As I Was

Sixteen

Dodging through the people still crowding the market Harper kept a tight hold onto the strap of the new bag hanging over her shoulder. Sending smiles to friendly faces glancing her way and calling out greetings she raised her hand every now and then in a wave as she tiptoed over the puddles littering the floor.

Living so close to the market had been a plus from the beginning. Once they were used to her passing through on her way to and from work the stall owners had taken it upon themselves to look out for her.

It started with letting her off when she didn't have enough change, a wave of their hand as they pushed whatever essential she'd picked up closer to her, and was evolving into the odd freebie being thrown her way.

The shoulder bag with the slightly broken clasp she was grasping close to her side being one of them.

She had even managed to convince Bucky to venture out to browse through stalls a couple of times. Not wanting to tempt fate in this new place he had insisted on ensuring he always had his cap pulled low over his eyes to make himself less recognisable.

With his face being hidden and his hands always pushed deep into his pockets it had taken slightly longer for the stall owners to warm to him but, as he began to loosen up slightly, they were soon sharing warm smiles and greetings when he passed.

"Are you really hungry or only a little bit hungry?"

Harper smiled as she let the door shut behind her and slipped out of her coat, hanging it up on the pegs on the wall. There was a glorious smell filling the apartment and she felt pride rise up to a lump in her throat when she realised he had ventured out alone to get them their dinner.

"So hungry!" she exclaimed as she wandered further into the room to see him pulling different kinds of food out of a brown paper bag and placing them onto the table.

It had been the previous evening when she had walked in to see the table waiting for her. With a gasp passing her lips a grin had spread widely across her face when she'd spotted the new addition, accompanied by two chairs, sitting in their main room. It was just to the right of the 'sitting area', filling the space almost as though it had been made to go there.

"One of the neighbours was throwing it out," Bucky had said almost nervously, scratching the back of his neck and sending her a bashful smile "So I stopped him before he loaded it up into his car."

"I love it," she'd answered, clapping her hands together before launching herself at him into a hug. He'd teased her about being as excited as she was over a table and she'd found herself having to inwardly scold her skipping heart.

As she pulled out one of the two chairs sitting around the table she raised her nose to sniff the air, her stomach rumbling in reply "You've been outside today," she said with a smile, reaching over to peek into what was left in the bag only for her hand to be gently slapped away.

"Not for very long," he answered with a shrug of his shoulders, even as the days passed with no major incident he was still reluctant to be as relaxed about heading outside as he had been in the past.

"Still, it's progress," Harper said as she leaned with her elbow on the table top and her chin resting in her hand, looking up to him as he continued unpacking and reading over the food he had bought.

There was a soft smile resting on his lips as his eyebrows furrowed slightly in concentration, nodding to himself every so often as he remembered what he had purchased. He handled the packaged food so delicately it was almost impossible to remember he was once the top assassin for a criminal organisation.

"I'll get the table set up," she said, pushing herself up out of the chair and onto her feet before he could notice she had been staring and before she found herself wishing she was a packet of mici.