Hello Sergeant (Bucky Barnes)

Tough choices

James' POV

"I just thought you were with Nat now, so you shouldn't kiss me," Sarah said. 

Ah, now I knew why. She didn't want to interfere with her friend's happiness, but she didn't know that we had never belonged to each other, not like Sarah belonged with me. "Natalia and I have never had a label for our relationship. What does that have to do with me kissing you?"

"Nothing, I guess." She shook her head, trying to put distance between us again. "Why do you kiss me, James? I'm not Peggy."

"No, you're not Peggy." I tried to put into words what I felt about her. "I kiss you because I need to, Sarah." I kissed her gently, running my hands down her back. "I need to touch you, to feel you in my arms, taste you on my lips." I kissed her again before saying quietly, "I need to know you're real and not just another dream."

"I'm not a dream, James."

I silenced her with a kiss and inwardly celebrated when she responded to me, kissing me back for a moment before pulling away. I put one hand under her chin to force her to meet my eyes.

"I'm still not convinced. I have a very vivid imagination when it comes to you. I dreamed of you often, even if I couldn't remember much about you. When I close my eyes, you're the only one I see, the one thing that won't change."

"James," she said quietly. "What do you want from me?"

"Everything. Just stop thinking and let yourself be with me." I kissed her again. "Stop fighting this, Sarah." I softly kissed her until she took over, deepening the kiss, and I knew she was mine, at least for now. I skimmed my hands over her, touching every inch of her. She inhaled deeply, pulling back from me slightly.

"Jace is coming this way."

"And?"

"And we should stop for now."

"For now," I agreed as I kissed her once more, not wanting to let her go yet. I wrapped my arms around her, holding her tight to me. "I know I have a time limit, Sarah. I want whatever time you'll give me."

The door opened then, and Jace walked in. He looked over at us, meeting my eyes with one eyebrow raised. Sarah turned her head to look at him and his eyes shifted to her.

"Hey. What did Kate know?"

"Not a lot. She's leaving again in the morning, so we're going to go get something to eat and maybe go to a movie. I just needed to grab my jacket before we left." He pulled it on, opening the door to leave.

"Okay. Have fun, then. See you later, Jace." He waved and shut the door, talking to someone in the hallway.

"What was that about?" I asked Sarah, letting go of her to follow her into the kitchen.

"He likes my neighbor across the hall. She likes him too, even if he is quite a bit younger than her." She started setting dishes out on the counter. "Get yourself a plate."

I grabbed two plates and came back over to her. "You're quite a bit younger than me."

"Yup. Ten years if we're going off how old you were when you died. 57 years if we're going off your real age. You're old enough to be my grandpa, you know that?" She grinned at me as she opened containers and peeled back plastic, putting spoons in each dish.

I winced. "Let's stick with me being 28, okay? That sounds better than 95."

She laughed and shook her head. "But you are 95; you just age really well, James." I snorted and started putting food on my plate.