Natasha eyed herself in Laura's full length mirror for at least the third time in the last two minutes. She ran her hands over the fabric on her dress straightening it out.

"That's the right one," Laura chimed in. "Definitely. I think you're going to drive him crazy in that dress."

Natasha smiled at Laura in the mirror reflection. "Well I give you all the credit for the idea." She took a look at her makeup and hair. "Do you think the hair is too much though?"

"No," Laura answered, getting up from her bed and walking over to check the pins in Natasha's hair. "I think normal hair might not go with the dress. It just needs one more thing, I think..." Laura took a look at her watch and then ran off. "We're running out of time," she yelled from the hallway.

"There's no way he'll be late, either!" Natasha yelled back.

Natasha was pleased with her dress, a navy blue vintage-looking number with a sweetheart neckline and a full skirt. It had a small polka dot pattern that was only noticeable up close. When she and Laura went through all the clothes she had with her and then also all the dresses in Laura's closet, they quickly realized a shopping trip was in order. They had headed out to a town with a few dress shops around lunchtime and it took longer than they'd expected, especially adding in their travel time. Now time was running out before Steve would arrive. Natasha looked down at her new shoes and inspected them; silver peep toe heels with an ankle strap. While they were shopping, Laura had the brilliant idea that Steve might enjoy Natasha wearing a retro dress and Natasha agreed.

Laura dashed back into the room excitedly and started pinning a white flower behind Natasha's ear. "Oh that is perfect!" Natasha exclaimed.

"I knew this was in Lila's room somewhere." Laura stepped back to take a look. "Ohhhh, Nat.... you look so great! I feel like I'm living vicariously through you!" She giggled.

"Awww, you and Clint have a great relationship," Natasha said reassuringly.

"Of course... but there's nothing like a new relationship." Laura smiled, she was genuinely happy to see Natasha like this. "Give me a hug."

"I have little butterflies," Natasha admitted. "That's ridiculous."

Just then, they heard a knock at the front door. Then they could hear men's voices and Natasha shuddered a little when she thought about what Clint might be saying to Steve.

"I better get down there before Clint gives him the business," Laura started to walk away. She turned back and said "Take your time coming down, make him wait a minute."

Natasha took a quick look through the miniature red purse she was carrying and grabbed her little white sweater. She stood at the bedroom doorway and counted to ten, then started walking slowly downstairs. The slowly part was as much about making him wait as it was about walking carefully in her new heels.

As she neared the bottom of the stairs, she saw him. Oh, wow...

Steve was wearing a light gray suit with a crisp white shirt underneath. He was holding a bouquet of very large, gorgeous sunflowers. Natasha was impressed and considered herself wooed. But the cherry on top was Steve's hair, which was pushed to the side like when she first met him... and it looked as if he'd added some gel. He'd shaved his beard off as well. He'd definitely put some effort in.

He walked towards her with his arms out for a hug and he kissed her on the cheek as a quick greeting. "Nat, these are for you," he said as he handed her the sunflowers. "You look beautiful."

"Thanks, Steve. That was very sweet," she glanced at the giant flowers. "You look great." She subconsciously felt her smile was bigger than it should be.

"Well I hate to break away," he turned towards Laura and Clint, "but we have a bit of a drive."

Natasha raised an eyebrow at him.

"You ready, Nat?" he asked and he offered his arm for her to put her arm through.

Natasha's heart had been racing until the moment she touched Steve's arm and the warmth coming from underneath his jacket as well as his self-assuredness seemed to calm her.

It was her first date with him but, after all, it was his first date with her as well. They were in it together.

Meanwhile, in Steve's mind, he was walking himself through a mental checklist he had prepared and it was helping him pretend to be confident. At the same time, seeing Natasha, his friend, made him feel like he was going to be just fine.

"Oh wait, let me get a quick picture," Laura said, holding up her phone. "You two just look so nice... Okay, thanks... you're dismissed," she laughed.

Steve held the front door open for her and they said goodbye to Laura and Clint.

"Have her home by 10, Cap!" Clint yelled as Steve opened his passenger side door for Natasha. Steve and Natasha gave a little wave as they drove away.

"He wasn't serious, was he?" Steve grinned. Natasha shook her head no. "I mean, it's not even a school night... we have no Avenging tomorrow," he kidded. She liked when he was in this kind of mood.

"You know, if I was on a date with anyone else and I was riding in a car going somewhere unknown, I'd probably ask more questions," she confessed. "But I've trusted you with my actual life before so I think everything's going to be okay."

"No creepy kidnapper here," he chuckled. "You comfortable?" Temperature okay?" Steve asked.

"I'm perfect," Natasha reassured. "You're the real deal, Rogers."

He raised an eyebrow at her.

"...Door opening, bringing me flowers, checking on me. You're a nice guy."

"Hmm, that's not usually a compliment..." he said.

"Oh, trust me, it is. You're a gentleman. I can tell your mother raised you right."

Natasha could see his gears turning.

"Well that means a lot to me. I always hope I make her proud. It sort of hangs around in the back of my mind from time to time since she didn't get to see me as a man."

"You miss her..." Natasha looked to him to study his reaction.

"Everyday," he said. He was very matter of fact about it and Natasha was sure he probably had some sadness about it at times. But one thing she appreciated about Steve was that he could be an open book if he trusted you. She wanted to give him the opportunity to talk but didn't want to press him too much.

"Do you have any pictures of her?"

"I have nothing," Steve said flatly and then pursed his lips.

"Nothing at all?" she asked, concerned.

"I had no other family after my mom passed away - probably somewhere in Ireland I did - but I never knew them. So when I went in the ice, I'm sure my landlord cleared everything out and the army probably did the same."

Natasha stayed quiet to give him time to talk.

"But I guess it's about the same for you?" Steve turned his head to ask her.

"Sort of..." she said.

"Wow, good job, Steve - just get completely insensitive on your first date!" He laughed at himself, trying to lighten the mood. Natasha, however, was not offended.

"My parents died in a fire when I was young," she started. " I don't even really know how old I was at the time. I know my mother saved me. So I guess she loved me enough to save me. But I really don't know anything else."

"Nat, I'm sorry," he sighed as he reached over and set his hand on top of hers.

"Leave it to you to feel like you have no right to feel slighted and worry about someone else instead..." she smiled. "Just for the record, you can talk to me about it anytime. No questions asked."

"I like our talks," he confessed. "I always feel like you understand me so well."

"Maybe we have more in common than most people would think..."

Steve slowed down to make a turn. It was starting to feel like they were in the middle of nowhere to Natasha. They had already been driving over half an hour.

"Have you ever been out here before?" he asked.

"Doesn't look familiar," she said as she looked around.

"Oh, good, it is a surprise then." He seemed pleased that he could pull off a surprise for Natasha, who was too sharp for that kind of thing. "Keep your eyes off to the left here in a minute," he said, pointing towards the windshield.

She leaned forward a bit for a better view. As Steve's truck climbed wooded hills, they reached the top and the view changed completely. For a split second she thought there was fog ahead but she knew that wasn't right. "This is beautiful," she exclaimed as she eyed the crystal water ahead of her. Some random trees were already changing color and they stood out against the green tree and reflected off the water.

"We're going to drive right over the water," he said and she could now see that it was a large lake and the road cut through it. He had her curious now. Where in the world are we going?

His eyes lit up as he said "We're almost there, don't worry." That little excited smirk on his face was enough to drive Natasha crazy.

Just a few more minutes and Steve was pulling into a parking lot. He opened his door and then turned back to look right at Natasha and say "Don't jump out yet," because he was sure she was going to let herself out of the truck. He hurried around to her door to open it for her. He held his hand out for her to hold as she stepped down. It humbled Natasha to have someone take so much care of her. No one had ever done that before.

Steve escorted her up a sidewalk that cut through a flower garden towards a building made mostly of stone. There was an older looking wooden sign in front of it that looked hand painted; it simply said

Barbara's Lakeview Restaurant. Although the place seemed like it had been there a long time, the owners had kept it up. "This is really cute," Natasha said.

As Steve opened the old wooden front door for her, Natasha saw inside the restaurant and clear out the other side of the building to the lake. Wow...

"Hello!" a friendly voice called out. "Welcome to Barbara's." A short little lady stood at the hostess station with a giant smile.

"Hi," Steve and Natasha both said. Steve stepped inside and greeted her with a smile. "You wouldn't be Barbara, would you?" he asked.

"Yes, I am! Are you Steve?" she asked. She seemed kind of excited.

Steve reached his hand out to shake hers. "Yes, I am. It's nice to finally meet you."

"It smells fantastic in here," Natasha said to Barbara.

"This is Natasha," Steve introduced her.

"Hi, Natasha," Barbara said, "you must be a very special lady. This young man sure cares an awful lot for you." Barbara looked into the restaurant which was dimly lit and motioned to them to follow her. "Come on with me, you two. We have something just for you." As they followed her through the restaurant, Natasha looked at all the crisp table linens and candles that lit every table. She wondered where they would sit. There were only a few tables seated but it was still fairly early for a Friday night. The back wall of the restaurant was just about all windows and had a knockout view of the lake. Barbara led them to a set of French doors and out onto a patio with a low stone wall. There were 20 tables with white linens on the patio but one table was clearly for Steve and Natasha. It had a red overlay on the white linen and a lantern style centerpiece with three candles lit inside. The table was right near the patio's edge, right near the water. White lanterns hung above them and Natasha couldn't wait to see what this was all going to look like in the dark. The sun was still shining off the ripples in the lake.

"Here we are," Barbara said when they got near the table. Steve pulled out a chair for Natasha as Barbara put menus down on the table for them. "Best spot in the house," she smiled.

Steve looked at Barbara very genuinely and said "Thank you, Barbara. This is just what I pictured."

"This is a smart guy," Barbara said as she leaned towards Natasha. "You two enjoy!" she added as she excused herself.

"Thank you!" Natasha called out after her.

As Barbara got to the doors, a man with a violin slipped out from inside. He began playing softly as he stood near the doors, giving Steve and Natasha their space.

Natasha took a deep breath and tried to focus on everything around her, taking in all the details. This was a night she wanted to remember. She looked at Steve, whose face was smiling back at her, one side of his face glowing with sunlight. "I can't believe you did all this," Natasha said.

"I just made a couple of phone calls to Barbara," he said, downplaying it.

"I've never had someone put so much effort into a date before," she confessed. She also knew she'd really never been on a date with someone she had feelings for. Most of her "dates" were part of elaborate espionage plans. She'd never sat on a "date" with her insides feeling so mushy before.

Steve leaned forward a little. He looked so relaxed. "You deserve it, Nat."

"We should have done this a long time ago," she said, leaning forward herself.

"Well, it was a little easier to ask you out now that you have finally stopped trying to set me up on dates with other women," he laughed.

"That was my way of trying to take care of you," she said sweetly.

"So tough but so kind," he said.

"Don't ruin my image," she mocked.

Steve shifted in his seat. "I think I was a little crankier when I first met you. I can see that now that I'm more removed from that time. I guess all the things that happened 70-some years ago were still really fresh in my mind."

"That's understandable," she said.

"I'm sorry if I acted like a jerk to you," he said.

"I could say the same." She looked out at the glistening water. Time for a confession. "All I wanted to do was prove that I was worthy of your trust."

"Oh, you did. You've got a lot of heart."

Natasha just watched him as he smiled at her. When he smiled like that, his eyes lit up and she felt like she was the only one around. In this case, that was basically true but regardless... She also felt like he could see her feelings for him. Maybe that wasn't so bad after all though.

Holding back could be exhausting.

A waitress approached the table with a bottle of wine on ice. "Good evening, I'm Tracy, I'll be your waitress. This is compliments of Barbara."

"That was sweet," Steve said. "Thank you."

"You two want to order or can I start you off with something?"

"We've been bad, we've just been talking..." Natasha said. "Can you recommend anything?"

"Absolutely," Tracy said as she motioned to the wine,"would you like me to pour?" They both nodded. Tracy made some suggestions and then she was off to give them more time to think.

"We should probably crack these open." Steve handed Natasha a menu. "Seriously, not to talk about work... but speaking of you having heart, there's something I have been wanting to say to you for a while now. I wanted to say thank you for helping me get Bucky to safety. You didn't have to do that, you really put yourself in jeopardy."

"It was the right thing to do," Natasha said matter of factly. She sat back in her chair. "Plus, you're a good friend and I know how much he means to you. You must really be missing him."

"I am," Steve said as he looked out at the water. "But I'm also glad he's safe. It's not easy but it's his choice and I have to respect that."

They went silent for a few minutes while they each looked at their menu. It was never an uncomfortable silence with them though. They talked while they waited for their food and while they ate salads... there was no shortage of catching up after being apart for so long.

"We never run out of things to talk about," Steve said as he was cutting his steak.

"That's certainly true," she smiled warmly.

"How's your salmon?" Steve asked.

"It's good - really fresh."

"You're eating like a bird tonight, Nat."

"Don't worry, I'm not eating light because we're on a date - I'm getting soft in the middle lately."

"No, no, no of course you're not," Steve tried to be consoling while making her laugh.

"Keep in mind, I'm not working out at my normal pace. I'm not there yet. It's making me feel so blah," she confessed.

"Well you don't look blah," he said, "you look beautiful." If Natasha didn't know better, she'd say Steve was outright flirting with her. "I'd be happy to train with you when you're ready," he said.

"Thanks, Steve. That would be helpful. I have a feeling I'm going to need someone to push me."

"Nahhhh, you're a tough cookie - it'll be more like you pushing me."

That million dollar perfect smile... that he almost never shows to anyone. It's all for me, she thought, getting distracted for a second.

"I feel like I ought to start soon. Fury has some deep cover missions picked out just for me. I should be able to lay low. I guess it will be good to get back to work."

Steve looked down at the candles for a second and she realized she must have said something... but he tried not to let it get in the way and he said "I sort of like knowing where to find you."

"I'm always a phone call away," she reassured. "But then I guess it's my fault you think you can't find me because I didn't get back to you." She gave him a sly smile.

He shook his head at her. "Natasha, what am I going to do with you?"

She briefly considered making an alluring comment that would get him blushing but she decided first dates were for best behavior.

"Didn't you say you had some things to tell me?" she asked.

"I did say that." He confirmed.

"Well?"

"I think I would rather show you though." He was being secretive.

She let her mouth fall open as if she was hurt by his secret. She took a sip of wine and grinned. "You're making me work really hard here, Rogers. I don't know what's gotten into you."

His forehead wrinkled up a bit and he said "Neither do I, actually." They looked out at the lake where the sun was starting to do down. The sky was turning a vibrant pink color. "I guess I'm just feeling pretty good lately."

Natasha smiled warmly at him as he turned back to look at her. She knew she hadn't been drinking enough wine to get tipsy yet but it must have been a combination of the sunset, the breeze, and Steve looking at her like he was that was making her feel warm in her stomach.

"I'm not trying to tease you, Nat," he added, the corners of his mouth turning up a bit. "I can show you whenever you're free."

"Right now, I've got nothing but free time."

"That's true," his deep voice boomed, "Hang on a second..." Steve took his cell phone out and started typing. Natasha's phone chimed from her purse. "Okay, I sent you an address. Can you meet me at about 11:00 tomorrow?"

"Does that mean you're taking me home early?" She tried flirting.

"We don't have to go home early." He raised an eyebrow. "I'm going to go settle up with Barbara, if you'll excuse me. I'll be right back." Steve stood up and rubbed his hand on her shoulder for a second as she nodded at him.

Natasha sat back in her chair and took a deep breath. She could feel the air sinking the whole way down into her stomach. Her face betrayed her and she felt a smile creep across her face. What was happening all around her tonight was something she never thought could happen for her at all. I hope I'm not in over my head.

Inside, Steve was making his way through a crowded dining room and he could see that there was a band setting up in one corner of the large room. The air was buzzing with excitement. Just then, he saw Barbara from across the room and she waved him over.

"Barbara, I can't thank you enough," he said as he handed her the bill with cash.

"Oh it was our pleasure, honey." She leaned closer to whisper to Steve while she was in the cash register, "I thought maybe you were popping the question tonight." Barbara was being a little pushy but Steve didn't mind.

"Just the first date tonight, ma'am," he responded with a grin.

"You're kidding? You seem like you know each other so well..?"

"We've worked together and been friends for years. I'm kind of hoping for something more," he said.

"Well you bring that young lady in here and dance with her and we'll get a slow song on for you," she smiled. "And you hold her nice and tight. The band is almost ready to go." She shooed Steve in the direction of Natasha with her hands.

Steve walked away shaking his head and smiling.

Opening the door to the patio, Steve looked out to see Natasha sitting at the table alone. The sunset was almost over but it was still giving everything a pinkish glow. The lights hanging over the patio were visible now and it looked so romantic. His nerves jarred him for a second and he stood there very still, gazing at her. He couldn't believe how lucky he was that she had agreed to go out with him tonight. Just then, Natasha looked back at him with a big smile. She waved him over.

"Come on, Steve - you're going to miss the end of the sunset! It's gorgeous!"

He started walking towards her. "I don't know, I was enjoying a pretty unbelievable view already." Wow, did I just say that out loud? He couldn't believe he'd said it. Furthermore, he couldn't believe he was following the deal he'd made with himself to not hold back with her.

Steve moved his chair next to hers so they could both watch the sky. Natasha was impressed that he'd been pulling out all the stops this evening and she was wondering if he was going to kiss her. She felt like she might actually want that. She felt like she might lean over and go for it herself. No, Natasha...

But the urge...

Their shoulders were side by side, albeit, hers sat a good bit lower than Steve's. She reached over with her right hand and gently scratched the sleeve of his jacket with the tips of her fingers. She let out a little sigh and leaned closer. Steve felt her get closer and he lifted his right arm to put it around the back of her chair. "You cold?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Only a little," she looked up at him.

"Come here," he said as he pulled her into his side. "I guess it's a little colder here at the lake."

"Thanks for all of this, Steve." Natasha was feeling humbled that he would go to such lengths. The warmth coming from him was making her feel a little giddy.

"You're welcome, Nat." He looked back out at the tiny sliver of sunlight hitting the lake. "Let's not stay apart like that again?"

"Deal."

He squeezed her shoulder lightly. Steve knew every day couldn't be normal like this, but it felt so good. He reached into his back pocket with his free hand and pulled out his wallet, shifting a little. He laid a cash tip on the table and looked at Natasha. "Ready for phase 2?"