( I CAN DO THIS ALL DAY )

IT HAD FELT LIKE GORDON GOT BACK, HUGGED HER FOR FIVE MINUTES, THEN WAS IMMEDIATELY LEAVING AGAIN BECAUSE HE GOT HIS ORDERS. He was going to help deal with the situation in Italy and France, which, okay, Edith had been told by Steve that it has needed some soldiers, but she missed Gordon like crazy and it was weird that he hadn't told her her hair looked like limp spaghetti in awhile. 

But, she had Steve. She sat him with while he drew, held his hand, had even fallen asleep curled up beside him on the old, second hand couch in his apartment. More things to prove how much she really loved him, because no matter how many times he sometimes couldn't watch his mouth when he started to go on a rant about the war, his Brooklyn accent emphasizing his feelings in places, she just smiled fondly at him. And when he listened to her rant about a future that they didn't even know was going to happen but hoped, she saw the sparkle in his eyes and couldn't help but basically melt because of him. 

The sky is blue, the sun shines, and Edith Rutherford loved Steve Rogers. 

Bucky was along for the ride as well, it seemed. He would always have this smirk on his lips whenever he stared at the two of them, took them dancing (or tried to) but Steve never wanted to dance because he was embarrassed or something. Edith didn't mind, she was pretty ungraceful herself and would never want to be embarrassed about that until she absolutely needed to dance with Steve. So, they sat and talked as Bucky woo'd another girl and spun her around the dance floor, his smile easy and his laugh open. 

Steve was happy for him. And Edith was happy with Steve, and she hoped he was with her too. 

"Steve," She smiled, the phone held to her ear by her shoulder as she finished sewing up on of the shirts she was meant to fix. "Are you still there?"

There was a thud on the other side of the line, Edith distantly hearing Steve curse, before the man was speaking into the phone again, "Yeah, sorry, Darling. I have some errands to run and I'm trying to get myself presentable." Edith knew what that meant. He was probably going to try and enlist again, for the fifth time. She wasn't sure if he thought things might have changed since the fourth time, but she wasn't going to try and talk him out of it. 

"We're still going to a picture show later, right?" Edith asked, tying off the stitch she had done and put the shirt to the side, starting to put away her materials. The needle got pushed into the pin cushion, the scissors and thimble going into the small box she had to put all of her tools. The pin cushion went in after once she had collected all of them. 

"Yes!" Steve said, and Edith smiled because she could hear the smile in his voice. They talked about absentminded things until Steve told Edith he had to go. Edith scared herself by hoe close I love you  had slipped out of her mouth, but was able to keep it in as Steve told her he'd be along to pick her up when he was done with everything.

Edith looked at the clock, deduced how much time she had before Steve would be done at the enlistment office, and sat down on her and Gordon's couch with a book in her lap. This was, of course, after she had made sure her hair was done and that she looked presentable enough to be seen in public, even if not many people were going to be looking at her. She got through a three chapters when there was a knock on her door. 

Edith made sure to mark her page, setting the book down on the small table beside the couch before she was getting up and smoothing out her dress. Steve was on the other side of the door, standing with his hands in his pockets. Edith smiled at him, though she only got a small one in return. This made Edith sigh, reaching for one of Steve's hands and intertwining their fingers and giving him a small squeeze. 

"I'm guessing it didn't go as planned," Edith said, making sure to lock her door before the two of them were heading down the stairs to the street. Steve didn't let go of her hand, the two of them making their way out onto the sidewalk and starting to walk towards the theatre. Steve sighed, but didn't seem like he wanted to talk about it. He knew that most of the time, the asthma that was plaguing him was usually going to get him a 4F every time.

"You know, you're one of the best men I know," Edith told him as they passed by a diner, Steve's eyes focusing on a man in uniform that was sitting in the window. Edith squeezed his hand, "And just because you're not fighting doesn't make you less than any of them." Steve turned to her then, blue eyes shining with some type of emotion. Edith nudged him with her shoulder, "In fact, I think you're the best man I've ever met." 

The blush that Steve seemed to only save for her coated his cheeks and turned his ears red. Edith smiled widely at that, choosing to drag him towards the movie theatre at a faster pace that Steve wouldn't lose his breath at. When they stood in front of the awning, looking at the film titles and stars before choosing one and going to get the tickets. 

Steve insisted on paying, even though Edith had enough money to cover the cost and was happy to pay it. Still, he had shoved her hand away and gave the employee the money, who smiled and gave them the tickets before they were making their way inside. Once seated in the middle of the row, snug together, the two of them chatted quietly as the theatre started to fill up. 

When the theatre dimmed, there was a sound of trumpeting before the reel started to play. It was the enlisting message that basically every radio show and film place was playing. War continues to ravage Europe. Edith's thoughts went to Gordon and she squeezed Steve's hand. He squeezed back, looking at her and smiling softly. But help is on the way! 

Edith heard a muffled sob from somewhere behind her and knew that families and loved ones were getting pulled away. And seeing the men on the screen marching towards the vehicle that was going to take them off to war, suitcases in hand and carrying their jackets made Edith's heartache. If Steve wasn't beside her, comforting her, she'd probably be trying to hold back sobs at the thought of Gordon fighting and then ultimately losing him. 

Every able-bodied man is lining up to serve his country! 

The video showed men getting a physical, making Edith turn to Steve. His expression was slightly cloudy, knowing that he had just tried to do the same thing as the men on the screen had been doing. The next shot was a little boy sorting through scrap metal, even little Timmy is doing his part collecting scrap metal! Nice work, Timmy!

"Who cares?!" came from the row in front of them, Edith furrowing her eyebrows at the man she's pretty sure had shouted, a frown set on her face. "Play the movie already!" Edith kicked the back of the chair as a man two rows in front of them turned around to the man who was being disrespectful. The guy hadn't turned around at Edith's kick, but she was hoping that it was going to shut him up. 

Steve leaned forward a little, "Hey, you wanna show some respect?"

Meanwhile, overseas, our brave boys are showing the Axis powers that the price of freedom is never too high!

"Let's go! Get on with it!" Edith delivered another swift kick to the back of his chair, watching it jostled him slightly. Everyone was starting to look over now, glaring or frowning at the man. "Hey, just start the cartoon!" 

Another kick to his seat from Edith, Steve was leaning forward, "Hey, you wanna shut up?" The man in the chair stood up, towering over the two of them, turning around slowly to look at Steve and her. The narrator in the message said something, but Edith couldn't focus on it because Steve squeezed her hand as some type of warning before he was letting go and squaring his shoulders. 

Before she even knew what was happening, Steve was up and on his feet, the two men moving to take it outside. A sigh left Edith's mouth as she got up to follow them, a couple other movie-goers stopping her to tell her to give their thanks so Steve. She smiled and told them she would, before she was rushing out of the room as the opening sequence of the film started to play. 

Once in the lobby of the theatre, she asked if she could use their phone and called Bucky, glad that he was at home and that he had picked up almost straight away. She told him the circumstances of which Steve was going to get beat up in the back alleyway of the theatre. Bucky sighed, Edith picturing him with closed eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose, before he said that he would be there as fast as he could. Edith thanked him, before hanging up and thanking the staff member again who let her use the phone. Then, she was hurrying outside to go find Steve and the man. 

A grunt came from the alleyway, Edith picking up her pace just in time to see Steve take a punch to the face. She hurried forward as he took another one, grunting a little from the pain of it, and watched as he crashed into a couple of garbage cans near the back of the alley. "Stop!" She called, moving forward to try and stop this just as Steve stood up, garbage can lid in his hands as some type of makeshift shield. 

The man grabbed the top of it, yanked it out of Steve's grip, before sending another punch across his jaw, making Steve drop again. He got up, panting, rolling his shoulder before he was putting his fists up. Edith was about a foot away from them when the man said, "You just don't know when to give up, do ya?"

Edith watched Steve get a determined twinkle in his eye and found herself falling more in love with him, "I can do this all day." She watched with wide eyes as he swung, wishing she could intervene but can't. The pipes groaned from the wall beside her, making Edith turn and furrow her eyebrows because how could she hear that in the busy city while Steve was getting beat up?

The man blocked the punch, sent another into Steve's jaw that made him drop. A tap to the shoulder made Edith tense as she turned around, but then relax when she just saw Bucky. Dressed in his uniform, but Bucky nonetheless. He grabbed onto the man's shoulder once Edith stepped aside, "Hey, pick on someone your own size." 

Edith didn't pay much attention to what he did, rushing forward to Steve and helping him to his feet. Her fingers gently took hold of his jaw, looking up at him to make sure there was nothing too painful. The bruise was already darkening into an ugly purple, but Steve has had worse. A few weeks ago, someone had given him a busted lip and the ring he had been wearing caught on Steve's cheek. The cut was healed, but there was still a faint scar from the whole ordeal.

"Sometimes, I think you like getting punched," Bucky said once he was standing back by them, the man nowhere to be seen. Edith was still making sure that Steve was mostly okay, looking at his face some more before nodding to herself. 

"I had him on the ropes," Steve told Bucky, smiling at Edith when she rolled her eyes but kissed him gently on the cheek that wasn't starting to bruise. They both watched as Bucky bent down to pick something up that Edith's pretty sure Steve had dropped. Once he stood back to his full height, Edith realized it was the enlistment form from this time around. 

"How many times is this?" There was a pause as Bucky looked at it, Steve dusting the grime from the alley off of his person. "You're from Paramus now? You know it's illegal to lie on the enlistment form. And seriously, Jersey?"

Steve finally looked at Bucky, stopping his dusting off as he noticed the army green uniform. "You get your orders?"

"The 107th," Bucky answered, "Sergeant James Barnes shipping out for England first thing tomorrow." 

Edith knew the thoughts in Steve's head as he ducked it to look at his feet. Both of them did. Edith and Bucky shared a look, before Steve was looking up and saying, "I should be going." There was a moment of silence as the two looked at each other. 

Bucky's whole demeanor changed as he threw an arm around Steve's neck, "Come on, man!" Steve was able to catch Edith's hand and drag her along with them. "My last night! I got to get you cleaned up." 

Edith had to walk a little faster to match both Steve and Bucky's strides, but she was happy that the seriousness was out of the air and the two looked happy. She would let Steve spend the night fooling around with Bucky, knowing that she need to answer the letter Gordon had sent and then letting herself relax and read a book. 

"Why? Where we going?" 

"The future," Bucky told him, then passed the newspaper over. Steve showed it to Edith, both of them looking down at the front page article that said World Exposition of Tomorrow with a giant globe made out of some type a metal and a train-like ride, though instead of being on the track, it was hanging off of it. "Edith, you better get on you dancing shoes and show up wearing something real pretty." 

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and here is the first chapter exploring the movie! you guys have no idea how excited am i for writing this and all the things i have planned! it's gonna be a rollarcoaster and i honestly can't wait to share it with you!

next chapter is going to be some fluff and the world expo!