Floating

Chapter Eight

Your feet were numb by the time you reached the parking lot.

Bucky popped the trunk of his worn-out Jeep and helped you up, leaving you perched there with your legs dangling over the edge as he retrieved the blanket. He wrapped your feet up tight before standing back and folding his arms across his broad chest.

‘Feeling better?’

‘In some ways,’ you kept your gaze away from his and added under your breath, ‘worse in others.’

‘I’ll take it my outburst wasn’t appreciated.’

‘I mean, you saw a fire and decided to add more fire, I’m really not sure what you thought would happen.’

‘Yeah, good point, sorry about that.’ He stuffed his hands into his pockets, shaking his head. ‘I’m not good with all this feelings stuff, I tried to do some research last night but it obviously didn’t help.’

You gulped, part of your brain screaming at you not to delve any deeper into that as you pushed the word out. ‘Research?’

‘Mhmm, I watched The Notebook.’

‘Course you did.’ An exasperated laugh escaped your lips as you rubbed your hands across your face. ‘Alright, in that case, it’d be a waste for me not to ask. What do you want, Buck?’

He chuckled and lowered himself down next to you, the car dipping slightly under his weight.

‘Well I figured, since I helped you with your phobia, maybe you’d be able to do the same for me.’ You finally let your gaze meet his, your dubious expression obviously making him panic slightly. ‘We could take it slow, just float for a bit, y’know? Don’t want to risk either of us drowning.’

‘You really thought it’d be that easy?’

‘Oh, no, of course not.’ He brushed his hands over his thighs, shifting himself around awkwardly for a few seconds. ‘Actually, yeah, I kinda did.’ 

‘Wow, you really weren’t lying when you said you’d never been in a relationship.’

‘Why d’you always think I’m lying?’

That question didn’t really warrant an answer, both of you were more than aware of his reputation.

As the two of you fell into silence, the only discernible sound being the waves crashing in the far distance, you figured this was as good an opportunity as any to finally drag that story out of him. He’d already dropped the big L, surely there was no excuse for clamming up now.

‘Alright, since you’re all about the truth today, are you finally gonna tell me what the hell happened to you? I genuinely can’t think of anything other than a bad relationship that could’ve made you like this.’

‘It was a bad relationship, it just wasn’t mine.’ He paused to glance in your direction, so you shot him your best sympathetic-but-incredibly-curious expression. ‘My mom was an asshole, she fucked around then just up-and-left when I was a kid. After seeing what it did to my dad I...’

‘Decided never to trust any other woman? You think that makes sense?’

‘Who’s the one without any sympathy now?’

Feeling a couple pangs of guilt in your chest, you nodded apologetically, pulling your leg up so you were facing him.

‘I appreciate you telling me. I get it, I really do, but you gotta remember that you’re not your father. And I’m not your… mother.’ You winced slightly. ‘That’s the first time I’ve had to clarify that to someone I’ve seen naked.’