𝓲𝓷𝓼𝓸𝓶𝓷𝓲𝓪𝓬 ❖ 𝓫. 𝓫𝓪𝓻𝓷𝓮𝓼

C H A P T E R (26) - O N E / H I L L

The group had stopped for what they deemed the last time on their journey for a night of rest before finally making it back, and Cassie was finding comfort in the night sky.

She still couldn't remember anything else about that night she was injured, it was like the small doses of memories had stopped. Like there was nothing left to remember.

"Hey."

Cassie turned her head in the direction of the voice, her slow movements due to her lack of sleep as always. Bucky was walking over to where she sat leaning against the trunk of a tree and sat down next to her.

"You should rest, Cass. You haven't slept in like-"

"18 years." She cut him off with a smile, poking fun at her own flaws.

"I'm not joking, Cassandra."

"Neither am I, James."

Cassie watched as Bucky repositioned himself to put an inch of distance between them as she looked at him before it clicked in her head.

"Oh my God." She laughed, covering her hand with her mouth.

Bucky nudged her with his elbow as he put his head back against the tree, his eyes still glued on her. He watched her smile and how there was a small sparkle in her eyes whenever she was happy.

"I love you, Cassie."

Her laughter stopped as the ghost of her smile remained, the sparkle in her eyes that had changed in a matter of seconds, replaced by something else. She scanned his face for a hint of a smirk, but there was nothing, he was telling the truth.

She hadn't heard him say those words for too long, and all she wanted was him. And now she had him.

She brought one leg over his lap and placed both her hands on his face, effectively straddling him. He was here now, and that's all that mattered to her. Closing the gap between them, she placed a hard kiss on his lips and pulled away to whisper, "I love you, James."

He shook his head jokingly before placing his hands on her hips and pulling her even closer, their noses touching. He trailed his hands up her side and stopped as his fingers traced over the few cuts that were still imprinted on her arm. He grabbed her forearm and turned it over, seeing them all in full.

"I wish I knew who did this to you."

"What, so you can kill them?" She questioned with a sarcastic scoff.

"Precisely."

Cassie sighed before placing her hands on the side of his neck below his jaw and leaning back slightly.

"I wish I knew too. But I don't, so you need to do what I did and let it go." She shrugged.

"Let it go? Cassie, someone hurt you. Very badly. How can you just let that go?"

"I can let it go by understanding I can't do anything about it. If I didn't let it go, I would be chasing a ghost. And trust me, they can go through walls and I can't. Not fun."

Bucky let out a small laugh before pressing his lips into a thin line, remembering he was trying to be serious with her - but it never lasted long. She could make him laugh easily, and never failed.

"I wish everyday was like this..." she mumbled, playing with a strand of his hair.

"Laying down in the mud during the night and exhaustedly walking during the day?"

"No," she smiled, "No war, no risks, nothing. Just us and the stars."

"As long as the stars don't have eyes, I'm okay with that."

She nudged him gently before her eyes were drawn to the rising sun and the waking group of men, quickly removing herself from Bucky's lap before anyone could see. He stood up and helped her to her feet whilst leading her back to where everyone was stretching and taking in the morning sun.

Bucky latched onto her hand as they entered the crowd and Steve noticed their presence, motioning for them to come over.

"Morning." Steve answered, "Did you sleep?"

Cassie shook her head lightly as she brushed off the question, not wanting the focus to be on her troubles when there were bigger things going on. Just as Steve went to open his mouth and speak again, undoubtedly more about her sleep, a man ran over to the trio and interrupted, pointing to a hill they planned to walk over to get back.

"It's literally over the hill." He spoke quickly.

"Wait, you're telling me that we've been one hill away from retuning this entire time?" Cassie sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

The man nodded reluctantly, taking in her agitation. They had been yards away from a warm place to sleep instead of the dirt, yet had not looked over the hill soon enough.

"One fucking hill."

A/N; I wanted this chapter to involve the romance between Cassie and Bucky since they haven't really had the chance to do that but I suck at love so yeah :)