* * * Author's Notes * * *

Thank you all for the comments, votes, and follows! I was not expecting to have as much as a response so early!

This next chapter took me quite a few re-writes to get right. I hope you like it! As always, reviews are very much appreciated, and constructive criticism is welcomed.

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A while later, after Catherine had picked up the twins, Liz closed up the shop and walked next door to the apartment entrance of the building her grandfather owned. She collected her mail and Pops' from their separate mailboxes and made her way to Pops' apartment, storing her own mail inside her shouldered messenger bag. Pops had the only apartment on the ground floor. The other two levels each had three separate living spaces. However, the two apartments that formerly made up the rest of the first level had been converted to suit the layout of the connecting store long before Liz had been born.

"Hey, Pops," Liz greeted as she entered the apartment where she had grown up. She now lived on the top floor, having moved up there after graduating from college. She heard the sound of some old movie playing in the living room.

"There's my girl!" Pops shuffled out of the living room to meet Liz. She was now in the kitchen area sorting through the mail. Liz had to smile at her grandfather's infectious upbeat personality.

"You've got some bills here, Pops. I'm just going to leave them here on the counter. Did you eat yet? Do you want me to make you something?" Even though Liz now lived upstairs, she made a point to make sure her grandfather had everything he needed. After all, they were all the family each other had left. She felt that she owed it to him and her late grandmother, Rose, whom Liz had called Gran. Especially since they had raised her.

"No need, Sunshine. I had the leftovers from last night about an hour ago, around six o'clock. You can stop fussing over me and get out of here." Pops said, making a shooing motion towards her with his hands.

"Are you trying to get rid of me? Got a hot date I don't know about?" Liz joked, always amused and inspired by Pops' independent nature.

"Yes I am, and no I don't!" Pops stated mildly indignant, "You spend far too much time worrying over me and tending the store than the law should allow. You're twenty-six years old and should be out with your friends on a Friday evening, trying to find a nice fella'. Not taking care of an old man!"

"Take it easy, Pops," Liz forced a half-smile. This had become an almost weekly discussion over the past couple of months, and it was beginning to get old, "You know I'm not much of a going out on the town type anymore. And I just want to make sure that you're happy and comfortable."

"I know, Lizzie, but I'm fine. Truly I am! So go on, and find yourself something else to keep you occupied. I was going to meet with my veterans' group across town, in any event," Pops insisted.

"Fine, fine. I'll get out of your hair, Pops," Liz held up her hands in surrender, "You have a good night. Stay out of trouble, and I'll see you in the morning. Love ya," she kissed her grandfather on the cheek warmly.

"Goodnight, Sunshine," Pops walked her to the door, "Do me a favor on your way up and check in on Mister... Mister What's-his-name... I can't recall it just now," he added, as if it were an afterthought, "Anyway, just make sure he has everything he needs and that he's not missing any furnishings that Miss Hill had requested."

"You mean Steve?" Liz suspected Pops had been conspiring in her absence, "Sure thing, Pops." Liz bit her lip in an effort to keep from smiling in spite of herself. The old man probably thought he was being subtly clever, thinking of what he thought was an inconspicuous way to get her to talk to her new neighbor, and it was mildly adorable. Liz shook her head as she turned and started up the stairs.

On her way past the second floor, Liz overheard the Schaefer twins in another one of their heated debates and let out a quiet laugh. Liz met her other top-floor neighbor on the landing halfway between the second and third floors. The blonde girl was carrying a basket of laundry on her way down to the basement, still dressed in her light pink hospital scrubs. Liz guessed that she had just gotten home from her shift not too long ago.

"How's it going, Kate?" Liz greeted.

"Hey, Liz. Good! How are you?" Kate paused on the landing. She seemed as though she wanted to chat. They had become friendly during the time that Kate had lived in the building, even though, for the most part, Kate kept to herself and her work.

"I'm good, just closed up shop. Hey, did you meet our new neighbor?"

"You mean Steve?" Kate flashed a devious smile, "I caught him bringing in some of his boxes. Kind of hard to miss someone that handsome."

"Yeah, I guess he's alright..." Liz blushed a little bit, motioning to wrap a stray strand of auburn hair behind her ear. These kinds of conversations always made her feel a bit awkward. She really was not one to stand around gossiping over boys, no matter how attractive they might be.

"Oh, come on, Liz. Don't be so shy!" Kate encouraged, "I think you should ask him out," she stage-whispered playfully as she resumed her descent down the stairs.

Liz shook her head, "Because that ended up going so super-awesomely the last time I tried dating a guy who lived in the building... I'll pass."

Kate gave Liz an apologetic smile and shrugged, "It's been two months since Jason moved out. I know I was only around for the very end of that, but—" Kate cut herself off as she realized Liz's expression was rapidly deteriorating, "Just putting it out there..."

"G'night, Kate," Liz sighed as she climbed the final staircase.

Instead of turning left when she came to the landing to go to her apartment, Liz made a right and headed for the one Pops had assigned to Steve. She listened for a brief moment at the door and heard the shuffling of boxes. Liz put on her best I'm-a-professional-land-lady face and knocked on the door three times. Any noise inside the apartment suddenly ceased. There was a short pause, then the sound of a few long strides coming toward the door. Then it opened.

"Miss Dolan?" Steve looked surprised. He obviously was not expecting any visitors. His dirty blonde hair was slightly tousled and starting to fall in front of his forehead. Liz tried not to notice that the white t-shirt he was wearing looked about a half size too small.

"Please, you can call me Elizabeth... Or Liz, or Lizzie," she smiled but did not know why she had offered her full first name as an option, especially as the primary one. Normally that was not something Liz would prefer to have people call her. Most used either of the latter two variations. She guessed it was because her full name sounded more mature or professional.

"Oh, okay... Elizabeth. Is there something you needed?" Steve's face went from surprised to slightly worried in a heartbeat, "I'm sorry if I was making too much noise. I was just about done unpacking..." He rushed a preemptive apology as he motioned toward the few boxes scattered behind him in the living room.

"Oh, no! No, you're fine," Liz tried to abate any tension quickly, "Pops and I just wanted to see if you're settling in okay and have everything you needed?" Liz glanced behind Steve and noticed that there were far fewer boxes than one would have expected to see, considering he had just moved in this afternoon.

"Oh!" Relief and a smile crept over Steve's face, his blue eyes sparkling, "Yes, it's a great place. I apologize for any trouble you had to go through because of me..."

"Not at all! Pops and I are glad to do it. Helping our troops and their families get their feet on the ground is especially important to us. You're not the first soldier we've had staying with us." Liz smiled again, trying to convey a welcoming sentiment.

"Thanks, Mis— I mean, Elizabeth." Steve's expression changed to one that was appreciative. There was an awkward pause in the conversation.

Kate's comment from earlier suddenly reverberated through Liz's mind. You should ask him out... "Well, I don't want to keep you from getting settled," Liz shifted her weight and brushed a non-existent loose strand behind her ear, then made a half-turn away from Steve back towards her own apartment, "But if you do need anything, you can find me across the hall," Liz pointed over her shoulder with her thumb and took a slow step in the same direction, "I'm usually there or at the shop downstairs, and you'll find a list of numbers by the phone where you can reach me or Pops if we're not around." She smiled shyly as she felt her cheeks begin to blush.

"I'll keep that in mind," Steve averted his eyes to a corner of the floor for a moment before he looked back at Liz, "And thank you, again. I... I really do appreciate it." Was that a hint of pink growing on his face as well?

"Well," Liz paused and took another slow step toward her own door; however, she somehow managed to stumble over herself, half distracted while trying to determine if Steve was blushing. She recovered quickly, "Have a good night, Steve."

"Goodnight, Elizabeth." Steve still had a warm smile as Liz turned and finished crossing the hall. She silently thanked the powers that be that Steve was gentleman enough not to comment on her clumsiness as she sorted through her keys. Liz could sense him still standing on the threshold of his own apartment, watching her as she opened her door.

She entered, switched on a light, and looked back to offer one more small smile, which Steve again returned before she closed the door behind her. Once inside, Liz leaned her back against the door and let out a soft sigh, closing her eyes. She heard the click of Steve's door shutting across the corridor.

"You are such a dork," Liz berated herself quietly. She opened her eyes and walked further into her living room. It was not like her to fluster over a guy quite so easily. Hell, she did not even know him well enough to decide whether or not she actually liked him. Even if she did, Liz was sure that nothing good could come of it. Her last tryst with Jason had gotten ugly after he had ended things rather unexpectedly, which ultimately resulted in the guy vacating one of the second-floor apartments in a hurry.

Liz tried to physically shake the thoughts from her head as she tossed her messenger bag on the couch and unzipped her white hoodie. The dog tags around her neck clinked over her black t-shirt as she pulled off the hoodie and tossed it on the couch as well. It's not like I'm ready to get into anything with someone new anyway, Liz started to rationalize as she dug her digital music player out of her messenger bag and went to dock it on the sound system in her entertainment center across from the couch. She still was not over the Jason situation.

And I have to be at the shop almost every day, keep an eye on Pops, and keep the building maintained... And I promised Catherine I'd help look after Billy and Emma during the summer, Liz queued the shuffle feature and made her way to the kitchen as an alternative rock tune began to play, I just don't even have the time for a boyfriend right now, let alone the energy to attempt to deal with the emotional drama that comes along with one.

Liz opened the fridge and looked inside for a few moments. She could eat, but she was not starving. She had gotten into the habit of eating in small increments throughout the day when she had taken over most of the day-to-day dealings down in the shop. Liz was usually armed with several granola bars holstered in her bag at any given time. Today, she had exhausted the whole stash working around the store all morning and early afternoon with Pops, cataloging newly acquired curios and rearranging the storefront to be more aesthetically pleasing and organized.

Liz decided to make a meal out of the potato salad she had prepared the night before. It had been her Gran's recipe and one of Liz's favorites. She leaned against the counter as she finished off the small container while humming along to the music that was playing. Liz washed and rinsed the container and the fork she had used and left them to dry on top of a dish towel she had set on top of the counter next to the sink, and then went back to the refrigerator for a can of soda.

Liz opened the can and took a sip as she returned to the living room and plopped herself down on the couch. She kicked off her sneakers and brought her feet up to sit cross-legged, setting her beverage on top of a coaster on the wooden coffee table in front of her. Liz opened her messenger bag and withdrew her sketchbook, flipping towards the middle to the page that she had been working on earlier. Liz combed through her bag for her trusty mechanical pencil, jostling the other contents during her search and ticking them off in her mind as her fingers grazed them.

Keys... wallet... phone... glasses... deodorant... Liz brought the bag into her lap as she expanded the pursuit to another pocket, Headphones... inhaler... notepad... pencil! Liz closed the messenger bag and set it aside.

Liz began penciling in the finer details of the rough sketch she had begun earlier that day. She had started drawing her own rendition of the famed original Captain America from World War II. There were many who believed that somehow he had miraculously returned to help save the day during the Battle of New York last year, but Liz was skeptical about this theory at best. The man had disappeared as suddenly as he had materialized that day and had not been seen since. It had obviously been someone else attempting to take up the overwhelming mantle.

Super-soldier or not, Liz knew that no amount of wishful thinking could reawaken the dead. She absent-mindedly clutched the dog tags that hung low around her neck and brought up the hand that held them to rest against her chest. She spent the remainder of her evening attempting to bring the Sentinel of Liberty to life on the page.

* * * Author's Notes * * *

I'm sorry we still haven't seen too much of Steve as of this chapter! I promise there will be more of him in the next one, but I felt that it was important that we get to know Liz better before we dive into the main plot (there is one, I promise!).

I did struggle with this chapter a bit, and I think that having a Beta Reader for this story would be very beneficial. If you are interested in being a beta for this story, please send me a message!

Thanks for reading :-)

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