July 2023, New York

"Why are you so nice to me?"

Jas turned to him with a smirk, one eyebrow raised and Bucky almost winced. "You want me to be mean to you, Barnes? You got a degradation kink I need to know about?" she asked, and Bucky thought her voice was entirely too loud for 11am on a Saturday in the middle aisle of their local grocery store.

He caught the pinched look and pursed lips of an older woman as she looked the pair of them up and down in clear disapproval, and Bucky offered her an apologetic smile, waving a hand towards Jas and mouthing a 'sorry' over to the woman. Jas didn't notice - if she did, she didn't care - and she continued to load their shopping cart with chips and popcorn and pretzels.

"You gotta realise we're in public when you talk sometimes," he groaned quietly, his elbows resting on the handlebar of the trolley as he let his head fall forwards. "People can hear you when you say those words."

"What words? Kink? Degradation?" she asked innocently, laughing softly when Bucky groaned and quickly shushed her by placing his right hand over her mouth. She giggled, swatting him away. "People shouldn't be listening in to our private conversations if it's gonna make them uncomfortable."

"Hardly private if you're talking like that in the junk food aisle of your local shop."

"Are you uncomfortable with me talking like that?"

Bucky thought it over for a few seconds. "No."

"Okay, good," Jas nodded once, her eyes going to the phone in her hand. "So now we need dips, and Lilah asked if we could grab some root beer because Carter is about to have a full blown tantrum if we don't."

"Okay," Bucky followed her to the next aisle, pushing the trolley in front of him as Jas scoured the shelves for anything else she thought they should grab. He stayed behind her, close by so she could throw whatever she wanted into their trolley, his eyes darting around the store.

It was weird, he thought. How just a few weeks ago, a lot of these people probably hadn't even been alive and now there they were, going through the most mundane task of grabbing groceries on a Saturday morning, trying to cling on to whatever sense of normalcy they could, just like he was.

Just like Jasmine was.

The midnight breakdowns had almost stopped after they'd boxed up the majority of Steve's belongings and Bucky wasn't finding her crying in different rooms of the apartment anymore, but sometimes, when the thoughts got a little too much for her, she would slip into Bucky's room with her pillow in her arms and climb under his blanket, lying down beside him on the floor.

He would wordlessly put an arm around her and pull her closer to him, staying awake long after she had fallen asleep next to him.

He had tried numerous times to lift her up and put her on his bed, but she would always cling to him, and mumble things he could just about understand. She wanted him to stay, to be close to him, and so Bucky would leave her exactly where she was - curled up at his side on the floor.

Then morning would come and they wouldn't talk about it, both of them having fulfilled the promises they made to Steve about taking care of each other.

"Are you even listening to me? Bucky."

He shook his head, snapping out of his thoughts and his brow furrowed as he looked over at Jas who was watching him in concern, her head cocked to the side.

"Sorry. What were you saying?"

"You okay?" she asked, taking a step towards him. "If this is- if you… If there's too many people here and you're feeling overwhelmed, you can go wait in the car. I can just drop this stuff off at my aunt's and tell her I can't stay, then we can hang out at the apartment and have a duvet day."

"A what?"

"A duvet day! Get on the couch, grab some blankets, have a lazy day watching movies and eating junk food."

"And we could talk?"

Jas shrugged, throwing a pack of donuts in the trolley. "If you want. Not about you know who, though," she raised her eyebrows and Bucky rolled his eyes. "That's the deal. Take it or leave it, buddy."

"You should go see your family. You were excited to see the new baby."

Jas shrugged. "She'll still be a baby next week."

He offered a smile, nudging her legs with the trolley. "I'm okay. We can go. I'm feeling social."

"Okay. Oreos?"

"Obviously."

Jas nodded in confirmation, throwing a few packets in the trolley before guiding Bucky towards the checkout. Once she had paid and Bucky had grabbed hold of the three bags before she could protest, the cashier grinning at them and eyeing Bucky up and down as she told him it was nice to see chivalry was in fact alive and well, they made their way to the car and climbed inside.

"Unbelievable," Jas grumbled as she pulled out of the parking space and dragged her sunglasses down over her eyes. Bucky looked over at her, eyebrows raised as he waited for her to elaborate. "You didn't-? Bucky that checkout girl was flirting with you."

"She was?"

Jas rolled her eyes. "Yes, she was. And I was right there! We were buying groceries together and she flirted with you right in front of my face. That's so- it's rude. Shameless! We could have been- I mean, we're not, but she doesn't know that!"

Bucky grinned. "Jealous?"

Jas snorted and reached over to shove him. "In your dreams."

"Maybe she recognised you as an Avenger-"

"I'm not an Avenger."

"-probably thought you were too good for me and decided to… What's that thing the kids say? 'Shoot her shot'?" Bucky ignored her interruption.

Jas barely stifled her giggles, Bucky using such a modern phrase sounding so unusual to her as she shook her head. "She probably took one look at you and decided to shoot her shot, no matter who I was. And I'm not an Avenger, so she wouldn't have recognised me."

"Jasmine, are you telling me I'm pretty?" he cooed, and Jas laughed as she kept her eyes on the road. "Prob'ly saw you on the news, y'know? Part of the team who saved the world and brought us all back. Black Widow's friend. Stark's protégé."

"…Captain America's heartbroken, devastated, grieving girlfriend," she finished for him. "Suppose the news loved using that one for the first few days. Maybe flirty checkout girl figured I'd be far too broken and ruined to ever love another man."

"Or maybe it's like you said and I'm just too handsome and irresistible for my own good."

"Is that what I said?"

"Close enough," Bucky flashed her a dazzling smile and she scoffed as she reached forwards and turned the radio on.

They drove in relative silence for the rest of the short journey, the only sound coming from Jas as she hummed along to the songs playing, or Bucky as he drummed his fingers against his leg.

He could tell she was nervous. She was gripping the steering wheel too tightly, her knuckles white as she chewed the inside of her cheek and she kept letting out little aggravated huffs. Why she was nervous, he didn't know. Was she worried about introducing him to her family? Scared they wouldn't like him, because of his past? He wouldn't blame her if she was. He wouldn't blame them if they took one look at him and told him to leave.

"We're, uh… We're nearly there," Jas cleared her throat. "Just a couple more minutes. It's just up ahead on the left."

"Are you okay?"

"Fine!" Jas nodded her head quickly, and Bucky raised his eyebrows. Her shoulders slumped when she realised he didn't believe her. "I'm okay. I'm a little antsy. I guess I wouldn't have minded if you'd wanted to stay in the apartment and watch movies all day," she admitted, pulling the car over and letting out a sigh. "I'm- it's my family, you know? And I haven't seen them since everyone came back, since we lost Nat and Tony and…"

"…And Steve?" Bucky finished softly, and Jas nodded her head. "It's okay if you don't want to go in. Like you said, we can drop off the snacks and stuff and go back to your place. Watch movies all day."

"I'm being stupid," she chuckled quietly. "It's my family. I'm- I'll be fine. It'll be okay," Jas bit down on her lip, glancing towards the house. "Okay. C'mon," she sighed, unclipping her seatbelt and climbing out of the car. Bucky followed after her, grabbing the majority of the bags from the backseat. Jas glared at him.

"What?" he asked with a laugh. "Super soldier with super strength. I may as well carry the bags for you."

"I feel like I'm setting feminism back a year every time I let you do something like this."

"My mom brought me up to be chivalrous, Jasmine."

"Uhm," Jas winced, closing the car door and leading Bucky up the driveway and towards the front door of her aunt's house. "Speaking of mom's…" she paused, letting out a huff. "Okay, listen. It's not a big deal or anything, but my mom and dad might be here and they- they've kind of disowned me, but-"

Bucky's left eye twitched. "They've done what now?"

"It's not a big deal-"

"They've disowned you?"

"Bucky, really, it's nothing," she held her hands up against his chest to stop him from walking. "It's- my Grandpa- he's… He passed away a little over three years ago, so he's not around anymore to force my mom to accept me or whatever, and she's bitter over the whole being dead for five years thing, so she just kind of… Did what she always does and pushed me away instead of dealing with whatever feelings she has about everything.. This way, she still has my brother and sister as the perfect children and perfect parents to her grandchildren, and me as the black sheep of the family, the eternal disappointment."

"You helped save the goddamn world-"

"That doesn't matter to her, it never has done," Jas interrupted with a shake of her head. "Just… If they're here and my mom makes any snide comments, please let it go over your head."

"Why would they even invite her?" Bucky grumbled as Jas turned to continue her way up the drive.

"She's my aunt's sister," she shrugged her shoulders. "And it's Kellie's engagement party, and… I don't expect them to cut off contact with my parents just because they've cut off contact with me," she told him, raising an eyebrow when he muttered something under his breath. "Do I wanna know what you just said?"

"…Probably not," he admitted sheepishly. She snorted and shook her head, raising her fist to knock on the front door.

"You can take your gloves off, by the way," she nodded towards his hands. "They know who you are, Bucky. It doesn't bother them. Pretty sure Carter will think it's the coolest thing he's ever seen in his life."

"Uh," Bucky flexed his left hand. "I- I'm good."

Jas opened her mouth to speak, to argue, to tell him he was allowed to be himself and he could be comfortable around her family, but she stopped when the front door opened and she was instantly pulled into a pair of arms.

"Jas! You made it! Did you bring the root beer?"

"Hi, auntie Lyn, it's good to see you too," Jas rolled her eyes with a laugh as she hugged her aunt back. "Yeah, Bucky has it-" she started, but was quickly shoved to the side as Lyn gasped and brought her hands up to her mouth.

"Sergeant Barnes!"

"Uh, I- it's- just Bucky is okay," he stuttered nervously, glancing to Jas for help. She smirked and shrugged her shoulders, and he narrowed his eyes at her. "It's nice to meet you, ma'am. I've heard a lot about you from Jasmine."

"Less of the ma'am, please," Lyn waved a hand. "And I've heard a lot about you from Jasmine too, for the last eight years or so."

Bucky grinned. "You've been talking to your family about me, huh?"

Jas huffed. "Shut up. Where's the bride to be?"

"She grabbed Lilah and I think I heard the words 'tequila' and 'shots' mentioned, so you best get outside and save her," Lyn chuckled, holding the door further open and gesturing for Bucky to come inside. He stepped into the house, the bags still clutched firmly in his hands as Lyn closed the door behind him.

"Oh God, I'll go try and persuade her that a family afternoon gathering is not the best place for tequila shots," Jas groaned, turning to look at Bucky. "You coming?"

"Yeah-"

"No!" Lyn interrupted, grabbing hold of Bucky's left bicep - Jas winced unnoticeably when she saw him flinch - and held him back. "Bucky here is going to help me unload these bags and we're going to have a little chat!" her fingers tapped against the metal and Jas stayed where she was for a moment, catching the wide-eyed look of desperation that Bucky shot her. She snorted.

"Have fun, Buck! Go easy on him, auntie Lyn. He's an old man!" she called, waving over her shoulder as she made her way through the house and towards the back garden, slipping her jacket off as she went.

She could hear Lilah coming up with excuse after excuse as to why she couldn't possibly do shots with her younger sister the closer she got to the patio, and she had to bite back a laugh when she saw the sulking frown on Kellie's face.

"Jas is here!" her uncle, Dale, hollered the second he spotted her stepping foot into the garden. Jas flushed, waving over at him and carefully ignoring the gaze her parents set on her, instead focusing her attention on Lilah and Kellie.

"Hey, sweetie," Lilah hugged when she walked over to join them. She stood on her tiptoes, peering over Jas' shoulder. "Where's the boyfriend?"

"Nursing hom- ow!" Kellie yelped, her sister quickly elbowing her in the ribs and shooting Jas an apologetic look.

"Not my boyfriend," Jas laughed. "And your mom cornered him, she's probably cooing over how big and strong he is with his metal arm right now. He looked like he was gonna piss himself," she scoffed, grabbing a bottle of beer.

"Poor guy," Lilah sighed, drumming her fingers against the table.

"She's left a PTSD-ridden World War 2 vet and former tortured, brainwashed assassin alone with our mother, and he's the one you're worried about?" Kellie raised an eyebrow and Jas froze, bottle halfway to her lips, until her younger cousin let out a snort of laughter. "Actually, yeah, I feel sorry for him too. She's either attempting to flirt with him, or asking what his intentions are with you," she wagged a finger towards Jas.

"Shut up, he has no intentions," Jas grabbed at her finger.

"Ah, so what are your intentions?" Lilah wiggled her eyebrows, grinning devilishly as she leaned across the table towards her. "Rebound? Real thing? Love of your life? Spill it, cuz. What's goin' on with you and the good ol' Sarge?"

Groaning, Jas reached forwards and wrapped her hand around the neck of the tequila bottle, pulling it towards her and pushing an empty shot glass towards Kellie, who squealed loudly.

"So! I heard something about shots?"

"She's so tiny," Bucky murmured in amazement. "I don't think I've ever held anyone this small in my whole life."

"She likes you!" Lilah let out a delighted laugh, watching as her three week old daughter squirmed in Bucky's (very non-metal, he'd insisted) arm, before settling back down and letting out a little contented yawn. "Seems to run in the family," she added quietly, nodding towards Kellie who was peering at Bucky in wonder. Realising what her older sister was implying, Kellie flushed and cleared her throat, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Not as much as some members of the family," she muttered under her breath.

"Oh, yeah," Lilah nodded in agreement. "Carter is obsessed with you now. You'll be his best friend for his whole life; he pulled me off to the side before like, 'mom, Bucky is so cool, can he come to my birthday party' so expect an invite in the mail."

Bucky chuckled, his cheeks turning pink. "Thought you meant your dad for a second."

"Oh he's obsessed with you too," Lilah waved a dismissive hand. "But that's nothing new. Dad's been obsessed with all things Howling Commandos since he was a kid. You should have seen him when he first met Steve- ouch! What was that for?!" she yelped when Kellie jabbed her in the side, her eyes widening in understanding as she watched Jas flop down onto the patio sofa beside Bucky, half-empty beer bottle in hand. "You doin' okay there, honey?"

"Yeah," Jas huffed. "Carter will not shut up about this one, he's been talking my ear off about how awesome he is," she jabbed at Bucky with her thumb. "Congrats, Barnes, you're a hit."

Bucky frowned. "That's… a good thing, right?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah! It's a great thing. I like that they like you."

"So why d'you look so… sad?" Kellie waved towards her, her vodka soda spilling out of her glass with the gesture. "Whoops."

"I'm not sad, I'm contemplative."

"Big word for someone who's been knocking back tequila like is goin' out of style," Bucky grinned, and Jas narrowed her eyes at him. "Sorry, sorry," he held his left hand up in defence. "I'll keep quiet."

"Good idea," Jas took a sip from her bottle as she shuffled closer to Bucky, staring down at baby Amelia in his arms. "Your thighs are gonna be the death of me, y'know?"

Bucky blinked. "Excuse me?"

"They're just so… large," she sighed, her hand dropping to his leg and his fingers tapping against his inner thigh. Bucky jumped, swearing under his breath when Amelia let out a little whimper in his arms.

"Yeah, uh… I'm gonna take her back if hands are gonna start wandering," Lilah chuckled, shifting forwards to scoop her daughter out of Bucky's arms. He coughed to clear his throat, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly as Jas swung her legs up to rest across his lap.

Lilah and Kellie shared a look, the latter raising her eyebrows with a smirk and the elder shrugging, finally relenting and giving her silent permission for Kellie to say what she'd wanted to for the last few hours.

"Buck, did you know that Jas used to have a monster crush on you?"

Bucky froze as he felt Jas stiffen, his hand on the back of his neck stilling and the tips of his ears turning pink.

"Shut up," Jas warned, but Kellie ignored her and carried on speaking.

"Yeah, like… You were her first real, serious crush," she started to explain, ignoring Jas' whines of protests. "She had to do a report about something in history, and our Gramps was always such a huge Commandos fan, so he persuaded her to do it about you guys. Dug out all these old newspaper clippings from when he was a kid in the 40s. Took her to the museum to learn all about you. She was… 12, I think? Maybe 13? And she saw your picture and was such a goner! She cried when she found out about- well, your last mission- with the train-"

"He gets it, Kel!" Jas interrupted sharply. "Please stop talking."

Kellie ignored her. "It lasted for years, the crush on you. Gramps teased her something rotten when she ended up bringing Steve home," she giggled into her hand. "He wouldn't have stood a chance if you'd been-"

"Kellie!" Jas hissed, and Kellie's mouth snapped shut. "I'm running low on family members but I swear I will kill you if you don't stop talking right now."

"…I think she means that," Lilah whispered, coughing and dragging Kellie out of her seat as she stood up too. "We'll, uh… Y'know, I have to get Amelia down and Carter's probably tired, so Kellie and I will just… Leave you two alone."

They sat in silence for a couple of minutes, before Jas sighed and rested her head on Bucky's left shoulder, his arm circling round her back as she tapped her fingers against the bottle of beer in her hands.

"I'm sorry about Kellie," Jas began quietly. "Sometimes she doesn't engage her brain before she speaks. Actually, a lot of the time she doesn't engage her brain before she speaks. I think it had to do with her being the baby of the family and being spoiled rotten growing up; she never got in trouble for anything so she never developed a filter."

"What's your excuse?" Bucky asked, laughing when Jas pinched his stomach. "It's okay. She's nice. Your whole family is nice."

"You haven't met my mom, clearly," she scoffed, taking a sip of her drink.

"No but I, uh, I did speak to your dad a little."

Jas froze. "What? What did he say to you?"

"Nothing much," Bucky reached up to scratch at his ear. "He came over and introduced himself, said hello, thanked me for my service - and I quote - 'in the second World War and everything you've done since then'."

"Oh."

"Yeah…" he paused, his thumb pressing into her hip. "He asked about you, too. How you were doing, if I was- if we were…" he trailed off. "I told him no, obviously. I'm not sure he believed me."

"No one believes that we aren't… y'know…" Jas shrugged weakly. "Lilah and Kellie have been on my ass about it since I got here, they're driving me insane. I'm half tempted to just make out with you right here so they stop bugging me," she snickered, not noticing the way Bucky's cheeks flushed or how his eyes widened at her words and the way she subtly shifted even closer to him, her head resting against his chest.

His arm tightened his arm around her subconsciously as he glanced down at her, her eyes drifted around the garden, watching her family drinking and laughing and talking with a small smile on her face.

Bucky had been hogging her, he realised, over the past couple of weeks. Since everyone had come back. Since Steve had gone.

There had only been a few days which they hadn't spent together and that had been directly after Tony's funeral, when Jas had locked herself away and refused to speak to anyone other than her Kellie or Lilah or Clint. She hadn't had much time to spend with her family, the ones that had come back; Lilah's ex-husband, her aunt Gwen, her younger cousin Charlie, her brother and sister - if they were even still speaking to her.

"Have I been incredibly selfish keeping you to myself the way I have since I came back?"

"What? No," Jas replied before Bucky even realised he'd asked her a question, the words spilling from his lips before his brain had caught up. "Not at all. I've liked being in our little bubble, you know? Haven't had to deal with any questions, any pitying stares, but it's nice being here now. Even if my mom has been giving me death glares since I sat beside you- don't look, Bucky!" she hissed, her hand cupping the right side of his face to stop him from turning around. "You'll make it obvious I'm talking about her. You'd make a terrible spy."

Bucky snorted. "Just because Nat taught you some stuff doesn't mean you're James Bond, y'know?"

Jas beamed. "You know who James Bond is, old man?"

Bucky rolled his eyes, pinching her side gently and smiling when she squirmed in his arms with a laugh, her head coming to lay on his chest again and her fingertips tapping against his thigh in time to the music that was playing from the speakers dotted around the garden.

He could feel people staring; probably Jas' mother, and he didn't want to give her the satisfaction of acknowledging her, but he couldn't help letting his eyes roam around the yard. He could see everything from where he was sat and he'd had an escape route planned almost the second he'd sat down - the soldier in him, he supposed.

His eyes fell on Lilah and Kellie, who were talking in hushed whispers and grinning as they kept glancing over towards where Bucky sat with Jas draped across his lap and he froze for a second, wondering what they looked like to an outsider. Wondering why everyone thought they were more than just friends.

"Hey. Are you alright?"

"What?" Bucky shook his head, his brow furrowing in confusion at her question. "Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"

"Nothing, just your heart's beating real fast, that's all," she murmured, and he swallowed thickly.

"Oh."

"You're not feeling anxious or anything? Because we can leave, if you want. I'm pretty tired, anyway."

"I'm fine, Jasmine."

"Why's your heart racing, then?" she questioned, her gaze still drifting around the yard. Bucky didn't answer and she lifted her head to look at him quizzically, her breath catching in her throat when she saw the way he was already staring down at her. "Bucky…" she whispered, her right hand curling around the neck of the beer bottle still in her grasp. He stayed quiet, his eyes boring into hers, the tips of his ears and the top of his cheeks turning pink. With a shaking hand, she reached up and touched his face, her palm grazing over the stubble on his cheek.

Bucky lowered his head and for one small, fleeting moment, Jas thought he might kiss her but instead, he leaned his forehead against hers and closed his eyes. Taking a deep, steadying breath, Jas let her own eyes flutter shut when their noses brushed.

Her own heart began to race the moment she realised she could feel his breath on her lips and the alcohol in her fuelled her confidence as she tilted her head up slightly, silently willing Bucky to close the space between them.

"Bucky! Hey! Sergeant Barnes! I found those trading cards that- ow! Kellie, did you just hit your old man?"

Bucky pulled as far back as he could from her the second he heard her uncle calling his name from across the yard, and Jas tried not to be offended by how fast he'd put some distance between them.

"Do you, uhm-"

"I better go see what your uncle-"

"Yeah, sure," Jas nodded her head, swinging her legs off his lap and smiling weakly. "Uh, I think I'm all partied out, so, uh… I guess I'll start making the rounds saying goodbye to everyone while Dale gets you to sign his Howling Commandos stuff. Just- if he- if there's anything you don't wanna- you don't have to do anything if you don't wanna do it, you know? If it makes you uncomfortable. You can just say no."

Bucky paused where he stood, his head cocked to the side as he looked at her quizzically. "We still talkin' about your uncle getting me to sign all his stuff?" he asked and Jas shrugged, chewing on her bottom lip as she avoided his gaze.

"What else would we be talking about?" she replied, running a hand through her hair. Bucky didn't answer, staying quiet as he kept his eyes on her.

"Sergeant Barnes!"

"You'd better get over there," she waved a hand towards her uncle. "Before he corners you over here and you can't get away from him."

"You gonna come?" Bucky pointed over his shoulder, but she shook her head no. "Okay, well… I'll come get you when I'm done, and we can go home."

"Sure."

Giving her one last look that Jas couldn't decipher the meaning behind, Bucky turned on his heel and headed to the other side of the garden where Kellie and her father were bickering quietly, passing Lilah on the way as she made her way towards her cousin.

"Hey," Lilah started carefully, taking a seat on the sofa and patting the empty space beside her. "Sit, Jasmine."

"I should go and get-"

"Sit your bony ass down," Lilah wrapped her fingers around Jas' wrist and pulled her down next to her. "You've avoided this for long enough and I'm not letting you do it anymore, Kellie and I did rock paper scissors and I lost, so I'm the one who has to try and get this through your stubborn-ass skull; Steve walked away from you. He left you. Not the other way around. You're allowed to be happy, Jasmine. You're allowed to move on from him and-"

"I don't know what you-"

"-you're allowed to want Bucky," Lilah continued, ignoring Jas' interruption.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh please," Lilah scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Like the whole family didn't just see that little show between the two of you. That man thinks the sun shines outta your ass, and it's clear to everyone how you feel about him. I don't- I'm not trying to pressure you into anything, I want you to know that. But, honey… I want you to be happy."

"I don't need a boyfriend to be happy," Jas scowled.

"I know that, and that's not what I'm saying. You know that's not what I'm saying, stop trying to deflect," Lilah flicked her forehead. "What Steve did to you was shitty. He wasn't the man we all thought he was, the man you thought he was. He hurt you and it's okay to be mad at him. You were with him for a really long time, but you don't owe him shit. Don't hold yourself back from what you want just because what you want happens to be his best friend."

"It's not- Bucky and I- it's not like that."

"But it could be," Lilah smiled softly, taking Jas' hands in her own. "I just want you to listen to me for a minute without interrupting, okay? I'm saying this because I love you, and because Bucky seems like a really good guy and I want what's best for you. Sweetie, it's been obvious to me for a really long time how much you care about him. I remember after the whole mess with Steve and Tony, when you used to jet off to a country no one else was allowed to go to, you were like a different person every time you came back. Steve not being around was weighing so heavily on you and we could all see it, but whenever you got back home after spending a few days with Bucky? You seemed more like yourself than you had done in a long while. After he- after… When he dusted, or died or blipped or whatever you wanna call it, Jas… That broke you. The first time I saw you afterwards, I- it was awful. Do you remember that?"

"Not… Not really," Jas admitted quietly, reaching up to rub the back of her neck. "It's all kind of a blur."

"Well I remember it, and Kellie remembers it. How you just collapsed in our arms and cried because he was gone. You didn't… I knew it then, that there was something there. You wouldn't let Steve touch you, you flinched every time he came near you and I don't even think you were aware of it. Jasmine, you've felt something for Bucky for years and I think he's felt the same way for just as long, and you both owe it to yourselves to be happy. You don't owe anyone else a damn thing, especially not a man who didn't care enough to stick around for either of you. Fuck Steve Rogers."

"I loved Steve-"

"I know you did. No one is denying that," Lilah shrugged her shoulders. "I'm saying that no one is going to think any less of you for loving someone else now that he's gone. You don't have to be in this perpetual state of grief. What would Natasha say to you right now?"

Jas laughed weakly, sniffling at the thought of her friend. "She'd kick my ass. She, uh… Before everything happened, when we found out we might be able to bring everyone back. She sat down with me and told me I was gonna have to make a choice eventually. I guess you all knew something that I didn't."

"You knew," Lilah smiled. "You just weren't ready to admit it to yourself yet. She was smart, Natasha.I liked her. I miss her."

"Me, too."

"…And did you? Make a choice?"

Jas sucked in a breath, her fingers fiddling with the bracelet around her left wrist before she looked up to meet Lilah's gaze. "Lil, there was no choice. It was Steve. It was always Steve, I thought it was always going to be Steve," she admitted hoarsely. "I'd been with him so long and- I thought he was the love of my life, y'know? And he wasn't. And I don't know how to get over that and move on and be with someone else. I'm not ready, Lilah. I- I don't know if I'll ever be ready to leave Steve behind."

Lilah smiled sadly, reaching forwards and taking Jas' face in her hands. "That's okay, too," she spoke quietly. "For now. It's fine if you're not ready, but you can't mourn this relationship forever, because Steve doesn't deserve it, and neither do you. Just give it some thought, hmm? Even if you move on with someone who isn't Bucky. You deserve to fall in love with someone who knows what he has when he has you."

"You're gonna make me cry!" Jas whined loudly, swatting Lilah's hands away.

"Kellie wanted me to tell you that if Steve wasn't an old man, she'd kick his ass," Lilah grinned, and Jas giggled softly.

"Always with the violence."

"It's because she's been spoiled her entire life, she doesn't know how to handle negative emotions so she lashes out."

Jas raised her eyebrows. "That psych class you took in college paid off then, huh?"

"Eh…" Lilah shrugged nonchalantly, her eyes glancing over Jas' shoulder. "Okay, Bucky's heading back this way,, shall I make myself scarce?"

"You dare, and I will kill you," Jas hissed, grabbing onto her hand. "We're just friends. Please don't make it weird," her tone was pleading and, with Bucky approaching, Lilah did nothing but squeeze her hand in reply. "Hey Bucky!"

He slowed as he approached them, his hands shoved in the pockets of jeans. "Hey, uh… You ready to go, or do you still need to do the rounds and say bye to everyone?"

"You can go," Lilah patted Jas' knee. "I'll tell everyone what's going on," she sighed, grinning and wiggling her eyebrows when Jas looked at her with wide, panicked eyes. "Y'know, that you've had far too much to drink and Bucky has to drive you home."

Jas groaned. "I hate you, I'm not even- I haven't had that much," she huffed. "But I would like to escape without the awkwardness of avoiding saying bye to Mom and Dad, so you can tell them whatever you want if it means I don't have to do that," she stood up and stretched, covering her mouth as she yawned before she turned to Bucky. "I'm ready to go if you are."

"I'm ready," he nodded once, his lips pressed into a thin smile as Jas' brow furrowed in confusion - something was obviously bugging him.

"It was so great to meet you, Bucky!" Lilah stood up, barely pausing before she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pressed a kiss to his cheek, her eyes wide as she pulled away. "I'm so sorry, that was so inappropriate - I should have asked before I did that."

"It's okay," Bucky told her, smiling reassuringly as his gaze darted to Jas for a second, before he turned back to face Lilah. "It was nice to meet you, too. You have great kids, Lilah."

"Thanks, they both take after me," she flipped her hair over her shoulder with a smirk, loudly kissing Jas' cheek and ruffling her hair up. "Thanks for coming, Jas. Even though you knew your wicked mother was gonna be here. She will not be invited next time. You will be, though, Bucky! Don't be a stranger, alright? Make sure you guys come visit soon!"

"We will. Love you!" Jas called after her and she headed back over to Kellie. Lilah waved over her shoulder, and Jas looked up at Bucky as she held her car keys out to him. "Don't crash my car, Barnes."

"Sorry, which one of us started doing tequila shots as soon as we got here?" he scoffed, taking the keys off her and following her and she walked back inside the house to grab their jackets. "Because I'm pretty sure it wasn't me. Besides, s'not like drinking really has any kind of effect on me like it does you."

"Oh, the downfalls of being a mere mortal and not a super soldier," Jas sighed, pressing a hand over her chest as she pulled her jacket on and headed out to the car. "Did you have an okay time, though? No one said anything to you, did they? My mom didn't-"

"Everything was fine," he interrupted her quickly. "Everyone was perfectly welcoming, you have a nice family. I had a good time," he paused, turning the key in the ignition. "Kellie is a riot."

"Oh, God," Jas groaned quietly, clipping her seatbelt into place and leaning her head back against the headrest. "She's a blast, but most of the time she does stuff that's super embarrassing to me or Lilah."

"Like saying you used to have a crush on me."

"Yes, exactly like that. Thank you so much for bringing that up again, Bucky," she rolled her eyes, reaching forwards to turn the heat up as he chuckled quietly next to her. "I'm more than likely gonna fall asleep," she confessed, shuffling slightly in her seat to get more comfortable. "Wake me up when we get home. Or, y'know, if you're feeling generous you could just carry me up to the apartment."

"I'm not carrying you."

"Well then I guess chivalry is dead after all."

"I think you're after an excuse to get close to me," Bucky grinned, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye before turning his attention back to the road. "You know, because of - what did Kellie call it? Your monster crush on me?"

"I want you out of my apartment," Jas quipped. "You can go live with Sam if you're gonna continue teasing me."

"I'll stop, Scout's honour," he held up three fingers. "Just don't make me go live with Wilson."

"Couldn't even if I wanted to," Jas murmured, her eyes becoming harder and harder to keep open as she yawned and rested her head against the window. "I'd miss you too much, Buck. And you promised you wouldn't leave."

"I won't," he whispered. "I'm not going anywhere, Jasmine. I'll promise you however many times you want me to."

"Okay," she hummed, her eyes completely closed. "G'night, Buck," she patted his knee and he looked down, his right hand leaving the steering wheel as he took her hand in his and laced their fingers together, already knowing he was going to carry her back up to her apartment.

He lifted her hand to his lips, pressing his lips to the back of it.

"Goodnight, sweetheart."


A/N: I'm embarrassed it took me such a long time to update this fic, I promise I'll try to leave it five months next time. I struggled a bit with this chapter, as you can probably tell - it's so long and nothing even really happens.

Anyway. Let me know what you think!

Becca
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