Sebastian Stan & Bucky Barnes Imagines

An Encounter Between Strangers - S.S.

Visiting New York City has certainly been a one of a kind experience. There are so many cultures here and so many sights that you've only heard about. You are really enjoying your trip. You had been wanting to go to New York for a while now, for a few reasons. For one, to see the city itself. For another, you knew Seb lived here. And ever since you planned the trip to come here, you knew you had to be prepared if you ever saw him. It's a long shot that you even catch a glimpse of him but you have to at least try, right?

Before you left for New York, you wrote a letter and put it in an envelope with a return address just in case you did see him and got the chance to give it to him. You've been carrying it in your purse the entire trip and scanning the streets pretty much non-stop. But you're getting discouraged. It's nearly the end of your trip and you've not spotted him once. You knew this would happen but it doesn't make it any easier.

You board the subway and take a seat in front of an empty one. Thankfully, yet strangely, the subway is fairly empty. You're dog tired after another day of exploring the city. You sit back in your seat and close your eyes for a while. Your stop isn't far but you need to rest before the walk back to your hotel room.

A few minutes later, the subway comes to a stop and the doors open. Your eyes remain closed, not really caring who sees you. The sound of shuffling shoes enters the subway car, disturbing the slight silence that had fallen between the passengers already on board. The sound of a single pair of footsteps can be heard right in front of you before a brief pause. You hear the person sit in the empty seat in front of you and you suddenly feel kind of self conscious. You open your eyes and sigh as you skip past the person's face--afraid to meet their gaze if they're staring at you--and check your phone for the time, just trying to find something for your hands to do. You turn off the screen and push it under your thigh before lifting your head up. But then, your eyes catch something truly surprising. This never should have happened. The odds were against you but here he is, two feet in front of you.

You quickly dart your eyes away while Sebastian's not looking your way. You try to keep it normal and calm yourself for a moment. Then you turn your eyes back to him. He meets your gaze and you smile softly, out of politeness. He smiles back then looks away, giving no indication that he knows you recognize him. You look away, not wanting to stare, and unzip your purse. You pull out the letter you had been saving for this exact moment. You look at it hopefully and look up at him. His head is still turned to the front of the car. Nonchalantly, you hold out the letter. He sees it from the corner of his eye and looks back to you then looks down at the envelope outstretched in front of him. He takes it from you and examines it a second.

"You don't have to open it now," you say slightly hushed. He snaps his head back up to see you giving him a warm smile. He returns it with his own and you look away. He holds onto the letter and for the rest of the ride you don't look in his direction and he doesn't look in yours. The air is surprisingly comfortable between you. That was your goal, after all; to eliminate any uneasiness in the situation at all.

Your stop comes and you get up from your seat and walk past Seb like nothing happened. Once you step off the subway, you smile to yourself, unable to contain it any longer. You did it. You gave him the letter that would explain everything you wanted him to know and there was no screaming. There was no freaking out. There was no fangirling. There was no autograph request. There was no scene. There was no attention grabbed. Simply an encounter on the subway between strangers.

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