Awesome! Got it up! This one's longer than the previous chapter. This one's big, in plot sense and some development. I hope y'all like it! Anyways, for posterity's sake- It's December 19th!

Read on!

"Hey, Clint?" Adrian spoke into a nearby vent.

"Need something, Adrian?" Clint's voice came out from the vent.

"Do you know where Steve is? I've been needing to talk to him, but he seems to be avoiding me."

"I don't know… That kind of information is gonna cost you," A smirk could be clearly heard in his voice.

"How about a plate of my homemade chocolate chip and monster cookies fresh from the oven once I get back?"

"Deal! It looked like he was getting ready to head out on a jog last I passed by his room. If you're quick I'm sure you can catch up before he runs however many miles."

'How are we even going to talk about that damned near-kiss? It's not like I can just say, "It was nothing. I don't feel that way about you." Adrian wouldn't come close to believing that even if I wasn't a horrible liar. I have no idea what to say, so will just try to avoid Adrian until I do. Besides, what if-' Steve's thoughts broke off when he heard the honking of multiple geese. Seems there was some nesting going down by the little grass area by the water. Steve stopped jogging and counted a total of six geese there for the moment.

"Steve!" He turned to see Adrian running towards him.

"Adrian," Steve shifted uncomfortably, "I wasn't expecting to see you out here."

"Well, I told you we were going to talk and since then you've been detached or avoiding me, so I decided I was going to find out where to trap you and make you finally talk to me. Clint was the one who told me you had headed out for a jog."

Steve frowned, "Selling me out better have been worth it."

"He's getting a whole plate of fresh-from-the-oven chocolate chip and monster cookies that I'm going to make once we get back."

"'Ok. Let's head back then," Steve turned to head back.

Adrian stilled him with a hand on his arm, "Uh-uh. You're not avoiding me or putting this off any longer. It's been two days. I wanted to get this over with, to get past any potential awkwardness, and you just made it more problematic by avoiding me and ignoring whatever this is that's happening between us."

Steve grimaced, "I get that, but I have no idea how to go about talking about this…"

"I don't either. I don't think there's any way to even know how to comfortably approach a conversation about almost kissing each other. Still, we need to have that conversation and what it means for us. Because I'd rather avoid the emotional turmoil of feeling like you don't want to be with me and constantly questioning your feelings and such. I've had plenty of dark emotion to last me for a good while."

Steve nodded, "Alright. I suppose you're right. It's probably better to lay things out for each other so we can move forward." He started walking towards the geese.

Adrian followed with a sigh, "So, I guess I'll start. I wanted it, kissing you. Have wanted it for a while now. I suppose that's obvious given my flirting and hinting. What confuses me is I thought that you weren't- unusually- attracted to me like I am you… At least until a little while ago. Which is part of why I wasn't hesitant to provoke your arousal."

"Yeah. I was restraining myself greatly. 'A relationship with him? That's wrong!' I told myself that, but still couldn't help getting closer to you- even subconsciously apparently since I found myself even drawn to your rooms."

"You haven't really looked into that, have you? I figured you were probably still stuck in the somewhat… oppressive… mindset of the past, but thought you'd have checked out how things have changed so far."

"You heard how my experience with just looking up something I was confused about went."

"Heh. Yeah, but that's porn that often makes it's big debut to someone when they use the internet to try to figure out information about sex. I recommend avoiding anything that even mentions the word porn in general if you don't want to see that stuff.

Anyways, I meant like the rights of the LGBT+ community, civil rights movements, and even recent legal recognition of same-sex marriages in many states. Things have greatly changed, but I won't lie and say that there's no one who is bigoted anymore. There's still people who choose to remain ignorant about such topics and then expect to have a say when they feel it's against their religion or otherwise. It's a bit bizarre, some of the conversations I've heard… Then there's others who have some semblance of logic, but they refuse to consider anything against what they believe to be true. Even then, it's hard to say whether it's right or wrong. After all, almost everything I've seen for or against is greatly belief-based."

Steve stopped, "Wait, did I hear you right? Men can marry men and be legally recognized as a married couple?"

"Yeah, like here in New York. It's not the case in all the states yet, but I've heard rumors of a group working to approach the Supreme Court on the case of legally recognizing same-sex marriage in all US states."

Steve stopped, surprised, and stared at the geese setting up their nests for laying eggs, "Look at those geese, starting preparations for a family… Are same-sex couples allowed to have kids then?"

Catching the significance of the question to Steve, Adrian also looked at the geese, "They've certainly been able to for longer than they've been recognized as married in more than a few states. The issue is that some people use the idea that children will come out disturbed and messed up if they don't have a male and female parent to counter marriage equality. The evidence is against them though… But yeah, making a small family with the person I love and am meant for has always been part of my future vision."

Steve smiled, "I'd like a small family."

"There you go again! That's like telling me we're already a couple."

"I mean, I'll have to do some of my own researching and exploration, but I'm up for trying it. The question of it being right or wrong is what mainly made me fight it, but you've made me reconsider."

Adrian's eyes widened and his heart skipped a beat, "Really?"

"Something about you just feels right. It's like your soul is calling out to me and my soul is reaching back. I've tried to fight against it, but have yet to succeed in not thinking about you."

"That reminds me," Adrian sheepishly smiled, "I have something else related to this that I need to tell you about."

"I thought we were talking about all of it now?" Steve's eyebrow raised.

"Well, I meant for us to, but I have this odd feeling that we shouldn't continue discussing this and get back to the tower quickly."

"I don't understand," Steve shook his head, "It's not like we're being spied on and-"

He cut off what he was saying as he heard the first gunshot.

Uh-oh. What's going on here? Just as they've reconciled their situation and Steve is making big decisions- chaos? Or is it? Big hmm... Anyways, tell me what you peoples think. Is the information good and everything? *Authoritative boss voice* I want some feedback people!

Rock on my fellow gals and guys!