A/N: I AM SO SORRY that it took me this long to write this epilogue. Ack! I have a million excuses including writing a Daredevil story that distracted me and keeping my monster of a fic Life After Death regularly updated, plus life and school and all those lovely things, but I'll spare you guys all of that and just apologize one more time for taking FOUR MONTHS to do this. I hope it makes up for the wait, and thank you all SO MUCH for reading this story and giving such great feedback on it. You guys have NO IDEA how much it means to me to have this story, which rattled around in my head for so long and I tried to ignore for even longer, to be so well-received. I love you ALL and thank you SO MUCH, and if anyone wants more of this story now that it's over, just send me a message or leave a review since I can PROBABLY be talked into writing a oneshot or two here or there :D thank you all again, and I greatly look forward to your feedback! Happy holidays! :D

A year and a half was a long time to wait for someone when you were desperately in love with them, but despite it all, Bucky and Summer held on even when it felt like their time apart would never end.

At first, when they had first reached the end of their respective ropes and agreed while tangled together on the floor of a library to wait for Summer's graduation to be together, it had been easy. They'd found the light at the end of the tunnel, and rather than simply drift about miserable and alone, they had a goal to work towards. They didn't have to be apart forever. Summer just had to get her degree, and then when she was no longer a student at the university that Bucky taught at, nothing would stop them from being together.

But then, after the first few months passed and they began to miss each other on a level even deeper than that of before, they began to realize just how hard it was going to be. Though she was no longer in his class and hadn't been for some time, they still crossed paths in the hallways and at times the parking lot. Each time it happened and just the shortest few moments of eye contact happened, it would get harder and harder to walk away and not give in to the constant desire to sneak in one more little meeting somewhere.

They both knew how easy it would be. Just one call or one text, sent when they were both feeling particularly weak and missing each other enough to give in, and for a night they'd have each other once more. Nobody would ever know.

But that wasn't the problem. The problem was that, like addicts, they knew they couldn't stop at just once. One night would turn into the next morning and that morning would inevitably lead to another night until they were back in the same mess that had already gotten them caught once. And the chances of still getting away with it this time around and keeping their secret safe were incredibly low, maybe even impossible.

They simply had to stay away from each other, and each month, each time they saw each other, it got harder.

Summer threw herself into her studies, determined to finish her degree as soon as possible. She worked through the summer and did everything she could to accelerate her graduation. Bucky, in the same spirit, worked himself into near-constant exhaustion to keep himself busy and distracted.

At their lower points, they'd wonder if the other still cared or maybe had finally had enough waiting and moved on with someone else. Once, about six months into their wait, Bucky walked past Summer in the hallway talking to one of her male classmates, laughing and not noticing Bucky until he was nearly gone. She'd seen the look in his eye a she caught a glimpse of him walking away, the worry that was hidden to the world but obvious to her, and she hadn't been surprised to get a text from him later on that day. She assured him that the guy was just a friend, and he believed her.

Summer had to deal with her own similar issues a few months after that, when she'd walked by Bucky having lunch with one of his students, who happened to be a reasonably pretty female. She even looked a little like Summer, tall and brunette with a shapely figure, and Summer could tell from a mile away that the girl had the same thoughts about Bucky that Summer had when she'd been his student.

Not that Summer could blame her, of course, but that didn't stop her from wanting to stab the girl's eyes out with a plastic salad fork.

Bucky had ended up discreetly following Summer to her truck later that day and assured her before she could even ask that he was only helping the girl with her final assignment. Deep down, Summer hadn't truly doubted his fidelity for a minute, especially when it came to another student. But it was easy for her fears to run amok in such a complicated situation.

He had briefly held her hand in his own, after making sure that nobody could see, and then slipped away to his own car after telling her quietly and sincerely that he was counting the days until he could be with her again. She'd gotten in her truck with tears threatening to build behind her eyes, but she kept herself in check and reminded herself that she wasn't even halfway to the finish line yet.

It was torture. Their entire relationship had been, to various degrees and in various ways, torture from the very beginning. But she never once considered giving up or taking up any of her male acquaintances on the dates they occasionally asked her out on. She was in love, claimed already by a man who held her heart in his war-scarred hand, and that would never change.

Bucky felt the exact same way and also never strayed, even at his weakest moments.

And though they had to keep their distance from one another, they each found ways to let the other know how very important they were and how much they thought about each other. When Summer's birthday came around, Bucky sent her a card in the mail that came with an honest to God love letter tucked inside. She hadn't even thought that men wrote those anymore, let alone young men, but he apparently did and the words that he wrote in that letter melted her to the ground and left her utterly stunned. The letter became one of her most prized possessions, and she read it over and over until each word had been forever memorized in her heart.

Then, when his birthday came, she had what she knew to be his favorite photo of them together printed and framed. She sent it to his apartment along with a note wishing him a happy birthday and telling him how much she loved him, and how much she looked forward to hopefully spending his next birthday with him.

She kept his card and love letter in the drawer of her beside table, so that she could pull it out and reread it when she couldn't sleep. He kept her picture on his dresser, where he could see it as he laid in bed at night, just before he fell asleep.

Their friends who were in the loop - Darcy for Summer, Steve and Natasha for Bucky - could only sigh and support their lovesick puppy friends and help them countdown the weeks until graduation day.

And though it felt like an absolute eternity, that day did finally come. After months of rigid self control and enough academic focus to burn anyone out on school for the rest of their lives, Summer at last finished her final classes and accumulated all of the credits needed to get her bachelor's degree. That was enough to leave her overjoyed and endlessly excited all on its own, after all the work that she had put in and the difficult road she'd taken to get where she finally was. But knowing that Bucky was waiting on the other side only made her even more ecstatic.

She met Darcy and Esteban at the formal commencement ceremony, the three of them squealing together and rejoicing over the end of their college journey together. Darcy had tentative plans to continue on for her Master's and Summer and Esteban couldn't rule out an eventual return of their own someday, but for the time being, they were done and it was time to receive the reward for all of their hard work.

They sat together during the ceremony, proudly sporting the traditional cap and gown, waiting for their names to be called once the final part of the ceremony began. For Summer, who had very little family and none who were able to come that day, her family consisted of those by her side and, just maybe, a certain face in the crowd, over where the faculty was seated.

She didn't look his way too much, just to be safe, but just before they called her name, she glanced his way and caught his eye. It only lasted a moment, but the way that he smiled at her and looked so deeply into her eyes from so far away left her breathless. She smiled back, then smiled even wider when it was her turn to walk.

It was, at that point, the proudest moment of her life to walk across the stage and take the certificate with her name on it, the proof of her hard work, even though her real degree would be coming in the mail about a month later. It was the end of one chapter and the start of another, one that would take her to new places and, if she was lucky, be shared with the certain Professor of Advanced Linguistics who was clapping for her and smiling with just enough pride to not raise any suspicions.

Their eyes met one more time, and her heart nearly burst with elation.

They had made it.

"Oh my God," Darcy exclaimed excitedly as she thrust out her red disposable cup, "fill this sucker up because I am getting drunk out of my mind tonight."

Summer laughed as she watched Darcy get her cup filled indeed to the brim with some kind of dubious but strong concoction, then take a big drink of it and nearly choke as she forced it down. They had headed straight from the commencement ceremony to a quick dinner out, and now they were at a graduation party being thrown at the considerably large home of Esteban's new and wealthy - and older - Italian boyfriend, Nicolo. One simply did not graduate without immediately celebrating with copious amounts of alcohol, after all. Those were the rules.

Summer, however, kept her consumption light and her head on straight, and she checked her phone often enough to get asked by Esteban as he pranced over to her and laid his head on her shoulder, "What are you doing? Why are you looking over and over at your phone instead of drinking and finding a drunk frat boy to hook up with?"

Darcy ended up on her other shoulder before Summer could answer, throwing her arm around her shoulders and replying, "She's waiting for her secret boyfriend to text her and she's freaking out because he hasn't yet."

Summer's eyes widened and she jerked her phone down from the prying eyes. "Darcy!"

Esteban's brows shot up. "Secret boyfriend? What secret boyfriend?"

"Can't we tell him now? You're graduated," Darcy pointed out, taking another swig of her drink.

"I... I mean, I guess, but not when there's all these people around..." Summer said, eyeing the other students hanging around the kitchen they were standing in the doorway of, then at the others who were dancing and mingling in the large living room and the deck outside.

"Seriously, what secret boyfriend?" Esteban pressed.

Summer lifted up her phone and checked her texts again, still finding nothing. She was starting to worry. Shouldn't he have texted her by now? Was he just busy? She'd texted him after the ceremony but he still hasn't answered, and that was odd for him. He usually replied within minutes at the latest.

Next to her head, Darcy choked again, only this time a lot more loudly. She then coughed and replied to Esteban, "That secret boyfriend."

Esteban and Summer's heads jerked up at the exact same moment. Esteban dropped the drink in his hand to the floor and let out a high pitched squeal of pure shock as his jaw dropped and his hand landed on his chest dramatically. Summer, however, felt her own instant shock fade in favor of deep warmth and pure, nearly overflowing happiness at the sight of her secret boyfriend standing there, just outside of the kitchen, his eyes instantly fixed wholly upon her and nothing else.

He looked so good it nearly hurt. He was dressed nice but not too nicely to stand out, in dark pants and a dark blue button down shirt that was undone at the top, his hands in his pockets and blue eyes somehow even bluer than she remembered. He stopped just short of the kitchen, obviously unsure of how to proceed and giving her the choice in how this was going to happen.

Summer shoved both her phone and her drink in Esteban's hands. Darcy smiled and patted her shoulder, then let her go. Summer then smiled, not taking her eyes off of Bucky once as she put one foot in front of the other, until she was almost running right to him.

His cautious expression gave way to an open, uncontrollably real smile as his arms opened and she launched herself into them, wrapping her own arms around his neck and hugging him like her very life depended on it. He held her tightly in turn, closing his eyes as his nose brushed against her hair, jaw clenching like he was trying to hold himself together and not let the whole house how very desperately in love he was with the woman.

"That's... the secret boyfriend?" Esteban said in disbelief, still nearly on the verge of cardiac arrest.

"Yup," Darcy smiled, looking on happily. "Aren't they adorable?"

"You knew about this?" he gasped, scandalized.

"Well, I walked in on them doing it like... forever ago. Like a year and eight months ago." Esteban turned and gaped at her, and she merely shrugged and said, "It's a long story. And let me tell you, his ass is A+."

As Esteban nearly had stroke, Summer soaked up the way that Bucky held her and the way that he felt, the way that he smelled, and she didn't want to let go. But, when she eventually had to, she pulled away with a huge smile on her face and her emotions laid out clear on her face for him to see. "Hi."

He grinned, his own feelings on display as much as hers were. "Hey."

"You came here," she said quietly, biting her lip. "I thought that with all the people and students here..."

He leaned in a little closer to her and said loud enough for only her to hear, "We don't have to hide like we did before."

At that blessed truth, Summer smiled so widely and genuinely that it brought out an identical one on Bucky's face. She would have grabbed his face and kissed him right there if doing such a thing wouldn't have been pushing her luck.

But Darcy, ever thoughtful even when she was halfway to shitfaced, sauntered up to them and tapped Summer's shoulder. "You know, there's a couple empty bedrooms back there." She gestured to a hallway to the right, and then she smiled up at Bucky. "Hey, Professor."

He smiled back and nodded. "Miss Lewis."

She looked at Summer and then said, "It's good to see you smile again. I'm like... super happy for you both. Seriously. But you might want to wait like... a month or two... before you break out the PDA."

"Thanks, Darcy," Summer chuckled, blushing a little. Darcy winked at her and then headed back to Esteban, who was still shellshocked and incapable of believing what he was seeing.

Summer then felt a larger, warm hand slip into hers, and she looked up as Bucky gestured with his head towards the hallway. She looked around, finding nobody paying them any mind aside from Darcy and Esteban, and then she turned back to Bucky and smiled again before following him to one of the guest bedrooms Darcy had mentioned.

He opened the door for her, and she walked inside and flipped on the light as he made his way in next. He closed the door behind him, and she turned and looked him right in the eye as her smile grew and her cheeks heated up with an instant blush.

The room was quiet, the boom of the music and voices on the other side of the door muffled and sounding a mile away. They were alone for the first time in almost eighteen months, and Summer was suddenly nervous and unsure of what to do.

He looked her up and down, taking in her short deep green dress and the way that it hugged her curves, her heels and the way that they elongated her legs, and finally her hair as it hung in lose waves down her back.

"You look..." he paused and shook his head, smiling crookedly and taking a step closer to her. "God, Summer..."

Those were the last words out of his slightly speechless lips before his hands were cradling her face and he was leaning down, covering her lips in a kiss that had been a long time coming. She lost her breath and could hardly believe that it was real, that their time apart had really come to an end and that he was standing in front of her now, no longer forbidden and completely and truly available to her.

He kissed her softly at first, slowly and carefully like she was precious and he wanted to savor every last second he spent touching her. Her hands went to his shoulders first, then his neck and finally his hair, pulling him closer as she kissed him back and opened her mouth to welcome the soft, sweet brush of his tongue against hers.

As the kiss went from slow at first to long, heated, and ever deeper, her fingers twisted tighter in his hair and one of his hands wandered to her waist. The other stayed buried in her hair, and when his fingers curled around her hip and tugged her closer, she let out a soft noise into his mouth and panted when he broke the kiss. He looked into her eyes, tracing his thumb just under her lips and along her cheek, and then he started leading them to the bed.

He sat down on the side of the bed, right on the edge of it, and his eyes never broke from hers as his hands pulled her closer. She lowered herself down on his lap, not caring how the skirt of her dress slid up her thighs, and then they were kissing again and the heat between them intensified. His hands were all over her, and hers were all over him from his hair to his chest to the buttons of his shirt. But it was when she managed to undo the first button that he put on the brakes, breaking the kiss and groaning with their lips barely an inch apart, "Not here, Summer. We can't do this here."

She felt an instant twinge of disappointment, but the breathy, lusty tone of his voice brought a shiver to her spine. It had been so long since she'd been this close to him and heard him speak to her like this.

He looked into her eyes, brushing her hair behind her ear. "I've waited for this for so long... I want to do it right. Take my time."

Another shiver rolled through her, and she nodded before smiling and kissing him again. Her forehead leaned against his, she half-whispered, "Okay. Sorry."

He smiled back and brushed his nose against hers. "Don't be. You're so beautiful."

Her smile grew so wide it nearly hurt her cheeks. "No, you are." When his eyes crinkled with his responding light chuckle, she put her hand to his cheek and said, "I mean it. I really do."

His expression sobering a little, he looked down at her lips and then back to her eyes as he asked, "Do you still love me?"

"I love you so much," she replied, fingers carding through his hair. "What about you? Still love me, too?"

He briefly closed his eyes, exhaling and laying a soft kiss on her lips before murmuring, "I never stopped, Summer. And I never will."

Her heart soaring on those words, she kissed him again and let herself get lost in him, savoring the way that his arms felt wrapped around her and how safe and right it felt to be there with him. It had always felt right, and now she could kiss him and be with him without having to worry about being his downfall or forever tarnishing his personal and professional reputation.

They were free. And all that time later, after all they had been through both together and apart, he still loved her. And oh how she loved him too.

"You should go back," he said as their kisses slowed and they took a break to catch their breath, still clutching one another as she straddled his lap. "Enjoy the party. You earned it."

"I don't care about the party," she replied with a little grin. "Take me home, Bucky."

"Home where?" he asked with that lopsided grin of his that made her want to scream.

"Your place," she clarified. "I wanna take my time too."

His eyes darkened a little, and she blushed just before he kissed her with all of the promise of what was to come later that night.

It took them a little while longer, but eventually they managed to untangle from one another and emerge from the bedroom. Summer bade her friends farewell with a huge smile and they couldn't have been happier for her, giving her back her phone and watching her leave the party discreetly with Bucky. Before she knew it, they were outside, moving through the small maze of cars parked everywhere until they reached the right one.

He opened her door for her and closed it after she slid inside. Then, after he got in on the driver's side, he looked at her and she flashed him a smile that he instantly mirrored.

At long last, after facing and overcoming enough obstacles and complications that would have driven many couples apart for good, their story finally got to truly begin.

On the way back to his apartment, Bucky and Summer simply talked. They talked about her graduation, her job at the library that she still toiled away at around four days a week, and what she planned on doing now that she finished her degree. They also talked about Bucky's job, the more advanced course that he'd been promoted to nearly two years prior, and how he loved it. The longer that he taught, the more respect that he was earning from his peers and the brighter his professional future became. He'd already accomplished a lot for a man of his still-young age, and considering all that he had overcome to get there, Summer was incredibly proud of him.

She was also completely convinced more than ever that her decision to break it off with him before someone inevitably pieced their relationship together was the right thing to do. And now all of those reasons that had kept them apart were no longer valid in the least.

He held her hand the whole way home, like he needed to be constantly touching her in one form or another now that he had her back. And when they arrived at his building, he kept holding her hand as they made their way up the stairs and into his front door.

His apartment was just like she remembered it. She had spent more than a few nights there at the height of their affair, and being back was as sweet as it was surreal.

After the door was closed and locked, Summer turned to look at Bucky and found him fidgeting a little on his feet, he himself now as suddenly anxious as she had been back at the party.

"Do you, um... do you want a drink or something?" he asked, scratching the back of his neck, and Summer found him absolutely maddening and adorable at the same time.

"No," she shook her head, sauntering up to him and placing her hands on his chest, slowly running them upwards. "Not really."

He grinned and brought his hands to her waist as she leaned up and kissed him, feeling somehow completely at ease now that they were here and truly alone. This, as it turned out, was her comfort zone, maybe even her territory, and she was so happy to be back that she would let nothing get in the way of their first night together in ages being everything they had both hoped it would be.

As it turned out, it was even better than they had imagined.

He took her to his bedroom, where he kissed her neck and slowly undressed her as she glanced at the framed photo of them on his dresser that she had sent him for his last birthday. She knew why it was his favorite one of them. They'd both been in the middle of laughing and were smiling so genuinely and happily in the photo that it made her heart ache even now to see it. They'd been so happy for such a short amount of time, but now they could start making up for it all and making new, better memories.

And as it turned out, he hadn't been kidding about wanting to take his time. He didn't rush a single thing, laying her down in the middle of his bed and gently pulling away the last of her clothes while she got the rest of his off as well. Then he was on top of her, kissing her with a slow but thorough and heated passion, languidly memorizing her body all over again with hands that had been waiting far too long to touch her again. All the while she touched him too, from the scars that ran up and down his left arm and part of his hand to his chest to the muscles on his back, every inch of him that she could reach. He was so sensitive to her every last touch that it made her brain nearly melt, hearing his little groans and soft sounds that would escape his lips at just the smallest brush of her fingers on his skin.

It was incredibly slow and even more sweet, but it stoked the fire between them until it was raging like never before. He kissed her as his fingers slipped down between her legs and touched her, breaking away only to watch her face as she closed her eyes and exhaled heavily against his lips. But he could only hold himself back for so long, his own desires reaching the breaking point as he slid down her body and put his mouth to her with a groan that sent her reeling and blindly reaching out to grab something to hold on to as as utterly blew her mind over and over again. And the whole time, she couldn't even tell which of them enjoyed it more.

It was perfect, all of it transcending their highest expectations of how their reunion would play out. He held her like he never wanted to let go, like he could lose himself in her, and she fell in love with him all over again, even more deeply than she had the first night she'd ever spent in his bed. It was like that first time all over again, only even better.

His voice in her ear, rough and shaky as he told her over and over that he loved her as he moved slowly but perfectly within her, sounded like utter heaven to her as she sunk her nails into his back and rocked her hips in sync with his own. His adoration for her was undeniable, his love as clear as the words coming out of his mouth, and she managed to tell him just how much she loved him back before her gasps became moans and she fell apart. But she wasn't so far gone that she couldn't keep her eyes open and watch greedily when his moment came, when his hand next to her head clenched into a tight fist in the sheets and he moaned so deeply and harshly into her neck that she could feel how very overwhelmed he was.

And then, after it was all over and there was nothing left to do but lie there together in the still, quiet silence that was broken only by the sounds of their breathing and occasional soft kisses to each other's lips, they held each other and reveled in the blissful feeling that came with knowing this was only the start. They didn't have to sneak around the next morning or go back to leading separate lives. This was their chance to start over, this time with a real shot at getting it right.

Summer smiled at him as she peeked up from where her head laid on his chest, her leg tangled between both of his and her hand laying over his heartbeat. He smiled down at her, brushing her hair back with his fingers and then softly touching her face, his eyes full of love and satisfaction.

"You look happy," she noted, unable to wipe the smile from her own face.

"I am happy," he replied softly.

"Me too," she grinned before lifting her head and gently kissing his lips. She then smiled at him again and said, "It seemed like this day would never come for so long. It was so far away. I can't believe it's here now. I can't believe I'm with you right now."

"I keep thinking I'm gonna wake up any minute," he admitted, still smiling.

"You dream about me a lot?" she asked cheekily.

"Maybe," he answered teasingly. "Just not always when I'm asleep."

"Oh," she chuckled, kissing him again. "So that little student chick never wormed her way into your head after all."

He rolled his eyes, scoffing lightly. "Not even for a second, Summer."

"Good," she said, looking down at her fingertips as they slid along his collarbone and just underneath it. "Because I'd hate to lose you to some other girl who walks into your class one day, who's prettier and younger than me."

"Never gonna happen," he assured her, meaning it with every fiber of his being. "I promise you that."

She believed him. She smiled and kissed him again, once or twice more before laying her head back down on his chest contentedly. "So... what now?"

"I don't know," he replied. "What do you think?"

"Well... we can go on dates whenever we want now. We can do anything we want, whenever we want."

"Yeah... weird, huh," he marveled.

She smiled. "I'm gonna have to tell my brother about you now."

Bucky was silent for one long moment before he muttered, "Well, fuck."

She giggled and looked up at him. "Maybe we can give him the... short version of the story first, so he doesn't kill you."

"Yeah, let's do that," Bucky chuckled. Then he paused and said, "Steve and Nat are dying to know you better. Especially now that you're graduated."

"Oh," Summer replied quietly.

"Darcy's the one who invited me to the party earlier," Bucky said, which Summer had not known prior to that moment. "I wasn't sure if I should go or not, but Steve and Nat, they told me to go."

"Well, I'm glad you came," she smiled at him. "I was worried when you didn't answer my texts."

"I was trying to be romantic and surprise you," he admitted, something adorable in the way that he almost sheepishly said this.

"It worked," she grinned before kissing him again. He smiled against her lips and groaned softly when the kiss lingered just long enough to stir his desire again. It had been a long time, after all, and he'd been waiting far too long for this night to come.

His hand tangling in her hair and tongue softly teasing her own, Summer gave into him and slowly shifted so that she was lying on top of him. One kiss became many, each more hungry and hot than the last, but there was one thing she had to say before they lost themselves one more time.

"I love you," she told him quietly, her eyes relaying to him the depths of her sincerity.

"Love you too, sweetheart," he said sweetly, smiling when she smiled and groaning softly when she bit her lip and then kissed him again, this time with a passion that would not be tempered or satisfied any time soon.

Somewhere in the back of Summer's mind, she wondered just where all of this would lead them. Would this last as she thought it would, standing the test of time and everything else that life would throw at them in the future? Would their love last, growing into a bond that would one day lead to a ring on both of their fingers? Maybe, someday, they'd find themselves in a house just outside of the city, tucked away and private and filled with photos of the life that they would share together. They wouldn't be there alone - laughter would fill the house, both theirs and that of a few kids, maybe a cute little girl with her eyes and his chin, and a handsome boy with her awkward charm and his nose, both of them brilliant and devastatingly loyal. Life wouldn't be perfect, but they'd be happy and content, and one day they'd tell their children the story of how they fell in love when they shouldn't have and yet beat the odds and made it to the other side.

She could see the whole story, from beginning to end, right there in his eyes every time he would look at her with that love and adoration in his eyes. The story hadn't been written yet, and the blank page of their future could hold anything, but she knew what she wanted. And while he hadn't said the words, she was pretty sure that he wanted it too.

And to think that it had all begun utterly and completely out of the blue that fateful day that she had unsuspectingly and innocently walked into his class.