Ice Queen and Winter Soldier

11- The Aftermath

I didn't know how much time had passed, but the crash of thunder pulled us apart. Bucky quickly looked down, scratching his head.

"We should get back" he mumbled, clearly flustered. I quickly began to feel embarrassed. What the hell am I doing? It wasn't the fact that Bucky easily should be on some type of stay away from list of mine, strangely enough. It was the way that I had made a fool of myself. Was the reason he was so flustered because he was embarrassed to tell me to leave him alone; that I had just ruined whatever was happening between us, and lost him for good. Right then and there, I wasn't Y/n, the goddess of intimidation; the ice queen. I was just a stupid, insignificant girl. I didn't belong here, just like I never belonged anywhere in my thousands of years of life. Before I could do anything else, I nodded and muttered an agreement.

The walk back to the hideout wasn't long, but it felt like it. The rain was coming down harder than ever, so much that I couldn't hear a thing besides it smashing against the ground. Lost in thought, I must not have realized how fast I was walking, because Bucky was far behind me once I got to the hideout. So far that I managed to change before he got back. I was brushing out my hair when I heard the door open and shut quickly. 

"Y/n!" Bucky shouted. I pretended not to hear, far too tired to feel like dealing with this. Thor will come back for me soon and I'll never see this planet again, I told myself.

"Please, stop ignoring me! God, do you have to make everything so much more difficult?" he followed up. Was he trying to aggravate me?

"I am not ignoring you!" I yelled back, walking over to face him.

"Yes, you are!"

"Am not!"

"Are too- you know what, I'm not doing this! You can't run away from anything you don't feel like facing, y/n, not with me."

"I wasn't- ugh, fine! Go ahead, say whatever you so desperately need to say to me."

"Don't play dumb, because we both know that you're not" Bucky said, lowering his voice.

"How would you know that?" I sighed, rolling my eyes.

"Because, I told you! We understand each other, whether you admit it out loud or not."

"And what is it that you understand so clearly about me?"

"I can see how you use you close yourself off so nobody gets too close. You push people away so that they can't hurt you, and vice versa. You clearly have a more detailed past than you let on, something more traumatic than you let anyone see. And it's very likely that none of us will ever know what exactly happened to you. But that's okay, because you probably didn't have a choice, and the guilt of it eats away at you, but it's only made you into how strong you are now. You know why? Because I understand."

I stayed silent for a moment, at a loss of words. Well, I wasn't expecting that.

"I... I don't know what I'm supposed to say to that" I mumbled.

"That's because you know I would never have said anything like that, because you would never have said anything like that."

"Well then, why did you?"

"Because... because ever since the first time we spoke and you saw right through me, I knew I needed you. Maybe even since the first time I saw your face in real life," he said, reaching out to touch my cheek.

"I can't afford to lose anyone else..." I said, not moving. It looked as if he were considering what I was saying.

"I know, neither can I. But if you won't be going anywhere, then I won't either."

We stared at each other for a moment again, both unsure of what else to say. He began to lean in slowly, and when I didn't resist, our lips touched for the second time that night.

---------

The faint sound of a plane flying overhead woke me up. The rain had stopped, and it was bright and sunny out. Bucky lied next to me on the old couch. We must've both accidentally fallen asleep here last night. I had to get back; I didn't need the Avengers contacting my brother. I slipped out from under Bucky and found a pen and piece of paper. I scribbled down the number from the phone that Tony gave me, and left the hideout. 

I wasn't sure exactly where I was going, but I figured the woods had to end at some point. I walked in silent bliss for what felt like at least an hour, not regretting anything I'd done yesterday. Suddenly, I heard the sound of a plane again. I looked up, realizing that it wasn't a plane at all. It was a person; and it was a person that I knew.