I do not own anything related to Marvel, but Lillian and her family are my characters :).

Chapter 1

Lillian

She stood idly by, her arms pulled back as she leaned in to a glass window that was placed in a big brown building, plastered with Trish Trinket's that met her half way. She only shifted in her pose once in a while, her mind contemplating; her green eyes would lock on an item unless she turned away by a sudden change of thought. The little trinkets of watches and clocks seemed to be waiting for her decision.

"No, I should get them something. They'll take it easier." She said to herself. If people saw what she was doing, they probably thought she was either indecisive or crazy. She took a step back from the shiny glass, hearing a man coming outside. She jumped from the sight of a man who leaned on the wooden door frame.

"Lilly, do you need help?" he asked. He was an old man wearing a suit that matched with his pants, both brown.

She fixed her yellow skirt and looked up, "Oh no, but I'll take the wooden clock and the silver watch," she replied with a smile. The man gave a nod, his brows furrowed with confusion and he went back inside. She let out a sigh, wanting to hurry; she glanced at her watch that read 3:30. Her watch was facing on the underside of her wrist; it was something she did that her friends would tease her for. She smiled at the thought. Her mind was interrupted with the sight of the brown bag.

"Here ya go, Lilly, one wooden clock and silver watch, that be total—" he was cut off as she quickly took it and slapped the money in his hands.

"Here's the money. Sorry, I got to go!" she said.

She hurriedly ran in the hard heels that were white, surprisingly not getting dirty from the black paved roads. The heels were given to her by her mother, a rich woman, with an intention to make her daughter seem more elegant and taller. They worked as intended, not only that they were comfortable and made her run faster.

She crossed the road dodging cars, zooming in and out, making it on the other side, giving her a chance to catch her breath as she clung to the cement wall of a local coffee shop. She panted, leaning forward, suddenly the presents in her hand felt heavier, perhaps due to her fatigue. She lifted her head, her blonde macadamia hair fell near her face as she quickly dashed to wipe it away from her face, letting her eyes get acquainted with something else than the beige cement.

Whipping around, only to bump into a young pair of arms that caused her to gasp with fright, "Oh my goodness, I'm sorry!" she exclaimed. She looked up, catching sight of a brunette haired man. His blue eyes settled on her expression, his hands still held onto her.

"Lilly, it's okay. It's me, Bucky!" he said. It was none other than one of her friends whom she had kept waiting. They must have wanted to look for her.

She moved a bit away from him, attempting to calm down with a clearing of her throat and a pat on her hair, only to realize what he said. "Bucky? Oh! Bucky!" she repeated.

He slowly gave her a nod. "Yes…you alright?" he let go of her arms.

"Well, yes! I was just a little late." She spoke plainly, his eyes still on her. She sighed, she knew he was fishing for answers and at least for this she couldn't help but give in to him. He knew about her shopping habits in terms of gifts. Her shoulders slumped down a bit as she gave him a smile. "I went shopping for us. Where's Steve?" she gazed around, placing her hand over her green eyes which made the young man before her chuckle.

He lifted his hand and pointed behind with his thumb. "He's inside. We were about to just get you."

She stuck her tongue out in a playful manner. "I don't need you guys to babysit me." Her eyes glanced at the young man before her. He was the same age as her, a teenager but he fitted nicely in his dark suit, his hair was partially groomed back which was not unusual, however with closer inspection she spotted on his lower jawline a scratch fitting to his much more fallen hair. It caused her to give a loud sigh. "Bucky, how did you get that scratch? Did you and Steve get into a fight again?" Her brows lowered with concern as she frowned, she could tell he would just try to laugh it off.

She had seen this a lot especially since they were children. He instinctively touched his jaw. "What? This? This is nothing." He gave her a shrug and laughed. She continued to eye him, now it was his turn to be judged.

She was totally not doing this as payback for his questions earlier, this was simply for the fact her two best friends in the world were accident prone and she would have to do the cleaning. She placed her hands on her hips, still carrying the brown paper bag in her occupant left hand. She leaned near him, "Come on, I'll help you clean up. Tell me Steve didn't join you on your adventure of being beaten?" She grabbed his hand before he could answer and pulled him in the café, moving past the double glass doors and its dark green framing.

Once inside Lilly scanned the room. All she could see was a sea of wooden chairs and white cladded squared table that looked like little cubes. Her senses were overwhelmed with the smells of the coffee beans being crushed and made into the addictive drink of the century which sat in the back of the shop. The brown brick floor was slightly reflective of the dark green clad bright lights that hung over the display stand which held little treats people could buy with their coffee.

Bucky came into her perpetual point of view, her hand still onto his. "He's right over there," he smiled, she followed his gaze and caught sight of a small young man with blond hair sitting near the back, next to the restrooms with a taller lady in a light blue dress. He seemed to be in some sort of distress.

"Come on," she shook her head and tugged Bucky toward their upset friend.

When approaching him, they heard the reason why the blond was in distraught. "No, I'm not a kid. I'm just waiting for my two friends." He leaned away from the table that he sat in. He looked like he was trying to convince the lady with the truth.

The lady in front of him shook her neatly primed hair. Her hands carried a few menus. "We can't serve children without their parents."

Bucky broke in the conversation. "The white rabbit is finally here," he lifted the hand of Lilly's in his. Almost like it was a rehearsed act, the one called: Steve, look up and be pointed at by his two friends

"That will be them." Steve said. The lady turned around, viewing the duo and giving the two a disbelieving look. Lilly, catching this, wanted to help Steve out since she made them wait and that people always seemed to give him a hard time.

But before she could speak, Bucky jumped in. "Miss, he's with us." He gave a wink. The lady didn't seem to argue with it and smiled, awkwardly walking away.

Lilly glanced up at him, "Thanks for stealing my thunder. Don't speak." Her hand that been carrying the bag, she put onto the table in front of their smaller friend. Bucky merely nodded with amusement. She saw his smile that he made. She lifted her finger almost in a chiding way. "This is not funny. You should be lucky I'm even carrying alcohol and first aid kits." She began to dig into her purse.

"Lil, I think you're taking it too seriously." She heard the brunette young man next to her speak, his hand feeling quite sweaty now.

"You have to be serious in times like this especially—"

The blond cut her off accidentally, "What—sorry," he paused. "What's this in the bag?" he tried peering into its contents, suddenly hearing a slam next to it.

"Oh, just something I got for—Wait! Steve, did you get hurt too?" she asked, looking up from her purse. Her hand was on the table, she leaned near Steve, and her eyes seem to be filled with worry. She still held Bucky's hand. She saw Steve gave an exasperated look.

"Buck, you told her?!" He glanced with surprise at the taller man who sighed.

"Sorry, pal, she read me like a book."

She stared at the mouse of a man with a white coat and matching pants, a blue shirt and black tie that looked too baggy for him to fit him. He was thin as a skinny sickly child with groom down blond hair and if he had confidence, a set of aspiring eyes. He merely shook his head.

"Well, I didn't get hurt. My meat bag over there got all the dirt." He gestured jokingly with his hands to the taller male who merely responded with a shaking head.

"Come on, Lil, I'm fine. It's no big deal." Bucky answered to her reassuringly as the fair haired girl lifted her head up.

"Gosh! You boys, what am I going to do with you two?" She gazed at his face, wanting to take care of his injury. She grabbed his chin firmly but still gently, "Probably should take care of it….Maybe if I didn't take too long coming in here…" Her voice lowered almost.

As if he sensed her sadness, she felt his other hand on hers. "Well, if it will make you feel better, we can clean it." He said in a semi-serious note.

She looked at him, not noticing her sitting friend was staring at the two. "You two are getting really close." Right then, it made her heart jump, she moved back. Steve placed his hands on his chair and rested his chin on it, causally pointing at their hands still entangle with one another.

She saw this and on cue, she let go. "Sorry!" she said in a hurried manner to cover her tracks. She knew Steve meant no harm, but it was embarrassing. "We should go to the washroom." Her cheeks a bit red, she looked at her little comrade. "Watch the bag, but don't look at it yet," she pulled Bucky and ran into the restrooms nearby, not bothering to stop as he was pointing with his other free hand.

"Lil, I think—"she abruptly stopped, having him face her then pushed him forward.

"Shh," she spoke, as she then followed him in the gray tiled floor and white door restroom not seeing that it said "Men's". She then walked passed him and placed her brown purse on the equally gray counter near the clean clear white sink. She pulled out the first aid kit and alcohol next to her bag. She whirled around facing him. "Alright—"

He came in closer, not meaning to cut her off but continued before she could do anything. "Lilly, we're in the men's restroom." He spoke awkwardly, he looked like he was trying to remain calm, lifting his hand and giving a small wave to the man that came from the stall behind Lilly. The man went to turn the facet on, quickly washing his hands and lifting his head in confusion, before sauntering out of there.

She merely sighed and lightly rolled her eyes, turning from him and opening the small red and white first-aid kit, taking a cotton ball and dabbing it with a bit of alcohol. She faced away from the counter and to her 'patient'. "It's perfectly fine," she slightly shrugged, raising her head, she took her fingers tilting Bucky's head up and to the right of her and began lightly touching his scratch which made him flinch a bit. "I'm sorry," she spoke, feeling remorseful for being quick on her treating of his wound so she began to slow down.

"It was just a small scratch…" he muttered. His blue eyes eyed her.

Her eyes still stared at the cut. "It still needs to be cleaned. I mean you don't want a scar, do you?" She finished the dabbing and quickly went to grab the anti-scar cream, almost professionally all due to her being prepared when she opened everything.

"A scar would look bad, but maybe I could work it." He smiled. She caught sight of his smile which made her feel a little shy, causing her to lower her gaze with a clearing of her throat and heart pounding.

"Well, I think you look better without a scar. I mean—all done!" she laughed a bit, quickly tossing the tools she used for treating him. She then gently put a bandage on his now sanitized cut.

He touched it lightly. "Thanks for being a life saver," he added.

She simply nodded and then turned to put the items back into her purse. She then headed outside, glancing down at the shiny floor when going through the door not seeing how Bucky examined her strangely probably due to her trying not to act weird. He then followed her out. They strolled toward the boy-like man who perked up and smiled as his friends sat down themselves.

"So what happened?" he asked. "And what's in the bag, Lil?"

Bucky took a seat, facing the blond and sitting next to the distracted girl. "She took care of my battle scar. She's a real mother Teresa." He glanced at her "Not being sarcastic." She pretended to fix her white blouse, not spotting her two friends staring at her.

She looked up from her purse that she had now put into her lap. "Oh! I'm sorry, you said something? This is…." Her eyes stared at the paper brown bag in front of her, reminding her of why came here. Her two friends looked at her as if expecting something to come out and it did. Surprisingly with an instant, she beamed, reaching at the bag and pulling it near her. "I got you something!" and right when she said that the two men grinned at her, like they were relieved the suspense was over.

"Oh, Lil, you shouldn't have. What is it?" asked Bucky.

Steve looked up at Bucky then shook his head. "Geez, Lilly, you didn't have to—wouldn't this have cause you too much trouble?" She shook her head and gave Steve the 'okay' gesture that the two had been used to, but she knew they didn't feel comfortable.

"I saw them and it made me think of you two." She watched as they looked at each other with baffled eyes and because she wanted to insist, she pulled out the wooden clock and silver watch. "It's not a big deal, see? Surprise! A wooden clock for Buck and a silver watch for Steve!" she said as she handed them their respectively gifts.

Bucky looked at the clock. "Wow, Lilly, I'm—we are speechless," he raised his brows in astonishment. Steve looked at the watch and seeing how it was really shiny. "We can only say thank you." He smiled. Lilly could sense the awkwardness between the two, thinking that maybe gifts weren't the best plan after all. She bit her lip, waiting for someone to hopefully buy into her gifts and not make what she was going to tell them harder.

"So it is for our birthdays?" piped in the smaller fellow, the question sounded more like a guessing game than an actual question.

The brunette slightly shook his head. "Nah, can't be. Yours is in the summer and mine just happened in March." He turned to the lady next to him. "You got any idea, Lil?" he suggested in a teasing way, he leaned back resting his arm on the chair, facing her.

She glanced at the two, giving them a crooked smiled. She placed her hands under her thighs, shrugging a bit. "Well, it's for that clock I broke at your house, Bucky so now your siblings and you can keep track of time. And for you, Steve, a watch for the one you let me borrow but I never got time to give you it back and lost it." She bit her bottom lip harder as her mind became filled with how she should explain it.

Explain of why she really bought them the items, which wasn't just for the times she wanted to someday make up for breaking a family room clock or not returning a leather watch, but because she was going and she was going soon. She then looked down and gave them a small laugh. "It' silly, I know."

The brunette next to her clicked his tongue and gave her a small nod, it was comforting, and he looked so nice looking when he did that. "This, Lil, is one of nicest things you have did for us so thanks." He looked down at his clock, holding it harder. He followed his gaze up to her, making her nod back at him and giving him a nervous smile.

Feeling better he took that, she then quickly shifted her eyes to Steve. He would usually help calm her down. He was fiddling with the back end of the watch. She grabbed his wrist, causing him to glance up.

"Oh! Here, let me help you with that." She giggled a bit, wrapping the silver band around his wrist until it was on.

"Thanks, Lil," Steve said. He then flashed a smile, saluting to her.

Bucky leaned near the table, grabbing the bag and crumpling it into a ball. "So you guys wanna order?" he asked.

She moved away from Steve, wanting to open her mouth, to get to the point but suddenly felt scared. Her eyes almost watered, causing her to wipe her eyes quickly, not realizing her friends slowly became concerned.

"You alright, Lil?" asked Steve.

She gave a long inhale and exhale in a hurry as an answer and a nod. "Yeah," she looked at her watch which was almost 4:00. She then quickly moved the chair and got up, surprising her two friends. "I'm sorry. I've got to go now. My parents will be mad at me for not helping with dinner. I hope you like the gifts." She picked up her purse, sliding it over her shoulder. "Anyway, got to go." She pushed her chair in. "See you tomorrow, bye!" she waved and then ran off through the door before either could say anything.