Roommates

I trust you

Nervously Bucky watched as Jamie wandered around his sparse room as she asked him random questions. She wanted to know whether or not he was a morning person. He wasn't. If he liked to have friends over to have parties. His only friend was Steve and she knew that already. And what was his opinion on noisy houseguests. Since he didn't have any it was simple; they weren't welcome. Based on the little smirk she had on her face as she asked, he figured she was trying to get him to relax since he was sure Steve had told her about him, both before and after Hydra. This was her way of breaking the ice, but all it was doing was making him hyper aware that she knew him better than any stranger ever should. It made him that much more aware that he didn't know anything about her other than the few things he'd gleaned about her from the others. Which wasn't much really.

As Jamie's eyes continued to roam over his bookshelf Buck took his time studying her. He knew she was young. Almost twenty-five years old. But the stress and grief of the last five years had aged her a little. That is until she smiled. That smile brightened up her whole being from the inside out. Her soft as silk long dark brown hair cascaded down her back with just the front part held back with a small clip to keep it out of her face. He noted that she was wearing a nice dress that he was sure had once fit her quite well and a pair of very tall heels that showed off her legs to her advantage. Peter's concern for his friend had been genuine and he now understood why Steve had gone to her so abruptly. Jamie was thin and pale and had a haunted hollowedness in her eyes that he recognized because he saw it every day reflected back at him in the mirror. Having seen and done things that no one should ever have to. It took something away from you. That scooped out feeling. The feeling of that happy whole person you used to be was no longer there.

Shaking his head to push those dark thoughts away he instead thought about earlier. Based on his friend's visceral reaction to just the mention of her had Buck thinking that there had to have been something more than just friendly between them. But the way she treated him no different than Peter had him doubting himself. He'd been shocked to say the least when he and the kid saw her shrieking with laughter as she came barreling down the hallway with Steve hot on her heels. The joy she radiated as they playfully ran through the Tower had him thinking that she was a breath of fresh air untainted by the harshness he'd lived through.

And then she'd crashed right into him. Breathless with laughter. Worry and concern had his heart sinking into his stomach when she gasped in pain. The first thought to pop into his head was; here was another person he had unintentionally hurt. But when he'd gently brushed her hair out of her face Jamie had looked up at him and he'd frozen as her expressive hazel eyes bore into his. It felt like in an instant she could see straight through to his soul and for the first time he wasn't afraid of what she might see when her beautiful face lit up with that blinding smile. Shaking his head Bucky tried to keep thoughts like that at bay because if he wanted to live with her  then nothing romantic could happen between them. That was just asking for trouble that neither of them needed.

"So, James 'Bucky' Barnes, why do you think we'd be a good fit to be roommates when we've never met before?" At his silence, Jamie turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow expecting an answer. Clearing his throat Bucky shrugged making her frown a little when he didn't verbally reply. "Steve said he thought of me when you told him you were moving out. I assumed either you or Peter said or expressed something that had him thinking 'sure, why not?' So..." She was very perceptive he thought. Much more than he'd wished. It would make keeping things from her much harder.

Crossing the room to sit on the small couch he carefully thought about what he wanted to say. "The kid. Peter. Was catching Steve up on his lunch with you and he said you were looking for a roommate. I figured that since you already knew of my history and were close with the team that it wouldn't hurt for us to meet. Also before whatever happened between you and Steve you two were close. I figured that if you and the punk had been tight for the last five years and having sort of gone through what I did with the snap, then you would be sympathetic to my.. issues."