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It had always made your skin crawl whenever you noticed that the Winter Soldier was staring at you. Well, his glaze was more of a glare than a stare. Something in between the two, like he was trying to place where he had seen you before. It had been like that ever since the two of you first met. It was so odd.
You ran a hand through your [h/l] hair with a sigh passing your lips. You had promised yourself the next time you caught him staring at you like that, you would say something. Promised that you would march right up to him and demand to know those beautiful blue eyes were glued on you. But telling yourself that you were going to do something, then actually doing it were two different things.
James Barnes was intimating, there was no way to deny that. Even when he's joking and laughing with Steve, there was always something in his eyes that strikes fear into every being's lives. Something in his eyes that wasn't there back in the 40s. Something you couldn't relate to.
So, instead of asking the man why he was staring at you once again, you started to look for the remote. Even though it was just sitting there on the coffee table. You had to do something, anything to avoid the fact they you both were alone and he was just staring.
“Here,” Bucky's voice broke through your thoughts as he offered the remote to you. “This is what you're looking for, right?” He asked after a moment of you just staring at him.
“O-oh yeah. Thank you,” you replied a bit nervously while taking the remote from him. Now that you had it, you needed to do something with it. But you just couldn't look away from his blue eyes. You felt a strong, emotional pull towards him. You always did when your eyes met like this, even on your first meeting. Yes, he was intimating, but you felt for the man. You knew you could love him one day.
The World War Two vet looked away first, allowing himself to plop down onto the couch and looked at the TV screen. Just waiting for you to do something with the remote in your hand. You were thankful that he did, but also disappointed. You never had enough time to look into his eyes to figure out why you felt that pull towards when your eyes connected.
The TV came to life as you sat down, one cushion between you and Bucky, and began to flick through the channels. It ended up on the History Channel. Not because you thought Bucky needed to learn more, even though he does, but because you actually like history. Though, most of the time you were just talking to the TV, complaining about all of the inaccuracies.
The topic on whatever show was World War Two. Your [e/c] flicked over to James for a moment, wondering if it would make him uncomfortable. He didn't seem to change at all, his eyes glued to the screen. Obviously, you assumed it was alright with him.
“Many young men left lovers at home. Always with the promise of return.” The man on the TV stated the obvious. “Sometimes they returned, sometimes they didn't. Sometimes they return, but with a different love that had bloomed in the heat of war.”
You felt Bucky's eyes on you again. 'Don't look over. Keep your eyes on the show. Don't look over.' You silently told yourself over and over again. And you managed to keep your were on the TV until a commercial came on. Before you knew it, you were staring back into his eyes again.
You felt your heart skip a beat when you realize he had moved closer to you. Normally, you would have wondered when he had moved. How did you noticed that he had moved. But not this time. No, you were lost in his eyes as you felt another emotional pull towards him.
“Doll, I'm going to come back to you.” An uniformed Bucky promised as he cupped your cheek into his hand. “Hilter himself can't keep me from coming back to you.”
You leaned your face into his hand as you closed your eyes. “Don't promise me anything like that, Buck. I don't want to hear it.” You whispered softly before turning your face into his hand, pressing a soft kiss into his palm.
A frown formed on his lips a bit when you said that. You were always so realistic. You didn't want to hear anything sugarcoated. You had punched him when he said that it was only a scratch he got during basic training and it turned out he had broken his arm. He was going to have to tell you something better, something undeniably true. “You will always be the gal who wouldn't let me get away with anything. The one that annoyed the living hell out of me until I realized I was in love. And I do love you, [y/n]. If I come back from this war, I will marry you. If you'll have me and are unmarried.” He spoke as he pulled you closer to him. “I will find a way to keep my eyes on you, always.”
“Bucky, you're ridiculous. But I believe you,” you said as you looked up at him. Staring into his blue eyes as you felt your heartstrings pull with complete love. “If you don't keep your eyes on me when we meet again, I'm going to punch you.”
You gasped loudly after that flash … that memory had ended it. What it actually a memory? You didn't know one hundred percent, but you pretty sure that it was. But how? You weren't even alive back then. How could that memory be yours?
You looked into Bucky eyes again and somehow you knew that the memory was yours. That in the 40s, in a past life, you had fallen in love with the man in front of you. You never thought about the possibility of it before, but it was definitely possibly. You were proof of that.
“And here, everyone has been trying your restore your memory.” You said softly as you cupped one of Bucky's cheeks into your hand. “I didn't think it was possible. I didn't think you would come back to me. I didn't think that …” Your sentence trailed off when you saw him smiling. Truly smiling like the big ole goof ball he used to be back then.
“I was starting to think that I was crazy. But I just knew that it was you, and I had a promise to keep. I'm just sorry it took me 70 odd years.” Bucky said before leaning closer to you, your noses brushing against each others.
“It's okay, Buck. Really, it's okay.” You muttered softly as you wrapped your arms around him. “I … I died three years after the war. TB wasn't as treatable back then as it is now. So, it's okay.” You wanted to say more to him. Admit that you didn't remember everything about that life with him, but you didn't get the chance for that now. His lips were pressed against yours with passion that had built up over the many, many years apart.
You shared a past life with James Barnes. Now, you get to share another one with him.