𝐑𝐎𝐒𝐄 | 𝟏𝟖+

35 || passion and pain

        "Amelia," he bleated, shaking her once more. 

        Her confused, chestnut eyes opened slowly, her eyebrows knitting together as she studied his distressed face in her fatigued stupor, as her hands found their way to his arms that were still holding onto her shoulders. Blinking tiredly, she croaked, "James?"       

        "I had a nightmare," James mumbled in a hushed voice, his bottom lip trembling as the sob formed inside his chest. 

        All it took was to register that James was crying for Amelia to wake up rather quickly, pulling him down into bed with her, wrapping her arm around his head as she cradled him to her chest. "It's okay," she whispered, her voice cracking from her sleep. "It's okay." 

        Once he was in the comfort of Amelia's arms, James couldn't hold back the tears as he buried his face against her chest, enveloping his arms around her waist. His entire body shook with sobs, holding onto her as tightly as he could, afraid she would slip away if he were to let go. 

        Amelia was rendered utterly speechless seeing James in hysterics like this. None of his nightmares before had ever made him this devastated, at least not while she had been staying here with him. This one had shook him to his core, destroyed him in ways she couldn't begin to understand. 

        "What was your nightmare about, James?" Amelia asked gently, resting her cheek on top of his head as she continued to hold him. "What happened?" 

        He mumbled incoherent words, muffled by his cries and the fabric of her t-shirt, as he clung onto her waist. 

        "James, talk to me," she pleaded, equally as distraught as him now, heartbroken at the sight of him sobbing in her arms. "What happened? You've never been this upset over a nightmare before." 

        "Y-you," James mumbled. 

        "Me?" Amelia was dumbfounded, her face scrunched together in bewilderment at his words. "You've never had a dream that wasn't about your past before, this is new. What about me?" 

        James lifted his head feebly to look up at her, his blue eyes were red and irritated, his eyelashes stuck together from the tears. "You died." 

        Her heart ached for him as she blinked a few times, placing her hands on both sides of his face, cupping his warm cheeks. James practically melted against her touch as she rubbed her thumbs across his skin, leaning into her grasp, making her heart ache even more. 

        "It wasn't real, Bucky. I'm right here." 

        "In my dream, I-I killed you." 

        Chills traveled down Amelia's spine, forming goosebumps along every inch of her exposed skin, as her trembling lips parted in disbelief. "You would never do that, I know you wouldn't. It wasn't real, it was just a dream." 

        It made complete sense now why James was in despair - he had a nightmare about something that hadn't even actually happened, a murder he hadn't even actually committed. This was beyond unusual for him, and probably just as equally confusing - no doubt deepening the fears he already had about being The Winter Soldier again.