Summary: For his 18th birthday, the kingdom hosts a ball wherein every nearby princess is invited to meet King Steve and try to win his heart. The only problem with this is that Steve's heart had already been won over by his childhood friend: Natasha.

"You smell like horse shit," Natasha said, falling into step beside Steve as he walked into the palace.

He rolled his eyes and threw an arm around her shoulder. She yelped and shoved him off, brushing a hand over her hair in an attempt to get his stench off of her.

"Maybe that's because someone pushed me into a pile of it during training," Steve replied.

Natasha snorted, covering her face as they passed a palace maid. Steve grinned at her.

"You do realise you have hearts to win in four hours, right?" Natasha teased, poking his side.

Yes, unfortunately, Steve did know that. He'd tried telling his advisors he didn't need a ball thrown to find a wife, but they'd have none of it. They had already had to do so many things that were out of line with tradition after his mother had died, he supposed this was mostly a way for them to feel comforted. When he'd been forced to take the throne as sixteen instead of eighteen, they'd had a horrible awakening at that. From there, it had just been touch and go between what tradition stayed and what had to be disregarded as their ruling king was underage.

"What if we didn't go?" Steve suggested, glancing at Natasha. She was usually down for such scandalous adventures which was why she was his favourite person. "We could have dinner on the roof and stargaze like we used to do when we were little."

"Yes, except I have a brand new dress that I'm looking forward to wearing," Natasha replied, giving him a pointed look. They both knew skipping this ball would be a bad decision, but she wasn't entirely surprised he was asking. "Plus, I'm looking forward to seeing you all flustered around a bunch of beautiful women."

"You'll come bail me out though, right?" Steve asked. He'd pretty much been relying on that his whole life, so he wasn't about to stop now.

Natasha grinned, promising she'd come to his rescue, before slipping off down a hall to her own room where she'd be victim to poking and prodding until the ball started.

Steve, of course, knew that tonight was important. He was very aware he needed to find a wife and seeing as he was eighteen years old today and running a country, he would be expected to choose within the month. The only problem with the plan to meet his future wife at this ball was that he already had a woman in mind and had every intention of marrying her, not a stranger he would meet in the next few hours. Winning her over wasn't his problem; he knew very well she wanted the same thing as him, she just refused to admit it out loud in case someone overheard. No, his biggest hurdle would be convincing his advisors a Duchess was good enough to be their Queen.

He'd had several plans over the past few months in hopes of finding a foolproof way to present his case to his advisors. Unfortunately, all of them had been shot down by Natasha as she found one fault in them or another. Most of the time, she would just yell something along the lines of "Tradition!" and Steve would have no good response. He was dead set on marrying her, though, so he'd figure out a way to convince the scrooges in his life to agree.

One of the said advisors spent the entire afternoon in his room, telling him about each visiting princess. Steve listened to him talk about each one's hobbies, what they looked like, how to greet them depending on where they were from, and everything else imaginable. By the time Steve was all ready, guests were just beginning to arrive and his advisor was finishing up his introduction to the princesses.

"Thank you for the information," Steve said, walking with him to the ballroom, "Should I choose my bride tonight, will I be announcing it publicly?"

"Yes, of course," the advisor said quickly. The sooner they announced it, the better.

According to his advisor, as long as Steve chose wisely and didn't try to run off with a servant girl (the advisor's exact words), his announcement would be considered official and plans for the wedding would begin as soon as acceptance of the proposal was received from the girl's family.

"Perfect, thank you," Steve replied before hastily leaving the advisor and disappearing into the crowd.

Already, there was a multitude of visiting princesses standing beside their own advisors and talking quietly to each other. As soon as they spotted Steve, some of them broke off from the group to introduce themselves. As they all converged on him, Steve was suddenly very grateful he'd been told about each princess. Some were from regions where to bow to them was enough of a greeting whereas others expected a kiss on each cheek. He seemed to move on instinct alone as each girl approached him and thanked him for the invitation.

"Of course," Steve said to each one, not sure what else to say. He hadn't had any say in who was invited, but he was glad they felt welcomed.

He spent a few minutes talking to the girls and getting to know them beyond what his advisor had told him. He was in the middle of asking a question when the orchestra began to play a dance and he was whisked onto the dance floor. He barely caught the princesses' jealous looks as he racked his brain to try and figure out which princess had dragged him onto the dance floor. Blonde hair was common on most of them and adding brown eyes to the mix only slightly narrowed down his options.

"I'm Sharon," she said, leading him through the music. It felt strange to dance with her. He didn't even know her, yet here he was, letting her lead him across the dance floor. "I can see you trying to figure it out."

"Ah, sorry," Steve said.

She shrugged and let him take the lead from then on. Her dress was long, very formal and very nice on her. The color made her eyes pop and Steve mentally cursed Natasha as her voice floated through his head with the thought of how her lipstick matched it perfectly. He couldn't help but notice the red was brighter than the shade Natasha usually wore and barely stopped himself from looking around the ballroom for her.

"So, have you made up your mind for a bride yet?" Sharon asked, drawing Steve's attention back to her. She didn't sound accusing, simply interested. "It's a big decision."

"It is," Steve agreed. Sharon hummed, a small smirk on her face as she watched him for a moment. "Please don't be offended by my not recognising you," Steve suddenly said as his eyes passed over one of his advisors. "There are lots of girls here and I might be just a bit out of my comfort zone."

"Oh, I know," Sharon replied, taking the lead again when Steve faltered. She grinned as she told him, "You looked very tense. In fact, I believe your friend had to send me your way to keep from laughing out loud."

"Come again?" Steve said, taking over the lead once more. Sharon smirked.

"Duchess Natasha," she answered smoothly, nodding to her right.

Steve looked that direction to see Natasha talking to Alexei Shostakov, a young Duke in his court. He tensed and Sharon squeezed his arm, distracting him long enough to spin him away from them.

"She's really very nice. Unlike you, she recognised me immediately and welcomed me. I have a tendency to not fit in around the other princesses."

Steve found that easy to believe. Based on what little he knew about Sharon, she seemed rather similar to Natasha: very forward and blunt.

"Natasha is good at reading people," Steve told her, something Sharon seemed good at and probably knew already.

They spun again and Steve was once more looking at Natasha and Alexei talking. Sharon didn't seem to care she had to take the lead again as Steve tried hard not to glare at the Duke. He didn't know Alexei very well, but rumours traveled quickly in court and Alexei had never once denied them. Steve knew he'd been eyeing Natasha for a while and that Natasha's father, Ivan, was all for their marriage. Natasha, on the other hand, had made her dislike for Alexei very clear on many occasions.

"Go get her," Sharon said, letting go of Steve as the song ended. Steve blinked, surprised to hear the music had stopped. Sharon was smiling warmly at him as she said, "She deserves at least a waltz."

Before Steve could reply, Sharon slipped away and the orchestra started playing a waltz. Of course, he and Natasha had started something of a tradition themselves when they were seven. At every ball, Steve and Natasha would dance together for the first waltz of the night. It didn't matter if Steve was in the middle of dropping ice cubes down Bucky's shirt or if Natasha was being forced to converse with Ivan, they would find each other and dance together for the first waltz. Tonight would be no different.

"If you don't mind," Steve said, approaching Natasha and giving Alexei a pointed look. "I'll be stealing Nat away for a dance."

He didn't wait for permission before grabbing Natasha's hand and pulling her onto the dance floor. Now that he was up close to her, he could admire her without reservation. She was, as usual, wearing a deep red lipstick that somehow matched her soft pink gown. As they danced, Steve couldn't help but play with one of the lace flowers sewn onto her dress where his hand rested on her back.

"What do you think?" Natasha asked. Steve wasn't sure if she was talking about her dress or the princesses.

"You didn't tell me you were friends with Princess Sharon," Steve said, going with the safe option of neither.

Natasha grinned and glanced over to where Sharon was dancing with someone else.

"Where would the fun be in that?" she teased.

Steve rolled his eyes and pulled her closer when he caught sight of Alexei watching them. Instead of teasing him about it, Natasha relaxed further into his arms and let him guide her along the dancefloor. At some point, Steve realised the song had changed and as a result, they were no longer waltzing. Natasha didn't make a move to leave him though, so Steve stayed just how he was.

A second dance turned into a third, then a fourth, and after that, Steve stopped counting. He could see the visiting princesses watching him out of the corners of their eyes, but none made a move to interrupt them. His advisors didn't seem to notice until the third dance during which they made a point to watch Steve closely. He just stared back at them as he continued to chat happily with Natasha and spin her around the dance floor. After their fifth dance, the advisors left them alone.

"As lovely as this has been," Natasha said, finally pulling Steve off the dance floor, "Shouldn't you be mingling with your guests?"

By now, all the princesses had found others to dance with. Of course, one or two of them were still glaring at Natasha who was still ignoring them, but for the most part, they'd all forgotten him.

"Why would I do that? I already found my bride, no need to give the others false hope," Steve replied, handing Natasha a glass of champagne.

Natasha raised an eyebrow at him quizzically, saying something about how the only girl he'd really talked to with Sharon.

"As much as I love Sharon, I don't think she's all that interested in you," Natasha told him. Steve just watched in amusement as Natasha said something about Sharon that he didn't really listen to. Instead, he tried to figure out the best way to tell her who his choice was.

"It's you," he blurted. She'd been in the middle of a sentence (he's only kind of sure she was, anyway), but she stopped short. "I want you, Natasha. No one else by my side but you."

"Steve, the advisors would never allow it," she said softly, setting down her champagne. "We've talked about this before, remember? They won't let you past tradition—"

"I know, I know," he interrupted. He glanced around where so many people were trying not to act like they were listening. Before he said anything else, he pulled her outside onto the balcony and made sure they were alone. "I know what we've thought, but I was talking to Grant, and he said as long as I didn't try to run off with a servant girl, whoever I chose tonight would be the official choice. Nat, we can do this. You may not be a princess, but I'm the King. In the end, what I say goes."

"You really want to make this a power move?" Natasha asked.

She knew how badly Steve wanted this, she did. He'd first brought it up in the early months after being made King at sixteen. After a long, rough day, he'd told her everything would be better if she was ruling with him. Ever since then, she'd helped, but she had always known she could never be his Queen.

"For you, I will," Steve said. He gently grabbed her shoulders, feeling her warm skin under the thin fabric of her sleeves. "Natasha, I can't do this with anyone else. You've helped me rule the past two years, now it's time we made it official and you could be recognised for your work."

"I don't think it's—"

"I love you," Steve told her.

They both froze. Steve hadn't exactly meant to say that, but he had and now they had to work from there.

"I have for a while now," he murmured, "and I know you have this whole independent thing going for you, but you know I would never try to control you. Alexei, he'd be a horrible choice. At least if you marry me, we can continue as usual and you can still have your freedom."

He trailed off awkwardly, waiting for Natasha to call him out for assuming things he could never know for sure. Instead, she smiled and reached up to cup his face. Steve stayed silent, not wanting to mess things up. She could still get upset with him, he was just waiting for it. However, she pushed herself up on her tiptoes and pulled him down to her, locking their lips before he could fully process what was happening. Before she could pull away, Steve wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer as he kissed her deeper. If they got caught, they'd be screwed. For the moment, though, Steve didn't want to move away.

"Let's give it a shot," Natasha murmured as she pulled away. She wiped her lipstick off his lips with her thumb and smiled. "The least we can do is try, right?"

Steve grinned and hugged her tightly, almost squishing her in the tight embrace. She laughed but forced him to let her go so she could breathe. With a wild grin, Steve grabbed her hand in his and laced their fingers together. By the end of the night, she would officially be his bride and his advisors could suck it. Until then, he'd keep dancing with Natasha and ignoring everyone else (well, maybe not Sharon; he did officially invite her to the wedding before she left the next day even if she laughed and said Natasha had asked her first).