Where It All Began
“Are you sure ready?” You asked, fixing the collar of Ryan’s shirt.
“I’m positive,” he said, placing his hands on your shoulders and looking you directly in the eyes. It had been two months since you, Tony, and Steve rescued Bucky and Ryan from HYDRA. Ryan let go of you and grabbed the handle of his suitcase, pulling it up.
“I want you to call and text me everyday okay!” you demanded, giving a short laugh to disguise the tremble in your voice.
“That’s a slightly unrealistic goal,” he smiled, shouldering a back pack. “But I’ll try my best… Are you sure you won’t come back home with me?” You smiled sadly and shook your head. Ryan was going home to live with your family and would spend the rest of his recovery time there. He definitely wasn’t better yet, but you both decided it was best he stay with relatives.
“I belong here,” you whispered softly, glancing over your shoulder at the Avengers behind you. Tony and Clint were flicking each other, Steve and Bruce were talking lowly to each other, Natasha was fiddling with a handgun and its cartridge, and Bucky was staring over at you with a soft expression. You flashed him a quick smile before looking back at Ryan.
“I’ll miss you, kiddo,” he grinned, ruffling your hair. You pulled him into a hug and sighed. You took a shivering breath and squeezed your eyes shut; hoping somehow that holding him tighter will leave an imprint of him when he was gone, so that it would feel like he was still kind of there.
“I never really did stop missing you,” you murmured, gripping him tighter.
“Ease up, (Y/N), you’ll squeeze the life out of me!” he joked, pulling away.
“I’m not even going to apologise for that,” you smiled sheepishly. He kissed the top your head and stepped back from you, waving a hand towards the Avengers.
“Thanks for everything,” he called to them sincerely.
“Anything for a brother of our favourite little ass-kicker,” Tony replied with a smirk.
“Goodbye,” I mouthed, not trusting my voice to speak. He returned a last fleeting smile before stepping into the elevator, dragging his suitcase after him. As soon as the doors shut, you held yourself tightly, resting your wrist on your shoulder and letting your head fall on the back of your hand. Suddenly, the ache in your heart subsided when two arms slipped around your waist from behind, one human, one metal.
“Are you okay?” Bucky’s low voice whispered in your ear. You leaned into his chest and closed your eyes.
“I will be.”
You spent the next few hours in your room, listening to punk bands that were no longer relevant and drowning in your teenage past. At around 7 o’clock, there was a sharp knock on the door.
“C’min,” you called, your voice muffled by the pillow that you had stuck your head in. You looked up to see Steve peer around the door.
“How are you doing?” he asked gently, dressed in gym gear. He sat on the edge of your bed and gave you a sympathetic look.
“I’m having an angst-filled moment,” you said vaguely, shoving your face into the pillow again.
“Well come on, I’ve got something that will cheer you up,” he said brightly, dragging you out of the bed.
“I doubt it,” you sulked, following him as he walked out of the room. You padded down the hall next to him in your fluffy socks, fat pants, and a baggy t shirt. He stopped outside the living room and opened the door, letting your walk in first. The room was almost completely dark and you turned to frown at Steve but he was closing the door behind him, a smirk on his mischievous face.
You stepped cautiously towards the couch, where there were several melting candles on the corners of the coffee table, along with a glass vase filled with orange tulips. You took a seat and looked around you. The door the kitchen swung open and Bucky walked out with a box in one hand and two cans stacked like pancakes in the other.
“Is that what I think it is?” you exclaimed, eyeing the rectangular box. Sure enough as he sat down next to you, the smell of melted cheese and baked bread wafted towards you.
“Now you can have the actual pizza, and not just the crusts,” he smiled, setting the cans on the table and opening the box.
“You’re amazing,” you said, barely restraining yourself from diving into the pizza right there and then.
“Well I wouldn’t go that far, but I feel I have my moments,” Bucky smirked, scooting closer to you so that your legs touched and he could put his arm around you. Your heart fluttered and your skin prickled where his hand touched your arm.
“You didn’t have to do this, you know,” you murmured, resting your head on his shoulder as you pulled a slice of goodness out of the cardboard box on Bucky’s lap.
“But I wanted to.”
“Well, I’m glad you did.”
He reached forward to grab the Coke cans from the table and your head slipped back off of his shoulder and onto the back of the couch.
“Ahhh,” you whined and he turned to look at you, bursting out laughing. You elbowed him in the arm, throwing the slice of pizza back into the box, but his eyes were shut tight and he had a huge goofy grin on his face. He looked so adorable that you couldn’t help but snort and shoulder him, pushing him down on the couch and lying on his arm.
“Hey, get off,” he grunted, trying to lift you off of him. You giggled and sat up to tickle him (which probably wasn’t very effective because of HIS ROCK HARD ABS!). He squirmed under you and let out a booming laugh before catching you by the wrists with both of his hands.
“Your turn,” he winked and you shook your head.
“No! Nononononono, TRUCE, TRUCE!” you screamed, holding out the palms of your hands. You wiggled off of him and flopped onto the couch after he let go of his grip. You picked up your discarded slice of pizza and took a bite as Bucky sat up straight and fixed his arm around your shoulders again. You let yourself lean against him and stayed like that until all of the pizza and Coke were gone.
“Thank you,” you said sleepily, yawning as you put your cheek on his chest.
“I’d do anything for you,” he said quietly, leaning down and kissing your cheek. You tilted your head to look up to him staring deeply at you.
“James…” you whispered before he kissed you softly on the lips.
“Do you want to know why?” he asked hesitantly. You nodded slowly, his blue eyes gazing into yours. Your heart thudded faster and faster, beating against your ribcage.
“(Y/N)…. I love you.”