Oh, that uniform. The only thing you've ever hated about James Buchanan Barnes is that idiotic uniform. The thing that kept you from him was that gosh darned thing.

But you can't help but stare when that handsome man you've fallen for struts around in that cursed thing. It makes you smile, seeing him so proud of himself in that uniform.

But he gets shipped off in that uniform, and you don't see one of your only friends for months or longer. But then he comes back and you forget the uniform, you just see your Bucky and oh, how happy that makes you.

And today is one of those days. He's coming back for a month, perhaps even longer, and you're thrilled to see the man who's been playing with your delicate heartstrings for nearly a year.

There he is, with that bright smile on his face, coming down the street. You burst out the door, even without any shoes, but who needs proper etiquette when you can finally, finally be with the one you think you love?

His already huge smile seems to get even bigger when he sees you from afar, your wavy locks of Y/H/C bouncing behind you as you run toward him. He drops his luggage as you reach him and holds out his arms, which you run into.

"Y/N, you have no clue how happy I am to see ya. How ya been?" his voice glides into your ear like music, your favorite song to hear. He drops you back to the ground and you begin walking back toward the apartment building.

"Well, y'know, nothin' much doin' here. I just been waitin' for you to get back. So's Steve." you say, adding the fact that Steve was waiting too so you didn't sound so desperate.

"Mm... He shouldn't be wishin' so hard, neither should a pretty lady like you." he smirks a James Barnes original smirk. You can barely keep yourself upright, he'd just called you pretty. Or was he joking? He'd started laughing afterwards, making you even more nervous.

"Y-yeah, but we knew ya'd never leave us, I mean, we're all b-best friends, of course." you stammer. You bite you lip and look down at your shoeless feet. "There's a fair tonight, maybe we could go?"

"Sounds fun, if I do say so myself. Jus' us?" Bucky asks you. You hadn't thought about that. Usually, all three of you went to things like that together, but Steve wound up somewhat like a third wheel.

"Oh... If ya'd like that." you smile, heat rising to your cheeks. Bucky smiles, you can tell he does like that idea, very much.

"Yeah, let's do that, alright? But lemme get changed and stuff first." he says, and you realize you've reached your side-by-side apartments, with Steve on the other side of yours.

He heads into his apartment and you suddenly realize that you need to put on shoes, and figure that while you're in there, you should change.

In you go to change, and pick out what Bucky has said that he loves on you multiple times, a beautiful blue dress with flower prints everywhere. You put on the dress and your shoes and head out just as Bucky does.

"Shall we?" he says, holding out an arm for you to take. You gladly do, and he whispers, "I'm sure glad you chose that dress, it looks beautiful on ya." These words send shivers down your spine, twice today he's
complimented you on your looks.

You start leading him to the area where you know the fair is, but he pulls you in a different direction.

"James, what in the world?" you ask, extremely confused. He said he wanted to go to the fair, didn't he?

He smirks another smirk that nearly makes you melt. This man is going to ruin you, for sure.

"I think I have somewhere we can go. We'll go to the fair afterwards, but just trust me Doll, even if it's only just this once." he smiles, running his thumb in circles on your hand.

"Alright, fine. If ya cause us to miss anything fun, I'll kill ya." you joke, trying to hide your stress. He smiles, and starts leading you toward someplace. The streets start becoming less and less familiar, and soon, you think you're lost.

"Bucky..." you start. He puts a finger on your lips, and you see his eyes drift to them, staring for a split second before looking at your Y/E/C eyes with a look that shuts you up real well.

You follow him a bit longer until he abruptly stops, pointing at something. You look off into the distance where he's pointing and suddenly, the memory flies back into your mind.

"The Hill!" you whisper in awe. You'd completely forgotten where it was, and yet after all these years, Bucky had remembered.

The Hill... The hill where you met all those years ago. The place where Bucky had come to say hello, and gotten stuck with this girl he'd barely met forever.

"It's covered in mud and stuff from the rain, and I don't wanna get your pretty ol' dress dirty, so here'll hafta do. Y/N, I ain't really sure how to say this, but even though I've been a ladies' man, accordin' to everyone, but really, since that one day where I met ya by chance, I've loved ya. I'm not sure what I'm tryin' to say here, but I love ya, and you ain't gotta love me back but-" his voice is cut off by your lips gently pressing on his. It's not what you expected from your first kiss with him, you expected it to be rough and hard, but it's gentle and kind, though still passion-filled.

When you pull away, you both are flushed and smiling at the ground.

"I love ya more than I could ever express, Bucky." you whisper, grabbing his hand.

"Yeah... Me too." he says, wrapping his arms around you.

~•~
One Month Later

You both stand hand in hand at the doors of your apartments. You've both fallen even more in love with one another, and yet here you are, about to be torn apart again. But something's different this time, you're together, actually something. Bucky smiles nervously before he begins talking.

"It's pretty soon, I know, doll, but I get shipped off today, and I love ya so much so I just wanted to know if ya'd do me the honor of becomin' Y/N Y/M/N Barnes?" Bucky says on one knee, a beautiful ring in hand. You nod, tears flowing down your cheeks, because this, this is what you imagined for your last couple years of existence, becoming Mrs. Barnes. He slides the ring on your finger, and holds you tightly.

You breathe in his scent, the scent that you've grown to love and can't live without- and you won't. You can see it, just standing there with your eyes closed and arms around him.

Yes, it will be perfect, all of it. You'll walk down the aisle and everything is going to go on without a hitch.

"Honey, I've gotta go, okay? But I'm comin' back, just for our wedding, if nothin' else. I love ya." he squeezes you one last time before going off down the street like he had come to you just a month earlier:

In that darned uniform. But now, it wasn't stopping you, and you had a ring on your finger.

Actually, when you thought about it, the uniform wasn't so-

Nope. You still hated it.

(Awwwwwwwww I didn't know I could write stuff that cute! I'm literally smiling like a dork. BeautifulBlues and BaguetteBarnes , I hope you like it!!! Oh, and also, thanks for the chance to get to push my writing to the limits, and even if I don't get anything, I'm honored to have been a part of this competition! 1279 words in all)