Let Me Love You

Rekindle

Steve's POV

"So where are we going?" I ask as we walk the streets of New York.

"I have no clue." She sighs, her arms dangling at her sides as she walks.

"I've got an idea, but it's a surprise." I turn to her with a small smile on my face.

"Alright Rogers, lead the way." She stifles a laugh.

As we're walking, her heel gets caught in one of the cracks in the sidewalk, causing her to stumble. She grabs onto my arm and I hold her up, our faces only inches away.

"Sorry.." She stands up and collects herself before we continue walking but she doesn't let go of my arm.

We arrive at a small park in a secluded area of the city. There's a large patch of grass surrounding a small water fountain. The birds are jumping around in the water while some other animals wander nearby. We walk over to a little wooden bench and take a seat, Kate's arm still wrapped around mine.

"This is so cute!" She smiles, taking in the scenery. "Thank you for bringing me here." She smiles at me and I smile back.

We spend a few hours on that bench just talking and laughing like we used to. As she explored around the small area, I took out my sketch book and doodled away until I had a few drawings of the park and--of course--Kate.

"Kate?" I call, looking around after finishing my sketch. I stand up from the bench and walk around the water fountain to see her playing with a small dog while talking to its owner.

"Steve! Look how cute he is!" She calls me over to meet the dog. "His name is Milo." She smiles.

"Hi Milo." I rub his head and he licks my hand. "Are you ready to go?" I ask Kate, admiring her smile.

"Right, yeah." She says standing up and thanking the woman for letting us pet her dog.

As we begin to walk back to the tower, I notice her hand brushing against mine. I glance over at her before smoothly intertwining our fingers. Kate looks up at me and I turn to face her, my heart beating a thousand miles a minute. She smiles shyly before looking away. We approach the café we went to when we first met months ago and Kate stops in her tracks.

"Are you hungry?" She asks, looking up at me.

I smile at her and lead her into the café without answering. We sit at the same table that we did last time and order our food.

"I'm sorry I've been so harsh toward you." She says, pressing her lips together.

"I don't blame you, I'd hate me too." I sigh.

She looks up at me, her eyes glassy. "I don't hate you." She speaks softly. "I never did." She reaches for my hands over the table and I move them closer to hold hers. "I only acted the way I did because.." She pauses. "Because I really care about you. You were my best friend, Steve."

"When you assumed those things about me, it hurt. I couldn't blame you because I had kept that whole part of me a secret from all of you, but I expected you to at least have hope that it wasn't true." She continues.

"I know, I'm an idiot for how I treated you." I give her a sympathetic smile.

"That might be an understatement." She teases, making both of us laugh.

"The truth is, hearing that you were a part of them hurt me because I care about you too, a lot... I let my emotions take control and that's when everything went south." I sigh, choosing my words carefully. "I should've been there when you woke up, I should've asked you about everything before I assumed, I-"

"Steve." Kate stops me from rambling. "It's okay. I forgave you." She reminds me.

"I know, but I haven't forgiven myself." I admit.

Our chat is interrupted by our food arriving. We don't talk much while we eat; once we're done, I beat her to paying the bill and we head back to the tower.

"I know it's been a while and you and Tony just had a falling out but.." I look down at her to find her staring back. "I like you, Kate. It kills me to see you with Tony and even sometimes with Bucky. I know it sounds selfish and you probably don't even-"

Before I could fit another word in, I'm being pulled down by my shirt and feel a pair of lips are pressed against mine. Without hesitstion, I kiss her back. I wrap my arms around her waist to pull her closer as her arms rest on my shoulders.

We pull away, realizing that we're still in public, and intertwine our fingers. There's no use trying to hide the grin on my face. I glance down at Kate to see a similar look on her face, which only makes me smile wider--if that's even possible.