So, in honor of me reaching my goal of finishing all the books that lead up to Infinity War before the movie date, and also because I'm suffering from withdrawals because I miss writing about my Brooklyn Boys, here's a purely self-indulgent one-shot inspired by an idea for a deleted scene from Kitkaters1648

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"—FONDUE?"

Steve groaned from where he was perched lower down on the small bed, burying his face in Rhett's side while the other man threw his head back, his laugh filling the small room as he clutched his stomach, trying to turn but unable to with Steve holding him in place.

"Look, it was Howard Stark and she was a beautiful woman, you can't blame me for jumping to conclusions," he argued, his entire body warm as he tried to explain himself, Rhett grinning down at him.

"Poor Steve," Rhett cooed, tugging him into a hug, the larger man groaning and burying his face in the crook of his neck. Rhett laughed, running a hand through his hair. "Can you really not dance?"

"Tony tried to teach me, but after half an hour, he gave up and he and Bruce just stayed up in the lab while I was with Thor," he mumbled, shuddering as he remembered the horrendous dance lesson the man tried to give him, "We didn't have that kind of dancing back then."

Rhett nodded. "I know. We were both alive then."

Steve smiled bashfully, pulling back to look at him. "Sorry, I forget sometimes. You never think you'd find someone like you just around."

"New York seems to be the hub of all things weird and outlandish, I'm not all that surprised anymore," Rhett hummed, turning on his side to face the man, "But if you wanna learn to dance, I could teach you."

Steve shook his head, burying his face in the pillow. "God, no, I can't, I honestly can't."

Rhett cooed and pushed at his head until he was looking at him. "I'm not the best either, but it'll be fun."

"Where'd we even dance?" Steve demanded, face and neck red as he tried to keep Rhett from pulling him out of bed, "I don't want to go outside where people can see me. For more than one reason."

"Then let's just dance here," Rhett shrugged, glancing towards the space between his bed and his closet, "There's enough room. Come on."

Steve sighed, falling into deadweight as Rhett tried to lift him out of bed, the man cursing and huffing as he tried to push and pull, coaxing him with sweet promises and empty threats, finally giving up and falling back onto the bed, tangling their legs together, burying his face in the crook of his neck.

"I'm never doing anything nice for you again," Rhett grumbled into his skin, and Steve laughed, reaching up to run his hand through his hair, the man sighing happily before coughing, remembering he was supposed to be upset.

Steve smiled, happy to just hold Rhett and lie on the bed that was too small for the both of them, but happily held their weight, the sun shining through the window and filling the room with a warm glow that gave him an inexplicable feeling of safety and home.

"What're you thinking about?" Rhett mumbled, tilting his face out from where it had been hidden, his eyes closed, lips turned upward; ever since Christian had been taken away, the man had radiated nothing but pure peace.

Steve kissed him in lieu of a response, just pressed his lips to Rhett's temple, then kissed his closed eyes, smiling as Rhett started to laugh, just able to kiss his forehead then the tip of his nose before he devolved into a fit of giggles, hiding his face back in the crook of Steve's neck.

"I hate you, you know that?" Rhett mumbled, but Steve could hear him smiling, could feel him smiling, and he just held onto him tighter.

"I love you too," he whispered, and it wasn't until Rhett stiffened that he realized what he just said.

There was just a brief pause, barely a quarter of a minute, but it was enough for Steve to have a complete meltdown, regretting all of his decisions up until that point, planning a speech that let Rhett know that if he ever wanted him to leave he would, even though it would tear him apart to do so.

But before he could act on anything, Rhett was kissing him, sitting on top of him and whispering over and over that he loved him too, he loved him so much and if this wasn't love, he didn't want to know what it actually was, and Steve's heart ached, but it was an ache he clung onto, because he was finally feeling something, and this something was a lot better than pain.

"Hey, hey, hey, why are we crying?" Rhett asked, pulling away and looking down at him with concern, hands coming up to cup his face, wiping away the tears that Steve didn't even know had fallen.

"I-I just..." he took a deep breath, sighing as he buried his face in Rhett's shirt, emotions surging all at once, "God—Buck tried to teach me to dance, and I promised Peg—I promised her—and-and I love you and I can't—"

"Shh..." Rhett whispered, cradling him and running his hands through his hair, and his words weren't the robotic script he read, desperately trying to find a way to say the right things with all his heart, his words were a scrambled mess, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it's gonna be okay, okay? Bucky's gonna be fine, you told me, we can-we can visit Peggy again if you want, I don't—Steve, just..."

By the time Steve pulled away, Rhett had done his fair share of crying, tears like raindrops on the younger man's blond hair. When they pulled away, they just looked at each other, both sighing heavily, still clinging onto the other like a lifeline.

"I wanna do it."

Rhett blinked. "What?"

Steve sniffed. "I-I wanna learn how'ta dance. I-If I'm gonna have anyone teach me, I'd rather it be you. I want it to be you."

Rhett tried to smile, nodding as he wiped the tears from Steve's face. "Okay, Steve. Okay."

º º º

It took some time before they actually got to dancing, the two going out to the kitchen for some chocolate chip pancakes, their own special thing since hot chocolate was reserved for rough nights with Nicky, then to the younger man's room to ask for his music player.

"He's gonna teach me how to dance," Steve explained as the man rifled around his room for the player.

Nicky paused right before he handed it over, giving Steve a smile that radiated pride. "That's great, Steve. That's so great."

The older man smiled, glancing away. He had confided a lot in the younger man, and it was always nice to hear that he was doing something right; praise was always gratifying and it left him with a warm feeling in his chest.

Now back in Rhett's room, Steve was starting to get cold feet.

He glanced down at his Captain America themed crocs while the other blond shuffled around for some music, deciding to find one of the songs that played back during the war. Whatever song it was, it must have had some meaning to him, since he was still able to remember it, humming softly.

"I, uh, danced with Marty to this song," Rhett coughed, putting it repeat and letting it softly fill the room, closing his eyes and swaying to the beat.

Steve raised his head at that, eyes trained on Rhett, gauging his expression carefully. "Are-are you sure you want to use this song?"

Rhett paused then, reaching out and lowering the volume, his expression no doubt mirroring Steve's, cautious and calculating. "You not comfortable with me using this song or...?"

"No, I don't mind," he rushed to explain, shaking his head furiously, "I just...are you sure you wanna share that song...with me?"

Rhett just stood there for a moment, staring at him, his head tilted ever so slightly. He just looked at the man sitting on his bed, the man that he had been searching for nearly all of his life, sitting on his bed and asking if there was something that Rhett didn't feel like sharing with him, as if he wasn't willing to give him everything he wanted if he just so much as asked.

And yet there was something about the way Steve said it that made him realize it wasn't right of him to be doing this.

"We can find a new song," he reasoned, turning off the music and clearing his throat, searching around on the internet for a new one, "Do you remember any names of the songs from way back when? Or-or do you even wanna use that music, what kind of dancing do you wanna do?"

Steve shrugged. "What kind of dancing do you like?"

The man shrugged, cheeks warming. "I only know the standard from back then and, uh, I don't really know how to dance right during this time. Nicky and I, we just sorta, you know, move around."

Steve laughed softly, glancing down at his hands and his crocs. "I don't even know how to do that."

Rhett shrugged, trying to hide his sly smirk as he continued to search for music, feigning nonchalance. "I don't know...you sure knew how to move during Thanksgiving."

Steve let out a shout, grabbing one of the pillows and hitting Rhett over the head, the man barely able to dodge it, laughing as he held up a hand to defend himself, Steve laughing as he kept trying to hit him, barely exerting any effort as he tackled him to the ground.

"Hi," Rhett whispered, still holding onto his phone, smiling up at him, "You wanna help me pick a song or you just gonna hang here?"

Steve smiled and pulled away, sitting up and watching as Rhett held out his phone, showing him a series of old songs that he could vaguely recognize, even if he didn't quite remember them. "Do we have to use old songs?"

"No," the other blond said, pointing to another open tab, "We could use some modern songs, you hear anything good at the bar?"

He bit his lip and shrugged. "No? I mean, Sam usually just shows me his music. I mean...is-is there music that sounds like the old days, but's still from here? From now? I don't-I don't wanna live in the past anymore, but it'd be nice to hear something that sounds as outta place as we are."

Rhett snorted, but he grinned nonetheless, fingers flying over his phone screen as he pulled up exactly what Steve had been asking for. He knew the feeling well, Nicky had shown him this genre of music to try and ease him into contemporary music, figuring it would be a nice middle ground.

"It's called electric swing," he explained, setting his phone onto the music player and letting the playlist shuffle, "It's just our kinda music, but done in this century."

Steve paused for a minute, just listening, a slow grin creeping onto his face. "I like it."

Rhett laughed, rising to his feet and holding out his hands. "Of course you do, it's good music. Now you gonna get up and dance with me or not?"

Steve smiled and let himself to tugged up, Rhett immediately dropping his hands at the last second, the two falling into each other, Steve stumbling as he tried to figure out what to do, Rhett trying and failing to tug him into one of the easier dance moves that he had learned before his time in the army.

"I don't know what I'm doing," he admitted with a sigh, and Rhett just held him close, lacing their fingers together.

"Just move with me," he said encouragingly, beginning to move slowly, half the pace of the song, grinning widely as Steve tried to follow, mostly staring at his feet, glancing up every so often to make sure he was doing alright, "You got it."

The two danced for what seemed like hours, Steve relaxing more and more over time, his face losing its embarrassed red hue and his muscles slowly relaxing, a grin creeping onto his face as he raised his head, laughing as he and Rhett continued to move. Their dance wasn't anything major, barely even a two-step, just moving to the beat, but it was as close to dancing as anything Steve had done, and it was enough to make Rhett smile.

"Here, let's try this," Rhett suggested, taking a step back, moving his feet the way he had been taught before the war, looking down to see Steve struggling to keep up, "Look, it's easy, don't think too hard."

Steve laughed softly. "You're telling that to the captain?"

Rhett smiled. "I'm telling that to my boyfriend."

Steve paused then, for just a brief moment, just looking at Rhett in disbelief, as if he couldn't believe that man was in front of him and, for lack of a better word, his. Then it passed and he wrapped his arms around Rhett, picking him up and spinning him, the older man laughing as he was dropped back onto the bed.

Steve hovered above him, kissing him languidly, and Rhett smiled once he pulled away, pressing their foreheads together. "You're not that bad of a dancer, Steve. Really."

The other blond laughed as well, pressing feather light kisses against his neck. "You're not that bad of a liar, Rhett."

As the music continued to play, the two stayed on the bed, finding a new form of dancing to try.

Rhett sighed as he wrapped an arm around Steve, unsure of whether to pull the blanket over them or bunch it together at the foot of the bed. Instead, he just held onto the man who was only somewhat tired out, nuzzling into Rhett's hair.

"You're way into my eyes," he mumbled, and Steve laughed.

"I love you," he sang softly, the music still crooning in the background.

Rhett smiled loosely, drifting off to sleep. "I love you too."

AUTHOR'S NOTE

I actually cried writing the scene where Steve was crying, because if you have to just remember one thing about me, it's that Steve Rogers makes me cry all day every day, but you know, that's my problem.

This is dedicated to lokidyinginside because she loves these boys so much, and is probably the only one who supports the crocs because I sure don't, but she supports them and is such a good friend, so I'm willing to reference the crocs again. And also to luminite who told me to update today, though maybe she'll be too wrecked to read it.