That Old Feeling [B.B.]

that old feeling

I. PRELUDE: Dinosaurs in Love - Brooklyn 1928

It's almost time for the sun to set yet the streets remained abuzz with people, but the two young children both of which were a decade old paid no mind at all, preoccupied with their typical routine: eating chocolate, knowing they'd regret it later on when their throats will begin to hurt.

Well, maybe it might be too early to call it a routine given that both had just met each other two days earlier but you'd gotten used to it already that the thought of doing it for more days to follow wasn't so bad.

You rip open your third Butterfinger of the hour, continuing your conversation with your new friend. "I want to be famous someday, James. What about you?"

"Bucky's alright."

You stopped chewing on your Butterfinger. "What's a bucky?"

"Oh, it's my name," he says with a smile, taking another Butterfinger from your tiny bag. You resist the urge to berate him, scared to lose a friend so quickly. "You can call me 'Bucky.'"

"It is a cute one, I guess. But what does that have to do with anything?"

"What does what you said have to do with anything?"

You took a while to process it all. "What?"

"What?" he said, mocking you as he continued on eating.

Scoffing, you took note of his banter. "You know, my Aunt Betty said that when a boy pulls a girl's pigtails it means that he likes her."

"Your Aunt Betty is stupid," Bucky snorted.

It was hard not to laugh, so you just took the opportunity to close your bag, hiding it behind your back. "She bought me these Butterfingers. You should stop eating 'em, then. On top of that, you should quit pulling my pigtails."

"I'm not pulling your pigtails," he said, shrugging. Bucky took one bite of the last of his chocolate.

You turned away. "Maybe you should."

"But I don't like you."

"Good," you said, arms crossed. "Because I don't like you, either."

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II. Time Moves Slow - 2023

Even outdoors with no four walls suffocating him, James Buchanan Barnes could not help but feel his throat constricting and the world itself collapsing upon him at the sight of that face.

He hated the world for depriving him of the days he could've spent being woken up with a kiss on his forehead.

The world was and still remains to be cruel up to this day.

He could see you.

One billboard picture equated to lifetimes of you remaining somewhere and everywhere in his mind. It didn't help that the best he could do to dismiss it all was to walk ahead as straight as he could.

The world knew your face so well, having recognized you as a revolutionary actress of your time — [Y/N] [Y/L/N], a timeless icon.

You had achieved your dream, compared to James who hadn't. Both dreams could not co-exist in the same time and place, not when his dream is to accompany you along the way.

"Watch it!" hissed a man he'd just bumped into. Bucky muttered a hushed apology.

He halts, trying to catch his breath.

It does him no good to find that he had stopped in front of a jewelry store, the glass window the only thing separating him from the luxurious rings that rested upon its own cushion.