Cheeky remarks

Maria's eyes were widened and shock was written all over her face as she stammeringly said, "S-Steve...What are you doing here?" After her initial shock had passed, worry struck her and took over. "How did you get here!? You know you are supposed to rest. That was the condition of your early discharge from the hospital, that you don't do anything reckless! How can you-" But Maria's words were interrupted as Steve raised his hand and said, "Never mind that, and tell me, is that really how you feel? Like you can't speak freely around me?"

Maria was clearly not expecting that question because she had never expected him to be able to overhear her conversation with Laila. Not in his current state at least. Not knowing quite what to say in response, Maria was fumbling her words as she tried to get through the predicament she had put herself in. Because like Laila had said, she did indeed tend to say things she didn't mean in these situations where she managed to get into her own head or when she felt cornered. So, she had to fight back the urge to do that now in this situation as well, causing her to form a sentence in her mind and then dismiss it before she had finished saying the words because she felt they weren't the right words after all. She did this multiple times before Steve grew impatient and said, "Stop overthinking it and stop trying to come up with the perfect answer. Just tell me how you feel. Unless it isn't me who is preventing you from speaking freely, but it is you yourself who makes you unable to say what you really want to say."

Steve had hit the nail on the head. From the very beginning it had been her twisting and turning her words until her actual message had gotten so far buried that she felt amazed he had managed to see the truth behind her deceitful words. That he had been able to understand what she had been wanting to say, despite her not knowing herself on some occasions. As she gripped the counter tightly and as her eyes turned a bit red she softly said, "I'm sorry". She said just those two words. Everything else was conveyed through her eyes. And it required only those two words for Steve to make his way over to Maria with the greatest effort, despite her frantic words telling him that he shouldn't. But he paid them no mind and grabbed hold of Maria as soon as she was within reach and didn't hesitate for a second before he placed one hand on her lower back and the other on the side of her face as he pulled her in for a kiss.

Using her body to stabilize himself, while Maria's back was pressed against the counter. As she instinctively leaned back, Steve used his hand to pull her back up. Her concerns for his wounds reopening had been pushed to the back of her mind, making it a mere afterthought now that the rest of her had been captured by his kiss. Although she had wanted to yell at him on some level at first and push him away for his carelessness, she needed this at the moment. She needed to forget her earlier words, she needed to know they were okay, and quite frankly, she needed to have this realization that there were no means of running away. Because if she has an escape, she will take it to get out of an awkward situation.

With her skills in the romance departments and her lying mouth, awkward moments were at every corner. If she wanted to be able to grow closer to Steve during these next few weeks, and truly help him in his recovery at the same time, then she needed to learn to face those moments. By getting through them, she will become more comfortable around Steve in different situations and their relationship will grow stronger. She had already almost lost him once because of Harold Richardson, she didn't want to lose him for real because of her own inability to deal with her emotions.

After Steve released Maria from the kiss, she stared at him with a daze for a bit longer, which Steve used to say, "I know I say and do the wrong things sometimes, just as you aren't always honest with yourself, but I meant it when I said I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I am convinced you are the one for me, and I know I can be the one for you. There will be bumps on the road as we try to grow closer, but nothing, not even a bump as large as the mount Everest, will make me want to leave you and give up what we have." Maria covered Steve's hand with her own as she continued to stare at him in silence. Wondering how even now, when she had said nothing at all, he had been able to discover what had been on her mind.

"And if it wasn't clear before, I will say it to you again, I am fine with taking things at your pace. I might tease you from time to time, but I will never do anything you don't want me to do. If you tell me to stop, if I even get the idea you aren't ready for something, I will smile and take a step back. Pretending nothing has even happened and nothing was about to happen either. So, say all the cheeky remarks that float around in that pretty head of yours and I'll accept them gracefully, before firing back one of my own."