Witch Hunt || Stucky ✔

XI - The Troubled Minds Of Barnes And Rogers

Months have passed by since Steve had caught James sleeping in his barn, and so far, James is still staying with them. And for now, Steve is still unaware of James's witchery.

James is content on leaving it that way. He doesn't see the need for Steve to know anyway, and especially not when it could end up with him getting killed. James definitely does not want any blood on his hands.

So far, things have been going very well for James, Steve, and Steve's daughters, and James is happy living with them. But, he knows that he shouldn't overstay his welcome with the Rogers's family, and should probably find himself his own place if he chooses to stay in this town.

The thing is though, James likes staying with Steve and his daughters very much, and he almost doesn't want to leave anytime soon. He's not too sure if Steve wants him to leave or stay either, and what the girls would rather is quite conflicting. They still don't trust him very well, but they've been getting along with him for their father's sake.

James is fine with the girls only tolerating him for the sake of their father, but he's worried that they may become a little suspicious and want to search through his stuff to figure out exactly who he is. Even though he's still got all his things safely hidden away, he doesn't doubt for a second that Elizabeth and Grace won't go searching for it and find his spellbook and all his other belongings.

It's things like this where James wishes that witches were able to live in peace with everyone else. Most of them don't do anyone any harm. Most just want to live peacefully amongst others. Stupid rules making that witches are to be burned at the stake or hung by the neck at once after they're discovered. James absolutely despises that rule, and wants to see it gone.

He's not trying to hurt anyone, so why does he have to be executed for practising something that he loves? Even though he doesn't really like staying in the same place for very long, he also doesn't really like the fact that he has to leave to stop people from finding out that he's a witch.

At this point though, he's used to it. Running from the law and people that want him dead, he's used to it. He's lived that way since he was a young boy, and even more so after he was left on his own after his mother was killed when he was only thirteen.

Right now though, he's just hoping that he can stay in this town for longer than he already has. Hes come to like this town, and doesn't want to be leaving it anytime soon. But there's always the chance that someone will figure out that he's a witch. In fact, someone is certainly going to find out eventually.

Maybe this time if someone catches him, he should just let them kill him? He's tired of running, and he can't imagine giving up on his witchcraft, so maybe this time he should just give up once he's been found out?

It's always been something that James has considered, giving up as soon as he's been found out, but he's never had the guts to actually do it. But maybe this time he'll end up going through with it? He has no idea. Though, being hung by the neck until dead is no fun at all. Neither is being burned at the stake, which he's thankfully never had to deal with before, and it's not really the way that he fancies dying.

Actually, he just doesn't fancy dying at all, but he is considering just giving up and letting them take him the next time he's found out for his witchcraft. Simply to just end all this moving around because he's been found out. Though, he probably won't even go through with it if he's being honest with himself.

There's still one thing he's got no idea on whether or not he's going to do anything about though. The fact that he's fallen for Steve. James has fallen for Steve, and he knows it. But he can't bring himself to tell Steve about it. With good reason though, as two guys being lovers isn't exactly very accepted, and he doesn't even think that Steve feels the same way at all. James highly doubts that Steve feels anything more than friends for him, and James fears that if he were to tell him about his feelings, then Steve will throw him out.

Even though, James doesn't want to stay living with Steve and his daughters, he doesn't fancy being kicked out over feelings that he has for him. And he likes having Steve as a friend, so he doesn't want to potentially lose Steve's friendship over telling him that he's fallen in love with him. He's already bound to lose Steve's friendship after Steve eventually finds out about his witchery anyway.

But James doesn't exactly want to keep hiding these feelings from Steve. He wants to be able to tell him eventually, as there may be a slim chance that Steve does in fact feel the same way. James highly doubts that he does, but there's always the chance that he does. Except, he's afraid to find out...

******

Steve's begun to notice that James has been acting a little odd lately. But considering James is already a rather mysterious and odd fellow, he's opted to not look into it. He feels as though it's none of his business anyway, so why try and get James to tell him what's wrong?

But, something has been troubling Steve for a few days now. These feelings that he has slowly been developing for James, are still there, and don't seem to be going away anytime soon.

Though, he has to admit, that he doesn't mind these feelings, despite how wrong they are. He almost wants to do something about them, but doesn't believe that James feels the same way. Plus, Steve feels as though James is planning on leaving this town soon, so there's probably no point in doing anything about them.

Then again, he probably could still tell him, in the hopes that if he feels the same way, then he might chose to stay here. But Steve doesn't want to end up scaring him off out of here quicker than James is planning on leaving.

The front door opening catches Steve's attention, and he looks up from where he sat on the sofa, to find James walking inside. He looks tired, so Steve assumes that he just got home from working at the tavern.

"You okay, Bucky?" Steve asks, moving around on the sofa so James can sit down next to him.

"Just tired." James yawns, sitting down next to Steve. "Even though I love working there, dealing with drunk people is just the worst." He sighs. He goes to say something else, but quickly stops himself from saying whatever it was, and shakes his head.

Steve nods. "You've got that right." He places a hand on James shoulder, patting slightly, before removing his hand.

"N-no." James suddenly says, grabbing onto Steve's hand before he could move it away completely. "I, kind of like that." He says, finally looking over at Steve, before moving closer to him, still holding onto his hand.

"You sure you're okay?" Steve asks, eyeing James closely, and wrapping an arm around James's shoulders, which causes him to instantly lean into the hold.

James sighs, shaking his head. "I don't know." He sighs, resting his head on Steve's shoulder.

Steve's not sure how, but this feels right to him. Having James this close to him just feels, right. The only other person this has ever felt right with, was Peggy. But she's gone now, killed two years ago now, and even though Steve misses her very much, he's got to move on from her eventually. She would've wanted him to be happy anyway.

Without thinking, Steve pulls James closer to him. "I think I'm falling in love with you." He breathes, not realizing he said it until it's too late.

He feels James tense up in his hold, before he's turning around to face him, surprise evident on his face. And quite possibly something else too. "Wh-what?"