Turtledove

1

 Y/N POV

New York 1940

"Hey there, Turtledove" Bucky smiled at you as you walked up to him. He was leaning against a street lamp and had that cheeky smile on his face that he always had when he came to pick you up when you told him he didn't need to. He always insisted that he pick you up from school or the library.

"James, I told you you didn't have to pick me up" you replied as he grabbed your hand and pulled you in for a hug. You relaxed into his arms, you always felt safe in his arms he always felt like home. He let go of you and took a step back to look at you.

"I know doll, but I decided too anyway. How was your day? Learn anything new?" He smiled looking down at you. He placed a kiss on your forehead and linked your arm in his. You leaned into him and chuckled to yourself as you began to tell him about your morning. The two of you started walking away from the building behind you. You had just spent the morning in the library studying with your nursing friends for your final exam coming up. This was your last step to becoming a nurse, this was something you had been working towards since graduating from high school.

"So dove, you still up to going to Coney Island with me and Steve? Or is your brain too full?" James teased.

"Like I'm going to miss out on that cotton candy and getting you win me one of those silly stuffed bears!" You said.

You went on your tiptoes and pulled him into a kiss. The three of you had been friends since school. You and James had always been close. In the last year of high school, James had finally got to courage to ask you out. The two of you had been going out since then. 5 years together and you were the happiest you had been since you could remember. You were almost done with nursing school and you couldn't wait to see what happens next.

You met Steve at Coney Island. The three of you spent the rest of the day there. James won you a cute bear in a shooting game. The three of you spent the rest of the day riding different rides and laughing. It was one of the best days the three of you had had in a while. With everything that was happening around you with the War, you all needed to do something to keep your mind off it all.

New York 1941

"What do you mean you're joining the army!?" you screamed. You were standing in your small apartment that you shared with one of your nurse friends, Lilly. James had come by to pick you up for your date to the Stark Expo and he just told you he was joining the army. The army!! Your mind was spinning, it felt like your whole world had just dropped from under your feet. How did you get here? How did your perfect little bubble pop right before your eyes? Part of you understood why James had decided to join the army, he always wanted to do good and help people. It was one of the many reasons why you loved him. But part of you was still mad that he made this decision without talking to you about it.

"Y/N, I ... I'm sorry ... but I'm sorry this is something I have to do." James said walking towards you wanting to give you a hug.

"No!" You pushed him away "You're supposed to stay here and stay with me! Why can't you do something here! I'm working at the hospital here! You can't just leave me! I can't lose you James!" You began to shake and cry. You were trying to keep it together because, as much as you were mad at him you knew that this had probably not been an easy decision for him to make and you knew you had to support him.

James walked towards you and pulled you into a hug. He held you tightly. You sobbed in his arms, burring your face into your chest and holding onto his shirt. He hugged you tighter and let you cry it out and patted your back.

"I know, I'm sorry dove. But you aren't going to lose me. You'll see I'll be back before you know it. Plus you'll be busy at the hospital and stopping Steve from doing something stupid, like trying to join the army again. And I need you to keep an eye on mum and my sisters." He whispered into your ear.

"Oh god! Did Steve really try and join the army again? How did he try and lie his way in this time" you laughed through tears.

"Newspapers in his shoes" James respond as he wiped the tears away from under your eyes. You laughed, of course, that sounded exactly like something Steve would do, that man would do anything to join the army. You wondered how he reacted to when James told him he joined the army.

"Ok, wipe those tears off your face and get ready for the Stark Expo. We need to have some fun before I leave." James said as he let go of you and took a step back.

"Ok, I guess it gives me a reason to wear that blue dress you love" you replied as you shooed him out of your room to get ready. Once you got ready you went to your jewellery box and tried to decide what necklace to wear. You heard James walk into the room. You turned around.

" I thought you could wear this" James smiled he was holding a necklace up. You walked over to him and took it from him. You held it in your hand. It was a simple chain with a circular locket on it. On the front of the locket was a turtle dove on it.

"Open it" he smiled.

You did and saw a picture of the two of you looking up at you. It was from one of your trips to Coney Island. There as an inscription "I'll love you always, my turtle dove". It was absolutely beautiful and you couldn't believe your eyes. You couldn't even begin to imagine what this must have cost, you knew his family was wealthy but still with the war and everything else you couldn't believe he had gotten you this.

"Oh James!" You replied looking back up at him with new tears in your eyes, this time though they were happy ones compared to the ones you had shed not too long ago.

"This way you can carry me wherever you go" he leaned in and kissed you. He took the necklace from you and stepped behind you and fastened it around your neck.

"There. You look perfect" Bucky smiled and spun you around and kissed you. This kiss was deeper than the one before, you felt if you stopped he would disappear before you could say a proper goodbye. You got lost in the kiss until you heard a knock at the front door of your apartment. "Come on you love birds! We're going to be late!" called Steve. You both laughed and headed to the front door of your apartment.

You grabbed a pen and a piece of paper and wrote a little note telling Lilly that you were heading out and not to worry if it gets late. The two of you had gotten really close and were always looking out for each other. She was working a shift at the hospital and would be getting home later.

The expo was pretty impressive. Howard Stark was showing off his flying car... well his attempt at a flying car. Howard Stark was very charismatic and you could sort of understand why all the ladies in the crowd were swooning over him, but you had your James who was the most perfect and handsome man in the world. The whole time you were there you stayed by James talking, laughing and holding his hand. You were going to enjoy all the time you had with him until he had to leave. You knew you were going to miss him with all your heart.

You were going to support him and write to him every day and keep yourself occupied so the pain wouldn't be too bad. You hoped that would help make the time you two were apart go by faster and he would be in your arms again soon. You didn't know what was waiting for you in the future, but you knew as long as you had James you would be ok.