Sharon followed him into the room, and after he turned on the light she slipped an arm around his waist and nuzzled her way beneath his arm. It was a hug, of sorts, and a greeting that was a lot more personal then the hand off of beer in a hallway.
It wasn't like their relationship was a secret, or anything like that, she just always found it easier to be affectionate when they were as far away from other people as possible. Here, in the bedroom of a private apartment with this man, she felt like she could finally relax her shoulders. The dreams and memories couldn't haunt her here.
"Hey." She said, before putting an arm around his neck and kissing him. "I love you."
Sometimes she wondered where she'd be if she'd never met Steve back home. It wasn't that hard to figure out, really. SHIELD had never been optional, she'd wanted that since she'd curled up with hot chocolate as a child and listened to her aunt's old stories about the French Resistance. She'd wanted it even more when she knew she had to fight hard for it. And she was one of the best, without question. She'd served as a SHIELD director and more than once she'd had to lead the Avengers in the wrong direction to complete a mission. But Steve had always made it harder. He held her back, just a little bit, from following Nick Fury into hell without a second thought. He made her understand the value of sacrifice, and giving up a practice, a plan, to let someone else have a chance they otherwise wouldn't. Steve kept her, maybe, from becoming just like Nick.
Sometimes she thanked him for that. Sometimes she didn't. But she'd changed after she thought she'd murdered Steve in cold blood. Her feelings about herself, and about SHIELD, weren't the same as they used to be and she'd never quite been able to go back.
This universe and this Steve -- she didn't think of it like a do-over or a chance to have what she wanted without making the same mistakes. He was an entirely different person, but what she had always needed in a partner was still there with him, and she supposed she had whatever it was he needed too.
"And I learned what happened, Steve. After I thought I died. I remember." She smiled again, because she was afraid of what her emotions might do if she didn't. "I remember-- God, so much."