Moonlight floated delicately in through that of the thin lacey drapes, that tried their best to cover the tall windows, and the light bathed the warm wooden floors in a pale white hue. The small but comforting bedroom, was instantly brightened by the natural nightlight the deep indigo sky provided. And as Steve Rogers's soft footsteps carefully carried him further into the dimly lit room, he watched as the pale spotlight fell across the wide bed against the far wall. Shadows still danced across the dark walls and night still lingered in every corner, but the moonlight was just enough for Steve to make out the outline of a body that laid motionless beneath a mess of crumpled sheets. The pale blue sheets clung to her skin as though another set of clothes she wore, and they were thin enough that he could faintly make out the pads of her toes, that lay close to the bottom of the mattress. 

As Steve continued to step further into the warm and familiar room, he prayed silently that he wouldn't find a floorboard beneath his careful footing, that would decide to release a creak into the deeply silent atmosphere around him. Because he feared any sound would break through this moment, and shatter the peace that had managed to fill the bedroom. He even struggled to breathe, for he feared that the soft sound would be enough to drag the beautiful body filling the bed from her slumber.

But the fear didn't stop him from growing closer to the figure draped in soft cotton sheets, dreaming away in the middle of the lonely night. He continued forward cautiously but with such longing, that drove his every movement, to be closer to her. And he didn't pause until he reached the very edge of the window. It was then that Steve's bare feet came to a stop, as he gently leaned back against the smooth window pane, and stared mesmerized by the moonlit beauty that lay in the bed facing him. He was inches from the bed, and yet he could see her as clear as though he laid right beside her. For the image of her was forever burned into his memory, and being this close to her after so much time away, only enhanced the features he had missed waking up to everyday. 

The darkness of the bedroom shadowed her naturally rosy cheeks and softened the glow of her pale skin, but it wasn't enough to drain any of the beauty from her face. No amount of darkness could wash her out, she would always shine bright like a star in the darkest night sky. Steve's north star... he would think from time to time, guiding him home again and again. 

It took everything in his body not to take those last final steps, and climb softly into the bed beside her. For it had been so long since he'd last wrapped his strong arms around her petite frame, and cradled her close against him. But something kept him planted where he stood by the window. Something in him that was entranced by this rare moment to truly take a look at her, without fear of getting caught for his wandering eyes. A moment where he could watch her simply be, and something about it stalled Steve's urge to rest beside her in the bed they shared. 

Her light sea blue eyes were shut, but even as the color was restricted from his view, Steve was still able to see her soft eyelashes flutter against her cheekbones. The darkness almost swallowed up the sight, but the generous moonlight highlighted the featherlike lashes, and he watched as they fluttered like butterfly wings against her supple skin. She was dreaming, and the sight made Steve smile softly to himself.

But even as the sight of her warmed his heart, the smile that had found it's way to his lips didn't last long. For the dream he watched her eyes dance to and her body slumber through, quickly shifted. And the thin lips that he had pictured in his memory trembled softly, before opening a fraction, and allowed a heartbreaking cry to fall from them.

Steve felt his heart sink at the sound of her voice crying out his name, and his eyebrows raised as the breath he was breathing suddenly dissipated from his lungs. She wasn't awake, and yet she cried for him. He could hear the pain and the longing in the single syllable of his name, and it stunned him. For he had no idea this was what plagued her at night. He knew she had nightmares every once and a while, because he was there with open arms ready to comfort her back into a gentler slumber. But hearing his name fall from her lips with such heart-retching suffering, it made him question how often she cried for him at night. Did she cry herself to sleep at his absence? Were her dreams so vivid that they made her fear even closing her eyes the next night? Was she calling out his name because she couldn't save him in her dreams... or was it because she needed him to in some way save her from the hell her mind was trapped in?

Steve watched with burning eyes as her hands gripped tightly to the edges of the pillow she rested her head upon, and it wasn't until she twisted her face further into the soft pillow case, that he realized she was awake. For a sound filled the room that was more unsettling than the silence itself. 

And it didn't take long for his feet to guide him across the floorboards swiftly, as though he flew over the small space without his feet ever touching the floor, and soon he sat gently on the mattress beside her shaking body. His left leg dangled over the edge, as his right bent beneath him. And he could feel the bed dip slightly at the addition of his weight, but it didn't seem to be enough to deter her from her tears. 

Steve was unsure if the best thing was to speak, or to simply sit there until she woke herself up further, and realized his sudden presence. He didn't want to frighten her further, but he also couldn't watch her suffer any longer. It pained him, to sit so closely and listen to the tears choke her like a hand tightening around her throat. But it pained him further to know that he was the reason behind the heartbreaking cry.

Just as his hand began to move slowly to rest against her trembling body, he watched as the hand that held the edge of her pillow in a fist loosened, and slowly slide to the right of her. To the side he always slept on, and the side he sat upon the edge of in that very moment. His eyes followed as her fingertips grazed over the soft cotton sheets, until her hand lifted just an inch and connected with the warm fabric of his light cotton shirt. 

Although the very touch of her fingertips sent sparks firing beneath his flesh, Steve couldn't miss the way her cries started up again as she gripped his shirt tighter. Her eyes hadn't opened and she hadn't moved her head even a fraction, but the way her hands bunched into the grey shirt he wore, and held onto it as though a lifeline about to save her, Steve knew that she knew he was right there beside her. That he was home, and she would be alright. 

His warm hand gently rested against her fist that clutched his shirt so tightly it was bound to rip from the pressure, and slid slowly back down against the mattress. Feeling the pillow curl softly around his neck, he stared up at the bare ceiling above. 

"Please," Steve whispered softly into the void of the bedroom. "don't cry for me."

Minutes passed by in a slow yet surreal fashion, before Steve began to feel her fist loosen beneath his hold on her fragile grip. Her skin, although tightly wound and nearly pinching his chest beneath the fabric of his shirt, was as smooth as he remembered it to be. And peering down, he watched as it spread out slowly against his chest. Until it lay flat above his racing heart, and he wondered if she could feel the way his heart beat with worry for her. Steve laid there, completely still however, rubbing circles over the back of her incredibly soft hand. He let her hand press against his heart as though he was some calming center for her, bringing her back down from wherever she was. 

"I can't lose you."

Her voice was more fragile than he ever knew it could be, as her words rang out softly in his ear.

And it frightened him.

Steve Rogers knew power; he knew it better than most. For he knew what it was like to have the strength that men only dreamed of having, flowing through him every single day. He had even seen many try and fail, again and again, to harness unthinkable power in the most dangerous of forms. And yet here he lay, with a strength inside of himself he didn't know he ever had. It wasn't his super strength or his ability to heal faster than the average man. It was a strength much stronger. And a power, that as soon as he realized he possessed it... terrified him to his very core. 

"If you didn't come back to me," The warmth of her uneven breath against his neck, sent a shiver down his spine. It was as soft as a feather, and yet it seemed boisterous in the thick silence of the small bedroom. "I wouldn't survive it."

Steve Rogers had the strength to destroy the only thing in the world, that in turn, could destroy him. 

"Hey," His tone was gentle, and cautious as his knuckles slowly found the soft skin of her chin. And tilting upward carefully, it was the first time that night, that Steve found himself staring into her breathtaking blue eyes. They were swollen and ached with the tears that dried trails around them, and down her pale face. But they were beautiful to Steve, even as they swam with tears and burned with the need for sleep. 

"I'll always come back to you," Steve knew as soon as the words left his mouth, that it wasn't a promise he could make. But as he continued to stare into the only eyes that could leave him flying blind, he realized he didn't care. Because even though he couldn't promise that he would make it back every time he went on a mission or into a scene of grave danger, he would try. He would fight for her, he would fight to make it back home to her. Every single time... and he wouldn't give up. And if that wasn't the best kind of promise he could make to her, he wasn't sure what was. 

"I'm not going to leave you," Steve whispered and as soon as the soft sound of his words hit her ears, she shut her tear-stricken eyes and leaned forward. And Steve soon felt the warmth of her forehead against his lips, and the scent of her shampoo making its way into his nose, made him smile softly against her skin. "I love you."

It felt too long since he'd said those three words, and he could feel the tension in her body completely melt away as soon as he said them. As though her entire being had been waiting to hear those words, as though every bit of her had been in need of those three words. And saying them, provided the balm to her wounds and the relief to her aching heart. 

She leaned away from the warm press of his lips against her forehead, and looked into his eyes. As though she was searching for something, and Steve could only hope she could find it. For there wasn't anything in the world he wouldn't give her. 

Running her fingertips gently against the side of his face, tracing his jawline until her hand curled around the nape of his neck, she leaned towards him. "I love you." And with those three words, her lips touched his. And he could feel it instantly, all of the tension in Steve's body melted away. 

His arms wrapped around her body, pressing her closer to him as though the miniscule distance, that still managed to sneak it's way between them, was keeping them miles from each other. He had forgotten the way her body seemed to fit perfectly against his own, like he'd found his missing puzzle piece. The one single piece that completed the picture. He forgot how her warmth seemed to spread through him like a wild fire, setting everything inside him on fire in a burning blaze. And yet, her kiss somehow seemed to calm the sting of the burn.

But the one thing Steve felt as he held her closer, he couldn't remember if he had ever felt before. Or if he did, he must've shoved it to the back of his mind, for the fear began to rise up inside of his chest again. The power he had, scaring him as he kissed her back with as much passion as she did, was evident in the sensation that swept over him. Sitting like a stone in the bottom of his stomach, and yet erupting butterflies in the depths of his chest. 

For as Steve held her, he felt as she came apart in his hands. Her heart, completely unraveling in his fingers. And he knew it was because she trusted him to keep it safe. She had faith in him that he could put it back together, and to protect it with his life. She believed that he was deserving of every single part of her beautiful heart, and in that, handing him the power to destroy it. 

A strength Steve Rogers not only didn't know he could possess, but one that frightened him to have. 

There had been so many times in the past, that Steve had told himself to leave her be. Let her live a life without the dangers, and baggage and complex natures that followed him. For so long, he willed himself not to engage, not to tempt fate or his self control, or risk putting her life in jeopardy by introducing it to his. Because Steve knew she deserved more than what he could ever provide for her. He knew he wasn't the kind of man she needed in her life...

Steve Rogers should've walked away long ago... he knew that. He knew that he should have never fallen in love with her, but he wasn't strong enough to fight the pull she had on his heart.

Steve was in too deep now. He had the power to break her, and she certainly had the power to break him. She always had. 

He should've walked away when he had the chance, before it would've killed them both. But it was impossible now, they were bound by their shared strength. And although some days Steve felt guilt that this was the life she had to live with him, he knew that there was no way there weren't going to go down together. 

It was a dangerous kind of love... but it was theirs. 

A/N: Wow, another long one! I had an idea for a one shot, and I knew I wanted to use that GIF above because 😍, but as I began to write, it suddenly started to twist down another path. So, I let go of what I had thought this one shot would be, and allowed the writing to go where it was destined to go. And I can say, as I reread it completed, that I am very happy with where it ended up! It's different than what I had originally imagined and different than some of the one shots I've written in the past, but I can say I am very proud of it. I hope you all liked it and felt the emotion on some kind of level!❤