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Setting: 1940s

"That's Sergeant James Barnes. He's a real catch, isn't he?" A voice snapped you out of your thoughts.

You'd been staring at your ex-boyfriend Bucky for more than five minutes, and one of the other nurses had finally noticed. You'd cleaned up just about every wound on every soldier that had come through today, but you didn't have the great fortune of tending to Bucky. So, you'd bandaged up another soldier and sent him on his way before spying on the handsome man while he talked one of the other nurse's head off.

"Guess so." You shrugged, looking over at the blonde nurse, Anna, as you folded clean towels on the table in front of you. "I actually know him; it's been months since I last saw him, though."

You looked back over to where Bucky had been sitting on an infirmary table, only to see him gone and replaced with another soldier.

"You know Sergeant Barnes? And you never told me?" Anna raised her eyebrows, smacking you with a clean wash rag.

"Oh, hush, that boy has probably forgotten all about me, anyways. He didn't exactly leave Brooklyn on the best of terms with me." You admitted, letting out a chuckle as the wash rag hit you in the arm.

Only your laugh faded as you heard a familiar voice behind you.

"Now who's fault was that, doll? You broke up with me, 'member?" Bucky stood behind you, a good foot taller than you and wearing the cutest pout you ever laid eyes on.

You glanced over at Anna who was smiling like a little school girl, then looked up at the soldier towering over you.

"Actually, I don't remember." You said, swallowing your nerves.

"Well, I remember perfectly. You 'ccused me of cheating on you, then you said you never wanted to see me again."

"And I meant every last word." You folded your arms over your chest, trying not to crack under the pressure of his baby blue eyes staring down at you.

"Oh, really? They why have you been staring at me the past ten minutes? Hm? If you never wanted to see me again, wouldn't you just look away?" Bucky smirked as a blush crept up on you.

"I—I," you stumbled over your own words, caught red-handed by Bucky himself.

"Exactly. Now, how about you and I let this lovely lady get back to work, and we can take a walk and talk a little?" He suggested, giving Anna a-little-too-nice smile.

"Oh, right. Nice to meet you, Sergeant!" Anna waved, nearly tripping over her own feet as she turned to look back at Bucky after leaving.

Bucky waved kindly before his eyes flickered back to you—only you.

"Shall we?" He held out his arm for you to take, adjusting his uniform hat on his head with his free hand.

You hesitantly linked your arm with his and started walking alongside of him, looking up at him every few seconds to see if he was going to start a conversation first.

"Y'know," he began, "I didn't think I'd see you again."

"Well," you said, only to be interrupted by him.

"But, I hoped I would." He smirked, looking at you sideways.

You shook your head, a bashful smile forming on your face.

"Well, would you look at that?" Bucky piped up, "She smiles!"

You rolled your eyes, "Yeah, well, you always were pretty good at making me smile."

"Not the day you dumped me." He said, his own smile fading, though he didn't look too hurt.

Even if he was, he'd never tell you. He wouldn't show it, either. He was always good at masking how he felt.

"You kissed Lucy Haynes at your going away party." You nearly snapped, the memory still bothering you as much as it did the day you heard he did it.

He stopped walking, though he kept his arm locked with yours, "That's why you broke up with me?"

"Yeah, most girls don't appreciate their boyfriend of two years kissing drunk blondes the day before they leave for war." You rolled your eyes, trying to pull your arm away from his; he wouldn't release his hold on you, though.

His eyes softened drastically, "I never kissed Lucy."

You shook your head, "You're lying; Steve told me what happened."

"Steve?" Bucky scoffed, "I can't believe he told you that lie." He seemed offended that you believed he cheated, but even more hurt by the fact that Steve was the one who had told you that.

"Wait, what? Steve said Diana saw you—"

"Who the hell is Diana?" He asked.

"She was the prom queen our junior year, she—"

"She hated my guts because I didn't go to prom with her; I went with you that year." He shook his head, pulling his arm out of yours to place his hands on each of your upper arms.

You swallowed hard, looking up at him apologetically, "So, you didn't—"

"Cheat? No. No way. I loved you, (Y/N). I never wouldn't jeopardized what we had for someone else. You were the only girl I ever had eyes for." He admitted, his jaw muscle twitching as if he was scared you still wouldn't believe him.

"I. . .I don't know what to say. I'm so sorry. I should've given you the chance to explain." You sighs, shaking your head, "I ruined everything because I believed a lie."

Bucky pulled you into his chest, squeezing you gently against his body. You hadn't hugged him in months, and that familiar feeling of comfort and security came back as if it had never left.

"I'm sorry I didn't put up more of a fight for you, doll. But when you said you never wanted to see my face again, it took everything in me not to break down." Bucky sighed into your hair, closing his eyes.

The two of you stood there for quite a while, just hugging and thinking about all of the time and worries that had been wasted over nothing. Your relationship was over because of a lie, and you didn't want to let go of Bucky in fear of losing him again.

"Barnes!" A deep, male's voice caused you and Bucky to jump apart.

"Private Simmons, I—" Bucky stuttered, standing straight and tall as he faced one of the commanding officers.

"These nurses are specialized in taking care of you and your comrades, Barnes—to satisfy your health needs, not your personal needs." Private Simmons said firmly, looking between you and Bucky as your face turned beat red.

"Sir, it is nothing like that. She's an old friend, Private. I was just happy to see her again." Bucky said, not dating to look away from Private Simmons.

A low grumble sounded from the man's throat as he kept his glare on Bucky, "Well, let's not get too 'happy' there, Sergeant. If you're bandaged up, get back to base. Immediately." He said before turning on his heels and disappearing into one of the medical tents.

You let out the laugh you'd been holding in ever since Simmons had said 'happy.' Bucky only let out a low chuckle, and a relieved sigh as the man disappeared from out of sight.

"Alright, alright." Bucky finally broke the laughter as he took your hand in his, "Listen."

"I'm listenin'," your face grew serious.

"I know that it's not a good time to make any in-the-moment decisions, but I just want you to know that I still have feelings for you. Feelings that never left." He said, giving your hand a squeeze.

You nodded understandingly, "Bucky, I—"

"I know what you're gonna say, we broke up, I get it. But this—this," he looked around and back to you, referencing towards you two meeting again, "is our second chance. Now that you know the truth—"

"Bucky, the war isn't over. You'll be gone by sunset." You reminded him, looking over at the medical tents as the remainder of the 107th were already gathering their belongings.

Bucky nodded, his jaw clenching, "I know, (Y/N). But this has gotta be a sign, sweetheart. And you can't ignore a sign this big." He pleaded with you, causing your heart to ache.

"I'm not ignoring it, Bucky, but I'm being realistic here. Who knows how long this war'll last? I just think getting back together now would hurt the both of us—waiting, only being able to write letters back and forth. . ." You trailed off as you saw the disappointment in his eyes.

"You're right." He finally admitted, his eyes lowering to his feet.

"But hey," you reached up, tilting his chin to look at you, "once you win this war, I want you to give me a call, okay? You hear me?"

You wished it didn't have to be like this; you'd missed Bucky so much, but you'd learned to live without him. Letting him back into your life only to watch him leave again would be devastating, and unfair to the both of you. You only hoped that he'd make it back and maybe the two of you could work things out and try to be together again.

Bucky's lips turned upwards into the hint of a smile as he pressed a sweet, short kiss to your cheek.

"You got it, doll."