Work Text:
For the first time in months—though it really feels more like years, decades even— you wake up with a smile on your lips.
Bucky’s chest is warm against your back, his breathing relaxed, slow, rippling across your bare shoulders as he sleeps.
You shift slowly in his arms, turning to face him. There’s a faint trace of a smile playing across his slightly parted lips, and he looks ever so peaceful.
And you are so content, so happy, you feel as if you could burst.
For a while you just lie still, eyes almost closed, soaking in the moment, and several minutes pass before you slip slowly out of his arms and sit up.
The sun has just begun to filter in through the curtains, bathing the entire room in a soft golden glow, and you find yourself thinking back to the events of the previous day. Your mind is flooded with the memories of a red sunset, the smell of edelweiss heavy in the air, and the smile on Bucky’s face, as he looked up at you, waiting for an answer-
You’re broken out of your train of thought when he stirs behind you, reaching for you with one hand.
“Good morning, ___,” his voice is still husky with sleep, and you return the greeting without turning around.
The metal of his fingers is deliciously cool against your rapidly warming skin as he traces aimless patterns across your back.
“What are you thinking, doll?” he asks, after a few minutes pass in silence.
You can practically hear his smile in his voice, and it makes your own grin stretch just a little bit wider.
“I’m thinking about yesterday,” you admit, cheeks warming a little.
“It was a good day,” he agrees, sitting up beside you with one arm thrown around your shoulders, surrounding you in his warmth.
“Mmm, yes,” you murmur, leaning into him to press a fleeting kiss to his jaw, “and a good night too.”
He chuckles, a hint of a blush spreading across his cheeks as he reaches for your left hand, thumb stroking over the ring that sits proudly on it.
You rest your head on his shoulder and simply watch him as he brings your hand up to his lips, brushing them across your knuckles before pressing an open- mouthed kiss to your palm.
You’re not quite sure what he sees in your eyes then but one second you’re sitting, smiling at each other, and the next you’re lying down again and he is hovering over you, gaze intent on you.
His eyes are dark, almost liquid, with desire, his hands gentle on your waist, lips hovering mere inches from yours—and you can tell that he is consumed by his love for you, you know it in the same deep-seated way that you know your love for him. Here, in this moment, he is the man you first fell in love with years ago, a little rough around the edges, a little more used to violence and pain and guilt, but for the most part, he is that man again.
You’re smiling again by the time his mouth is on yours, smiling into his kiss as if he has just given you the world. And maybe he has.
But just as you begin to press closer to him, he pulls away, looking strangely concerned.
“What do we do now?” he asks, sounding almost lost, “where do we go?”
You understand his newfound dilemma only too well, because until now, you have been living one day at a time, focused only on your goal of destroying Hydra. And now, suddenly, the future stretches out before you, completely unknown.
But you’re not scared, not really, because you’ve already found the answers to his questions.
“We do whatever we want, go anywhere we want,” you tell him, voice growing steadily stronger as you speak, “I don’t particularly care about the details, as long as I have you.”
“You’ll always have me, ___,” he draws you close again as he speaks, “I promise.”
“Okay,” you breathe, starting to smile again, “James, now that we’re agreed on that, would you care to finish what you’ve started?”
He huffs out a laugh, breath hitting your face as he leans in.
“With pleasure, doll,” he whispers against your lips before capturing them in a searing kiss.