Memory

Chapter 1

BUCKY'S POV

When I woke up this morning, it was exceptionally hot. I woke up and I was sweating through my shirt. I got up from my bed, which was still on the floor, and it felt like I was sleeping in a sauna. I desperately wanted to open my windows but I couldn't bring myself to do so. I checked the clock on the wall, and it was only 7am. I was exhausted, but considering I usually don't get tons of sleep, I think I got a decent 3 hours last night, which is a baby step. I walked over to my fridge and opened the freezer and it wasn't much, but it did the trick for the time being. I tore off my shirt and held my hands on the top of the fridge and laid my head down on the melting ice on the bottom of the freezer. Just when I was starting to feel relaxed again, I heard loud banging outside my building. I walked over to the window above my bed and peeled back the newspaper that blocked the view. I looked down to the streets and saw an old moving truck parked out front and a bunch of boxes on the ground. I put back up the newspaper as there was no sign of danger. As I started to walk away, I heard a woman yelling. I ripped back the paper again and saw the woman yelling at the moving truck that was pulling away. She probably had 20 boxes piling on the sidewalk. I could see from five stories up that she was frustrated. I mean, who wouldn't be? It's close to 100 degrees and now she has to move all of those boxes up and there's no elevator. After I watched her stand there, figuring out what to do, I felt bad for not helping her, but I made sure I only left this building if I absolutely needed to. I put back up the newspaper and walked back to my freezer, which I left open and now water was starting to drip all over the floor.

"Oh fuck" I groaned. I grabbed a towel and started to clean it up as I heard a loud bang outside my door. I fell back and hid behind the island in my kitchen and waited. A few seconds of silence went by until I finally heard someone talk.

"Oh my god.." I heard a girl whine. It must have been the girl from outside. I then heard 3 knocks on my door.

"Hello?" she sang. I slowly got up and looked at the door.

"Sorry to bother you! I...I just moved in and the moving company left me here so I'm bringing boxes up to my apartment and... I just need someone to watch these boxes while I go get the rest." she said. I walked over the door, but stopped short because I realized I didn't have a shirt on. As I scrambled to find a shirt, I heard her speak again;

"Who am I kidding.." she whispered and started to walk away. I opened the door and saw her turn around.

"Oh!" she exclaimed.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." I said, hoping she couldn't hear the nervousness in my voice. I couldn't find my black gloves in time so I had my arm hidden behind the door.

"Hi! Sorry I didn't mean to wake you, I-uhm...I just moved in and the stupid moving company I hired just dropped all the boxes off on the curb and left without saying anything." she told me.

"That's pretty shitty."

"Very shitty." she exhaled, "Uhm, would you mind watching these boxes? I still have to get the key from the landlord. I know, I'm doing things so out of order." she added.

"Yeah no problem." I said. She thanked me and then ran down the stairs. When she was out of sight, I ran back into my apartment and grabbed my gloves off the shelf and slipped them on. I had never really noticed there was even an apartment next to mine because i rarely leave and when i do, i keep my head down until i get back home. I heard her walk back up with three boxes stacked on top of each other, it looked like she was going to fall over.

"Woah woah woah!" I laughed as I grabbed the top box from her.

"Thank you" she sighed. She placed the other boxes down and took the key out of her back pocket.

"I got the key!" she laughed. She put it in the lock and pushed open the door.

"Are there any more boxes downstairs?" I asked her.

"Uh, yeah i think there's 4 more." she said. I nodded and then started to walk down the stairs.

"Woah wait - I can grab them!" she warned.

"It's okay, I can get them, you just move these ones inside." I said.

"Thank you so much!" she said. I ran down the stairs and I stood in the lobby. I looked at the door outside and I saw the boxes. I didn't have my hat or my sunglasses that i usually wear when i leave so I had this fear that took over my body. I knew I had to make it quick but not look like I was crazy. I couldn't draw attention to myself. I walked outside, stacked the boxes and carefully picked them up. I could have sworn all eyes were on me. It was incredibly hot outside so I don't know how she made that many trips without dying of heat stroke. I finally walked them up our floor and brought them inside.

"I got the last of them. Where should I- oh!" When I walked into the apartment, I saw her standing there with her shirt in her hands, with her sports bra on.

"I'm sorry I - I should have knocked.. I didn't mean-"

"How could you have knocked with the boxes in your hand? It's okay, don't worry about it!" she laughed. I didn't make eye contact as she took one of the boxes from me.

"You can look at me, it's not like I'm naked." she joked. I let out a laugh and waited until she turned around to finally look at her.

"So how long have you lived here?" She asked, grabbing her pocket knife and tearing open a box.

"Uh, just around 2 years." I said.

"Ah, so you must know your way around here?"

"I don't really leave a lot. I usually just go to the market for food and stuff." I told her. Way to go Buck, now you seem crazy.

"Ah, a homebody. Me too!" she smiled. Okay, maybe I'm not crazy.

"Well I'd love to see the market one day! I clearly don't have any food or water in here so I'd love to go."

"Uh, y-yeah! I usually go around 11am to get food for the week. They open at 9am so that's when its busy. They get the second round of fruits at 11am and no one is really there." I said.

"Sounds great! I'm just gonna unpack a few things and then we can go! You don't need to stay and help, believe me, it's too hot and i don't want to make you do manual labor at 8am." she said.

Okay...uh, see you at 11am." I said before turning around and heading towards the door.

"Oh wait!" she said.

"What's your name?" She asked.

"Uh, James. But- my friends call me Bucky." I told her.

"So we're friends now?" she joked.

"I- uhm if you want I-"

"It's okay, I'd love to be your friend... Bucky." she smiled and grabbed my hand to shake it.

"My name is Y/N." she said. She turned around and went back to unpacking. I went back to my apartment and shut the door, standing behind it, taking a deep breath. I had never met someone so forward and comfortable. Usually people don't want to talk to me, and now I'm friends with the hot neighbor.....shit.