The Third Soldier 〰 Bucky Barnes ON HOLD

Chapter 3

*flashback*

June 15th 1937 was probably the hottest day Charlotte, Steve and Bucky had experienced in their life. They'd decided to go to the beach like almost every other sensible human in Brooklyn, but because every one was there, it was busy. Very busy. When the trio first walked onto the beach, they knew it would be chaos. They could easily lose each other if they weren't careful which meant trouble for all of them.

After searching, they finally found a spot to place their blanket and bags. Bucky and Steve were wearing white board shorts whereas Charlotte was wearing a black and white polka dot one-piece. Bucky and Steve just unbuttoned their shirts and were ready to swim, but Charlotte had to take off her dress before she could go in the water. When they were in their swimwear, Charlotte dragged the boys back from going into the water before they had any sun cream on.

"Ah ah ah, where do you think you boys are going?" She scolded them.

"Into the water, doll" Bucky charmed, hoping to get away quickly.

"I don't think so, not without protection" she waved the bottle in front of them.

"Fine" Steve sigh while taking the bottle and squirting some in his hand. Charlotte smiled as he rubbed it in, then looked up at Bucky who was staring at the bottle in his hand like it was an alien.

"Well, Buck. Stevie's doing it, so can you"

"But doll..."

"Don't 'doll' me, Barnes. Your ma'll kill me if I don't get you to put on cream"

"Fine, I don't want you dead" he smiled while squirting some into his own hand. While Charlotte was trying to get Bucky to wear sun cream, Steve had almost finished and only needed his back doing.

"Er, Char. Can you put some cream on my back?"

"Sure" she agreed and took the bottle of Steve and rubbed it into his back. Mean while, Bucky was doing the same and only needed his back doing.

"Doll, can you do me?" He asked and smirked at Charlotte. She rolled her eyes while walking towards the man to rub sun cream on his back. Minutes later they were all creamed up and could do what ever they wanted. Steve and Bucky ran off into the water and played with the younger children who were excited by the older men. Bucky had a young boy on his shoulders and looked over to Charlotte who was relaxing in the sun. He caught her eye and gave her a wink, turning her white cheeks a rosy red.

The boys came back after 10 minutes of messing about in the water and grabbed a towel each to dry off. With a towel wrapped around his shoulders, Bucky sat down closely next to Charlotte. An arm quickly draped around her shoulders and she gave Bucky a look and an eye roll. Steve had just plonked himself down on her other side while looking over the beach and the water.

"Hey doll" Bucky smirked at Charlotte.

"Hey Buck" she replied never looking at his face. When he realised she wasn't going to look at him, he fell silent and looked at the beach and the different groups of people who crowded round different spots. There was something peaceful to Bucky just sat there with Charlotte and Steve. He could sit with them all day and never get bored.

The trio stayed at the beach for a good 3 hours before Charlotte started to doze off on Bucky's shoulder while they were sat down. Bucky quickly shook her awake and asked if she wanted to leave. A small nod was her reply as she stood up while Bucky and Steve followed shortly. They collected their belongings, Charlotte put her dress on again and the boys buttoned up their shirts and then made their way through the crowds back to the street. It was a 30 minute walk back to their apartment building but it was filled with chatter and giggles.

Wait, wait, wait. So, you dated someone who you later found out was your cousins girlfriend" Charlotte said through tears.

"Yeah, I couldn't believe it"

"Did you tell Isaac about it?" Steve wondered.

"Of course. I couldn't let him go out with a flapper"

"Bucky! You can't say that!"

"It's true though" Steve agreed.

"Don't back him up." And that's how it went. They talked about one thing and swiftly moved onto the next. They weren't far from the apartment buildings after their conversation about Bucky's cousin's 'flapper' of a girlfriend and when they finished talking about it, they were there. They all walked in together and up the thousands of stairs up to their homes. Steve and Charlotte were in the same apartment with Steve's mother, Sarah, who adopted Charlotte when her father died. Their house was first on the way up, so Bucky left his friends with a hug and a goodbye.

Once Steve was in his room, Charlotte snuck out of their apartment and went to Bucky who was only at the stairs on his way up.

"Hey Bucky!" She called after him. His head snapped round when he heard her voice call his name. He walked over to her while she walked towards him as well.

"What's the matter?" He asked when he was close to her.

"I wanna tell you something"

"Okay, go for it doll" Bucky smiled widely at her.

"Erm, well, you see. I, erm, I li-like you, like like-like you" she choked out.

"Char, why didn't yo-" he started.

"I know what you're gonna say, 'I'm sorry but I don't like you back and I can't and I don't want to hurt your feelings and you know I'm sorry but that's just ho-'" she was cut off by Bucky pulling her into him by her waist and his lips locking onto her's. She was shocked at first, but settled into it when she realised that he liked her back. 

Bucky was first to pull away and when he did, he placed his forehead on hers. He smiled at her and she smiled back, neither of them wanting that moment - their moment - to end.

"I like you too, heck, I think I love you Charlotte Elizabeth Age" he confessed as Charlotte smiled like a schoolgirl.

"I think I love you too, James Buchanan Barnes" he returned the smile before leaning back in and capturing her lips once again.

*flashback end*

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Was her kiss with Bucky what she couldn't remember? Or was it Bucky calling his cousin's girlfriend a 'flapper'? Whatever it was she remembered, or did she?

-MrsEvanStan 💕