Bucky's POV

After dinner, I help Natasha clean up as the others go off the do their own things. As soon as the table is cleared, I secretly grab the leftovers and I run up to my room as unsuspiciously as possible. I open the door and lock it behind me, letting out a sigh of relief before turning around.

"I brought food." I say, setting the Tupperware down as I look around the room. "Al?" I call quietly, searching the room.

Finding no sign of her, I begin to worry. I hear loud talking across the hall and my eyes widen. I swing Steve's door open to find him on his bed with Bruce and Tony standing beside him. They all turn to look at me with confused expressions.

"I heard shouting." I control my breathing.

"Steve keeps saying he can take care of himself when he very clearly can't if he can't even stand without someone helping him up." Tony crosses his arms.

"He needs to rest and let others take care of him until he's better." Bruce continues.

"Buck will take care of me." Steve speaks up. "There's no point in everyone being affected."

I give him a confused look.

"I guess you've got a point." Tony taps his chin.

"He's the only one I want coming in here until I'm better. Am I clear?" Steve says.

Bruce and Tony look at one another before shrugging. "Looks like you're the new nurse." Bruce pats my shoulder as the two of them walk out of the room.

The door closes and I turn to face Steve. "What the hell?" I ask.

"They're gone." Steve says, sitting up in his bed.

I furrow my eyebrows. I know they're gone, I saw them leave. My eyes widen as I watch Ally army-crawl out from under Steve's bed.

"What are you doing?! I told you to stay in my room!" I whisper yell at her as she stands.

"I just wanted to check on Steve, relax." She brushes me off.

I raise my eyebrows and clench my fists as she turns her back to me and sits next to Steve. The fact that he's shirtless (aside from his bandage) in front of her fills me with jealousy.

"Well Steve is fine. Let's go." I grab her arm. She pries my hand off of her and furrows her eyebrows at me. "I have food in my room." I add, causing her to loosen her death grip on my hand.

"I'll be back later." She smiles at Steve, who nods. Not on my watch she won't.

She stands and follows me as we run across the hall to my room.

"Explain." She says, opening the containers of food.

"What?" I furrow my eyebrows as I sit on my bed. She raises her eyebrows at me and I sigh. "He's half naked.. Don't you think it's weird?"

She looks up at me. "To sit next to a shirtless man?" She stifles a laugh. "Not when it's Steve Rogers."

I clench my jaw and storm into my private bathroom, slamming the door shut behind me. Of course she'd pick Steve over me, who wouldn't?

Alexandra's POV

James slams the bathroom door and I sigh. I set the container of food down and walk over to the door.

"James?" I speak softly. "It was just a joke." I speak again after not getting a response. "Are you really not going to talk to me?" I cross my arms. "I have to pee." This gets him to open the door.

He tries to move passed me to get out of the bathroom but I close the door to keep both of us inside. He groans frustratedly and turns his back to me.

"Hey." I furrow my eyebrows. "James." He doesn't budge.

I sigh and sit on the floor with my back against the door. The two of us stay like this, in pure silence, until he turns to sit on the ground facing me.

"You love him?" He asks, looking down.

"Why are you asking stupid questions?" I ask, staring at him. He glares at me and I roll my eyes. "No, I don't love him. I don't love anyone. I'm incapable of loving."

He scoffs and looks back down at the ground. "Sure seems like you love him."

"I don't even know what love is." I argue.

"Love is.. When you put someone else's needs before your own. When you risk everything for them and go out of your way to make sure they're okay or just to be with them." He speaks, twiddling his thumbs. "When you love someone, you.. You can't picture your life without them, you don't want to. All you want is to hear their voice or see them smile, to be around them even when you're angry with one another." He sighs. "Arguments are bound to happen but when you love the person, you always find your way back."

I furrow my eyebrows and look down as I process his words. When I look up, I find him staring back at me. My heart beats harder in my chest as realization hits me.

Does James love me? Has he always loved me? How could I not see it before?

A loud knock snaps me out of my thoughts. "Buck?" Sam's voice asks through the door.

My eyes widen and I look over at James.

"Yeah?" He asks, still sitting on the floor.

"We're all heading out for some drinks. Did you want to come?" Sam asks.

"Nah man, I'm not feeling too great tonight." James lies. "Next time."

Sam sighs and mumbles about how James always cancels on him as he walks away. I press my ear to the door and hear the outer bedroom door close before sitting back and looking at the man across from me.

"Why don't you go?" I ask.

He looks at me, almost as if he's examining me. "Do you want me to go?"

I furrow my eyebrows at the question. "I don't care, it's your life."

James presses his lips together and looks down. What game is he playing? He's the one who broke my heart. Who does he think is to pull me out of Steve's room and be angry with me over something so silly?

"You know what?" I ask, causing him to look up. "I do think you should go. Go live your best life. I'll stay with Steve so you don't have to worry about this 'scared little girl' anymore." I spit, quoting our argument from over a month ago. James looks at me, speechless, and I scoff.

"Come to think of it, why did you come back for me anyway? Your life would be so much easier if-"

"Because I love you, damn it!" He shouts, slamming his metal fist into the tile floor as he cuts me off.

My eyes widen at his words and my lips part slightly in shock. I stare at him, not knowing what to say.

"I shouldn't have said those things." He lowers his voice and looks down. "I was angry, I wasn't thinking." He admits. "The truth is, I was more scared than you were. You were—and still are—intimidating, sure, but I was mostly scared that they'd hurt you. Every time they came into that cell all I wanted to do was protect you." He sighs. "I knew that they used you to get to me and I figured that if I was out of the equation, they'd stop hurting you."

"But they didn't." I speak up.

"I know that now." He squeezes his eyes shut. "After being put in the ice and having my head messed with, it's hard for me to remember things from that life. Once you showed up at the compound I knew that some of the dreams I was having weren't dreams at all, but flashbacks." He admits. "But that's no excuse."

I press my lips into a thin line and look down at my hands.

"It was so hard for me then, and it's even harder for me now with Steve and all these other variables around." He grabs my hand. "I do love you, Ally." I look up at him as he holds my hand in his. "I have for twenty years now.. I thought it was obvious."

"James, I-" I feel my breath hitch in my throat.

"Don't say it unless you mean it." He looks into my eyes. "When the time is right, you'll know. Even if it's not with me."

He caresses my face with his flesh hand and my heart jumps in my chest. I lean closer to him and he closes the space between us, pressing his lips to mine.