Never Safe

Chapter Fifty-Five

y/n ~ age six

You ran out onto the school playground. School had just finished. You looked around, trying to find someone you recognised. You grinned when you saw him. "Bucky!"
He bent down and opened his arms just as you reached him and excitedly wrapped your arms around him. He picked you up as he stood.
"What are you doing here?" you asked, giggling as he tickled your stomach.
"Well, it has been so long, I had to come and see you. I spoke to your dad and he said I can come pick you up from school. We're gonna spend the afternoon together."
"Yay!" you clapped.
"You and me... and Steve" Bucky grinned. He spun around so you could see him.
"Stevie!" you exclaimed. You made grabby hands towards him and leaned in his direction, so he stepped closer to take you from Bucky.
"Hey trouble. Wanna go out for ice cream?" Steve smiled.
You eagerly nodded your head, causing both the guys to laugh in amusement. Steve placed you down on the ground and picked up one of your hands. Bucky took your school bag before picking up your other hand, and you began to skip between them.

y/n ~ age eight

You'd been playing basketball for a couple of years now. Today, you had your first proper competition. Bucky flew over to California from New York so he could come and see you after. He was waiting in the car park for you to finish.
He wasn't there long before children started leaving the building with their parents.
You soon came out, hand in hand with your dad, skipping down the road with him. You seemed really excited; you were so preoccupied that you almost missed Bucky.
Almost.
"Bucky!"
You ran across the road. A car had to come to a quick stop to avoid hitting you. Bucky bent down so you could hug him. He looked over your shoulder and mouthed 'sorry' to the driver that almost hit you.
You took a step back. You still had a huge grin on your face, completely oblivious to the accident you almost caused a second ago.
"You came."
"You sound surprised" Bucky chuckled.
"I didn't think you were going to."
"Are you kidding? Of course I was going to come. I couldn't miss seeing you after your first big competition. How did it go?"
Your smile grew and you spun around. Your dad had finally made it across the road. He and Bucky nodded at one another, saying hello to each-other. Y/f/n looked down as you were trying to tug your bag out of his hand. He let go, so you grabbed it and hurriedly unzipped it. You pulled something out and instantly held it up in Bucky's face.
"Look! I got a trophy!"
"Oh my god. That's so cool. So you're like... a professional basketball player now."
"Yeah basically" you grinned.
"This is great y/n/n" Bucky smiled.
You paused, biting your nail as you thought about something.
"Are you okay?" Bucky asked.
"Keep it."
"What? I can't keep this, it's yours."
"But I want you to have it. Take it home and every time you look at it, you'll think about me and it'll remind you of how awesome I am."  
"Are you sure? You don't want to have your first proper trophy on your shelf at home?"
You glanced at your dad, then gestured at Bucky to come closer so you could whisper to him. He did so.
"I want my favourite person to have it."
Bucky smiled at you.
"Alright then. I'll bring it home with me."   

y/n ~ age ten

"You ready?"
"No."
"You'll be fine. Trust me."
"Do I have to go?"
"I'm afraid so."
You were starting a new school in New York, having just moved from California. You were standing by the front gate, holding Bucky's hand. You didn't want to let go. When you refused to move, he bent down in front of you.
"I know you don't want to, y/n/n. But you know, it's gonna be so much fun. You're gonna meet all these new people and you're gonna make a bunch of new friends. And I bet you there's even gonna be a basketball team that you can join. And when I come pick you up after school, you can tell me all about the amazing day you had."
"It won't be amazing. It's gonna be shit."
Bucky frowned at you. "And where did you learn that word, young lady?"
"Television" you smiled guiltily. Bucky smiled back.
"Time to go now. You don't wanna be late on your first day."
You didn't go anywhere. Instead, you stepped towards Bucky and hugged him as tightly as you could manage.
"Don't be late picking me up."
"I won't" Bucky chuckled.
"I love you Bucket."
Bucky quickly kissed your forehead. "I love you too."
***
"So?"
"Okay, fine, you were right. It was great."
"I told you it would be. Did you make any new friends?"
"Yeah. I sat next to these boys and they were really nice. Peter and Ned. They invited me to have lunch with them."
"Boys?"
"Yes."
"Wonderful" Bucky sighed sarcastically.

y/n ~ age twelve

"It's the end of the world."
"It's not the end of the world" Bucky laughed.
You were sat in the back of his car, on the way back home from the hospital. You'd broken your arm.
"Two months. I can't play basketball for two months. What am I gonna do with my life!"
Bucky laughed even more.
"This is not funny! This is devastating!" you complained at him.  
"It's a little funny."
"No it's not!"
"Okay, I'm sorry. You know what might cheer you up?"
"No. Nothing. Nothings gonna cheer me up because this is the worst thing that-"
"McFlurries?" Bucky interrupted. 
"OOH, YEAH!"

y/n ~ age fourteen

"Bucky! Wake. Up. Bucky! Get up! Get up! Get up!"
"I'm trying to sleep" he moaned and shoved you off him. You kneeled down on his bed beside him and started shaking his arm.
"Bucky" you whined. "Come on, it's my birthday."
"Impossible" he muttered. "Your birthday was last year."
"Bucky!"
He rolled over to face you. "It's eight in the morning."
"Yeah. You're lucky I didn't wake you up at seven. Now come on!" You grabbed his hand and tried pulling him out of bed. "I wanna open presents."
"I was supposed to get you presents?"
"What?" your jaw dropped as you faced him with a look of pure heartbreak. He laughed at your reaction.
"I'm only joking" he grinned. He finally got out of bed. You took his hand and pulled him all the way to the kitchen.
"What do you want for breakfast?"
"Ice cream" you said, taking it out of the freezer.
"Then what do you want for dinner?"
"Ice cream."
"You can't have both."
"Yeah! We have ice cream here for breakfast then go to the sundae shop for dinner!"
"Fine" Bucky sighed, as you'd already opened the tub and grabbed two spoons.
***
You skipped down the stairs and out the front door of the apartment building. Someone had parked their car on the road in front of you. The driver was waiting, leaning against the car door.
"Stevie!" You jumped up and wrapped your legs around his waist so he was forced to hold you up. "Guess what."
"What?"
"It's my birthday!"
"Huh..."
"What's wrong?"
"I thought it was Thursday."
You rolled your eyes. Steve smiled at you.
"Happy birthday, trouble."
"Did you get me a present?"
"I may have picked up a couple of things..."
"Can I have them now? Where are they? I wanna open them!"
"If you ask your brother nicely, he might let you open them in the car on the way" Steve suggested. You let go of Steve and turned to Bucky, instantly tugging on his arm. "Please can I open them! Don't make me wait till we get home. Pretty pretty please!"
Bucky laughed and nodded. Steve opened the boot of his car and pulled out a large bag. You tried to take it from him but he held it high out of your reach. You frowned in annoyance as he went to get in the front of Bucky's car while Bucky got in the drivers side. You climbed in the back, impatiently bouncing up and down in your seat until Steve handed over the bag of presents.
Bucky started driving as you ripped open each package, thanking Steve for everything he got you.
Then finally you arrived at the destination. The ice cream restaurant that Bucky took you to every year on your birthday. But you could see from the car that it was empty.
"No! Is it closed?"
"It's not closed" Bucky said.
"But there's no one in there."
"I know. As a special birthday surprise, we booked the entire place" Bucky explained. "We made sure no one else will be around while we're there. Only a couple workers to help make our sundaes."
"That's so cool!"
"You like that idea?"
"I love that idea! This is the best birthday ever! Thank you Bucky!"
Bucky grinned at you, before you all got out the car and headed into the ice cream restaurant. You were greeted by a worker once inside. She explained that you could make the sundaes completely on your own, as long as you made sure not to make too much of a mess. She let you pick the music to play on the speakers, then she left you to it.
So you, Bucky and Steve spent the next hour making huge sundaes with hundreds of toppings and lots of different syrups, and eating them all so quickly that you got a brain freeze.
When you'd finished, you were all so full, you felt like you couldn't move. You convinced Bucky to carry you back to the car. Steve sat next to you in the backseat so that you could lean on him and eventually fall asleep to dream about your amazing day.