Siren

Apartment hunting

Juno brushed away a tear that tried to escape at the memory of Buck telling her that he wanted at least one little girl that looked just as beautiful as her mama as he gazed lovingly into her eyes. Not long after Tony and Pepper's wedding is when their relationship had hit the skids. A shift in Bucky's behavior had happened and she didn't know what set it off. He was there physically, but had withdrawn from her emotionally.

She'd backed off on that kind of talk and focused instead on helping him with the present and his amends list. It didn't matter because he refused to listen to any of her suggestions. He'd go off on his own for hours at a time, not telling anyone where he was going or what he was doing. Juno tried everything she could to get him to open back up to her and when nothing had worked she'd tried her last option and well, you know how that worked out..

"Juno, are you alright?" She felt Henri's warm hands on her shoulders. Shaking her head had him coming around to see her properly, his eyes softened at her tear filled eyes. Bringing her closer he held her, rocking her gently back and forth. "It's alright, mon petit belle, I am here." At some point she'd started to silently cry and didn't even notice.

When he told her to think about him while she was with Henri, obviously Bucky didn't mean it like this. As much fun as she'd had with him in the last sixteen hours, fun wasn't all she wanted. Not anymore. Pulling away Juno wiped at her face in embarrassment as she laughed a little to try and make the situation less awkward. "I'm sorry, I don't know why I'm crying.

Grasping her upper arms Henri bent his knees to look her in the eyes. "I do and it's okay. Maybe this was a bad idea. Let's head back to the city and check out those other apartments. Then we can get some lunch, my treat." Biting her lip Juno nodded.

When he went to straighten up she wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face into his chest. She could tell he was surprised, but happy by how he cuddled her close and leaned his head on top of hers. Letting Henri hold her gave her a sense of security and love that she hadn't felt in a long time. Turning her face to the side, the view of the street was all she could see around his leather jacket. "Thank you for being so understanding about.. all of this."

"Hey, look at me." Leaning her head back she kept her chin on his chest. "I know what I'm walking into with my eyes wide open. I love you. It should terrify me that I've said that now to you twice and have yet to receive an answer in kind, but it doesn't. I don't know why." He chuckled a little as he shrugged as he cupped the side of her face.

"I love you, Juno and I hope that one day you'll love me as well. Until that day and beyond I want to show you how you're supposed to be loved. I know that anything I say or do is going to be compared to him and I'm fine with that. Just know that I'm not going anywhere unless you tell me to." Not expecting an answer or a reply of any kind he brushed away her tears and walked her back out to Christian and the waiting town car. 

They headed back into the city to check out the apartments in SoHo. Of course they weren't anywhere close to the standards Henri wanted, but neither were the ones up town. Deciding to just grab some lunch he told her they'd look another day when she had some time to hang out again all day. There wasn't any more talk about love and the future just two friends getting to know one another again. Henri was offering Juno a fresh start and had told her multiple times that he would wait as long as she needed.

Her worry was twofold. What was this thing with Bucky? He said he was still in love with her and she knew he wanted them to be together again, but she didn't want to pick up where they left off. She wanted to everything Henri was wanting right now. Not knowing if Bucky wanted the same thing limited what her options were until she could talk to him. She just wasn't ready to have that talk yet.

Juno's only worry was that Henri's offer had an expiration date. What if she waited too long and he decided that he couldn't be friends after all if she unwantingly broke his heart by leaving him on the hook? She could easily fall in love with him. If Juno thought about it she might already be. It's just with all of this history with Bucky left unresolved she didn't feel like she could give him more. At least not yet. She had a lot to think about and no one she really felt like she could talk about it with.

~~~

When Henri dropped her back off at the Tower she'd told him that she would be staying here for a while so he was more than welcome to visit or she'd come to him. Giving her a brief but meaningful kiss he told Juno he'd call her soon. Heading inside she waved at Happy on her way to the elevator, but as she went to press the call button she stopped in her tracks.

There was someone she could talk to without fear of judgement with just one sentence. Pulling out her cell phone from her back pocket she dialed their number. Biting her thumb nail as she waited for them to answer she glanced around the busy lobby. The voice of one of her most favorite people came through the phone. "Hey Sweetpea, what's what's up?"

"Family date night." Was all she said, but it was she needed to say. Not wanting him to drop the important business he and Pepper were doing she told him she'd come to him. "Since you're in California I was thinking Pink's."

He could tell from her voice she that wasn't ready to talk yet so he told her where to meet him. "Absalutely. Meet me at Stark Industries and we'll take off for LA right after." 

"See you soon, Tones." Hanging up she stepped into the waiting elevator filled with office workers for Stark Industries and pressed the hangar button. She'd take the quinjet since it was still checked out under her name.

Juno didn't plan on staying longer than the night so she didn't worry about packing a bag. She had clothes out at his Malibu place and if she did stay longer she'd call Maria let her know. Speaking of she sent off a quick text to Fury and her that she was off roster for at least the next 48 hours. With a solid plan in place she felt a little better knowing that she was going to see her closest friend and confidant.