Peter and Shuri were running around in Uncle Sam top hats, whacking each other with pool noodles in the giant, built-in backyard that Tony had insisted building a few years ago because he was too lazy to actually go out to the country club. 
Wanda was lounging on one of the chairs on the pool deck, sliding her aviators on. 
"Loki!" you scolded the God of Mischief. "Set. The. Confetti. Poppers. Down! We only have a limited amount!"
"That's nice." He chucked a confetti popper at you and you thankfully caught it before it hit you in the nose. 
You were running around in your USA t-shirt that matched with Steve (which surprisingly, was his idea) and shorts, trying to calm all the crazy ones down. 
T'Challa, Tony, and Bucky were on barbecue duty, grilling up the burgers that were soon to be eaten. Peter and Shuri were still running around and screaming like dying animals, Natasha was sitting at the table sipping her pina colada, Steve and Sam were horsing around in the pool, and Bruce was sprawled out across the grass with Vision, staring up at the sky for who knows what, while the others were wrapped up in an intense round of Uno. 
"STRANGE, STOP CHEATING!" Star-Lord accused. 
"I'm not cheating, I'm simply better than you," the sorcerer fired back. 
"You suck, Quill," Rocket said as he grabbed another card from the pile in the middle.
"You suck ass," Gamora echoed snottily. 
"PLUS FOUR, QUILL! YOU ALL SUCK!" Drax slammed his  4 card down on the grass. 
"Reverse card, I CHOOSE YOU!" Quill confidently placed his reverse card on top of Drax's  4.
Explosions of arguments burst out not long after that turn. 
"DAMMIT!"
"SCREW YOU!"
"I HATE YOU!"
"BECAUSE OF YOU I HAVE FIFTEEN CARDS!"
"IT'S NOT FAIR! I HAVE ALL THE SUCKY CARDS!"
"NOT MY FAULT THAT YOU SUCK AT UNO!"
"GO DIE, RABBIT!" Thor boomed, glaring down at the racoon.
You shook your head and smiled to yourself, observing the chaotic yet orderly scene before you. 
A smoky smell snapped you out of your momentary daze, and you whipped your head around to see smoke rising from the BBQ grill. "Bucky burned everything to a crisp, now we have to go all the way inside and get the new batch," Tony rolled his eyes as he explained to you how this had happened. "Mantis. Save us, please." 
"Alright, I will grill the hamburgers," Mantis shrugged, taking over the Winter Soldier's spot. 
Suddenly, you aware of how hot it was, the heat of the sun beating down on you and making your clothes stick to your skin, damp with sweat. Fanning yourself with your hand, you walked around and tried to cool yourself down. 
That didn't help, so you yanked off your top and shorts. You thankfully had your bikini on underneath, otherwise you'd be walking around all day in your wet clothes. 
"Don't look, but Cap is staring," Peter and Shuri giggled, raising their eyebrows up and down at you. 
"Shut up," you muttered, feeling your cheeks burn a bright red. 
You checked your phone and saw in fact, that it was a whopping 102 degrees. It wasn't unusual, but it wasn't common either.  
You grabbed a Coke from the icebox and popped it open, spreading your towel near the pool to drink it. Instantly, you regretted making that decision when you had just set your drink down and felt strong hands push you in, and you landed in the water with a smack. 
"PIETRO!" you screamed. 
"Well...you kept complaining about being hot," he looked at you innocently. 
"That doesn't give you permission to shove me in!" you said in between clenched teeth.
"Ha," Sam pointed, cackling at you. "Someone's pissed off. And hey, lovesick superhero, stop staring," he smirked, nudging you in the shoulder. By this point, Steve had gotten out of the pool to go grab a drink, and your gaze 'accidentally' landed on his bare chest. 
Totally an accident. Mhm.
"I'm not staring," you lied, quickly averting your gaze back to the Falcon. 
"Sure. Look, staring isn't going to get you anywhere so I advise that you hurry the hell up and make a move."
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"Yes!"
-----
You were now all seated at the picnic tables, eating your freshly grilled burgers and barbecue ribs. It was a bit quieter now that everyone was occupied with eating as much as they could, but Quill, Gamora, Rocket, Groot, Drax, Strange, and the others that played Uno were still arguing over who was the best player and the true victor of the round. 
After everyone was done eating, and after the Uno players shut up about their debate, Tony with the help of T'Challa and Strange, began setting up the fireworks. 
The sun was just beginning to set, creating a beautiful array of color that spread across the sky. It slowly sunk lower and lower, and then, it finally disappeared below the horizon and everything was covered with a blanket of navy blue-black darkness. 
Peter, still wearing his Uncle Sam hat, handed out mini sparklers to everyone sitting on their towels on the grass or just standing up and staring up as the stars began appearing in the sky, one by one, like tiny diamonds. The loud chatter of earlier had died down to quiet whispers and you sat there in silence, just staring off somewhere into space. 
The little sparks flying off of the sparklers lit up everyone's faces with a whitish-golden glow, and even the loudest of the loudest, Bucky and Pietro, were dead silent. 
You heard the familiar exploding sounds go off, and you looked up to see the fireworks, displaying beautiful bursts of color across the sky, so bright, before they slowly faded away into faint smoke you could just barely see, if you looked hard enough.
That was when you made eye contact with Steve, and he shot you a grin before pulling you to him and wrapping an arm around your torso. You rested your head on his shoulder as you watched the rest of the fireworks go off, and for a moment, tried to forget that you were with a bunch of other people, that it was just you and him, together. 
Until someone interrupted you. 
"That is adorable," T'Challa commented. "Shuri, is this why they are what you call your OTP?"
"Yes, brother," she giggled. "So. Adorable."
Steve pressed a gentle kiss to your forehead, which only caused her to squeal loudly. 
"Gamora, why can't we be that cute?" Quill whined. 
"Shut up, we're just as good," You could practically visualize the green-skinned woman rolling her eyes from where you stood.