A Feeling Of Normality [Bucky Barnes x Reader]

Part 19. Memories.

"In [Y/N]? Never!"

Steve can be lucky that Bucky knows what his best friend meant, otherwise he would be really offended. She is a great woman and deserves full respect. Nevertheless, he is curious now because he has of course noticed how close the two are. "Why not? Have you never made a move?"

Steve looks at Bucky with a puzzled look, his left eyebrow raised. "Are you serious?" he asks and throws the bottle of water back to Bucky. "You want me to start with the fact that I'm in love with someone else or the fact that I'm your best friend?"

"What woman are we talking about now? Peggy or Sharon?" Bucky smirks. "You never kissed any of them more than once!" Steve just rolls his eyes in response and Bucky raises his eyebrow at him as he gets back into the ring. "That's not answering my question" he continues and gets a laugh from Steve, who's already waiting to fight again.

"You may have always been the smarter and more popular of the two of us, but man, you've lost track! I would never steal your girl. Even a year ago, you barely let [Y/N] out of your sight."

"Because I was trying to protect her!" Bucky defends himself. Had Steve just called [Y/N] his girl?

"Keep telling yourself that" says Steve and starts attacking Bucky again. "But you can't lie to me. I can see the way you look at her."

Bucky sighs as he looks at Steve before blocking off his attack. "You know what? I don't care what you interpret into our friendship. She makes me forget that I was the Winter Soldier. That's why I like her. She gives me a feeling of normality."

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She hears the laughter of a voice that seems so familiar to her and yet she cannot make out a face. There is nothing around her but darkness. Darkness and laughter. A laugh that is so lovely that it infects [Y/N] to laugh along. But the fact that she sees nothing but darkness makes her nervous. Her gaze moves in all directions to find the person until finally, a face appears. It laughs. It's the same laugh she could hear all along. Wonderful blonde curls surround the face before the rest of the body emerges from the darkness. A slim figure, a wonderful dress with a floral pattern. And then that laugh again. "[Y/N]!" says the laughing girl. "Did you hear what I said?"

Confused, [Y/N] blinks at the girl. "What? No..." she mumbles, trying to put the pieces together. Has she been in a conversation with the girl? "Who are you?"

Suddenly the laughter stops, the eyes of the unknown woman look at [Y/N] angry and surprised, as if she can't believe that [Y/N] has asked that, but then it changes to worry. "You should know that."

"I know" [Y/N] replies worried because she can feel that she knows this young woman. But she can't even remember her name. "I'm sorry" [Y/N] whispers in a broken voice. "Please tell me who you are."

"You have to know that, [Y/N]!" says the woman again, before she disappears into the darkness. Again and again [Y/N] hears these final words before she wakes up in her bed, eyes wide open. Her face is covered in beads of sweat.

Loud banging on his door wakes Steve up in the middle of the night and when he opens the door, [Y/N] drops into him, tears running down her face. Steve immediately wraps her in his arms and closes his door with his foot. He just holds her in his arms while her tears slowly soak his shirt. He strokes her back lovingly to calm her down. He knows she had another nightmare. It's not the first night that she shows up like this. Nights where she stands in front of his door with tears, weeps herself and then disappears again. She never stays but Steve knows he can't force her to either. He is the only one who knows about her gaps in memory. Frequently she dreams of people whom she cannot remember, but whom she says she should remember because she knew them. "Why can't I remember her?" [Y/N] sobs into his chest a few minutes later.