"She stopped having to be all things to all people," he murmured, recalling their chat in the truck on the way to Camp Lehigh. It was more for him than for Pepper though, so he said it softly enough that she might not have heard it. He was about to say something else when she turned and took her hands in his. It didn't surprise him that it was rough for Natasha with Bruce and Maria, but if there was going to be a place where she could find a new path, it would be here.
"Do I even have a right to?" Steve asked. He hadn't meant to, but the question was out there all the same. "I don't know what's going to happen between Peggy and I, but Natasha's just as important to me. I don't want to hurt either one of them." And if that meant doing nothing for a little while to see what happens, Steve was more than willing to do that if it meant protecting both of their feelings. He was still getting his feet wet in terms of casual sex and intimacy, so it was hard to think outside the world view he already knew.