genre: tooth rotting fluff
era: 40s bucky

you rested your foot on the pedal as you centered your body on the bicycle.

you balanced yourself with one foot before pushing off and riding down the dirt path.

the wind kissed your skin as you increased your speed. you didn't want to be late.

meeting steve and bucky down by the lake was your favorite pastime. staring at the sky and deciphering shapes in the clouds, throwing pebbles in the water to watch it ripple, splashing each other back and forth.

you got down to the bank and climbed off of your bike before tossing it to the ground carelessy, but when you walked up to the spot the three of you usually met at, it was only bucky who turned and smiled.

"where's stevie?" you asked with a quizzical expression.

bucky shrugged, "got sick again. hay fever."

you nodded.

god, this was awkward.

you and bucky weren't alone often, you made it a point not to be. not since he kissed you at the drive in movie theater when steve went to fetch popcorn.

it wasn't that you disliked the kiss, it really was somethin', or him for that matter. the problem that made you keep your distance was the fact that, he was bucky.

you adored the blue eyed brunette and had a crush on him since the day he offered you his spot on the swing set at school, but bucky wasn't the kind of guy to settle for one gal.

he'd take a new girl dancing almost every night. it was one of the reasons you hardly went out with the two boys anymore. the painful burning in your chest that would occur when your eyes found his hands clinging to some girls waist.

and to be quite honest, the kiss was very sudden. bucky hadn't looked at you like that before, at least not when you were watching. it scared you. if he kept stealing glances like that, ones that held so much desire, your friendship with both of them would cease to exist. right?

bucky shuffled from toe to toe with his hands in his pockets as his eyes trailed across the lake. he wasn't really looking at anything, just listening to his all-consuming thoughts.

it wasn't like you could turn back now, get back on the bike and ride home faster than your legs could take you. no. no sense in making it more awkward than it needed to be.

"so..." he said in a voice hardly above a whisper.

"so." you repeated.

when nothing more was said between the two of you, you decided to make your way down to the edge of the bank. there were small frogs hopping along the surface and it almost made you crack a smile as you knelt down to admire them in all their simplicity.

bucky walked over and sat down right in the dirt. you tried to ignore the way your heart tried to beat out of your chest as he got closer. you took a silent, but deep, breath in to calm your nerves.

from your peripheral vision, you could see that bucky had turned his head to look at you. the glow of daylight illuminated his angelic features and the cerulean blue of his eyes sparkled with curiosity.

"why can't we hang out without it being like this? you and i are friends too, right?" bucky asked before bringing up a hand to shade his face from the harsh beams of the sun.

you let out a breathy chuckle. not really a "ha ha" laugh, but one filled with irony, "sure, james."

his brows knit together, "we are friends, doll. aren't we?"

you shook your head in exasperation, "i don't know, bucky. i don't know if we can be friends anymore."

bucky's eyes met the ground as a wave of disappointment crashed over him, "why not?" it was more of a rhetorical question than anything, he knew why. it was because he kissed you and now he regretted that damn kiss more than anything in his life.

"because, i can't be friends with someone who i've been in love with since the very first day we met!" you expressed with frustration, throwing all caution to the wind.

bucky's head snapped up as his brain processed what you just said. yours hadn't even begun to function, instead your mouth kept running and your eyes refused to meet his gaze.

"how can we be friends when you're the only thing i think about, and i'm nothing to you?" you stood up and started walking over to your bike.

bucky's eyebrows raised in shock, but he quickly got up too. he had to run after you to catch up with your strides before grabbing you and spinning you to face him.

the warmth of his lingering hand on your arm sent blood rushing to your face. your pulse quickened and your breathing became shallow, your lungs losing their capabilities for whatever reason.

bucky's eyes swirled with a mixture of pain and longing, "nothing?"

you stood still, frozen. what could you have said?

"you're not nothing to me. you never were. i'm sorry that i didn't tell you sooner, but i didn't know how. how in the hell do you tell somebody that they're what you dream about at night? that no distraction in the world could ever take your mind off them and you wish that the little moments between you would last forever?" bucky asked desperately.

a small smile formed on your lips at the end of bucky's unexpected confession, "like that."

bucky grinned upon seeing your smile, his favorite sight.

"well, i guess i'm just a chucklehead," bucky laughed feeling slightly ashamed.

you nodded in agreement,
"but you're my chucklehead."

he threw his head back laughing before pulling your face closer to his with his calloused hand.

"promise?" he asked with the light of hope behind his eyes.

instead of giving him a direct answer you closed the gap between the two of you and kissed him tenderly. his tongue brushed your lips and they fell open immediately, allowing him full access to every part of you.

your hands grabbed at the hair along the nape of his neck as you tried to cling to this moment.

you let out a small sigh as he pulled away.

and with bucky's face inches from yours, he whispered, "i love you too."