Respect | S. Rogers [1]

08 | CLOSE ENCOUNTERS

4th of July, 1944
London

"Happy Birthday." 

Steve jumped startled as Rosemary snuck up to him. She was smiling lightly but the small gesture carried great happiness. Even though he was surprised by the hug that followed, he quickly returned it before Rose decided to pull away.

"Thanks." He put away his sketchbook when Rosemary sat next to him and his eyes widened when he saw what she was retrieving from her bag. "No no, you don't have to—"

"I already did."

"Rose."

"Steve," she challenged him.

She sent him an annoyed look "I don't need a—"

Rosemary shoved the wrapped item into his hand. "Take the damn gift." Her Polish accent swept in through a few words, but he didn't seem to notice in his aggravation from what seemed too foreign to him. This made her relax. The knowledge that he was just as overwhelmed as her, him from receiving a present from someone other than his childhood best friend and her, from never having the possibility to gift anything to anyone before.

The skilled assassin was intimidated by a simple mundane situation. Was this what normal people were scared of? Over the year of being friends with Steve —if we count the time spent apart as well— Rosemary had slowly let herself unwind. It had taken her time, but she had found herself laughing more often and talking without being so uptight. Overall, she was genuinely enjoying some of the days instead of wallowing in fear and self-hatred or feeling only numb.

She had discovered different traits of herself she didn't know about herself. She thought it was because she had never gotten the chance to be herself before. Rosemary figured that even though she was serious and detail-obsessed, she actually had moments of sardonic humour.  She considered funny the way Steve got so flustered too easily and was completely amused when Bucky was rejected —which mind you, wasn't that often— and she absolutely adored teasing them about it. She was not shy or easily embarrassed except when someone caught her engrossed in a fun activity. She was a fan of scones and adored rollercoasters. Casablanca and Citizen Kane were her favourite films. She loved reading, especially classics and Of Mice and Men and admitted that a Brave New World triggered lots of feelings within her, many of these stories did. 

Rosemary thought to herself that who she was at that moment came as close as she would've been if Hydra hadn't robbed her of a decent life.

So, as Steve's birthday neared, she panicked. She knew people were accustomed to giving presents to someone close... they were close, right? When she decided she had to give him something, it was chaos. She didn't even know what he would like to receive, but she tried crediting herself with her ability to be observant.

"I can't open this if you are staring at me like that."

"You're joking," she let out a frustrated sigh.