Spirit in the House

Chapter 3

"You're stubborn enough to make it move."

"You're right, I am stubborn." You leaned your elbows on the kitchen table.

"You remember who you are?"

"Um, so we're no longer talking about the box?"

You smirked and looked up at him as he took another beer from the fridge. He shot you an annoyed glance and you raised your hands in mock surrender.

"Fine, I'll stop prying. And the answer is yes, I remember who I am," you told him your full name and he repeated it slowly.

Bucky closed the fridge door with his foot and removed the bottle cap with a bottle opener. He gulped down a big swig, his eyes still focused on you. He took a deep breath before he spoke.

"If I help you find out what happened to you, will you leave me alone?"

You took a moment to consider the offer. "If you do that and clean the apartment, then yes, I'll leave you alone."

Bucky grabbed his laptop from the kitchen counter and walked into the living room. You watched, incredulous, as he set everything down on the table. Bucky waved a coaster in your face and placed it on the table before he set his drink down.

He took an old Chinese takeout box, looked at it with a cocked eyebrow and shrugged as he took a mouthful of sesame chicken. You made a nasty noise in your throat and Bucky rolled his eyes.

"Alright!" He took a seat and gathered his longish hair, twisting it into a bun. "Let's get started."

You hoped he didn't hear you gasp at the sight of him with a man bun. No matter how much he annoyed you, you couldn't deny that he was really hot.

"Now? It's almost nine p.m." You shook yourself out of your trance.

"I have food, drink and I'm in a good mood." Bucky shrugged and opened his laptop. "The sooner we're done, the sooner you're gone."

The rhyme made you scoff. You tried to pull out a chair, but your hand kept going through it. Clearing your throat noisily, you jutted your chin towards the chair.

He pushed the chair back with his foot and grinned to himself as you took a seat. He entered your name in the search box and hit 'enter'.

"Ah! Found ya'," he said when he found a picture of you at a work event. "It's weird." He frowned, moving closer to the screen.

"What?"

"That thing on your face."

"What thing?" You leaned too and squinted your eyes to get a better look at the picture.

"I think it's... yeah, it's a smile." He pulled back and smirked when you rolled your eyes. Instinctively, you tried to slap his bicep with the back of your hand, but it obviously did nothing to him. He laughed buoyantly. "Oh, come on, you have to admit it was funny."

"You're a jerk," you mumbled, propping your elbow on the table and resting your cheek on your fist.

"So I've been told."

An hour later, Bucky was still trying to find out what happened to you. He sighed out his frustration, curling a strand of hair behind his ear.

"Still nothing on what made you so... light." Bucky turned in his chair to face you. "What's the last thing you remember?"

You took a minute to ponder his question and closed your eyes to focus.

"I was late and my friends were waiting for me. It was dark and cold, I was on the phone with Peggy and then nothing... everything turned black."

"You got mugged?"

"I don't know."

He nodded slowly and turned his attention back to the screen.

"You know, a good-looking girl goes missing or killed or whatever, someone must have written an article about it."

You felt heat rise up your neck and into your cheeks. "Good-looking?"

"Yeah," Bucky shrugged casually. "Don't get me wrong you're also a huge pain in the ass."

"Annnd I thought we were making progress." You shook your head.

Bucky cringed slightly, "Sorry... that was mean."

"It's okay. I remember calling you a dumbass so we're even."

A slow smile spread across his lips as he looked at you. There was a moment of silence before he spoke again. "I found something."

Bucky had a look of concentration on his face while he read the article. You couldn't see the screen and started tapping your foot on the floor, impatient.

"So?"

"I'm so sorry." He blinked slowly, his eyes still focused on the screen. "You've been hit by a car... almost three months ago. They took you to St Andrew's Hospital. You're in a coma."

"Okay," you drew out the word, processing the news. "Three months, uh? That doesn't sound good."

"People have woken up from these kind of things," he replied, already Googling the words 'Coma + 3 months.'

"And others didn't," you replied grimly.

Another moment of silence passed. You kept your eyes downcast while Bucky was reading something on his computer screen.

He glanced at you from the corner of his eye and put his hand on top of yours, trying to be nice. When his hand went through yours and slammed on the mahogany table, you both laughed quietly.

"It's gonna be alright," he said and you nodded pensively. "You'll wake up and kick me out of your apartment, okay?"

You chuckled, not daring to meet his eyes. You didn't know if you would wake up one day and no matter how real you looked, you were not really in your apartment.

"I feel stupid for asking, but... what's your name?" You looked up at Bucky and saw him smirk.

"You'd think after messing with me for two weeks we'd be on a first-name basis." He smiled when it made you laugh. "James. My name is James Barnes."

"It suits you." You replied with a small smile. "Well, James, I guess this is goodbye. Thank you for your help and, please, don't forget to clean the apartment."

Bucky hung his head, hiding the smile that spread across his face. He raised his head, ready to retort, but his smile gradually disappeared when he saw that your chair was empty. You were gone.