{Previously: "See ya, Princess." He saluted.}

Your encounter with Steve had been a few weeks ago. Time went on as usual.

You'd pick up the paper bright and early in the morning, go to work, come home, watch some television, and go to bed.

Nothing was ever different or exciting. You only ever thought about your boys and how much you missed them. Especially Bucky.

The two of you didn't always see eye to eye , but you knew with all your heart that you loved him.

It dawned on you that you never actually said those three special words before he left. You regretted that with every passing moment.

One evening, you'd come home after a long and exhausting day of work. You just wanted to put your feet up and relax.

You unlocked your apartment door and staggered your way inside. It was dark, so you had to feel around on the wall for the light switch.

The bulb, that clearly needed to be changed soon, flickered a bit before settling with a dull yellow glow.

You took off your shoes and tossed your purse onto a nearby wall hook before walking over to the counter to go through today's mail.

After shuffling through the advertisements, you found a telegram.

You hurriedly went to sit down on the couch to read the message, excited that Bucky or Steve had written to you.

The words Western Union were imprinted at the top in large bold letters.

Quickly you began to read over the paper.

You took a shuddered breath in as your stomach dropped.

Much to your demise, it was not a message from your friends.

"𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝚂𝙴𝙲𝚁𝙴𝚃𝙰𝚁𝚈 𝙾𝙵 𝚆𝙰𝚁 𝙳𝙴𝚂𝙸𝚁𝙴𝚂 𝙼𝙴 𝚃𝙾 𝙴𝚇𝙿𝚁𝙴𝚂𝚂 𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝙳𝙴𝙴𝙿 𝚁𝙴𝙶𝚁𝙴𝚃 𝚃𝙷𝙰𝚃 𝚂𝙶𝚃 𝙹𝙰𝙼𝙴𝚂 𝙱𝚄𝙲𝙷𝙰𝙽𝙰𝙽 𝙱𝙰𝚁𝙽𝙴𝚂 𝙷𝙰𝚂 𝙱𝙴𝙴𝙽 𝙼𝙸𝚂𝚂𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙸𝙽 𝙰𝙲𝚃𝙸𝙾𝙽 𝚂𝙸𝙽𝙲𝙴..."

You swallowed the sobs that threatened to escape. Your eyes blurred over with tears and you couldn't read anymore of it, even if you wanted to.

Bucky was gone.

The thing you had been most afraid of, the summary of your constant nightmares had come true.

You curled your knees to your chest and hugged your legs tightly. As if you were trying to hold onto the fleeting memory of him.

Your body racked and trembled in despair, tears soaked your face and clothes. Because of course. Of course you'd lose the one and only person you'd ever loved before getting to tell them how you felt.

All you wanted was to curl up into a ball and fall asleep. So you did.

Before you knew it, you had cried yourself into a deep slumber. Curled up on the same couch that the two of you had slept on together not so long ago.

Except this time his arms weren't there to keep you warm or make you feel safe.