ʙᴀʙʏ

When you were a kid, you were Steve Rogers’ next door neighbor.  You had been excited to move into that house knowing that there was a boy your age who’d you be able to play with. You were an only child and sometimes it was hard not having anyone else to play with or talk to. Unfortunately, Steve was a really sick and fragile boy so you needed to be careful around him. If you had so much as an itch at the back of your throat, you couldn’t see Steve for two weeks. 

Thankfully, Steve had introduced you to his best friend James and when Steve couldn’t come play you at least had each other. Even at that age you felt the need to protect and watch over Steve, you and James almost acted like his bodyguards at school and Steve hated it but neither of you were going to stop any time soon. 

It went on for years. As teenagers and even young adults, you and James were always watching Steve’s back. 

Then World War II happened and now your stupid, big-hearted best friend wanted to enlist in the army and be on the front line. You understood why he wanted to do it but the thought of having to say goodbye to Steve and James as they leave for the army terrifies you. 

As if Steve fighting guys twice his size in alleys hadn’t been stressful enough, now you had the army to worry about too. 

One day you were meeting both of your best friends for lunch at a diner and when you walked in, they were already sitting at a booth. As you had gotten closer, you noticed that James wasn’t wearing his usual clothes and when you finally reached the table your heart sunk in your chest. 

He was leaving for England the very next morning to go fight in the war, his number had been drafted and there was nothing any of you could do to stop it from happening. 

Saying goodbye to him had been the most heartbreaking thing you had ever had to do. You wanted to stay positive but you also needed to be realistic, a lot less soldiers came back walking than they came back in coffins. 

You had struggled a lot with him being gone and you could tell that Steve was struggling too. 

That was until Steve got into some kind of science program and got injected with what they now call the super soldier serum. You could barely recognize him afterwards. Your tiny little friend was gone and a giant, strong man had taken his place. You now had to look up if you wanted to talk to him and when he hugged you, he almost crushed your bones. Shortly after you were saying goodbye to your other best friend who was also leaving for the war. His job was to perform in front of crowds but you knew Steve long enough to know that it wouldn’t be long before he found a way to get right in the middle of the action. 

Your suspicions were confirmed when the letters stopped coming, for some reason you just knew why you weren’t receiving them anymore. 

A few weeks later, Steve had shown up at your door with the news of James’ death. You thought you had been prepared for it but nothing could have prepared you for this amount of grief and pain. 

Not long after you received a letter to tell you that Steve had disappeared, missing in action and presumed dead. 

Peggy had given you some of Steve’s blood for the serum in the hopes of creating the next Captain America but sadly there wasn’t enough of it to succeed. Or at least that’s what you both thought. 

You might not have grown or put on an incredible amount of muscles or have super strength but you stopped aging. You hadn’t really noticed at first, it took years for anyone to notice, but as everyone around you got older you stayed the same. You, your family and your friends joked around a lot that you had really good genes but when you got to 40 but still looked 24, you knew something wasn’t right. 

You went back to Stark and his team, they took your blood and did some research to find out you didn’t have any aging markers. They were totally gone. Everything else was normal but it was impossible for you to age. 

It was nice, until you were the last one of your family and you were now alone. You missed James and Steve every day. You often went to their graves to put fresh flowers and clean up their tombstones. Both coffins were empty because no bodies were ever found but it was nice to have somewhere to go to when you missed them too much. 

70 years passed before anyone ever mentioned Steve’s name to you. 

When Director Fury reached out to you to tell you they had found him, you thought someone was prank-calling you. You didn’t believe it until they brought him back to New York once they managed to get him out of the ice. They weren’t sure if he would ever wake up but you still spent every day in his room, sitting by his bed and waiting. 

They had staged a hospital room from the 40s, with your help, for when he woke up. They didn’t want to overwhelm him right away but it turned out to be a fail of epic proportions. 

It was weird to have him back. You had spent so many years grieving for him and a lifetime later he’s standing right in front of you, looking exactly like he did the last time you saw him.

Steve couldn’t believe that you were still alive. He felt so guilty that you had to go through everything alone. You had always been there for him since the age of 6 and he wasn’t there to help you navigate through the worst moments of your life. 

You picked up your friendship exactly where you had left it and stood by him when he joined the Avengers. S.H.I.E.L.D. eventually took you in as an agent and you were trained to fight alongside your childhood best friend. 

You had foolishly thought that finding out your best friend who was supposedly dead all this time but was actually frozen and alive was the peak of incredible things that could ever happen to you. Until the fateful day on the bridge when Captain America took on the Winter Soldier, the deadliest assassin you had ever heard of. Even back in the days, Peggy had told you many stories about him; he was a little bit of a ghost story. 

When his mask fell to the ground, your legs almost gave out from under you. You couldn’t believe what you were seeing, surely you had to be hallucinating. Then you heard Steve call Bucky’s name and you knew that it was all real. James stood right there in front of you, in the flesh. Unlike you and Steve, he had changed a lot. He used to have perfectly styled short hair and now he had somewhat dirty,shoulder-length hair. He lost an arm and had a metal prosthetic and he had absolutely no clue as to who you were or even who he was. 

When you got back to the tower, you lost it.

‘’I can’t do this anymore. It’s too much.’’ You breathed hard and felt nauseous. 

‘’I know it’s a lot but it’ll be ok.’’ Steve tried to reassure you but his positive thinking only irritated you more.

‘’A lot?! You mourned James for a few days and then you were gone. I was left all alone to grieve my two best friends. I had to plan and attend both of your funerals. Do you know how traumatizing that is for someone? Then they tried to turn me into you but failed. Except they made me fucking immortal and I had to watch every single person in my life die until I was all alone. But then it turns out that neither of you actually died and all the pain and suffering that I went through was for nothing.’’ You took a deep breath. ‘’I know that you mean well Steve, but you have no idea what I’ve gone through and what I’m going through. No one does. I- I  need some air.’’

You left the tower, not even turning around once even though Steve was calling your name. You needed time alone.

You had to grieve Bucky in a different way now because even after he started to get his memories back, he will never be the same man again.

Losing Bucky again after the snap was the worst kind of pain you could have gone through. You finally had your best friend again and with the snap of a finger, literally, he was gone. 

Then, he was back but Steve left shortly after. This time you knew it was permanent because he had chosen to live his life with Peggy. 

That was what made you tilt. After Steve left, you completely shut down. You stayed away, you didn't talk to anybody and quit your job at S.H.I.E.LD., if someone knocked at your door you completely ignored them.

It was a strange thing to feel so much pain while also feeling numb. You constantly feel like you're drowning and you don't even want to try to get back to the surface. 

Bucky kept texting you, asking if you were ok, he called you, came over but you never answered. He was really worried about you, he's never seen you like this and he's seen you go through hell while growing up. He has been mad at Steve for Leaving him behind but even more mad at him for causing you so much pain. It had been a selfish thing that he did, leaving his two best friends behind for a girl he barely even knew. After all they went through together, he didn't even say goodbye to you. 

Yeah, Bucky hated Steve for hurting you. 

Bucky knocked again on your door and wasn't surprised when there was no answer. "Baby, please open the door. At least let me know you're still alive in there." He spoke loud enough for you to hear, but you didn't move from your bed. 

This time Bucky didn't leave, instead he used his left arm and forced the door open. You'll probably be mad but at least he would have gotten a chance to see you. It's been weeks since the last time he saw you. 

He went straight to your room and opened the door slowly, he didn't want to startle you but he was also scared of what he might find on the other side. 

"Baby?" He walked in, looking at you. 

You kept your eyes down, not wanting to look at him because you knew that he'd make you break. 

He closed the door behind him and came to sit next to you on your bed. "Talk to me, please. Scream at me if you need to, anything you need but don't shut me out. I'm here for you." 

Until you leave again, you thought to yourself. 

"I might not look like him anymore but I'm still your James." He took your hand in his right hand and brought it to his lips to kiss it. 

You tried to pull away but he tightened his hand around yours. 

"I'm not letting go. I got my best friend back and I'm not letting her go. Not now, not ever." 

You looked up into his eyes, you don't know why you did it but as you had predicted you broke down. The gates had been opened and the tears were now flowing. 

Bucky didn't waste a second, he let go of your hand, took off his jacket and his boots, climbed into bed with you and took you in his arms. He rubbed your back and whispered comforting words as he rocked you, trying to soothe you. 

"Breathe, baby. You got to breathe, look at me." He grabbed your chin when you started to hiccup and made you look up. "Breathe." He took a deep breath in, then let it out slowly. He did it over and over again until you did the same and the hiccups stopped. "That's it." He kissed your forehead. 

You nuzzled against his chest and held onto his shirt as you kept crying. Never once did he tell you to stop, he wanted you to let it all out. 

When you fell asleep on his chest, he held you with one arm and grabbed your blanket with the other, wrapping you in it to keep you warm. He leaned back against your headboard and spent the entire night watching over you. 

When you woke up the next morning, Bucky was still awake and rubbing your back. He smiled when he saw you open your eyes. 

‘’Hey.’’ He says softly. ‘’How are you feeling this morning?’’ 

‘’Tired.’’ You whisper, not having the strength to speak any louder.

‘’That’s normal. When’s the last time you ate something?’’ You shrug, you really didn’t know. ‘’Ok, we are going to get out of bed and I’ll make you breakfast. Then you’ll take a shower or a bath and once you’re done you can sleep some more.’’

‘’I don’t want to.’’

‘’I know, baby. Come on.’’ He sits up, bringing you with him. He gets out of bed first and holds out his hands for you to take to help you up. ‘’Wanna do like when we were kids?’’ He smiles, a small playful glimmer in his eyes.

You nod and he turns around, helping you get on his back. Bucky has always been taller and stronger than you, so whenever you’d feel tired or just lazy he’d get you on his back and carry you everywhere. That’s where the name ‘’baby’’ comes from. Whenever his parents or your parents told him to put you down, he’d say that you were his little baby and he wanted to take care of you. You’re surprised he even remembers all of this.

He carries you to the kitchen and sits you down on the countertop. ‘’What do you feel like eating?’’ 

‘’I don’t know. Nothing.’’ 

He opens the fridge to see what’s in there. ‘’I’d offer to make you scrambled eggs but I don’t know how long they’ve been in there.’’ He looks through your pantry and turns around. ‘’Ok, new plan. You’re going to start with your shower or bath and I’ll order something because there’s nothing in here.’’ 

‘’You know how to order food? Like on your phone?’’ You ask, clearly shocked.

‘’I’m old, not stupid.’’ He rolls his eyes. 

Bucky makes you jump on his back again and this time he takes you to the bathroom. He puts you down on the closed toilet seat. ‘’Shower or bath?’’

‘’Neither.’’ 

He kneels in front of you and cups your cheeks in the palms of his hands. ‘’Baby, I say this with all the love in my heart but you need to wash up.’’ He kisses your forehead.

You sigh. ‘’I smell?’’

‘’Not yet, but it’s on its way there.’’ He answers truthfully. 

‘’A bath.’’ 

He nods and stands back up to draw you a bath, once the tub is filled he walks over to the door. ‘’Try not to fall asleep in there ok? I don’t want you drowning. I’ll be right outside if you need me.’’ With that he walks out of your bathroom and closes the door behind him. 

He’s quick to order breakfast for the both of you, hoping he remembers your favorite and then goes to your room to get you clean clothes. While he’s in there, he also takes the time to crack a window open so it wouldn’t be so stuffy in there. He puts your clean clothes and underwear on the floor in front of the door and goes back to your room to change your sheets. You clearly hadn’t moved in days and fresh smelling sheets could only help making you feel better. 

Bucky goes open the door when someone knocks, he pays the delivery man and puts everything down in the kitchen. He walks back over to the bathroom and knocks softly on the door.

‘’Food is here. Take your time but I just wanted to let you know. I also got you clean clothes, they’re on the floor in front of the door.’’ 

You don’t answer him but he hears movements so at least he knows you’re physically fine. He goes to sit at the kitchen table as he waits for you. It’s such a strange thing for Bucky to see you like this and to take care of you, he remembers that when the three of you were kids, teenagers and even adults you were always the strong one. You were always taking care of both him and Steve, without hesitating, no matter what it was they needed. That’s why he always wanted to take care of you, you needed to be taken care of as much as they did. He didn’t mind having to be the strong one right now. He had known Steve long enough to see it in his eyes when he was about to leave to put the stone back, that Steve wouldn’t be coming back. He just wished he would have come out and said it, told you. Bucky can’t even begin to imagine everything you’ve gone through since he left back in 1943. All he knows is that if the roles were reversed and he had been the one left behind, left to grieve and go through a lifetime by himself he would have broken down a lot sooner than you did. 

Unlike Steve, Bucky really had no intentions to leave you behind ever again. 

You pull him out of his thoughts when you walk into the kitchen. 

‘’How are you feeling?’’ 

‘’Better.’’

‘’That’s good. Come here.’’ He gestures for you to come sit on his lap.

‘’You don’t have to do this, y’know.’’ 

‘’Who said I was doing anything because I had to?’’

You walk over to him and let him guide you down on his lap. You watch as he grabs a box on the table and slides it over to you.

‘’I think this used to be your favorite. I don’t know if it really was or if it still is. If I got it wrong just remember that I’m old and Hydra kinda fried my brain.’’

You open the box and stare at its content for a good 30 seconds before you start to cry.

Bucky panics and takes his own breakfast to give to you. ‘’Aw, baby I’m so sorry. I didn’t think I was so far off. You can have mine if you prefer or I can order something else.’’ 

You shake your head no and try to get yourself under control. ‘’You remembered.’’ You do not dare turn around to look at James. You are so embarrassed that you are crying because of something as simple as him remembering your breakfast order. 

He sighs with relief when he understands why you’re crying. ‘’I’m trying.’’ He simply answers as he rubs your back to help you settle down. 

You eat under Bucky’s watchful eyes as he takes a few bites of his own breakfast from time to time. 

Once you’re done, he makes the both of you stand up and cleans up the table before carrying you back to your room. 

He gets under the covers first and lies on his back with his upper chest propped up on your pillows and you follow shortly after him, lying on your side and snuggling into his side. 

After a few minutes of silence, Bucky speaks up. ‘’Do you want to talk about what happened?’’ He runs his fingers up and down your spine, looking down at you. 

‘’There’s not much to say. Steve left. For good. He didn’t say goodbye, again, and I don’t have the strength to mourn him anymore.’’ 

‘’What Steve did to us, but mostly to you, it wasn’t ok. I hate him for doing this.’’ 

‘’Usually when one of you leaves, the other one follows right after. It’s only a matter of time before you’re gone again.’’ 

‘’No. I’m not going anywhere.’’ 

‘’That’s also what you said before you got drafted.’’ 

Bucky grabs your chin and makes you look up at him. ‘’You need to know that if I had had a choice back then, I never would have left. I never would have fallen off that train and got captured by Hydra, turned into an assassin and spent over 70 years with them. Steve got into the army because he wanted to, he kept enlisting and he was crazy enough to sign himself up to be turned into a fucking super soldier. He chose to leave. I didn’t. Again when the snap happened, it wasn’t my choice to leave. So no, I’m not going anywhere and if I leave, it won’t be willingly. Like each time before.’’

‘’You’re right, I’m sorry.’’

‘’Don’t apologize. I totally understand why you feel the way that you do and why you think the way that you do.’’ He kisses your forehead and lets go of your chin. ‘’Can I ask you questions?’’

‘’What about?’’

‘’Did you stay in Brooklyn the whole time?’’ You nod. ‘’What happened to my family?’’ 

‘’It took them a while to come to terms with your death. I don’t think they ever really accepted it, they just learned to deal with it. It was hard, you know, there was no body so no closure. I think deep down your Ma knew that you were still alive somewhere. I visited them as much as I could, at least once a week. She never let me leave your house, not until she had force fed me so much food that I almost had to be rolled down the road all the way to my house.’’ You smile at the memories, you hadn’t taken the time to think about your life back then in so long. ‘’They all died of old age, surprisingly your dad was the last one to go.’’

Bucky laughs through his tears. His heart broke that he missed all of it. ‘’He always said that he was going to outlive us all.’’

‘’Well, sorry pops but we outlived you.’’ You say looking up to the ceiling. 

He chuckles and wipes off his tears. ‘’How did it happen? You not getting old I mean.’’

‘’I met Peggy at Steve’s funeral. Before he had left for war they had taken a bunch of blood samples and she told me they wanted to try and recreate the serum, they wanted to test it on me and since I had absolutely nothing to lose I agreed. Nothing happened, at least that’s what we thought. You and Steve got taller, bigger, stronger and faster but for me none of that. It took almost 10 years before we realized that something had happened. I knew I had good genes but not good enough to look 24 at 35. Tony’s dad did some tests and without understanding why, Steve’s blood just got rid of everything that makes someone age and die. I literally can’t die but at least I look young.’’ 

Bucky looks at your features and smiles. ‘’You look exactly the same as when I left.’’

‘’That’s because I am the same. That’s the only super soldier trait I inherited. I’m going to live hundreds of years, alone.’’

‘’Not alone, I’ll be there.’’

‘’Promise?’’ 

He looks into your eyes at the sadness and the pain and he knows he’s never going to be without you again. ‘’Promise.’’ 

You rest your head on his chest and close your eyes, listening to his heartbeat. ‘’I’m sorry that Steve went back in time and chose to live with Peggy instead of choosing to save you.’’

Bucky tightens his arms around you and kisses the top of your head.

‘’What do you think would have happened if you hadn’t left for the army?’’

He takes a minute to think about it, it’s something he remembers thinking about every day that he was away but it’s the first time he’s actually thinking about it since he fell off the train in 1945.

‘’I would have wanted to marry you.’’ He answers, sincerely.

‘’Really?’’ Surprise is written all over your face making Bucky laugh.

‘’That’s what Ma always said. She was 100% sure that you and I would end up getting married. She made it so awkward sometimes because I’d bring my girlfriends home and she’d say ‘’she’s nice but she’s not your girl’’. Every single time.’’ Bucky has a little smile, remembering his mom made him happy. ‘’So yeah, if no one had snatched you up before I could, I would have asked you. Then if your dad hadn’t killed me I would have taken over my dad’s business, bought a little house far enough from your parents’ so your dad wouldn’t have been able to smother me in my sleep and we would have had a few kids especially to make Ma happy. You would have made a cute little housewife.’’

You laugh at the last part and Bucky feels so much relief at the sound. He has been terrified that Steve might have broken you completely. 

‘’That would have been nice.’’ You rest your head on his chest, curled up at his side. ‘’It’s so crazy to think about how our lives changed so drastically in such a short amount of time. I never would have thought that I’d still be alive at this age, especially not looking like this.’’ 

‘’I don’t want to brag but I think you and I are the hottest people over 100 years old.’’

You laugh. ‘’Let’s be honest, we’re the hottest people period.’’

‘’Well I don’t know about me, but you definitely are.’’ 

You look back up to him. ‘’Why wouldn’t you be?’’

He lifts his left hand up. ‘’Because of this. The scars.’’

You frown. ‘’What scars?’’ 

‘’The ones from the arm.’’

‘’Show me.’’ You sit up.

‘’You don’t want to see that, baby, trust me.’’ 

‘’Show me.’’ You say again, tugging at his shirt.

He sighs. ‘’Fine.’’ He sits up and takes off his shirt, looking anywhere but at you. 

Your eyes widen when you see the amount of scar tissue that’s around the shoulder. This was done in the 40s but still, HYDRA was way ahead of its time and you expected them to do a much better job than this. As you take a closer look, your heart sinks in your chest and you feel a little nauseous. Those aren’t scars from when they amputated his arm and put on the metal prosthetic. You lift up your hand to touch the scars with just the tip of your fingers, barely brushing your fingertips on his skin.

‘’Are those-’’

‘’Claw marks.’’ He finishes your question for you, still looking away.

You feel that familiar burn in your eyes, the one that lets you know that tears are coming and the lump in your throat makes it hard to swallow. You honestly feel like you’re going to be sick. 

It’s a rollercoaster of emotions as you go from being completely heartbroken to angry to being beyond pissed off. The tears that are rolling down your cheeks are ones of anger. You get out from under the blankets and get up from your bed, slightly shaking. 

Bucky finally finds the courage to look at you when he notices you getting out of bed. The tears are the first thing he notices on your face but as he watches you pace across the room, your breathing a lot more shallow and faster than a few moments ago, he starts to get worried.

‘’Are you ok?’’ He asks you, his eyes constantly following your body from one side of the room to the other.

When you don’t answer, he gets out of bed and slowly gets closer to you. ‘’Baby, are you ok? Talk to me, please.’’ 

He has never seen you this way and it really worries him. He’s a little relieved when you finally stop moving but the look in your eyes does nothing to appease him. 

‘’Baby-’’

‘’No. I’m not ok. I’m not fucking ok. Look at you.’’ You point at his shoulder. ‘’Look at what they fucking did to you. Sawing off limbs and gluing different ones on like you aren’t a human being. Everything they did to you, that could all have been avoided. All he had to do is catch you.’’ The more you go on, the louder your voice gets. 

‘’He did everything he could-’’

‘’No.’’ You cut him off. ‘’No, he didn’t. He went back in time and voluntarily chose to mess with the timelines. He could have stopped you from going to war, he could have stopped you from getting on that stupid train, he could have kept you safe and you never would have fallen and be left for dead only to be tortured and brain-washed. He could have saved you.’’ Your voice starts to break. ‘’Instead he chose to go back to a girl he barely knew. I don’t care if it was love at first sight. He could have saved you, he could have stopped HYDRA. He chose her over you, over me. After everything. He left like we meant nothing.’’ 

Bucky is quick to catch you as your knees give out from under you. He sits on the floor, holding you close to his chest and rubbing your back to help you calm down. 

You are sobbing and making the most heartbreaking sounds Bucky has ever heard, cries of pain and heartache. It gets to be too much and without even noticing it, he is crying too.

‘’I hate him.’’ You say through your tears.

‘’Me too, baby, me too.’’ He kisses your forehead and wipes his cheeks. 

Bucky holds you until the both of you have completely stopped crying. ‘’Let’s get you to bed.’’ 

He stands back up, still holding you and he carries you back to your bed, gently putting you down on your mattress and putting the covers back on top of you. He looks down at you and his heart clenches at the sight of your eyes. They are swollen and bright red, clearly irritated by the amount of crying you did. Your cheeks are damp and raw from being wet for so long. 

Bucky hurries and joins you under the covers, pulling you close again.

You wrap both of your arms around his left one and hug it close to you. You look up at him, only to find him already looking at you.

‘’Jamie?’’

‘’Yes?’’ 

‘’Can you promise you’ll never leave again?’’

Looking down into your sad eyes, Bucky suddenly has flashbacks, bits and pieces of memories of when you were kids. He has seen this look many times, but still too many if you ask him. It’s all a bit blurry but there’s this one time when you fell and scraped your knee pretty badly when you were trying to keep up with him and Steve as they were running around. You had the same sad look in your eyes because you were in pain but also because you thought they wouldn’t want to be friends with you anymore if you couldn’t run as fast as them. Bucky remembers carrying you as best as he could back to your mom, it took forever but he still did it, and after that day he ran a little slower when you were with them. He also remembers seeing that look in your eyes when you were teenagers and you had gotten your heart broken because some stupid guy had pretended to like you to win a bet. He had held you, much like he did last night, until you fell asleep and a few days later you had helped him clean up and put bandages on his bloody knuckles after hitting that guy for disrespecting you.

There isn’t a lot he wouldn’t do to take all the sadness and the pain away from you so that you’d never look at him like this again. 

‘’I’ll never leave again.’’ 

Like promising something that is absolutely out of his control but he will do everything that he can to never leave your side again. The little smile you give him is definitely worth the risk. 

You move up to give him a kiss on the cheek and move back down. Bucky hadn’t put his shirt back on so you took the opportunity to look at his shoulder, where metal was fused to his skin. You don’t even want to think about what they did to make his skin merge with the metal. Your eyes then move down to the claw marks. These must be from the very beginning, when Bucky was still Bucky and the Winter Soldier hadn’t been born yet. While he was going through all of this, you thought he was dead. If only you had known that he was alive, you would have looked everywhere for him. You know Howard would have helped, SHIELD too. Maybe you could have done something before any more damages were done. You wish Steve would have gone back to where he fell. He would have been able to tell that Bucky was alive or at the very least that someone had gotten him. You’re so grateful to Shuri and King T’Challa for making this new arm for him, an arm for Bucky not the Winter Soldier. You know it means a lot to him too. 

Leaning a little over his arm, you press soft kisses all along the metal and a few more on the scars he put there himself. 

Bucky’s breath hitches in his throat, tensing up. No one has ever come this close to this part of his body aside from his handlers, Shuri and King T’Challa as they created his new arm.

He’s not sure how to react. His first instinct is to make you stop and tell you to stay as far away from that part of him as possible, and his second instinct is to ask you to never stop. The kisses are so soft, they make him melt and almost cry. He can’t remember the last time someone has been this kind and loving towards him.

He doesn’t really need to think about it, he knows the last time was in 1943 when you hugged him goodbye before he left for England.

When you stop, Bucky starts to breathe again and feels himself relax. He’s always scared to hurt someone by accident if they get too close to his arm. 

He cups your cheek in his flesh hand and strokes your cheek with his thumb. ‘’I love you.’’ 

It feels weird to say it out loud after keeping it to himself for so long but it also feels like it was the perfect moment to say it.

Just by looking into his eyes, you don’t even need to ask in what way he meant it. You grab his left hand and lift up his arm to get under it, you curl up against his side and rest your head on his chest as he puts his arm around you. 

‘’I love you, too.’’ You close your eyes.

It might have taken over 70 years before you saw each other again but nothing had changed. A war, a train, HYDRA, Thanos, they all tried to keep you apart but in the end you found your way back to each other and you always will.

Whatever life throws at you, you know you’ll be fine because you’ll get through it the same way you’ve always done.

Together.