(Author's Note: Here's a special treat! Some floof! Kudos to Toni for helping me out on this one, she made this thing a helluva lot better than I wrote it initially. Also, don't ask me why I wrote this, I just wanted to… There may be more in the future.)

Bucky Barnes had a problem. A girl problem. Not that he had problems picking up gals, just the opposite. Girls swarmed to him like flies around sweets. Always clinging to his arm or coming up to him to start a rousing discussion about nothing in particular. They were nice, and definitely cute enough for Bucky's taste, but they weren't his problem.

Stevie Grace Rogers was.

His best friend, his best gal, the best person in his world, she was his problem. It had nothing to do with her asthma, frequent colds, fatigue, heart troubles, probable diabetes, high blood pressure… along with all her other medical issues. Those he could handle.

But she…

As scrawny as his little porcelain doll was, she was always getting herself into trouble. Bucky worried everyday that someone would shatter her, and he'd be left to pick up the broken pieces he had failed to protect. He would do everything in his power to stop that day from coming. He couldn't, wouldn't, let her shatter.

Stevie was perfect in his eyes. There was nothing wrong with her. Graceful, he'd always joke to her. She would never back down from a fight. No matter who she would go up against, she was always ready to put them in their place. She never let anyone down, not her friends, not her family, not some helpless man on the street. She didn't know when to quit. Even though she was such a frail woman, she would fight for what she thought was right until she couldn't anymore. For such a pretty gal, she made some pretty dumb decisions. And, she was beautiful... Her golden brown hair caught the sunlight, glinting like the treasures of Midas as she walked.

He walked over to her apartment one summer day. It was 1940. Stevie's mother had passed away a few months ago. Bucky had been worried for Stevie ever since it happened. Sarah Rogers went quickly, it almost happened overnight. Stevie was devastated. He hadn't seen her since the day of the funeral.

Bucky had gone down to the church where Stevie had been part of the choir earlier that day. None of the gals she sang with had seen her in weeks. Like him, they hadn't even seen her in church since the funeral. They were worried about her, too. He promised the gals that he'd check on Stevie.

Bucky approached Stevie's door, biting his bottom lip nervously. He wondered if he should just walk in. He knew where she hid her spare key, anyhow, it wouldn't exactly have been difficult. But, he wanted to be polite. He gently tapped his knuckles against the wood, clearing his throat.

"Hey, kid?" he called. "You alright…? It's Buck. You in?" Silence. "Stevie, please, are you in there?" Silence. "I'm coming in, doll." He walked over to the brick and kicked it aside, picking up the spare key from underneath it. He went back to the door and unlocked it, opening it. What he encountered inside was a nightmare.

"Christ, Stevie!" he ran up to her. Stevie was lying in a crumpled heap in the middle of her apartment's main room. Sympathy cards, newspapers, and drawings of her mother all lay scattered beneath her. Her small form shook, her golden locks laid listlessly on her face. A small puddle of bile was pooling beside her, a thin trail starting from her lips. Her eyes were closed, her hands loosely clenched into fists. Bucky could tell, even from where he stood, that she'd lost weight, weight she really couldn't afford to lose.

He knelt down next to her, scooping her up in his arms. Jesus, she was ice cold, and he could've sworn that he could feel her brittle bones breaking from his touch. "Stevie, Stevie, please, look at me, doll, are you alright?"

Stevie mumbled something under her breath, the words indiscernible as they fell from her mouth. Bucky felt his heart race. Something was wrong, really, really wrong with Stevie. Something he couldn't identify, and worse, something he couldn't fix. He had to get her to a hospital, fast.

…

Two days went by before Stevie opened her eyes. She had a dreadful taste in her mouth. Everything hurt. Her heart, especially. There was a tightness in her chest that wouldn't go away, and she feared it wouldn't any time soon.

When she looked around, she frowned. She wasn't in her apartment. She was in a hospital. She panicked. She didn't have the money for a hospital stay. The door was ajar. Thoughts of simply leaving flooded her mind. She could hear the sounds of nurses and family members walking through the hallway. She wouldn't make two steps out the door. There was a small window just to her right. Beams of light shone through the see through curtains, bathing the room in a soft yellow glow. It was nearing sunset. A thin blanket covered the lower half of her body. While she looked around, her eyes rested on a familiar sight, fast asleep in a chair next to her bed.

"Bucky?" she said, surprising herself at the weakness of her voice. His form shuffled a bit, but he didn't wake up. For a few moments, she let him sleep. She let him be free of the confines of her hospital room, the room he probably brought her to. He must've stayed with her the entire time, against any protests of the hospital staff. She knew how he was. She spoke his name again. She saw his eyes open.

Bucky perked up, looking at her like he'd just found her after a journey across the ocean. His face looked drawn, stubble coating his chin and cheeks. He reached for her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.

"Stevie," he said, his voice sounding soft, like a breeze after a storm. "Doll, you scared the hell outta me. How are ya feeling?"

"Fine, I-." she looked at him. "Did… Did you take me here…?"

"Of course I did," Bucky said. "Stevie, I've never seen you so bad. When I found you-." he paused, his breath catching in his throat. "The docs said you're 77 pounds. Stevie, you're malnourished and they think you might have the flu."

"I…" Stevie began. "I'm sorry."

"Why on Earth are you sorry?" Bucky asked her. "Stevie, you're sick, and you're in grief. There's no reason you should apologize."

"I made you worry," she said.

"Look, kid, don't worry about that right now, okay?" he said. "Focus on getting you better, and making sure you're okay. I… I don't want anything to happen to you." He looked down at his lap, and Stevie could see that he was shaking. "You… haven't been eating, have you?" Stevie looked at him with wide eyes, but shook her head. "Dammit, Stevie, no wonder you got so sick…"

Stevie looked away from Bucky. She hated when he got angry with her. It was understandable, though, she knew. She was constantly reminded by him how stupid some of the choices she made were, from getting into fist fights, to going out without a jacket when one of the church girls didn't have her own and she offered hers. That selfless charm of hers was cute, but not when it ended up with her needing medical attention.

"Sorry…" she said quietly once more. She heard Bucky sigh. She looked back, seeing him run a hand through his dark hair. He looked at her with a small, but seemingly forced, smile. He gave her hand a small squeeze.

"It's fine, Stevie." he said. "It's just that when we promised we'd be there for each other till the end of the line, I didn't expect the end to come up so quick. And I don't want it to ever happen again, ya hear?" Stevie felt tears rise to her eyes.

"Was…" she swallowed, feeling her throat constrict with dryness. "Was it really that bad…?" Bucky looked at her, and, for a horrible moment, Stevie saw what might've been tears in her best friend's eyes. Her heart broke.

"I… wasn't sure if you were going to make it, Stevie…" he said through a small breath, looking down. "You were cold. You were shaking, you just… You wouldn't open your eyes. No matter what I did, you just kept them closed and you didn't wake up." he looked up at her. "For days I've been terrified at the thought of attending your funeral next."

Stevie felt tears of her own reach her eyes, steadily flowing down her cheeks. She gave Bucky's hand a quick squeeze. "Buck…" she said quietly. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry that I scared you like that… I-It… It won't happen again."

"But, it will," Bucky said softly. Stevie looked at him, confused. "It will. You don't take care of yourself. You always throw yourself into danger, you neglect your health, you don't care about yourself. You really don't. And that kills me, Stevie." Stevie felt guilty. She wanted to look away, but seeing the tears in her friend's eyes made her become fixated on him, watching as a tear moved slowly down his cheek. That little trail it made split her heart in two.

"I-." she bit her lip. She couldn't say she was sorry. Being sorry implied that she wouldn't do it again and she couldn't promise him that. She took a shaky breath. "I'll try to be more careful when I get out of here."

"I don't want you to try," Bucky said. "I just want you to do it, Stevie. I don't want to find you dead in an alleyway somewhere after you fight someone, and I… I never want to find you like that again…"

Stevie squeezed Bucky's hand, and smiled ever so slightly. Bucky looked at her, not wiping the tear off of his face. "Bucky," she said quietly. "I'm with you till the end of the line. And the end of the line isn't coming any time soon."

Bucky smiled a little. "You'd better keep that promise, Rogers," he said.

"I don't break promises, Buck." Stevie said, yawning. "Not planning on starting now." Bucky rubbed the top of Stevie's hand with his thumb, watching her eyelids flutter as she struggled to keep her eyes open. He didn't blame her, she was probably exhausted.

He watched as her breathing slowed, her chest rising and falling steadily. He felt himself relax knowing that she was awake. He looked at the clock. It was late. He'd have to leave eventually. The nurses had been kind enough to let him stay with her until she woke up, but he figured it was time he got some rest. He promised himself he'd be back in the morning.

"I'll be back, doll," he said softly, not wanting to wake her. She didn't stir. He bit his bottom lip, gazing at her soft features. His attention turned to her lips, thin and frail, just like the rest of her. Thin and frail and perfect. Bucky couldn't stop himself.

He leaned down towards her, pressing a gentle kiss against her lips. The gesture was petal-soft, and Stevie didn't react at all… Aside from a smile. Bucky smiled as well, brushing Stevie's hair away from her face, looking at her. She was his little doll, and he hoped that he'd eventually have the courage to kiss her when she was awake.