Steve took a second to cast his blue eyes over the girl in front of him. Starting at the top, her hair was fluffy and disheveled from sleep, and there was a small bruise right on her hair line. Her hazel eyes held within them a fiery determination, her whole stance confident and ready to go. He could see however the outline of her bandages through her t-shirt, little scrapes and bruises everywhere. She was in no condition to clean out the shop. He made a mental note to himself to remember that no matter how badly injured she was, the girl had no capacity for sitting still or taking care of herself.

With that in mind he hoisted her impressively stocked tool box onto his shoulder and began to make his way down the stairs. Of course Grace slammed her door shut and followed him down protesting all the way that she didn't need any help, was perfectly capable of handling herself and her shop and that she was sure he had better things to do.

He nodded and agreed with everything that she said aside from the last point, which he addressed with a simple 'not today I don't'.

Grace huffed, crossing her arms and stomping down the last of the steps in mock anger, but her mood dampened considerably when they got to the bottom and surveyed the scene. It had started to drizzle outside, and the grey over cast sky did no favours for the place, which looked set to fall apart in the gloom. Broken glass littered the ground, and glinted in the pale light, and for a moment there was a silence that neither of them wanted to break. A moment to mourn what had been lost. Steve made a silent promise to himself to help her get it all back.

A heavy sigh broke into the air, and Grace stepped forward to wrench the spear out of the wall. "Catch" She said, throwing it to him. She laughed as his reflexes kicked in and he caught it expertly, eyes wide. With that the tension was broken, and they set to work clearing the mess. Grace turned on the radio and Elvis played while they laboured. It was actually fun, and the time passed quickly. That was until around 3 o'clock, when Grace's mother appeared in the broken window- scowling and carrying an umbrella.

Jail House Rock played quietly in the background, and other than that and the sound of rain there was silence. It took a second for her to remember she had a voice- she hadn't seen her mother for more than 5 years, and didn't have any desire to do so now. "Mom... Why are you here?" Grace threw out hesitantly. It was clear that Renee Flint was not going to speak first. Instead of giving a direct answer, the older woman wrinkled her nose and stepped out of sight, presumably to use the door to get in.

"Of course she wouldn't dane to use the massive gaping hole to get in, that would be beneath her" she mumbled, moving to unlock it for her. Steve gulped audibly- he had already seen the way her father spoke to her, and if he were to hazard a guess he would say that this meeting would end no differently. He tightened his grip on the broom that he held, and cleared the last of the glass from the door way, then Grace swung it open. Her mother stepped in, her practical black pumps clicked hard on the tile floor. She shook out her umbrella, spreading water droplets everywhere and then pushed it (still wet) into Grace's arms without a word.

Steve watched her flush red with annoyance, but she breathed deeply and placed the offending object on the counter. The two of them then turned to face Renee expectantly. She first looked around the shop, taking every detail into her calculating gaze, then Steve, then finally she turned to her daughter. Her deep blue eyes looked her up and down twice, her face somewhat neutral- skewing to dissatisfied.

"What have I told you about wearing your hair up Grace?" She finally uttered. At some point (during Suspicious Minds she thought) Grace had piled her hair on top of her head in a rather messy pineapple, to keep it out of the way. She now reached up and let it loose, shaking out the knots. "It really does nothing to help her face, or her ears. Her father's ears you see." The younger woman looked down at her ratty converse and flushed crimson for a whole new reason- the absolute mortification that was crashing over her.

"Hey now. If that's all you came to say then I think it best you leave. Now." Steve stepped forward, in front of the now quiet Grace. "And I think you should close your mouth and leave me to do business with my daughter. I'm sure there's other girls out there you can go and bother."

Oh the super soldier did not like this lady at all. A hand on his shoulder from behind was the only thing that stopped him from biting back at the woman before him. He grit his teeth and stepped back to let Grace come forward. The small woman crossed her arms over her tshirt- made damp from the umbrella, and waited patiently for her mother to speak again.

"I trust you spoke with your father" She said, running a finger along a shelf and collecting dust. "And I trust that he made our opinions about your way of life quite clear, yes?" She quipped, eyes flicking up to the name of the shop emblazened on the side of the counter. Without giving Grace a chance to answer, she continued; "Keeping that in mind. I have a proposition for you. Move back with us to Massachusetts, and we'll pay your Harvard tuition along with rent for an apartment of you choosing. You will have access to your inheritance money from your grandmother, and to the trust fund we set up for you when you were little. In exchange you give up this dump, and go into a field of work of your father's choosing, simple as that."

There was a snap and both women whipped there heads around to where Steve stood, half a broom in each hand. To his credit, he didn't say a word, but Grace feared his teeth would snap for how hard his jaw was clenched. He had flushed a deep red, and if looks could kill Renee would be buried right now.

Grace on the other hand went in another direction. Instead of getting mad, she looked dejected. Her shoulders slumped, and she had brought one of her hands up to cover her eyes. There was a long silence, until Grace abruptly grabbed a mug from the table behind her and launched into the far wall, where it smashed into a thousand pieces. Renee took a step back, while the Captain took a step forward. Tears streamed hot and heavy down her face and she whirled on her mother.

"How dare you? How dare you come in here and dismiss everything I worked for, my dreams, my life? How could you think I would walk away from any of this for the sake of money? I didn't want your money or your education when I was 19, and guess what- I still don't. So take your god damn umbrella and get the hell out of my coffee shop".

With that Grace threw Renee her umbrella and swung the door open with a bang, waiting in thick silence for her to leave. She straightened her coat (Chanel if you were wondering) and pursed her lips, clicking to the door. She stopped briefly by her daughter's side; "you know a million girls would kill for what we're trying to give you, and I find it disgusting that you can't even try and be grateful".

"Get the fuck off my property!" A boom of thunder masked the volume that Grace had shouted at, and Renee made herself scarce. The rain was falling hard now, and she was crying hard. It was like the sky felt for her, the spikes of lightning matching her anger. She tried to throw another cup, but this time Steve was prepared and caught it. Good thing as well, because on closer inspection it was an antique tea cup. She picked up another one- she wasn't one for giving up easily- but the all American Man had already crossed the room and grabbed it from her. Setting it down on the table behind her, he put his hands on her shoulders and looked her over.

Her face and chest were scarlet with rage and stress, and she was visibly shaking. She kept her eyes firmly pinned to the ground between their feet, and her hands were wrapped around herself in a semi hug. It made his heart hurt- he had only known this girl for a few days but he felt like he had known her for years. To see her in such bad shape was painful. He wrapped his arms around her, and for a while they just listened to the rain pounding down on the New York streets.

Eventually the rain stopped, and the hurt drained away with it. No words were needed as they slowly separated form their warm embrace. Grace finally lifted her red eyes to Steve's baby blues and gave him a silent thank you, circling around him to behind the counter. From where he was he watched her take out two mugs and start on coffee to fuel the rest of the day. All the soldier could think about as he watched her steam some milk was that he had only known her for about 4 days. 96 hours. It was nothing. He wasn't even sure why he had gone to see her in the hospital. But damn was he glad he did. She was one of the most interesting things to happen to him since he woke up, and he had just helped stop an alien invasion. As his eyes followed her practiced hands, he noticed she was continually flicking her hair out of her way. It was long, reaching just past her waist and the brunette strands were curly. It was also very clearly getting in the way.

The good captain frowned as he realised she wasn't tying it back because of what her mother had said. So in a bold tactic he didn't really think about, he walked behind the counter and took one of her hands. She had just finished pouring the coffee, and didn't say anything but looked up at him quizzically. He slipped her hair tie from her wrist and quietly asked; "May I?" Both of them flushed a deep rose colour, and she had very little to say through her shock. She gave a small nod, and turned around slowly, hardly daring to breath as she felt his hands in her hair. Steve in any other situation might have fumbled but this came surprisingly naturally to him. Bucky had little sisters- 3 of them- and when things were busy after Bucky's dad died, Steve did all he could to help out. That sometimes meant braiding their hair. Or post-serum when he was doing the shows, the girls on tour sometimes needed help with costume or hair before going out on stage. He was no expert, but he knew how to do this. Gently, he threaded her hair into a braid down her back and secured it with the tie he stole from her wrist. It only took a minute, and when he was done he was proud of his handiwork.

He tapped her on the shoulder so she would turn back around, and said; "Your parents are idiots if they don't see what they have in you. You have a beautiful face, and if those are your dad's ears, then suffice to say he has very pretty ears. Don't try and be anything but who you are Grace".

They were less than a foot apart, staring deep into each others eyes. The thought struck her that if this were a rom com they would kiss now...

Then the phone rang. She had never seen a 6'7, 200 lb man jump so high in her life.

I am a lazy human being who never updates and I'm sorry :( A bit of a longer chapter this time, getting a little more heated.

If you could review and let me know if you're enjoying it, how you like the progression so far I would be unbelievably grateful! I have the next few days off so I can update again if people are enjoying it? Obviously if they aren't I wont but let me know!

Thanks for reading!

Beansprout1997 xxx