Bound To You (Bucky Barnes X OC)

New Neighbor

Four years ago

Jade walked out of her home and saw the door to the apartment across the hall open. 

Great, new neighbors. 

Jade had lived in the building for a year. In that time she had three different neighbors. The first abandoned the apartment after absolutely destroying it, the second was evicted for too many complaints from the other tenants, and the third was arrested after he was convicted of trafficking drugs. As she locked her door, she exhaled with a sigh and wondered what kind of shit show she was in for this time.

When she turned around, she saw a handsome man with blonde hair, deep blue eyes, and the sweetest smile standing behind her. She paused for a moment as she took in his muscular body beneath his tight shirt. His biceps bulged and she could practically see his abs through the thin t-shirt he wore. Her eyes made their way to his face where she found him staring at her with a grin plastered to his face.

"Hi, I'm Steve. Steve Rogers." He said as he extended his hand.

That name sounded familiar. Where had she heard it before?

He seemed nice enough and looked pretty clean cut. Not like the last three tenants. Then again, Ted Bundy was also charming and handsome. Jade carefully reached for his hand and gave it a firm shake.

"Jade O'Hara." She replied softly.

"It's nice to meet you, Jade. That's a lovely name."

"Thanks. I, um, need to get going to work. See you around and welcome to the building." She said half-heartedly, hoping that they didn't run into each other often. She was a loner by choice. She had spent the last nine years of her life alone and she had come to like it that way. She would never be rude if he said hello, her grandmother had taught her better than that, but she wouldn't go out of her way to be friendly with him.

"I'll walk with you, if you don't mind. Gotta grab more boxes."

"Uh, sure."

They began descending the stairs in silence until Steve spoke again.

"So, what do you do for work?"

"I'm a doctor."

"You seem a little young to be a doctor."

"Thanks, I think. I'm twenty-seven, so not that young."

"I didn't mean that to sound rude. It's just impressive is all." Steve rushed out.

"I took as many college courses as I could while I was still in high school, then doubled up on courses and enrolled in every semester that was offered when I attended university. I've wanted to be a doctor since I was a child, so I just went all in."

Why was she telling him all of this? She had just met him. He didn't need to know that.

No attachments. She told herself. It's easier that way.

"What do you do?" She asked, trying to change the subject from her.

"I'm—I'm, uh, Captain America." He stammered as a blush crept across his face. He clearly wasn't comfortable talking about his alter-ego.

"That's why your name sounded familiar." Jade replied without asking anything else about it.

He chuckled at her. He and the other Avengers had saved New York after aliens had invaded the city a few years back. It was kind of hard to keep their identities a secret after that. Most people knew who Captain America was and weren't shy about fawning over him, especially women. Jade's indifference was refreshing to Steve.