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Peggy Carter was in her kitchen, her fists in her hips, as she waited for the water in the tea kettle to come to a boil. She was also at a complete loss as to what to make for dinner; she didn’t like to keep food in the house. She was hardly ever home for meals, and was often invited to the Jarvis household for suppers on the evenings where she and Mr. Jarvis weren’t off on some heroic mission. Peggy didn’t mind in the slightest, Ana Jarvis was a brilliant cook and specialized in Hungarian cuisine. Peggy herself was rubbish in the kitchen, and was fully aware of it.
Tonight, however, Mr. and Mrs. Jarvis were having a date, and Mr. Jarvis truly seemed to feel bad that they couldn’t have her over for supper that Friday evening, as excited as he was to take his wife out for a night on the town. They were all painfully aware that it left Peggy alone.
It was no matter, Peggy insisted. She was a grown woman and couldn’t rely on friends or takeout to feed her all her life. She could take care of herself, and she’d have to learn to cook one day. Perhaps not today, though.
The kettle began to whistle, and she poured the hot water into her teacup and let the tea steep. She was about to open up the phone book to see what she wanted for dinner, when there was a knock at her front door.
She never had visitors, especially visitors who didn’t call in advance. Howard was known to show up unexpectedly occasionally, but she knew for a fact that he was in California. She had spoken to him earlier that day, and as brilliant as Howard was, he couldn’t be in two places at once, and he certainly couldn’t transport himself across the country that quickly. The Jarvises were on a date. Daniel certainly would’ve called if he was on the east coast and needed her help - and after their breakup, he certainly wouldn’t bother contacting her. So who?
She set her teacup on the coffee table, crossed to the front door, unlatched the lock, and opened it. On her front porch, and seemingly out of her dreams, stood Steve Rogers, in all his glory. He smiled at her with such earnestness, and seemed to be as surprised - and overjoyed - to see her as she was to see him.
He was taller than she remembered, and more handsome too. He still had a smile that made her go weak in the knees, and eyes so blue she could fall into and swim in them as if they were oceans. They were blue like the heavens and full of sparkling stars and she was floating through the universe. Her heart had ached for him for these four years, and all the while she thought he was dead and gone forever. That broken heart had been closed off to the idea of love and a future of happiness because it wouldn’t be with him.
Now he stood before her, with a shy smile and Peggy felt everything rushing back into her heart and her memories. That kiss goodbye, their promise of dancing, the way she’d known that she would never love anyone but him. There was a flicker of hope in her heart. Perhaps shattered hearts could be put back together.
“Steve,” she finally exhaled.
“Hey, Peggy.”
“You’re alive,” she stated in disbelief. “It’s really you.” She put out her hand and touched his chest, not unlike the way she’d grazed his chest right after he was transformed into a muscular Adonis-like soldier. He was solid, and real. The hope inside her grew brighter, blossoming from a flicker into a bloom.
Steve pulled her into his arms, encircling her waist, and buried his head in her soft brown curls. “It’s really me, and it’s really you.” She felt so good in his arms, a perfect fit as he cradled her against his chest and breathed in her perfume.
Peggy’s arms wrapped around him too, and she let out a content sigh, releasing a breath she felt like she’d been holding since his plane went down. Now, she felt she could breathe freely. He was home. He was with her.
“I missed you,” she finally said, still buried in his chest. “More than you can imagine.”
Steve chuckled. “Oh, sweetheart, I can imagine how much. Because I missed you too. But I’m here now, and I’ll explain everything, I promise. I’m sure you have plenty of questions.”
“I do,” she replied. “Where have you been? I thought you died.” He was the same, but also different. Some time had passed for him too, wherever he was. He looked tired, but still young and fit, battleworn but so happy to see her. Perhaps a bit more confident too.
“I’ll explain, I promise. But the most important thing is that I’m here, I’m with you. I don’t ever want to have to leave you again.”
He was saying a lot of things that the Steve in her dreams would say before he kissed her and told her loved her, before he took her in his arms and danced with her, but Peggy was hesitant to believe that this Steve - the real Steve - meant the same things. But perhaps he did.
“I’m so happy to see you, Steve,” she said softly.
Steve nodded, his head still leaning against hers. “I missed you too, so much,” he replied. “The story - where I’ve been - is hard to explain, and I’m sure it’ll be difficult for you to believe. Shall we sit down?” He indicated the sofa.
She looked down and nodded, and led him over to it. They sat side by side, and she angled her body to face him, already missing his arms around her. She reached for his hand, which he gladly held. It felt so good to sit down on the plush sofa; he felt like he hadn’t sat down in years. He explained it all - waking up in 2011, the formation of the Avengers, all of the battles, and Peggy listened and nodded. It did sound far-fetched, but she believed him. What stuck out the most was how much Steve missed her through it all, through battles and wars, and all of his friends were getting married and having families, and he missed her. And now he was here with her.
Now she had hope that was blooming in her chest, hoping he meant what she hoped. That he was here for her. That he had come back because he loved her. That he’d missed her so much, ached for her, and couldn’t stand another day, or even another minute without her, and that’s what led him to knock on her door.
Steve Rogers was in love with her. After all this time, he loved her and he’d come home.
At the conclusion of his story, Steve smiled and squeezed her hand. “I was thinking…perhaps we could have that dance?”
She looked up at him, her eyes shining with tears that hadn’t yet spilled, and she nodded. “Yes please,” she breathed. He took her hand and turned on her radio, and the perfect song was already beginning to play.
“Never thought that you would be standing here so close to me. There’s so much I feel I should say. But words can wait until some other day….”
Steve took her in his arms and they swayed in her living room, slowly, romantically to Harry James’ “It’s Been a Long, Long Time”, and he felt the weight of every lyric.
“...Haven’t felt like this my dear, since I can’t remember when. It’s been a long long time. You’ll never know how many dreams I’ve dreamed about you, or how empty they all seemed without you…”
It had been a long long time. Waiting for her, coming back to her now, it was all worth it. She was worth it. She was worth everything. He’d gladly “kiss her once, kiss her twice, and kiss her once again”. One kiss was not enough. One kiss would never be enough.
“I love you, Peggy,” he whispered. “I always have.”
“I love you too, Steve.”
“Can I take you out on a date?” he asked. Dancing at home was perfect, but she deserved a real date, and she deserved the whole world.
Peggy nodded, tilting her head to look up at him. A tear slipped down her cheek. “Of course you can,” she whispered, her voice thick with emotion.
Steve’s heart melted and he leaned in, pressing his lips to her perfect red ones. This kiss didn’t have to be rushed, this one was perfect and he felt like it was the beginning of many, many kisses. “Oh, sweetheart,” he sighed happily, holding her close, and kissing her again. “You don’t have to cry.” His own voice broke.
“But I do,” she protested and kissed him once more. “We can go out dancing, but first, let me change.”
He’d waited over a decade for her, to dance with her and to hold her; he could wait a few more while she changed into something more appropriate for a night out. He nodded, and Peggy disappeared up the stairs to change. Steve sat on the sofa again and took in the space around him. Her living room was cozy, but it was too neat to really feel like a home, and Steve got the impression that she was hardly ever here. Peggy was a busy woman, maybe she only came home to sleep.
Upstairs, Peggy unzipped her dress and laid it out on the bed, and pulled on a slinky, silk navy blue floor-length dress. She’d never worn the dress, and probably would’ve had to wear it on an undercover mission instead of a date. She was glad she was getting to wear it as herself, for herself, instead of for work. She put a barrette in her hair and reapplied her lipstick, and added a shimmer of eyeshadow across her lids.
Steve rose from the couch as soon as he heard her footsteps on the stairs. His mouth went dry when he saw her, and crossed over to take her hand. He lifted it to his lips and dropped a kiss on her knuckles. “You look beautiful.” It was an understatement, but Steve couldn’t find a word to describe how Peggy - this gorgeous angel - looked to him. “So, so beautiful.”
Peggy’s cheeks flushed and she stepped down to the final step and leaned in for a real kiss. Now she was level with his lips and she didn’t have to stand on her toes to kiss him. “Thank you. Are you ready?”
Steve nodded, still mesmerized by her. “I’ve never been more ready in my life.”
“Before we go, I need to know if you plan to stay with me. I can’t open my heart again; I can’t allow myself to be happy, to get used to this if you can’t stay,” she said. She was certain her heart would break after a dance and a date, and those kisses, if he wasn’t going to stay. She thought she knew the answer, and yet, she still needed to know.
Steve nodded. “I’m not going anywhere. I want to be with you, Peggy.” He slipped his arms around her waist and kissed her. “I couldn’t leave you, not after this. I already want you for the rest of my life. There’s no way I could live without you, without this.” He kissed her again.
He lifted her by the waist and turned with her, overcome with joy that he could hold onto this beauty, and kiss her as he pleased. His lips were still locked with hers when he set her back on her feet, and then when they parted, she was beaming. Her eyes were sparkling with happiness, with love, and with emotions. He really was going to stay with her. There really was hope.
He really was saying the things that the Steve in her dreams would say, but this was real. She could feel his arms around her, his lips on hers, and hear his words. She was grateful that she hadn’t built up a false image of Steve in her imagination in his absence, but Steve really was as wonderful as she dreamed. But of course, loving him and being loved by him was even better than just dreaming.
She could get used to this.
“Let’s go,” she said softly, “or else we’ll just stand here kissing all night.”
“There’s nothing wrong with that. I could kiss you all day, sweetheart.” He smiled to himself, thinking of his old catchphrase. I can do this all day. Oh, yes, he really could.
Sweetheart. Her new term of endearment made her swoon. She very much liked being Steve’s sweetheart, and he was her darling. “Sweetheart,” she repeated. “I love the sound of that.”
“Well, you are a sweetheart, and mine.”
Peggy hummed and leaned in for a kiss. “I am yours.” She pulled back and went over to the table where her telephone was sitting, and dialed a number for a taxi. She gave the operator her address and then hung up. “Our taxi will be here in a few minutes.”
Steve nodded and reached for her again. “In the future, everyone has mobile telephones, and I could have ordered a taxi for us through –” Well, he wasn’t really sure how to explain Uber or Lyft apps. “-- Through that mobile device, and I wouldn’t even have to make a call. I could have just…hit a few buttons and a taxi would know where to pick us up and drop us off.”
Peggy cocked her head, unable to wrap her head around a device such as this. “It’s going to take getting used to, isn’t it? To be back here, to give up everything you knew and had to adjust to there - then?”
Steve nodded again, and reached up to stroke her cheek. “It is,” he said. “But you’re worth it. All of this is worth it. I lived in this time before. This is my time. I may know what the future is like, but I want to see how we get there. I want to live that journey - with you. There’s so much I want to share with you. There’s nothing more I want in the universe than to be with you.”
“You sweet, wonderful man,” Peggy replied. “I love you so.”
“I love you too, sweetheart.”
There was a honk outside, and it made them both jump. “That’ll be the taxi.” She reluctantly pulled herself out of his arms and grabbed her purse. “Shall we?”
He smiled at her, and reached for her hand again. “I’ve been waiting my whole life for a date like this.”
Peggy took his hand, and together, they exited her house, and went out to the taxi. They slipped into the backseat, Steve making sure he opened the car door for his gorgeous date, before rounding to the other side. He held her hand all the way to the club, craving her closeness, her touch, her kiss. He pressed a kiss to her hair and she smiled, leaning into him. There had been a hole in his heart without her, and now he could feel that her love was filling him up again and completing him. She could heal everything just with a smile or a kiss, just by a tender caress of her hand on his cheek. He wanted to spend his life with her, basking in that love and joy, making up for lost time, and giving his love back to her. He said he’d waited his whole life for a date like this, but really, he’d waited his whole life for her.
The taxi pulled up outside the club, and they could already hear the music floating out into the streets. Steve got out first and opened the door for Peggy, taking her hand and helping her to her feet. He knew she didn’t need help, but she was his girl, and he wanted to treat her right. She thanked him with a kiss on his cheek, and they walked arm and arm into the club.
Steve slipped his arm around her waist, and held her other hand in his. She stepped in close and they swayed and twirled around the dance floor. The rest of the world faded away, because Steve only had eyes for her, and she stared up at him with such awe, such disbelief, such adoration that his heart felt like it could burst. They really were dancing. He leaned in and kissed her as they swayed. “I love you,” he whispered into her lips. “I love you always, forever. I am yours, Peggy.”
“I love you too,” she replied. “I am yours, too.”
They stayed at the club for hours, dancing, ordering drinks from the bar, and kissing. Peggy led him into the hallway by the restrooms and pulled him into her arms to kiss him deeper, hungrily, desperately, and away from the dancing couples.
“Should we go home and continue this there?” he asked her.
She nodded. “That would probably be for the best,” she said. “So we don’t scandalize anyone else.”
Steve laughed. “I wouldn’t want that,” he replied. “But I do know that I want to kiss you more than what would be considered proper for an outing.”
“And then at home, our hands can wander.”
Home, she called it. Steve remembered he didn’t have a home, only Peggy. He would never ask to live with her or to stay with her, especially not yet. He didn’t want to disrupt her life and her routine more than he already had. But he didn’t have anywhere else to go - and she - she was all he wanted.
There were taxis waiting outside the club to be hired, and Peggy flagged one down and they piled into the backseat and they were off through the dark streets of the city and out into the residential area, back home.
They paid for their ride and before they’d even made it back inside they were kissing again.
“Where are you staying?” she asked as he pressed her against her front door, his lips on her neck.
“I-I don’t have anywhere,” he replied, and pulled back to look into her eyes. He could check into a motel, sleep on her back porch, find a bench in the park. He didn’t know.
Peggy slipped her hand into his and unlocked the front door, and pulled him inside. “Then this is your home.”
“Peggy, I-I couldn’t ask for that,” he protested. “I don’t want to disturb what you have here -”
She flipped on a light and chuckled. “It’s a bit late for that. You’re here. My life was going to be upturned anyway with you back in it. I wouldn’t want it any other way.” She was in his arms again and kissing him. “Welcome home, my darling. I have a guest bedroom, another wash room. I can get you clothes and find you work if you wish. Or you can stay home and just be with me. Whatever you wish.”
“For now, sweetheart, I just want to be with you.” Steve leaned in and kissed her deeply.
Peggy giggled. “That’s enough for me.” She led him to the couch and they sat together, or more like, laid together, and kissed until they were too tired to kiss anymore. “I think it’s time to go to bed.” She led him up the stairs. “This is my bedroom, and this is the guest room and the wash room is right here.” She opened the door to the guest room, with fresh bedding already in place from previously anticipating Howard Stark as a guest. She opened her linen closet and pulled out towels and a toothbrush for him.
“Come say goodnight before you retire?” he asked.
“Of course.”
They parted and both showered, and Peggy opened her bedroom door as he exited the bathroom in only his boxers. She wore her nightgown and silk bathrobe, and he’d never seen her look so delicate and so informal - or so enticing, with her low cut sleepwear that left little to his imagination. With her robe so loosely tied and without the support of a bra, her cleavage was on full display. She was radiantly beautiful too, even without her makeup and her hair in loose waves instead of styled curls. He could have wrapped her in his arms and pressed her against the wall for more kisses, and he wasn’t sure he could stop his hands from reaching up to caress those enticing curves.
Peggy’s breath caught in her throat at the sight of him in only his underwear, and goodness, he was as fit as the day he came out of the capsule, fully transformed from his serum. She’d grazed his chest before to confirm he was as real and solid as he looked, and she had to hold back from reaching for him again.
Both sets of cheeks flushed, but she stepped closer and kissed him goodnight. The kiss lingered longer than it should have and Steve placed his hands on her waist - only her waist, despite how his mind was wandering, despite how his desires raced through him. He’d never seen anyone so beautiful in his whole life, and he was kissing her.
“Goodnight, darling,” she said, breathless when they parted.
“Goodnight, Peg. Love you.”
“I love you too.”
It was strange to pull away from her when all he wanted was to wrap her in his arms and hold her while they slept, especially when he was so desperately in love with her and had spent an evening wrapped in her, his body against hers, his lips craving every inch of her skin. He could think of a few other things they could do in bed instead of sleep, and very quickly shoved those ideas and those desires from his mind. That would come in time, Steve hoped, especially if he was going to stay with her forever and make a life with her. Especially if he was going to marry her. He’d definitely planned to marry her.
Peggy smiled at him, and Steve thought he saw something sad in her eyes, as if she was reluctant to let him go. Steve wanted to pull her closer again, and kiss her again, but he also didn’t want to cross a line and do something improper.
“I’ll be right here if you need me,” she said.
He nodded. “I’ll miss you.”
She smiled brighter. “I’ll miss you too.” She leaned in for one more kiss and then disappeared into her room and closed the door. Steve climbed into bed, a real, soft, warm bed for the first time in what felt like years. Though he missed her, and his body ached for her closeness after holding her all evening, he drifted off to sleep.
Peggy crawled into bed, and though she always slept alone, her bed felt suddenly colder than usual and she found herself missing the man across the hall. How wonderful would it be to sleep in his arms, to have his arms around her waist, to be able to snuggle close into the warmth of his chest? He’d come back to be with her, to be hers, so one day, wouldn’t they share a bed? Didn’t intimacy and bedsharing come with being together romantically? So why was she cold in her bed and aching for him across the hall? Why not sleep with him now?
She crawled out of bed, pulled back on her robe, opened her bedroom door, and stepped across the hall. She reached up to knock on his bedroom door, and found that he was already standing there, with the door open.
“Oh - hello!” she said.
“Hey, I - ”
Peggy slipped her arms around his waist and hugged him. “Isn’t it silly to be even across the hall from each other after all these years apart? I think I’ve been without you long enough.”
He grinned at her, and kissed her forehead. “I agree completely. I was about to knock on your door and ask if I could hold you all night.”
She pulled back and took his hand and led him to her bed. He hesitated, not sure what side of the bed she’d prefer he slept on, and she climbed in under the covers. He followed, and wrapped his arms around her waist. She snuggled into him, and kissed him.
“This is better,” she said. At least she hoped it was better; she’d never slept beside anyone and hoped she’d feel comfort in his arms. How could she not; she’d been alone all these years and all she’d wanted was to be with him, to have him back, for him to hold her, to spend her life by his side. She felt like she would sleep better in his arms, knowing he was safe at last and with her.
“Mmm, it is,” he hummed and kissed her. “Is this proper?”
Peggy turned to face him, and kissed him back. “No,” she admitted. “But does it matter?”
Steve smiled. “No, all that matters is you. And in the future - no one bats an eye if a couple shares a bed before marriage. In fact, it’s more uncommon to wait. I know this isn’t the future and I’m not asking for anything but this.”
No one had to know that he was here, that they were sharing a bed. All that mattered was that he was with her. Peggy’s heart melted and she snuggled up to him.
“I know, I just…I think I’ll sleep better in your arms. You’re very warm, my darling.”
He was certain that his body heat from the serum was partially what kept him alive for those years that he was frozen. “I’m happy to share it,” he said. Peggy dropped a kiss on his chest and sighed happily, and Steve tightened his arms around her. “You really are an angel, you know? My guiding light. You brought me back home to you. I love you more than anything in the universe.”
She looked up at him, his face only slightly illuminated by the moonlight coming through the curtains. “That’s quite a lot. And you’ve seen so much of the universe - and time, and you’ve seen so many places and people and yet…”
“Yet I love you more. You’re still the person I love most. And you’re the most beautiful woman in the universe too.”
Peggy’s eyes went wide. Steve had met so many people and seen so much and yet he’d chosen her. “I don’t think I have to see all you’ve seen to know I love you more and that you’re the most wonderful person for me. And absolutely dreamy.”
“See, it’s not so far-fetched to know we’re exactly right for each other, and that we don’t want anyone else in the world.”
Peggy hummed in agreement and tilted her head up to kiss the underside of his jaw. “All that matters is you.”
“And you, sweetheart. Goodnight, Peg.”
“Goodnight, darling.”
They slept blissfully in each others’ arms every night for the rest of their lives.