beautiful."
A blush spread across her cheeks and she looked down. "Thank you. So do you. Nice uniform."
"Yeah, I, uh..." He cleared his throat. "I don't have anything else to wear."
Grace smiled. "I don't mind. It brings out your eyes. Besides, you earned those honors." She bit her lip and Steve glanced behind them.
"Shall we?"
She nodded and quickly grabbed her clutch before following him out of the tent. They walked in awkward silence for a while before Grace cleared her throat.
"Are you ready for your upcoming fight against Hydra?" she asked him, looking over at the blonde beside her. "I think I have four chests full of weapons ready for you. And many more coming."
"Already?" he asked with a chuckle. "That's impressive. I think we're as ready as we'll ever be."
"And your friend?" Steve looked over at her. "Is he ready after everything that happened to him?"
"I think so."
"Good." Grace looked down when she noticed a paper fall from Steve's coat. "I think you... dropped this..."
Steve glanced behind him and scratched the back of his neck. "Oh, um..."
Grace looked up with a small smile. "Is this me?" she asked, looking back at the drawing she was holding in her hands.
"Well..."
"It's really good," she said, admiring the artwork. "Are my eyes really that sparkly?" She turned back to look at him and smiled. "You know, if the Army doesn't work out, you may have a future as an artist."
Steve chuckled. "Well, I don't know about that, but yes, your eyes are that sparkly. Especially when you're talking about your inventions. Your eyes also crinkle at the ends whenever you're especially happy."
"If I didn't know you, that might sound incredibly creepy that you noticed all of that," Grace told him, smiling at his words. She went to return the drawing to him but he shook his head.
"Keep it," he said and she tilted her head. "It just means that I have to draw another one."
Grace pursed her lips before carefully sliding the drawing into her clutch. "I never saw you as one who had that much confidence with women, Captain," she replied, both of them walking in step with the other.
He huffed out a laugh. "Oh, believe me, I do not. Women always tended to look the other way whenever they saw me."
"Why?"
"Well, I was just too small," he said with a shrug and she frowned. "Most women don't really want to be out with someone they could have stepped on."
"That seems a bit unfair," she replied, shaking her head. "You're still the same person you were only a few months ago." She looked up. "Only taller."
"Then you are the first to say that," he said, smiling. "Aside from Bucky, though you don't yell at me."
Grace chuckled. "Have you known him long?" she asked before shrugging. "The way you talk about him... I can tell how much you love him."
He nodded. "We were twelve," he answered, smiling at the memory. "There were a couple of big kids who were beating me up and, in his words, he was the savior that I so desperately needed." He laughed and shrugged. "I suppose that's true."
The brunette smiled. "Where exactly are we going?" she asked, glancing at the man beside her. "Not that I don't enjoy walking, but..."
"Just up here," he replied, gesturing in front of them. She followed his extended arm and found a picnic blanket with a basket on top. "It's a nice night," he said. "I hope you don't mind a picnic."
"I love picnics."
⸻ ~~~ ⸻
𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐄 𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐊𝐄𝐃 𝐔𝐏 𝐀𝐓 the sky, pointing out different constellations to Steve while he smiled softly at the way her eyes lit up in excitement.
"There's Ursa Major," she said before looking next to it. "And Leo and Leo Minor."
"When did you become so good at astronomy?" he asked and she looked over at him with a shrug.
"Everybody needs a hobby," she replied with a smile. "Besides, the stars are fascinating. There's a whole other world up there."
"Do you really believe that?"
She nodded. "Of course I do. Haven't you ever read Norse Mythology?" she asked, leaning on her back to get a better look at the sky. "Asgard is one of the Nine Worlds of Norse Mythology and it's located in the sky."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Besides, there's something intriguing about the possibility of another world in the sky. And when I was living with my father, it was one of the few things that I had a book on that I became determined to know every constellation in the sky."
He smiled. "Did you?"
"I got up to sixty," she said, shaking her head. "After that, I had other things to keep me entertained."
Steve nodded. "We should probably go."
"Of course," she replied with a smile. "You have an evil organization to take down."
"But, uh, I've really enjoyed this," he said and a faint blush spread across her cheeks. "Maybe you could teach me more about constellations."
"Oh, you think there's going to be a next time?" She walked closer and smiled. "Well, you have to ask Captain Rogers."
His lips formed a tight line. "Would you care to go out again, Miss Stark?"
Grace shrugged. "Ask me again when you come back from your mission," she said before kissing his cheek. "Meet me at my tent tomorrow for a rundown on the weapons. I'll see you then, Captain."
⸻ ~~~ ⸻
an: okay, this chapter kinda
sucks but they needed more
moments than what steve and peggy had.
thanks for all the reads, votes,
and comments so far! <3