Steve kept his grip on (Y/N)'s waist all the way out of the living room, not letting go until they reached the lab where he shut the door, standing in front of it. She had been completely silent on the way back, and this sudden change from her anger with Sharon to this emotionless state scared him more than her outburst itself.

(Y/N) walked all the way to the other side of the lab leaning against the wall, Steve watching her carefully. He wanted to close the distance between them but he still wasn't convinced that if he moved from his spot blocking the door that she wouldn't make a break for it and head back to Sharon to finish whatever he had interrupted.

Normally, it took a lot to make Steve lose control of his emotions but he was furious. He couldn't understand what could have possibly made (Y/N) so upset that she would get into any kind of physical confrontation. (Y/N) was level-headed. She thought through every decision she made to the extent that the word impulsive was not in her dictionary. So what could Sharon and her have talked about that caused (Y/N) to act out? What could have made her so unsettled that she would risk her own safety?

"What's going on with you?" Steve crossed his arms, watching as (Y/N) stared down at the floor, a blank expression on her face.

"Nothing is going on, I'm fine."

Lies.

It was obvious that she was not fine. Not only was she not fine, but here she was pushing him away, just like she had the morning after their first night together. He had let her walk away that morning, and he would not make the same mistake again. In the past few weeks he had been finally breaking down some of her walls and making real progress but now... it felt like they were back to square one. He refused to go back to square one. The girl in front of him wasn't the girl he had laughed with. This wasn't the girl he couldn't wait to see every morning. This was the girl that put up barrier after barrier because people continuously let her down. Steve wanted his girl back, and he would do anything to make that a reality.

"Are you serious (Y/N)?"

"Nothing happened Steve," she continued to stare off into space, leaning against the wall, avoiding eye contact.

"But something would have happened if I hadn't been there. What the hell were you thinking?"

(Y/N)'s head shot up at his words, the blank expression was replaced with irritation as her eyes narrowed and she crossed her arms across her chest. Even in anger Steve couldn't help but notice how beautiful she was. He loved this passionate, feisty side of her, but he missed her smile more.

"I can take care of myself. I'm not going to beat up your girlfriend, so you can relax, okay?" she said so icily he almost shivered. Steve ignored the coldness in her tone, relieved that she was finally showing an emotion other than the indifference.

"Is that what she said that made you so upset?" Steve tilted his chin as he took a few steps forward.

"It doesn't matter. I wasn't going to actually do anything to her anyway."

"That's not what it looked like to me," he said, taking a few more steps forward so he was half-way across the lab, slowly closing in on her. He saw her move her feet backwards attempting to back away from him but she was still against the wall. If the situation wasn't so tense he would have found it funny, but all he could think about was trying to fix whatever had freaked her out.

"Fine! I wanted to kick her ass, so what? You weren't there!! You didn't hear what she said!!" she raised her voice, gesturing towards the living room with her left hand. "She called me a liar. She said that my baby isn't yours and that I'm just after your money. She said every single person at that party thinks the same and that it's all anyone could talk about tonight."

(Y/N) was breathing heavily while Steve continued to walk slowly across the room and was only a few steps away from her now.

"Sweetheart-" he stated sympathetically, wanting to pull her into his arms. Guilt washed over him as he took in her words. How could Sharon have said those things to her? No wonder she was so upset. He was furious too. But his concern for the girl in front of him outweighed his anger. Just when he thought he couldn't have been more worried for her, she turned to the side leaning against the wall, facing away from him and spoke again. All the venom had disappeared from her voice leaving only hurt.

"I know I shouldn't have let her get to me. I don't know what I was going to do when I got to her I just snapped. But this is why I don't get close to new people. I didn't even want to go to this party but I did because I knew how much it meant to you, and I spent the entire night trying to get to know your friends thinking everything was going well just to find out Tony thinks I'm just your side piece, and everyone else thinks I'm using you. Why would somebody ever do that?"

Her voice cracked slightly, and he could have sworn his heart cracked with it seeing how broken she was.

"The worst part is I don't even care what any of them think. I don't care if Sharon thinks I'm after your money. Every single person in that room could call me a liar and I wouldn't care... Every single person but you."

Steve's heart stopped at her words. (Y/N) had singled him out as the one person who's approval she wanted. Maybe even as the one person she truly needed. This was the closest she had come to telling him how much she cared for him. This was his chance. This was his moment to finally break down the last wall she had built to keep them apart.

He closed the remaining few steps between them, putting a hand on her shoulder and gently turning her to face him. She tilted her head up and he was met with her doleful eyes. She hadn't shed a single tear but the broken and disheartened look on her face still crushed him. He knew she was two seconds away from giving up completely, but he could still fix this. (Y/N) wasn't upset because of the cruel things Sharon had said. She was scared that he would agree with them and that he didn't trust her, but he did, more than anything.

"I'm glad you don't care what they think, because I don't either. I trust you completely, (Y/N)."

"But I-", she started but he quickly cut her off, not wanting to give her time to convince herself otherwise.

"I need you to hear me when I say this, okay? I don't need proof, I don't need a safety net. I know you aren't taking advantage of me, and I believe with every inch of me, that the beautiful baby growing inside of you is not just yours, but ours."

Wrapping one arm around her waist he pulled (Y/N) close to him, taking his other hand to caress her cheek, his thumb brushing her lip gently and then resting on her chin. Sam had said she needed a push. It was now or never.

"I promise you, I have no doubts. All I want is you. I want you today, tomorrow, and as long as you'll have me."

Leaning down, so that his nose touched hers gently he pulled her in for the slowest and sweetest kiss he had ever experienced. (Y/N) melted into him, and while no words were said the victory bells were ringing in his head. He could feel her finally give in to him. It was as if her walls had transformed into a tunnel, creating a path to connect two strangers who had always been meant to be more than just friends.

This wasn't their first kiss, as they had shared many the night they met. Those kisses had been lust-filled, hasty and rushed. But this kiss was different. It was slow and it was passionate but peaceful, as if they would share a million more in their lifetime.