"I took this appointment to be around you," Bucky clarifies, "because I care about you and I'm told I've fallen in love with the impossible." He lets that sit for a moment before he continues, "I realize that was not part of the agreement we came to, and I did not develop these feelings as a way of ensnaring you in one more plot. They just... are.

This can be whatever you need it to be. I can be merely your bodyguard, or I can be more than that. But the choice will remain yours. I will protect you, either way."