It's Forbidden

I Had A Dream

Bucky stood there in front of Aspen. His hairs long again, he looked timid, scared even. Like what he was about to say could change everything. And it would. They knew how they felt but it had never been said out loud before and when they finally did say it, there was no going back. Not that they would want to.

But it they said it out loud, they'd have to deal with all the issues that would come along with these words. Steve, the team, coming to terms with their feelings, admitting it after so long. But what they were most worried about was Steve. But looking at Aspen in that moment Bucky didn't care about anything but her. He needed to tell her what he had always wanted to.

"I'm falling in love with you Aspen." Bucky whispers to her. Aspen looks at him, her eyes starting to water, finally being able to hear Bucky say the words she had been longing to hear. For what felt like forever. She had finally hear them. And she could finally respond. "I'm falling in love with you too." Aspen whispers back to him.

*

Aspen shoots up in bed as she's ripped from her dream. Not knowing what it was that had woken her up from such a beautiful dream. When she finally started to come out of her haze, Bucky was right by her side. He looked worried. His hands on her cheeks, making her make perfect eye contact with him.

She looked into his eyes and saw he was scared. "Hey Aspen. I'm here. You're okay." Bucky whispered to her. He was scared for her. He thought she was having a nightmare. He was right there for her, like he always was. He pulled her into his arms and held her close. Stroking her hair and soothing her. She barely had time to register anything before being pulled into his arms. But she didn't mind. She felt safe in his arms.

"I'm okay. I-it was just a dream." Aspen tells him. He loosens his grip on her and looks her in the eyes again. He wanted to make sure she truly was okay. "Do you wanna talk about it?" Bucky asks her. She shakes her head and looks down for a moment. "Uhm...no it's nothing." Aspen says. She looks back up and him and she feels safe again. She doesn't want him to leave.

"Can-can you just stay with me?" Aspen asks. As if he would say no. She knew he wouldn't. But being vulnerable, asking him, it scared her. But that's what her and Bucky did. They were each other's safe places. They let each other be vulnerable. "Of course I will." Bucky tells her. Aspen lays back down and Bucky follows. Wrapping his arms around her and holding her as they fell asleep together.

*

The next day, Aspen needed someone to talk to. Someone other than Bucky and Steve. So she went to Natasha. She sat down at the bar and Aspen spilled it right away. She knew she couldn't lie to herself anymore and Nat already seemed to have all of the answers. "I had a dream last night." Aspen says quickly. Slightly embarrassed by it. She had never had a conversation one this before.

She never had a friend that was a girl. She only had Steve and Bucky all her life. So this girl talk thing, it was new to her. Natasha smirked at Aspen. Knowing she had won her over and would not only get all of the information now, but she was wondering what was in Aspen's dream she had. She knew it was about Bucky. "A dream? Like?" Natasha started.

She could tell Aspen was embarrassed and didn't say it out loud. But she didn't know that Aspen had only had a dream about feelings, and not anything sexual. "No. But you can't tell anyone if I tell you." Aspen told Nat. "I won't." Natasha says. But Aspen isn't satisfied just yet. She needs more of a promise. She couldn't have Steve finding out about this. Not until she knew for sure what it meant and how Bucky would feel about it.

"Seriously. I can't tell Bucky about it. I can't tell Steve." Aspen goes on. "I get it. I'll be your girl best friend. And Wanda. You can confide in us. Things you can't tell the guys." Natasha tells Aspen. And it soothes Aspen. She nods and she takes the drink Nat had poured for her. Again, not that it could do anything but she would forever try.

"I had a dream last night that Bucky told me he was falling in love with me." Aspen says quickly. Not wanting anyone to overhear, even if nobody was around. And not wanting to really say it out loud even. "And then in the dream I told him I was in love with him too." Aspen continued. Nat nods and thinks for a moment. Of how to word what she wanted to ask without scaring Aspen too much. She could tell this terrified Aspen. She was scared of her own mind and of her feelings.

"Do you think there's any truth to the dream?" Natasha asks Aspen. "I don't know. When I woke up...Bucky was right there holding me telling me I was going to be okay. I guess he thought I had a nightmare." Aspen says. She felt slightly guilty that Bucky believed she was having a nightmare. But she also felt it was better than him knowing the truth.

"Do you want to explore your feelings without actually having to tell him? See if anything's there?" Natasha asks Aspen. She already had a plan in mind. But she needed to enlist help. "How?" Aspen asked. She didn't want to make it obvious but she really did want to know what this meant.  "Leave that to me. And do you mind if I talk to Wanda about it? She can help." Natasha asks her. "Only if she can keep a secret." Aspen says. Willing to see where this would lead.