"I'm sorry, Eve... I know it's hard for you since you're just a high school student and you really did a great job. But I just can't afford a student if I can employ someone who could work full time. And the economic crisis is really bad, you know that. I don't- no, I'm not allowed to waste money. But you get the cotton for free." My boss promises me, smiling sadly while handing me the rest of the gray cotton in a bag. "Good luck, I hope you'll find someone who can employ you soon."

"Thanks." I force a smile, biting on my lower lip and taking the bag. I am screwed. I've lost my job. From what am I supposed to live now? How the hell will I earn money to pay the rent, the school and for food now? No one will employ me, I'm just a weak girl that is still a student and most students don't even get a job, not at this time. I leave the dressmaker shop after waving goodbye to her, still a bit absent and drowned in my financial problems. I clench my teeth, remembering that the rent is due in a few weeks. "Crap."

I bury my face into my scarf and my hands into my pockets, trying to get rid of the cold. My cheeks already hurt and the only thing that is warm is the air which leaves my lungs. Getting fired sucks. Getting fired on Christmas Eve sucks even more. Now I'm walking home, looking down at the bag. At least I could finish my Christmas present for Bucky, although we came with Steve to the agreement not to buy anything. But I actually didn't break the rules since this is self- made, so is Steve's. It is sad though that we don't celebrate together, but Steve is taking care of his sick mother and Bucky promised to spend time with Rebecca. I'm already glad that we will at least meet up before New Year's Eve.

Arriving at the blockhouse, I go upstairs to my apartment as I glance at the gray and cloudy sky. Why doesn't it snow? I would love to see the pure white color in form of tiny snowflakes. I let out a sigh, the disappointment rests on my chest and I remove the brick to take the key and open the door. When I enter the apartment, a sudden big shape in my kitchen makes me literally jump and shriek shortly, my heart crashing against my ribcage. The key and bag land on the ground.

"Oh, hey, Eve."

"What the- Bucky?!" I try to steady my breath, still recovering from the shock. "What are you doing here and how could you even enter my apartment?! And how long have you been here?!"

"You know, it's not really clever to hide the key under the brick when there's literally just one brick." He points out, shrugging casually while staying at the stove as if it was the most normal thing in the world. "And I've been here for about an hour, trying to cook my mother's potato soup but... ", he takes a look at the pot, scrunching up his face, "I can't guarantee that it'll taste as good as hers."

"No, I mean, what are you doing here?" I emphasize his current location, tilting my head as I pick up the bag and key. "You're supposed to be with your family, especially with Rebecca."

"Oh, that." He nods as he takes the pot, placing it on a rag. "Yeah, that was a lie. Did you seriously think I'd leave you alone on Christmas? No- uh. It was a plan the whole time and Steve was actually supposed to be here too, but then Sarah got suddenly sick. So he left his Christmas gift on your wall."

My glance lands on the wall next to the door and my mouth opens in amazement at the beautiful drawing of a Christmas tree. Steve's talent and passion for art runs through every single shade and detail of the feat. It even has the size of a Christmas tree and it looks so real, although it's just two-dimensional. I run with my hand slowly over his gift, still impressed and overwhelmed.

"I hope we can visit him tomorrow because I need to thank him for that." I smile, pushing my problems to the background. Ruining the bright mood would be awful now. "How did he even get the idea?"

"He remembered that you said a few weeks ago you couldn't afford a Christmas tree. I first had the brilliant idea to buy one until we realized that we're broke, so he took his carbons and drew the tree today."

"Should I be worried that you guys are able to just enter my apartment like that?" I tilt my head but end up grinning. "God, I shouldn't have told you where my key is. Breaking into a girl's apartment isn't really polite, Barnes."

"I would've found it out anyway since I walk you home every day." He claims and puts the pot and two spoons on the living room table. "I know that my cooking skills shouldn't be even allowed but I really tried my best and did everything that my mom showed me! Wait, I'll try to take a- AH, it's damn hot!!!"

I smirk at his reaction, but I still appreciate his hard work. No one has ever done that for me and it somehow causes a warm and overwhelming feeling in me, it's also a relief to spend Christmas with someone instead of alone. Shaking my head, I join him on the couch, smiling at him. "I'm sure I'm still gonna enjoy the soup."

"Really? 'Cuz I won't." He scrunches up his face after cooling his burnt tongue with a glass of water.

"I'm just trying to cheer you up, jerk!" I laugh, playfully slapping his chest. Then I swallow down my pride and take a spoon of the soup, immediately tasting the salty flavor in my mouth. I press my lips together, keep reminding myself how much work it must have been for him. "Well, it certainly has a strong flavor."

"Don't lie, canary, you hate it."

"How can you even over salt a soup?! That's impossible!" I spit out the truth, staring at him in disbelief. "It's almost a talent."

"I demanded that you be honest, not mean." He reminds me, chuckling. "Okay, forget the soup. It's the taste of failure."

"I could cook something," I suggest, remembering that I still have a bit food left. He must be starving and I sort of want to prevent to get a food poisoning. "But it depends on how long you're allowed to stay. If you have to go home soon, I can just make something quick since it's already 7pm."

"Oh, haven't I mentioned? I'll sleepover." Bucky's not even asking, it's just a statement that causes my heart to thump a bit too loud, sounding like a hammer hitting the wall. "And don't cook anything, because I actually have plans for today."

"What?! Couldn't you tell me sooner? I would've cleaned the apartment and got more blankets- "

"Don't worry about that. I organized a few more blankets with the help of my mom." He stands up, bringing the pot and spoons to the sink. "And don't even start with 'You're supposed to spend Christmas with your family!' because they agreed to this and have each other. I'm here because of you, I'm not gonna leave that fast."

"Bucky..." I just mutter, trying to avoid any emotions because they just cause tears. A strange and unknowing flutter is in my stomach, leaving a weird warmth and confusion in my mind. He literally makes me speechless by just being him.

"Now, come on, we need to go. I need to give you my Christmas present. I had to break the rules, though, but it's totally worth it, trust me." He smiles goofily and leads me outside.

***

"I didn't expect this." I gasp, my eyes widen, impressed at the huge Rockefeller Center in Manhattan. Bucky seriously paid for the tickets for the one-hour train ride to the most expensive borough of New York City, just to let me see the colorful lights of the famous Christmas tree. It's the first time that I see it, I've always just seen photos on the newspaper. The thousand of light bulbs shine so bright that they look like a connected glimmering web on the dark green. It's beautifully breath-taking and even distracts me from the cold.

"I always loved to see it since it became a tradition five years ago. Well, until I found out how expensive it actually is to get here." Bucky's smile fades away, turning a little bitter. "Then, when I looked for good ideas for your present, I assumed that you've probably never seen the tree. Because the tree tradition was established when you were 12, still living in the orphanage in Brooklyn. And every New Yorker should have seen this tree at least once."

"You figured that all out on your own?" I raise a brow in the air, glancing at him. His blue eyes reflect the chains of light like a mirror.

"After nine months of knowing you, I think I should be able to tell what you like and what not, what you haven't experienced and what you want." He half smiles at me. "I can't believe that just nine months have passed. It feels like an eternity."

"Maybe for you, old man." I smirk, nudging him playfully. "For me it's still like yesterday, seeing how Steve gets beat up in an alley and you acting like a hero, saving the damsel in distress."

"Who'd be the damsel in distress? You or Steve?"

"Probably Steve." My answer makes him laugh, a sincere and honest sound that is familiar to me. I look at him, thinking of how he had saved me. Not only when I got sick or fell from a tree, he also literally saved me. I felt lonely before I had met him and Steve, sometimes I still do, but he has taken a huge burden from me. Insecurity. And his kindness starts scaring me because I'm getting dependent from it.

"By the way, how was work? It actually sucks that you had to work on Christmas Eve." He rubs his hands together, trying to replace the cold with the warmth.

"It sucks more when you lose your job on Christmas Eve."

"What?!" His eyes widen in shock. "Why that? What's happened? Do I need to appeal against someone?" Impatience and concern run through his deep voice as his cheeks slowly get their color back, thanks to the drop of rage.

"Economic crisis happened." I sigh. "It's okay, my boss said it's not my fault. She just can't employ a high school student, she needs someone who can work full time. The only solution for me would be dropping school, but..." The thought of not seeing Bucky and Steve every day makes my chest feel incredibly tight. "I don't want that."

"Crap." He swears under a heavy breath, knowing that he couldn't convince her to employ me back again. "Okay, we'll somehow find a solution, we're getting you a new job."

"I don't think that there's anyone who would give a girl a job." I doubt life-likely, thinking of all the unemployed people in New York. "But let's not talk about this, okay? It's Christmas and I want to enjoy the beautiful tree. Although I'd like to see snow."

"Same." He agrees, understanding that I don't want to talk about this topic. "But it should snow soon, I think."

"Speaking of snow, I still need to give you my Christmas gift." I smile and raise the bag that I have carried the whole time with me, attempting to bright up the mood. "And I didn't break the rules because it costed nothing. My boss gave me the cotton for free, so I knitted- "

"A scarf?" He's speechless when he takes out the gray present, feeling the soft cloth in his hands and admiring it. "How long did you work on that?"

"Just a week. It first took me a while to learn it but then it got easy. I remembered that you didn't own a scarf, because there was just enough money to get the twins and Rebecca one. You're also always freezing, so why not?"

"Thank you." His cheerful smile makes the overtimes worth it and my heart lights up, leaving a weird prickling. This is what I worked for, this is what I wanted to see- his happiness. But why did I want to see it? It's not like he's never happy but I wanted to be the reason for his smile. Because this thought somehow makes me happy myself, satisfying me much more than I would ever admit.

"I guess the red-blue-white scarf is for Steve because his birthday is on such a patriotic day?" Bucky grins at me while I still stare a bit at him, questioning a lot. "It's a fun idea, I bet he will... hey, Eve? Everything's okay?"

"I'm food. I mean, I'm fine and good." I start stuttering and he bursts into laughter.

"Reminds me of when we first met." Bucky then puts on the scarf, a cocky smile creeps on his lips. "Don't I look ravishing with that?"

"Uh..." I start, my thumping heart distracts me and I don't know what to say. The scarf makes him look handsome and adorable, but for some reasons it makes me just realize that we are a guy and a girl, watching the Christmas tree on Christmas together like a.. couple.

Suddenly, a white tiny snowflake lands on my nose, followed by many more snowflakes. Bucky and I look up, seeing how it starts snowing, the white replacing the gray of the clouds. We both are amazed and speechless at the little Christmas miracle and when I glance back at Bucky again, I catch his gaze on me with a light smile.

"It's snowing." I say, excited like a little child.

"It's beautiful." He states, smiling at me and my heart keeps thumping loudly as a flutter settles down in my stomach. And just the way he smiles at me causes that.

The way his blue eyes shine and his thin lips create that typical Bucky smile. How optimistic and warm he is, like the sun itself. How he always takes care of me, never forgetting how I feel. How he always saves me, no matter if from a tree or my own darkness. How I felt uncomfortable because of him and Ruth. How he protected and defended me with a passion I've never seen. Bucky was always there for me. He gives me the feeling that I have a home, that I am safe and sound, that I am someone. But at the same time, he makes me feel nervous, making my heart explode and my stomach flutter. He causes emotions that I've never felt.

No. No, no, no. This can't be happening. The awareness of why he's able to cause all this hits me hard like a lightning.

I've fallen in love with James Buchanan Barnes.

A/N- We get closer and closer to Evebucky, I'm so excited AHSHDSJH
We also get closer to the actual storyline and I promise that the let's call it pre-story is worth reading! Because there needs to be a development between them before pain can be felt during war.
By the way, the song for this chapter is called "Oh, Ms Believer" by Twenty One Pilots and it's just beautiful!