{Early 1942}

It wasn't long after when I went back to the Automat and took the job and the room. I had quickly gotten comfortable and made the place my own. I had never had so much space to myself, and I loved it. I had always shared a single room with two siblings and now I had three rooms to myself, including the bathroom. I still went home on Friday evenings to have dinner with Maxine and Pop, but the rest of the time I was an independent woman.

It had been a rough time for everyone that previous winter. The Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor two weeks before Christmas. It shook everyone up a little, and it made Steve even more envious of Bucky. He told me all about it one day when he visited the automat. I had just taken my break, and he sat with me while we both had some coffee.

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"Steve,...." I said.

"Please stop trying to dissuade me, Lucy. I have a right to fight for my country." I leaned over the table.

"There is a difference between having a right to fight and getting arrested for illegally trying to enlist after you have already been rejected four times!" I hissed at him.

"You don't understand."

"Oh, I understand perfectly, Steve. You want to get arrested, that's it. I'm just trying to look out for your better interest. I don't want you to get in big trouble. I worry about you enough as it is." He was silent for a moment.

"Lucy, I have been told my whole life that I needed to "slow down" and "not get involved in things," but I can't do that anymore. I want to help fight the war. I want to be somebody other than a little nobody from Brooklyn. What is there for me to do here? Be a shop owner? A tailor like my father? I don't want that kind of a future for myself. I want to show the world that Steve Rogers can be more and is more. " I was silent for a moment before speaking up.

"You know that I will always support you, Steve, but please,  think of the possible consequences. You could be caught by the police. You could be put in jail. Worst of all, you could actually get in. It's rough out there on the front lines, Steve. Wesley is in Europe in an office position, and in every letter I get from him, he talks about how hard everything is. He told me that the camp of the division he travels with got bombed by enemy aircraft while everyone was out on a training drill. They all could have died, Steve. That could be you, and I don't want to lose you. I'm already scared that I'm going to lose Wesley." Steve was silent once more.

He looked like he was about to speak again when I spoke up.

"But, like I had to let Wesley go, I have to let you go too.  I know you. If you can't go, you'll spend the rest of your life complaining. You may be a grown man, but you can whine like a toddler if you put your mind to it." Steve gave me one of his goofy smiles.

"Yeah, I can, and I'm proud of it." I rolled my eyes and punched at his arm from across the table. "Have you thought anymore about joining the WACs?" I shook my head.

"No. I think it would be better if I stay here, though. I don't think that Pop would be able to handle having two of his kids overseas. He's having a hard enough time with Wesley being over there."

"Don't throw away the idea entirely, ok? I still think that you might really enjoy going over there." I shrugged and stood up. "Hey, wait, Lucy. I was thinking... Tonight is the technology exhibition over in Central Park. I was wondering if you'd like to go. You've been working a lot recently, and I know that you would enjoy it."

"I don't know, Steve. I..." Steve stood up and raised a hand in front of my face, cutting me off.

"Lucy, you need a break. I'll be here at 6:30 to get you. Don't try to talk your way out of it. We're going, and that's final." I sighed and nodded.

"Fine, but I get off at 5, so you can swing by at 5:30." Steve nodded.

"Five-thirty. Got it. See you then, Lu.' He waved and left the automat. I just shook my head and watched the scrawny punk leave.

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{1930}

When I was 12, Steve Rogers got hit by a car. It was a very sad day, and thankfully he wasn't killed. Steve, Bucky, and I had been walking down the street that bright August day. School started the next week, and we had all gone to get our new school books. The three of us were walking back to my place holding our bulky packages when suddenly a 1922 Cadillac Type 61 barreled down the street. Bucky and I were able to rush out of the street just in time to avoid the car, but Steve wasn't so lucky. He had almost avoided collision with the car, but he couldn't escape the edge of the front bumper. It rammed into him at a terrible speed, sending him flying over the car. He landed on the dirt behind it.

The driver stopped the car quickly and ran out. The passenger side door also opened.

"Oh, no!" shrieked the driver, a young woman of about twenty years old. "I've killed him!" The man who had been in the passenger seat placed an arm around the woman's shoulders.

"No, see there, Agnes. He's breathing. Don't worry. It'll be ok." Those words didn't stop the woman, Agnes, from bawling. The man walked over to where Steve lay on the ground. Bucky and I were already standing over him trying to ask him how he felt.

"What happened?" asked Steve.

"I am so sorry, Sonny. You see, I was teaching my fiancé how to drive, and I guess she was going a little too fast. We are awfully sorry, sport. How's about we take you and your chums here to get some ice cream or some fairy floss. What ever you'd like!" Steve just glared up silently at the man before trying to stand up. A crowd had started to gather around all of us due to the amount that "Agnes" had been wailing.

"Come on, Steve." Said Bucky grabbing onto Steve's arm once he had stood up. "We're taking you to your mom." I nodded rapidly and took his other arm. The crowd parted as we walked near it. Once again, Steve had been in a car related accident and was able to easily walk away. I wish that I could walk away from things as easily as Steve could walk away that day and all of the others. 

When we finally got Steve to his family's apartment, his mother wasn't even there. She had left about half an hour before we arrived to go to work at her second job. Bucky and I searched around the apartment for items that we had seen Mrs. Rogers use to patch Steve up in other instances. We ended up being able to bandage a gash on Steve's forehead and clean up a cut on one of his knees. 

"Thanks for helping me out, guys." Said Steve after we finished wrapping a bandage around his head. 

"That's what we're here for, Bud." Said Bucky.

"Yeah, I'd hate to imagine what you'd look like if you didn't have us with you to always escort you home to get fixed up." I said. They both laughed. 

"Listen, I gotta thank you two. I was real scared earlier, but you two helped me stay calm. At least now, when people ask at school what we did during the summer, I can say I got hit by a car! That's pretty exciting and may even get me some popularity." Bucky and I laughed at Steve. 

"Well, I think it's about time that I get home. Pop'll start to worry if I'm out too late." I said, standing up from the chair where I had been sitting.

"I'll walk you, Lou." Said Bucky, also standing up. 

I walked over to where Steve was sitting and gave him a small kiss on his bandage covered forehead. 

"I hope you feel better soon, Steve." I saw a small amount of red creep into his cheeks. I turned to look at Bucky, and I saw him standing by the door with his eyebrows furrowed. He shook his head a little before turning to open the door. I waved at Steve and then walked out of the door, Bucky following. 

We walked for a little while in silence, but I could tell by Buck's face that he was deep in thought. After a few minutes, he spoke up. 

"Hey, Lou?"

"Yeah, Buck?" He hesitated for a moment.

"W...what do you think of me?"

"What do I think of you? Well, you're one of my best friends. Didn't you know that?"

"Yeah, I thought so...You said one of your best friends?"

"Yeah, you and Steve are my best friends. Are you ok, Bucky? Why are you asking me such weird questions?"

"Well, I've been thinking....Why can't I be your best friend? Or, uh, I mean....maybe one day we could be more that friends..."

"What are you saying?"

"Ummmm....Well, maybe someday, we could, uh....., go steady and then maybe get married...." He trailed off on that last part.

"What was that, Bucky?"

"Maybe, someday, not today, we could get married. I know we are too young now, but I think someday maybe we could be a couple."

"Well, what about Steve? You said before that you want to be my only best friend. We can't possibly just forget Steve."

"Well, no...I didn't mean it that way. I just meant that we could someday be a couple, and Steve could still be around as our friend."

"Oh..."

"Well, what do you say? Do you wanna marry me, Louisa?" 

We had just arrived at the apartment building where my family lived. I walked up the steps while Bucky stayed at the bottom. I stayed silent until I reached the top; then I turned around. 

"Yeah, sure. Maybe someday."

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I never thought that he would remember that day eleven years later when he tried to propose to me. You know how, when you're a kid, and you don't really understand a situation, so you just nod along and agree? That's what I did in that situation. I didn't mean any harm by it, but I didn't think that 13 year old Bucky was really that serious about it. What 13 year old kid spends that much time thinking that far in the future? At that age, most kids are still thinking in the present, like, "What will I wear today?" and "What should I do today?" instead of, "Who should I marry?" and "Should I ask her now so that I can have dibs on her?" 

Well, Bucky wasn't a regular kid. I honestly wish that I had gone with my heart that day, which was telling him no, but I didn't. Instead, I had just forgotten that memory for 12 years and didn't think about it again until that night in '42 when I was walking with Steve past the spot where he had been hit by that car. I didn't mention it to Steve because I didn't want to bring up the subject of Bucky, but internally I was cursing my 12 year old self for not denying the 13 year old's informal proposal. 

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Hey, Soldiers! Wow! It sure has been a while since I have posted an update on this story!

As an update on my life, I got accepted to my dream college (so that's fantastic!), and I am ready to be done with high school! Even though I'm homeschooled, and I (thankfully) don't have to put up with a lot of the crap that happens in public schools nowadays, high school still is aggravating, and I'm ready to spread my wings and go to college! XD

Anywho, I'm super ready for INFINITY WAR TO PREMIERE NEXT WEEK WOOP WOOP. It felt like so long before, and now I honestly don't think I'm ready...

THANK YOU ALL SO  MUCH FOR READING MY STUFF AND SUPPORTING ME!!!!!

I am currently at over a 1,000 followers, and I honestly don't know how that is possible!!!

Also, I have had a ton of new people reading my trilogy recently, which is absolutely fantastic. When I started it out as just a one shot, I NEVER thought it would become as popular as it has become, even with its typos and logical errors! (Believe me, fixing those things are on a long mental to do list of mine!)

Alrighty then! I just want to remind you all that I love you all and to keep on fighting!

-Peggy ❤❤❤