A Place for You & Me ・Bucky Barnes

danger

As James enters his apartment, he almost doesn't recognize it. The new abstract paintings with reds, blues, and black. A large fuzzy blanket covers the arm of his couch. It no longer feels... empty. He enters his bedroom for the first time, with the new mattress and sheets to cover. He vowed to Sam that he would try sleeping in the bedroom rather than on the floor in the living room. James hated the idea of sleeping in such a small room. Too small for his nightmares. 

Before heading to bed, he notices the brown paper bag still crumpled on the table. By now, the cookie is stale, but he at least enjoyed the thought of it.. and of Zoe. Sitting down at the table, he takes out his journal and starts a new page. Instead of writing down a list of names to make amends, he starts a list of names of those who made him feel mended together. The first name: Sam Wilson. The second name: Dr. Raynor. The third name: Zoe ?. He realizes he doesn't know her last name. Smiling to himself, he closes the journal, turns out the lights, and attempts to sleep on his new mattress for the first time. 

~

Zoe is left feeling special after her walk with James. No one has ever noticed her before. She found herself smiling even with no one around. Atlas greets her with his usual meows and head-butts against her legs. Instead of eating her regular boxed dinner, she decides to use whatever she has in the pantry and fridge to make something new. Week old broccoli, spaghetti noodles, cans of tomatoes and beans. What on earth can I do with this?  She decides to head to the nearest store open late at night. She grabs her umbrella just in case it decided to rain. On her way there, she notices how still the street is. It seemed like not a soul was out even though it was busy 15 minutes ago. Entering the store, she finds some people standing around. Since she tries to avoid contact as much as possible, and heads straight for the meats. She picks up some chicken, frozen vegetables, and proceeds to check out. After the cashier rings her up, she pays, and exits. A man standing outside sees her leaving and approaches her quickly and proceeds to grab her purse. She sees his hand coming, and knocks it away with her umbrella. Quickly, she hits him in the face with the umbrella and runs out of his sight. Racing home, one of her bags starts to rip and she loses her frozen vegetables. Too scared to care, she continues to run home. When she enters, she locks her door, leaves the lights off, looking through the blinds to see if anyone was following her. After a few moments, she tries to calm her breathing. With her shaky hands, she grabs Atlas and holds him close. As soon as she was calm, she puts the chicken away and locks herself in her room. She had lost her appetite.