June 24th

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It was the hottest day of the year so far and the last day of school, it was humid and uncomfortable. Ella took an ice-cold shower, but even at 7 am she still felt herself getting sweaty within minutes. She let her hair dry naturally as she got ready, it was lighter than usual with the amount of sun they'd had over the last month, especially when contrasted against the tan she'd caught. She pulled her hair up into a bun before she got dressed. There was nothing worse than hair sticking to the nape of your neck on a hot day in Ella's opinion. She dug around in her closet, her summer clothes were mostly still buried deep behind her mountains of sweaters and jackets, but Steve's voice beckoned her from the hall and she knew she didn't have time to be fussy.

The first thing she grabbed was a blue floral sundress she didn't recognize, she scrunched her nose up at it, unsure why she'd bought it in the first place, it occurred to her it had probably been her mom's or Laura's influence. When Ella pulled it on she saw how short it was, despite the fact it had definitely fit when she'd bought it. She didn't have time to change so she knew she was going to have to be very careful around school.

When Steve and Ella got in the car they put the AC on full blast and complained to each other the whole way there about the heat.

"I feel like I'm sticking to my seat," Ella whined.

"Gross," Steve replied, grimacing as he said it.

When they pulled up in the parking lot they both stayed in the car as long as possible. They assumed if outside was bad, inside school was going to be even worse, the building was stuffy even in the depths of winter.

Finally, they braved the heat and proved their suspicions correct. Walking into school was like walking into a sauna. The wall of heat hit them as soon as they stepped through the door. Ella was lazily fanning herself with a book when Bucky joined them in the corridor.

Instead of their usual hug and kiss, they settled for just a quick peck on the lips before Bucky leaned over and whispered in Ella's ear.

"What are you doing to me in that dress?" He growled, his hand grazing the back of her thigh.

"Jesus, Buck. Not in the corridor," she laughed under her breath, swatting him away.

"Fine, later then," he said under his breath, smirking as they headed in their separate directions.

The rest of the day passed quickly, everyone was counting down until the end of Junior year. When the final bell of the day rang everyone all but ran out into the parking lot and piled into their cars. The six of them were making their way over to the Rogers to celebrate the start of summer with one of Joe's barbecues.

Once they were back Ella pulled ice pops out of the freezer as Steve got everyone drinks. Joe and Sarah hadn't come home yet so they made the most of the weather. It was still hot, too hot, and Ella could feel the sun burning her shoulders as they all laid out on the grass, cool beers in hand.

Bucky was sitting next to Ella, sneaking glances at her. Her skin was flushed pink from the heat. He leaned over and pressed his cold bottle against the back of Ella's neck. The shock of it made her squeal, but once that subsided she leaned back against it.

"God that's good," she mumbled.

When he pulled it away to take a sip she was left with goosebumps across her neck and shoulders but the relief disappeared as quickly as it came.

"I can't wait to get to the beach tomorrow," Steve said to no one in particular. Sam, Ella, and Bucky nodded in agreement. At least there they'd have the sea to cool off.

Wanda groaned, "I don't even want to think about how hot it's going to be in Arizona."

"Oh yeah, you're going to burn," Ella joked.

Wanda flicked her bottle cap over at Ella in response, too hot and tired to come up with a witty reply. The cap hit Ella on the shoulder and rolled out of her reach. Ella considered leaning over to pick it from the grass to retaliate but she was feeling too lazy to move.

Their conversation was interrupted by Joe and Sarah getting home from work. Sarah made herself a wine spritzer before joining the kids in the garden. Joe got to work prepping the barbecue. It wasn't long before the smell of it filled the air, making everyone's stomachs rumble.

Sarah had hung strings of fairy lights around the garden in anticipation of summer, and as the sun started to go down they came on, twinkling in the tree above the dining table where everyone had gathered to eat. They were all quiet as they tucked into their food, save for Sarah and Joe asking about Nat and Wanda's summer plans. When Nat started filling them in on her holiday, scouting out potential college choices in England, Ella's face dropped.

"I'm going to miss you," Ella said, pouting at Nat across the table, "I kind of hope you hate London."

Nat shook her head, "I'll miss you too, but I have a feeling I'm going to love it."

Ella knew Nat was right. "Me too," she replied.

"What about me?" Wanda joked.

"We'll miss you too," Nat and Ella chorused.

"But there's no college in the Grand Canyon so I don't need to worry about losing you to Arizona," Ella smirked.

"Hey, we're stopping over in California, maybe I'll love it there," Wanda protested, trying to get a rise out of her friend.

"Yeah right," everyone said in unison. Wanda did not do well in the sun, and they all knew it.

Everyone laughed, and the conversation moved on to the Rogers family holiday. Ella's parents had made some plans for the group and Sarah filled them all in. However, what the kids were most excited about was the one night the parents were planning on spending at a family friends' in Nantucket, so they'd have the house to themselves.

When the sun finally set, they said goodbye to Nat and Wanda and all disappeared up to bed, feeling slightly worse for wear. The kids had all been warned that they needed to be up bright and early to make the drive out to the Cape, but despite that they'd all had a few too many beers over the course of the evening. Steve was regretting his offer to drive and spent a good portion of the night pestering Ella to take his place.

As Ella climbed into bed she waited for Bucky to finish up in the bathroom and join her. He'd been allowed to stay in her bed for a few months as once he'd asked her to be his girlfriend it didn't take too long for her parents to warm to the idea.

When he came into the room, he closed the door and flicked off the light, making his way over to Ella's bed in the darkness. He dropped down beside her and his hand traced up the back of her thigh as it had earlier in the day. Ella inadvertently let out a moan as he did, causing Bucky to smirk. He knew exactly how to get her in the mood. Ella reached over and cupped Bucky's cheek as she pressed a deep kiss to his lips. However, before anything could go any further Ella pulled away, too hot and sweaty to even consider doing something more.

Bucky pushed the quilt to the foot of the bed, neither of them needing it before he gave her a kiss goodnight. Ella rolled over and as was now a habit, Bucky wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her against his chest. He rested his chin on the top of her head and they both drifted off to sleep.


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