In the Beginning
"Steve...come on!" twelve-year-old Amy called out as they passed through a park on their way home. She had to get home before they cornered them. The sooner they passed the park, the sooner they would be to their home.
"Coming," her older brother said, struggling to keep up, wheezing with every step. They'd been running for several minutes, and his lungs protested as they ached.
"Is your breathing okay?" she asked, turning around quickly to see Steve jogging after her.
"Yeah...I'm...fine," Steve wheezed, trying to get more air in his lungs as they hurried.
"Hey, look!" a couple of schoolyard bullies shouted.
Amy rolled her eyes, hastening her steps as she grabbed her brother. "Go away, Billy," she said as she marched on.
"If it isn't scrawny Stevie..."
"Leave us alone," Amy said again, getting between her big brother and the group of bullies.
"Is your baby sister gonna fight your battles, uh Rogers?"
"Steve...Let's just go," Amy said, pulling on his hand to get him to keep moving.
"Not so fast," Billy sneered, blocking her path.
"Hey!" Amy shouted as the boys tipped her books over into the dirt, pushing her down with them. Steve gave a battle cry, launching himself at bullies in defense of his sister. Amy saw his tiny fists swinging as she scrambled to her knees. "Steve, stop it! Stop!" Nearby, a boy the same age as Steve with dark curly hair heard a small, but loud voice shouting and grunting of a fight. James Buchannan Barnes often loved fights. He walked towards the noise, finding a scrawny and sickly-looking kid fighting off three bigger boys and a girl with blonde pigtails hitting one of them with her book quite viciously. He had to admit, the girl had balls. "STOP. IT. LET. HIM. GO!"
"Hey!" he shouted, racing over. Grabbing one, he brought back his fist, punching him in the face.
Amy gasped at the newcomer as he fought off the bullies. Turning around, she headed to her brother, kicking one of the bullies between his legs, and shoving him away from Steve. She watched as the other boy scared the rest of them off, and politely gathered her books for her. "Are you okay?" he asked, handing her the books.
Amy nodded mutely, staring at the boy. He had the prettiest pair of crystal blue eyes and curly black hair. Amy's face felt flushed as she stared at him, her little heart pounding quicker in her chest as she took the books and hugged them to her chest. "I'm fine...Steve!" Bucky turned to the boy who looked very red in his face as he coughed. His breaths came out in forceful wheezes. "You shouldn't have done that," she sighed to the boy, digging into her backpack.
"Is your little brother okay?" Bucky asked innocently.
Amy and Steve turned to look at the boy, Amy breaking out into laughter as Steve's face turned bright red as he struggled to breathe, as well as in embarrassment. "I'm not her little brother! I'm her older brother!"
"Sorry...She's just...."
"Bigger than me, I know," Steve sighed as he continued to wheeze. He smiled at the boy. "Thanks for the help though. I'm Steve Rogers. And this is my little sister Amelia."
"Hi," Amy waved, finding Steve's inhaler and the glass vial of medicine. She expertly poured the medication into the inhaler, giving it to Steve.
"Hi. I'm James...James Buchannan Barnes...but you can call me Bucky."
"How old are you?" Steve asked.
"Thirteen."
"Me too," Steve said, smiling. "Amy is twelve."
"Maybe I can walk you two home so you won't get into any more trouble."
"Amy always finds her way into trouble," Steve teased.
"Steve," Amy whined blushing. "It's not me. It's Steve."
From that moment, Steve and Bucky became almost like brothers, spending all their time together before school, at school, after school, and even on the weekends. Amy often tagged along but was always treated as a third wheel and a nuisance. Who wanted their baby sister to follow them? Bucky always saw her as a younger sister.
The following Monday, Bucky showed up at their door to walk the siblings to school. Knocking on the door, he was surprised to see Amy open the door, wearing a pair of saddle shoes, a black skirt, and a dark blue blouse "Hi...You can come on in. Steve is getting ready for school."
Bucky followed her in to see a modest and very small house. "Where's your mom and dad?" he asked, not seeing a single adult.
"Mom is still at work. She's a nurse. Our dad died in the war."
"Oh...My dad died in the war too. It's just me, my ma, and my sister."
"Our mom works nights. So, it's just me and Steve. She works a lot for our food and Steve's medicine."
"What's wrong with him?" Bucky asked as Amy went to the small mirror in the dining room and began to braid her hair. "He's..."
"Sickly?" Amy sighed. "We don't know. He has bad lungs. I think I read in a medical book that he might have a disease called asthma. That's why he has that medication and inhaler."
"Hey, Bucky," Steve said, coming out of his room and smiling at his new friend.
"Hey. Ready for school?"
"Yeah..."
Amy raced out of the small apartment and began to skip down the stairs. She walked ahead of the boys as they walked to school. Upon seeing her friends, she waved. "Bye, Steve. Bye, Bucky!"
"Why were you and Steve walking with Bucky Barnes?" her best friend, Nancy, asked.
"Yeah," her other friend, June, asked.
"He rescued Steve and me from Billy and his bullies Friday. He and Steve really became friends. They basically spent the entire weekend together."
"He's so handsome," Nancy sighed.
Amy couldn't deny that as she blushed. But she knew that Bucky was also flirting with the other girls at school. As the three grew older, their friendship strengthened. By the time Amy reached fourteen, she began to blossom into a young lady. Other guys began to notice, which irked Steve. Bucky, on the other hand, saw the tiny details in Amy and had a weird feeling in the pit of his stomach every time they were all together. Bucky began to see her in a whole new light. Amy was quite beautiful. She was smart, funny, sassy, and could hold her own in a fight.
By the time she was sixteen, she had grown breasts, and her body had changed. By the time she was sixteen, her mother died of consumption. The funeral was a small affair. Thank goodness for Bucky and his family always making sure they had food. The bank had foreclosed on their house, and she and Steve got a small apartment to share with their mother's measly savings. By the time Amy reached seventeen, she had graduated from high school and was planning on leaving for an all-girls college.
"What are you gonna do over there?" Bucky asked, laying on her bed as she packed her suitcase.
Amy shrugged. "I don't know, Buck. Learn things, be independent."
"Why not stay here?" he asked, having a bad feeling in his stomach. He sat up on his elbows, his blue eyes tracking her every move and every curve of her body. He didn't want her to leave. The thought of her leaving was making him sick. It was bad enough not being at school with her the past year to push the boys away. As she grew, she attracted the opposite sex. Steve hated it. Nobody was good enough for her. To Bucky, it drove him wild. Seeing her with different boys made him angry and uncomfortable. Amy was quite beautiful and everybody knew it. And she was smart, confident, and very proud.
"Because I don't want to be a housewife at the age of seventeen, or get married, or have that life!" she argued. "My mom worked as a single mother. I want to be more...She taught me to be brave and strong. I owe that to her." Amy sighed, zipping up her suitcase, and faced her crush. "Look...I'll be home for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the summer. It's only a couple of cities away."
"I'll miss you," Bucky sighed, staring at her.
Amy smiled, going over to give him a hug that was meant to be innocent. After all, Bucky was one of her best friends. Bucky hugged her back, smiling. He frowned, slowly tightening the hug. Amy automatically sensed the change and moved her arms, one wrapping tightly into the fabric of his shirt at his waist, and the other at the base of his neck as she buried her nose into his neck. Her eyes closed tightly as she inhaled his scent. He always smelled like fresh rain and the cologne he always wore. One of Bucky's hands gripped her waist, and the other threaded itself into her long blonde hair as he buried his nose into her hair. To him, she always smelt like flowers. "I'll miss you too," she muttered against his neck, pressing a small kiss to it.
Both separated, staring at one another. Bucky's left hand moved to brush a piece of hair from her face, his eyes going to her lips. Amy leaned closer and was about to close her eyes as Bucky began to close his...
"Hey! Are you guys ready? You'll miss your train!" Steve shouted.
Amy and Bucky jumped apart, not looking at each other. "Coming, Steve!" Amy said, retreating from Bucky. She grabbed her suitcase and walked a generous distance away from Bucky.
At the train stop, Amy hugged Steve, peppering him with kisses. "Promise me you'll write. And call. I'll call the first chance I get. And don't get into fights!"
"I'll try not to," Steve smiled, hugging his little sister back. "I'm so proud of you. Mom would be too."
Amy turned to Bucky, turning serious. "Watch him."
"Of course," Bucky smirked.
"Thank you," Amy said, taking her bags. "I love you guys."
Amy did come home for the holidays, but Bucky often found himself working while Amy was home. Amy on the other hand lived her best life. She loved her school and her new friends. She often went out with a group of girls, drank fruity drinks, and danced with college boys that were across the town. As Amy enjoyed her first year of college, she found her first love...Archeology. She loved studying older things and things from other cultures. She even found out that she could get her doctorate and become a Professor. "Ms. Rogers," her professor called out as she was leaving one of her classes.
"Yes, Professor Jones?"
"You have shown great promise. I have an expedition in May where I'm taking several students. I want you to be one of them."
"Really? Where?"
"Indonesia," he grinned.
Stars shined in her eyes. "Sign me up!"
So, instead of going home for holidays and breaks, she traveled to exotic places, digging for lost artifacts. She often wrote and called Steve and Bucky to tell her of her adventures and her studies. By the time she was twenty, she worked up a tan, wore trousers, and her wild and carefree spirit grew. But it was her birthday, it was the summer, and she was returning home since she missed Christmas.
She thought that going home was going to be like a normal home visit, but her life would be forever changed on a sunny Saturday when the Rogers was getting ready to head to Coney Island with their best friend, Bucky Barnes. Bucky made his way into their small apartment, seeing his still very small friend, smiling at him. "Hey...You ready?" the twenty-two year old Bucky asked. Bucky had grown into a handsome young man. He was tall, with broad shoulders, hands calloused from work, and still an easy smile that held so many secrets. He was still strongly confident.
Steve on the other hand...He looked very much like he did when they first met. Small, skinny, sickly...It hurt Bucky to see him like this and made him extremely worried and sick every time Steve took ill. He often prayed that God wouldn't take his best friend away from him.
"Yeah. Thanks for helping me with the tickets. Amy is gonna be thrilled."
"She is? How is she, by the way? I haven't seen her forever."
"Good...I can't believe she's turning twenty-one!"
"Seems like yesterday she was leaving...Where was she the last time?"
"I think somewhere in Africa...She says she's gonna apply for the doctorate program. Her professor is writing her a good recommendation since she's a woman. At least she's not dating guys over there."
That sent a twisted feeling in Bucky's stomach. Sure he had been with other girls, but his mind always drifted back to Amy. Even though he hasn't seen her in a few years, he still remembered the last time he saw her. That day she left on the train and they almost kissed before Steve interrupted them. "Yeah..." he chuckled half-heartedly.
"That's why I agreed to let her go over there in the first place. AMY! BUCKY'S HERE!"
"Coming!" Amy called back. Bucky could hear light and quick feet coming from the back bedroom. "Hold your horses, Steve. Coney Island will still be there."
Turning around, Bucky knew that his life had changed for the better. There stood a sun-kissed goddess, wearing a pair of red shorts and a blue and white striped shirt. Bucky felt his heart stop when she smiled at him. Her hair had grown longer, reaching to the middle of her back. Her breasts were full, and her legs were long and shapely. She wasn't the teenage girl anymore. She was a woman.
What Bucky didn't know was that Amy had always had a mild crush on Bucky since he saved her and Steve those years ago. But here he was, in a dark blue button-up, with a white tank top underneath, and blue denim trousers that hugged his lean hips and his backside. He was a man now. Steve noticed the looks between them and soured. There was one thing Steve always told Bucky. His sister was off limits.
"Bucky?" Amy smiled, rushing over to him to give him a hug. "Hi."
"Hi," he breathed out as she hugged him. "You're all grown up!" Bucky inwardly winced. What a dunce!
Amy giggled, pushing her hair behind her ears as she blushed. "Yeah...That's what happens when you get older. You look good."
"So do you."
"We should get going if we want to make the bus," Steve grunted, his tiny frame pushing his way through.
"Yeah."
Steve made sure to sit between the two on every ride he could. By the time they made it home, he passed out in his room, exhausted from the heat and nervously trying to get between his best friend and his sister. Amy took off his shoes and socks, tucking them away neatly before pulling his blanket over him. Giving him a gentle kiss on the cheek, she left the room, closing the door behind her. "Steve's asleep," Amy told Bucky, realizing that they were alone.
"Too bad...He missed the cake," Bucky grinned.
"Cake?!" Amy said, trying to keep her voice down.
"Ma made it...I helped," he smiled, showing her the double chocolate cake on the table.
"Yum...How is your mom? I miss her and Rebecca," Amy asked as Bucky stuck a single candle in the center of the cake and lit it.
"They miss you two. Rebecca has a beau. They did like the jewelry you sent them." Bucky pushed her cake towards her. "Blow it out."
Amy quickly did and sat at the table as Bucky cut her a slice of cake. "I couldn't resist. Thank you. What about you? What have you been doing?"
"You know...Boxing. Training. Doing the art classes with Steve..."
"You any good?"
"No," he chuckled. "Not like Steve."
"He's so good. He could be a cartoonist! Like that Walt Disney!"
"So, what have you been doing?"
"Learning about different cultures, traveling to these exotic and dangerous places. Finding lost artifacts and delivering them to museums. It's amazing, Buck. Next year, I can apply for the doctorate program."
"So, you'll be a doctor," Bucky said, a twisted feeling reappearing in his stomach. It was at that moment that he realized that he wasn't good enough for her. She was going to be a doctor, and here he was...a struggling boxer and awful artist.
"Hopefully..." Amy said.
"You're amazing..." Bucky breathed out, leaning forward. "You've always been the smartest person I've known. I'm so proud of you."
"Really?" Amy breathed out, glad to hear that Bucky supported her ambitions and dreams. "Buck...That means the world coming from you." He was one of her best friends and his opinion meant everything to her. Leaning forward in her chair, her eyes went to his lips as he went to hers. Both wanted to cross that line they formed three years ago.
"Amy?! I don't feel good!" Steve called out.
Amy pulled back, breathing heavily in disappointment. "Coming, Steve!" Amy said. "I should probably..."
"Yeah," Bucky said, getting up.
"I'll be here for a couple of weeks until the new semester starts. Maybe we can catch up, later?"
"Yeah...I'll give you a call."
"Yeah."
"Night, Amy."
"Night," Amy smiled, closing the door behind him.
Amy took a moment to rest her heated skin against the door and went to Steve's room who was hugging a trash can. "I think I ate too much cotton candy."
Amy nodded, sitting behind him as she wiped away the sweat that was building on his forehead. "That and the heat..."
"Did you have fun?" Steve asked. That was all that mattered to him. That his sister had the best time.
Amy nodded, remembering how close she and Bucky were to kissing. "Yeah...I did..."
"I'm glad," he smiled.
"Go to sleep, big brother. I'm gonna go get you some seltzer to help settle your stomach."
That night, Amy lay in her bed, thinking of her almost kiss with Bucky. A couple of miles away, Bucky thought about the almost kiss too, both of them staying awake, and overthinking things. What a mess they just got their selves into.