Chapter 1

Elizabeth McKinley (25) portrayed by Keira Knightley

When I stepped out of my house into the bright light outside, I clutched the book against me before strolling through Brooklyn. Heels clicked and clattered on the sidewalk, and engines roared when the cars drove past me. Men sat in diners reading their newspapers or walking in groups to head to the factories or their offices. The women, on the other hand, aired out the laundry, rolled their babies in their carriages, or crossed the streets to go into a store while boasting about the war.

Dear God. The war. Just hearing about it always made my skin crawl. I'm heading to England soon to aid the soldiers since I volunteered to be an army nurse. I didn't mind seeing my old home since the last time I've been there. I was only six years old when I moved to America with my parents. Father died in the mines seven years later, and Mother died nine years after his death from tuberculosis. For the past three years, I've been living on my own. I'll be going back to help us win this tedious war though. All I can do now is enjoy my book by heading to my spot in the park.

Prospect Park expressed its love for nature and sought out others to enjoy it. A warm smile always bloomed my face whenever the cool breeze brushed against my ivory flesh. There was not a single person who didn't like Prospect Park. It certainly was a sight to behold. A place where one can find peace and not worry about their problems.

I went through a path in the forest until I reached the lake up ahead. There was not a person in sight, which was perfectly fine for me, so I sat underneath an old oak tree that overlooked the water before I started reading my book, Jane Eyre.

To be honest, I've read it twice before, but I nearly read all of the books from the library. The ones I took were the ones I enjoyed the most like Jane Eyre, but it wasn't like I stole books all the time. I've only taken five to read to my pleasure whenever I felt like it: Jane Eyre, The Scarlet Letter, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, The Awakening, and North and South. I always could never help myself but get lost in the scene. Every word formed a sentence and quickly turned into a beautiful moment: pining of love, heartbreak, or a joyful reunion. Of course they were just stories, and any woman hoped to be the heroine in the story just like me, but who was I fooling? That's all I'll ever remember them. Works of fiction.

Snap!

My head shot up and took in my surroundings. I first thought it was a rabbit, but then I had the strangest feeling that I was being watched. I stood from my spot and heard something thump wildly against my chest. A short, quick breath escaped when my lips parted, and my heels planted themselves firmly on the ground. When I sunk further back, I pressed myself against the tree, but then I jolted, and my book fell to the ground when a hand clamped my shoulder. I yelped and spun around only to find my most irritating friend as he found my fear entertaining with that toothy grin of his before chuckling in amusement. His name was James Buchanan Barnes.

James was fairly tall and lean. His army hat covered his tufts of hair. As for his gray eyes, they carried warmth and life of the sunlit surface. He was handsome to say the least. No women denied that. They most certainly couldn't resist his charm or his dashing smile. I'd be lying to my own heart if I said that I never found him easy on the eyes. In fact, I didn't want him to hear the rapid thumping in my chest whenever he drew himself closer to me.

When I breathed normally, I nearly huffed out, "you scared me half to death." My eyes narrowed even further when his chuckling didn't stop, so I snapped at him, "it's not funny, James!"

Finally, his laughing stopped, but he still carried his obnoxious smirk. "How many times do I have to tell you? Call me 'Bucky', Liz."

I crossed my arms and didn't give him a response, because he knew why. I told him many times before that I refused to call him that ridiculous nickname ever since we were kids. He just had to get over it.

James looked at the ground before picking up my book from the ground and dusted off the cover. He sighed and shook his head after reading the title. He then turned to me and stretched his arm out, offering me my book. "Jane Eyre? Really? That's what? Your fifth time reading it?"

"Third actually."

As I reached out for it, he brought it back to himself, making me grin as he had on a smirk of his own. I waited for his childish behavior to end, so when we stared at each other, I waited to see who would give in. James was stubborn of course, but not nearly as stubborn as me. He knew that. That's why he eventually rolled his eyes and handed the book back to me.

"And mind you that you read Guinevere and Lancelot a few years ago."

He put his hands in his pockets and shook his head as he replied, "Actually, it's uh...King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table."

"Still, it's a romance."

When he smirked and shook his head as he gazed at the lake, I took in his uniform. All I thought about was him leaving for the war. James has been one of my best friends ever since I came here. I can't imagine seeing him get hurt. He's a fine man indeed. Always protecting those who needed to be protected whether they were weak or able. I could say many things about James, but it's what any man aspired to be when they see him.

"So, you're really leaving?"

It was clear that he heard how my tone changed, because he cocked his head at me. I was too afraid to look at him. I didn't want him to be upset. My chest nearly tightened when I heard him say, "107th ships to England first thing in the morning."

At least there was at least one good thing about his departure. "We may see each other then."

I felt his intense stare, but I still didn't look at him. How could I? I was too much of a coward to face him, because I knew exactly how he would react, and I was right of course. "You volunteered to be a nurse?" When I didn't answer, he pressed, "why would you do that?

Having enough of it, I faced him as I almost snapped, "does it really matter?"

"Yes!"

I was a bit taken back by his tone. The only other time when he was like this with me was when I was walking home alone at night and a man approached me with his alcohol breath as he wanted me to follow him. It was terrifying how he grabbed my arm and tried pulling me against him. Thankfully, James was walking by and stopped the man by beating him down senselessly. I'll never forget how James dragged me away from the scene and told me how stupid I was for walking alone at night.

"Does Steve know?" My voice barely came out as a whisper when I told him that I didn't tell Steve, which made James shake his head as he looked back at the lake before turning back to me with his hands in his pockets. "I just don't get you, Liz. Why would you even-"

Having enough of his questions, I bit back my tone and told him, "because you and Steve are going to war, and at least, I'll be there helping if one of you gets hurt. And besides, after you and Steve leave, it's not like I'll have anyone else."

As soon as I mentioned our friend, James's jaw clenched while he stared me down. "Steve's not going to war, Liz. They denied him three times."

"You really think that'll stop him? You know how much he wants to fight."

When James didn't say anything, I knew I had him. As much as we wanted our friend to stay here where he'll be safe, we knew that Steve would do anything to fight for our country and fight alongside the soldiers as they lay their lives down protecting us. It's all he's ever wanted ever since his father died in the first war.

"Please, let's not talk about this James. I'm going, and neither you or Steve can stop me."

He smirked then as he said, "unless I just tie you up and make you miss the ship."

I took daunting steps towards James until I stood just a few inches away from him and leaned in. His grin stretched even wider, giving me a fluttering feeling in the pit of my stomach, so I crossed my arms to give myself comfort when I saw the mischievous glint in his eyes. "I know you won't do it, James. You don't have it in you."

"You sure about that?"

When he leaned in, my smile vanished as the heat rose in my cheeks. He was too close to me. I wanted to look away from him, but at the same time, I wanted to continue to look into his eyes. Eventually, I swallowed the small lump in my throat before facing him again as I replied, "yes."

We looked at each other for a moment as I felt his intense stare. No words were exchanged. Only our eyes connected to each other. I could've sworn that I saw his eyes flicker to a sense of worry for a brief second before his eyebrows shot up, and then James laughed. I couldn't help but laugh with him.

"Alright, but do me a favor. Don't kill me. The last thing I need is having you take care of me," James said, walking away with that irritating smirk.

"That's rich," I scoffed, catching up to him and keeping up his pace. "I'll have you know you'd be lucky to be nursed by me. That way I can taunt you whenever I feel like it."

"Oh great."

We both laughed then while making our way out of the forest and onto the streets of Brooklyn. I stopped myself when I saw a newspaper vendor and saw the headline. Looked like Stark was appearing at the Expo. Everyone knew Howard Stark: a charmer and a man of many talents especially with his hands when it came to creating something with his hands. He almost reminded me of James. If only James didn't irritate me so, but then again, I liked him the way he is.

James noticed right away how I was reading off the headline, so he dug in some pocket change and handed it to the vendor before grabbing one and reading off from it. "Oh, looks like Stark's promising the future," he said with a coy smirk.

"And you don't think he's smart enough to do it?"

Even though I never met Howard Stark, he held many accomplishments. After all, he works for the government. Who knows what intelligence had in that brilliant brain of his.

"I think he's full of himself."

"Or maybe you're just jealous."

He scoffed and turned to me. "Jealous?" he scoffed. "Come on, Liz. Be serious. Why would I be jealous of Howard Stark?"

We both stopped walking as I smirked and challenged him. "Maybe you don't like all the attention he's getting."

I then gestured to a couple of women reading off the newspaper and swooning over Howard Stark's announcement in the paper. James rolled his eyes, making me grin wider, and we walked away from the vendor.

When we went past an alleyway, we stopped to hear grunts and clatters of metal. James definitely had the same idea as we both headed further inside with James treading carefully in front of me almost as if he was protecting me. When I looked over his shoulder, I saw a man throwing punches at a man who was much smaller than him. I nearly gasped when he sent him flying to the trash cans behind him as he whipped around and fell. That's when I realized that it was my good friend Steve.

Thankfully, James stepped in to help him as he grabbed his arm and pulled him away from Steve. "Hey! Pick on someone your own size," James said, confronting the man.

I used the opportunity to go over to Steve while James dodged the man's punch before slugging him on the man's cheek and kicked him in the rear as the man scurried away. I helped Steve up to his feet and took out my handkerchief from my pocket to wipe the blood off his lip. He thanked me just as he always did whenever I helped him.

"Why is it almost whenever we meet, Steve, you end up bleeding?" I asked with slight concern.

"Because he likes getting punched," James answered for him as he strode over to us.

"That's not funny, James," I told him when I saw the small smirk on his face before turning back to my smaller friend. "And what were you thinking, Steve? That man was much bigger than you."

"It's not like I started it, and besides, I had him on the ropes."

"I'm sure you did." When Steve grunted and tried to give me my handkerchief back to me, I shook my head, noticing that he was still bleeding on his lip and a few cuts on his face. "Keep it. I'm sure you'll need it more than I do at this point."

James then picked a piece of paper off the ground and read it. I had a sneaky suspicion I knew what it was, and my suspicions were confirmed when I heard James ask Steve, "oh, you're from Paramus now? You know it's illegal to lie on the enlistment form. And, seriously, Jersey?"

Steve was shocked when he finally noticed James's uniform, and it took him a while to say something, but he eventually did. "You get your orders?" he asked.

"The 107th. Sergeant James Barnes," he told Steve while my chest tightened as James reminded me. "Shipping out for England first thing tomorrow."

I looked over at Steve and saw how disappointment he looked as he sighed and looked away from us. It made me feel bad for him being in James's shadow as James seemed to be handed everything easily to him while no one bothered to give Steve a chance.

"I should be going," Steve said.

James's smile fell instantly, and all we did was stare at our friend. I wanted to tell him that it's better for him to stay here rather than fight, but at the same time, I didn't want to hurt him even more. It's been his dream to join the 107th ever since his father died. However, his body's too weak and feeble that I'm worried I would see him in one of the nurse's bed or worse, six feet under with his parents. I don't even want to imagine that.

Thankfully, James pulled us by wrapping his arms around our shoulders, surprising me a bit, and chuckled, saying, "come on." As we walked out of the alleyway, my heart quickened its beat just for making contact with James, but it went away fast when he let me go. "Our last night! We got to get you cleaned up."

My head snapped at James when I heard his words carefully, and it took Steve a moment to pick up on it as he furrowed his eyebrows in confusion before turning back to his friend. "Our? Don't You mean you?" Steve asked.

I narrowed my eyes at James when he turned to me, because I knew exactly why he said it like that, and I felt like smacking him when we all stopped sometime after getting out of the alleyway and asked me, "you want to tell him, or do you want me to do it?"

Steve looked a bit concerned as he kept looking back and forth between us. Oh, I knew this would happen. I never should've told James. Now what was I going to do?

"Tell me what?" Steve asked, but he directed it more towards me.

I couldn't answer him, because I was afraid of his reaction, and when James saw that I wasn't going to say anything, he took it upon himself to say, "Liz volunteered to be a nurse. She's heading out with the 107th to England in the morning."

"What?"

I glared at James when I heard Steve's tone. How could he tell him? I didn't want him to find out like this after getting rejected again. It got worse when I heard James ask rhetorically, "I know. It's ridiculous, right?"

"Stop it already. Both of you," As I turned to walk away, they followed me by my side, but I didn't want to look at them, because I was getting annoyed, especially with James for telling Steve. "It's my decision, so please respect it, and besides, what's it any different than either of you enlisting in the war? You don't think I'm worried enough as it is. At least I'll be there saving the soldiers if they get hurt."

"Yeah, but Liz, it's war," Steve told me. "Men train to fight for their country, and what if the battle gets too close to the camp? What are you gonna do then?"

I smiled warmly at Steve and told him, "then I'll rely on you."

The corner of James's mouth tugged into a smirk as he knew I was trying to lighten the mood. James may had been the one to always make Steve laugh and have a good time, but I was the one who always soothed him through comforting words, bringing a smile to his face just as he did now.

"Alright, let's get going now," I said as I turned to walk away. When I noticed that they didn't follow me, I looked back and grinned. "Well, come on."

They both turned to each other and smirked while shaking their heads as they followed me. "Where are we going anyway?" Steve asked.

"The future," James replied as he handed him the newspaper to read about Howard Stark's expo tonight.