𝒲illiam sat on the porch of their apartment, whistling a happy tune as he watched the people passing by.

The summer was at its finest as the heat made him sweat and the suntanned his naturally pale skin. His blue eyes seemed to glow against his tan.

William stopped whirling the hat around his fingers as he watched someone approaching their front gate. He pushed himself off the porch, landing with a small thud as he waved at the old woman. "Mrs. Davis!" the boy said happily, jumping on their front gate as he unhooked it, making it fall open with him still clinging onto it.

"Good morning, ma'am, and welcome to our humble mansion, how can I be of service?" he asked, his eyes twinkling at the box the woman was holding.

Cookies. heavenly, sweet, sugary goods. They were baked cheap but nothing could beat homemade baked goods, besides, it reminded William times when he still had a mom.

Mrs. Davis was a strict but nice old woman who had been their neighbour forever. She checked up on boys once in a while, scolding them for not watching after the garden or not keeping the windows clean.

"Morning young William, where is this older brother of yours now?" she asked, marching into the small yard as William closed the gate. He could almost feel her judgmental stare as she took in all the unkempt flowers, ajar door, and the dark house. "Eh, probably trying to grow taller somewhere." the boy said with a chuckle, shutting up as the old woman whipped around, giving him one of the horrific glares she possessed. "Don't joke over Steven like this, William. This is rude, your mother would be disappointed." the boy flinched, knowing the old woman was truly capable of low blows. "Sorry, ma'am."

"It is not I who deserved your apologies. You boys need to be scolded once in a while, we don't want you to end up like my husband now do we?" she said bitterly, referring to the man ten feet under. He had been a drunkard, often singing and yelling in the house next door. Until one day he got a punch in a bar fight and couldn't walk it off.

"No, that we don't want."

"Good, here, you're all skin and bones William. I hope once your brother gets into the army he'll be able to take better care of you. Lord knows what the future is like for you two. Here, I made some cookies, make sure you leave some for your brother and that friend of his, I have to get going now. Have to buy some new fabric for the dress my granddaughter wants. Are you heading to the city center this fine afternoon?" the woman asked, thrusting the box of cookies into William's chest, the boy could feel his mouth watering, he couldn't remember the last time he had had cookies. "Uhm, no, actually, I'm heading the other direction."

"What for? What business do you have in the richer part of the town? William? You haven't really gotten into thieving have you?" the woman asked, narrowing her eyes. William could swear he saw her morph into a horned devil, doing something Mrs. Davis didn't approve of was almost like a death sentence.

"No, of course not!" William waved her off, his cheeks warming up. He hoped he could blame the morning sun for that. "I am, uh, I will, erm. I will be meeting someone," he mumbled, making the old woman crack a smile.

"Would you look at that, young William is charming the flocking dames, aren't you. Well, in that case, I won't hold you back any longer." the woman said, smiling as if it was amusing her. "It-it's not like that!"

"Yes, yes, that's what you think," she said, opening the gate as she stepped back into the street. Waving the blushing boy goodbye. "And Steve won't be getting into the army! You know that!"

"He will, watch and learn what a little faith can do." the old woman said over her shoulder as she disappeared into the mass of people.

William huffed, closing the gate as he ripped open the box filled with different shaped cookies. "Watch and learn. Yeah, no," he mumbled to himself, sinking his teeth in the sugary goods.

He moaned at the sweetness, forgetting his agitated mood as soon as the sugar reached his taste buds.

He ran inside the house, placing two cookies on the table for Steve and Bucky, they don't need more. William is the one growing in this family, they are grown-ups. As he turned to leave, he halted feeling the painful string tugging at his heart, quilt. He rolled his eyes and placed two more cookies on the table.

Okay, more would be too much.

He nodded to himself and headed outside, locking the door with the key that he had decided to wear as a necklace. He was known for losing things.

Humming to himself happily and munching on cookies, the boy made his way towards the Brooklyn Bridge.

He was going to meet Rosa there, the thought of it brought a slight skip to his step.

As he was halfway across the bridge, he halted, almost dropping the half eaten cookie. His blue eyes widened at the sight before him.

Rosalinda must have been an angel. She was wearing dark brown, long jacked of fine fabric. A red beret rested atop her golden hair, her warm eyes peeking over the bridge into the cold waters below.

William shook his head, blinking a couple of times to get a hang of himself. He brushed the crumbs from his chin and the front of his shirt, holding the box of cookies firmly to his side.

"Hey, Rosa!" he waved frantically, jogging towards the girl. She smiled, making the dimple on the side of her cheek appear. "Morning, Will," she said with the accent of hers. William placed the box on the edge of the bridge, opening it. "Here, try them. They are delicious." he urged the girl, feeling a smile tugging at his lips at the way her eyes twinkled.

"Are you sure? Don't you want to share them with your brother?" the boy waved her off "I already gave them heaps, don't worry about that."

They both chuckled and chatted on, noticing wind picking up. "wait, how did you even get here?" the girl looked down, looking slightly embarrassed. "My brother escorted me, he is home for some time. We told my parents that we are just taking a stroll."

William looked up, eyes wide as he scanned the passing people, his eyes landing on a tall man leaning against the railing. He recognized the man, Rosa's brother Captain Michael Carter. He was talked about as a hero, and there he was. Sneaking his sister out so she could meet the boy who was of lower status, yet he made sure to have eyes on them all the time.

He smiled at William, giving him a mock salute as he slid his eyes over the people once again. "I--" he didn't have time to say anything as Rosa yelped, trying to catch the beret that had suddenly flown off her head at the strong wind. The red hat swirled over the bridge, right towards the cold water. "No! It was my mother's!" she screamed hysterically, looking over the railing desperately.

"Don't worry, I'll get it for you!" "No, Will don't!" but it was already too late, the young boy had hauled himself over the railing, making sure to keep his eyes on the red beret.

Anything for Rosa.

What he wasn't really prepared for, was the feeling of icy water, the love had blinded him as he landed feet first in the murky water for the red beret.

The cold water hit his muscles like thousands of needles, making him paralyzed as he held his breath, eyes wide as he tried to grab the red beret.

He clutched it in between his fingers, pushing his legs to reach the top.

He coughed and spluttered the water out of his mouth, feeling cold fear sink into his chest as he madly kept looking around, his wild eyes catching the sigh of Rosa's older brother hurriedly making his way down the bridge on the bank. "This way kid! Come on, over here!" he waved his arms, calling William over.

With a lump in his throat, William tried to swim towards Captain Michael, trying his best to keep his head over the water and his limbs moving. However, the current was strong and his muscles weren't used to such a cold environment.

William felt himself getting slower as he helplessly watched Rosa yelling for him to keep swimming. Michael threw his coat off and dove head first into the water, William was getting tired, barely keeping his head above as his teary eyes watched up at the almost clear sky.

Until he didn't see the cotton clouds and the seagulls any longer.

He watched as bubbles filled with fear and horror danced before his blue eyes, moving up. He found a little bit more strength in his tired limbs as he pushed himself above the water one more time.
The moment he broke to surface, he felt someone roughly pulling him towards the bank. "Come on, keep on breathing lad." the baritone voice of Captain Michael reached his ears as he was hyperventilating, still clutching the red beret.

"You're alright, just hold onto me." and William did, with his blurry sigh and tears that leaked down his wet eyes. He didn't even have enough control over his emotions to be feeling ashamed of his panic and crying.

As Captain Michael Carter pulled him out of the water, Will was still coughing and spluttering, his breathing irregular as he found Rosa's gentle hands hugging him tightly, not caring about getting wet. "Oh Will! That was reckless! Are you okay? Michael, what do we do?!" she asked, her voice high pitched as she looked at William trying to stop crying.

"First of all, William, right? Cough out all of the water, we don't want any of it in your lungs." the older man said gently, prying the red beret out of his shaking hands as he handed it to his sister. "And now, we're going to take the lad home, your play date is over kids. Come on, up, you'll freeze if you don't start moving, that's it." Michael said, making sure his voice wasn't too strict or angry as he pulled William up, throwing his hand over his shoulder as he tried to rub a bit of warmness into the boy.

"I'm s-s-s-sorry, I-" William was cut off by a coughing fit, making Rosa flinch as she walked close to the fair-haired boy.

"it's okay, next time think before you do anything rash kid."

(gif credits to magnificent oakenshield_)