𝑀𝑦 𝐷𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐷𝑜𝑙𝑙

Ch.1

"Okay." I start walking away. "I'm going home."

"Wait!" He starts catching up to me. "You can't go now, not alone."

"And why not?" I ask, not looking at him, keeping my eyes straight on.

"It's almost dark and the weirdoes come out. It's not safe."

I sigh and keep on walking. When I notice that he's not following beside me, I look back to find him standing still watching me. I tilt my head to the side and say "Are you coming?"

A wide smile grows on his face and he jogs towards me.

On the way home, for the most part, things were quiet. There was just an awkward tension between us. The only things said was small conversations like "how's your family," or "hope all is well at home." Who could blame us? This is our first time talking since a year ago.

Nights in Brooklyn were a bit chilly around this time of night. I was too dumb to remember to bring a sweater when I left the house. I let out a small shiver, quiet enough for anyone not to notice. But boy, was I wrong.

Bucky noticed my arms crossed and the goosebumps on them. He was quick when he said "here, lemme-" He started to take off his coat and wrapped it around me.

"No, no. You need this. Were almost home anyways," I protest.

"You need it more than I do. Plus, I have sweater on, see?" He points to the sweater he had underneath.

I shyly smile to myself. I always knew he was a gentleman when he was younger. But never this much.

"How's your mom," he asks after a few moments of silence.

"She's doing fine."

"That's good."

We both stay quiet again after that. I wrap myself more with his coat that was way to big for me while thinking 'god, this is so awkward.'

In the corner of my eye I could see him eyeing me closely. "What are you looking at," I say coming out a little more aggressive than intended to.

"Your curls."

"What?" Why would he bring up my curls?

He reached out his hand and slowly and gently caressed a strand by my shoulder. "What happened to your curls? They're gone."

"Oh. I- uh." I didn't think he would notice. "I wanted a change. And I don't really like how they look on me anymore." I start twisting a strand with my finger, playing with it carelessly.

"Oh, I see... Well, I thought it looked nice on you."

"That's hard to believe. You used to always make fun of them." It's true. He did used to make fun of them, every time he came to the house. He would gently pull on them and make fun of them. And this went on for years. I used to get so annoyed when he did that. But after a while, I just got used to it. Eventually, I would just laugh with him.

"True but- I don't know. You've just changed," he said as he stared at the ground as we continued to walk.

When we arrived home, I stepped onto the porch, just about to open the door when I turn around. "Bucky?"

He stops in his path and turns around to look at me. "Yes?"

"...Don't you miss us?" Oh god. That came out so randomly. Why did I say that? Making Bucky feel bad if the last thing I want.

"I do." He begins coming towards me, walking up the porch steps.

"So then why'd you stop coming around?"

He took a moment to look at his hands. I'm guessing he's just thinking of a valid response. "I uh- we all change sometimes and do different things. And sometimes without any reason." What? He didn't even answer the question. I felt like he was holding something back. Something he wants to say but feels like he shouldn't. "Goodnight Darlene."

I was left dumbfounded as he walked away. Then I realized that I still had his coat on. "Wait! Bucky!" He stops again and looks at me. "Your coat. You forgot your coat."

A little smirk grows onto his face and says "it's okay. Stay with it. You can return it me when I see you again." He wants to see me again?

"Okay," I say almost in a whisper. He tips his hat forward and continues walking his way back home.

As I walked into my room, all I could think about was him; no one else. Could it be a coincidence that after a year and a half of not seeing or talking to each other, he shows up to become my "knight in shining armor?" Well, I'm not that surprised. He saved my brother a lot when he was younger from bullies. I guess it was my turn now.

These things don't really happen to me a lot. It's just today I went kind of on a mean streak going. I mean, who wouldn't. I hate the idea of being bossed around and controlled by men. In this era, men feel entitled just by their gender, and it's infuriating. I shouldn't even call them "men," they're just big babies. Nothing more.

I tossed the coat that was around me onto my bed and changed into my nightgown and brushed my hair. After that, I snuggled myself into my blankets. I tried to close my eyes to sleep, but they stayed open. They just didn't want to stay shut. My eyes were drawn to the coat I had tossed at the end of my bed.

It was as if my hands had a mind of it's own. My hands reached out towards the coat. And when I had a hold of it, I held it close to my chest. But then came a familiar smell. I hesitantly brought it up to my nose and took a small whiff of it. It was the smell of his cologne. The same cologne he used as a child when he would "try" to impress the ladies. I guess now it worked. He's always with one.

And with that, I slowly closed my eyes, finally drifting into a sweet and deep sleep.