"Eve! Come on, I'm starving!" Bucky complains childishly, him and Steve waiting for me in front of the dressmaker shop. Ever since they found out that I actually work, Bucky had the brilliant idea to pick me up after work to do something together. Rolling my eyes playfully, I continue to sew the last buttonholes of the expensive white shirt, trying not to prick my finger. Although it's really hard to focus when Bucky's screaming my name the whole time.

"Okay, Eve, you can go now, your boyfriend's annoying me." My boss groans pressing her hands against her temples, massaging them in what looked like a futile effort to relax.

"Actually, he's not my-," She lets out a loud sigh, squeezing her eyes shut. I pause, realizing that she doesn't particularly care. "Okay, thank you! I'll be here at nine tomorrow."

Finishing the shirt, I place it folded on the shelf with the other orders. I'm really glad that I managed to get such an easy job, especially considering I'm still a student. Obviously, the pay isn't as great as it could be, but I'm still extremely lucky. But as much as I'm grateful for this job, I cannot prevent my heart from beating in excitement when I exit the shop, the spring breeze kissing my face. Immediately spotting the small, paper bag in Steve's right hand, I narrow my eyes to find out what's in it.

"You two brought apples?!" My passion for food, along with a growling stomach, makes me notice how hungry I actually am.

"Shit." He swears, reaching into his pocket to dig out a nickel. He begrudgingly placed the nickel into the palm of a smirking Bucky.

"Thank you," Bucky grins, placing the coin in his jacket. I shoot him a confused look, and he explains. "I bet you'd figure out what's in the bag, he disagreed. I won."

"You have no faith in me?" I gasp in mock-offense, placing my hand over my heart as if I was truly wounded. "Wow, I came out to have a good time and I'm honestly feeling so attacked right now. I thought we were friends, Stevie."

"Stevie?" He raises an eyebrow at me as if he thought he didn't hear me correctly while Bucky giggles at my little performance.

"You heard right," I confirm, grinning. I stretch my arms, making a small noise when I realize just how stiff they are from work. "So, guys, what'd you plan for today? Anything special, besides eating? Speaking of which, I'm starving so give me my portion."

"You have to wait a bit, Evie," Bucky informs teasingly, making me roll my eyes. He uses that nickname just to see me annoyed, I swear. "We're gonna hang out a bit at the East River, just to relax a little after another exhausting school week."

"Art sucked especially this week," I groan, remembering what happened in the class.

"Still upset because your heart looked like a stone?" He mocks, smirking at me. I gasp, slapping his arm. He'd spent the entire week making fun of my art skills.

"Shut up, it did look like a heart!"

"Judge Stevie," He calls on Steve, laughing at my defensiveness. "Your judgment on Eve's drawing in art. Did it look like a stone or a heart?"

"I'm not gonna get rid of that stupid nickname, am I?" Steve mutters, sighing deeply. "It looked like a stone."

"Ha!" Bucky exclaims triumphantly, his eyes shining with his mischievous victory.

"Steve, you traitor!"

"Let's just go to the East River." The blonde laughs, shaking his head at our childish behavior. Bucky and I grin at each other, before the three of us start toward the river.

I smile at the beautiful day, marveling at how amazing everything is. I would've never expected to have friends like Bucky and Steve and feel a smile stretch across my face at how amazing it's been. Life suddenly feels a lot less lonely, and everything couldn't help but seem beautiful. The color of the sky, the soft breeze, even the sounds of the city were music to my ears.

"Why are you in such a good mood?" Buck nudges me, curious about the smile that has taken over my face, and the tune I'd unconsciously started humming

"It's just a beautiful day, don't you think?" I shrug, turning to smile at him. "I don't know how to describe it, but it's just amazing. And sometimes you just can't explain things like that."

He stays quiet, answering me with a thin smile. Somehow, that smile gives me the exact same feeling as the sun does, full of warmth and light. My smile just widens and we continue walking in silence. Through the silence, I can still feel a gaze on my back.

We soon arrive and decide to sit down at the edge of the promenade, our feet dangling above the dark grayish water of Brooklyn's river. The area is practically empty, save for a few people. They pass us by, not giving a second glance to us high school students.

"Here are your apples." Steve hands each of us a red-yellow apple, before tucking the bag away. Taking it gratefully, I take a bite. I can't hold back my moan of pleasure, despite the slightly sour taste.

"Where'd you even buy these? It's not summer yet, apples can't be in season." I ask, munching on the fruit. They both suddenly paused in their eating, looking guilty.

"Well..." Steve starts, glancing at the water to avoid eye contact.

"My dad had to get something outside of the city and we were bored, so we joined him." Bucky continues for him. "And we saw an apple tree on a farm that we passed by, behind a wall, so we stopped and climbed it to steal some apples before we could get caught."

They look at me guiltily, probably thinking that I'll reprimand them for stealing. Instead, I take Bucky's apple away and take a huge bite.

"That's for not taking me with you," I scrunch up my face when the sourness spreads over my tongue, quickly give the apple back while trying to swallow the pieces that I took. "You get it back, this one isn't ripe enough."

"Why didn't you eat Steve's apple?!" He laughs,  and I can hear how relieved he is that I'm not angry.

"Steve still needs to grow, let him eat." I pat Steve's shoulder, smirking and acting like his big sister. The three of us chuckle, before settling into a comfortable silence.

"By the way, how did you two meet?" That question has been running through my mind for a while.

"I've known Bucky since elementary school," Steve smiles a little, obviously remembering meeting his best friend. "It was in fourth grade, and I'd gotten beaten up by some kids in an alley. They were making fun of me because I was, still am, skinny and weak. Of course, I didn't run away and tried to fight back. Long story short I ended up getting thrown into a dumpster crying." He pauses, growing a little pink. "Bucky opened the dumpster and just sat with me. At first, I thought he was being bullied too, but he just told me that he'd simply wanted to join me."

I can't help but smile at the affection in Steve's voice while he is telling the story. I glance at Bucky, who smiles before letting out a playful groan.

"I wish I'd have just helped you out of this damn dumpster instead of joining you because we reeked so bad for two days."

A laugh escapes my lips while Steve rolls his eyes playfully and I nudge Bucky. "Just for the record, you still reek."

"Stop being so mean," He laughs, pretending to be offended. "Well, now you know how we met. It's kind of funny that we all met through a fight in an alley."

"Probably means that something's wrong with us." Steve shrugs like it's a fact.

"It's no wonder that we three are friends then," Buck adds jokingly, agreeing to what Steve said. "But no matter, how crazy we may be, we're all crazy together. And that's what counts."

I grin and the sound of my voice turns into a little chuckle. "Well, a normal first meeting would be boring, right?"

"True," Bucky smirks as he finishes his apple and throws it behind him. A sudden cry of pain is heard, and we all glance at each other in confusion. We turn around, slightly afraid, and a small assumption creeps on our backs. A middle-aged man glares at us, rubbing his neck, the apple on the ground next to him.

"You stupid kids!!" He starts towards us, anger flashing in his eyes.

"Crap, run!" Bucky scrambles up, taking my hand to pull me away. We run, Steve not too far behind us. The angry stranger follows us, surprisingly fast. The three of us run toward the crowd, in hopes that we'd get lost so he wouldn't find us. His shouts were loud enough for all to hear. I press my lips together, really trying my best while running. Eventually, I can't hold it back anymore and burst into laughter. Bucky doesn't even question it, he just joins me causing Steve to grins. My lungs are burning from the lack of oxygen, and my heart feels like it's about to burst from my chest. But in that moment, I couldn't have felt more alive.

After a while, we duck into a small alley to hide, watching the man who continues to walk around. He screams insults at the top of his lungs, yet he isn't able to find us.

"Oh, my God!" I laugh and lean on the wall, trying to steady my breath.

"How he's still yelling, I can't- " Bucky gets interrupted by his own laughter. Steve begins to chuckle as well, breathing heavily. After a moment it turns into a terrible cough, making all laughter cease. Bucky pats Steve's back carefully, and anxiety settles in my stomach.

"What's wrong? Steve?" I question in concern, leaving my place against the wall.

"He has asthma," Bucky explains shortly, rubbing Steve's back. "It's not an attack, though, but he shouldn't have been running that long."

"Try to breathe," I try, looking at Steve who's breaths are still unsteady. The coughing at least has stopped. "Just take deep slow, deep breaths, okay?"

He nods in understanding, and I begin guiding him through breathing. After many long seconds of in and exhaling, his breathing returns to normal. I sigh in relief, giving Steve a small smile.

"Well done," Buck compliments, half smiling. He then glances at Steve. "Everything okay, pal?"

"Yeah," He nods. "Thanks, Eve."

"Guess, you owe me an apple now."

***

"Please. Please, don't throw your apple at people the next time we hang out." I beg Bucky, tilting my head at the strangeness of the question. I would've never expected to ask someone for that. "Not that running away wasn't funny but I don't wanna die of anxiety if Steve starts coughing like that again."

"Understood. I'll use a banana the next time." He jokes, grinning and I roll my eyes playfully. "Sure that I shouldn't bring you home? I mean, we just brought Steve to his mom, I wouldn't mind walking you home either. My siblings are at my aunt and my mom and dad enjoy his free day together, I have time."

"No, it's really okay." I shake my head, still intimidated by Steve's mom. She was very quiet, almost emotionless, and hardly spoke to us. "You offer every time we meet to bring me home. As I've said before, I can take care of myself."

He sighs and although it is dark and just the weak street light gives us a light, I can see the concern in his eyes. "Okay, but don't think that it'd be any trouble."

"I know, don't worry," I lie, forcing a smile. "See you at school."

Then I start heading home, which is just twenty minutes away from my current location. The night is much colder than I expected and the dress makes me freeze. Not many people are outside anymore, mostly just drunk or homeless ones. My legs move faster when I arrive in the really poor part of Brooklyn, which only helps to strengthen my fear and paranoia. The streets are empty, not counting the groups of men. Maybe it is a bad idea for a girl like me to walk alone on New York's streets at 11pm, but I really didn't want to bother Bucky or make him think that I'm some weak girl.

"Hey, doll!" The drunk shout comes from the man from the other side of the street, directed at me, and his friends that are clearly not sober either laugh. "Wait! C'mon, join us, let's have fun!"

I try to ignore him and am about to walk faster because it looks like he wants to cross the street. I should have considered that it's more dangerous on the weekends. The fear makes me clench my teeth and slightly panic, till I suddenly feel how an arm places around me. The shock causes my heart to stop for a second and I flinch, almost wanting to run away.

"I told you not to walk without me, darling!" Bucky says loudly, so the group of men can hear him, too. He pulls me closer to him, my face gets pressed against his chest and I try to calm down, but he doesn't make it really easy with that position. I'm just glad that it's him and not that drunk jerk, even though he came out of nowhere. Bucky adapts to my speed and I have the feeling that he's trying to protect me under his arm. "Seriously, darling, don't do that again."

"What did you just call me?" I whisper, frowning.

"Shhh, just play along, darling." He smirks mischievously, only slowing down when the group is out of sight. "I told you that it's dangerous for a girl to walk alone! You could've got raped or something!"

"Nothing happened, though." I point out. "But thank you anyway. Can you let me go now?" Frowning, I look up at him. "And don't call me darling, I hate pet names."

"My arm stays where it is." He stubbornly states, shaking his head. "Jerks won't even notice us when we're in pairs. And I'll bring you home now."

He just starts dragging me to the direction that I point at, half speechless by his decision. His arm and chest warm up and I can feel how it goes up and down because of his breath, even his quiet heartbeat is able to be heard. I bite on my lower lip as I feel how my cheeks start heating. God, if he notices now that I may be blushing, I'll be screwed. But it's just unusual for me to have that close physical contact, like really close.

"So, you live here?" He asks when we're standing in front of the door of my apartment. The area is pretty damaged and old, even the smell is bad.

"No, I just want to break into someone's apartment," I answer sarcastically, then I sigh. "Yep. I know, not really glamorous."

"Don't be ashamed. The place we live at doesn't define us." He tries to encourage me and shrugs. "The area isn't bad. I mean, we live in Brooklyn, not Manhattan."

"True." I half smile and really hope that he does not want to come in. "Thanks for bringing me home and protecting me, also for following me like a stalker."

"I'll always bring you home from now on," He declares, looking at me. "You're alright now?"

A smile spreads over my face about his promise and I put my key in the lock to open the door. "I am. Goodbye, Buck."

"Bye." He smiles, then he leaves and I sigh relieved  before I enter the empty and silence-flooded apartment and close the door behind me. I turn on the light, although it is still not bright afterward and the familiar loneliness sets in. Ignorance is better for him, for everyone.