still friends

Chapter 11: Permission

February 14th, 2028

Bucky has found that loving someone means you never stop thinking of them, not truly. It means you give all of yourself to them, your body, your thoughts, even your future.

He never thought he'd love someone like that, never thought he'd have a chance. He hadn't ever pictured a future that wasn't with Hydra. A future without a gun in his hand never seemed to be in the cards.

It's jarring to see how different his life had become ever since she'd walked in. It was complex, oozing uncertainty but it was also full of color. A color so bright it blinded him sometimes.

He loves her and it's a fact.

The national day of love was something he'd used to get girls in his younger years. Never actually enjoyed it. Most girls had been simple; they wanted flowers, and to be told they were pretty. And he'd done it, sometimes he'd take two girls on Valentines day dates, and if he was lucky and nice and said just the right things, they'd let him put his hands up their skirts or his tongue down their throats.

That Bucky was such a different man from the one today that carefully wrapped a box in flowery tissue paper.

He absolutely adored Wanda. She had started working a day-job, some office in town where she put data into spreadsheets. Originally she tried being a saleswoman, making cold calls and selling insurance, but too many people recognized her, too many blamed her, and they found it was easier for her to work behind a desk at SWORD headquarters, lightly shaded from the public. She'd made a few friends, two women that didn't know much about Westview or the snap, and while Bucky was certain you had to live under a rock to not know about either of those events, he was happy she was being more outgoing. While she would dress, he had started packing her lunches as he packed his own, and she spent more and more time at his flat, returning to hers every so often.

It was normal and they loved it.

Quietly completing his wrapping, he listened carefully by the door to make sure she was still in the kitchen. Knives scraped as she placed them back into the drawer, and he tiptoed from the bathroom to his side of bed, slipping the wrapped box into his side table drawer.

"So, what does my lovely lady want to do tonight?" He asks, entering the kitchen. "I was thinking either dinner at that new Chinese place, or we get take out from old reliable El Lobo, and make a spread on the floor, binge some Full House."

He smiles broadly, he'd thought about how they could spend valentines day all weekend, and he was anxious to get started. He expected her to laugh, or roll her eyes in amusement at his velocity. What he didn't expect was to see her cellphone pressed to her ear, hand clenched in a fist, sitting stony-still at his dining table. Her eyes were shining, lips pressed tightly as she listened.

"Mhm. Mhm, ok thanks." She dropped the phone to the table, hands fisiting and letting out a frustrated groan.

"Something up?" Bucky asked, pulling his chair out and sitting down.

"That was Layla," she said, and when he gave her a confused look, she added. "From work. Her fiancé dumped her." Bucky nodded sympathetically.

"That's tough." He said, and Wanda nodded vigorously.

"Yeah, it's horrible actually." She hollered, pushing her chair back and marching to the front door. She grabbed her jacket, slinging her purse over her shoulder.

"Uh, where are you going?" Bucky asked, clearing his throat.

"Going to her," Wanda said, dipping to pick up her sneakers. "She's not doing great and we're gonna help her take her mind off things." straightening, she looks at him. "I'm going to sleep at mine tonight because I'll probably be there really late."