Veronica Mars (veronica_mars) wrote in madisonvalley, @ 2016-09-08 21:00:00 |
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Entry tags: | !closed, !completed gdoc, !log, ~2016 september, ~25 points, ~~steve rogers (neverdanced), ~~veronica mars (veronica_mars) |
Who: Steve Rogers and Veronica Mars
What: A Date?!
When: Thursday evening
Where: Bistro One
Warnings: I don't think so
Status: Closed/Complete
They hadn’t talked about anything yet. It had been a good idea to save it for a time they were in more control of themselves, weren’t spilling information neither of them wanted to giving up in the first place. But with the weirdness come to an end, it was the right time to talk, and to actually do something about the feelings they both had.
And Steve was determined to do it right. This wasn’t some casual date that had been set up for him, this, hopefully, wasn’t him making one relationship into something it wasn’t. He’d been there, too.
He’d picked her up, taken her to a nice place, made small talk through their meal, taking the little time it gave him to actually get to know her a little, to talk about something that wasn’t Molly. For about half of it, at least. It was a good time, talking to her, and unlike the last few good times, Steve was still thinking, in a back corner of his mind, about doing a lot more than just talking.
“We should talk about this,” he said when the conversation lulled a little, gesturing between them.
***
After the incredibly embarrassing run-in with Steve, Veronica honestly didn’t expect to ever talk to him again despite him admitting he was interested in her. She managed to convince herself that any interest he might have had was fully destroyed by her admission that she hooked up with one of his look alikes. Which meant she was completely unprepared when he did call and ask her to dinner and clarified that it was meant to be a date.
A whirlwind shopping trip and some panicked conversations with Piper and Faith had her as prepared as she was going to be. She managed to calm down once they arrived at the restaurant and got through some small talk about their respective jobs and, of course, Molly. She was actually starting to enjoy herself when Steve mentioned that they should talk about what was going on between them.
Veronica set down her glass of iced tea (she was definitely not drinking alcohol tonight) and nodded. She really didn’t know what to say given how much they both said during the last bout of town weirdness, but if this was going to be a thing, they would have to address all of that. “I suppose we should,” she agreed. “Hopefully with a little more restraint than our last conversation.”
***
“Maybe not too much restraint, though,” Steve said with a small quirk of a smile. Not saying enough had been a problem before their last conversation, as much as saying too much had been then. He wasn’t great at talking about this kind of thing, never had been, but if they were going to figure out what might be able to happen between them, it was necessary.
“I meant everything I said the other day about thinking about you.” And how he’d been doing it since the cruise. Since before the cruise, if he was really honest with himself about it. “And I do think you deserve a lot better than some one night thing.”
Which he wasn’t sure if he was the right guy to give her better, but if nothing else he could promise more than one night.
***
Veronica chuckled. “Okay, you have a point there,” she agreed. Too much restraint would leave them no better off than they were before their very open conversation. “And obviously I meant what I said too. I’ve been thinking about you a lot since the cruise.” Before the cruise, it hadn’t occurred to her to think about him that way because of Molly.
“Honestly, I’m not really a one night kind of girl,” she said. “The thing with Peter on the cruise wasn’t really supposed to be. I mean, we’d gone out a few times before that and I liked him.” She wasn’t about to confess that the only reason she had slept with the other man was because waking up with Steve every day had her libido going nuts. “But I found out that he wasn’t honest with me.”
And the less said about her night with Nick the better.
***
“I didn’t think that sounded like you.” But he’d just assumed that he didn’t really know anything about her. They’d been friendly, but not much more than strangers, before everything that had happened. Which wasn’t a bad place to start something at. They could make plenty of time to get to know each other. “But, you know, I was okay with being wrong, too. It doesn’t change the way I’m looking at you.”
He’d still want to spend time with her, get to know her, find out if there was something that could turn serious between them.
Steve was only looking for serious; casual dating had never really been his thing.
***
“And how exactly is that?” she asked, a faint blush coloring her cheeks as she asked. “Because I want to make sure we’re on the same page.”
If she was going to attempt anything with Steve, it was going to have to be a serious thing. Otherwise, she wouldn’t put Molly through that. They’d all lost people they cared about greatly thanks to the whims of the dome and she wasn’t going to tease the girl with something that didn’t mean anything. Not that she thought Steve would want that sort of thing, but still, it made sense to be certain.
***
“Like you’re someone I want to get to know better.” Obviously. “Someone I think I want to try a relationship with.”
Steve really, really hoped that was the page she was on, that he wasn’t just making an idiot of himself with her again. If that was the case, he’d happily go back to being friendly but not friends, talking about Molly and not a lot else the way they had for so long.
But he was sure now that it wasn’t just a physical attraction, he liked spending time with Veronica. He’d been comfortable around her, could be again if they ever got through the awkward talking parts, genuinely liked hearing about her life here and her life back in her own world.
“I know it might not be exactly easy,” he hurried on. “There’s Molly.” And so if they were going to try anything, they were going to have to be careful about it.
***
Veronica nodded. “I think we need to have a conversation with her before we make any decisions to try anything,” she said. “I mean, I’m definitely interested in seeing if there could be something here.” And she had a feeling there could be. “But only if Molly’s okay with it.”
Because her friendship or mentorship or whatever you wanted to call it with the girl was more important than the potential of a relationship with Steve. She didn’t want Molly to think that she was trying to take Skye’s place or that she had only spent time with her to get close to Steve. Not that it would really make sense for Molly to think that, since she and Molly bonded long before she or Steve was single, but teenagers weren’t always logical.
***
Steve was willing to bet Molly was okay with it, given how she’d been pushing him to date lately. But Veronica was right. They did need to talk to her. To make sure she knew no one was being replaced, to make sure she was actually okay with him moving on and moving on with Veronica in particular. Her being okay with it was important to him. To both of them, obviously.
He nodded. “Yeah. Of course we should talk with her.” He’d go right home and do it tonight, sure she was fully aware of where he was, who he was with, and was going to be waiting the minute he walked in the door. Probably with Bucky over her shoulder. “I think we can make a good argument, though.”
If they were both interested, if it was something they both wanted, and apparently it was, it would work out. He trusted that.
***
“Well, with any luck we won’t have to argue,” Veronica said, smiling a little. It was honestly a little overwhelming to be considering embarking on another relationship here. Losing Logan and Gunn was hard though she knew Steve understood that pain too. And just because there was a chance of pain again by putting themselves out there didn’t mean it wouldn’t be worth giving it a shot. After all, they could be here for years.
She hesitated for a moment and then reached across the table to cover Steve’s hand with her own. “I really do think there’s potential here for something really amazing.” They might not be especially close friends, but she thought they knew each other well enough to know that they were compatible on an emotional and mental level. And if that kiss on the cruise was anything to go by, there was definite physical chemistry too. “Which kind of scares me, if I’m totally honest.”
***
With a small smile of his own, Steve turned his hand beneath hers, closing his fingers around it. He might not be willing to go very far on the first date, but he wasn’t turning down a chance to hold her hand, might even push his luck and try to kiss her at the end of the night.
“I understand that.” He couldn’t say he wasn’t afraid too. It wasn’t worth not taking the chance if they could, but he’d been hurt by this place before. He’d always known there was a chance, though, of rekindling what he’d had one day at home. That Veronica was from somewhere else all together just added another layer of fear. “Might be that this is worth being scared.”
They’d both been in town so long now, and her at least without any trips home, that maybe they were in the clear.
Steve wasn’t dumb enough to believe that could be true, but he wasn’t beyond a little bit of hope.
***
Veronica would be disappointed if he didn’t go for a kiss at the end of the night. “So, if we end up giving this a try, should I expect more surprise visits from Bucky?” she asked. It was a little weird how the man seemed to know so much about her even though they hadn’t talked much since his arrival. She had to wonder how much he was getting from Steve and how much from Molly.
***
“What do you mean more?”
Steve was completely in the dark about those, but he really wasn’t surprised. Bucky cared about him, and with a pst as scrambled as his was, it was no shock that he fell into the old habits of sneaking around. He wasn’t particularly happy that his friend had apparently picked Veronica as a target, but wasn’t surprised by that either. Steve had mentioned being interested in her, being sure that she didn’t return the feelings. Of course Bucky would have wanted to confirm the assumption.
***
“Uh, he’s shown up at the office twice since the cruise,” she said, hoping that she wasn’t going to cause any trouble by telling Steve about the visits. “The first time, he brought me a mocha and a brownie. My favorites, which I am guessing Molly told him? Then he actually showed up right before you and I ran into each other.” And spilled their guts. “Trying to convince me to go on a date with you.”
Something she vehemently denied any interest in doing at the time.
***
“Did he.” Steve sounded more amused than angry at least. “I’ll talk to him about that. Maybe get him to at least call ahead if he’s going to drop by. But you probably should expect a few of those.”
He wasn’t going to try to stop Bucky from getting to know her too. Just as it was important to him that Molly accept the two of them together, it was important that Bucky did too. It was important that Bucky liked Veronica. Steve wasn’t going to say so, not anymore at least, but if his best friend was against it, it wasn’t happening.
***
Veronica was glad that Steve seemed amused rather than angry. She would have felt bad if she caused any issues. Though it did make her curious about the relationship between Steve and Bucky and why Molly insisted on calling the other man Steve’s old-timey boyfriend. “You two are really close, huh?”
That seemed like a generic enough question that might garner her some good information.
***
There was a very good reason Molly called Bucky Steve’s boyfriend.
Steve just didn’t see it. Because Steve could be an idiot sometimes.
“We are, yeah,” he nodded. “We’ve been together since we were kids.” With the exception of the last few years. Still it was more than half of Steve’s life. “Used to live together before the war; he took care of me.” Back when Steve had needed taking care of, even if he’d argued he didn’t.
***
“And he still is,” she said, understanding the reason behind the surprise visits now. “It’s actually kind of cute.”
Yes, Steve, she is mocking you.
***
“He’s a little overprotective now.” Mocking managed to go right by him. “But I guess the way he sees it, I haven’t changed at all.”
Which just made Bucky that much more important. He was someone who had known Steve before Steve was any good at taking care of himself, who still saw that kid when he looked at him.
“That goes both ways, though,” he shrugged.
***
Hearing how much they cared about each other made Veronica think about Lilly for the first time in a long time. “Did I ever tell you about my best friend?” she asked. “Her murder was the reason I ended up becoming a private investigator.”
***
“You didn’t.” But he didn’t miss the part where she said murder, and his hand tightened just a little around hers. He knew what it was like to lose a best friend. He’d watched Bucky die, and had known, still knew, that he was the reason it had happened. He’d put Bucky on the train, he’d been the one who hadn’t caught him before he fell.
He really hoped that Veronica didn’t have to carry the same guilt.
“And I thought you’d been doing the PI stuff since you were a kid?” Not much older than Molly was now, if he remembered correctly.
***
“I was sixteen when Lilly died,” Veronica said. “During my sophomore year, her junior year.” She gave him a brief smile and squeezed his hand when she felt it tighten around hers. “Lilly was… I don’t even know how to describe her. Actually, she was a lot like Faith. She spoke her mind and didn’t give a damn what anyone thought.” It was a trait that Veronica had absorbed over the years, but back then she was a lot more mild-mannered. “She was larger than life. I know that sounds trite, but it’s true.”
Even after all these years, she could hear Lilly’s voice in her head saying that she was ‘high on life’.
“She was a little wild though.” Or a lot wild. Veronica just hadn’t realized the extent of her wildness until long after she was gone. “And she got herself mixed up in something that was too much for her handle. It got her killed.”
***
“And being sixteen, you decided to find out what happened?”
Given his, admittedly very limited experience with inquisitive teenage girls, Steve guessed that was what had happened. Guessed that she probably hadn’t trusted the police to figure it out, thought she knew better. She probably had known better than they had.
***
Veronica shrugged. “Not at first. At the time, my dad was the Sheriff and he was investigating.” And she trusted him completely. “Problem was his investigation led to Lilly’s father who was a big wig in Neptune. That turned a lot of people against him and he was removed from office.” And it made her a pariah at the most vulnerable time in her life.
“He became a PI and I started helping out in his office,” she said. “And things started coming out that didn’t make sense and I ended up investigating. Caught the bastard who killed her too.” And nearly died in the process.
***
So she’d started helping out the way Molly now helped her. That was an interesting similarity. There were probably a lot more.
“I’m impressed. I wasn’t doing much more than getting into trouble when I was sixteen.” Steve had been sixteen a very long time ago, though. “I’d imagine it felt pretty good when you got him.” Better maybe than even the satisfaction of getting all of Hydra, or what he’d thought was all of Hydra, to avenge Bucky. That was a lot more personal.
***
“Once I got out of the hospital, yeah,” she said. Even the nightmares that plagued her for a long time after her ordeal were worth it to know that Aaron Echolls could never hurt anyone else. She remembered the sinking feeling she got when she heard that he wasn’t convicted and the pleasure she felt when she heard that he was dead. “I was pretty good at getting into trouble too.”
Much to her father’s chagrin. It was one of the reasons why she constantly told Molly that dads were overprotective. Of course, she gave her father far more reason to be than Molly gave Steve. At least so far.
***
“You know, somehow that doesn’t surprise me.” He remembered her getting into trouble even here in town, a long time ago now. Before he’d even known who she was, just someone his girl’s kid had known and been fond of, had helped. It was just a story he’d heard in passing, but he’d heard it.
“You probably got pretty good at getting out of it, too.” Steve, not so much. He’d always had Bucky come sweeping in to bail him out before he got beaten too badly.
***
There were probably a few too many near death experiences in Veronica’s past for her to say she was good at getting out of trouble, but she had learned to protect herself a little better. And also to request backup before going headlong into a dangerous situation. Most of the time, at least.
“My taser is usually pretty close at hand,” she said. It was still her preferred weapon even though she was a decent shot with a gun and learned some blade work from Gunn when he was in town.
***
The most of the time was probably a little too like Steve for anyone’s comfort.
“At least you’re smart about it. Better to be prepared.” But he was betting on the side of there not being too much reason to need it around here. Usually. He’d still rather that she was prepared, that he knew she could take care of herself and was safe.
It wouldn’t ever stop him from worrying too much, or standing between her and any trouble that came her way if he could. But knowing she was alright if he couldn’t be around was comforting. Knowing he could rely on her to look after his kid if needed, even more so.
***
“I try to be,” Veronica said. There were times when she wasn’t prepared enough, but in Madison Valley, you could never really be prepared for every eventuality.
She let go of his hand and leaned back in her chair. “So, Molly,” she said, circling back to their earlier conversation. “I’m guessing you want to to talk to her first?”
***
“I probably should, yeah. She’ll want to know what’s going on the second I walk in the door.” The obvious solution to that was asking if Veronica just wanted to come along and do the talk with him, but that would lead to even more questions, and he really wasn’t ready for anything that implied. Besides, it was his kid. He should take the first hit if she took it badly.
“I’ll let you know if I’m wrong about her being okay.” If she needed to be on the lookout for an angry girl storming her office. Or if he could take some of the heat.
***
Talking to her together would definitely seem way more serious than things were right now so Veronica was glad he didn’t ask her to do that. “I’m happy to talk to her about anything,” she said. “Make sure she knows that.”
If Molly wanted to question her about her intentions or anything else, that was totally fair and she wouldn’t mind.
***
“You might regret it,” Steve warned, mostly playful. He knew that Molly would take something like that as permission to interrogate her about things she’d probably rather not say. Maybe the kid already did that, though; he didn’t know what they talked about.
“I’ll make sure.” Word given, he’d follow through.
***
Veronica could handle a sassy teenage girl. She had some personal experience being one, after all. “I’m pretty sure I can handle anything she throws at me,” she said with a grin. “I have mentioned that she reminds me of me as a teenager, right?”
That might not be super reassuring considering some of the things she’d done as a teenager.
***
“You have mentioned. And I still think that does a lot to recommend you as someone she should spend more time with.” Getting into trouble aside, Steve was sure that Veronica was a good influence on Molly.
“I wouldn’t mind if she grew up into someone like you.”
Because he happened to like who she was.
***
“That actually might be the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me,” Veronica said, her cheeks flushing a little at the compliment. Considering that Steve had seen her in some of her worst moments in Madison Valley, it meant a lot that he would want his daughter to grow up like her.
She glanced up and realized that the servers seemed to be giving them the stink eye and she realized that they’d been sitting there talking for a while since finishing their meal. “We should probably get out of here,” she said reluctantly.
***
Steve didn’t believe for a second that was true. He was sure people paid her all kinds of compliments regularly. Why wouldn’t they? She had so much going for her.
Following her glance, he wound up smiling sheepishly. “Probably,” he agreed, and waved their waiter over to settle up the bill, adding generously to make up for taking up the table for as long as they had. “Let me get you home, then.”
Even if he didn’t want to procrastinate talking to Molly for a few extra minutes, he’d have wanted to take her home. It was just the way that he was.
***
Veronica knew better than to argue with him wanting to take her home. Besides, she wasn’t particularly looking forward to their night coming to an end. She really did like Steve and while she would have preferred not to have that come out during a rather embarrassing conversation during a bout of town weirdness, she was glad that it had. Otherwise, they might have missed their chance because they were avoiding each other.
“Thank you for dinner,” she said, not even bothering to offer to help pay or at least leave the tip. She knew Steve was far too old fashioned to let her do that. If this was going to be a thing, they could figure that out later because she wouldn’t be okay with him paying all the time.
***
It would probably surprise her to know that Steve wasn’t so old fashioned that he would even insist on it past the first date. There were some things he still preferred to do his way, but when it came to splitting costs? A guy who’d been pretty broke most of his life could see the value in doing it.
“I should probably be thanking you for coming,” he countered, leading her out of the restaurant, holding the door open for her. “I was worried what happened the other day might’ve put you off.”
Not worried enough that he hadn’t decided it was worth the chance, obviously.
***
“I was a little afraid that you wouldn’t actually call,” Veronica admitted, offering him a smile. “So I guess that makes us even.”
He knew a lot more about her than she would have liked before their first date, but apparently none of it scared him off so she wasn’t going to worry too much about it. “To be perfectly honest, I’m kind of glad we ran into each other that day. Because I never would have admitted that I was interested otherwise.”
***
“I probably wouldn’t have either,” Steve admitted. “I had myself pretty convinced you weren’t so….” He shrugged. “It didn’t seem worth breaking down what we did have.”
Which hadn’t been a lot at the time. They’d kind of let their budding friendship fall to pieces over their awkwardness.
“I’ll tell you what, though. I would have had to come talk to you. I’m a little sick of being told I need to get over everything that happened on vacation.” He would have played nicely to get Molly off his back.
***
Veronica chuckled. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure that Molly’s punishing me for not talking to you by not coming by the office lately and my filing is pretty backed up now.” It wasn’t by any means the only reason she missed having Molly around though and she figured that was obvious by the affectionate tone in her voice.
“So I guess as long as she doesn’t hate the idea of this, maybe she’ll start coming around again more regularly.”
***
“I think you can count on that,” Steve agreed with a light laugh. He hadn’t really noticed that Molly hadn’t been going around WAMM much, but now that Veronica mentioned it, she was right. There were a lot fewer calls for rides home or messages saying she’d be late for dinner and it was Veronica’s fault. Always worded just like that, like Steve minded at all that she was putting her time to good use.
“Probably even more regularly than I will.” Because if they were going to give this a shot, he was going to stop by sometimes. But Molly was Molly.
***
“She might not like it if you start encroaching on her territory,” Veronica teased. But she personally wouldn’t mind if Steve dropped by to visit occasionally. “But if you bring mochas and brownies, she’d probably let it slide.”
Bribery was chocolate was always a good strategy.
***
“Is that how you get her to behave so well?” Being the parent, Steve didn’t really have that luxury. He still spoiled Molly a lot more than she realized, let even more slide when it came from his friends, but bribery was one of the more rarely used tools in his box.
“I’ll have to keep that in mind.”
***
Veronica laughed. “I mean, I’m sure it probably helps? But I think it’s more that I treat her like a peer and not a kid.” Which was something that Steve definitely didn’t have the luxury of doing since he had to actually parent her. And it was something that might end up changing over time if she and Steve ended up together. Not that she would ever want to take the place of any of Molly’s other parents.
The drive from the restaurant to her house was really too short and she leaned back against the seat when Steve pulled into her driveway. “I had a really good time tonight.”
***
Way too early for that kind of thinking or not, Steve was confident that was the direction he’d want this to be headed in. He didn’t have the inclination toward dating just for the sake of dating, was only interested in looking long term from the start. If he was after anything, he was after as long as this place would give him.
He’d learned his lesson about forevers.
With a smile, he turned a little to face her. “Me too. I’m glad we did it.” A glance up the driveway. “Walk you to the door?”
It seemed right, but it wasn’t common or expected anymore. Hence the offer rather than insistence.
***
“I’d like that,” she said and she meant it sincerely. It wasn’t a common thing in this day and age, but Veronica was willing to embrace some of the old-fashioned ideas Steve had about dating. Plus if there was going to be a good night kiss, which she really hoped there would be, it would be far less awkward at the door than it would be leaning across the front seat of his truck.
She climbed out of the truck and met Steve in front of the vehicle so they could walk to the door together. “Text me later and let me know how it goes with Molly, okay? I’ll be up for a while.”
***
Stopping at the door, turning to face her, reaching for her hands before nodding, Steve promised: “I will.”
He had things to do, a teenager to talk to, but he couldn’t just walk away, and he was terrible at judging whether or not to just go for it. Manning up and just taking a chance had worked in the past, seemed to be a pretty reliable choice where Veronica was concerned, he did. For a second he hesitated, watching her for some sort of sign that he was reading everything wrong, not that he’d have known what he was looking for if he saw it. Seeing nothing, he just leaned in and kissed her.
Usually he wasn’t a kiss on the first date kind of man, but this was different.He’d been waiting for the chance to do that for weeks.
***
Veronica was all but blinking in morse code that she wanted him to kiss her. Like she told him when they ran into each other, she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about the kiss they shared on the cruise.
So when he leaned in, she rested her hand on his shoulder and went up on her tiptoes to return the kiss. She was not disappointed either. There was a tiny part of her brain that wondered if the kiss on the cruise was some kind of fluke, if it was just them being caught up in the whole romance of the Caribbean, of being somewhere other than Madison Valley.
It wasn’t. There was a spark there and if properly tended, Veronica had no doubt that it could become an inferno. Just not tonight. After a moment she pulled back and smiled up at him. “Good night, Steve.”
***
He’d already pushed himself past his normal boundaries. As much as Steve might like to give into wanting things to go further than a kiss, but he wouldn’t do that. He respected Veronica too much and she deserved so much better than what was rattling around in the back of his mind.
So it was being left at just a kiss. And he was happy for that much.
“Good night.”
At least for as long as it took him to talk to Molly and text her.
***