Chapter 7

She wasn't avoiding him.

A month had passed since Bucky's confession to Emma, and the pair had grown closed since. They would sometimes hang out together, like for jogging or eating in the restaurant down the block. They spent so much time together that Bucky had started to notice some of Emma's habits: the way her green eyes sparkled every time he made her laugh or how she would always try to make him comfortable, she made an effort to not invade his personal place. She always tried her best to bring joy in his life, cheering him up when he would tell her that he had trouble sleeping and it made him tired. The young woman was understanding and she was so damn caring, it almost pained him to hide the truth from her – who he really was.

In fact, she didn't ask more questions about his past which led him to understand that she didn't make the connection between him and the Winter Soldier. She was that oblivious. Where had she been living the past few months? He was pretty sure that she would flee away from him, but by the end of the first week since that talk, his worries disappeared. Emma was the friend he needed right now, and he was glad that she entered his life. He had started to think that they were destined to meet.

What Bucky didn't expect was his growing feelings for her, he didn't have a word to name them yet but he was certain that it was more than their friendship. It might sound cheesy but he couldn't go a day without at least seeing her face and her beautiful smile. He would wait for her to come home from her job before he could get some rest, just to make sure she was safe and sound.

But with his newfound feelings came his growing fear to cause her any harm. What made it worse were his recurrent nightmares in which she was the main character. And in every each of these dreams, she was being killed by him and he would wake up in cold sweat, relieved that it was just a product of his imagination. Yet a part of the man was guilty because he knew how much he could be dangerous for Emma, but he couldn't stay away from her anymore. He was going to enjoy every moment of what they had going, because the day she would learn the truth about him, everything would change.

But something was bugging him off. Bucky had come to realize that he also knew little of the woman – only what David had told him before. The only thing, she had told him, was that she had had traveled a lot for her age and that she was settling in Romania for a bit because she really liked it here. He knew that it was more than that because she had said that she was trying to forget about some elements of her past. He could recognize the look, she wore on her face from time to time, he used to have this look and still had it sometimes. It was the fear of being found by its pursuers.

Despite not knowing much about her, he felt an overwhelming surge of protectiveness for the girl and this feeling had increased since she had come home with that strange guy. Now the stranger was nowhere to be found, luckily for him because all Bucky wanted to do was to strangle him for upsetting his friend and warn him to stay the hell away from her.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of her door opening, he looked at the time – it was one in the afternoon and he was surprised that she hadn't gone to work today, like she usually did on Saturdays.

Bucky fixed his clothes before leaving as well, hoping to come across her in the building. While he was at it, he could invite her for a walk in the park. He had discovered that it was one of her favorite things to do, because she found it relaxing and that it made all of her worry go away – her words.

When he opened his door, he called after her as she was beginning to walk down the stairs. He frowned when she turned around and greeted him with a weak smile. She looked pale and the bridge of her nose was red as well as her cheeks, but still her eyes sparkled when they landed on him.

"Hey James."

"Hi! Are you ok?" he asked softly, when he joined her. "You look ill."

"Well, you shouldn't come close, I think I caught the flu." she told him, as she took a step back. "I was going to the drugstore to buy some medicine because it felt like someone is drilling a hole in my head."

"No way you're going there in this condition, you look like you're going to collapse at any moment." James said, pointing at her small figure and she peered at him. Well maybe he wasn't wrong at all, but Selene really needed something to ease the pain. She had trouble sleeping the night because of the coughs – that didn't last but when since she had woken up, she had felt nauseous and her head was hurting. It was the first time, since 1996, that Selene was sick and she hadn't missed it at all. She gathered that it was because she had finally found her soulmate, and the curse was slowly being removed.

"How am I supposed to go the store then?" she wondered.

"How about you go back to rest and I'll go buy you what you need." he proposed and she stared at him, perplexed. He gently put his right hand on her forehead and sighed. "You're burning Emma, go get some rest and I'll be back later, just don't close your door."

Flushing, Selene nodded slowly and watched him leave before she turned around to return to her apartment. She prepared herself a bath of lukewarm water before she took her clothes off and she entered the bathtub, not without locking her bathroom's door first. Relieved, she closed her eyes for a brief moment as she relaxed in the water.

Selene opened her eyes when she heard James knocked at the bathroom's door.

"You ok there?" he asked, through the door and she got off the bathtub before drying herself.

"I'm feeling much better now." she declared, ignoring the butterflies in her stomach at the sound of his voice.

"I got you some Ibuprofen, I hope that'll help with your fever."

Selene smiled, he was so sweet. She quickly put some light pajamas on, and opened the bathroom's door. In total, she had spent twenty minutes in the bathtub and she slightly felt her body temperature cooling down. James was waiting for her, a glass of water in one hand and a tablet of pills in the other one.

"Thanks," she told him before swallowing the medicine. "Believe me or not, I rarely get sick. I must have catch a cold while walking home from work at night."

When she put the empty glass on the table, she suddenly felt dizzy and she would have lost her balance and fell on the floor if it weren't for James' reflexes. His metal arm carefully encircled her waist as he watched her, his blue eyes full of worry. "Your room, now."

In another occasion, she would instantly melt at those words but she was too tired right now so she simply let him guide her into her bedroom. She sighed with satisfaction as she dropped on her bed, feeling the soft mattress under her. A little smile on her face, she closed her eyes before opening them again to glance at James.

"There is enough place on the bed for two, you know…" she mumbled, before closing her eyes and Bucky realized that she was just teasing him – an after effect of the fever maybe. Yet he sat on the bed, at a safe distance from her. He had decided to stay, just to make sure she would get her well deserved rest and to help her take her medicine if needed.

A few minutes later, the ex-soldier heard the young woman snored softly and he smiled at her cuteness. He felt something warm covering his hand and he glanced down to see that Emma's hand was covering his. Her hand was so small comparing to his own and he grinned before intertwining their fingers. He liked being closed to her and he appreciated the fact that she trusted him enough to let him into space like that. He should probably do the same for her.

(* * * * * *)

Year 1989

"Please say something Selene."

The young woman stared at Adam, unable to reply to him. What could she say? That he didn't need to go away for his studies? That she needed him, here by her side? No, she still to remain silent – trying her best to not cry in front of him.

"I love you Adam, and because of that, I respect your decision. I'm really happy for you and I hope you have finally found your path."

Her (ex)boyfriend took her in his arms for a hug and she bit her lip to stop herself from crying.

"I love you too Selene. I'm gonna miss you, you know?"

She felt him kissed the top of her hair, then her cheeks and finally their lips met in a bittersweet last kiss.

Selene slowly opened her eyes and was met with the darkness of her room. It seemed like she had slept through the whole afternoon. She sat on her bed and noticed that James wasn't in the room anymore. The young woman was glad that he wasn't there to notice her crying in her sleep, how embarrassing it would be. She turned on the light and looked at the time that was indicating 7pm. She still could feel her headache but it wasn't as painful as earlier and her fever seemed to have cool down drastically.

Hearing the soft sound of her TV, she left her room to see that James was watching what looked like to be an episode from The Big Bang Theory. He seemed lost in his thoughts. When he noticed her presence, he turned down the volume. "How are you feeling?"

"I needed that nap," she replied, beaming as she settled in the couch, next to him. "Thank you for staying James. The next time you get sick, I'll be there."

"I don't get sick easily," he declared, with a wink and a flush crept up her face at the sight.

Not wanting him to notice, she chose to focus on the TV screen. She remembered that episode – one of the characters was going to space or something like that.

"May I ask you something?"

Selene tore her eyes off the monitor to look at her soulmate. "What is it?"

"Who's Adam?"

The color drained out of her face as she gaped at James. "Why do you ask me?"

"You were crying in your sleep and you were calling after him, a lot." Bucky answered. He tried his best to not sound bitter. Indeed, he thought that he would never feel like this again...being jealous of someone but here he was. He cringed, internally.

Bucky watched Emma turn off the TV before she turned to look at him.

"He was my boyfriend from my teenage years," she confessed, almost in a whisper. "We broke up when he had to leave for college, but he died a few months after. I had a hard time moving on. It's still painful when I think about it."

Bucky felt foolish for having brought this subject up, now he was the one upsetting her. Tears shimmered in her eyes and he felt more guilty than ever. "I'm really sorry Em…" he whispered as he caught a tear with his fingers.

His hand felt warm against her cheek and she smiled, her heart pounding in her chest.

"I've been thinking about him a lot lately, maybe because I was feeling guilty…" she told him.

His brows knitted. "Guilty about what? You shouldn't feel guilty about moving on Emma, I'd would want for you to keep living your life if I were him."

"About my feelings for you James." she admitted and his eyes widened at her confession.

"You have feelings for me?" he repeated and he felt like his heart would explode at any moment.

She nodded, her head down. "I haven't defined them yet, but what I'm feeling right now goes beyond friendship."

There, Selene had said it, finally. She felt James moving closer to her, until their legs touched and he lift her chin with his hand to meet her emerald eyes.

"Same." It was a simple word but for Selene, it was more than that. It was her salvation.

She smiled, enjoying the feeling of James' finger tracing her lips in a soft motion and she closed her eyes, when he finally made the move.

It was like time stopped when his lips met hers, but the flutter only intensified. Her heart was beating so hard as her body got weaker under his touch.

It was obvious that James was an expert at the art of kissing. She could only focus on how his lips felt against hers, they were soft and warm, and they tasted like honey. Her fingers found his hair as she deepened the kiss, feeling his tongue teasing the entrance of her mouth. She couldn't help a moan escaping her lips and she sensed him smile.

She didn't recall how she found herself lying on the couch and him in top of her, still kissing her but all she wished was for this moment to never stop.

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Tada everyone, we have reached a turning point in their relationship.

I hope you liked this chapter, because things are heating up and not in the way you may think.

See you later for the next chapter.

Love you.