If Steve had make that intimate gesture, Rogue's reaction would have had the gossip mill turning for weeks. She'd adjusted over the past months to the ability to touch people with her hands, day-to-day interactions had helped a great deal with that, but any sort of truly intimate gesture was still so far beyond her. If he had done it, she might honestly have started crying, and not only would the gossipmongers have had juicy new material to last them the month, but Steve would have gotten a good look at just how broken she really was under all those smiles.

She very nearly did start crying when he placed his hand on hers and made that promise. This thing they had, it was hitting her fast and hard and she suddenly felt like all she could do was hang on for the ride. It was all she wanted to do, really - whatever this was, whatever it turned out to be, it made her feel alive and gave her hope for some semblance of a normal life, and those were two things that she very desperately needed. That she'd found that with a charming, handsome, utterly sweet man was just icing on the cake.

Giving his hand a light squeeze, she kept her voice low and leaned in a little as she told him, "I know you can handle the table by yourself. Just be careful, okay? I don't want you to get hurt." The smile she gave him then was small but sincere, because she really did care about his well-being.