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-ECorley

EDEN POV

Hectic. Utter mayhem. Disaster.

Those are the only words I could think of to describe the morning I'd had so far. After Bucky had left for work this morning, I had immediately set to work getting my last 3 clients finished so I could send that "closed for the holiday" email. I should have known things couldn't possibly go that smoothly.

The first website I worked on took me over an hour to finish and once I was done, I was completely unsatisfied with the changes they had asked me to make. After 15 minutes on hold, I finally got in touch with the marketing director for the company and made some suggestions of my own on how to make the site look more appealing. After arguing about it for 20 minutes, he gave me the go ahead to do what I wanted (but reserved the right to change his mind later). It took me another hour to make said changes before finally emailing the director back so I could have him review it and make the final decision. I crossed my fingers while I waited for his approval and began working on my second client.

This particular customer has always been very strict and hard to work with in the past. Had they not been willing to pay the outrageous fee I charged them for my services, I would have already ditched them as a client. Everything had to be just right for them or I would get an immediate phone call complaining about this or that. I had regretted giving out my personal cell phone number that very first time I received a call from the owner's very uppity, prissy assistant informing me that her boss was not happy with something. It didn't matter what I did or how hard I worked on it, they always managed to find something they wanted corrected. I spent nearly 2 hours carefully working on the website, reviewing each and every thing before declaring it finished and emailing it for review.

While waiting for a response from that customer, I checked my email and was relieved to see that the marketing director for my first client was satisfied with my changes. I quickly typed up an invoice and payment instructions and then emailed it back.

#1 is finished...#2 needs approval...now on to #3...

The third client was a long-time customer with some very complicated changes that needed be done to the website...I had saved them for last for a reason. There was a lot of work to do on this one and I knew it was going to be very time consuming. While working, I continued to check my email to see if my second customer had responded back to their changes...nothing. An hour went by like this...work, check email...work, check email...my vision was quickly blurring and without looking, I reached into my desk drawer and pulled my glasses out, only pausing long enough to slip them onto my face. I nearly jumped for joy when I finally received an email from my second client informing me that everything looked great.

Hot damn Eden! Maybe today is your day girl!

I sent the invoice out immediately before the client had time to change their mind and quickly got back to work. I just had to get through this one last job and then I could finally take a break. Three weeks with no work, no training...just me and Bucky...that was exactly what I needed. A sudden chime alerting me that I had an email caught my attention. I let out a groan figuring it had something to do with the job I had just completed but was surprised to see it was from the third and final client that I was currently working on.

I moved my cursor over to my email and let it hover over the subject line.

Subject: Request Immediate Changes to Website

I closed my eyes and let out the breath I was holding. I double clicked on the email and I know my eyes widened as I read the message from the owner. Everything I had been working on for the last 2 hours...every single thing...he wanted it changed to something completely different than initially requested. My mouth opened and closed a few times before I let out a growl of anger and snatched my cell phone off my desk from its spot next to my laptop. I was scrolling through my contacts, looking for the number of the business so that I could give Mr. Edmonson a piece of my mind. My hands were shaking with anger...no way was I going to redo all the work I had just spent all that time on...no freaking way.

He's one of your best clients Eden. Calm down!

I found the number I was looking for and my finger pressed the Call button...I hung up on the first ring. I couldn't do it...he was one of the first big clients I had landed when I started my business two years ago. He had referred multiple customers to me...unfortunately, as much as I hated to admit it, I owed him.

"Ugh!" I growled, tossing the phone down on the desk and then running my hands through my hair in frustration.

I looked over at the clock to see it was 2:00pm. Bucky would be home in the next couple of hours. He was meeting Steve and Brooke to go shopping for dress clothes for the wedding and then coming home to help me pack. Tonight was supposed to be our date night, just me and him.

Two hours Eden! You have exactly two hours to finish up!

With a sigh, I began working again, completely discarding everything I had done and starting from scratch. I was completely in the zone, typing furiously, completely determined that I could finish up before Bucky got home. I wanted to be done so that we could pack our bags quickly and then spend the rest of the evening free of distractions.

My work day had started at 8:00am...I had skipped both breakfast and lunch...it was 4:15pm when I finally hit the save button and emailed my very last invoice for the remainder of the year. The money I would make off these three jobs was more than I usually made in two months of working. I was done. Business was now officially closed until next year. I typed up an email and sent it out to every contact in my address book before finally logging off my laptop and shutting it gently. I took my glasses off and laid them on my desk, rubbing my eyes gently before standing up from my chair to pop my back.

I looked down at my phone and frowned when I saw no messages from Bucky, Brooke, or Steve. I expected them to be through by now, or to have at least heard from one of them. I was just about to text Bucky a message when there was a knock at my door.

That's weird...who could that be...

I set my phone back down on my desk before making my way out of the bedroom and into the living room to answer the door.

Bucky POV

I stood outside of the apartment building looking out into the park that was right across the street. It was the place where my life had changed...it was the place where I had met HER. The wooden bench was vacant, just as it had been on that night a few months ago when I had sat down, hoping for a few hours of complete solitude while I sorted out my feelings. It was the same bench that I had sat on nearly every night those weeks before my chance encounter with Eden...it was where I had dwelled on the guilt and remembered every single detail of the nightmares from the previous nights. It was on that bench that I asked for forgiveness, for redemption, for something...anything...to take away all that guilt I was consumed with.

And then there she was...

I smiled to myself as I remembered how she looked that first night I met her...dressed in her sweats, the hood covering up exactly how beautiful she was, bent over gasping for breath after her run. I never expected her to talk to me, much less sit down and have an entire conversation. The moment she had pulled back that hood, smile bright, I had the breath knocked out of me...it was her eyes, those beautiful blue eyes of hers. Then the moment came and my hand touched hers, I had felt something...a jolt of electricity that swept through my entire body. I don't know if she felt it but I did...I still felt it, each and every time I touched her...that same spark of energy flowed through my body.

I stuffed my hand in my pocket and my fingertips grazed the wood of the small box I had tucked away inside. I smiled to myself again when I remembered the look on Steve's face when he realized what I was planning.

Brooke was helping us pick out some nice clothes to wear at Jill's wedding on Saturday. While Steve had been trying on something Brooke had tossed at him, I told her that today was the day and I was ready to buy the ring. After letting out a rather loud squeal of joy, Brooke had immediately slapped her hand over her mouth before turning bright red. Unfortunately, the high pitched shriek she had let out had not only drawn the eyes of every single customer in the store but also caused Steve to dash out of his dressing room, the shirt he had been trying on still completely unbuttoned. He had skidded to a halt, eyes wide, looking around to see what had caused Brooke to scream in such a way.

He'd looked at the two of us in bewilderment and I simply rolled my eyes and pointed at Brooke while mouthing the word "crazy". Brooke had let out an exaggerated sigh before smacking me hard in the arm and then turning to smile sweetly at Steve.

"Sorry babe, I saw a spider" she'd said calmly.

For some reason, Steve nodded his head in what seemed like complete understanding and turned to walk back into his dressing room while simultaneously trying to ignore the wolf whistles coming from a group of young ladies who had witnessed the entire ordeal.

Brooke clicked her tongue and shot the women a rather catty look, "Back off bitches, he's mine" she said through clenched teeth.

I couldn't help but chuckle when the group of ladies turned and walked away quickly. Brooke turned to face me, a huge grin on her face before she threw herself at me for a quick hug.

"Oh Bucky, I'm so excited! This is going to be so fun!" she said. Her smile quickly faded though and in a hushed voice she said, "But what about Steve? Are you going to tell him?"

I had already decided I was going to tell Steve about my upcoming proposal to Eden but had not gotten around to it. My morning had been spent finalizing my upcoming time off from work with Director Fury and informing him of Roland's completion of training. As I had expected, Fury had complete faith in my ability to assess Roland's readiness. After getting his approval, I had made my way to the training room to proudly inform my student that he was now officially an agent of SHIELD...well, he would be as soon as the paperwork was finished.

"Yeah, I think it's time to tell him" I'd said back quietly, wrapping my arm around her shoulders and pulling her in, "You ready to keep your promise and help me pick out a ring?"

Brooke had nodded her head excitedly, but quickly stepped away from me as Steve came back out of his dressing room. For the next hour, Brooke went from rack to rack grabbing clothes and tossing them at us to try on. Usually, I completely hated this sort of thing. Clothes were not important, there function was obvious and I cared little about how I looked. However, my excitement about searching for the ring completely negated the annoyance I had towards clothes shopping.

As we had left the store and started walking back down the street to the area we parked the car, I felt Brooke nudge me in the side. I had looked down at her and saw a huge grin on her face as she pointed to something behind me. I then glanced back to see what she was pointing at and smiled when I saw that it was a jewelry store. She had nodded her head encouragingly and stopped walking. Steve had continued down the street but quickly stopped when he realized that Brooke and I were no longer beside him.

He had looked at the two of us with confusion, "What? Why are we stopping?"

I had pointed to the sign above the door now on our right and Steve's eyes had immediately followed. He looked confused at first but then a grin had quickly broken out across his face.

"Does that mean..." he started.

"Yep" I said.

We had shared a big hug before making our way inside the store to look around. It had taken nearly an hour before we found a ring that we all three agreed would be perfect. Brooke and I had been bickering back and forth about what Eden would like and I knew the salesperson was growing impatient. The young lady had eventually held up her hand and told us to give her one second. She had stepped away and returned with a small box, smiling wide when she opened it to reveal the perfect ring...she was talking about how she knew it was quite expensive but all I was envisioning at that moment was the look Eden would have on her face when she saw it. Brooke and I had both looked at each other, nodding our heads and both saying "Yes" at the same time. I knew it had cost more than Eden would feel comfortable with it but I didn't care. My girl deserved the best and THIS ring was the best...cost be damned.

I pulled the box from my pocket and opened it slowly; fingering the small silver diamond ring once before snapping the lid shut and stuffing it back in my jacket. I smiled to myself and glanced at the park one more time before making my way through the front doors of the building and up the stairs. I unlocked and let myself into the apartment, surprised to see the living room lights still off and Eden nowhere in sight.

She must still be working...

I looked at my watch and noticed it was after 5:00pm. I had spent way more time with Brooke and Steve than I had originally planned but if Eden and I packed fast we could still have our date night together like I had promised her. I walked slowly down the hallway and opened the door to the linen closet as quietly as possible. I quickly reached into my pocket and pulled out the box, glancing at it once before raising my arm and placing it in the very back of the top shelf. I knew Eden would never be able to find it up there and had no reason to go looking for it anyway. I shut the door quietly and headed towards are bedroom, expecting to find Eden at her desk, typing away.

I was a little surprised when I opened the door and discovered the lights were off. I glanced at Eden's desk to see that the laptop was closed and noticed her glasses had been placed beside it. The only light in the room was coming from a crack in the curtains. The sun was already going down and only the barest of lights was creeping in. I scanned the room and my heart stopped when my eyes landed on the bed. Eden was sprawled out across it, facing away from me on her stomach, her hair covering her face.

"Eden" I whispered to myself before crossing the room in three steps, "No"