Contritium - Marvel Studios [5]

introduction.

July 4th 2016

I walked down the hall with a tray in my hand, balancing a plate and a glass of orange juice as I concentrated as best as I could. I may be a super soldier, but when it comes to holding things steady as to not spill them, it wasn't the easiest task I had. I walked to the end of the hall, the window showing the roof of the garage of the compound. I held the tray in one hand, holding the edge of it as a.i. pushed it into my bicep, holding it as steady as I could as I put my finger on the keypad, the light turning green.

I pushed the door open, pushing the handle down as I put my foot in the door, getting a firm grip on the tray handles once again, the orange juice almost splashing over the edges of the cup for the tenth time in its journey. I moved my foot out of it as kicked it open before it could click closed, entering the dark room with a loud thud as the door swung backwards, almost hitting the wall behind it.

"Happy Birthday" I shouted at the top of my lungs as I heard Steve's breathing hitch, waking him up as he got scared, jumping as he looked over at me, sighing before falling back down onto his bed. "Friday, open the shutters" I said as the white blinds covering the windows pulled open, a laugh escaping my lips as Steve grabbed a pillow, putting it over his head to block out the bright morning sun flooding through the windows. "That was quite the show" I said as I walked over to his bed, setting the tray down on his nightstand which had nothing but his watch and an empty glass on it. "Go away" he shouted at me, his voice muffled by the pillow as I didn't reply, picking up his comforter and crawling into the bed, Steve shifting to the over.

"I made you breakfast, old man" I told him as he finally put the pillow back behind his head, sitting up against the head board as he rubbed his face with his hand. "You know, the fact that your birthday is independence day is pretty mind blowing" I said to him as he looked over at me, scratching his neck as he let out a tired groan, pushing the comforter down to smoothen it put for the tray, his bare chest on show. "What did you make me?" he said to me, not even acknowledging my statement due to the fact he'd probably heard it about a million times before.

"Eggs and turkey bacon, I think Nat finished all the normal bacon" I told him as I grabbed the tray, slowly lifting it over and passing it to him as he put it on his lap. "Thanks" I said quickly, not giving him a chance to touch anything as I picked up a piece of the bacon, taking a bite out of it as he laughed at me, taking a sip of his orange juice. "Any independence day plans?" he asked me as he set down his glass, picking up his fork. "Long Island fireworks duh, you're coming with me" I told him as I shrunk a little bit, pushing myself deeper into the warm bed, watching him as he ate off of the plate, finishing the rest of my bacon.

"I've got work to do" he told me as I scoffed, picking another piece of bacon off of his plate as he watched me, only leaving one for him. "It's your birthday, you're coming to the fireworks" I told him as I took a big bite from the bacon before putting it back on his plate for him to eat. "Stop eating my breakfast" he told me as he poked my in the hand with his fork, causing me to retract my hand quickly. "I was giving you it back, calm down" I told him as I rubbed my hand, the intend of the fork prongs holding on my skin. "You're coming to the fireworks with me don't even try to convince me other wise" I said to him as he let out a deep breath, pushing some of his eggs into his mouth as he looked over at me, swallowing quickly.

"Fine" he said to me reluctantly as I smiled in victory, grabbing the piece of bacon I had previously taken a bite off and shoving the whole thing in my mouth before he could object.

!

"Do we have bug spray?" Sam asked as I had my hand in the wheel, pulling into the parking lot which was at the side of the big park, the sun going down as I watched families climbing out of their cars to go find a good spot on the grassy hill to see the fireworks.

"No, just don't get bitten" I told him as I pulled into a spot, taking the key out of the car as I turned around in my seat, seeing Sam squashed in the middle between Natasha and Wanda, Steve smiling back from the passenger seat as Sam stared at me, rather uncomfortable in the tight space. "Easy for you to say" he said as Natasha sighed, unbuckling her seatbelt and Sam squirmed away from her touch, the red head getting out of the car as quickly as she could, Sam letting out a deep breath of relief as he could finally breath.

"Why did you make me sit in the middle?" he asked me as he undid his belt, moving over to the other side before climbing out of the open door Nat had just left from. I laughed, climbing out of the car as Wanda and Steve did the same, my eyes locking with Sam's again. "You didn't call dibs" I said as I shrugged my shoulders, throwing the car keys at Steve as he caught them easily, pushing them into his jeans pockets as I went to the trunk of the car, pulling out a blanket as I gave one to Natasha who thanked me.

"I didn't realise we were all going to squeeze into your tiny car" he said to me as I closed the trunk, rolling my eyes as we all made our way over to the path, young kids running down it, their parents shouting after them. "I said you could drive yourself if you wanted" I told him as I turned around raising my eyebrows before cutting the walking straight over to the grassy hill which was busy with people, picking a random spot as I sat down, putting the blanket over my legs. Natasha and Wanda sat in front of me with Sam, putting the blanket down first as they sat in front of it, Natasha making a snarky remark as Sam countered it, Wanda laughing.

"I told you he wouldn't take sitting in the middle very well" Steve said to me as he sat next to me, putting his arm behind my back as he pulled some of the blanket over his own legs, smiling at me as I shook my head. "Yeah but he needs to learn to do things he doesn't like" I replied as Steve chuckled, a group of kids running behind us, squealing as the past. "I'm still angry Tony wouldn't let us set off our own fireworks at the compound" I said with a pout as Natasha turned around, nodding her head in agreement.

"I don't think explosives and fireworks are a good mix" Steve told us as I rolled my eyes, looking over at him with a my eyebrows raised. "They are hardly explosives" I said to him as he nodded his head with his nose scrunched, not wanting to argue with me. "How old are you now?" I asked him as I leaned against his shoulder, looking over at him as he looked down, furrowing his eyebrows. "98?" he told me as I nodded my head, smiling as pulled the blanket over my legs a bit more, Steve tugging at the other side.

"Wow you're old" I said to him as he scoffed, putting his free hand over his heart in mock hurt. "You're 97" he said to me as I looked at him, our faces quite close to each other as I looked at him straight in the eyes, brown meeting blue as we stared at each other. "I'm still a year younger than you" I said to him quietly as I smiled, moving my face closer to his as our lips connected gently, moving together seamlessly as I pulled away, facing forward again as Natasha looked over at me with her nose scrunched.

"There's kids around" she said to me as I looked at her for a moment, earning a sneaky middle finger before she smirked at me, turning back around to look at the blonde super soldier. "I love you" I said to him as he smiled at me, throwing his arm over my shoulder as I laid my head on his shoulder.

"I love you too"

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A/N: Hi guys and welcome to Contritium! thank you for coming to read this book, I appreciate it so much
please buckle your seatbelts for this probably bumpy ride you are about to embark on