𝚜𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚜 - 𝚋𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚢 𝚋𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚜

newfound peace

Somewhere Only We Know- Keane

"Bucky Barnes!" Cara took the tomato out of his hands after he tried to juice it like a lemon. "You are officially banished to the table." Cara pointed the spoon in her hand at him threateningly, but it wasn't very threatening since she had to look so far up at him to meet his eye. He laughed at her attempt of anger.

"You said to make the sauce?" Bucky held his hands in the air in surrender, making her have to hide her smile again. Cara just pointed at the table, making him sigh.

"You can't say I didn't try to help." Bucky bit his lip, smiling, watching the girl move around the kitchen efficiently with her pajamas on and hair tied into a sloppy bun on the base of her neck. Cara was an amazing cook, since she always helped Jane in the kitchen when she prepared the family dinner. Her father was always working long shifts in the mines so he wasn't home much. He picked up as many shifts as he could, since it wasn't easy trying to provide for a family of five just after the Depression. They were lucky they owned their house, otherwise they would have been homeless.

"Where did you learn to cook?" Bucky perched his feet up on the chair across from him, crossing his arms across his chest.

"I always helped my step mother in the kitchen before family dinner. She taught me everything I know." Cara diced the tomatoes in record time, preparing the sauce for the noodles that were currently heating.

"My cooking is dreadful," Bucky laughed at his words, Cara agreeing. A small moment of silence passed and Bucky watched Cara focus on the food, her brows furrowing and her lip jutting out in concentration.

"Tada!" Bucky looked at the counter to see a pot of noodles and a bowl full of tomato sauce next to it. "There should be more than enough left for Steve." Cara looked up to check the time. 7:30. "He should be back any time."

Bucky nodded before digging in and piling food on his plate. Cara pulled two pieces of toast out of the toaster before putting garlic butter on them and handing one to Bucky, who nodded a thank you from his seat with food in his mouth.

"I can't remember the last time I had a meal this good," Bucky practically wolfed down his food with a satisfied groan.

"What do you normally eat?"

"Well when I'm in action, which is most of the time, the meals consist of canned meat, cheese, eggs, and fruit bars or biscuits. All tastes like shit to me." Bucky shrugged while eating his toast and Cara started to eat her meal.

The door opened quietly, but both people took notice of the blonde boy walking in, obviously confused.

"Hey Buck. I didn't know you were coming over today." Steve set his school bags down before walking into the kitchen.

"I was bored. Got to meet your new roomie, though." Bucky shrugged at Steve's words.

"We made dinner if you want some!" Cara spoke in between her bites.

"Please tell me Bucky didn't help. Last time he tried to cook he couldn't boil water," Steve laughed at the memory.

"I banished him from the kitchen when he tried to juice a tomato with a lemon juicer." Steve tilted his head back slightly and let out a full on laugh at the image of that.

"And I thought my story was bad," Steve quickly filled his plate with food and sat down in between the two.

"So what have you been up to green bean?" Steve gave Bucky a dirty look for the nickname and he just snickered.

"Mhm, yeah keep laughing. One of these days I'll sprout muscles and win a fight against you." Steve was obviously joking, but it was still funny. "But mainly I have been trying to catch up on assignments and pick up more shifts. When do you get stationed next?"

"I go back to Europe in two months. I got time to relax this time around." Bucky tilted his head back slightly in the chair and stretched, showing his arm muscles, and his shirt lifted slightly, showing his abs, making Cara flush a shade of pink. Bucky of course noticed and smiled slightly. He thought she was the prettiest girl with the kindest bubbly personality he had ever met, and he truly hoped she had some interest in him.

After about an hour of conversation, Cara dismissed herself from the table. She had a shift tomorrow morning at 10:00. Walking to her room, she froze when she saw the blue bag sitting in her bed. Delicately, Cara pulled the pink ribbon off, hoping to save it for her hair. She pulled the bag open and gasped when she saw the contents.

A red evening dress sat neatly folded in the bag. Cara pulled it out to try it on. It had a skirt that went down to her knees and it was off the shoulder, straps on her arms. A sweetheart neckline accentuated her breasts without looking promiscuous. Cara decided to open the letter sitting in the bag. A 50 dollar bill slid out.

Dear my sweet Caroline,

I hope you live your life to the fullest no matter what. I thought this would be a nice surprise since your birthday is coming up in August and I won't be able to see you. In this letter I left you 50 dollars to help with any expenses you might have. I loved the city as a girl but I know how expensive living there can be.
I wish you the best.

                                           Love, Jane

ps: look in the bottom of the bag !

Cara felt a tear sting at her eyes before she blinked it away. Looking in the bottom of the bag, a small brown paper bag was folded neatly, and Cara carefully broke the wax seal. Inside were two gorgeous red hair clips to go with the dress Jane had made for her. The tears finally fell down her cheeks as she thought about how much effort Jane put into this gift. The girl was practically her mother, and Cara knew her mom would be happy to see her treated so well by Jane.

Cara gingerly hung up the dress in the back of her closet to keep it safe, and put the clips in the back of her jewelry box, hanging the new pink ribbon on her mirror.

As she sat in her bed, she realized she had no alarm clock. Quietly walking out of the room, she hoped to find the guys still awake, but instead she found Steve had gone to his room and Bucky was curled into the couch cushions. Shirtless. Cara looked away immediately, and tiptoed to the bookshelf, opening the cabinet under. She was hoping to find an old alarm clock, but she was not having any luck. Frustrated, she stood up abruptly, accidentally knocking down Steve's sketchbook, and waking up Bucky in the process.

Cara turned around immediately to find Bucky slowly lifting his head up, his hair messy from the cushion. Cara couldn't help but think he looked good with messy hair.

"Come to watch me sleep?" His voice was groggy, but he still had his cheeky personality. Cara turned bright red at his suggestion.

"No! I was looking for, a, hoping Steve would have a- a," All words left Cara's brain as she babbled, obviously flustered. She had forgotten what she needed. Luckily she looked at the clock and remembered. "Alarm clock!" She pointed at him as she talked, proud of herself for remembering. Bucky just chuckled before nodding to the next cabinet over. Cara quickly moved over to the cabinet and pulled out a cheap black alarm clock. The girl was ready to be back in the safety of her room. "Goodnight, Bucky."

"G'night, doll." Bucky mumbled through the cushion he had brought to his face, not moving from his position. Cara padded back to her room as fast as she could.

As soon as her door was shut, Cara jumped into her bed, wrapping in the white comforter and red quilt, mortified by her actions. She couldn't bring her heart rate down or cool her face off. What was happening?