I'll Protect You, I Promise

Eternity

Okay, so I'm sorry that this is kinda short. I got sad so this chapter, well, my apologies.

"Well, that was fucking stressful." Bucky sighed, falling back on the bed.

"Language," Steve said absentmindedly. He walked over to the window and peered through the small slit in between the curtains. He watched as the little outlines of people scurried on the sidewalk.

He turned to look at Bucky's worn out face, though even if he was tired he would never say it aloud.

"Bucky," Steve whispered, dropping his back on the ground. He walked forward and mounted the brunet, wrapped his arms around him, and buried his face in his chest. "I want to sleep with you."

"Do you mean..." Bucky raised his eyebrow.

"No," Steve laughed, "I want to sleep with you. I want you to hold me tight. I want to be able to feel your heartbeat, I want to have you wrapped around me. I want to fall asleep in your arms and wake up in your arms."

"Okay," Bucky whispered back. He tossed his bag on the ground by Steve's and scooted himself back on the bed so that his head was on the pillows. "We'll just lay here until we have to go."

Steve smiled contently and nuzzled his head against the other male's chest. Although Steve never caught it, a delicate smile took to Bucky's lips. It had been years since the two men had laid together peacefully, with nothing to worry about. What worry they had looming over their heads had been shut out by the blinds.

The two men fit together perfectly, even after the physical changes they had both gone through. Bucky held Steve against him, his head buried in his shoulder. He had his arms tightly laced around the blond's waist because, for all he knew, this was going to be the last time that he would get to hold him. He wanted to absorb everything so that he could remember. After last time, Bucky wanted to know by heart how every curve, every heartbeat, every breath felt against his skin. He wanted to know how it felt to have his chest against Steve while his breaths were even and at peace.

Steve didn't mind how tightly Bucky held him, he didn't care how Bucky was touching him, as long as it was Bucky's skin against his. He wanted to stay there forever, wrapped in Bucky's arms. He could. He could run away with him, live somewhere far away from everyone else. It would just be the two of them and it would be amazing. It would be heaven. But that would never happen. Bucky had to get help and that was the most important thing in the world. For the being, he would savour the way Bucky felt.

They lay there memorizing the other person. The two of them fell into their own little eternity. The way they felt, even without talking or kissing or even looking at each other, is only known by someone who is in love or has experienced it. Not everyone gets to have it, but these two, they had all the love in the world to give. They basked in each other's presence and it was not something to be trifled with.

Bucky soon came to the realization, one that he had many times before, that he would do anything for the man in his arms. Steve was to Bucky what a teddy bear is to little children, what a tv show or book is to teenagers, what a rose is to a queen. He was safe. He was pure. He was love. He was love.

Love.

He was love and Bucky was sure that come hell or high water, he was not going to lose it. He wasn't going to lose him. He would keep Steve in his life until he died. Until the end of the line.

Steve knew the feeling, of not wanting to let something go. He also knew the feeling of what it was like to have what you love ripped away from you. He figured it was like getting a piece of your heart ripped out and he would be okay if he had to give his heart up this time. He knew what it would be staying where it belonged, with Bucky.

The minutes ticked by slowly, they never seemed to change. One by one. Their hour in the sanctuary seemed to go on forever. Until it didn't. 

With the time moving so slowly, and the rhythm of the heartbeat and breathing of the other person, they were lulled into a peaceful sleep. One where the monsters of the past couldn't haunt them. Even this treasured moment soon turned to ash.

Time was up. Their hour had been spent and they had to leave.

Somehow, to the two men in that small hotel room, one hour was far too little and far too much time.