Steve saw that quiver in her mouth, felt that tug in his gut, like the thread between them might suddenly snap and leave them both to bleed out. Like being without her would lead to internal bleeding that would never stop. It would be like losing Bucky, his mother, his Peggy, but different again because while loss was loss, none of those things felt at all the same. The different kinds of loss, well Steve could tell you about them. About loss so sharp it tasted like lead, about the softer kind, the end to suffering. No one knew loss like Steve.
But she was here. She was broken and pieces, but they were his pieces.
With the tremble Steve stepped forward all fluid, to use his body to shield that vulnerable moment from the world, to keep it safe and private. His right arm wrapped around her waist and he leaned down to rest their foreheads together. "Long way round still gets you where you're going," Steve promised her quietly, eyes open and too close to her own but somehow the distance between them still felt too great.
"I like it," he agreed as he wound a length around his finger.
Steve felt the heaviness he'd seen on everyone else spread into him and he went with it, there was no hiding from the inevitable. "You're here now," he consoled her softly. "I've got you."