Meant to Be

November 12th

Ella and Bucky had decided to get their applications submitted as soon as possible, so they'd dedicated an entire Saturday to finalizing them together. They were being well fed by Winnie as they worked at Bucky's dining room table, she kept bringing them drinks and snacks and very adorably referring to the pair of them as 'her geniuses'.

It took most of the day before Ella was ready for Bucky to check everything for her, but when she was done, Bucky still going. She pressed a kiss to his temple before standing up and wandering into the kitchen to stretch her legs. She walked in on a very guilty-looking Becca, reaching into the cupboard for a packet of biscuits.

"I won't tell if you share," Ella smiled as she leaned against the kitchen counter. The two girls chatted away, almost finishing off the entire packet as Ella asked Becca about school. She always felt a little jealous when she spoke to Becca, she missed being 13 and that carefree. Ella was about to head back into the dining room when Becca blurted out something she wasn't expecting.

"I have a boyfriend, but you can't tell anyone," she said.

Ella was a little thrown by being thrust so suddenly into something resembling the role of big sister.

"You do?" she asked, turning on her heel to face Becca again. She had no idea what was expected of her here, and she scrambled to think about the time she went home and told Laura about her first boyfriend. She was 11. It lasted 2 weeks. She didn't cry when they split up.

"Yeah," Becca confirmed. "It's been a month," she said.

Ella nodded. It seemed Becca's first relationship was so far marginally more successful than her own. She decided to try and do the responsible thing.

"Do you not think you should tell Bucky, at least?" she asked. She understood not wanting to tell her mom. Ella definitely didn't, and luckily Laura had kept the fact she'd seen Ella kissing her boyfriend at school a secret. Well, for a few months. It had come out during a heating argument over the TV remote not long later.

"Why?" Becca asked.

"So then he'll know who's ass to kick if he ever upsets you," Ella explained.

"Oh, he wouldn't upset me," Becca said with complete confidence, but she could tell Ella wasn't convinced. "I mean, has Bucky ever upset you?"

Ella shook her head. "Not really," she said. "But maybe still tell someone, just so you have someone to talk to about it."

Becca rolled her eyes. "Why do you think I told you?" she asked rhetorically before stalking off out of the kitchen, head held high.

Ella stood in stunned silence for a few seconds before laughing to herself. Somehow, it seemed, she'd gained a little sister. And it was safe to say she wasn't at all mad about it. She walked back into the dining room and took her seat next to Bucky.

"Where were you?" he asked as he readied his application for Ella to read.

"Just chatting to Becca," she replied. "I think she likes me."

Bucky looked up and rolled his eyes in the exact same way his sister had just minutes before. "I know, I never hear the end of it. I'm pretty sure she actually prefers you over me."

"Nonsense," Ella quickly replied. Although Bucky's admission made her decision to keep Becca's secret, at least for a little while. "Anyway, you good to go?" she asked.

Bucky nodded in reply and they swapped laptops.

They sat in silence for as long as it took them to read, Winnie stuck her head in mid-way through but quickly backed out when Bucky shot her a glare that said not now.