Bucky's POV

Bucky had almost kissed her. Wasn't that what he wanted? Yes. God yes. But she deserved better. She deserved better than some Hydra puppet who could kill her at any given moment. She deserved what she had with Steve, or did have, or could have. Whatever. The point was that she could do better than Bucky. Then why was she so insistent on being around him? She'd held his hand in the park, hell, she'd just recreated their first dance together.

She feels sorry for you.

Yeah. That was probably it. She felt bad for all the tings Bucky didn't have anymore, so she was trying to make him feel more at home.

Bucky took a cold shower that night, not able to focus on anything other than the feel of his arms around her. How her hand fit perfectly into his, and how she hadn't been afraid to have his metal arm around her. The monstrosity the Hydra had given him. He held it out in front of him, flexing the fingers, glancing at the star up top. She had gotten that start tattooed on her body. For him.

He sighed, flinging him self on to the bed. He looked over to the left wall of his room. The one that connected with Ally's. He wondered if she was still up. He rolled over the opposite was and tried to go to sleep. It didn't work.

A few days went by where Bucky didn't really see Ally. Any time he had asked Friday where she was, the AI told him she was in the dance studio. Great, now she was avoiding him because he'd almost kissed her.

Almost a week after the 'almost kiss' found Bucky in the gym with Steve. He was holding a punching bag while Bucky went to town on it. They found they broke less bags this way. He froze when he heard Ally's laughter enter the gym. She came in with Sam, glancing at Bucky, before following him into the ring to spar.

The ring was pretty close to the punching bag, and with Bucky's soldier hearing, he could hear her breathing, and every time she grunted. She was a better fighter than she was wen he met her. She moved gracefully, ducking Sam's every move, taking him down at every moment. Bucky could tell Sam was getting frustrated at her. "Come on Bird Brain, I train with Captain America, same as you, pick it up!" She taunted, and Bucky grinned, hitting the bag again and again.

She had tried to sidestep around Sam, but Sam grabbed her tank top, ripping it. She froze and glared at him. "Sam!" She yelled, throwing a glance Bucky's way. "If I wanted my clothes ripped, I'd just ask the super soldier." Sam's mouth dropped, and while the innuendo was aimed at Bucky, Bucky thought it was aimed at Steve, so he punched the bag a little too hard with his metal arm and sent Steve sprawling into the floor.

"Shit. I'm sorry Steve." Bucky said, holding his hand out to the blonde. "It's okay Buck, maybe just dial it down with the metal one?" He joked. Bucky threw him a forced grin before leaving the gym and trying not to bang his head against the wall at his predicament.

Ally's POV

Screaming. That's what woke you. You didn't know what it was at first, but then the screams grew louder and you knew it was Bucky. You scrambled out of your bed and ran into Bucky's room, to see him writhing around on his bed. He wasn't saying words, just screaming and whimpering. This was worse than you'd ever seen it.

"Bucky!" You yelled. He couldn't hear you. "Bucky, wake up." You said again, moving closer to the bed. You tapped his shoulder and jumped back, just incase he tried to swing at you. You smacked him again, harder and he jolted awake sitting up looking around wildly. "Bucky. Hey. You're okay. It's me. It's Ally." You said to him. He was still whimpering, and tears had started to fall down his face.

"No, no. You're not here. You're not real. They're making me see you. Not real." He mumbled. "Bucky, I'm real, I'm here. I promise." You told him. He shook his head. "Not real. They 're messin with me. Makin me see you." His breathing was starting to quicken, she started shaking. He was having a panic attack. He needed something to be grounded to. You got onto the bed in front of him and put your hands on each side of his face. "Can you feel that?" He looked up at you and nodded. "Okay. That's real. I'm real. I'm here." You told him. His hands touched your arms, then your shoulders. "Here. You're real." He whispered.

You smiled at him, wiping a tear from his face. "I'm real Bucky. I'm right here." His breathing evened out and he stopped shaking, his eyes never leaving yours. "It's okay Buck. I'm here. I'm not going anywhere." You told him. "Promise?" He asked.

"Promise."

He leaned forward and pressed his lips against yours. You stilled for a second, surprised, and then you kissed him back. His hands were on your hips and in a split second you were straddling him, running your fingers through his hair, letting your mouth fall open when he slid his tongue across your bottom lip. Both his hands ran up your back, the metal one cool on your neck, pulling you closer, if that was possible. Your skin was on fire everywhere he touched you. His flesh hand was running circles over your hip and you thought you might pass out from the touch.

You were touched starved, in that way at least. Hugs and occasional cuddling from Steve were nothing. You needed this. You needed Bucky.

"Bucky." You whispered against his mouth, moaning when his grip tightened on your hip.

That made him come back to reality, and he pulled back, resting his forehead on yours. "I'm sorry." He whispered through labored breaths. You were confused. "For what?" He pulled back to look at you. "For kissing you. I know that you're with…or that you were with Steve."

Your eyes widened. "Steve? Why would you ever think I was with him?" Bucky shrugged, his metal hand falling to your free hip. "You two are just very close. You sit with your feet in his lap, he kisses you on the top of the head. He's so protective of you I just thought…"

"No Bucky. Steve is my best friend. That's it. Yes, we are very close, but that's it. Just friends. I promise. It's you that I want Bucky. It's always been you." You told him softly, smiling at him. "I shouldn't be doing this." He told you. "I could hurt you."

"You're not going to hurt me. I trust you." You told him. "That's not how I wanted our second first kiss to go." He chuckled. "What do you mean?"

"I just wanted it to be special, like this." He brought a hand up to your face and leaned in, kissing you softer than he did before. After a few minutes he pulled back again. "Bucky, that doesn't matter, all that matter is that you're kissing me right now." You told him. And it was true, he could have kissed you senseless in the kitchen for all you cared. Just having his lips on you again made you delirious.

"I'm not sure if I'm ready for this." He whispered. You ran your finger over his lip, smiling when he closed his eyes and shuddered. "We can go as slow as you want Bucky. You are in control here."

You wanted to make that clear to him. He had been deprived of control in his life for so long, you wanted him to make his own pace with you, and whenever he was ready, you would be too. "Thank you Ally." He said, leaning in to kiss you again. He slowly flipped you so you were laying underneath him. "Will you stay with me tonight? Please?" He asked, almost scared to hear your answer.

"Of course, Bucky." You told him, leaning up to kiss him again. He laid on his side, pulling you as close as he could to him, your back against his chest. "God, I missed you doll." He whispered into your hair, winding his hand around your stomach.

"I missed you too Bucky. So much."