Neighbors

Old Friend

"I remember you telling me about that! How was it?" you asked as a familiar knock came to your door. As your old friend from high school continued on the other side of the phone, you couldn't just yell out to him, so you got up off of the couch to let your stray super soldier in. The one who had a key, knew how to use it, and still knocked on your door when he wanted to come over. 'I don't wanna intrude, or catch you off guard,' he'd reasoned, so you settled; when he knocked, you yelled back. Well, when you could.

"... and no matter how many times that mom yanked him away, I swear, I thought he was going in," she admitted, rambling about some story from her and her husband's visit to the Lincoln Memorial. When in DC... You laughed along with her as you opened your door, immediately met with a bright smile and Bucky's shining blue eyes, and you noticed the bag of fruit in his hand as he followed in behind you.

"That would've been a fun story to retell later," you started, closing the door and turning around to find Bucky slipping his free hand around your waist as he pulled you close. The hand you didn't have your phone in instinctively latched around his neck, and he watched you closely as he waited for you to finish talking. "Can you imagine? 'Oh, the trip was great, aside from having to fish little Jimmy out of the Reflecting Pool'." He gave you a quizzical look as you finished your statement, but it didn't last long, swooping in to steal a kiss from you as laughter came through the speaker.

"Hi doll," he whispered, and you hummed in amusement against his lips as he kissed you one more time. Your hand lingered on his shoulders as he leaned back to set his fruits on the counter, pulling you with him.

"Oh my gosh, and I wish you could've made it so you would have seen Gabe, he almost fell over trying to look all the way up the Washington Monument." You giggled lightly at the idea of her husband's antics. The man in your arms turned back to you and nodded at the phone in your hand.

"Who're you talking to?" he nearly mouthed. You tilted the phone away from your mouth ever so slightly to respond.

"It's Bella," you answered, and he nodded in understanding before he curled back into you and tucked himself in the crook of your neck.

"Who's there with you? I can let you go if you've got company!" You felt him smile against your skin as he heard the similar question echo back from the other end.

"You're fine, James just walked in. My other job is being his entertainment in the afternoons, so he's asking who stole me away." Bella laughed with you as you reacted to the vibranium finger that poked your side, flinching impossibly closer to him.

"Oh! I remember why I called! I keep forgetting that one of our ticket reservations got moved to Saturday night, so we can't make it to swing dancing with you guys. Which sucks, I really wanted to go, it sounded so fun!" She lamented, and you couldn't stop yourself from slouching a little in your disappointment, the strong arms around you taking your extra weight without hesitation. You opened your mouth to respond, but paused when Bucky lifted himself to your ear with a purpose.

"What are they doing tomorrow? Morelli's has dance nights all week," he offered, lingering there to place kisses just under your ear. Little shit... he was at least being discreet, but he knew how much you loved that spot, and no doubt took pride in the extra pause you needed to compose yourself enough to relay the information.

"That's actually perfect, we kinda had a gap in our plans that night. And I'll have a chance to wear the dress someone insisted I didn't need to pack." You giggled as you heard her husband grumble something in the background before the two of you said your goodbyes, and Bucky stood up to look at you properly, ready for your attention to shift back to him.