Betrayal - A Bucky Barnes Fanfic

Chapter 20

Ava climbed into the small lift, exhausted, and absent-mindedly pressed five. The last few days had been so busy at work that she longed for her bed and wanted to do absolutely nothing. She had just had the energy to walk the short distance from her subway station to her flat. Even thinking seemed too demanding right now, she stared at the lift door and waited for the ping that signalled her floor had been reached.

She got out and walked to her flat door. Exhausted, she lowered her heavy bag to the floor; she could put it away tomorrow. She stripped off her vans, dug her phone out of her bag and ordered a pizza. Cooking was out of the question for her today.

She flopped down on her bed, not bothering to put on more comfortable clothes. For a few minutes she just lay there, stretching out her arms and legs, without thinking about anything. After what felt like an eternity, she decided to change into a shirt and some shorts. Shortly afterwards, her doorbell rang and a young woman handed her her pizza.

Ava made herself comfortable on her bed, turned on Law & Order and enjoyed her pizza. Only after she had finished eating did she seem to be able to think clearly again, her energy was noticeably increasing.

She snuggled into her blanket to be a little more comfortable. The thought that she had the day off tomorrow seemed like a godsend gift to her. After the exhausting week, she was tired. Lost in thought, she played with the necklace around her neck that Natasha had given her. Nat! Ava's heart skipped a beat. She hadn't heard from her at all for the last few days, which was very unlike her. She was in desperate need of conversation and made up her mind to pay Natasha a visit tomorrow. The long radio silence made her nervous. Had something happened with Steve? Had they had a fight? Or maybe even broken up? No, she tried to reassure herself, then Nat would definitely have contacted me. Someone else seemed to have made themselves scarce the last few days as well – Ava hadn't heard from James since their night together.

Her peace of mind was now well and truly gone. Why hadn't she heard from James? Did he regret their night together? Or worse ... had he found the sex bad? And what had he been doing at Natasha's apartment complex? Ava closed her eyes in frustration and tried to lock the unwanted thoughts away. Unsuccessfully, that night she dreamt of James dumping her stone cold.

The next morning, Ava woke up early, even though she had the day off. Glad to have been startled out of an unpleasant dream about James, she got up and got ready. When she returned to her bedroom, showered and made up, it was nine o'clock. Would Natasha be up yet? Ava decided to let fate decide and made her way to Natasha's flat without warning her. She just hoped she wasn't interrupting a morning with Steve.

Ava stood at the traffic lights outside Natasha's building. This was where she had seen James a few days ago and already her thoughts were circling back to his silence of the last few days. Maybe she should just text him. The light turned green and Ava pushed the thought away.

Ava rang the doorbell and was lucky – Natasha seemed to be home. Ava hurried up to the third floor, excited to see her best friend again.

"Oh, Ava, hi!", Natasha greeted her with surprise in her voice. Ava got the feeling that she had been expecting someone else. Maybe Steve was on his way to see her?

"Long time no see," Ava said theatrically as she made herself comfortable on Natasha's sofa. Natasha's flat was considerably larger than Ava's – she had a beautiful kitchen with a balcony, a separate room for her living room and a spacious bedroom.

"Yeah, I'm sorry, I just have so much to do at work at the moment and then I have to schedule time for Steve as well. I've really let our friendship slide," Natasha sounded really guilty and Ava felt bad. She didn't want to guilt-trip Natasha, she was happy that everything was going so well for her at the moment.