Full circle

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James' POV

Having Sarah in my arms again felt like I could finally breathe again after being underwater for too long. I kissed her deeply, tasting her sweet lips as I breathed in her perfume. I'd missed her terribly the whole five days she'd been gone. We'd FaceTimed, but that hadn't been the same as having her physically in my arms.

"In case you didn't know, I'm crazy about you, doll."

She smiled widely, "In case you didn't know – I'm just as crazy about you, James. I missed you so much."

"I'm here now and I'm not going anywhere for a while."

"Good," she grinned. "We better go to the kitchen before they come looking for us."

I kissed her one more time, not letting her go until we were both gasping for breath. "Lead the way, doll." I linked fingers with her, smiling at her bemused expression. "I don't really remember being here yet but I know I've been here."

We climbed the stairs after we'd finished eating, our bags slung over our shoulders. I rebounded off of Steve's hard muscled back when he stopped short after entering what I assumed was our room.

"What's wrong?" I asked, brushing past him. "Did we miss our room?"

"No, I just wasn't expecting different furniture. Last time we all three slept on two smaller beds pushed together. Sarah said she'd picked out some new furniture for our room, but I wasn't expecting to see the same bed she has back at her apartment."

"Why not? It's a comfortable bed." I threw my bag on the bed and started unpacking. We were going to be here until Monday, so I figured I'd better settle in and find some pajamas to wear.

Steve shook his head at me. "It's an expensive bed."

"I don't care. It's still the best bed I've ever slept in."

Steve sighed, but dropped the subject, unpacking his bag, too. "I'm going to go shower, Buck. I know you took one already while I was in that last meeting."

"Sure. Can you give me the nickel tour first so I know what's what?"

"Yeah," he said with a wistful smile. "I keep waiting for it all to click, Buck." His expectant expression said that he was waiting for me to remember something.

"I know, Steve. There's something about this place. It's like my memory's just on the other side of a door. I know it's there, but I don't know what it's about."

Steve pulled me into a hug and kissed my cheek like he usually did when we were alone but closer to my lips than normal before abruptly letting me go to grab his shower bag and toothbrush. I stood there as a memory hit me of the last time he'd kissed my cheek like that when we were here – and what came after. The strange feeling that I was missing something was finally gone because I remembered how I felt about him.

Steve looked back at me when he reached the doorway, raising an eyebrow at me since I hadn't moved yet. "You all right, Buck? You look upset."

"Why didn't you just kiss me, punk?" I said, pulling him in for a long overdue kiss, only breaking apart when we heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Steve's eyes held my own and he was close enough I could see the green flecks in their cobalt depths.

"Because you didn't remember. I'm not going to force you to feel something you don't, Buck. I love you – always have, always will."

"

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