Coffee, Courage and a Captain

Chapter Seven: Small Day Out

Steve watched Charlotte as she lay sprawled over notebooks one Sunday morning, fast asleep. She looked utterly exhausted- if the bags under her eyes were anything to go by. She'd insisted that she have the couch for the past few weeks, seeing as she was up late almost every night doing work.

"Charlotte," he said softly, closing her notebooks as he gently shook her shoulder to rouse her. She was fiercely protective of them and had mentioned something about classified work. Steve respected her reasoning enough to leave it be.

"What?" she moaned sleepily, raising her head to see Steve standing in front of her, looking mildly amused.

"Good morning," he said, kneeling so his face was level with hers as she looked at him tiredly. "I was thinking you could take a break today. Go and get some fresh air, maybe some breakfast, and we could catch a film?"

She smiled. "That sounds great, Steve. Let me just shower and get ready and we can head off."

He watched her stand from the couch, stretching out her neck and back from the awkward position they had been in while she was asleep. She walked into his room, pulling out a summer dress- a navy blue fabric that cinched at her waist with a white belt and a skirt that came down to her knee- that she had bought two weeks earlier in preparation for summer.

"I'll just be two minutes," she said to him, seeing his smile.

"Take your time, we aren't in a rush. The movie isn't until two."

Charlotte emerged from the bathroom five minutes later, pinning her flyaway hair back into her high ponytail. She slipped on the red heels that she had purchased a few weeks prior, and swiped on some red lipstick.

"How do I look?" she asked, doing a twirl for him.

Steve grinned. "Very patriotic," he said. "Now, how about breakfast?"

*********

Charlotte closed her eyes and tilted her head back to enjoy the warm summer breeze that caressed her face.

They had just had breakfast at the diner around the corner from their apartment- Charlotte getting pancakes while Steve ordered a simple egg and bacon roll- and Charlotte had perked up considerably more after Steve had suggested they go and sit in the park across the road for a while before the film.

She was sitting on the grass underneath a large tree- the foliage covering them mostly, but sunlight still dappled Charlotte's face. For that given moment, she could have been anywhere- at any time, any place. Her worries melted away, letting her feel calm and content.

Steve was stretched out beside her, his notebook open as he sketched Charlotte, seeing all of the worries disappear from her face as she allowed herself to relax for the first time in weeks.

"I can feel you watching me," she said, jolting him out of his concentration. He glanced up to see her watching him with one eye partially opened as she stared from his face to the notebook in his hand.

"Sorry," he said sheepishly, as she sat up properly and scooted over so she was sitting right next to him. The scent of her shampoo filled the air around him as she looked up at him, her eyes imploring him.

"Can I see?" she asked, and he shyly handed the notebook over, watching her worried as she flipped through his detailed sketches, landing on the ones that were of her. A soft smile graced her lips as she ran her fingers over each of them- one of her sipping wine with Bucky in the kitchen, of her scrunching her face up at her notes, of her laughing from where she sat next to the radio, her seated beside him on the couch in her pyjamas, and the most recent one of her in the park.