You Must Remember This

Chapter 30 - The curious case of L.E.

Wakanda, August 10, 2016

After gathering their composure and mustering their courage to see this through together, the two friends were back in the brightly illuminated white lab where they started out days ago. Since Bucky had already proven he was physically all right by literally crashing into Steve's room, there was no point in him staying in the medical room. The physicians gave him some stronger drugs against the migraines, but there was only one cure to heal the true ache in his body, heart, and soul.

"You sure ya don't want me to read this aloud so you can follow along?" he asked Steve again.

"For the third time, no," replied the latter, dropping the box with Evelyn's letters on the table. "Evy wrote that journal for you and you alone. If you two really were an item, it's bound to get personal at some points, and I really don't wanna hear about that. I may have wanted you to get together, but that doesn't mean I need the details."

"You're assuming a lot now. I may have been in love with your sister, but that doesn't mean she felt the same for me."

"What's that thing in front of you then, huh? She loved you, I'm sure of it."

Bucky wanted to argue, but there was no point. The Rogers twins didn't share a lot of character traits, but one thing both of them had plenty of was stubbornness. And Steve knew Evelyn better than anyone else in the world. If he was convinced she'd been in love with him as well, who was he to argue that? After all, he didn't remember. Not yet, anyway.

"So when was it?"

Steve's sudden question shook Bucky out of his musings. He looked across the table to meet a curious gaze.

"That you fell in love with her, I mean?" added Steve.

"Not sure," answered Bucky. "I realized it the first time she took me to this underground speakeasy on the Fourth of July. Ya know, that birthday you pretended to be sick, in '41."

"Ha, I knew it! I knew something happened that night!"

"Nothing happened. We went to the theater, then drinks, then I walked her back home and picked Pops up from your place. End of story. All we did was talk with each other, I swear."

Steve's grin wavered. He raised a questioning brow and cocked his head. "Nothing at all? Really? You just... talked?"

"Well, not all the time. Evelyn got up to perform at the request of some patrons, so she was gone for a few minutes."

"Perform? What are you talking about?"

Now it was Bucky's turn to look confused. Did Steve not know about his sister's secret activities?

"You do know about the Poppy Lounge, right?" he asked.

"The Poppy Lounge?" Steve scrunched his nose at the name. "I recall a Poppy's Pub in the... ahem, near where I drew sometimes, but nothing in terms of a lounge."

"You mean near Miss Lettie's?"

 A tomato would pale in comparison to the color rising in Steve's cheeks, as Bucky grinned in an all-knowing manner.

"I-It's not what you think," he stammered. "I-I just went there to practice. Drawing! To practice drawing, I mean. The girls weren't shy to model for me, and Miss Lettie was kind enough to come up with an arrangement for their time. A business deal. Not that they... I mean, I never... I-I could have, but —"

"My God, Steve, relax already." Bucky chuckled as his friend struggled more and more to explain his frequent visits to the bordello. "Evelyn told me all about it. She was happy Miss Lettie and her girls helped you out like that."