~Amelie's POV~
"A bar?"
"Yep."
"You work in one."
"Yes," I nodded again, "and you can come with me.
"Of course I'm coming with you," Winter muttered, a grumpy frown on his face, "I'm not letting you go by yourself."
It was my turn to frown a little, "you don't let me go to work. I go to work. You just get to choose if you want to come with me or not. I love you Winter, but I need more than just the Tower right now, I need to go back to work."
He was stood, unmoving. I hesitated at the shocked expression on his face, a strange glint in his eyes directed at me.
"Winter?" My voice fell to a whisper as he stayed still, towering above me.
"You love me."
I blinked.
I just said I loved him.
I had told him before, in Italian, or while he was fast asleep. Had I not told him like this?
"I do."
My stomach slowly twisted as I waited for him to speak. The silence stretched between us, painfully settling into the cracks of the room.
"If you're not there, it's okay if-"
He strode across the room, backing me against the wall. His hand clasped my shoulder, his breathing hot against my face.
His eyes were dark as he leant down, narrowed in on mine. I could feel his body against me, my heart thudding against his chest.
His lips were parted.
God, those lips.
"Amelie-" his voice was thick and husky, matching the look in his eyes.
"Yes." My voice was barely above a whisper, my stomach swirling with anticipation, trying to figure out if I wore the same look on my face.
He lowered his face, his grip on my shoulder softening and moving to cup my jaw. His thumb rested there, the rough skin sending shivers around my body.
"Can I-"
The alarm I had set on my phone blared through the room, interrupting us. Winter stumbled back, eyes wild and expression blending to panic.
My heart was pounding, my mind frazzled with the new proximity of Winter's body pressing against mine.
I scrambled to find my phone, turning off the shrill bells that were screeching from the speaker. "Sorry," I was embarrassed at how breathless I sounded, "that's for me to go to work. I'll be late if I leave any later."
"Oh." His chest was rising, his shirt tight against his body. He pulled at the hem, cheeks turning pink as he turned around to pull a jumper over his head.
I helped pull his arm through it, as he struggled without his metal arm.
His skin was cold, and caused my body to burn hot. I tried to think of something else as I turned away and pulled my own jumper on, before sliding my feet into my beat up trainers.
Winter held the door open for me, leaving a space so we wouldn't touch. A brief thought that maybe he didn't want to touch me now passed my mind, but when I glanced over my shoulder on the way to the lift, his eyes were following, burning into me.
I swallowed the lump in my throat, and stepped into the lift as the doors slid open.
Steve was stood in the corner. I offered him a polite smile, which he reciprocated.
The three of us stood in the box, moving slowly to the ground floor. Steve hummed a quiet tune, eyes fixedly staring at the doors in front of us.
Maybe he felt the strange tension between Winter and I. I was stuck between them, and could hear Winters quiet breaths over my shoulder.
Seconds before it became too much, the doors slid open and I practically threw myself out of them.
Steve sighed, gave us one last smile and a wave before he wandered to a side door.
Winter was stood by my side, quietly assessing the room. From the last few occasions of us exploring the local area, I knew to give Winter this time to ensure we were safe, and there were no threats nearby.
"We should go," I murmured after a moment, "its my first day back."
He nodded, and wrapped his hand around mine before leading me through the small clumps of professionals milling around the open floor.
The skin on my hand flared warm at his touch, and the butterflies returned to do flips in my belly.
We stepped onto the street, the cool breeze a welcome relief. "It's this way." I gestured to the pavement, and Winter slowed to walk behind me as I navigated our way through the busy streets.
It wasn't until I opened the door to the bar that I realised he hadn't said it back.
It was pretty quiet at this time in the morning. 11am was never really a busy time, especially on a Monday morning, which was why my manager asked me to come in today.
He met me at the bar, his aging face smiling as I approached. "Amelie, how are you?"
"I'm good." I cleared my throat, "I'm okay now yeah, this is Winter." I gestured over my shoulder to where he was stood. I could feel the heat of his body in the cool room, due to how close he was.
"It's nice to meet you." My manager stuck his hand out, patiently waiting as Winter paused, before slowly shaking his hand.
I turned to look up at him, "why don't you sit somewhere, I just need to do some paperwork, return to work stuff."
He nodded again, then leant down, his lips brushing against the shell of my ear. I shivered again, as he whispered "stay safe."
"I will," I smiled at him, catching my breath as he offered me a rare small smile.
I followed my manager to the back office, and together we spent an hour reviewing forms, signing my name and confirming what hours I would be able to work.
Eve had come back from Scotland from seeing Nick, but had reduced her hours so she could pick up some classes. Which unfortunately meant that I would be picking up the shifts she couldn't do, so we wouldn't be working as closely as we used to.
"Are you alright to cover the front until 3 today? Ease you in with some smaller shifts."
"I can stay longer," I offered, "I'll be alright."
"I know you will sweetheart, but humour me. We'll ease you in, in a couple of weeks you'll have the longer shifts back, I promise."
"Thank you." I left him in his office, reviewing some forms for the company, and went back to the front bar. Winter was tucked in a booth in the corner, but on seeing me he jumped to his feet and walked over.
Two older men beat him to it. They beelined to the bar, big smiles on their faces.
"Amelie you're back!"
"We have missed you!"
"How are you?"
"How's your ma?"
I grinned; these two were the people I missed the most from not being at work.
"Jake! How are you?"
"How am I? You're the one that left us with no drinks, miss." His grey hair stood out against his dark skin, his smiling eyes matching the beaming smile stretched across his face.
"And I'm sorry about that. Are you okay Noah, fancy a drink?"
Noah nodded, his watery green eyes radiating the warmth and friendliness I always connected to him.
I adored these men. They were like my surrogate grandfathers.
Jake's son, Marcus, walked through the door, fishing his wallet out of his pocket. He caught my eye, then headed over to our direction. "Amelie! Long time no see."
"I know! Hope you've been staying out of trouble."
"Ah, you know me." He handed me a few notes, "for the old mens tab."
"Who are you calling old?" Jake tapped the back of his head as his son ducked out of his way.
I laughed as I opened the till and passed him the change owed.
"Two small whiskeys Amelie, please." I adored Noah's accent. Even though he'd been living in America for a few years, his English accent was thick and strong.
"Only one each Dad, the rule hasn't changed." Marcus looked at his father, a smile on his lips although I knew he was deadly serious.
Noah nudged his friend, "that's only for you. He's not my son, I can have as many as I want." He winked at me as Marcus rolled his eyes.
"You too. One whiskey each, that's it."
He left quickly, as he'd only stopped by on his lunch break.
I poured the men their drinks, and leant my arms onto the counter as they muttered their way back to their table.
"One whiskey? That man doesn't know what he's on about."
"He's a smart lad, but we've earnt our tipple."
"What damage could two drinks do anyway?"
"He is a doctor." I called over to them, "I think he probably knows."
Jake waved his hand in the air as he sat down, "can't it be our little secret?"
I smiled at his teasing, relaxing back into this role. They usually came around lunchtime, always together.
Sometimes they brought me flowers, sometimes just stories of their time in the war.
And each time I was enamoured by them, and snuck away to their booth by the window to join in their conversations.
Winter was stood at the end of the bar, eyes flicking between me and the older men. I offered him a smile, and although his was small, I could tell he was trying.
I was about to walk over, ask if he was okay, when a man walked in. His long curls fell in front of his glasses. "Hi."
I walked over, so I was close enough to serve him, "Hi, what can I get you today?"
He folded his arms onto the counter, "I'm just waiting for my girlfriend, can I have two glasses of lemonade?" His thick Scottish accent was deep in the quiet of the bar.
"Of course. Ice?" I turned and made two glasses as he hesitated.
I glanced over my shoulder, waiting for his answer, when I saw the reason why he had paused.
Winter had moved from his corner, sending daggers at the customer. His shoulders were tense, muscles bulging, and his eyebrows were tugged down in an angry frown.
He held his arm over his chest, squeezing his fist tight, causing his knuckles to crack in the quiet of the bar.
From their seat by the window, Noah and Jake fell silent and turned to watch.
I moved my eyes from Winter, trying to smile a little at the poor man in front of me, "would you like any ice?"
He blinked, turning to face me with worry hiding in his eyes. "Just in mine please, Eve doesn't like ice."
"Eve?" I stared at him. "You're Nick?"
"Yes..." he trailed off, glancing to his side as Winter took a step closer. "How do you know my name?"
The door swung open, and the clacking of heels interrupted the strange tension in the room. "Amelie!"
I sagged with relief. "Eve!"
Ignoring her soulmate, she hurried around the end of the bar and scooped me into her arms. "How are you? You look better than you did on facetime the other night!" She pulled back, her fingers moving to my shoulders then cheeks, "you look so good!" She squeezed me again, barely letting me speak.
"I got your drink, sweetheart."
She stepped away, sending me one last cheeky grin, before she skipped to his side. "No ice?"
"No ice." He kissed her cheek and slid his arm around her waist as she perched on the stool next to him.
"Its nice to meet you Nick." I smiled, "I've heard a lot about you."
A lot that he probably wouldn't like me knowing. Eve wasn't one for hiding details when we had girls nights. And after a glass of wine she would tell all.
Realisation had dawned on his face after Eve shouted my name, and his eyes glanced back at Winter. Something must have clicked, as he nodded his head, "you too Amelie."
I edged over to Winter, watching as his hand began scratching his neck. "Hi."
He looked down at me, the bar separating our bodies. That didn't stop him from pushing his elbow against it, leaning closer. "Whose that?"
"Eve. She's my friend here, she went to Scotland before we went on the run. That's Nick, her soulmate." We both glanced down the bar, catching Nick as he pressed another kiss to her cheek, and her laugh as she met his eyes.
They were head over heels for each other.
Part of me wanted that.
I wanted to be able to sit beside Winter in public and laugh, and for him to kiss my cheek and not be staring down every man who dared look my way.
But he was trying.
He nodded slowly, taking a deep breath before saying, "they seem nice."
"They are." I reached over to touch his hand, but the sound of Jake's walking stick hitting the floor caught my attention.
He rested his weight onto it as he waited for me to walk quickly over to the section of the bar he was stood in front of. "Amelie, would you be a dear, and pass me a glass of water."
"Coming right up."
As I got him his drink, he lowered his voice, "now Amelie, are you okay?"
"Of course I am-"
"Because that man with you seems very tense. Now you tell me if you're in any trouble okay?"
I passed him his water, but instead of replying I looked at my soulmate. "Winter, this is Jake." I gestured to the window seats where Noah was watching our conversation, "and this is Noah. Guys, this is Winter."
"Winter?" Jake looked at him, assessing him quickly, before he stuck out a wrinkled hand, "pleasure to meet you, son."
Winter paused, but not to intimidate them like he had with Nick. Instead, he looked at me, panic in his eyes. I nodded, trying to encourage him.
He shook Jake's hand.
Progress.
I walked Jake back to his table, guiding Winter to come with me.
Noah smiled, "Your name is Winter?"
He cleared his throat, "yes."
"You remind me of someone." Noah sipped his one whiskey, before he clicked his fingers, "that Barnes fella. Jakey, you remember him."
Jake stared at him, oblivious.
Noah rambled on anyway, "with the Captain. Back in the war days... what was his name?" He pinched the skin above his nose, eyes closing as he battled with his fading memory.
"Bucky?"
I shot my head to look up at him. He didn't look upset, or angry. He was just answering the question.
"Bucky Barnes, that was it!" Noah tapped the table, "Bucky Barnes. He was a great man."
I could see Winter's adam apple bob up and down, heard his single shaking breath.
Jake was inspecting Winter's face now. "You a relation?"
"Winter-"
"Yes. A relation." He cut me off, but his eyes were serious as he looked at me.
I watched as he turned back to the two men, "could I... could I join you?"
"The more the merrier." Jake shuffled along the seat, making space for Winter to squeeze in beside him.
Winter sat down, hand slipping under the table to tap his leg like he did when he was nervous.
I made him his own drink, fresh orange juice, and placed it in front of him. I watched from a distance as the old men gently coaxed him into their conversation.
"So that's Winter?" Eve murmured, eyes following mine to look at him.
"Yes it is."
"And everything's okay?"
I nodded. I had hinted at some things in our texts and facetimes. She knew he had been hurt during a war, and was battling with PTSD. I just didn't tell her that it was the second world war, and he was over 100 years old.
That information could wait for now.
Eve and Nick left after an hour, and a steady trickle of customers came and went.
At 3pm I picked up my bag and slung it over my shoulder, and peered into the back office to say goodbye to my manager.
Winter was sat at the same table as I'd left him. I had been too busy to talk to him a lot this afternoon, but Noah and Jake had kept him company for a short while.
He stood up as I approached, his hand finding mine and gripped it tight.
"You okay?"
He nodded.
"Long day?"
He nodded again.
I led us back out of the bar, and guided us back to the Tower.
The streets were relatively quiet, but that didn't stop Winter from holding my hand and marching us quickly around the small groups of people that populated the areas outside of shop doors.
We made it to the Tower reception in silence.
The lift doors slid open, and Winter tugged me inside.
Memories of this morning came flooding back. His body pressed against mine, his face, his lips, moving closer. The weight of that tension returned, and hung thick and heavy in the air around us.
Winter felt it too, as he slowly began walking over, his large strides backing me into the corner.
His hand lifted to cup my face, his eyes burning deep into mine.
I watched his lips part, as if he was about to speak.
My legs grew wobbly, my stomach swirling and gut clenching as I rested my small palms against his heaving chest.
His muscles were tight under his top. His eyes closed as I sucked in a breath.
"Winter-"
"I love you."