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The clanging of the bell as he pushed the door in, the aroma of baked goods, and the hectic Saturday morning business noises brought back a sense of the familiar to Steve. He wasn't sure how he'd feel coming here again. But now that he had, he felt almost as if it hadn't been anytime at all since he'd last stopped by.
"Steve." He heard a man's voice from behind the counter.
Glancing up he saw Rogerio, the owner, smiling and walking around to greet him.
"It's been so long since we've seen you," he said, reaching a hand out to him.
Steve took his hand and shook it, feeling suddenly nervous. He really didn't want to explain his absence.
"How've you been?" was all that was asked, however.
"Good," he replied. "How about you, Rog?"
"Busy, which is good," he said. "You want your usual?"
"Um, yeah," Steve said. "You remember it?"
Rog laughed.
"Let's just say, it all clicked when I saw you," Rog told him.
Steve didn't understand what he was trying to tell him, but Rog turned back to the counter before he could ask.
"Meli," he called out to his daughter. "Get Captain Rogers his usual."
Meli gave her father a confused look.
"Remember?" He asked, making an odd look that involved his eyebrows and a few jerks of his head and a wink.
Steve was about to just tell the girl what he wanted when she finally understood her father.
"Oh," she exclaimed, but then furrowed her brows. "But, Dad."
Rogerio cut her off with a look and Steve was becoming more curious as to what exactly was going on.
Meli pulled a pastry box out from under the counter and proceeded to fold it into shape then put in the four pastries he used to buy. She handed them to Steve as he reached into his pocket for his wallet.
Rogerio waved him off.
"It's on the house," the man told Steve.
"No," Steve said. "I can pay."
But Rogerio just shook his head and pushed the box into Steve's hands.
"Next week," he assured Steve.
Steve thanked the man then said his goodbye's to the family and staff who had curiously all come out to the counter to see him.
He shook the confusion from his mind as he stepped back out onto he sidewalk and headed down the street to the newsstand.
He picked up a copy of the Sunday Times and went to pay "the other Steve," as Maria always called him.
When the man saw him, his eyes widened in surprise, then his face broke into a huge grin.
"Oh, Steve, my boy," he exclaimed. "I should have known I'd be seeing you sooner rather than later."
Steve wasn't sure how the newsstand owner would have known to expect him. He and Maria had only been back from Italy, and their reunion & engagement, for a day. He hadn't even told his teammates the news yet, he was certain Maria wouldn't have told anyone.
"The paper's on me, today," the other Steve told him.
The super-soldier looked at the man curiously.
"Really," the other Steve said. "I insist."
Steve simply nodded slowly.
"Oh, you should stop by and see Shelly this morning, though," the newsstand owner told him.
Steve knew Shelly ran a flower stand around the corner. In the past, Steve bought flowers from her if she had the specific ones he wanted for Maria. But he hadn't planned on taking flowers this morning. It wasn't part of their old Saturday routine. And he was hoping that was what Maria wanted to get back to when she'd asked him to come over this morning. But, he was curious, so he walked back around the corner.
Shelly seemed as excited as everyone else to see him, and Steve started to feel somewhat self-conscious. But when she reached behind her and handed him a small arrangement made up of both red and white mums*, he thought he might finally understand.
He smiled as she handed them to him, and when she whispered a conspiratorial, "Congratulations," he felt himself blush all the way to the roots of his hair.
Minutes later he knocked at Maria's door, a little nervous about how she would react to everyone in her neighborhood already knowing about their engagement.
When she opened the door, she smiled as he handed her the flowers.
"Um, these are for you," he said. "Actually, Shelly, at the flower stand, sent them."
She cast him a furtive glance as she walked over to the table in the kitchenette and set down the flowers.
"Do they have a meaning?" she asked.
He didn't reply, instead he was distracted when he set the paper on the coffee table and there was already one there. He looked over at Maria, who stood next to the counter.
"You got the paper?" he asked, surprised to see it. He had always been the one to bring it.
She slid over a little along the counter to reveal a small pink box from the bakery. She cleared her throat, it looked to Steve, to cover her nerves. He smiled as he realized she looked as nervous as he felt. It was one thing to make up and get engaged when they were in a Europe, but, Steve realized, it was going to be something else entirely to get back to their daily lives.
Still, Steve had wondered if Maria had wanted this, wanted their old habits and routines, or if they'd been among the things that had scared her before. He thought of the last night he was in this apartment, trying to get her to not go out with Matt. She'd been dressed like she had something to prove, and she had never had to prove anything to him. He'd told her how beautiful he always thought she was on their Saturday mornings together.
That thought made him look down at her feet and he smiled, they were bare as always. He slowly raised his eyes to hers, taking in her as he went. Her jazz pants were offset by an enormous Georgetown t-shirt. Her hair was pinned up in a clip, wisps falling down to frame her face. He tried to control how warm he was starting to feel, but he couldn't stop himself from taking the two steps over to her. He set the box down on the counter, he cupped her face and tilted it to his before leaning down and tasting her lips.
Maria placed her hands gently on his chest and Steve allowed himself a sigh of pleasure and deepened he kiss. He knew he had to keep it reigned in. It was obvious they needed longer than he wanted before they got married, but he could wait. He slowed and pulled slightly away to smile at her.
Yes, he thought as he took in her beautiful face again. He could wait until everything was as perfect as it needed to be.
*red mum=declaration of love; white mum=loyal love