The warm summer sun, shone down through the minimal clouds that were sprinkled across the vast powder blue sky, and the bright rays ran through the leaves of the large oak tree. Falling from their surfaces with a lighter hue that made the long green grass far below the canopy, sparkle with the shimmer of sunshine. The air was warm as it drafted through the screens of the open windows, that surrounded the small farmhouse. But it wasn't a humid, sufferable summer heat that filled the atmosphere. It was shadowed by the feeling that autumn was not far off, the cool undertones in the soft breeze that blew through the branches and the crisp feeling that cut through the dense summer sensations. 

And as Steve Rogers sat on the small wooden bench, laid nestled in the long grass just beneath the large hovering oak tree, he relished in the soft breeze that blew through the leather jacket he left open. The blend of seasons falling over him, as he gazed out across the valley of wide open green land, that spilled out for miles in front of him. Seeming to roll on forever and ever until it finally disappeared into the skyline that faded into the very beginning hues of a sunset in the distance. 

The world seemed far away out here, as though this place was created in the single crevice the rest of the world couldn't reach. For it was quiet, gone was the hustle and bustle and stress that plagued the rest of the Earth. And Steve breathed in the peace that settled over the land just as gracefully as the setting sun did. But even as the air was nearly silent, excluding the faint whistle of the breeze and the soft chirps of the few birds hidden within the branches above him, Steve could still hear her as she drew near. The almost inaudible shuffle of her feet through the long summer grass, and he could sense her presence before her shadow even brushed against his back. For there was a sensation that shot through his chest whenever she was in proximity, and it made him feel a warmth that spread inside of him like a rapidly burning wildfire. He could smell the rich lavender vanilla lotion that she could hardly live without, waft through the breeze in his direction and he could hear the soft hum of her steady breaths as she reached closer to him.

"It's just beginning to set." Steve's voice was the first to break the delicate void of quiet that covered the land, and he could feel her smiling over him, as she walked around the back of the bench to take the empty seat beside him.

"You know I never miss a sunset," Her voice spoke softly as she slowly bent her legs and lowered her body down onto the light wooden bench. Her movements slow and cautious, and lulled with age but as she finally sat beside Steve, the brief brush of her elbow against his bicep sent the same strong sparks over his flesh. As though she had just shocked him with a zap of pure electricity. After all the time that had passed them both by-- one affected by it and the other left untouched-- he was still so sensitized to her touch. Any small graze was enough to send his nerve ending soaring. "especially when it's with you Steve."

Steve smiled softly at her words, and turned his head to the right to get his first glimpse of her. And with the warm hue of the falling sun casting against her porcelain skin, she glowed. It was an elegant glow, one that matched the composed and properness in which she sat with against the wooden bench, but there was also a heavenly glow to her. One that nearly stole the breath that he was breathing. She looked like an angel as she sat beside him in the fading summer sunshine, beneath the large overcasting oak tree. With her pale silver curls sparkling in the streaks of light, and her timeless smile seeming to light even the darkest parts that the world had to offer. The loose fabric of her pale cream--hand knitted--cardigan blew in the soft breeze and her bold eyes held Steve captive in their strong grasp. 

"I'd spend the rest of my life watching sunsets with you." Steve admitted to her in a soft tone, as he gazed with affection towards the elderly woman, who didn't look a day older than the day he met her, in his eyes. 

Her pale lips curved upwards as she lifted a brow slowly, "I think we're a little unevenly matched there then, aren't we?" 

Steve knew that her words were spoken with the light-heartedness that was always found within her, but they still fell upon his shoulders with a weight that surprised him. It wasn't that he was naïve to the reality of their relationship. He was well aware that he would out live her a few times over, but it didn't mean that he enjoyed the reminder. It didn't mean that the thought of living in a world where she no longer did, didn't threaten to tear him apart at the seams. 

His head had since turned away, and his eyes fell down to his shoes that laid flat against the green ground. But he could still feel her kind eyes looking to him, and it felt as though they could see straight through him. As though he was nothing more than a translucent piece of glass, and she could see right into the deepest parts of himself. But as the scrutiny of her warm gaze began to tighten his chest, a soft touch rested against his thigh and gave his lungs the ability to expand for a breath. 

Steve's blue eyes shifted their gaze from the ground beneath him to the hand that rested tenderly against his dark denim clad thigh. And the softest of smiles expanded across his lips as he gazed down at the thin and frail but never more beautiful hand that sat there. Her nails that were painted the faintest of pearl tones, shimmered as the light hit them as though they were gems sitting against the fabric of his jeans. And he could feel the warmth of her touch soak straight into his leg, and spread into the very crevices of his chest that had once ached from the truth. Soothing the pain with the simple touch of her loving hand. 

"Steve," His head perked up slowly at the sound of his name falling from her lips. Soft and sweet like honey, and beautiful in an angelic whisper that floated over him like the calmest of breezes. "I have no regrets when it comes to you. None."

Steve's rich blue eyes that nearly overflowed with the emotions that he held inside of himself, looked deeply into her own as she spoke. Not only to search for the honesty within them that he would undoubtfully always find, but to center himself. For the moment his eyes met hers, he was always at ease. She always said she didn't have any superpowers like he did, but when ever Steve Rogers gazed into her eyes, he knew that that wasn't even close to true. For in reality, she was stronger than him in ways he could never be.

"I spent so many years of my life, feeling as though the universe had stolen something from me, that wasn't their right to take away." Her eyes glistened with the tears that made her beautiful orbs look like moonlight shimmering against the surface of the ocean. 

"But then, when I least expected it, the universe gave me back what I thought I had lost."

Her hands felt like home as they moved to clasp over his own, holding his much larger and more calloused hand like it was an anchor for her. But it felt as though she was holding him in place, keeping him from floating out to sea. 

"Life gave me you Steve," She smiled with tears blurring her vision and he could hear the faint sniffle in her delicate voice. "I believed it all those years ago, and I believe even more today."

"You've always been my greatest blessing. Life blessed me with the chance to know you Steve Rogers, and the universe gave me a gift I could only ever dream of asking for... the ability to spend the last few years of my life with the only man I've ever really loved."

Bringing his hand up to her lips, he felt them tremble softly from emotion and her unspoken age as they pressed tenderly to his flesh. "That's why I don't regret a single thing about our life, Steve," Her breath was warm against his hand as she whispered against his flesh, and her words had severed the cord keeping all of his emotions at bay. For everything rushed inside of his chest, and it felt as though he was drowning.

"Because life gave you back to me. And I don't care if it's for a day or a year or for ten more minutes here on this Earth... because I didn't believe I'd even get another second with you."

Steve rested his empty left hand over hers that still held tightly to his right, and was the one to bend down to press his own lips against her hands. Kissing away the shake in her voice and the painful strength of his love for her that sat like bricks in his core. 

"I have no regrets Steve," She whispered, and even as his eyes sat shut with his lips still resting tenderly against the back of her hand, he could feel the warmth of her gaze upon him. "Do you?"

☆  ☆  ☆  ☆

Streaks of deep magenta pink painted the once baby blue sky, as though God himself swiped a paintbrush amongst the clouds, leaving behind soft hues of lavender and rich essences of a coral shade that made the sky come alive. And as you stood by the open window that allowed the crisp breeze to float through the screen, you gazed out at the land that glowed from the light of the falling sun. Behind the ridge that was nearly out of your sight line, the bright burning sun made the green grass and the large oak tree become saturated in a light that made them look more prominent. They looked as though they were simply shadows as the light set far in front of them. But there was a shadow within the display that you contently watched with tired eyes, that awakened you. A single figure in the rich warmth of the setting light, that made you stand a little bit taller and you could feel a tug inside of your chest. 

Wrapping your cardigan closer to your paler skin, as your thin fingers pulled it close. The bones in your hands standing out better as age had plagued over your flesh. With the soft fabric tightened around your nimble and frail body, you walked the few close steps to the front door and pushed it open. The soft summer air that had filtered through the screened windows seconds prior, now filled your expanding lungs with a breath of clean, crisp fresh air that made your eyes close for a short moment. The cool touch of autumn drawing near, mixing with the distinct warmth that the summer air had as night slowly moved into the sky. 

Your bare feet continued through the long blades of shimmering green grass, brushing against your calves as your pale lilac dress passed just by your knees. The sounds of the evening filled your senses as you walked through the large bed of land stretched out in front of you. The soft chirps of crickets beginning their nighttime songs in the tall grass, and the loud hums of cicadas calling out in the trees that seemed to echo around you. And there was something so soft and delicate about the breeze that made the most tender of whispers as it brushed through your now silver curls. But as your feet brought you closer to the shadow that pulled at your heart, causing your body to move more than your feet or even your brain ever could, the sound of your racing heart soon become a thundering sensation in your ears. Overwhelming all of the other sounds of nature, as the shadow lessened and the person began to take form before you.   

It wasn't that you knew exactly what the back of his neck looked like or that you had memorized the way he sat with composure and barely a slouch. It wasn't that his features stood out so distinctly that even in these shadows you knew who it was, for they had changed. And yet, you felt the air in your lungs hitch as the shadows around you disappeared, and you began to see him clearly for the first time. It was a feeling, that led you to the recognition of the man who sat still on the wooden bench beneath the large oak tree. It was a sensation that overwhelmed your chest; pulling your heart and squeezing at your lungs. A feeling that felt as though it went as deep as a feeling you knew in your soul. You didn't have to see his face or his eyes or even hear his voice to know exactly who it was... you knew by the way your heart felt when you were near him. 

"Steve?"  

The tremble of tears in your aged voice rang out in the air that felt stiflingly silent now, and he perked at the sound of his name. Turning his body slightly to the right, as his head moved to look in the direction of your voice. And the moment your eyes met those unforgettable blues that made your knees weak even decades later, you felt as though you had lost all of the air from your lungs. For it was Steve Rogers... but it was an appearance that you never thought could be possible to witness from him. 

His blue eyes shimmered in the evening light, and his soft smile reflected back in his orbs far before it shadowed across his chapped lips. They weren't any different than the pair of stunning eyes that you had gazed into just days ago when you both sat out on this bench together. But lines gathered around them, in the corners, pinching his skin together. And they collected beneath them, scrunching up his once tan and now paler skin. In fact, every inch of his face was creased with age. As though the lines that stretched across his flesh, and sagged slightly near his neck, had made up for all of the lost time. His hair that was once a warm honey blonde, now sparkled like perfectly fallen snow. A white that contrasted from the silver that you wore now. 

It was still Steve... your Steve. Even as you looked at the aged man sitting beside you, as your feet finally guided you to him, you still saw the same man you saw the other day. The youth still shone back in his eyes even as they begged for rest, and the smile that played at his lips still filled your chest with bursting butterflies. He was still himself, for everything you felt for him was alive and burning within you, as tears fell from your eyes at the sight of him. 

It was still your Steve Rogers... but he looked like you now. 

"You asked me if I had any regrets..." 

His voice was slow, mellowed with the age that overtook his body, but it was still as beautiful as it always was. And his eyes gazed straight into your own, unwavering as he smiled at you softly before continuing his thought. 

"I didn't have any regrets, but..." And as his words suddenly stopped, you looked down towards your lap as you felt his own now boney and nimble fingers wrap around your hands. Warming you with his skin that no longer felt perfect against your imperfect set. Smiling at the feeling of his embrace, you looked back up at him as his lips parted to begin speaking again. His blue eyes keeping you locked still in the moment. "I did have a little bit of selfishness buried inside of me." 

And it felt as though you were back in the moment you first fell in love with him, for butterflies soared through your body and fireworks exploded in your head as you leaned forward. And not even the age that had overcome the two of you, could change the depth of this moment. Of this feeling. Even though his lips were not as perfect as they were when you had your very first kiss and your own weren't stained a beautiful dusty rose, the kiss was still the same. The love that you kissed him with, and could feel him kissing you back with, was exactly the same. If not stronger. 

There was something in this kiss that was unbelievably magical, and as tears slid down your cheeks, you realized it was the feeling of forever that blossomed in your heart. A feeling you had never gotten the chance to feel with him before. But now, as your head rested gently against his shoulder with his arm wrapped around your frame, as you both gazed forward towards the glowing hue of the sunset that was coming to an end in the distance, you could feel in your heart, that you were finally getting the chance to know what it was like to grow old with the person you loved. 

A/N: Ahhh, my heart is so in love right now!!❤😍This one was an idea I had been so excited to write since the moment it came to me, and to finally read it written and completed, I can say that it turned out so much better than I could've imagined it to be! I am so proud of this one, and the writing I've accomplished for it. I hope that you all enjoyed it!!❤