Angst.  Sorry about that.  Based on the song "Marry Me" by Train

Forever can never be long enough for me

To feel like I've had long enough with you

Forget the world now, we won't let them see

But there's one thing left to do

Now that the weight has lifted

Love has surely shifted my way

Marry me

Today and every day

Marry me

If I ever get the nerve to say "Hello" in this cafe

Say you will

The first thing that Sam ever noticed about you were your hands; he wondered what it would feel like to lace his fingers through yours. They were tapping in a slow rhythm against your cup as you sat by the window of the small café next to the tower, and you were immersed in a book, earbuds in and completely oblivious to his stares, thankfully.

Then it was your lips, gently parting as you lifted your drink up to them, leaving just a hint of color behind on its rim when you pulled it away. A few small drops escaped and ran onto your shirt, much to your annoyance, leaving you absentmindedly trying to wipe them away without losing your place in your reading. After a few seconds, you decided that it wasn't worth the trouble and shrugged it off, returning to your original focus.

Sam was instantly smitten with you, before ever having spoken a single word; not even your name. When you reached up to tuck a stray hair behind your ear, he couldn't help but want to have done it himself, and to be close enough to you to see the soul that lived behind your eyes. He had yet to see them or know their color, and when he finally did as you realized that he was staring, looking up at him with a wide eyed intrigue, he wasn't disappointed; he was hooked. He was gone. He was yours.

Sam Wilson wasn't a coward. I'm an Avenger, dammit, he thought to himself as he froze in place under your attention, just go introduce yourself. He cleared his throat nervously and took one solitary step forward; it was all he would take towards you, however, suddenly awash with a fear that you would laugh him off or reject his advances, and he wasn't ready for this to be his last time seeing you. He tripped over his feet on the way to his escape, spilling his own drink much as you had, not giving it a second's notice as he pushed his way through the door and onto the busy sidewalk where he could lose himself in the anonymity of the crowd.

~~~

The next time he saw you there was several days later, and this time he had promised himself that he would at least say hello, and that he definitely wouldn't run away.

He probably wouldn't run away.

He found you standing near the counter, waiting for your drink as he ordered his own. If the barista timed this right, and if the planets aligned just perfectly, your drinks would arrive together and he could ask to sit with you. Maybe if he took your drink by accident it would give him a starting point to talk; he had never been so inept at flirting, and it had him completely frustrated. So much so that he fulfilled his own idea unknowingly, grabbing your drink as you took his.

You barely had his cup to your lips before knowing that it wasn't yours. Rolling it slightly with a turn of your wrist, his name was clear on the side and you had no idea how you could've gotten it so wrong. He was making his way towards a small table in the far corner of the café, and you quickly gave chase before he could take any of your beverage.

"Excuse me, Sam?"

"Huh?" he gasped, turning around so quickly that he bumped into you, catching you with his lightning fast reflexes and an arm around your waist when his foot bumped yours and tipped you back. "Woah, I'm sorry! Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," you nodded, pushing yourself back, your hands lingering on his chest just a few seconds longer than you had planned. No one would have blamed you for the indiscretion, finding yourself wanting to leave it there longer and enjoy the sensation that contact with him gave you. "I think this is yours," you offered, your hand extended for him to take his cup. "I can get you a new one, if you want. I took a drink before I realized it wasn't mine."

"No, it's okay," Sam smiled, readily grabbing it away and handing you your own, "Having those lips drink from my cup just made it that much better." Yeah, baby, there it is. I'm back.

"Is that right?" you smirked. "You really are a smooth one, Sam. I was worried about you the other day when you stumbled out of here looking like a lost little puppy. I wasn't sure if I'd ever see your face in here again."

"You know my name?" he whispered uneasily, a slight crack of nerves in his voice. "How?"

You reached out and took his hand, the one holding his cup, and turned it towards him to reveal his name scrawled out over it in dark, black marker. "I can read."

"Right," he laughed quietly, looking around the room anxiously; he felt like every eye in the room was on him and that they could all see exactly how he was feeling and how much he was screwing this up. Okay, maybe I'm not back just yet. "Two can play that game...(Y/N)," he read from your cup. "I can read too, thank you very much."

The two of you stood silently for a few minutes, each of you taking turns at awkward glances and sips from your cups when the other looked away. When he was looking at you, there was an intensity to it that you couldn't ignore and couldn't step away from; something about him had you in his grip, and you had no quarrel with being held there so tightly.

"So, are you going to ask me to sit, or is this how we're doing it?"

"Doing what?"

"Our first date, Sam Wilson."

"Hey...that's not on here," he muttered, spinning the cup in his hands at the mention of his full name. "How'd you know that?"

"Do you think I live under a rock?" you scoffed. Taking a few quick steps to the window, you stood in the shadow of the tower as it robbed the café of sunlight, the beginnings of evening creating a warm glow in the city around you. "There's that little detail of your Avenging. It tends to get noticed. I also know that you've done nothing but stare at me the last two times you've been here and I like to know my stalkers."

The ethereal haze around you from the muted sun had him entranced; so much so that your words didn't immediately register in his mind, nor did they cue him that it was his turn for a response. When he finally spoke at your insistence, his voice had taken on a serious, deeper tone, and the world shifted around you.

"Sam?"

"Hmm?"

"Staring."

"Yes, I am," he nodded, unapologetic now and filled with a renewed confidence. "I could stare at you forever, and it could never be long enough for me."

~~~

Together can never be close enough for me

To feel like I am close enough to you

You wear white and I'll wear out the words "I love you"

And you're beautiful

Now that the wait is over

And love has finally shown her my way

Marry me

Today and every day

Marry me

If I ever get the nerve to say "Hello" in this cafe

Say you will

"You were supposed to wait for me!"

"You took too long!"

Sam jogged into the living room with a stack of movies in his hands, ready to spill out of them and onto the floor as he ran. He dropped them heavily onto one of the tables to take a stand over you, his hands firmly pressed to his hips and his expression full of disappointment. "That's not your pizza."

"We share everything?"

"Not my pizza."

"Oh, okay," you huffed, tossing the slice back into the box, "I'll remember that the next time I come home to you eating the last of my Doritos at 2am. Or finishing the ice cream that I'd been waiting all day to have. Or taking the last Oreo..."

"Yeah, shut it. Scoot over," he grumbled, nudging you with his knee before dropping down next to you. "Finish your slice. I don't want it now, it's all half-eaten."

"And with a final slice, romance is dead."

"I'm sorry...what?"

"The pizza that ended it all, Wilson, that's what this is," you sighed, looking from him and to the unfinished food in your hand, almost lovingly bringing it back to your mouth for another bite. "It was a tough decision, believe me, but a girl's gotta eat."

"That's cold."

"Warmer than watching all of these movies alone." You folded the last bit of your pizza in half and shoved it into your mouth, leaving the couch to crawl to the television, taking no care that you were now talking with your mouth far too full. "You know, Tony has these downloaded. VHS is so 80's."

"I like my old movies looking old," he shrugged. "How about that one?" he pointed eagerly at a tape at the top of the stack, finishing his slice and reaching for another. "We haven't watched that together yet."

"Breakfast at Tiffany's? Damn, Wilson, after all this time, you're still full of surprises."

Your head snapped up to look at him when he began to cough and choke a little on his food, grabbing his beer to wash it down with an embarrassed grin as he recovered, "baby, you have no idea." He waved you towards the television again dismissively, as if he were rushing you to put the movie in despite his near-death experience. "Movie, woman."

"Calm your tits, boy, I'm getting to it." The age of the cases that held his old movies proved to be a little challenging when you tried to get them open, but with a few extra pulls against the warped plastic, you managed to finally pop it apart, only to gasp in shock at what was inside. The little Tiffany blue box barely fit, but when the case opened, it did too, revealing a ring that stunned you into silence. Words instantly meant nothing, and even if they did, they were far from your mind and nowhere in sight to grasp at; you were mute and in shock, staring at him now with your pizza still barely finished in your mouth.

"Marry me."

~~~

Promise me

You'll always be

Happy by my side

I promise to

Sing to you

When all the music dies

"Sam, come on," Steve urged gently, a firm hand placed on his friend's shoulder, "let's get you home."

"No. That's not home anymore, Cap. She was my home. I can't go back there alone."

All Steve could do was nod silently in agreement, feeling some understanding of Sam's loss, but knowing that he couldn't fully appreciate it from his own experiences. Losing Peggy not only once, but twice in one lifetime hurt like hell, and it left a hole in his heart; but this...it left Sam eviscerated and hollow, and a shell of the man he knew. It left Steve feeling more helpless than he had ever known, and he had no idea what to do.

"You can come back to the tower if you want to. You shouldn't be on your own right now, Sam."

"I'll always be on my own now," he whispered in reply, shaking Steve's hand away to kneel down at the marble stone that bore your name and a date that marked not only the loss of you, but the loss of the man that Sam had used to be and would never be again. "I don't know what to do, Steve." He ran his fingers gently over each letter one by one, finally gripping the stone to hold him up, leaning into it as his emotions ripped him apart. "Tell me what to do...please."

"I can't."

The sound of rustling leaves and dry crunches beneath heavy shoes as they walked over them drew Steve's attention, glancing up and over Sam's hunched form to see another man approaching, fully clad in formal black and wearing a face as full of sorrow as their own.

"Come on, pal," Bucky urged, kneeling at Sam's side, "I've got you." He reached a hand under his friend's arm to lift him up to stand, but when his knees gave way just slightly under the pain and raw emotion of such a tremendous loss, he pulled Sam closer to take on nearly all of his weight as they walked to the car. "You're never gonna be on your own, you hear me? I'm never gonna let that happen."

And marry me

Today and everyday

Marry me

If I ever get the nerve to say "Hello" in this cafe

Say you will