Cruel Summer

Chapter 9

A/N: Next chapter? We get PROGRESS....kinda haha! Anyways, as always, let me know what you think! I love hearing from you guys :)

Finding Bucky Egan nursing a sore jaw—and sitting on the curb of the street—it felt like deja-vu. She remembered a fair amount of times that he had gotten in fights back when they were in high school—or rather, she had been in high school and he didn't like the fact that other guys felt the need to hit on his girlfriend.

For a moment, she just stared at him, a frown tugging on her lips. Once again, Meg found that everything she wanted to say just seemed to live, breathe, and die on those lips of hers. She let out a deep sigh and took a seat on the curb next to him—and he looked at her in that moonlight and she swore that she was seeing a god himself.

Bucky Egan was tipsy, blinking drearily as if he wasn't sure Meg was actually sitting in front of them. And when Meg finally spoke, he started processing things. "Thank you," came the small reply and voice from Meg.

He rubbed at his eyes for a second, disbelief shooting through him. He hadn't punched Alex because he wanted her to feel like she owed him something. He punched Alex because Alex was being a dick and he deserved it.

"You don't have to thank me."

"You didn't have to punch my brother."

"Someone needed to."

Meg let out a huff of air. "You beat me to it."

"Well he shouldn't treat you like shit when he's the whole reason you did it." Bucky's eyes watched her intently—the way that her head fell and she stared at the ground like she wanted nothing more than to sink into it. "That is why you went, isn't it?"

See, he had done some thinking of his own. Some wondering, some talking with Buck, of course—and he had come to the conclusion that she hadn't wanted to go in the first place. He hadn't even figured it out until Buck mentioned Meg's mother—and since she had told Bucky that it was all manipulation to get information, it wouldn't have been that far of a stretch to assume that her mother gave her an ultimatum in all of this.

"So you figured that out, huh?" Meg finally exhaled, hands resting on the sidewalk and staring up at the sky.

"Not that much of a stretch after what you told me."

"Hm," Meg gave a nod. "And you felt the need to punch him over it?"

"You're damn right I did," Bucky's voice was suddenly carrying with sound and when Meg's gaze fell on him, he was on his feet and standing in the street, breathless and frustrated in front of her. "You didn't want to go—and you didn't deserve what happened to you."

She wasn't sure if this was the alcohol talking or just her Bucky, but it stung all the same. "You're drunk—"

"Yeah, yeah I am. It's all I ever am now." Bucky ran a hand through his hair and he stared at her as if she were Aphrodite herself. But the anger was still there, bubbling under the surface. That she had gone for her brother and that she didn't love him enough to stay. To just let it happen—it was selfish, but it was what he wanted. "Did you think about me?"

"Every damn day," Meg murmured, getting to her feet and taking a step towards him. And what happened next, she couldn't help—couldn't help that her innermost thoughts were spilling out when she was with him. "Every day—you were all I thought about, all I dreamed about— God, I still love you —"

"It'll pass."

The silence that fell was deafening. "What?" Meg whispered, lip beginning to quiver as she stood in front of him—feeling as though her heart were shattering. "Why would you say that—why—"