[ Sam meets him halfway. There's a part of him that doesn't want to, a part of him that wants to be petulant and resentful, push back against opening himself for hurt to be repeated. There's a part of him that is deeply, irrevocably hurt by what happened - not by Steve pursuing happiness or finding peace the way he did. Just by not being included in the talk about it. By being blindsided. By not getting to say goodbye before Steve lived out his life where Sam couldn't follow.
But the truth is that while it hurt, he doesn't resent Steve. Never could. The man's been through more than enough, and Sam knows with the entirety of his own too big heart that Steve thinks of others long before he thinks of himself - that it wasn't malicious.
So for now, he chooses to put the hurt aside. To focus on to have that reunion that they never got. He meets Steve halfway, lets himself be pulled in, and hugs back tightly. Bit too tight for anyone else, but hey. What do you have a super soldier for if not hugs like this, right?
He hugs Steve like he's missed him - like he's not seen him in a long time. ]
I know - unlike you, I'm still handsome and don't look like complete shit.
[ It's a quip, muffled slightly against Steve's shoulder, and it's so easy, so familiar that it hurts. ]
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But the truth is that while it hurt, he doesn't resent Steve. Never could. The man's been through more than enough, and Sam knows with the entirety of his own too big heart that Steve thinks of others long before he thinks of himself - that it wasn't malicious.
So for now, he chooses to put the hurt aside. To focus on to have that reunion that they never got. He meets Steve halfway, lets himself be pulled in, and hugs back tightly. Bit too tight for anyone else, but hey. What do you have a super soldier for if not hugs like this, right?
He hugs Steve like he's missed him - like he's not seen him in a long time. ]
I know - unlike you, I'm still handsome and don't look like complete shit.
[ It's a quip, muffled slightly against Steve's shoulder, and it's so easy, so familiar that it hurts. ]