Chapter Text
At the first notes of “Star Spangled Man with a Plan,” Pippa immediately sprang up in the bed, used to her strict morning routine. She couldn’t help smiling when she remembered the perfect lover next to her.
“Morning, soldier, time to get up!” she announced with a grin before planting a kiss on his nose. She jumped out of bed, made a quick detour in the bathroom then came back less than six minutes later, all dressed and made up, brushing her hair, leaving behind her a flowery scent.
Steve was tying his shoes when she came back out, trying to ignore how unkempt he felt in his wrinkled shirt and days-old slacks.
“Sleep well, dear? It’s okay, we’re on time, we can stop by your place. Ah, I’m so motivated today! I’m going to do a job I love with the guy I adore. How could it be better?”
“I had a great night next to you.” He smiled and kissed her on the cheek, not wanting to smear her freshly applied lipstick. “So, you said you had a car?” he asked while pulling on his leather coat.
“Oh no, no… she’s not a car, she’s better than that!” As they got to the garage Pippa held Steve’s arm with her free hand, the other carrying her small case. “You’ve probably seen my everyday car but,” she announced while she opened the heavy door. “Here, meet Lola. I don’t take her to S.H.I.E.L.D. very often but you had to see her.”
Steve’s mouth fell open in surprise at how beautiful the car was and how seemingly perfect it was for Pippa— strong, powerful, sporty, and impeccably kept. He couldn’t help but to reach and touch the shiny hood; however, when he saw the slight flinch on Pippa’s face (there for only the smallest fraction of a second) he restrained himself. Pippa kept to herself that she usually protected Lola from unwanted hands with an impossible jealousy and sat behind the wheel, worried that Steve wouldn’t be comfortable in there.
Sliding into the passenger seat, he saw how happy she looked as she snapped her belt into the lock and checked the mirrors. He realized her lips were the same color as the car, and thinking this may be his last chance for the whole day or even longer, before she turned the key, he leaned across the seats to her. His hand resting softly on the side of her neck and jaw, he kissed her with a tender passion that surprised him.
“Thank you,” he whispered as he pulled back just slightly, his thumb grazing her jaw line. “This has been the best date.”
The kiss made her fingers slip from the wheel and she gave in to Steve’s almost Hollywood-like display of affection. She felt she was always in charge, but when he acted like that she couldn’t say her knees weren’t shaking a little.
“Thanks to you,” she replied and it felt slightly bittersweet, like an unwelcome goodbye. “I’m looking forward to more weekends like this.” She started the engine, a knot in her throat, knowing that once they would be outside, in bright lights, the magic of their secret encounter would be over. In the streets, it was still a bit cold, and Pippa regretted picking the convertible when her other car was warmer.
When she parked in front of Steve’s building she turned to him but before she could ask, he started explaining. “I’ll only need 15 minutes or so. You should come out of the cold. I have coffee and some ready to eat things upstairs. Unless, you wanted something less continental, then we’ll pick it up on the way in?”
He held her hand as they went up the flights of stairs to his floor. When he opened the door, he remembered with embarrassment how spartan his loft was. His apartment was almost the entire floor, completely open, and a bit cavernous. The only enclosed space was the bathroom.
Steve gestured around an apologetically named each of the spaces.
“This is the kitchen, and here’s my… um… one chair where I watch TV or listen to the radio, my bookcases, my drafting table, and here’s my…” Steve’s voice cracked a bit, “bed.” He had just spent two nights sleeping—or at least being— in Pippa’s bed with her, he didn’t know why suddenly it felt so scandalous to show her his California King.
“Ok, um, I’m going to take the quickest of showers and get ready. Please, make yourself comfortable, you’re more than welcome to anything I have in the fridge or pantry. I promise we won’t be late; I can do this really fast.”
Pippa looked around, smiled politely but couldn’t bring herself to say it was lovely because it clearly wasn’t. And she couldn’t pretend that “extremely clean and tidy” was a good enough compliment in this situation.
“Don’t worry love, take your time, we’ll say we were stuck in traffic if anyone complains. Go ahead,” she encouraged.
He colored a bit then pecked her on the cheek and rushed to grab some clothes from the armoire near his bed. When he closed the door, he slightly banged his head against it as he felt completely mortified.
Once Steve disappeared she examined the large room and was amazed. It looked like the apartment of this shy soldier she had met a few months ago, the one who worried he wouldn’t be the man for the job, not her loving and so caring boyfriend’s place; it wasn’t warm like the guy she had discovered this weekend. The bed was huge, the kind of bed where you can fool around without ever falling and yet she could picture him, probably always sleeping on the same side, not taking more room than he needed.
In the kitchen, she prepared some coffee with the same model of machine she had at her apartment, filled a thermos, and packed a few cereal bars and cookies she found in the cupboards so that they would have a breakfast to eat on the go. While the coffee was brewing she folded a few cloth napkins in vaguely flowery shapes and placed them in glasses on the counter to put some life in the sad kitchen. She then couldn’t help but hide a few post-its with little hearts, all signed “P,” in some drawers or under papers on Steve’s desk for him to find later, hoping it would make him smile.
Steve never got ready so quickly in his life. In the shower, he scrubbed mercilessly at his skin, and then cursed when in his haste, he cut his chin shaving. As he blotted at the blood and waited for the wound to heal, it felt like an eternity.
Each second he spent there was another second Pippa was in his apartment, most likely bored and seriously re-evaluating why she was with him. When he was finally finished and presentable for the day, he stepped out of the bathroom to find her standing near his drafting table. His stomach dropped as he tried to remember what he had been working on before their date— was it a drawing of Pippa or just answering some fan mail?
“Uh, Pippa?” The smell of coffee made him look towards the kitchen, and when he saw the folded napkins, he instantly felt calmed and comforted. Turning back to her, he smiled. “Just let me get my boots on, and I’ll be ready.”
“Of course!” she blurted; she knew she wasn’t doing anything wrong, she wasn’t going through his stuff at all yet she felt guilty, caught with her hands on his table.
As they left, Pippa looked back and smiled. She made sure to enjoy every step they took, every bite of the cookies, every second they spent in the car sharing the same cup of coffee, every inch of road Lola covered in the traffic. She didn’t want to embarrass Steve or make him uncomfortable so she stopped around the corner just before they reached the headquarters.
“Do you… we don’t have to show up together if you wanna keep a low profile. It’s as you wish.”
“I don’t think anyone would give you flak for driving me in, would they? I mean, I’m going to keep it professional while we’re at work, but I am not going to deny it either.” He lifted her hand off the shift and kissed the back of it. “Unless you… um, don’t want people to know you’re my girl.”
Pippa smiled, touched by the way he could make her melt with his tender looks, and sighed softly. “How could I not want that?” she lied and kept driving to the restricted area until she could find a parking spot.
In truth, she didn’t want people to know. She didn’t want Steve to face the looks, the whispers, the more or less subtle unpleasant remarks. It wasn’t only that he was dating a weird girl and that everybody would wonder “how they do it,” but he was also dating the psychorigid workaholic who could spend nights at her desk and didn’t socialize with anyone but her very close friends, the serious agent who seemingly had no private life. She didn’t really have a reputation of a nice funny girl and didn’t want Steve to be seen as her miserable boyfriend. But he was also Captain America and who was she to give him orders after all?
“Now that I’ve offered you a ride with Lola the whole agency will know that you’re much more than a regular boyfriend to me,” she joked, although it was the truth, pulling her skirt down on her thighs as she closed the door.
As they walked through the parking garage to the secure elevators, Steve noticed a few of the fellow agents staring at the two of them. He had grown accustomed to it since his transformation and the fame it brought, but this seemed different in a way he couldn’t quite place.
The group piled into the elevator with Steve and Pippa near the back of the car. She was standing to his side looking straight ahead, and he couldn’t resist to rest his hand at the small of her back in a way no one else could see. When the doors opened for the physical training floor, he gave a quick squeeze and stepped off.