Bucky sat back in his chair, arm over the back of the one next to him that was currently vacant. He kept his gaze on the woman who was stood in the middle of the room, the sight of her enough to make his eyes soften and his lips quirk upwards. They had ate around a large table at the side of the room and Evelyn had scoffed her slices of pizza and drank the white wine, Bucky drinking his beer and picking at his own pasta. He had sat next to Sam, conversing with him while Evelyn's parents were to her side. After the meal, Sam delivered his speech and Bucky had to admit that it wasn't as bad as he had suspected.

There were jokes at his expense, of course there was, but everything else he had said was sweet. He had been courteous to Evelyn, telling her how he never thought that Bucky would find someone who could handle his cyborg tendencies. Bucky had rolled his eyes, Evelyn laughing and nudging her husband afterwards. Once the plates were cleared away, she had gone to the bathroom with Rebecca and that was when Maria and Lisa pounced on Bucky, sitting to his side once Sam had vacated his seat.

They apologised for everything that had happened, telling him how they knew they had been harsh, but it was only because they cared. He told them that there was no bad blood between them and that he didn't hold any grudges. He would have felt the same if he had been them.

"You know, I can rib them about this when they turn into moody teenagers," Sam's voice suddenly appeared next to Bucky and he sat back down, sliding a bottle of beer over to him and placing his own down on the table in front of him.

Bucky chuckled. "I'm sure they'll love that," he said to him.

"Oh, most definitely," he responded, watching as Sarah stood up with Cass in front of her and Evelyn held AJ's hand, spinning him underneath her arm as the soft music played over the speakers and Bucky watched them all dance, clearly having had enough to drink to give them to courage to step onto the makeshift dance floor.

"So…how you feeling?" Sam asked from Bucky.

The super soldier nodded once, taking a sip of his beer. "Pretty good," he responded to him, voice earnest and for once he could say that without worrying about anything else. "And…what you did…with Steve," Bucky said, turning his gaze onto Sam and away from his wife. He moved a hand to his shoulder and clasped hold of it tightly. "It meant a lot to me, Sam. It really meant a lot."

"You're more than welcome," Sam said to him. "Figured that it would only be right for him to see you on the biggest day of your life…well, the biggest day so far, just wait until you have kids."

Bucky almost spat his beer out at that. Shaking his head, he placed the bottle down and Sam laughed at him. "You've turned red," he commented. "You've actually turned red. Don't tell me you don't know how kids are made? I've practically heard you two going at it."

"I'm perfectly aware how children are formed," Bucky assured him, tugging at the tie he wore and loosening it slightly, pulling open the top button. "But we're not thinking about that yet. We just want some time to be us, you know? Ever since we got together there's always been some fight…and we've never really experienced just being us."

"I get that," Sam said. "So, what's the plan?"

"Well, Evie said that she has to go into work tomorrow," Bucky said and looked to Sam. "She said that the exhibit is opening up tomorrow…for Isaiah."

Sam nodded. "I'm going to go and fetch him tomorrow morning which means that I can't drink that much tonight. Need to be sober for when I pick him up."

"Would be for the best," Bucky nodded his head at him. "And then, obviously, we're flying out to Louisiana the day after…coming back to D.C. and then heading to London. Everything is planned and sorted, but…I've got one more surprise for her."

"Oh yeah?"

"An actual honeymoon with just us," Bucky admitted. "I've booked a week in Italy at this place where I went when I was in the war. We talked about it, but I just went and booked it for October. The weather should be warm enough still and it's something else to look forward to."

"Sounds pretty romantic," Sam said. "Look at you, such a charmer."

"Alright," Bucky said, but his voice was still light and the smile remained on his lips, Sam chuckling and taking another sip of his beer.

"As much as I'd love to sit and tease you more, I think you're wanted." Sam nodded over to where Sarah, Evelyn's mother was. She was moving towards the table and Bucky finished the swig of his beer.

"Sarah," he said to her.

"We were hoping you might cut the cake," Sarah said to him. "Well, Evelyn was, she has been going on for the past ten minutes about how she could eat a slice. I swear that girl's main priority is food."

Bucky laughed at that. "I've picked up on that," Bucky commented. "I'm coming."

He stood up, clasping Sam once more on the back and moving forwards. He followed Sarah who went to grab Evelyn. She looked to her mother as she spoke over to her and nodded, turning to see Bucky heading her way.

"Hey," she said to him. "Where you been?"

"Talking to Sam," he responded, moving an arm around her waist and holding onto her as she wrapped her own arm around him. "Your mother said that it is time to cut the cake…well, more accurately, she said that you've been talking about the cake."

"Have you seen it?" Evelyn demanded from him. "It's triple layered, Bucky, and the icing is so good."

"How do you know the icing is good?" he questioned from her, walking with her to the table where the two-tiered cake sat. One tier was chocolate and the other was sponge. They had managed to agree on a compromise on that.

"I kind of took a bit when I was walking past it," she said to him and he laughed. "But I took it from the back so no one would even notice. It's fine, don't worry about it. I haven't ruined our cake."

"You're unbelievable," Bucky retorted.

"No, just love cake," she replied and moved to kiss him on the cheek.

Standing by the cake, Evelyn waited for her mother to come back with a knife to cut into it. She did so and handed it to her daughter, Bucky joking and asking if she should be handling sharp edges. She nudged him in the stomach before leaning in to cut the cake, Bucky stood behind her, a hand holding hers as they cut into the sponge one. Evelyn cut the slices and Bucky handed out the plates before they took theirs back to the table. Sitting down, they picked at their slices and talked, both of them angling their bodies towards each other.

Once they were finished, Sarah was back in front of them, telling them that they hadn't even danced together yet. Bucky had humoured her mother as Evelyn rolled her eyes and told her mother that there was no rush. But Bucky stood up and offered her his hand. She took hold of it and Evelyn's brows furrowed. She stopped walking with him and looked to him.

"We don't even have a song," she said to him. "What…how did we not think about this?"

"I was amazed that you didn't," he agreed with her on that point, "but luckily for you, I planned it. I was just waiting to see if you would say anything."

"I can't believe I didn't think of it," Evelyn commented to him. "How could I not have thought about that?"

"I know," Bucky drawled, pulling her along with him, her hand tight in his as he dragged her to the middle of the room. "It never came up on that list of yours."

"So…what is it?"

"Wait and see," Bucky teased her and she had to admit that she didn't like the fact that she was the centre of attention, stood there with Bucky. He was the one who took the lead, moving to hold onto her hand and her waist as she took hold of his shoulder. It was then when the tune kicked in and Evelyn laughed loudly at him and she heard her mother holler and her father groan.

"Did I not pass on my music taste to you?" Alistair demanded and Evelyn shrugged over to him, still smiling.

"This was playing on the night when I came to pick you up for our first date," Bucky said as Wham!'s 'Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go' played in the background. "I remember hearing it down the corridor…and I could hear you singing…and when you opened the door, stood there, all I could think about was how happy you looked and I'd caused that. The thought of going for a date with me had caused you to be that happy and I thought it was a miracle back then, but still think it's a miracle now that you even answered that damned door."

"You remembered," she said to him and Bucky swore that image was etched in his brain of her stood at the door.

"I remembered, sweetheart," he said to her. "I'm the romantic one, remember?"

"I have my moments," she protested.

"Go on then," Bucky urged her, moving slowly with her, going completely against the tempo of the tune, but he didn't care. Alistair and Sarah had moved to dance too and Sam had asked Lisa for a dance, Rebecca taking Sam's sister, Sarah and her boys to the floor, showing them her moves.

"What?" she questioned from him.

"If you had to pick a song, what would it have been?" he asked from her.

"Putting me on the spot?" she questioned him. "That's intense, Mr Barnes, very intense."

"Well, I'm intrigued," he said to her and she looked around for a moment, letting her thoughts collect in her mind before she turned up to him after he had spun her under his arm.

"What's that song?" she asked him. "You sometimes hum it when you're in the kitchen cooking. You said that it was one of Steve's favourites. You said that he played it on repeat when you were in Wakanda."

"It's been a long, long time," Bucky said to her. "He did love that one and I have to admit, it kind of grew on me…made even more sense when I was with you. I got why Steve liked it so much."

"Well, you two always were inseparable," Evelyn responded with a shrug of her shoulders. "But we could have picked something. You know, you could have mentioned it."

Bucky shrugged. "Wanted at least one thing today to be out of your control," he said to her. "It's good for you not to have complete control over everything and be surprised every so often."

"Well, thank you," she said and moved to kiss him.

"Anything for you," he responded and wrapped both arms around her waist as she rested her cheek by his shoulder and closed her eyes, a smile moving onto her face as contentment took hold of her.

…

"No, I have to get up," Evelyn said to Bucky as he kept an arm firmly around her waist the following morning. He was laid in bed and Evelyn was trying to get out of it, but he was being persistent. He bent down to kiss along her neck, feeling her squirm in his grip as her hand tried to prise his arm off of her. "Bucky," she laughed his name loudly and he bit down on her pale skin.

"You have an hour before you have to get to work," he commented against her neck as he moved, pinning her down onto the mattress. "So, that means you need ten minutes to shower…two minutes to brush your hair…a couple more minutes to get dressed…and only twenty minutes to walk to work so by my calculations you have twenty five minutes spare."

"What about breakfast?"

"Grab it on the go."

"And makeup? Dealing with my hair?"

"Don't need it and just tug a brush through it," Bucky responded, nipping at her neck again.

"You're insatiable," Evelyn mumbled, a hand going through his hair and stroking it under her fingertips. She moaned loudly as he kissed her again and she swore that he was trying to kill her as his hands reached for the bottom of the top she had tugged on in the middle of the night after getting chilly.

"We got married yesterday," Bucky said to her. "I thought it was customary for the couple not to even get out of bed for at least one day."

"I think you just made that up," she informed him, deadpanning with him as he moved the top over her ribs. "And I just need to go to work for a couple of hours. I'll be back this afternoon and then you can have your way, okay?"

"Can't I have my way now and this afternoon?" he asked from her.

"Can't have your cake and eat it, sweetheart," she said and managed to flip him over, not that he really protested. She hovered over his lap, the top falling back down her thighs and she pressed a hand to his chest, her other one bending down and stroking along his cheek.

"You know, that phrase makes no sense at all," Bucky said with a firm shake of his head.

"I didn't invent it," she said to him and climbed up from his lap. She moved from the bed, tugging her top down her body. He propped himself up on his elbows, hair ruffled on top of his head and the duvet pooling in his lap. She reached for the bobble around her wrist and tugged her hair up into a messy ponytail.

"You're the biggest tease," Bucky complained.

"That's not fair," she said. "I told you that I had to get up. You were the one who insisted otherwise."

"Fine," Bucky complained. "Go to work, but you better get back here as soon as you're done."

"Yes, Sergeant Barnes," she saluted him and his lips quirked as she threw him one final smile and left the bedroom, closing the bathroom door behind her. Bucky flopped back onto the mattress, hands behind his head as he looked to the ceiling, his finger toying with his wedding ring and his smile remained plastered on his face.

…

Evelyn stood back and let Sam show Isaiah to the new exhibit. She had gotten there half an hour before they had turned up, despite Bucky's best efforts to derail her. She tugged on the burnt orange dress she wore, looking at the two men enter the exhibit. Sam sent her a smile with a nod that she returned with a gentle wave. Looking at Isaiah Bradley, she had to admit that she couldn't even begin to comprehend what he had been through. What horrors had he seen? There was another young man walking behind them and Evelyn suspected that was his grandson.

She smiled warmly as Isaiah looked at the exhibit before turning to embrace Sam, his grandson stepping back and looking over it, his own lips arching upwards. Evelyn remained stood to the side before Sam turned to look to her, a hand on Isaiah's back as he guided him towards her.

"Isaiah, this is Evelyn, she's in charge of the exhibit here," Sam introduced them. "She's the one who helped make all this possible."

"I don't know about that," Evelyn said with a shake of her head and offering her hand to Isaiah. He took hold of it and shook it gently. "Sam was really the driving force…I just helped him…worked connections…"

"She's being modest," Sam responded. "She's great."

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you," Evelyn said, dropping his hand.

"It's nice to meet you too," he said and she could see that he had tears forming in his eyes.

"And…this should have been done years ago…if we had known," she said with a shake of her head. "But I'm sorry."

Isaiah nodded his head once.

"Please," Evelyn said, stepping back and looking to the three of them, "take as long as you like in here. You have the complete run of the museum and I've asked Charlie to stay open later if needed."

"Not the first time you've done that for someone, is it?" Sam teased her and she nudged him in the ribs after a moment and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. He looked to Isaiah and then spoke. "She's Bucky's wife, Isaiah."

"His wife?" Isaiah questioned her.

"We got married the other day."

Isaiah nodded thoughtfully. "Perhaps he can change," he mumbled.

"Anyway," Evelyn said, "I'll leave you three to it. Mr Bradley, thank you…and…well…it was a pleasure to meet you."

"You too, Mrs Barnes," he said and Evelyn wondered if she would ever get tired of hearing that.

Stepping back, she watched the three of them talk to each other and she smiled, wandering around the exhibit and giving them their privacy. Heading to the main hall, she stood by the Howling Commando's exhibit, her gaze once again going to the man they always went to.

"Did you see him on the news?"

The question took her off guard and she looked over the short distance to see two kids stood by Bucky's face. She folded her arms over her chest. The girl must have been no older than thirteen judging by her height, her red hair in a ponytail as the boy next to her stood slightly taller than her, his hair cropped and blonde.

"Yeah," she said back to him. "My dad said that he was pardoned by the President for what he did as the Winter Soldier and then he was in New York. Did you see him punch that metal barrier?"

"That was cool, what he could do with his arm," he said with a nod of his head.

"Do you think he'll become like…what? Captain America's new right-hand man? Like the Robin to his Batman?"

"Who knows," he shrugged to her. "Pretty weird though, right? Being born in the old ages and being alive today."

Evelyn wanted to laugh at that. The old ages. She shook her head and left the two of them to continue talking, stopping her eavesdropping and heading to grab her bag and jacket. She had to get home. The man from the old ages was waiting for her.

….

"You dropped it!"

Evelyn shrieked at Bucky as he held the container with the cake in his hands. They were only a few minutes away from the dock, the cab dropping them off just down the road from it. As soon as Bucky had gotten out of the car, he had dropped the container with the cake in it. He had picked it up, hoping that she might not notice. But she had.

They had checked into a hotel for the night and picked up the cake that Evelyn had ordered prior to them arriving.

"It's fine," Bucky said to her.

"You've…you've ruined it," she said, hovering in front of him and looking at the container. "Look at the icing! It doesn't even resemble a cake anymore, Bucky."

"Sweetheart, it will be perfectly edible," he promised her and she shook her head. She didn't know about that. She let out a frustrated sigh and he moved his sunglasses from his eyes and onto the top of his head as she kept hers on her face, hands going into the pockets of her blue jumpsuit. Bucky draped his arm around her shoulders and she almost freaked out again before he spoke. "I've got the cake, don't worry," he promised her and she shook her head.

He kept walking with her by his side as they approached the source of the noise they had heard in the distance. Evelyn looked around, wondering if she had ever seen anything like this before. There were people laughing and chatting everywhere, the food smelled amazing and everyone looked relaxing and welcoming.

"Hey, look who it is!" Bucky exclaimed as AJ and Cass ran at them.

He moved his arm from Evelyn as the boys pretended to fight with him and he indulged them, Evelyn laughing at him and wondering if she had ever seen him look so goofy before. She didn't even care that he was hardly holding onto the cake anymore. Instead, she kept on smiling, the sight warming her insides.

"Hey, Evie!"

Evelyn turned around to see Sarah moving over to them, finishing off the conversation she was having with some of her friends. Evelyn pushed her sunglasses onto her head, grateful she had put her contacts in. Heading over to them, Sarah embraced Evelyn as Bucky finished messing around with AJ and Cass, smiling as he came back over to them.

"Hey, Sarah," Bucky said with a wave of his free hand.

"How are things?" Sarah asked. "What's it like being married?"

"Still getting used to it," Evelyn confirmed, pulling back from her and smiling. "And then I have to change my name on everything."

"Oh, the paperwork is a nightmare."

"Makes me wonder if he's worth it," Evelyn joked and Bucky placed a hand to his chest.

"You wound me," he mocked and Evelyn rolled her eyes at him.

"Sure," she said, sarcasm oozing from her voice. "Anyway, we bought a cake for the cookout, but someone went and dropped it when he was getting out of the cab."

"It'll still be edible," Bucky responded to her and Sarah laughed as she took the container from Bucky and Sam made his appearance, seemingly coming out from nowhere.

"Did I hear that right?" Sam questioned, standing next to his sister. "He dropped the cake?"

"He did," Evelyn nodded her head. "And he claims that is still edible, but I'm not convinced on that one."

"So he can handle knives…has a perfect shot…but can't carry a cake?" Sam checked and Bucky took his turn to roll his eyes. "Hey, good to know you're not completely perfect, man."

"I had one accident and you're never going to let me live it down, are you?"

"Unlikely," Sam confirmed. "Come on, I've got people to introduce you to. You've become quite the hit following New York."

"Evie, do you want to come and help me with the food?" Sarah asked and she nodded.

"Sure," she said, exchanging a look with Bucky as they both went off with the siblings.

Evelyn helped Sarah lay out the food, the two of them talking about the wedding and what their plans were when they went to London. Evelyn asked her about the boat, wondering if it was still a sore subject, but she said that they were finding a way to keep it and she sounded relieved about that. Evelyn looked up to see Bucky stood with a group of people, his hands raised as he said something and his face had an animated expression on it. Evelyn smiled at the sight, almost bursting into laughter when AJ and Cass grabbed onto his arm and he lifted them from the ground as if they weighed nothing and he just kept talking.

"Now that's just showing off," Sarah commented, coming to stand next to Evelyn.

"He does that quite often," Evelyn responded.

"Really?"

"Yeah…just lifts things as if they're nothing," Evelyn said. "I think he thinks that being strong makes him worthy of swooning over."

"I don't know," Sarah joked, "something about a guy with muscles is pretty attractive."

"Please, do not tell him that. It'll just inflate his ego," Evelyn pleaded with her.

"Don't tell me you haven't slightly swooned over him. The way Sam goes on about him makes me think that even he's swooned over him before," Sarah joked and Evelyn laughed again.

"He…it's weird," Evelyn admitted as Bucky laughed at something, hand going to his chest. "I still see him and get this weird feeling in my stomach. I thought it would go away, but it really hasn't."

"That's love, Evie," Sarah said to her, continuing to cut up the pumpkin pie. "No other word for it."

"I guess so," Evelyn responded earnestly.

They finished putting the food out and Bucky saved Evelyn a seat next to him while Sam took the head of the table. Heading to the table, she sat down and picked at the food Bucky had grabbed, leaning closer to him as he ate a strip of chicken and the three of them lapsed into conversation. Sam only left when he had finished his meal, his sister calling him to come and help her. Bucky turned his upper body to the side, facing Evelyn and she reached for the slice of pumpkin pie she had picked up.

"You know," she commented, cutting into it and taking a bite, "you seem more relaxed here than you ever did at our engagement party around my family."

"Shit, really?" he asked, sounding almost worried. But Evelyn shook her head at him and waved a hand.

"I don't care, Bucky," she promised him. "I mean, I get it. The people here are a lot nicer and the atmosphere is much more relaxed."

"Well, no one's insulted your engagement ring so I guess it's already an improvement," he said to her and she looked down to the ring as Bucky picked up his own fork and cut into her pumpkin pie.

"I guess so," she agreed with him on that one. "But it's nice here, isn't it? I mean…everyone seems so happy and friendly…not judgmental at all."

"You sound surprised about that," Bucky said, placing an arm over the back of the chair and leant back, his hand going to rub at her shoulder. She placed a hand on her stomach, wondering if she could eat anymore considering she was full and she shrugged.

"I guess I grew up with mum and dad and that was great, you know, I love my parents so much," Evelyn said, "but whenever we went to big family events…things like this…it was always so tense, like everyone was trying to outdo each other. It was ridiculous, really."

"I can imagine," Bucky agreed with her on that point. "So what're you saying? We're going to try and avoid them?"

"Oh, was that not obvious?" she questioned from him and he laughed. "Bucky, after that engagement party I never want to go to another family event. I mean it. Besides, we might not get invited after my previous outburst."

"Hmm," Bucky hummed at her, moving his thumb to her chin and wiping away a crumb from the pumpkin pie, flicking it to the side before curling a finger back there, tilting her head up. "Well, I'm not too sure now. If going to those events gets you worked up and defensive then I might be able to suffer through them."

"Easy," she said to him with a laugh, hand running on his chest, crumpling the red top he wore in his dark jeans. "There's kids around here."

"Then I guess I'll save it for when we're back at the hotel," he said to her. "Besides, I have a surprise for you."

"Oh yeah?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said and reached into the pocket of his jacket. He pulled out a leaflet of some kind and handed it to her. She looked down onto it and her brow furrowed. She opened it up and saw two tickets in it. "Bucky…did you…"

"I booked us our honeymoon to Italy," he said to her with a nod and her eyes widened as she looked at where they were saying. "I found this private house with a balcony over the lake…right near the town so there's plenty of opportunity for food and we can take walks around the lake."

"When did you do this?"

Bucky shrugged. "I have ways of keeping things from you," he said to her and she turned to look to him.

"But…we didn't discuss how to pay for the honeymoon-"

"-Sweetheart, don't worry about that," he said to her. "I'm here trying to whisk you away and you're worried about money. You're ability to ruin romantic moments is-"

She cut him off then, her mouth landing on top of his and he closed his eyes after the initial shock of her being so forward. He wrapped his hand into her hair, holding onto it as she continued to kiss him.

"Get a room, you two!"

Sam's yells interrupted them and Evelyn pulled away, forehead resting against Bucky's and chuckling. Bucky turned his head to the side and shot Sam a glare and subtle mouthing telling him to mind his own business. Sam laughed and waved a nonchalant hand in their direction and Bucky turned back to Evelyn, kissing her quickly once more.

"Thank you," she said to him.

"My pleasure," he responded to her. "And you've already got time off work. Rebecca saw to that."

"She's been in on this?"

"I had to make sure you could get the time off, didn't I?" he checked with her. "I know what you're like when it comes to your job."

He shrugged out of his jacket after a moment, draping the black thin material over Evelyn's shoulders as he noted her shiver. She kept it there, holding it around her body as his arm went back to her shoulders.

"Yeah," she said to him. "The workaholic, museum curator, I get it."

"I still found you attractive," Bucky said to her.

"Found?" she questioned.

"Well, they do say that the passion dies out when you eventually get married," he said to her and she opened her mouth wide at hearing him say that. He laughed and she elbowed him in the rubs. "I'm kidding."

"Glad to hear it because we've only been married for two full days."

"Feels like an eternity," Bucky said and Evelyn tilted her head to the side.

"Someone is being very sarcastic tonight," she commented and Bucky shook his head, picking his fork back up and cutting into the pie once more.

"Just in a good mood," Bucky said to her. "How could I not be?"

"Sat next to me?" she asked. "It would be impossible."

"Oh, I meant this pie," Bucky said. "It's absolutely delicious."

"Such a joker," Evelyn said and picked her own fork up and he kept on chuckling and she longed for him to stay like this. She longed for him to stay as carefree as he was acting all of a sudden. She loved it. She loved to see it because this was him. This was Bucky. She wondered if this was the Bucky of the 1940s, but she didn't dwell on that, because the Bucky next to her was pretty perfect in her eyes.

"Mind you," Evelyn said after swallowing her mouthful, "it probably tastes better than that cake you dropped."

"I'm going to go and get a slice of that cake and prove that it still tastes perfect," Bucky said and before Evelyn could protest, he was standing up and moving off. She could only laugh as he went and returned, the destroyed cake in his hands. Sitting back down, he picked at a piece with his fork before pressing it to her lips and she ate it, admitting that it still did taste okay and he declared victory.

"Hey, you two," Sam suddenly spoke. "Come here."

"What is it?" Evelyn wondered, but she was already standing up, Bucky's arm around her shoulders and guiding her forwards to the edge of the dock. Sam was stood in the boat and he held his hand out, helping Evelyn down into it as Bucky watched her, making sure she didn't fall. Once she was in, he climbed on down and Sam stretched his arms out.

"What do you think?" he asked her.

"You finished it?" she asked him.

"All renovated and ours to keep," Sam said proudly. "But I have to say, Evie, the shining feature of it is that sanding down that you did."

"I know you're teasing me, but I'll let it slide," she said and Sam laughed while Bucky looked around.

"Looks good," he nodded, hands on his hips.

"Well, you're welcome to come on down anytime…head out onto the water with us."

"We'd like that," Bucky confirmed, nodding his head. "Wouldn't we, sweetheart?"

"Definitely."

"Awesome, listen, I promised Brandon I'd give him a hand with the BBQ…you guys aren't leaving yet, are you? I know you have to get a flight back to D.C. in the morning."

"We can stay longer," Evelyn said. "Do you mind if I have a walk around the boat?"

"Just don't fall overboard," Sam warned her and she punched him in the shoulder as she walked by him and he laughed, but squeezed her arm and sent her an affectionate smile.

"I was about to tell you that my friend Lisa had asked me to give you her number, but I might not now."

"Lisa? Your bridesmaid?"

"The one you spent half the night flirting with? Yeah," Evelyn said.

"In which case I apologise sincerely," Sam said to her and Evelyn laughed at him.

"Well, I'll torture you a bit more. You can have it later on."

"Knew I still had it. See, it's not just you who has the charm here?" He said, looking over to Bucky who just rolled his eyes at him. Evelyn continued laughing and walked off, passing Bucky and running a hand down his arm.

Looking to Bucky, Sam nodded once at him and considered what he was thinking as he watched Evelyn move off.

"You good, man?"

"Great," Bucky said, looking over to him. "And listen, I've been thinking about the future…about what I want to do and I think we should have a talk when I come back from London or Italy. I could use your advice."

Sam nodded. "Sure," he agreed and went to take hold of him by the shoulder. "But just enjoy your honeymoon, yeah? We can figure things out when you get back…and look after that one." He said, motioning to where Evie stood at the end of the boat.

"Always will," Bucky promised and embraced Sam before he climbed from the boat.

Bucky's lips remained upturned and he headed back towards the end of the boat. Standing behind Evelyn, he wrapped his arms around her waist, feeling her move her hands on top of his. He dropped his chin onto her shoulder and she closed her eyes for a moment, leaning back against him as he kissed her neck.

"It's a pretty beautiful sight, isn't it?" Evelyn asked him, opening her eyes and looking onto the sunset while Bucky squeezed her waist tightly.

"It's nice," he agreed, "but not as perfect as the sight in front of me right now."

Evelyn could feel her cheeks redden at that and Bucky moved to kiss her once more on the side of her head, his lips smirking against her skin as he did so. "Will you ever not blush at me complimenting you?" he questioned.

"I don't know," she said to him. "Will you ever stop being such a flirt?"

"For you? Never, sweetheart," he said and Evelyn lifted her face up, making her intentions clear. Bucky took the hint and bent down to kiss her, her hand rising to hold onto his cheek. Pulling back after a moment, she leant her head back against his shoulder once more and he dropped his chin back to her shoulder.

"So long as you promise that it'll only ever be for me."

"I can promise that," he said to her, his voice low and tender.

"That you'll always love me?" she asked and his lips quirked as he looked down into her eyes and leant in, preparing to kiss her once more, but not before whispering that one word he always whispered to that question:

"Always."

….

A/N: And that is the end! Thank you all so much for sticking by me with the story. I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I've enjoyed writing it! Do leave me one final comment and I might be back one day with a new story!