She did have a point about Bucky, Steve couldn't deny that. Believing the worst of yourself seemed to be a common theme among Steve's friends lately, and Steve still hadn't figured out the best way to combat that, wasn't sure if it was even possible.
"I hate that, too," Steve said with a sigh of his own. "I'm workin' on it though." And wasn't that going to be an uphill battle. But it was better now that they were talking again. Everything was better since they were talking again, and Steve had always been enough of an idealist to believe that if you wanted something badly enough, you could make it happen. And convincing Bucky of the best of himself - Steve wanted that pretty damn badly.
Peggy didn't quite manage to sell her smile, but it was a valiant effort, enough to prompt a small smile from Steve in return, though it quickly melted into an expression that was shades of stern, like he sensed she wasn't going to believe the next thing out of his mouth, but was determined to convince her anyway.
"Me getting punched was not your fault," he said. "You can ask Bucky - I attract punches, practically collected 'em when I was a kid." The way she was eyeing his black eye had Steve ducking his head a little, putting it out of her line of sight. "It's not so bad," he promised. "That asshole got in a lucky hit was all - he didn't have a clue how to really throw a punch." If he had, Steve would've ended up with a broken nose, too.