Bucky holds Lizzie until her tears dry up. When she stops crying, he picks her up and carries her to their bedroom. They both lay on the bed on their sides and just gaze at each other. They both know that their time together is limited.
"What happens now?" Lizzie whispers.
"I haven't received any orders yet but they'll probably ship me off to basic training pretty soon," Bucky says.
"How long will that be?" Lizzie asks.
"35 weeks," Bucky says.
He will almost be gone a full nine months at training. They will be apart for nine months.
They haven't gone without seeing each other for more than a month in the almost twelve years they've known each other and that's including the period right before they got together.
Since they got together, they hadn't even gone twenty four hours without seeing each other.
When Lizzie doesn't respond, he continues.
"Then I'll come back for a couple months until I get assigned to a regiment," Bucky says.
After being apart for the better part of a year, she will only get him back briefly before he has to leave again. This time, for war.
"Can you promise me something?" Lizzie asks.
He knows he shouldn't promise her anything because he doesn't know what to expect, but one look in her big blue eyes and he knows that he will do anything she asks.
"Anything," Bucky says.
"I need you to try really hard when you train. Not just the physical stuff but the mental stuff too. I need you to be smarter, smart enough to survive so you can come home to me," Lizzie says.
This is at least something he can promise. He can promise that he will do whatever he can to get him home to her.
"No matter what, I'm going to do everything I possibly can to get back to you. I'll study and train as much as I can to try to come back to you in one piece," Bucky says.
"As long as you come back to me alive and not in a box," Lizzie says.
This statement both disturbs them immensely. He might be dead in a years time and she might be as good as a widow.
He has no good response so he just holds her. Neither of them sleep because they know that their time together is so limited, they don't want to waste it on something as insignificant as sleep.
Early the next morning, the pair hears the door open. They know that they always lock the door at night so it must be Steve because he is the only one who has a key.
They get dressed and walk downstairs. They see that Steve is already in the kitchen and has helped himself to some coffee.
Steve saw the draft board early this morning and saw that Bucky's number had been called.
He didn't know if he should congratulate him or not. He knew that this is what Bucky wanted but he also knew that this is definitely not what his sister wanted.
"I saw the board," Steve says.
"Yeah, I need to go down to the draft office to get my orders," Bucky says tiredly.
He doesn't say anything else because he knows that Lizzie needs Steve right now.
"I'll be back in a little bit," Bucky says.
Bucky kisses her on the forehead and heads out the door.
When Bucky is gone, Steve turns to Lizzie and pulls her into his arms.
She doesn't cry. She cried all her tears last night and now she just feels numb but she takes the comfort her brother is offering anyways.
"He's going to be okay. He's been a fighter for almost his whole life," Steve says.
Lizzie knows this but sometimes the best fighters are put in the most danger.
"We made it over a year without his number being called. I honestly thought he was in the clear. I know now that that was pretty naive of me," Lizzie admits.
Steve has been hoping that his own draft number would be called but he would never tell Lizzie that. She would probably try to kill him before the nazis could.
In the comforting arms of her brother, she utters her greatest fear.
"What if he doesn't come home? How am I supposed to move on?" Lizzie asks.
"He'll come home, he has to," Steve says.
"I'm a realist Steve. I know more men die then come back," Lizzie says.
He realizes that she is already mentally preparing for the worst. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.
"If he doesn't come back then we'll get through it together. I'll help hold you together when everything else falls apart," Steve says.
This is the most he can promise his sister. He can promise to be there for her if things go wrong. He can't promise her that she'll get through losing him or she'll move on because he knows she won't. If Bucky dies, his sister will never be the same.
Heck, Steve will never be the same if Bucky doesn't get home. However, he knows he will swallow his grief and take care of her.
"Why do the people I love keep leaving me?" Lizzie asks in a small voice.
His heart breaks at the question. Of course none of the people who's left her have wanted to but they leave all the same.
"I'm here, you know I won't leave you," Steve says.
She wants to argue that he might be drafted to but then realizes, even if he is, he's not eligible. She has helped preform the physicals and asthma is an automatic disqualification. Not to mention his other ailments.
She feels some small hope that she hasn't felt since Bucky had come home the day before. At least her brother will be here, at least he will be safe.
"I know Stevie. You're stuck with me until the end of our days," she says with a small smile.
"There isn't anyone else I'd rather be stuck with," Steve says.
The twins spend the afternoon reminiscing about all the best times in their lives. Most of the stories involve Bucky but they choose to ignore the sadness that still lingers at his name.
When Bucky gets home, he hears Lizzie laughing.
He doesn't think he's ever heard a more beautiful sound. He was worried that this would crush her but the fact that she can still laugh gives him hope.
As long as Steve is here, he knows Lizzie will make it through anything, even losing him.