𝗙𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗗 | bucky barnes

80: What now?

Even though she went to bed earlier than usual, hadn't slept in days, and was absolutely exhausted, Catarina got around 4 hours of sleep. She didn't want to think about him. She didn't want to think about what he had said. She definitely didn't want to think about how good it felt to hug him again, and to hear his soft, loving voice talk to her sweetly.

But she thought about all those things anyway.

Was that them becoming friends? Just friends? Or was that them reconciling and opening up the possibility for a real relationship again? Did he still want her? He knows she does, now. Damn it, drunk Catarina, that's just embarrassing. She cursed the three and a half Heinekens she had.

Catarina really, truly needed answers. She stayed up half the night thinking about him. Which she really didn't want to do. She couldn't even stop herself. Every time she tried to think about something else, it all led back to Bucky.

Catarina had taken the Wilson's guest room while Bucky slept on the couch in the living room. She had offered him the opportunity to take the room, but he said that he would rather sleep on the couch. She was proud of him for not sleeping on the floor, at least.

Catarina woke up early, with a headache. Sam's nephews, AJ and Cass, were play fighting in the living room with the shield. Catarina smiled at them as she walked past them out of the room in the corner. They didn't see her walk in.  Just under the living room window was the couch where Bucky was sleeping soundly. His dog tags were out from under his shirt. Cat glanced at him, but didn't dare look for more than a second. She walked to the kitchen and looked around in a couple cabinets for a bottle of aspirin.

Over the boys' sound effects, Cat heard Bucky's voice call a soft, "Hey!"

The boys panicked quietly and put the shield down, then scuffled away, out of the room. Cat watched them go then turned to the living room to see Bucky, smiling. He looked down at the shield lying on the wood floor and the smile slowly faded into a more sentimental look. Cat left him to his moment and turned away, unscrewing the child-locked cap. She opened another cabinet a couple feet away with her powers and pulled out a glass from it. She then motioned her hand and brought it toward the fridge, filled it with water, and pulled it back to her.

She glanced back into the living room to see Bucky now up from the couch. He perched the shield on the coffee table and examined it. As Cat swallowed the two pills, she stared at him. His face was upset, a little sentimental. He was thinking about all the things the shield had ever been. She could tell.

"It's ours now," she said. He looked up at her, the same face plastered on. "Don't linger on the past. Think about the future."

Bucky sighed, then glanced down.

"You get to write its next chapter," she told him.

"I know," he said, looking down at the round metal object. He ran his hand down it again, then put it back in the leather bag.

He turned to look out the window, where he saw Sam stepping into the boat with a box of tools. He disappeared into the cabin.

"Come on," he said, setting the leather case back on the coffee table. He nodded his head toward the window.

Cat picked up her cardigan off one of the kitchen chairs nearby and followed him. They walked out of the house and down the dock towards the Paul and Darlene. Neither of them said a word. Cat examined the sky's ombré of colors from orange to yellow to a light blue, signifying the early morning. The colors glistened over the water, reflecting over the calm waves. Catarina had never really woken up so early in the morning— she liked the time's serenity.