Betrayal - A Bucky Barnes Fanfic

Chapter 27

Ava let Steve go first and followed him into the dining room. Four people seemed too many for this small room, especially with Steve's and James' heights. The awkward silence only made the room seem smaller and more confining.

"Who wants a glass?" Ava raised the bottle of champagne, hoping to lighten the mood a little with alcohol.

"Yes, please!" said Natasha and James almost simultaneously. Ava suppressed a laugh while James and Natasha exchanged death stares. The situation was grotesque and Ava was no longer so sure that dinner together had been such a good idea.

"Alright, and do sit down please." Ava turned to her cupboard and took out four champagne glasses. Immediately James was standing next to her.

"Can I help you?" he asked in a soft voice.

When everyone had been supplied with alcohol, Ava sat down at the table as well. She sat opposite Steve and Natasha and as soon as she sat down, James placed his large hand on her thigh. Immediately her heart began to race, her entire body electrified. She reached for her glass and took a big gulp.

"Nat told me this is a little tradition of yours," Steve broke the silence and Ava was glad he opened the conversation.

"Nat used to come over to our house to celebrate holidays together. Just my mum, Nat and I, they were proper girls' nights," Ava laughed and James pinched her thigh encouragingly, "Then when we both moved to New York, of course the tradition had to continue."

"The Summers house always made me feel at home after my mum died," Natasha stared at the table lost in thought before regaining her composure, "Ava, we really need to visit your mum again, it's been so long!" Ava could only agree, she missed her mother and she hadn't seen her since Christmas. Regular texting could not replace her heartfelt hugs and soothing voice.

Then Ava served her famous spaghetti and everyone grabbed greedily. James remained silent for most of the time, which didn't surprise Ava much. He didn't seem to be the biggest talker. Instead, Steve often took over and talked about his and James' childhood together, which included a lot of pranks. Suddenly Natasha's phone rang and Ava noticed how, for the first time since they sat together at the table, James' gaze went in Natasha's direction.

"Excuse me, I have to take this." Natasha had disappeared into Ava's room in a flash, sliding shut the two large doors that separated the dining room from her bedroom and living room.

Silence filled the dining room as Ava frantically tried to listen to the phone conversation in the next room.

"Yeah, it's fine. Don't worry, I've got eyes on him," Ava heard Natasha say, "We'll-" James broke the silence and Ava had to return her attention to the conversation at the table.

"Steve, I hear you're getting promoted soon?"

"Yes, if all goes well I can keep climbing the ladder." Steve beamed a genuine smile, but Ava wondered if he was really that good at his job to deserve a promotion. If Wanda had been telling the truth, her improvement of the stranger's image had been significantly better than Steve's attempts.

"Sorry guys, but work calls," Natasha announced as she stepped back into the dining room. On her way out, Natasha apologised what felt like a thousand times before giving Ava one last hug and Steve and Natasha got into the small lift.

Back in the dining room, James had already started clearing the table.

"Thank you," Ava said, putting the rest away. Ava hoped James would say something about the meal – how nice it had been or how much it had sucked or how good the food had tasted, anything, but he was silent and seemed distracted.

"Is everything okay?" asked Ava as she dried the last plate and set the towel aside. James turned to her and pulled her into a hug.

"When I'm with you, always." He leaned down to her and kissed her under the ear. His lips trailed down her neck, leaving small trails of affection before his lips found hers. Ava felt heat rising inside her, a tingle spreading through her belly.

"I'd better get going," James whispered against her lips and it took Ava a few moments before she could reply.

"Don't go." Her voice sounded ridiculous, pleading.

"I have to," he said a little louder and gave her another kiss on the lips. Then he released the embrace and picked up his jacket. In the hallway, he turned to Ava once more. His brow was furrowed and he stared at her with his steel-blue eyes. Ava had the feeling he wanted to say something to her, but then he turned and disappeared wordlessly through the door. The silence that followed was agonising. If her flat had felt crowded, constricting a moment ago, now a yawning emptiness spread through her dining room.

With a sigh, Ava took ice cream from her freezer and made herself comfortable on her fire escape. In a moment the fireworks would begin and she thought of last year when she had sat right here with Natasha, the both of them filling her flat with laughter. Now she sat here alone, staring up at the sun-kissed sky. She blanked out the wild activity down the street, there was only her, her ice cream and the sky, now decorated with colourful fireworks.

Something gently brushed her cheek. Was she dreaming? Her eyelids felt sluggish and heavy, too heavy to open. It had to be the middle of the night, the noise of the street had shrunk to a whisper. Suddenly the weight of her mattress shifted. Had someone just sat down on her bed? Now Ava kept her eyelids deliberately closed, her mind slowly becoming clearer. She was not dreaming. Someone was sitting on the edge of her bed. The person seemed to be getting up again, Ava's mattress was now only giving way to her own weight again. She heard the floor creak softly under the weight of someone. They seemed to be moving towards the kitchen. Cautiously, Ava opened her eyes slightly. Since she always slept on her side, her eyes could easily look at the alarm clock beside her bed. Three o'clock in the morning. Anxious sweat slowly spread all over her body. She tensed in her lying position and risked a glance towards the kitchen. In the darkness she could make out the outline of a man looking around her kitchen. He was tall and slender. That was all Ava could make out. He turned back to her and she closed her eyes shut. She tried convulsively to keep her breathing even. There was silence for a moment, then Ava heard the squeak of her floor again. A few fear-filled seconds later, Ava heard her flat door quietly open and close again.

Now adrenaline shot through her entire body, she felt electrified, grabbed her phone from the nightstand and sprinted to her front door. She pushed the chain forward and lowered herself to the floor. Her heart hammered loudly in her ears. With shaky hands, she unlocked her phone and called Natasha. Damn, why doesn't she pick up?!, Ava thought, waiting for the voicemail to greet her. Slowly tears came to her eyes, threatening to spill out at the corners of her eyes. She was still panicking. Next she looked up James' number. She hesitated for a moment and stared at the name on the screen. She didn't know what this was between her and James and was unsure if she could call him in a situation like this. Finally, her fear of the burglar outweighed the anxiety about her situationship with James and she called him.