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Under His Protection

Summary: You’re the Vice President’s daughter, public property in pearls, judged by headlines you never wrote. Steve Rogers has been your lead bodyguard for years: disciplined, distant, and devastatingly attentive in all the quiet ways that matter.

Wordcount: 19.4k

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Female Reader (no use of Y/N)

Warnings: slow burn, mutual pining, friends to lovers (ish), idiots in love, protective Steve, soft Steve, "touch her and die" energy, hurt/comfort, angst with a happy ending, emotional confession, trust issues, fear of commitment, power imbalance (boydguard/client), forbidden-ish romance, tension & softness, hospital scene, domestic fluff, kisses, car accident (minor), conflict with a parent, emotional distress, themes of surveillance and lack of privacy, mild injury

Elixir's Arcade Event: Two Pairs with afraid to commit + bodyguard AU + "You were the only person I thought I could trust." + one of them pretends to not like the other because they are afraid of getting hurt

A/N: I couldn't not write something a little angsty for this challenge, and when I saw the combinations of prompts and tropes, my mind immediately went to Steve. Let it be known that it's probably the first time Cassie @blobfishlol told me that for once, the male character wasn't an idiot (we kinda disagree on that one, but meh)

Masterlist

The first thing you learn, growing up in the shadow of the Vice President, is that people don’t look at you the way they look at other women. They look through you. They see headlines. Angles. Narratives. They see a daughter as an extension of a man’s policies – an accessory that can be polished for a fundraiser or weaponized in a scandal. They see you and they decide, instantly, which version of you will make their life easier: the spoiled princess, the reckless party girl, the entitled adult child who can’t survive without a credit card and a chauffeur. You stopped correcting them a long time ago.

It was exhausting, trying to prove your humanity to people who benefited from pretending you didn’t have any. So you learned how to move like you belonged to the story they’d written. How to smile on cue. How to keep your face neutral when they asked invasive questions framed as jokes. How to make your anger small and your sadness invisible. And then, years ago, Steve Rogers stepped into your orbit like a quiet inevitability. At first, he was just another agent. Another man in a suit with an earpiece and a posture that said don’t try me. Another shadow at the edge of every room, eyes always scanning, hands always ready but never restless. Another name you weren’t supposed to know, another person you weren’t supposed to become attached to. But Steve wasn’t like the others. He didn’t flirt. He didn’t overcompensate. He didn’t treat you like a delicate thing made of PR and glass. He treated you like a person who deserved to be alive. Which – surprisingly – was rarer than it should have been. You remembered the first day in weird, sharp fragments. The residence hallway smelling like lemon polish and old money. The distant click of heels. The way your father’s chief of staff had said, “Rogers will be your detail lead moving forward.” Like you were being assigned a new password. Steve had been standing by the security office, waiting. Tall, broad-shouldered, blond in a way that looked almost unfair under fluorescent lighting. His suit fit him like armor, not fashion. When he turned his head toward you, his expression was neutral, controlled – professional to the point of being unreadable. But his eyes… His eyes were the kind that didn’t waste time. They took in the things they needed: your posture, your pace, the tension in your shoulders, the fact that you carried your phone like it could explode. The kind of assessment that wasn’t judgment. Just… attention. You held out your hand out of habit. Polished, practiced. Steve looked at it for half a second, then took it firmly – no lingering, no performative gentleness. A grip that said I am here because I am capable. “Ma’am,” he said. You hated that title. It made you sound older than you were, and smaller than you felt. Like a formality could turn you into something manageable. “You can call me–” you started, but the chief of staff cut you off. “Agent Rogers has a protocol.” Steve’s jaw tightened almost imperceptibly. He didn’t contradict his superior. But later, when you’d turned the corner and the hallway had swallowed the staffers and their clipped voices, Steve had walked half a step behind you and said quietly, like he was offering you a piece of truth without permission… “I know your name.” You’d glanced back, surprised. He hadn’t looked at you when he said it. His gaze had stayed on the far end of the corridor, the reflective surfaces, the angles where danger hid. “Then use it,” you’d said, softer. He’d hesitated – barely. A beat long enough to feel like a choice. And then: “Yes.” Not yes to calling you by your name. Yes to respecting that you’d asked. He still didn’t use it right away. But from that moment on, you started noticing the ways he listened. The ways he did not pretend you were made of politics.

Years settle into patterns. Your life had become a long series of structured days: briefings, lunches, galas, board meetings, interviews where every question was a knife wrapped in velvet. A rotating cast of advisers. The ever-present hum of risk. And Steve became part of that hum. He was there before you were fully awake and still there after you were too tired to be anything but honest. He walked with you, drove with you, stood behind you, opened doors and closed them again with the kind of care that made you forget doors could be dangerous. He learned your routines faster than you realized you had them. How you took your coffee: too strong, no sugar, a splash of cream you pretended you didn’t need. How you started fidgeting with rings when you were overstimulated. How you crossed your arms when you were angry even if you were smiling. How you got headaches after long press days and how you tried to hide it because you didn’t want to look weak. Steve learned, too, the difference between public you and private you. Public you: poised, biting, unbothered. Private you: someone who laughed too loudly at stupid jokes when you were exhausted. Someone who sat cross-legged on the floor with a laptop and a hoodie and looked, for a moment, like you could have been anyone’s daughter – not the Vice President’s. And Steve – God, Steve – looked like he’d been built for steadiness. He didn’t talk much. He didn’t offer opinions unless asked. He existed in the space around you like a wall that didn’t suffocate. Like a presence you could lean on without it turning into a debt. Which is how it started. Not with a grand moment. With small things. Quiet things. Professional things that weren’t supposed to mean anything.

“Water.” The first time it happened, you were in the backseat of the armored SUV, stuck in traffic, air conditioning humming, your phone buzzing with messages you didn’t want to read. Steve sat opposite you, facing the rear window, eyes on the tail car. His posture was controlled, shoulders squared, the kind of stillness that came from training. You were halfway through your third coffee of the day, because caffeine was the only thing that made the exhaustion blur into something tolerable. You hadn’t realized you were rubbing your temple until Steve spoke. Just one word. “Water.” You looked up, irritated on reflex. “Excuse me?” Steve didn’t turn. “You’ve had three coffees. No water. Your hands are shaking.” You stared at him for a second, caught between annoyance and something that felt dangerously like being seen. “I’m fine.” Steve’s reflection in the tinted glass didn’t change expression. “Hydration affects cognitive function.” You scoffed. “Are you giving me a biology lesson now?” There was a pause. Then, in the same tone he might have used to identify an exit route, he added, “There’s a bottle in the side compartment.” It was so… ridiculously normal. So careful.

You could have shrugged it off. Could have ignored him. Instead, you reached down, found the bottle, twisted the cap open, and drank – just to shut him up. But halfway through, you realized your throat actually had been dry. That your head felt a fraction clearer. When you lowered the bottle, Steve finally glanced at you. Not long. Not intimate. Just a brief check, like he was confirming something in his mind. Your heart did something stupid in your chest. You looked away first, because you always looked away first. “That better?” he asked, quiet. “…Yes,” you admitted. Steve nodded once, then returned his attention to the window. No smile. No comment. No “you’re welcome.” Which somehow made it worse. Because it meant he wasn’t doing it for praise. He was doing it because he cared. And you told yourself – because you had to – that it didn’t mean anything else.

He kept doing it. Not just the water. Little reminders threaded through your days like hidden stitches. “Eat something,” he’d say when you tried to skip lunch before a meeting. “I will later.” “You said that four hours ago.” He’d offer a protein bar from his jacket pocket like it had always been there, like it wasn’t a decision he’d made because he’d noticed you forgot to take care of yourself when you were stressed. Sometimes he’d set it down near you without speaking. Sometimes he’d just glance at you pointedly until you rolled your eyes and complied. If you got a headache during a press conference, he’d shift, subtly, to block harsher light from hitting your face directly. A slight angle of his body. A fraction of shadow. If you shivered stepping out into cold wind, there would be a coat – his coat – settling over your shoulders before you even processed you were cold. He’d do it without meeting your eyes, like he was afraid of what he might see there. You always tried to hand it back immediately. He always said, “Keep it. You’re shaking.” Not I want you in my coat. Not I like seeing you wrapped in something that smells like me. Nothing romantic. Nothing that could get him in trouble. But it felt intimate anyway. Because he noticed. Because he remembered. Because he anticipated needs you hadn’t even admitted out loud. And you started trusting him in a way that felt both inevitable and terrifying.

The press, of course, noticed too. Not the tenderness. Not the quiet care. They noticed proximity. Angles. Bodies. They noticed the tall, broad-shouldered agent behind you in photographs, the way he always seemed to be there when you turned your head. The way his hand sometimes hovered near your back when you walked down stairs, close enough to catch you but never touching. They wrote pieces about it. Speculation columns. The VP’s Daughter and Her Mysterious Shadow. Is He Just Security? Rumors Swirl Around the VP’s Daughter and Secret Service Agent. You stopped reading them. But you couldn’t stop thinking about them. Because the comments – God, the comments – always came in two flavors. Either you were sleeping with him, using him, exploiting him… Or he was sleeping with you, manipulating you, climbing. And the truth – your truth – was so much softer and so much more dangerous. You weren’t using him. You were falling for him. And you had no idea if he was falling too… or if you were just hungry for a safety you’d never been allowed to have.

The thing was, Steve did not look like a man who belonged in your world. Not because he wasn’t polished. He was. Not because he wasn’t educated. He clearly was. But because there was something about him – something stubborn and honest and heavy – that did not bend easily to the performative cruelty of politics. He didn’t laugh at the jokes your father’s donors made. He didn’t flatter. He didn’t pretend. He was respectful, yes. But he wasn’t… obedient in the way so many men around you were. He didn’t orbit power like it was a sun. He treated it like a responsibility. And you watched him, sometimes, when you were in a crowded room surrounded by people who wanted something from you. Steve would stand a few feet away, scanning the space, jaw tight, eyes sharp. And if you met his gaze across the room, he would look back – steady, unshaken. A silent message passing between you without words. I’m here. I’ve got you. It made you feel seen in a way that was almost painful. Because you’d spent your whole life being watched, but never truly noticed. And Steve Rogers noticed everything. Including, eventually, the way you looked at him.

It wasn’t like you were subtle. Not at first. You tried to be. You tried to keep your face neutral. Tried to speak to him like he was only your guard. Tried to ignore the way your body reacted when he got too close, the way your skin buzzed when his hand briefly steadied your elbow in a crowd. But you weren’t trained for this. You were trained for politics. For smiling through hostility. For navigating rooms full of sharks. You were not trained for a man who treated your wellbeing like it mattered more than your image. The first time you realized you were in trouble, it was stupid. You were sitting in the residence library at midnight, curled up in an armchair with your laptop balanced on your knees, reading briefings you’d already read twice because your anxiety wouldn’t let you sleep. Steve stood by the doorway. Not inside. Never quite inside private spaces unless invited. “Can’t sleep?” he asked. You didn’t look up. “Too much to do.” “That’s not what I asked.” You paused, fingers hovering over the keyboard. Then, quietly: “No.” Steve was silent for a moment. Then he stepped closer – one step only. Enough to be in the room, just barely. Like he was crossing a line he’d drawn in his own mind.

He placed a glass of water on the side table beside you. No comment. No lecture. Just… water. You looked up, startled. “You just carry water around like a dad?” Steve’s mouth twitched. Almost a smile. Gone in an instant. “Drink,” he said. You stared at him, heartbeat tripping. “Why do you care?” The question came out softer than you intended. Steve’s eyes held yours for a heartbeat too long. Then his face closed. Because of course it did. “It’s my job,” he said, voice even. There it was. That wall. That safe, cruel, professional wall. And you nodded, swallowing the disappointment like you’d swallowed everything else your whole life.

“Right,” you murmured. “Your job.” Steve didn’t move. His gaze dropped to your hands, to the way you were picking at the skin around your thumb without realizing. His voice, when it came, was gentler than his words. “Try to sleep,” he said. “You have an early day.” You scoffed lightly. “And if I don’t?” Steve’s jaw tightened. His eyes flicked away, then back. “Then I’ll be here,” he said quietly. The words hung between you. Not romantic. Not explicit. But it landed like a promise anyway. And when Steve turned and left the room, closing the door softly behind him, you stared at the glass of water on the table and felt your chest ache in a way that had nothing to do with exhaustion. Because for the first time in your life, you thought… Maybe I’m not alone.

Steve, on his side, told himself a thousand times to keep it clean. He was the lead on your detail. He was responsible for your safety. He was trained to stay detached, to maintain boundaries, to avoid personal entanglement. He knew what happened when agents crossed lines. Transfers. Investigations. Careers ended. Lives ruined. He also knew what happened when people close to power got hurt. Bodies in the news. Names in press conferences. Grief turned into policy. Steve had seen too much of that kind of loss to risk becoming another variable. So he locked it down. He stayed professional. He kept his voice neutral. He didn’t look at you too long. He didn’t let himself imagine what your mouth would feel like under his, what your hands would do if they didn’t have to be polite. He didn’t let himself imagine you choosing him. Because why would you? You were raised in rooms he would never belong in. You were the kind of woman the world would eat alive for loving the wrong man. And Steve – Steve was only your bodyguard. The word only tasted like ash every time he thought it. Because it wasn’t only. Not to him. Not anymore. But it had to be. So he loved you in quiet, safe ways. Water. Food. A coat. A hand hovering near your back without touching. His body between you and danger. His eyes on every exit. His voice, low in your ear at crowded events: “On your left.” “Step down.” “Hold for one second.” And every time you listened – every time you trusted him without hesitation – something in Steve’s chest tightened. Because trust, to him, was sacred. And you gave it to him like it was easy. Like it didn’t cost you anything. He wondered, sometimes, if you knew what you were doing to him. If you knew that every time you smiled at him – really smiled, private, when no cameras were around – it made him feel like he was standing too close to the edge of something he couldn’t survive.

By the time you hit twenty-five, then twenty-six, then twenty-seven, the world had decided you were old enough that your choices should be judged as strategy. If you dated, it was for optics. If you didn’t date, it was suspicious. If you were seen with anyone, it was a scandal waiting to be framed. You started avoiding relationships entirely, not because you didn’t want love, but because you were tired of being used as someone else’s storyline. And then Steve became your constant. The one man who didn’t ask you to perform. The one man who didn’t want something from you. The one man who – despite his coldness, his distance, his careful professional mask – still made sure you drank water, and went to bed, and weren't cold outside. And you began, slowly, to believe the dangerous thing; that maybe he cared because he cared. Not because he had to. Not because it was protocol. Because you were you. And he was Steve. And somewhere between press conferences and late-night briefings and the soft weight of his coat on your shoulders, you fell in love with him. Quietly. Hopelessly. With a patience born from years of being told to wait. And you told yourself you could live with the ache. You told yourself it was enough, having him close. You told yourself you would never ask for more. But, the thing about lines, is that they don’t stop you from feeling. They just make you bleed when you cross them. And you were already bleeding, even if neither of you wanted to admit it yet.

The day it started to crack didn’t feel dramatic at first. It felt… normal. Normal in the way your life had trained you to accept – calendar packed from dawn to night, every minute accounted for, every movement observed. Normal in the way your body had learned to carry tension like jewelry: polished, invisible from a distance, cutting into the skin if anyone looked too closely. You woke before your alarm because you always did. Not because you wanted to. Because your brain didn’t trust peace enough to stay asleep. The residence was quiet in that early-hour hush, the kind of quiet that belonged to expensive places where even the air seemed trained not to creak. You padded across your bedroom in socked feet, hair twisted up, robe tied too tight because you needed the pressure around your ribs to feel grounded. Your phone lit up with notifications the moment you picked it up. Press briefing moved up. New guest added to the luncheon. Security note: “credible threat chatter” flagged overnight – low specificity, high volume. The kind of message that made your stomach tighten without giving your fear anywhere useful to go. You stared at the screen for a long moment, jaw set. Then you put the phone down and went to brush your teeth like you hadn’t just read the word threat before coffee. In the mirror, you looked like the version of yourself the papers loved: composed, pretty in a sharp way, eyes that didn’t beg. If you tilted your chin right, you could almost look untouchable. You were good at untouchable. And that was the problem, because Steve had seen all the ways you weren’t. He was waiting outside your suite when you opened the door. Always there. Always on time. Always half a step removed from intimacy. Suit pressed, tie straight, earpiece in. His hands were clasped loosely in front of him, but his eyes were already moving – hallway, corner, reflection, door seams. An entire world of threat assessments running behind his calm expression. “Morning,” you said. “Morning,” Steve answered. His gaze flicked to you – just long enough to register you weren’t fully awake, the faint shadows beneath your eyes, the way your shoulders held too much tension. Then he looked away again, like he didn’t trust himself to linger. You walked past him toward the kitchen. He followed, the sound of his steps measured, steady.

The residence smelled like coffee and lemon polish and the faintest trace of last night’s dinner. Somewhere far off, a staffer laughed quietly. A normal morning sound. A human sound. You clung to it like it was proof the world wasn’t always sharp-edged. In the kitchen, you went straight for the coffee machine. It was automatic. You didn’t have to think. You needed that. Steve stopped at the threshold like he always did. You hated the threshold rule more than you’d ever admit. The way he never fully entered your private spaces unless there was a reason. The way he kept his body at the edge of your life, even as his presence filled it. You poured coffee into your mug and took a sip too quickly. It burned your tongue. You winced. Swore under your breath. Steve’s voice came, quiet, from the doorway. “Too hot.” You glanced up, startled. He didn’t sound smug. Just… observant. “Thanks, Captain Obvious,” you muttered. A beat. Then, still calm: “There’s water in the fridge.” You closed your eyes briefly, because there it was again. That infuriating tenderness disguised as instruction. “Steve.” “Yes?” “Are you going to police my hydration today too?” He didn’t move. Didn’t step in. Didn’t soften his posture. But his eyes met yours. “There was a new security note,” he said. “We’ll be out all day. You need to be functioning." The word hit you wrong, like it had in the car before. Functioning. As if you were a system. A machine. A thing that could be calibrated. You swallowed, irritation flashing. “I’m always functioning.” His jaw tightened. Subtle. A crack of something beneath the surface. “Not like this,” he said. “Not when you haven’t slept.” Your grip tightened around the mug. “I slept.” “Two hours,” Steve said. You froze. Your eyes narrowed. “Excuse me?”

Steve’s gaze flicked toward the corridor – checking, automatically, for anyone else listening. Then back. “Your light was on at two,” he said, voice low. “It went off at four.” Heat rushed to your cheeks. Not embarrassment exactly. Something else. Something too close to intimacy. “You’re watching my lights now?” you snapped. Steve blinked once. “I’m doing my job.” There it was again. That phrase. A shield. A wall. The safe, brutal boundary he used to keep you out. You stared at him, breath shallow. You wanted to say: You don’t watch my lights because it’s your job. You watch my lights because you care. But you didn’t. You never did. Instead, you turned back to the coffee and said, too flatly, “Fine. I’ll drink water.” Steve’s shoulders eased, just slightly. He didn’t thank you. You didn’t look at him. And something – tiny, almost invisible – shifted between you. Not broken. Not yet. But strained.

By eight, you were in the convoy. The armored SUV smelled like leather and faint cologne. The windows were tinted so dark you could barely see the morning outside. It made you feel like you were moving through the world behind glass, untouchable and trapped at the same time. Steve sat across from you, facing the rear. Another agent sat in the front passenger seat. A second vehicle followed behind. You checked your schedule on your phone, thumb scrolling, brain already bracing. Charity luncheon at ten. Elementary school visit at noon. Local hospital wing tour at two. Donor reception at five. Private dinner at eight. Then an early meeting tomorrow with foreign delegates. You stared at the list and felt your spine tighten. “You’re clenching your jaw,” Steve said. You didn’t look up. “I’m fine.” Steve’s voice didn’t change, but something in it sharpened. “Don’t lie to me.” Your thumb stopped moving. You slowly lifted your gaze. Steve’s eyes were on you now – not scanning the window, not checking mirrors. On you. It was rare, having his full attention like that. It felt like standing under direct light. “I’m not lying,” you said, quieter. “I’m managing.” Steve’s jaw flexed. “That’s not the same.” You exhaled through your nose. “You’re really committed to the wellness coach thing today, huh?” A flicker crossed his face – something like amusement, immediately swallowed. The car hit a slight bump and your coffee sloshed. Steve’s hand shot out, fast and controlled, steadying the cup before it spilled. His fingers brushed yours for a fraction of a second. Skin to skin. Heat.

You both froze. The touch was microscopic. Innocent. It still felt like a confession. Steve withdrew his hand as if he’d been burned. His posture went rigid, eyes snapping back to the rear window. You stared at your own hand like it had betrayed you. Your heart was pounding too loud. You cleared your throat. Forced your voice steady. “Thanks.” Steve didn’t answer. He just stared out the window, jaw clenched, like the city outside had suddenly become the most interesting thing in the world. And you realized – suddenly, sharply – that he wasn’t just professional. He was fighting. Fighting something in himself that wanted too much. And the knowledge made your chest ache with a mix of hope and frustration.

The luncheon was a blur of perfume and polite cruelty. A hotel ballroom, glittering chandeliers, white tablecloths so crisp they felt like a threat. People in expensive suits smiling like knives. You moved through it the way you always did: chin up, shoulders back, voice warm. You let strangers touch your arm, kiss your cheek, call you sweetheart in a tone that made your teeth grind. You laughed at jokes you hated. Steve stayed behind you, always half a step removed. Eyes scanning, body angled to block. At one point, an older donor – a man with a practiced grin and too much confidence – caught your hand and held it a beat too long. “My, my,” he said, loud enough for people nearby to hear. “You’re even prettier in person.” You smiled, because you’d been trained to. “Thank you,” you said. His thumb traced the back of your hand. Too familiar. Steve moved in instantly. Not aggressive, but present – like a door closing. “Sir,” Steve said, voice calm, “we need to keep moving.” The donor’s smile faltered. His gaze flicked to Steve with irritation. “I’m just complimenting her,” the man said. Steve didn’t blink. “We have a schedule.” The donor let go, offended, and muttered something under his breath as you walked away. Your pulse was fast – not from fear, but from the way Steve had stepped in so seamlessly. The way he’d protected you without making a scene. The way his voice had carried a quiet authority that didn’t need force.

When you reached the edge of the room, you turned slightly toward him, lowering your voice. “Thank you.” Steve’s eyes met yours. Brief. Intense. Then his gaze flicked away. “Part of the job,” he said. You flinched, almost imperceptibly. You hated that phrase. You hated how he kept using it like it was the only safe thing he could say. You took a breath, forcing yourself to stay calm. “Not everything is just ‘the job,’ Steve.” His eyes snapped back to yours. For a second, his expression shifted – something raw, something almost pained. Then it closed again. “Focus,” he said quietly. “Please.” The word please was gentle, and it only made you angrier. Because he could be gentle. He just refused to be… open. You looked away, swallowing the bitter thing rising in your throat. “Fine,” you murmured. Steve’s posture eased, but the tension in his jaw didn’t. He’d heard it too. The crack in your voice.

By the time you got to the elementary school, the sky had turned overcast. Wind tugged at your hair, cold enough to sting. Kids swarmed you with paper crafts and sticky fingers and questions that made you smile for real. “How old are you?” one little girl demanded. “Old enough,” you said, laughing. “Do you live in the White House?” a boy asked, eyes wide. “No,” you said. “But I’ve been there.” “Is your dad the President?” another asked. “He’s the Vice President,” you corrected gently. A chorus of woooow followed, like you were a superhero. You knelt to their level, took their drawings with genuine gratitude, let them talk over each other without interruption. Behind you, Steve watched it all. You knew he did, because you could feel him like gravity. Once, you glanced back and caught him looking at you – not scanning for threats, not assessing the crowd. Just… watching you. His expression softened, the hard lines around his mouth easing. His eyes warm in a way you almost never saw. It punched straight through you. For a heartbeat, you forgot the cameras, the agents, the headlines. It felt like you and him in a bubble. Then a teacher moved too close behind you, and Steve’s gaze snapped into focus, professional again. The softness vanished. The bubble popped. And you felt – stupidly – like you’d imagined it. Like your hope was a hallucination born from too many years of loneliness.

In the car afterward, you stared out the tinted window at children waving as the convoy pulled away. Your throat felt tight. You didn’t realize you were quiet until Steve spoke. “You did good back there,” he said. You blinked, turning to him. “It’s just kids.” “It’s not just kids,” Steve replied. His tone was careful, but his eyes were steady. “They see you,” he said quietly. “Not… the headlines.” Something inside you cracked, just a little. You swallowed hard. “Yeah. Well. They don’t know any better yet.” Steve’s jaw clenched. He looked away, then back, as if making a decision. “You’re not what they say,” he said, voice low. “You know that, right?” Your breath caught. Because he didn’t have to say that. Because it wasn’t about threats or schedules. Because it was… personal. Your heart thudded painfully. And your first instinct was to lean into it – to take that tiny offering and hold it. But then Steve’s face tightened, as if he’d realized he’d stepped too far. He straightened, posture snapping back into neutrality. “We’re running late,” he added, brisk. “We need to move.” The moment was gone. Just like that. Your chest burned. You stared at him, hurt sharp and sudden. “Why do you do that?” you asked, voice quiet. Steve didn’t look at you. “Do what?” “Say something… human,” you said, “and then disappear behind the badge.” Steve’s hands tightened once, barely, on his knee. “You’re tired,” he said. “Don’t start.” Your mouth fell open, anger flashing. “I’m not starting,” you snapped. “I’m just–” Just what? Just begging him to admit he cared? Just asking him to stop treating you like a duty and start treating you like someone he wanted? The words jammed in your throat. Steve finally turned his head, eyes hard now. “Focus,” he said again, but this time it wasn’t gentle. It was a command. Your stomach twisted. “Right,” you said, voice brittle. “Focus. Of course.” Steve’s expression tightened, as if you’d done damage he hadn’t intended. The rest of the drive was silent. The kind of silence that wasn’t peaceful. The kind that grew teeth.

By the time you reached the hospital wing tour, you had a migraine blooming behind your eyes. Everything was too bright, too loud. Flashbulbs. Smiling doctors. Hands shaking yours with gratitude that felt like performance. You did it anyway. You always did. Steve stayed close, closer than usual now. You noticed his hand hover more often near your back. You noticed the way he angled his body to shield you from crowds without touching you, as if touch was the one thing he couldn’t allow himself. And you noticed the way he kept watching you in between scans – watching your face, your breathing, the slight delay before you smiled. You wanted to scream at him: If you see me, then stop acting like you don’t. But you didn’t. Because you were in public. Because you were trained. Because you were tired. At one point, as you moved from one room to another, the world tilted – just slightly. Your vision blurred at the edges. You stopped, swallowing hard. Steve was at your side instantly. His hand found your elbow. Firm. Real. Steadying. “Hey,” he murmured, so low no one else could hear. “Breathe.” You blinked, disoriented. His thumb pressed lightly, once, against your sleeve – anchoring you. “Too much,” Steve said, voice almost… tender. “We can take five.” You stared at him. His face was close. Too close. His eyes were on yours, intense and worried in a way that made your throat tighten. Then, over your shoulder, someone called your name. A photographer. Steve’s expression closed in an instant. His hand dropped away. He stepped back. “Keep moving,” he said, louder, professional. Neutral. And the whiplash of it – warmth to ice in half a second – made your stomach churn. You turned and smiled for the camera because you were very good at pretending. But inside, something was starting to fracture. Not because Steve had been cold. Because he hadn’t been cold first. Because he kept showing you glimpses of something real… then yanking it away like it wasn’t safe for either of you to touch. And you were starting to realize that the distance wasn’t just protocol. It was fear.

By late afternoon, the donor reception loomed like a threat. You stood in your room changing into a sleek dress that made you look exactly like the person the papers wanted you to be: untouchable, expensive, sharp. You stared at yourself in the mirror and felt strangely hollow. A knock sounded at the door. You knew it was Steve. It was always Steve. “Come in,” you called, and immediately regretted it, because he never did unless necessary. The door opened only a crack. Steve’s voice came through. Controlled. Careful. “Five minutes.” Your fingers froze on the clasp of your necklace. “Steve,” you said, impulse winning. “Can you–” Can you what? Come in? Stay? Look at me like you did with the kids? Stop pretending? Your throat tightened. The silence stretched. Steve remained on the other side of the door. Then, softly, “What do you need?” The question – genuine, quiet – hit you in the chest. You swallowed. “I don’t know,” you admitted, voice small. “I’m tired.” There was a pause. Then Steve said, so quietly you almost missed it, “Drink some water.” You let out a breath that sounded too much like a laugh and too much like a sob. “Of course,” you whispered. On the other side of the door, you heard him shift – like he wanted to come closer, like he wanted to say something else. But he didn’t. He never did. The door closed again. And you stared at your reflection, blinking hard. Because you could feel it now, unmistakably. This wasn’t sustainable. Not the trust. Not the feelings. Not the way he kept you safe with his body but refused to let you anywhere near his heart. Something had to give. And you had a terrible feeling it wouldn’t be him. Not until it broke.

The donor reception blurred into one long, glittering performance. A ballroom washed in warm light and expensive perfume. Crystal glasses clinking. People laughing too loudly at jokes that weren’t funny. Your father’s allies orbiting the room like planets, each one trying to get close enough to be seen in the right photograph. You wore your role like armor. Smile. Touch an elbow. Tilt your head. Repeat a name. Make a comment that sounded personal without offering anything real. Steve stayed behind you, as always – half a step, sometimes less when the crowd tightened. He didn’t drink. He didn’t mingle. He didn’t laugh. He was the fixed point in the room, the quiet gravity that kept you upright when everything else felt slippery. You should have been grateful. You were grateful. You were also so tired you could barely hear yourself think. And because you were tired, you noticed more than you usually allowed yourself to notice. You noticed the way Steve’s gaze lingered on your face when you laughed for real. The way his jaw tightened when a donor held your hand too long. The way his shoulders shifted – subtle, automatic – every time someone stepped into your space like you belonged to them. You noticed the things he did without thinking. And you noticed how quickly he shut them down. A donor – a woman in diamonds and sharpened politeness – leaned in close, voice low and syrupy. “You’re doing wonderfully,” she said, fingers brushing the bare skin of your arm. “You must be so proud. Your father is going places.” You smiled. “Thank you.” Her eyes flicked past you to Steve. “And you,” she added, as if you weren’t still standing there, “you must have your hands full.” Steve didn’t even blink. “Ma’am.” The woman’s smile turned sly. “He’s handsome, isn’t he?” she said to you, not to him, like you were girlfriends sharing gossip. Heat crawled up your neck. You forced a laugh, light. “He’s very good at his job.” Steve’s posture went a shade more rigid. You could feel him closing down behind you. Like a door locking. The woman hummed, amused. “Mmm. Of course.” You moved on quickly, because you knew what those comments did. Not just to you – to him. To the fragile, invisible line he’d drawn around your relationship. The line that kept him safe from rumors, safe from accusations, safe from wanting. But the comments stayed under your skin anyway. Because they brushed against a truth you’d been trying not to touch.

By the time you got back to the residence, it was nearly midnight.

You had smiled until your cheeks hurt. You had shaken so many hands your fingers felt numb. Your heels had carved a dull ache into the soles of your feet.

When the convoy pulled into the private drive, you leaned your head back against the seat and closed your eyes.

The SUV was quiet except for the low murmur of radio traffic.

Steve sat across from you, still facing the rear, still scanning. As if the day hadn’t ended. As if danger didn’t respect your schedule.

You opened your eyes and found him watching you instead of the window.

Just for a second.

His gaze was steady, but there was something in it now – tiredness, maybe. Or concern. Or something deeper he refused to name.

Your throat tightened.

“Steve,” you said softly, before you could stop yourself.

His eyes sharpened. “Yeah?”

The single syllable felt intimate in a way it shouldn’t have.

You swallowed. Your fingers twisted in your lap.

“Do you ever…” You hesitated, words stuck behind your teeth. “Do you ever get tired of pretending you don’t care?”

The silence that followed wasn’t empty.

It was packed with everything he refused to say.

Steve’s face went blank in an instant. The mask sliding into place so smoothly it made you want to scream.

“I don’t know what you mean,” he said.

Your breath came out shaky. You hated it.

“Sure,” you muttered, turning your gaze to the window, because looking at him was too much.

The SUV stopped. Doors opened. Night air rushed in.

“Home,” the agent in front said.

Steve moved first, stepping out, scanning the driveway, the shadows, the perimeter.

You followed, the cold air biting at your exposed arms.

Steve’s coat appeared behind you – hovering, then settling over your shoulders. Heavy, warm, smelling faintly of him.

Your heart lurched.

You turned, startled.

Steve’s eyes were on the horizon, not on you. Like he couldn’t allow himself to watch your reaction.

“Thanks,” you said quietly.

“Cold,” he replied, like that explained everything.

You wanted to grab his sleeve. Pull him close. Force him to look at you and admit the truth.

Instead, you walked inside.

Because you were tired.

Because you were trained.

Because you didn’t know how to do this without breaking something.

You went straight to your office.

Not because you wanted to work.

Because you needed somewhere to put the restless energy under your skin. Somewhere to drown the ache with emails and schedules and lists.

Your office was dim, lit only by the desk lamp. The familiar scent of paper and leather and faint vanilla from the candle you never lit because open flames were not allowed. The world reduced to quiet.

You kicked off your shoes and sat down.

For a while, you let yourself pretend you were just another woman with too much work and a headache.

For a while, it almost worked.

Then your phone buzzed again: another message from staff. Another adjustment. Another demand.

You stared at the screen until the words blurred.

And without thinking, you typed back an answer. Efficient. Polite. Professional.

Just like Steve.

That thought hit like a slap.

You dropped your phone on the desk and pressed your fingers to your eyes.

You were not supposed to be thinking about him like this. You were not supposed to be measuring your life against the quiet space he occupied in it.

But you couldn’t stop.

Because he was everywhere.

Even when he wasn’t.

When you finally left your office, the residence hallway was quiet. Most of the staff had gone to bed. The security lights cast soft pools of gold across the polished floor.

You expected to see Steve stationed nearby, like he always was at night.

He wasn’t.

For a second, your stomach tightened with something like panic.

Then you heard voices – low, controlled – coming from around the corner near the security station.

You slowed.

Not because you meant to eavesdrop.

Because you recognized his voice.

Steve was speaking the way he spoke to other agents – calm, factual, stripped of warmth. The tone he used when he wasn’t talking to you.

And you realized with sudden clarity that you’d almost never heard him speak about you.

Not in that context.

Not in that voice.

You stopped in the shadow of a doorway, heart thudding.

“–she’s been under significant pressure,” Steve was saying. “It’s impacting her routine.”

Another voice answered, muffled. “Any behavioral flags?”

Steve hesitated only a fraction.

“No,” he said. “Nothing beyond expected parameters.”

You felt your breath catch.

“Expected parameters?” the other agent repeated.

Steve’s answer came smoothly, without hesitation.

“She’s compliant,” he said. “Stubborn, but manageable.”

Your blood went cold.

Compliant.

Manageable.

Words you’d heard your whole life in different forms. Words used by staffers and advisers when they thought you couldn’t hear them. Words used by men who saw you as a problem to control, not a person to understand.

Your fingers curled hard around the edge of the doorway.

The other voice said something you didn’t catch. Steve replied, sharper now.

“She’s not the primary,” he said. “The Vice President is the primary. Her proximity makes her a high-value target. We mitigate that risk.”

Mitigate.

Risk.

Target.

Primary.

Your throat tightened until it hurt.

You knew – logically – that this was how security worked. You knew Steve had to speak this language. You knew it wasn’t personal.

But hearing it – hearing him reduce you to a set of variables – felt like being shoved out into the cold without warning.

Because you’d trusted him with the parts of yourself you didn’t show anyone.

You’d trusted him because he felt different.

And now, in two sentences, he sounded exactly like the world.

The other agent asked, “You still comfortable with the detail?”

Steve answered immediately.

“Yes,” he said. “I can handle her.”

Handle her.

Like you were a situation.

A problem.

A thing.

Your chest tightened so violently you felt dizzy.

You stepped back without meaning to.

Your heel clipped the edge of a console table.

The sound was small – barely a knock.

It might as well have been a gunshot.

The voices cut off instantly.

Footsteps.

And then Steve rounded the corner.

He saw you.

For half a second, his eyes widened – just slightly. A crack in the mask.

Then his expression smoothed back into professionalism like nothing had happened.

“Shouldn’t you be in bed?” he asked, calm.

The casualness almost broke you.

You stared at him, the world narrowing down to the space between your bodies.

“I’m compliant?” you said, voice quiet.

Steve’s face tightened. His gaze flicked toward the security station, toward the other agent, then back.

“You heard part of a–”

“I’m manageable?” you continued, the words tasting like blood.

Steve took a step toward you. “Listen–”

“You can handle me?” Your voice rose, sharp. “Is that what I am now? Something you handle?”

His jaw flexed. “That’s not what I meant.”

“Then what did you mean?” you demanded.

Steve’s eyes held yours, and for a second you saw something in them – regret, maybe. Or panic.

But he didn’t reach for you.

He didn’t soften.

He didn’t say your name.

He stayed behind the badge.

“I was speaking in operational terms,” he said, voice controlled. “It’s not personal.”

The words landed like a betrayal.

Not because they were cruel.

Because they were safe.

Because they were the exact kind of answer that let him avoid the thing you needed him to say.

You shook your head slowly, disbelief making your vision blur.

“You–” Your voice cracked, and you hated yourself for it. “You were the only person I thought I could trust.”

Silence.

Absolute.

Steve’s face drained of color.

For the first time in years, his composure slipped – just enough to show the man underneath. The man who looked like he’d been punched.

He swallowed hard.

“You can trust me,” he said, and the words sounded desperate.

You laughed once, broken. “Can I? Because it sounds like I’m just a file to you.”

“You’re not,” Steve said, stepping closer now. “You’re not a file.”

“Then what am I, Steve?” you demanded, and your voice shook with it. “What am I to you?”

He froze.

And you saw it – the moment where truth rose to his mouth and he forced it back down.

Because he couldn’t say it.

Because he wouldn’t.

Because he was afraid.

The pause lasted only a second.

It felt like a year.

Steve’s eyes dropped briefly to the floor, then lifted back up – shuttered.

“We need to get you back to your room,” he said, voice turning firm. “You shouldn’t be out here alone.”

It wasn’t an answer.

It was a command.

And something in you snapped.

“No,” you said, voice low.

Steve blinked. “No?”

“I’m not going back to my room,” you said, breathing hard. “I’m going out.”

Steve’s posture hardened instantly. Protective mode. Authority.

“No,” he repeated. “Not without security.”

You stared at him, heart hammering.

“Without security,” you echoed, bitter. “You mean without you.”

Steve’s jaw clenched. “Yes.”

“Why?” you demanded. “So you can handle me?”

Steve flinched.

“That’s not fair.”

“You don’t get to tell me what’s fair,” you snapped. “You don’t get to treat me like a risk assessment and then act like you’re the one protecting me from getting hurt.”

His eyes flashed. “I am protecting you.”

“From what?” you shot back. “From the world? Or from you?”

The question hung between you like smoke.

Steve’s breathing went shallow.

His voice came out low, strained.

“Go to your room,” he said. “Please.”

The please was the only crack of humanity in it.

It didn’t fix anything.

It made it worse.

Because it proved he knew you were breaking – and he was still choosing the badge over you.

You swallowed hard, forcing your chin up.

“I trusted you,” you said, quieter now. “I trusted you with everything. And you just– you just proved you’re like all of them.”

Steve’s eyes glistened for a fraction of a second.

Then he locked it down again.

“I’m not,” he said.

But he didn’t say what he was.

And you couldn’t stay in that space anymore.

You turned sharply and started walking down the hall.

“Stop,” Steve called, voice firm.

You didn’t.

His footsteps came after you, fast and controlled.

“Stop,” he repeated, closer.

You spun around, fury burning through the hurt.

“What?” you snapped. “What are you going to do? Give me an order? Drag me back to my room? Call me manageable again?”

Steve froze, as if you’d struck him.

For a heartbeat, his eyes looked naked.

Then his face set.

“That’s not what this is,” he said.

“Then what is it?” you demanded, voice breaking. “Because I can’t keep doing this, Steve. I can’t keep being… this thing you guard and monitor and handle while you pretend you don’t care.”

Steve’s mouth opened.

Closed.

His hands flexed at his sides, like he was fighting the urge to reach for you.

He didn’t.

“I’m trying to keep you safe,” he said finally.

The words were meant to be comforting.

They weren’t.

They were the same words he’d always used.

The same shield.

You stared at him, chest heaving.

Then, very softly, you said the most honest thing you’d said all day, “I don’t feel safe with you right now.”

Steve’s face went still.

Like something in him stopped working.

You didn’t wait.

You turned and walked away, faster this time, heading toward the front entrance.

Steve followed, immediate.

“You can’t leave,” he said, voice tight.

You didn’t look back. “Watch me.”

“You’re angry,” he said. “You’re not thinking.”

“I’m thinking clearer than I have in months,” you shot back, and your throat burned. “I’m not your soldier, Steve. I’m not your assignment. I’m not your primary or your secondary or your risk factor.”

His footsteps slowed for half a second.

Like the words hit.

Then he surged forward again.

“Please,” he said again, lower now, almost… pleading. “Don’t do this.”

You stopped at the door and turned.

Your eyes met his.

For a second, everything else fell away – politics, security, rumors.

It was just you and him.

You stared at his face – the tight jaw, the controlled breathing, the eyes that looked like they held a storm behind them.

“You don’t get to ask me for anything,” you whispered. “Not after what I heard.”

Steve swallowed hard. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

“But you said it,” you replied, voice shaking. “And you didn’t even hesitate.”

His gaze dropped, shame flashing.

Then, almost inaudible, “I did hesitate.”

You blinked, thrown.

Steve lifted his eyes to yours again, rawness flickering.

“For a second,” he admitted. “And then I remembered what I’m supposed to be.”

The words should have been honest.

They should have been enough.

They weren’t.

Because what he was “supposed to be” was the exact thing that was breaking you.

You reached for the doorknob.

Steve’s hand moved – fast – then stopped short, hovering, not touching.

A restrained instinct.

A leash he held on himself.

You stared at the space between his hand and yours, that fraction of distance that had defined your entire relationship.

Then you opened the door.

Cold air rushed in.

You stepped out into the night.

And you left him behind, standing in the doorway like a man who’d just watched the one person he loved walk straight into danger – because he’d been too afraid to call it love.

Cold air hit you like a slap the moment you stepped outside.

The residence grounds were quiet at this hour – too quiet. The kind of quiet that made every crunch of gravel sound obscene, every rustle of leaves feel like a whisper meant for someone else’s ears. The security lights cast pale pools across manicured hedges and stone paths, turning the world into a series of bright islands and dark gaps.

You kept walking anyway.

You didn’t let yourself hesitate, because if you did, you might turn around.

And if you turned around, you might see Steve standing in the doorway with that expression you’d just glimpsed – raw, wounded, terrified – and it would make you weak.

You couldn’t afford weak.

Not tonight.

Not when the one person you’d trusted to see you as human had just reduced you to a set of terms.

Compliant. Manageable.

Your hands were shaking as you crossed the drive.

You fumbled for your keys and hated how loud they sounded. Hated how small your body felt under the open sky, exposed and stupidly vulnerable without the usual wall of agents and protocol around you.

The irony wasn’t lost on you.

You had walked out on security because you felt unsafe with him – because you felt betrayed – yet your skin prickled with awareness now, every nerve screaming danger like it hadn’t in months.

A car engine idled in the distance. A dog barked once, far away. Somewhere, a security camera rotated with a soft mechanical whirr.

You reached your car and yanked the door open.

The interior smelled faintly of leather and the vanilla air freshener you’d bought on impulse weeks ago, trying to make it feel less like another controlled space.

You sat behind the wheel.

And for a moment – just one – your hands hovered above the ignition as your chest heaved, breath caught like you’d been running.

The tears didn’t fall yet.

They gathered, hot and humiliating, burning behind your eyes.

You blinked hard.

No.

Not here.

Not now.

You shoved the key into the ignition.

The engine turned over with a low purr.

You backed out too fast, tires crunching over gravel, and headed toward the gate.

Your phone buzzed.

You didn’t look at it.

You didn’t need to.

You knew exactly who it was.

Inside the residence, Steve stood frozen in the doorway like he’d been nailed there. He watched your taillights cut through the darkness and felt something in his chest collapse. His training screamed at him. Protocol demanded immediate action. You were leaving the secure perimeter without your detail. You were angry, emotional, impulsive – high risk on every axis. He should have moved. Should have called it in. Should have sent another unit, activated the contingency plan, locked the gate if necessary. He did none of it. Because for one nauseating second, all he could see was your face when you said it. You were the only person I thought I could trust. It had landed in him like a bullet. The truth was – he had known you trusted him. He’d felt it every time you stepped exactly where he guided you without looking. Every time you followed his quiet “left” or “step down.” Every time you let him stand close without flinching. He’d carried that trust like it was something fragile, something he didn’t deserve. And then, tonight, he’d treated it like… language. He’d talked about you like a file. He’d let his operational brain choose words that were safe, detached, professional – words he would never say to your face. And you had heard them. He’d been caught. Not lying. Being exactly what he’d forced himself to be. A bodyguard. Only a bodyguard. And the cost of that, suddenly, was you walking out into the night without him. Steve’s hands clenched hard enough that his knuckles went white. His radio crackled in his ear. A voice asked a question. Another voice called his name. He didn’t answer. He was staring at the empty driveway like he could will you back. He couldn’t. Then his instincts finally snapped into place – too late, too desperate. He reached for his phone.

Your phone buzzed again.

Then again.

And again.

You kept your eyes on the road.

The city outside the residence grounds was sleeping – streetlights casting long reflections on wet asphalt, storefronts dark, occasional cars drifting past like ghosts.

You drove without a destination.

Because it wasn’t about going somewhere.

It was about being gone.

Being out of the residence, out of the camera angles, out of Steve’s orbit.

Being somewhere where you could breathe without feeling like you were being evaluated.

The buzzing stopped.

A second later, the screen lit up with a call.

STEVE.

Your throat tightened so hard it hurt.

You stared at the name until the call went to voicemail.

Immediately, another came through.

You let it ring too.

Your hands were trembling on the steering wheel.

Your chest felt tight, like your ribs were strapped down.

The anger was still there – hot, sharp – underneath everything.

But now it mixed with something else. Something sick and heavy.

Guilt.

Because you knew leaving was dangerous.

You knew he wasn’t calling because he wanted to win an argument.

He was calling because his entire job – his entire identity – was keeping you alive.

And you had just ripped that away from him.

A tiny part of you whispered: He deserved it.

Another part whispered: You’re being reckless.

You clenched your jaw.

You turned the volume of your radio up just to drown out your own thoughts.

At the first red light, you finally looked down at your phone.

Eight missed calls. Five new messages.

You didn’t open them.

You couldn’t.

If you read his words, you might cave. You might turn around.

And you weren’t ready to do that.

Because if you turned around, you’d have to face the truth: that you still wanted him. That despite everything, your heart still leaned toward him like a compass.

And wanting him felt humiliating right now.

You exhaled shakily, staring at the red light.

Your reflection stared back from the windshield – eyes too bright, face pale.

You looked like a woman who had finally realized the one safe thing she’d clung to wasn’t safe after all.

The light turned green.

You drove on.

You ended up in a quiet neighborhood near the river – one of the few places in the city that didn’t feel like it belonged to anyone important. Rows of trees, dark water, a narrow road that curved along the edge like a secret.

You pulled over and parked.

Your hands stayed on the wheel for a long moment.

Then you let your forehead fall forward until it rested against your knuckles.

And the tears came.

Silent. Angry. Ugly.

You weren’t crying because Steve had done something unforgivable.

You were crying because he had proven something you had spent your whole life fighting against; that even the kindest men still saw you as a thing attached to power.

A risk.

A duty.

A problem to manage.

You dragged in a shaky breath, wiping at your cheeks with the sleeve of your coat – Steve’s coat – still around your shoulders like a cruel joke.

You should have taken it off.

You couldn’t.

It smelled like him.

Warm, clean, familiar.

Safe.

And that made you hate him more.

Your phone buzzed again.

A new message.

You glanced down despite yourself.

Please. Tell me where you are.

Your throat tightened.

You stared at the screen until your vision blurred.

Then you locked your phone and tossed it onto the passenger seat.

No.

Not yet.

Ten minutes passed.

Then fifteen.

The city stayed quiet.

Your breathing steadied.

The anger cooled into something aching.

And underneath it all, a dangerous thought kept creeping in, He sounded panicked.

Not professionally urgent.

Panicked.

He’d looked like he’d been losing something when you walked out.

And maybe – maybe – he had.

Maybe this hadn’t been easy for him either.

Maybe he’d been holding himself back for so long that the only way he knew to survive was to put you in a box labeled “client” and “assignment” and “manageable” – because if he admitted what you were to him, he would want too much.

You swallowed hard, hands tightening on the steering wheel again.

It didn’t excuse it.

But it made the hurt feel… complicated.

You hated complicated.

You lived in complicated.

You wanted, just once, something simple.

Something honest.

You wanted him to look at you and say I love you.

Not It’s my job.

Not Focus.

Not Go to your room.

Your stomach twisted.

You should go back.

You knew you should.

If not for Steve, then for yourself.

If there was another threat, if there was some idiot with a camera, if someone recognized your car…

You inhaled, shaky.

Fine.

You’d go back.

You’d go back on your terms.

You reached for your phone.

Another buzz interrupted you.

This time, it wasn’t Steve.

It was your father’s chief of staff.

You stared at the name, dread sliding down your spine.

You answered before you could think.

“What?” you said, voice rough.

“Where are you?” the chief of staff demanded immediately. No greeting. No softness. “We got an alert you left the residence.”

Of course you did.

Of course they knew.

Of course your life was monitored even when you tried to run.

“I’m fine,” you snapped.

“You are not fine,” the chief of staff shot back. “You are the Vice President’s daughter. There are protocols–”

“Don’t,” you hissed. “Don’t talk to me about protocols.”

A pause.

Then, quieter, more careful: “Agent Rogers is losing his mind.”

Your chest tightened despite yourself.

“He shouldn’t,” you said, cold.

“He’s trying to locate you,” the chief of staff continued. “He’s activated–”

“Tell him to stop,” you said, voice shaking. “Tell him I’m not– I’m not his file.”

Silence.

Then, “You need to return.”

“I will,” you said, jaw clenched. “Soon.”

“Where are you?”

You looked out at the river, dark and indifferent, and felt the exhaustion settle in your bones.

“I’m in my car,” you said. “That’s all you get.”

You ended the call with your father’s chief of staff with your pulse still in your throat.

The quiet in the car felt wrong now – too thin, too exposed. Like the night had been holding its breath with you, waiting to see what you’d do next.

You stared at your phone, screen dark. The urge to call Steve rose again, sharp and guilty, and you swallowed it down like you’d swallowed everything else tonight.

Not yet.

You couldn’t deal with his voice. Not when it might crack you open.

You pulled in a slow breath, wiped the heel of your hand across your cheek, and forced your fingers to stop trembling.

Fine.

You’d go back.

Not because he deserved it.

Because you did.

You started the engine. The familiar vibration under your palms steadied you a fraction – something solid, something you could control.

Headlights cut a clean path through the dark as you eased out of your spot and merged back onto the road.

The city was quiet at this hour, streetlights painting wet asphalt in pale gold. Storefronts were shuttered. The river disappeared behind you, black and indifferent.

You drove carefully. Too carefully, maybe – every mirror checked twice, every intersection approached with the cautious patience of someone who’d grown up being told the world was dangerous.

Your phone buzzed once.

You didn’t look.

Your grip on the steering wheel tightened anyway.

Just get home. Just get back inside the perimeter. Just breathe.

A few streets later, you came up on a traffic light.

It was green.

Clear. Simple. Permission.

You rolled through, the tires humming softly over the painted lines.

And then – movement.

A blur from your right, too fast, too wrong.

You had just enough time to register headlights cutting across the intersection at an angle that made no sense.

Red for them.

Green for you.

Your stomach dropped, reflex screaming.

You jerked the wheel left on instinct – useless, too late.

The impact hit the passenger side with a brutal, grinding crash.

Metal screamed.

Glass shuddered.

The whole car lurched sideways as if a giant hand had grabbed it and thrown it.

Your body snapped against the seatbelt, the strap biting across your chest. Your head whipped – not hard enough to injure, but hard enough to steal your breath.

The world turned into noise and spin.

The car rotated – once, twice – tires skidding, the road becoming a smear of light and shadow outside the windshield. Streetlights strobed past in dizzy flashes. Your hands clenched the wheel like it was the only thing keeping you anchored to reality.

Then, as suddenly as it started, it stopped.

A final jolt.

Silence – thick, ringing silence – punctured by the ticking of your engine and the distant hiss of another car idling wrong.

Your heart was hammering so hard it felt like it might crack your ribs.

You sat frozen, both hands still locked around the steering wheel, breath trapped halfway in your lungs.

For a second you didn’t move because you didn’t trust your body to obey you.

Then you blinked.

Once. Twice.

Your vision steadied.

You looked down at yourself automatically – arms, chest, legs.

No blood.

No sharp pain.

Just the violent aftershock trembling through your muscles, the ghost of impact still vibrating in your bones.

You swallowed hard and forced yourself to breathe.

In.

Out.

In.

Out.

Your hands finally loosened their death grip on the wheel.

The passenger side was caved in enough that you could hear the faint crackle of stressed metal cooling. Your side mirror was hanging at an angle, reflecting only dark sky. The air smelled like burned rubber and something electrical.

You turned your head slowly, checking the passenger seat on instinct.

Outside, somewhere nearby, a horn blared once, then cut off.

Your phone had slid into the footwell. The screen was lit with a web of missed calls and notifications, but your eyes couldn’t focus on the words yet.

You swallowed again, throat tight, and stared through the windshield at the traffic light still glowing green, indifferent.

You had done everything right.

You had had the right of way.

You had been careful.

And still…

Your breath hitched, anger and fear tangling together, hot and ugly.

The door handles rattled as someone outside stumbled, footsteps unsteady on the pavement. A slurred voice floated through the night, too loud.

“Oh– oh shit–”

Drunk.

You could hear it immediately in the loose way the words fell apart.

You didn’t open the door.

You didn’t even think about it.

You just sat there, shaking, safe only because you were unhurt and alone in the car.

And because somewhere, in the back of your mind, the brutal truth cut through the adrenaline like ice.

You had left the perimeter.

You had left your detail.

You had left Steve.

Your hands found your phone without you fully deciding to. You dragged it up from the footwell with trembling fingers, thumb hovering over his name like it had been carved into memory.

Your throat tightened so hard it hurt.

Not yet, you thought.

Then you looked at the crushed passenger side again, and your pulse stuttered.

Your thumb hovered over Steve’s name for half a second again.

Muscle memory. Instinct. The person your body still wanted to reach for even when your pride was bleeding.

You swallowed hard and forced yourself to move past it.

Not Steve.

Not yet.

Your screen was smeared with your fingerprints when you unlocked it – hands still shaking, heart still thundering. You scrolled, fast, past recent calls, past missed notifications, until you found the number you needed.

SAM WILSON.

You hit call.

It rang once.

Twice.

He picked up on the third, voice already alert, like he never truly slept when you were off-perimeter.

“Wilson,” he said.

“Sam,” you breathed, and your voice came out thinner than you wanted. You cleared your throat, forcing the words into shape. “It’s me. I– I’ve had an accident.”

The pause on the line wasn’t silence. It was Sam’s brain switching gears.

“Okay,” he said immediately, calm in a way that wrapped around you like a blanket. “Okay. You hurt?”

“No,” you said quickly. “No, I’m shaken but I’m not hurt. I think– I think the seatbelt did its job.”

“Good. Stay with me.” His tone tightened, professional now. “Where are you?”

You swallowed, eyes flicking around the intersection. The street sign. The traffic light still green for the direction you’d been going. A storefront on the corner – dark, but the name was visible under the streetlamp.

“I’m at–” your voice wobbled, and you hated it. You sucked in a breath. “I’m at the intersection of– hold on.”

You leaned forward carefully to see better, neck stiff, and read the signs out loud. Then you glanced at your navigation screen and rattled off the nearest cross street again, more clearly.

Sam didn’t interrupt once.

“Okay,” he said when you finished. “I’ve got it. I’m pinging it now. Stay in the car. Doors locked?”

“Yes,” you said, breath shaky. “Yes, they’re locked.”

“Good. Seatbelt still on?”

You looked down like you needed proof. The strap cut diagonally across your chest, taut.

“Yes.”

“Perfect. Keep it on for now.” You could hear him moving – keys, maybe, the rustle of fabric, the controlled urgency of someone already in motion. “Tell me what happened.”

You stared at the crushed passenger side, the way the metal had folded in on itself like paper. Your stomach rolled.

“I went through a green light,” you said, voice tight. “And someone– someone ran the red. They hit me on the passenger side. I spun– my car spun around.”

“Any airbags deploy?”

“No.”

“Any smoke? Fuel smell?”

“No smoke,” you said, sniffing automatically. “Just… rubber. And like… hot metal.”

“Okay.” Sam’s voice stayed steady, anchored. “Is the other driver still there?”

You looked through the windshield. In the periphery, you saw movement – someone staggering near a car stopped awkwardly by the curb. They seemed more interested in their own bumper than in you.

“Yeah,” you said slowly. “He’s here. He… he’s not steady.”

A beat.

“Drunk?” Sam asked, already knowing.

“Sounds like it.”

“Alright.” Sam exhaled, sharp. “Listen to me. Do not engage. Do not roll down the window. If he approaches your car, you call me out loud and you honk the horn. Understood?”

“Yes.”

“Good.” Another pause, shorter this time. Then, “I’ve dispatched a unit and I’ve got EMS en route. Ambulance is on the way.”

The words hit you in the chest with a strange combination of relief and humiliation.

An ambulance. Over a minor crash. Over you.

But you didn’t argue.

Your hands were still shaking too much to pretend you were fine.

“Okay,” you whispered.

“I’m going to stay on the line,” Sam said. “Talk to me… you hear me, right?”

A shaky laugh tried to escape you and died halfway.

“I hear you.”

“Good.” His voice softened a fraction – still professional, but warmer. “You did the right thing calling. You’re not alone, alright?”

Your throat tightened again, hot this time.

Because you hadn’t wanted to feel alone.

Not when you left. Not when you drove away. Not when you tried to punish Steve with absence.

You swallowed hard, blinking fast.

“Sam,” you said quietly, “can you– can you tell Rogers not to–”

You stopped yourself.

Because you didn’t even know what you wanted.

Not to come? Not to blame himself? Not to show up looking like stone and make you feel small?

Sam’s tone stayed neutral, but there was a gentle edge to it, like he already understood where this was going.

“Not to what?” he asked.

You stared at the dark street beyond your windshield, listening to the ticking of your engine like a countdown.

“…Nothing,” you whispered finally. “Forget it.”

Sam didn’t push. He just let the silence breathe, filling it with his steady presence.

“Alright,” he said. “Ambulance is about five minutes out. You’re doing great. Just stay put.”

You tightened your grip on the phone, knuckles white.

Outside, the drunk driver’s voice carried again, louder – complaining, swearing, blaming the universe.

You ignored him.

You kept your eyes forward.

You focused on Sam’s voice, on the fact that help was coming, on the fact that you were unhurt.

And on the bitter, unavoidable thought you couldn’t quite shove away:

If Steve found out you’d been hit – if he heard you were in an ambulance – he would come like gravity.

And you weren’t sure you were ready for what would happen when he arrived.

Sam didn’t waste a second. He lowered the phone from his ear, already moving, already making the next call as he walked, jaw set. Steve picked up fast – too fast, like he’d been holding his phone in his hand. “Wilson,” Steve said, voice tight. “It’s me,” Sam answered. No preamble. “She’s been in a car accident.” Silence – sharp, immediate. Then Steve’s voice came through, controlled but dangerously strained. “Is she hurt?” “She says she’s not injured,” Sam replied, already filtering information the way they were trained to. “Passenger-side impact, vehicle spun. EMS is on scene, they’re getting her out now.” Steve exhaled hard, a sound that wasn’t quite a breath. “Where?” Sam rattled off the coordinates and the nearest cross streets. “Ambulance is en route to the hospital for a check-up. Standard protocol. I’ve got units moving.” Steve didn’t respond for a beat. Sam could hear it anyway: the shift. The snap into motion. The way Steve’s mind would already be mapping routes, calculating time, rewriting the night around one single priority. “Which hospital?” Steve asked, voice low. “Nearest trauma-capable facility,” Sam said. “They’ll confirm destination in a minute, but it’s likely–” He named it. “Okay,” Steve said, and that single word was steel. “I’m going.” Sam kept his tone even. “Rogers–” “I’m going,” Steve repeated, sharper now, and the professionalism in it didn’t hide the undercurrent. Not to Sam. Not after years on the same details, reading each other’s tells. Sam paused, then chose his next words carefully. “She didn’t call you,” he said quietly. “She called me.” Silence again. Then Steve’s voice, rougher: “I know.” Sam sighed through his nose. “Get to the hospital. Don’t make it worse.” “I won’t,” Steve said – too fast, too certain, like he needed to believe it. Sam could already hear movement on Steve’s end: a door opening, footsteps, the clipped efficiency of a man heading into the night with purpose. As Sam ended the call, he glanced back toward the outside of the residence. He watched for a second longer than he needed to. Then he turned away, because there were protocols to run, reports to file, and a vice-presidential detail that had just gone from tense to volatile. And because, somewhere behind all of it, he could already picture Steve Rogers walking into that hospital with his mask on, and praying it wouldn’t crack at the worst possible moment.

The ambulance ride was a blur of sirens and antiseptic.

The paramedic kept asking you questions in a calm voice that didn’t match the way your heart was trying to climb out of your chest.

“Any nausea?”

“No.”

“Headache?”

“Just… pressure.”

“Neck pain?”

“Yes.”

“Rate it, from one to ten.”

You stared at the ceiling of the ambulance, trying to attach numbers to sensations you couldn’t name. Your body didn’t feel like it belonged to you right now. It felt like a suit you’d been forced into – tight in all the wrong places, buzzing with adrenaline.

“Four,” you managed, because four sounded reasonable. Because you were still trying to be reasonable even now. Even when your hands wouldn’t stop shaking.

Your phone sat on the bench beside you, screen cracked at the corner where it had hit the floor of your car. It kept lighting up with notifications you couldn’t read fast enough.

Calls you didn’t answer.

Messages you didn’t open.

Because one name kept appearing, over and over, like a pulse.

STEVE

The paramedic noticed. “Family?”

You swallowed. “No.”

They didn’t push. They just nodded and tightened the strap on the blood pressure cuff around your arm.

The fabric bit into your skin.

The restraint of it – gentle, clinical – made your throat tighten.

Not because it hurt.

Because it reminded you how quickly control disappeared when something went wrong.

You stared at the ceiling again and forced yourself to breathe.

In.

Out.

In.

Out.

You’d done this before – panic attacks in bathrooms during campaign events, hyperventilating in the back of cars after debates, hands pressed to your ribs while you tried to look normal.

Steve had been there for some of them.

Not close.

Never too close.

But there – outside the stall, outside the door, voice low and steady: Count with me.

And now he wasn’t here.

Not yet.

And the absence was a weight.

The paramedic’s radio crackled. “ETA three minutes.”

Your stomach twisted.

Part of you wanted Steve to show up.

Part of you wanted to lock the hospital doors and never see him again.

Both parts felt like they belonged to you.

Both parts felt like betrayal.

He arrived before you did.

Which shouldn’t have been possible.

But Steve Rogers didn’t do “impossible” the way most people meant it.

When the ambulance doors opened at the ER entrance, cold night air rushed in along with bright fluorescent light. The world became too loud – voices, footsteps, wheels squeaking, the sharp beep of a monitor being rolled past.

And then you saw him.

Steve stood just beyond the threshold where the paramedics would hand you off, jacket thrown over his suit like he’d dressed in seconds, hair not quite perfect, eyes wild in a way you’d never seen before.

He looked… wrong.

Not unprofessional. Not sloppy. Just… undone.

Like whatever mask he wore for the world hadn’t snapped fully back into place.

His gaze locked on you.

And you watched – actually watched – the moment his face changed when he confirmed you were alive.

Relief hit first. Sharp, almost violent.

Then fear.

Then something that looked dangerously close to pain.

He moved forward.

Not with the careful half-step behind you. Not with the measured pace of a man staying in his lane.

He moved like a man who had been held back too long.

“Sir,” one of the paramedics greeted him automatically, then corrected themselves when they recognized him. “Agent Rogers. She’s stable. Minor collision. Possible whiplash. No loss of consciousness.”

Steve didn’t take his eyes off you.

“Are you hurt?” he asked, voice low and raw.

It wasn’t the polite question he’d asked you a thousand times during events. It wasn’t operational.

It sounded like he needed the answer to breathe.

“I’m fine,” you said, and your voice came out hoarse. “It’s minor.”

Steve’s jaw clenched.

His gaze dropped to the strap over your chest, the way your hands trembled against the blanket.

“You’re shaking,” he said.

“Adrenaline,” you muttered.

Steve’s throat bobbed.

He looked like he wanted to say something else.

He didn’t.

He turned sharply to the nurse approaching with a clipboard.

“I need a room,” Steve said, voice snapping into authority. “Private. Now.”

The nurse blinked. “Sir, we triage–”

“She’s the Vice President’s daughter,” Steve said, controlled but edged with threat. “And you will triage her, yes. In a room. Not in a hallway.”

The nurse’s eyes widened. She nodded quickly and gestured down the corridor.

“Room three,” she said.

Steve walked alongside the gurney as they wheeled you in.

Too close.

Too present.

Your chest tightened with something sharp.

You stared straight up at the ceiling tiles and refused to look at him.

Because if you looked at him, you might soften.

And you couldn’t afford softness. Not yet.

Not when his voice had called you manageable.

Not when you’d walked out and he’d let you go.

Not when you’d needed him and he’d been a job description.

Room three smelled like disinfectant and paper. The lights were harsh, unforgiving. Everything was white and metallic and designed to make people feel small.

They transferred you onto the hospital bed. Wrapped a blood pressure cuff around your arm. Put a pulse ox on your finger.

The beeping started – steady, irritating, constant.

A nurse asked you questions.

Name, date of birth, allergies.

You answered automatically, like you were reciting a script.

Steve stood near the door.

Not at the threshold this time.

Inside the room.

Like the rules had shifted, and he either didn’t care or couldn’t remember them.

His presence pressed on you, heavy and familiar.

You kept your eyes on the wall.

A doctor came in and did a quick exam: checked your pupils, pressed gently along your neck, asked you to move your head.

You winced.

“Likely cervical strain,” the doctor said. “Whiplash. We’ll do imaging to be safe, given the mechanism. But it looks minor.”

“Good,” Steve said.

The doctor glanced at him. “Family?”

Steve opened his mouth.

You beat him to it, voice flat. “Security.”

Something in Steve’s face flickered.

The doctor nodded like that made sense in your world, then left.

The nurse adjusted the bed. “We’ll get you to imaging in a few minutes.”

Then she left too.

And suddenly it was just you.

And Steve.

And the fluorescent hum.

The silence spread between you like a pool of cold water.

You stared at the wall, jaw clenched so hard it ached.

Steve didn’t speak at first.

You could hear him breathing.

Too fast.

Too controlled.

Like he was trying to wrestle his body back into discipline.

Finally, his voice came quietly.

“Why didn’t you tell me where you were?”

You laughed once, bitter. “Because I didn’t want you to come.”

Steve flinched.

You turned your head just enough to see him in your peripheral vision.

He looked like he’d been punched again.

His hands were clenched at his sides, knuckles pale.

“I didn’t let you go,” he said, voice strained.

You blinked. “You literally watched me leave.”

Steve swallowed hard. “I didn’t stop you.”

“Right,” you said coldly. “Because it wasn’t personal.”

Steve’s eyes closed briefly, as if he could physically feel your words.

When he opened them again, his gaze was on the floor.

“I should’ve followed you,” he admitted, voice low. “I should’ve… I should’ve handled it differently.”

Handled.

The word made your stomach twist.

You sat up slightly, careful of your neck, and looked at him fully now.

“Don’t,” you said.

Steve looked up, startled.

“Don’t use that word,” you said, voice shaking now. “Not here.”

His face tightened. “I didn’t mean–”

“I know what you meant,” you cut in, breathing hard. “That’s the problem. I know exactly what you mean.”

Silence.

Steve took a step toward the bed.

Then stopped, like there was an invisible line he couldn’t cross.

He hovered there, stranded between what he’d always been and whatever this was becoming.

“I was scared,” he said, and the admission came out like it cost him.

You stared at him, heart pounding.

“Of what?” you asked.

Steve’s jaw flexed. His gaze lifted to yours, and for the first time tonight, you saw it – the thing he’d been hiding.

Not indifference.

Fear.

Real, human fear.

“Of losing you,” he said simply.

Your chest tightened painfully.

You scoffed, because if you didn’t, you might cry. “Funny way of showing it.”

Steve’s shoulders sank a fraction.

“I know,” he said, voice rough. “I know.”

He stepped closer again, slower this time, like he was approaching a wild animal that might bolt.

He stopped at the side of the bed.

Not touching you.

Just… near.

“I heard you,” Steve said quietly.

Your throat tightened. “Heard me?”

“In the hallway,” he clarified. His voice cracked on the last word. “When you said… I was the only person you thought you could trust.”

Your stomach dropped.

You looked away quickly, throat burning.

Steve’s voice continued, softer now. “I’ve replayed it about a thousand times since you left.”

You swallowed. “Good.”

The word was cruel.

You couldn’t stop it.

Steve flinched, but he didn’t retreat.

Instead, he exhaled slowly, like he was making a choice.

“You shouldn’t have been alone,” he said.

You snapped your gaze back. “Don’t start. Don’t you dare make this about–”

“Not because you can’t take care of yourself,” Steve cut in quickly, urgent. “You can. You always do. That’s not what I mean.”

His hands flexed, then stilled.

His voice lowered.

“I mean you shouldn’t have been alone because I should’ve been there. Because I made you feel like you couldn’t call me.”

Your mouth opened.

No words came out.

Your chest hurt.

Because yes.

Because that was exactly it.

You’d wanted to call him the moment your stomach started twisting in the car. The moment you pulled over. The moment the other car sent yours on the side.

You hadn’t.

Because hearing him speak about you like a file had made you feel stupid for ever believing he was different.

Steve took a shaky breath.

“I used the wrong language,” he said, and the apology in it wasn’t pretty or polished. It was raw. “I know I did. I– I talk like that in briefings because it keeps things clean. It keeps me… separate.”

You stared at him. “Separate from what?”

Steve’s eyes held yours, and for once, he didn’t look away.

“From you,” he whispered.

The words hit like heat.

“You think talking about me like I’m not a person keeps you separate?” you demanded, and anger flared again, sharp and protective. “That’s what you chose?”

Steve’s jaw tightened. “I didn’t want to want you.”

The sentence landed in the room with a thud.

Your breath caught.

Steve’s eyes looked almost haunted.

“I didn’t,” he repeated, like confession was something he had to force out. “Because wanting you means… I’m not objective. Wanting you means I make mistakes. Wanting you means I cross lines I can’t uncross.”

You stared at him, heart hammering so hard you felt it in your throat.

“And you think I don’t know what that feels like?” you whispered.

Steve blinked. “What?”

You swallowed hard, voice shaking with it.

“I live in a world where every relationship is strategic,” you said. “Where people don’t touch me unless it benefits them. Where I have to second-guess every smile. Every compliment. Every invitation.”

Your eyes burned.

“And you,” you continued, voice cracking, “you were the first person who didn’t feel like that.”

Steve went very still.

Your throat tightened until it hurt.

“I trusted you,” you said again, quieter now. “Because you were steady. Because you were honest. Because you didn’t want anything from me.”

You let out a shaky breath.

“And then I heard you reduce me to ‘compliant’ and ‘manageable’ and ‘parameters’ like you were talking about a malfunctioning device.”

Steve’s face twisted, agony flashing.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

You stared at him, tears threatening.

“You don’t get to be sorry,” you said, voice thin. “Not if you’re going to keep hiding behind your job when it matters.”

Steve’s hands trembled.

You watched it.

Watched the tiny shake he couldn’t control.

That scared you more than the accident.

Because Steve didn’t lose control.

Not like this.

He looked at you like you were something he’d almost lost and didn’t know how to survive it.

“I’m done hiding,” Steve said suddenly.

The words startled you.

You blinked. “What?”

Steve swallowed hard. His voice was rough, like he’d been swallowing glass.

“I’m done hiding behind it,” he clarified, and his eyes flickered to the door as if he was afraid someone might hear. “Because tonight… tonight I realized something.”

You didn’t speak.

You barely breathed.

Steve’s gaze locked on yours.

“If you had been hurt,” he said, voice shaking now, “if you had been lying in that car and I wasn’t there–”

His throat bobbed. His jaw clenched hard.

“I wouldn’t have survived it,” he finished, almost inaudible.

Your chest tightened painfully.

“Steve,” you whispered.

He flinched at his own name coming from your mouth. Like it undid him.

He exhaled, slow and shaky.

“I love you,” he said.

The words were quiet.

Not dramatic.

Not romantic in the movie sense.

Just… honest.

And it felt like the room tilted again, except this time it wasn’t dizziness.

It was your heart trying to decide whether to leap or protect itself.

You stared at him, tears spilling now despite your best effort.

“You don’t–” you started, then stopped, because you didn’t even know what you wanted to say.

Steve looked terrified suddenly, like he’d jumped off a cliff.

“I know I shouldn’t,” he said quickly, voice urgent. “I know it’s not appropriate. I know I’m– I’m your bodyguard, and you’re– you’re–”

“The Vice President’s daughter,” you finished, bitter.

Steve shook his head sharply. “You’re you.”

His eyes shone.

“You’re the woman who remembers the names of every staffer in this house,” he said, voice breaking. “You’re the woman who sits on the floor with a laptop because chairs make you feel trapped. You’re the woman who drinks too much coffee and forgets to eat when you’re stressed, and then pretends you’re fine.”

His voice softened, wrecked.

“You’re the woman I’ve been trying not to fall in love with since the first year.”

Your breath hitched.

You pressed the heel of your hand to your mouth, shaking.

Steve’s hands lifted slightly, hesitated, then lowered again – still not touching you.

Like he still didn’t think he was allowed.

“Why?” you whispered through tears. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Steve’s eyes closed briefly.

“Because I’m not supposed to want you,” he admitted. “Because the second I admit it, everything changes. Your father finds out. The press finds out. The Service finds out. And then you lose your detail lead, and I lose–”

He swallowed, voice rough. “I lose you.”

You stared at him. “You think keeping me at arm’s length keeps you from losing me?”

Steve’s jaw clenched. His eyes opened, meeting yours.

“I thought it would hurt less,” he whispered.

The honesty of it made your chest ache.

“But hearing you say you trusted me–” He shook his head, voice breaking. “Hearing you say I was the only person… and then watching you leave…”

His breath shuddered.

“I realized I’d already lost you anyway,” he finished.

Silence filled the room.

The monitor beeped steadily, indifferent.

Outside, footsteps passed in the hallway.

And inside, you stared at Steve Rogers – this man who had guarded you with his body for years but had been too afraid to guard you with his truth.

You wiped at your cheeks, angry at the wetness.

“I don’t want grand gestures,” you whispered.

Steve swallowed. “Okay.”

“I don’t want… promises you can’t keep,” you added, voice trembling.

“I won’t,” he said immediately.

You stared at him, throat tight.

“What I want,” you said slowly, “is for you to stop treating your feelings like a liability.”

Steve’s eyes softened, pain and hope tangled together.

“I don’t know how,” he admitted, barely audible.

You inhaled shakily.

“Then learn,” you whispered.

Steve flinched as if the word struck him.

You held his gaze, steady despite the tears.

“And if you’re going to say you love me,” you added, voice fierce now, “then don’t say it because you’re scared. Say it because you mean it.”

Steve’s throat bobbed.

“I mean it,” he whispered.

And for the first time in years, he didn’t hide behind the badge when he said it.

He didn’t move to touch you.

But his eyes looked like hands anyway – careful, reverent, trembling with restraint.

A knock sounded at the door.

A nurse peeked in. “We’re ready to take you to imaging.”

You blinked, dazed.

Steve’s gaze flicked to the nurse, then back to you.

“I’m staying,” he said quietly.

It wasn’t a question.

It wasn’t a protocol.

It was a choice.

And as they started to wheel your bed out of the room, Steve walked beside you – close, unflinching – his hand hovering near the rail like he was finally allowing himself to be something other than your shadow.

Not just your bodyguard.

Not tonight.

Imaging took longer than it should have. Not because anything was wrong – your scans came back clean, your neck pain labeled as a strain, the kind that would ache for a few days and then fade into memory – but because hospitals were built on waiting. Built on bright lights and paperwork and the quiet, grinding erosion of control. You lay still while machines whirred. You answered questions with a numb voice. You nodded at nurses and let them fuss with straps and angles and warnings. Through all of it, Steve stayed close. Not in the hovering, disciplined way he usually did. In a way that made the air around you feel… anchored. He walked beside your gurney, one hand near the rail like he couldn’t quite let himself grip it, like touch was still a language he was learning to speak without flinching. When a nurse asked him to wait outside the imaging room, he did – immediately, without argument – yet you could feel him on the other side of the door, a steady presence refusing to leave. And every time the door opened again, he was there. Eyes on you first. Not scanning the corridor. Not checking exits. You. It was unnerving. It was also, in some helpless part of you, exactly what you’d wanted for years. When they finally wheeled you back into room three, your body felt heavy with exhaustion. The adrenaline had burnt itself out, leaving only soreness and a hollow ache behind your ribs. They settled you into the bed again, adjusted the pillow, handed you a cup of water and a small packet of painkillers with the kind of practiced kindness that made you feel even more fragile.

“Take these with food when you can,” the nurse said. “You’ll likely feel stiff tomorrow.” You nodded. She glanced at Steve – who was still by the door, posture taut, eyes too intent. “Anything else?” she asked. Steve answered before you could. “Low light if possible. Quiet. She needs rest.” The nurse gave a quick, sympathetic smile and dimmed the overheads. Then she left. The door clicked shut. And you were alone again. With him. In a softer room now, the harsh white cut down to a gentle hum. Shadows pooled in the corners. The monitor beeped steadily. You stared at the cup of water in your hands like it was the most fascinating thing in the world. Because looking at Steve felt like standing too close to a fire. “You should drink,” Steve said quietly. You let out a short, tired breath that might have been a laugh if your throat didn’t hurt. “Of course,” you murmured, and took a sip because you didn’t want to fight over water in a hospital bed. Steve didn’t smile, but something eased in his shoulders anyway – as if seeing you do something simple and safe was enough to keep him from falling apart. You hated how much that mattered to him. You hated how much it mattered to you. A long silence stretched. Then, Steve spoke again, voice low. “I should have told you years ago.” You didn’t look up. “Told me what?” “You know what,” he said, and the words carried a rawness that made your chest tighten. You swallowed. Your fingers tightened around the cup. “Say it anyway,” you whispered. Steve’s inhale was shaky. “That it wasn’t just the job.” Your throat burned. You stared at the water. “But it was, though.” Steve went very still. “It started as the job,” you continued, voice quiet but sharp. “You were assigned to me. You followed protocols. You did what you were trained to do.” You finally lifted your eyes. “And somewhere along the way,” you said, “you forgot you were dealing with an actual person.” Steve flinched like the words physically hit him. His hands clenched once, then relaxed as he forced them open again. “I didn’t forget,” he said hoarsely. “I… I did the opposite. I saw you too clearly.” You stared at him. Steve’s eyes shone in the dim light, not with tears spilling – Steve didn’t spill easily – but with something strained, too bright.

“And it scared the hell out of me,” he admitted. The honesty landed differently now. Less like a confession meant to stop you from leaving. More like a truth he couldn’t carry alone anymore. He took a step forward, slow. He stopped by the chair at your bedside like he wasn’t sure he’d earned it. “Can I?” he asked quietly, gesturing to the chair. The question – permission – undid something tight in your chest. You nodded once. Steve sat down carefully, like the chair might break, like the floor beneath him might. His knees angled toward you. His hands rested on his thighs, fingers flexing, betraying the tension he was holding back. For a moment, neither of you spoke. And then you whispered, “I heard you.” Steve’s jaw clenched. “I know,” he murmured. “No,” you said, voice trembling. “I mean… I heard you for years. In the little things.” Steve’s gaze lifted to you, startled. “You can’t spend years reminding someone to drink water, or to eat, or to sleep, and then act surprised when they fall in love with you,” you said, and your laugh broke halfway through because it hurt too much to say it out loud. Steve’s eyes widened, then softened in a way that made your throat close. “I didn’t think…” he started. “You didn’t think I would love you back?” you finished, bitter. Steve’s throat bobbed. “I didn’t think I deserved it,” he admitted, barely audible. Silence hit again, heavy and intimate. You looked away quickly, blinking hard. “And tonight,” you said, voice quieter, “you made me feel stupid for trusting you. For… for letting you be that close.” Steve’s shoulders sank. “I know,” he whispered. You turned your head sharply, anger flaring again because it was easier than softness. “No, you don’t,” you snapped. “Do you know what it’s like to grow up with everyone wanting something from you? Everyone touching you like you’re– like you’re currency? Do you know what it feels like to finally let one person in and then hear them talk about you like you’re a set of parameters?” Steve’s face twisted with pain. “No,” he said, voice rough. “I don’t. Not like you do.” He swallowed hard, eyes fixed on yours like he couldn’t look away even if it destroyed him.

“But I know what it feels like to be terrified of wanting something you don’t think you’re allowed to have,” he added. Your breath hitched. Steve’s hands lifted slightly, then fell again. “I made myself talk like that,” he said, and the shame in it was palpable. “I trained my mouth to use operational words because if I didn’t– if I let myself think of you as… you– then I would start making choices that weren’t clean.” You stared at him. “What choices?” you whispered. Steve’s jaw flexed. He looked like he hated himself for what he was about to say. “I would start wanting to pull you away from rooms you’re supposed to stand in,” he said quietly. “I would start wanting to take your phone out of your hand and tell every person who thinks they own you to go to hell.” His voice grew lower, dangerous in its sincerity. “I would start wanting to put my hands on you in ways that have nothing to do with security.” Heat crawled up your neck. Your pulse spiked. Steve noticed – of course he did – and his face tightened. He looked away for the first time, like he didn’t trust his own eyes. “And then what?” you asked, voice shaking. Steve’s laugh was broken, humorless. “Then I lose my job,” he said. “I get pulled off your detail. Your father finds out. The press finds out. And you get shredded for it.” He looked back at you. “And you deserve better than being someone’s scandal.” Your throat tightened. “Don’t decide what I deserve,” you whispered. Steve’s gaze held yours, steady. “I’m not deciding,” he said, voice softer. “I’m… admitting why I was scared.” You exhaled shakily. The room felt too small. Your skin felt too sensitive. The air between you felt charged. You swallowed hard. “And what are you going to do about it?” you asked. Steve blinked, caught off guard. “What do you mean?” You stared at him, exhaustion stripping you down to blunt honesty. “You told me you love me,” you said. “Okay. Now what? Are you going to go back to being cold in the morning? Are you going to put the mask back on and pretend tonight didn’t happen?” Steve’s face went pale. “No,” he said immediately, too fast. “No.” You held his gaze, not letting him hide. “Then what,” you repeated, voice firm despite the tremor. “Because I can’t go back to half-truths, Steve. I can’t do this if you’re going to punish me for feeling something.” Steve’s breath shuddered. He stared at you for a long moment – like he was measuring the distance between his fear and your honesty. Then he nodded once, small but decisive. “I’m not going to punish you,” he said quietly. “And I’m not going to pretend.” He swallowed, jaw tight. “But I also won’t lie to you,” he added. “This is complicated. There are consequences.”

“I know,” you whispered. Steve’s gaze flicked over your face, lingering. “And you still want–” He stopped, like the words hurt. “You still want me?” Your throat tightened. You wanted to say no out of pride. You wanted to say yes out of truth. You settled on the only thing you could say without breaking. “I want you to be honest,” you whispered. Steve’s eyes softened. “Okay,” he said. “Honest.” He leaned forward slightly, elbows on his knees. “I love you,” he repeated, slower this time, like he was building something careful. “I have for a long time. And I hate that I let fear make me cruel.” Your breath caught. Steve’s voice lowered. “When I talked about you like that, it wasn’t because I don’t see you,” he said. “It was because I see you too much, and I didn’t know how to keep myself from wanting to–” He stopped, jaw tightening. “From wanting to be yours,” he finished, almost inaudible. The words landed in your chest like a weight and a balm at the same time. You stared at him, pulse racing. “And what does that mean?” you whispered. Steve swallowed. His eyes didn’t waver. “It means I’m going to ask for a transfer,” he said. You blinked, startled. “What?” Steve nodded once, grim. “I can’t keep protecting you while I’m lying to you,” he said. “And I can’t keep wanting you while pretending I don’t.” Your stomach dropped. A sharp pain flared – not in your neck, in your chest. “You’re leaving,” you whispered. Steve flinched immediately. “No.” “That’s what that is,” you snapped, panic rising. “That’s you leaving because it’s easier than–” “It’s not easier,” Steve cut in, voice rough. “It’s the opposite.” His hands clenched hard, then relaxed as he forced himself to breathe. “I’m trying to do this without destroying you,” he said. Your eyes burned. “And what if I don’t want to be protected from getting destroyed?” you whispered. “What if I want to choose?” Steve’s face twisted, a mix of pain and something like relief.

“You do,” he said softly. “You get to choose. That’s… that’s why I’m telling you now. Not hiding it.” You stared at him, heart pounding. “Okay,” you said, voice shaky. “Then here’s my choice.” Steve went still, eyes locked on yours. You swallowed hard. “I don’t want you gone,” you whispered. “I don’t want you to run because you’re scared. And I don’t want you to stay if you’re going to keep carving yourself into pieces to fit the job.” Your voice cracked. “I want… something real,” you finished. “Even if it’s messy.” Steve’s breath shuddered. For a second, his eyes looked wet. Then he nodded, slow. “Okay,” he whispered. “Real.” He hesitated, then lifted his hand slightly, palm open on the edge of the bed – not touching you, just offering. The gesture was small. It felt enormous. You stared at his hand for a long moment, heart hammering. Then you placed your fingers into his. Steve’s entire body went still, like he’d been shocked. His grip was gentle. Careful. Like he was holding something precious and breakable. You exhaled shakily. “Still afraid?” you whispered. Steve’s mouth twitched, a small, sad smile. “Terrified.” You squeezed his hand once, a silent answer. “Good,” you murmured. “Then at least you’re honest.” Steve let out a breath that sounded like it had been trapped in his lungs for years. He didn’t pull you closer. He didn’t try to kiss you. He just held your hand like it was a promise he didn’t want to break. After a moment, you whispered, “I’m sorry I left.” Steve’s jaw clenched.

“You shouldn’t have been alone,” he said, voice thick. “I know,” you admitted. “I was angry.” Steve’s gaze dropped to your joined hands. “You had every right,” he said quietly. “And I… I should’ve earned that trust better.” Your throat tightened. “And for what it’s worth,” you whispered, “I didn’t leave because I wanted to hurt you.” Steve’s eyes flicked up. “Why did you?” You swallowed. “Because I was scared that if I stayed,” you said, voice trembling, “I’d forgive you too fast. And I’d go back to pretending the ache was enough.” Steve stared at you like the honesty gutted him. “It’s not enough,” he said, voice low. “No,” you agreed. “It’s not.” Silence fell again, but it was different now. Not teeth. Not cold. Just… quiet. Steve’s thumb moved once, barely, over your knuckles. A tentative stroke, like he was testing whether he was allowed. You didn’t pull away. Steve’s breath hitched softly. “Can I stay?” he asked. You blinked. “You’re supposed to.” He shook his head, almost imperceptibly. “Not as your detail lead,” he murmured. “Not as protocol. As… me.” Your chest tightened. You swallowed, then nodded once. “Yes,” you whispered. “Stay.” Steve’s shoulders sagged in relief so visible it startled you. Like that single word loosened something he’d been carrying in every muscle. He shifted the chair closer to the bed and sat again, still holding your hand. The minutes stretched. Your eyelids grew heavy. The pain in your neck throbbed dull and persistent. Steve stayed awake beside you, gaze fixed on your face like he was memorizing you. At some point, you murmured, half-asleep, “Hydration check, Agent Rogers?” Steve’s soft huff of laughter warmed the room. “Drink some water,” he whispered. You smiled faintly, eyes closed. “And Steve?” you murmured. “Yeah,” he answered immediately. Your voice was sleepy, but the truth in it was clear. “If you ever talk about me like I’m a file again,” you said, “I’ll make you regret it.” Steve’s thumb stroked your knuckles again, gentle. “I won’t,” he promised. “Not ever.” You breathed out, letting yourself sink into the pillow. “Okay,” you whispered. Steve’s voice followed you into the edge of sleep, steady and soft. “I’ve got you,” he murmured. This time, it didn’t sound like a job. It sounded like a vow.

Two months later, the residence felt different.

Not because the hallways had changed – same polished floors, same quiet hum of security systems, same framed photos of handshakes and flags and history. Not because the cameras had disappeared – they hadn’t. They never would.

It felt different because you had changed.

And because Steve had, too.

The fight with your father in the days after the accident had been the kind of argument that left bruises you couldn’t photograph. It had started with protocol and reputation, with phrases like inappropriate and unacceptable risk, with your father’s voice cutting through the living room like a gavel.

It had ended when you finally snapped and said, shaking, “I nearly died because I stopped believing I could call the one person who actually sees me.”

You didn’t remember everything that happened after that. Just flashes: your father’s face going pale. His hands tightening on the back of a chair. The moment his anger faltered – not into softness, not immediately, but into something far more telling.

Fear.

Because he’d seen you shaken before. He’d seen you tired. He’d seen you irritated.

He had not seen you broken.

Not like that.

Not with your voice cracking on the truth.

And when he realized that this wasn’t a crush or rebellion or tabloid fodder – that this was you clinging to the only thing that had ever felt steady in a life built on shifting ground – something in him had shifted.

The next morning, your father had knocked on your door without staff, without advisors, without the press team lurking like vultures.

He’d stood there, looking older than you’d ever allowed yourself to notice.

“I don’t like it,” he’d said plainly. “I don’t like the risk. I don’t like what it means for you.”

You’d crossed your arms, braced for battle.

Then he’d added, quieter, almost reluctant, “But I like you being alive more.”

And after that, it had been… not easy, never easy, but possible.

Your father had stopped trying to control the narrative like it was the only thing that mattered. He’d stopped treating your feelings like a liability to be mitigated. He’d started – slowly, awkwardly – treating you like an adult whose choices might actually be about something other than optics.

And Steve…

Steve had stopped living at the threshold.

He still wore his suit. Still carried the earpiece. Still watched crowds like a hawk watches the horizon.

But he didn’t hover like an outsider anymore.

He entered rooms without acting like his feet were on hot coals.

He sat beside you on the couch, close enough that your shoulders touched.

He slept in your bed on the nights you needed him to – actually slept, not just “stood guard” with his heart beating too loud.

He learned how to split himself in two without tearing.

Agent Rogers, when cameras were pointed at you.

Steve, when you were alone and your hands were shaking for reasons that had nothing to do with threats.

He got better at it every day.

So did you.

Tonight, the residence library glowed with warm lamp light. Rain tapped softly against the windows, turning the glass into a blurred watercolor of city lights. You sat at the desk in your usual way – laptop open, shoulders tense, hair pinned back because it got in your face when you worked. A mug of cold tea sat forgotten to your left. Your inbox was a battlefield. Steve had been in and out for the last hour – brief phone call in the corridor, a quiet check with another agent, a glance at the monitors. He’d left you to it, because you’d asked for space. But “space” didn’t mean “disappear.” And Steve had learned the difference. The chair creaked behind you. You didn’t look up immediately. You were halfway through rewriting a statement, the cursor blinking like a heartbeat. Then Steve’s voice came, calm and unarguable. “Okay,” he said. You paused, fingers hovering over the keys. “Okay what?” “Okay, you’re done,” Steve replied. You blinked, finally turning your head. He was standing in the doorway – except he wasn’t lingering at it. He was in the room, fully, like he belonged there. One hand braced on the doorframe, the other holding a glass of water that caught the lamplight. His expression was familiar: that composed steadiness that could handle a motorcade and a riot and a screaming donor. But his eyes were pure Steve – soft, attentive, affectionate in a way that never quite stopped making your chest ache. “You’ve been staring at that screen for two hours,” he said. “Without a break.” You frowned. “That’s not true.” Steve’s mouth twitched. “You haven’t blinked since the last time I walked past.” “That’s an exaggeration.” “It’s not,” he said, stepping closer. “Drink.” He held the water out to you. You took it automatically, because you always did now – because somewhere along the way, the act stopped feeling like being managed and started feeling like being cared for. And the fact that you didn’t fight it anymore made something warm unfurl in your chest. You raised the glass and took a drink. Steve watched, quiet, like he could finally breathe again. You swallowed and set the glass down. Then you smiled – small, genuine. “It’s kind of funny,” you said. Steve lifted a brow. “What is?” “You still do it,” you murmured. “The water thing.” His expression softened. “I’m going to do it until you’re eighty.” You huffed a laugh. “Bold of you to assume I’ll live that long.” Steve’s gaze sharpened instantly. “Don’t.” The single word wasn’t harsh. It was protective. Immediate. The edge of fear still living in him, even months later. You held his gaze for a beat, then nodded, gentling. “Okay,” you said quietly. “Okay.” Steve’s shoulders eased. He reached past you and closed the laptop with one smooth motion. You made a protest noise. “Hey–” Steve leaned down, close enough that his breath warmed your cheek. “That,” he said softly, “is not a request.” You stared up at him, lips parting despite yourself. His eyes dipped to your mouth for a fraction of a second.

Then, like he remembered himself, he straightened – half a step back, the tiniest return to professional composure. “You need a break,” he said. “A real one.” Your pulse thrummed. “Are you telling me this as my bodyguard,” you asked, voice light, “or as my boyfriend?” Steve’s mouth twitched again. A smile he didn’t fully let himself wear in public. “Both,” he admitted. You hummed thoughtfully and reached for the glass again, taking another sip just to watch his gaze follow the movement. Like he couldn’t help it. When you set it down, you turned in your chair fully to face him. Steve stood there, arms relaxed, posture steady. A man who could be dangerous to anyone else. A man who was gentle with you like gentleness was a sacred duty. “Okay,” you said. Steve blinked. “Okay?” “You want me to take a break,” you said. “Fine.” You reached for the edge of his tie. Not tugging yet. Just touching it. Steve’s breath caught – subtle, but you heard it. You always heard it now. His eyes darkened, a flicker of heat behind the calm. “Sweetheart,” he warned, voice low. You smiled. “That sounded like boyfriend.” “It was,” Steve admitted, swallowing. You hooked your fingers into his collar and pulled him down toward you – decisive, unapologetic. Steve’s hands hovered for a beat, as if he still had to ask permission. Then he remembered: you’d told him to be real. So he let himself. He kissed you. Not like a man trying to prove something. Like a man coming home. Warm, firm, careful at first – then deeper when your hand slid behind his neck and you made a quiet sound against his mouth that melted the last of his restraint. His palm cupped your jaw gently, thumb brushing your cheekbone like he couldn’t help it. Like he needed to touch you to believe you were here. The kiss wasn’t frantic. It was grounding. It tasted like water and rain and the soft sweetness of safety. When he finally pulled back, his forehead rested lightly against yours. His voice was a whisper. “Better?” You exhaled, breath shaky with a laugh. “Much.” Steve’s mouth curved, finally, into a real smile. He pressed a smaller kiss to your lips – gentler, almost playful – then straightened and glanced at the closed laptop like it was a defeated enemy. “You’re taking a break,” he said again. You tipped your head. “Or what?” Steve’s eyes warmed. “Or I’ll carry you out of this room.” You arched a brow. “That sounds like an abuse of power.” “It’s an abuse of concern,” he corrected smoothly. You laughed, the sound soft in the lamplight. Steve leaned down and kissed your forehead – quick, tender – then held his hand out to you. “Come on,” he said. “Five minutes away from the screen. That’s all I’m asking.” You looked at his hand. At the steadiness of it. At the way he offered without demanding. You took it. “Five minutes,” you agreed. Steve’s thumb stroked your knuckles once, like punctuation. “And,” he added, voice quiet, “I’m proud of you.” Your throat tightened. “Steve–” “I know,” he murmured, squeezing gently. “No more work talk. Just… let me take care of you for a minute.” You nodded, swallowing past the sudden burn in your chest. As he led you away from the desk, you glanced back at your laptop and realized something startling. For the first time in a long time, stepping away didn’t feel like losing control. It felt like being held.

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