The Hurt And The Healing: Bucky X OC

Chapter Sixty Three: Four's A Crowd

It should have been comforting to return home and find everything in its place. The pile of orthopedic shoes waiting by the door. The strategically hidden baseball bats scattered throughout the apartment. The sofa waiting for someone to collapse onto it and take a nap, ready with a blanket draped over the arm and several pillows with head sized dents in them. It had been months since anyone came in and stayed longer than the time it took to water the plants. And yet the apartment looked and felt as if it had been in use this whole time, just waiting for its occupants to return after a short errand.

It should have been comforting. But it just felt wrong.

The moment Mara set foot in the room she felt the hairs on the back of her arms and neck rise and the air knocked from her chest. When she stutter stepped and dropped her bag Bucky pushed her behind him, drawing his gun in a simultaneous and fluid motion. He made his way through the silent, dark, empty rooms, like a cat searching for shadows to hide in as Mara and Nonna cowered in the hallway.

"What's wrong?" Nonna asked as Mara's hand found her's.

"I think someone's here," she whispered, bracing herself for shouting or gunfire. But Bucky returned, weapon tucked back in his holster and brows furrowed.

"Place is empty," he stated, waiting for Mara to contradict him. She swallowed and nodded.

"I'm just tired," she replied, still on the outside of the threshold. "It's making me paranoid."

He picked up her bag, setting it on the armchair and looking at her worriedly.

"I can stay the night?" he offered, but she shook her head.

"Movoniv is dead and I'm just being silly," she assured him, letting go of Nonna's hand and forcing herself into the room. A shiver wracked her body, but she suppressed it as quickly as she could.

"Last time you thought someone was following you-" he began but she cut him off.

"They were being intentionally heavy handed," she reminded him, taking Nonna's bag and the excuse to hide her face from his piercing gaze. "He wanted us to know I was being followed. Hell, he kidnapped me just in case I missed it." She placed the bag beside hers and had no choice but to look up. He was watching her in his strange way that made her feel as if she were naked.

The thought made her shake again and she shouldered past him to the kitchen.

"You need sleep," she continued, opening the cabinets and making a mental list for her visit to the bodega in the morning. "And if you stay here you won't get any."

The thought of another person in the apartment right now was nauseating, even if that person was Bucky. Everything was too small. Too crowded. Too full. Too quiet. Too loud. A ringing sound was giving her a migraine. Her eyes ached from the bright fluorescent lights. Her skin felt as if it was tightening around her flesh and all she wanted was to shed like a snake and collapse into bed, raw wounds against cold sheets.

"I'll go to the store in the morning," she announced, turning to face them and pretending to not see Nonna and Bucky nearly jump apart from the whispers they were sharing. "But we all need sleep and if you don't leave soon I think you'll just end up passing out in the back of a cab."

"Fine," Bucky obliged, kissing Nonna on the cheek. He took a step towards Mara to do the same, but she yawned and stretched, keeping him at arm's length.

"Text me when you get home," she told him, crossing her arms and trying to not look like she was about to scream.

"Mara, are you sure-"

"I survived two airplane trips in two days," she reminded him with a tight lipped smile. "I just really need a shower and a good night's sleep."

"Okay," he rocked back on his heels and returned her strained smile. "Sleep well."