The Black Dahlia (Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier)

Chapter III - Reminiscence

A/N: VERY important author's note, please read!

First of all I would like to clear some stuff up about the layout of the house using the picture as reference: Lydia's room is Piper and Leo's room except that the nursery is the closet and the supposed wardrobe they marked is her bathroom (like it was in seasons 1-4 of Charmed, if I'm not mistaken) and James' room is the one that says Prue's/Paige's room.

I would also like to warn you that this chapter may or may not be a little shitty because after rereading chapters 1 and 2 it occurred to me that not only was Bucky out of character but Lydia as well, so I tried to somewhat remedy the Bucky situation and since I'm absolute crap at writing tense relations (at the moment) it didn't turn out as I'd hoped, but on the plus side I included another conversation with Alex aka. The Comic Relief. I honestly don't know how they turned out to be so...y'know happy and smiley all the time, Lydia was supposed to be a lot like Stefan, in the brooding sense of things and Bucky, well, Bucky's the Winter Soldier and I think that's pretty self-explanatory. But on the bright side, remember how I said that last chapter was the longest I've ever written? Well, not anymore. This one is 8,000 words and 12 pages (not including the author's notes), so despite some stuff, I'm still proud.

And before I quit wasting your time I would like to thank you all for believing in me and this crappy story which I will try to make better as of the next chapter where I will try to throw all mistrust and angst out the window so it can get interesting at some point.

Third Person's POV

Lydia woke up the next morning to the brightness of the sun shining through her windows and down on her face, thanks to her parted curtains. Scrunching up her nose at the intense light so early in the morning – though it was already 10 am – she turned on her other side and snuggled her face into her pillow slightly. Memories of the previous day began to flood her mind at that precise moment and she remembered that she had a house guest. A very unique one that, judging by the sound of his lively heartbeat somewhere in the first floor of the house (meaning: not in his room) was already awake.

Deciding it was time to finally start the day; she peeled herself from her extremely comfortable bed and planted her bare feet on the ground while stretching. The sudden movement caught Meredith's attention and had her getting up from the dog bed next to the door of her owner's small en suite bathroom and padding her way over to the vampire. Lydia smiled sleepily when she saw Meredith round her bed and sit down in front of her, the canine's tiny head angled upward and tilted sideways giving her a cliché puppy face that had Lydia chuckling and sitting down on the edge of her bed so it would be easier to bend forward and pet her.

"How long have you been awake?" She asked, even though it was ridiculously obvious that she wouldn't be getting an answer. Not that that ever stopped her from talking to her dog. There seemed to be a certain pleasantness in having someone to talk to who would always listen to what you have to say and never say anything in return; though some people would see it as lonely – because in all honesty it was – Lydia found comfort in talking to, or rather at, the small dog that had been her loyal companion for seven years now.

After running her hand along her dog's soft brown fur for a few more minutes she decided that she should probably go downstairs and check on James before making breakfast for the two of them. She couldn't speak for the super soldier but she was starving, and craving something very particular that she hadn't had in at least twenty-four hours, which, regrettably, was a record for her. It was every vampire's main sustenance, their life force - if one is feeling dramatic.

Blood.

Having made her decision, she retracted her hand – much to Meredith's dismay – and stood up from her bed. She took the black hair tie sitting atop her nightstand and used it to gather her hair into a messy ponytail. She then made her way into her bathroom and washed her hands before washing her face and brushing her teeth. Once she was done she dried off her face and hands in a small hand towel hanging by her sink and put it back in its holder before walking out of her bathroom and later her room, followed by a hungry Meredith. The blonde vampire made her way down the hall while adjusting her pajamas before descending the wooden staircase and walking past the foyer and into the dining room which held a large wooden table with matching chairs.