*Akilina's POV*

I feel like the heat in my cheeks is just always there now. It's permanent, unchanging, at least as long as James Barnes is near me. Thankfully the cafeteria provides a slight distraction from the constant sex magnet that is Bucky. Eggs, bacon, sausage, waffles, all of this goes in my Styrofoam container with a splash of syrup. I feel James's eyes on me and he copies me, just with about four times the amount of food. Without even asking, I start heading back to the room. Bucky's chuckle follows me and every door I come to magically opens, so I know he's alright with my choice. Once again, we sit on the floor in my room and eat together.

"So? What's the verdict? Are pancakes or waffles better?" I ask playfully, trying to keep my word to be more relaxed around him. After swallowing, smirking, and looking up at me, he points to a sliver of pancake he hasn't eaten yet. My eyebrows go up. "Pancakes, really?" I affirm. He nods.

"They're fluffier. Plus, I remember making pancakes for Steve when we lived together." James smiles at the memory and continues stuffing what food he has left into his mouth. I hum in interest.

"You've got to tell me about that. Seems like you both must have had a crazy time together." I wonder aloud and his smirk grows. Obviously, I'm right. I'm not sure if I can even handle the stories of the shenanigans of Captain America and his best friend. But hey, I'm a sucker for punishment. "What story did you just think of?" I ask, eager to see him smile more.

"Well, Steve's mom was a great cook. She could turn anything delicious and that was an ability Steve never learned from her." He pauses to smile wide, then continues. "It wasn't long after his mom died. The punk finally agreed to let me help him out. We started living together. Now, his mom would make him pancakes, these great, fluffy pancakes with cinnamon in them." He groans, remembering the taste of them and my eyes widen. This is the most I've heard him speak since meeting him. Other than him reading the poem. "I guess he was missing her and decided to try to make some for the both of us. I walked up behind him and got a pancake, a hot and rubbery pancake, on my head." I laugh, absolutely loving the picture. He smiles when I do. "Steve doubled over, laughing his ass off. And then I couldn't even be mad anymore. It was the first time he had laughed since his mom's funeral..." Bucky trails off, face bright and happy, eyes shining from the memory.

"That's really sweet, James." I tell him, pleased he's sharing things with me. "Did you like living together?" I ask him another question. I don't want him to stop talking. He smirks.

"Steve's a little shit, but I loved it. Helped me keep an eye on the little punk." He says gruffly and makes me laugh again.

"I'd pegged Steve for a troublemaker." I say and he nods emphatically. I laugh and he smiles at me, little wrinkles appearing at the sides of his eyes. Finally, I finish my food and stand to clean up, but Bucky beats me to it. He cleans everything as I jump on my bed, sighing at the fluffiness. Bucky's eyes flick up to me and I struggle to keep my breathing normal at the sight of him still in his tight tank top. The muscles strain against the fabric and as my eyes travel up his body I sigh, this time for a whole new reason. When I meet Bucky's eyes his eyebrows go up, noticing I just checked him out. "Uh, c-could you turn the T.V. on for me?" I try to cover my transgression and get a chuckle from Bucky. I guess it wasn't that smooth. James opens the cabinet and turns the T.V. on for us, then comes over and sits on the bed with me. James hands me the remote happily. He does leave a few inches of space between us which I frown at. I flip through the channels lazily and stop when familiar theme music hits my ears. "Oh, this is it. This is what you've been missing." I tell James, clapping along when the people on T.V. clap.

"What? What is this?" He asks, confused. The title comes on the screen and I smile.

"It's called Friends and it's awesome. Just watch, you'll love it. If you don't, I don't think we can be friends." I tease and feel his eyes on me, seeing if I'm joking or not. Without thinking about it I put a hand on his thigh. His thick and muscled thigh. Geez. "Kidding. Just kidding James, of course we're friends. It doesn't matter what you like or don't like." I assure him. As soon as his face calms I retract my hand before my face turns red as a tomato. After saying that though, I notice he moves a little closer to me and relaxes back into the pillows a little more. I laugh throughout the whole show and hear James chuckle a couple times, so I count it as a success. Another episode comes on after that, then another. I find Bucky and I slowly gravitating towards one another, until my head is on his shoulder and his cheek is on my head. After a couple more episodes I find my eyes closing and my body taking over Bucky's personal space. A few seconds away from sleep I feel Bucky trying to move away from me. Instantly, my hands that have migrated around his chest ball up the cloth of his tank top. "No." I say firmly, my leg that's wrapped around his tugging him back on the bed as I forbid him to leave. He freezes.

"Akilina, I don't-if you fall asleep then I might fall asleep and I don't..." He sighs, sounding tired. "I don't want to hurt you. Nightmares..." He trails off. My eyes open and squint at him, my lips automatically pouting. Ah, the courage that drowsiness bestows.

"You think you're the only one with nightmares, James?" I mumble sleepily and keep my tight hold on him. "Stay in the damn bed or I'll kill you." I threaten and feel his chest rumble with a quiet chuckle. He relaxes back into the bed and I sigh happily. The last thing I feel is a heavy blanket being draped over me and strong arms around me.

*Bucky's POV*

One thing that keeps surprising me is how soft she is. Her skin, her hair, it's almost unnerving. Someone as battle-worn as she seems to be shouldn't be as kind and tender as this. She reminds me of Steve a little. After everything they both still find a way to be caring and gentle. Soft skin doesn't fit her steel interior. No one who can contain me should be this soft, but instead of slipping away when she's really asleep I pull her closer. Besides the fact that she'd probably kill me in her sleep if I left, I don't think I've ever felt calmer than right now, with her in my arms. I turn the volume way down so the T.V doesn't wake her up and continue to watch the show she seems to love with subtitles. I don't mind it. Having a T.V. like this is a little weird. I'm not used to it yet, but I like it, and I like how much she likes it. Hearing her laugh is enough to get me to watch whatever she wants. Suddenly, a very sultry song starts to play, making me stiffen. Glancing at the T.V., I count that out as a suspect. I look down at Akilina and see a phone shaped bulge in her pocket. Stealthily, I unzip the pocket and take out her phone without waking her. Caller I.D says eight out of ten. No name, not even initials. The music gets a little louder and I hurriedly answer it to prevent waking up Akilina. A voice speaks before I can even say hello.

"Hey, gorgeous." A man is on the other line, his voice is deep, resounding, and husky. I'm made uncomfortable by just his tone. Clearly, the two were intimate with each other. "I'm free tonight and I'm missing you. Well," He pauses to chuckle. "parts of you. You want to meet up?" He offers and I'm tempted to hang up on him then and there. If this was her boyfriend, then he doesn't deserve her. Disrespectful ass. "Babe?" He questions when I don't answer.

"She isn't free." I answer, my voice low and close to a growl.

"Oh, sorry man. Didn't mean to call her when she was with someone else." He remains chipper despite my growing anger and dislike for him. "Could you tell her to call me when she's free?" He requests. I shut my eyes to keep me from crushing the phone in my hand.

"I don't think you understand. She isn't free to you. Ever." I snarl and once again am met with a minute of silence on the other end of the phone. But, of course, he speaks again.

"Wow. I guess she finally found her ten. Damn. You're a lucky man." He ends and hangs up. I set Akilina's phone on the bedside table before I crush it and clench my hand into a fist. I look down at her peaceful sleeping face and relax again. I can't be angry when she's on me like this. Her arms are wrapped around my waist, head snuggled against my chest with my metal arm wrapped around her shoulders. I'm surprised she doesn't mind the heaviness on her, but she had wriggled under it, so I leave her alone. She'd wrapped her left leg around mine, like a piece of kelp wrapped around an anchor. It's unbearably cute and fantastically calming. Who knew the key to maintaining my humanity would be snuggling? When I hear a slight shuffling in my room I tense and tug Liya even closer. The door next to me opens and I sigh when I see that it's just Steve. His eyebrows jump up and his mouth forms a small o when he sees Akilina and I on the bed together. Instantly, I start shaking my head and I hold a finger up to my mouth.

"Sleeping." I tell him quietly and he nods. He leans against the wall and just observes the two of us, me staring at him with trepidation. This is exactly the situation where he would usually make a long speech, but he just watches us. The Friends theme song plays quietly in the background and fills the otherwise silent room as I wait for Steve to speak. He surprises me by simply smiling warmly. Warily, I question him. "Steve, I know that smile. What are you thinking?" His smile grows bigger and he shrugs.

"I think it's good-no, great, is what I'm thinking." He whispers. His gaze goes to Akilina and his eyes soften before returning to mine. "You know, this is really cute. I'm going to take a picture for Victoria." He takes out his phone as I glare at him.

"Don't you dare take a picture-" His phone makes a little snapping sound as I frown at him. I glance at Liya and back at Steve, my head already shaking.

"Listen, just no, no. We're not-this is just so she can sleep." I explain quietly, but Steve just can't stop smirking as he puts his phone back in his pocket.

"Really?" He asks and I hum to agree. "So, why don't you get up since she's asleep?" My mouth shuts after that question, unable to supply a good enough response. Steve nods, knowing he's pinned me.

"Fine." Tenderly, I detach myself from her and slip out of the bed. I shut the T.V. off so it doesn't wake her and lay her head on a pillow. After making sure she's still asleep and covered by the blankets I shove Steve into my room, then shut the door behind me to keep from waking up Liya. He chuckles and turns around to look at me.

"It's good to see you getting close to someone again, Buck." Steve says, if a little sadly. I shake my head and put a hand on his shoulder. He looks up at me with his sad, blue eyes and I sigh.

"Shut up, punk. You know you're my family. First, and forever. So, don't be getting all dramatic and shit." I tease and his eyes lose the sadness they had previously held. Suddenly, he pulls me forward and hugs me, just like he used to. He's taller than me now, but he still wraps his arms under mine like a kid. Instinct kicks in and I hug him back, a chuckle making its way out of my lips. Both of us rest our chins on the other's shoulder, Steve's hand crumples my shirt and I hug him a little tighter before we both let go. We both release big breaths when we part, and I pretend not to see the tears in his eyes while he pretends not to see the ones in mine. God, we've both become so soft.

"Uh, well then. I just wanted to check on you, see what you were doing." He explains himself away and I frown.

"You know you don't need an excuse to see me, Steve." I tell him sincerely. He takes a step back and nods, not meeting my eyes. Another thought occurs to me and I step back too. "I understand if you want to tell the others that, though. Uh, you don't need to affiliate yourself with me, especially after Victoria-" Steve interrupts me before I can go on.

"No, Buck, that isn't why I-" He clears his throat and his eyebrows furrow. This is his thinking expression. I remain quiet a moment, as does he. When he looks at me again his eyes are clear and his expression soft. He's about to reassure me about something. "Everyone has forgiven you about that. We all just want you fixed and back home. Victoria especially. You forget how much we care for you, Buck." He tells me gently, that sincerity and trustworthiness emanating off him like it always has. I nod, begrudgingly. He sighs, but the corners of his mouth turn up a bit. "If only it was nineteen forty-three again, right?" He asks, his voice echoing the longing my heart feels for the old days. An idea pops into my head and I smile at Steve.

"Want to build a fort?" I ask. A childish grin appears on his face, one that I know well. It's gotten me in a lot of trouble before.

"Let's do it."