Re: [Bar down the street: Atticus/Steve]
"I'm sorry. I didn't balance things very well. I try, but." He sighed. He didn't need to elaborate. "You don't make things better for me. Don't worry about it." Connected was not Steve's default. It had been ...70 years since he'd connected with anyone, really. And even then, it had been three people: his ma, Teddy, and Peggy. He'd come close, here, with Atticus. At least at first. But, it had spiraled backward and now it was gone, but what was done was done. Steve, who usually fought to the last man, didn't feel like he had it in him for this. "Don't fight me on it." He meant his stubbornness. Atticus liked to do that. "It's how I am." Captain Liberty was no defeatist, but he walked the line between realism and idealism, and let's just say he was sticking to realism on this. He'd stuck behind Teddy for years and, well, look how that ended.
After Steve spoke, he watched Atticus pat his chest. "You said he did it after a date, Atticus. It's not the same thing." It had been over a year. "I'm sorry for rekindling it. I thought it could work." He nodded when Atticus said he understood, and he stood when the other man did. He was tempted by the cigarette, by more time here, when he didn't want to go, but, he'd done this before. It was much less painful if, when you cut the ties, they stayed cut. It was like watching Peggy and knowing she'd be better if he let her live her life the way she wanted to. "No, thanks. I'll get my stuff out of your place, so you can come home." Steve smiled a little and stepped close to Atticus. If the man let him, he gave him a light kiss and patted him on the chest. "I'll talk to you later, kid. Talk to Janus." He gave Atticus' shoulder a squeeze and made himself turn and walk away.