Bad Habits

chapter five: i'll call you mine

cw: descriptions of blood, injuries, harassment (nothing too crazy, just thought I'd include it).

a/n: Lilly's mom is cast as Uma Thurman, because if you didn't know, that's Maya Hawkes' mom irl. She's a fucking badass and I love her.

Bucky knocks on the door of his mother's office, checking his phone once more. In the week since the party where he kissed Lilly, he hasn't heard from or seen her. He could just be missing her in passing, but chances are higher that Lilly is hiding from him.

"Come in," says his mother's soft voice through the thick wooden door. He doesn't interrupt her here often, so she knows that this must be important.

"Hi, darling. Come in and have a drink." she says, gesturing to the small bar to one side of the space. Bucky shakes his head, giving his mother a kiss on the cheek. She's more relaxed today, brown hair curling around her face and a flowing dress that compliments the blue in her eyes nicely.

"I think I'm okay for now, thanks." He has a seat on one of the plush sofas across from her desk. A few seconds of silence go by, the only sound is the ticking of the grandfather clock and the scratching of Mrs. Barnes' pen.

"James, I know you didn't come here to watch me work. What's bothering you?"

Bucky shifts a little in his seat.

"Nothing's bothering me."

Winnifred puts her pen down, looking pointedly at her son.

"Then why do your eyebrows look like that? I saw that face on your father a million times," she says, sending him a soft smile.

Bucky smirks a little to himself, crossing one leg over his knee, then switches. He feels like he's about to crawl out of his skin. He starts picking at a loose thread on the arm of the chair.

"I was just wondering if you had heard anything about Miss Connelly? Becca said she was out, so I wanted to see if she was alright."

Winnifred bites the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling.

"Bucky, Lilly is fine. She wanted some time off, which she never takes. However, I don't see why one of my employees is of any concern of yours," Winnifred adds, looking back down at the forms she was completing when Bucky walked in.

She knows why he's here and just wants to make him squirm a little. Her oldest child was never great with expressing his feelings, instead preferring to act first and explain later.

"Ma, you know why," Bucky says, his father's accent coming through a little in his annoyance. His dad grew up in Brooklyn, living with five brothers and sisters until he went to college for business and made a name for himself. When Bucky was little he couldn't help but pick up a few phrases here and there.

Winnifred once again puts her pen down and fixes her son with the same icy blue eyes as his own.

"You know, I remember when you were little and Lilly's mother first started working for us. You were like a puppy, so eager to be friends with the strange little girl that she brought along to our home every weekend."

Bucky is taken aback, wondering what else his mom knows about him and Lilly. They tried for so long to keep what they were doing a secret from his dad. Bucky should have known nothing would make it past his mother though. Winnifred gets up from her seat, coming around and taking the spot opposite Bucky on the sofa.

"But she's not a little girl anymore, is she? A lot less eager to follow you to the ends of the earth as well, I can imagine," she sighs, taking Bucky's hand. He looks down as she squeezes Bucky's fingers, sunlight from the large windows sparkling off her wedding ring. Bucky wants to tell her about Lilly, but the words are stuck in his throat, so he just stares.