Never Safe

Chapter Fifty-Nine

"Bucky... Bucky, get up." You were knelt on the bed beside him, shaking him. "Bucky..."

He groaned and pushed you away. "I'm sleeping."

"Buck, I'm hungry."

"Go get food then."

"Can you come with me?"

Bucky rolled over to face you.

"I don't wanna go on my own."

"Okay. Carry me."

"What?"

"Oh come on" he grinned as he stood up off the bed. "I carry you all the time."

You jumped onto his back. "Yeah but I don't weigh a tonne."

"Well..."

"Hey!" 

Bucky laughed at you. You rested your chin on his shoulder, pouting grumpily even though he couldn't see. He carried you to the kitchen. You'd zoned out on the way and didn't realise you'd arrived. You didn't notice people in the room until they spoke to you.     

"Hey trouble" Steve smiled.

"Hey. We haven't seen you in ages" Sam added.     

You awkwardly sucked your lips into your teeth. Your arms tightened around Bucky.

"Y/n, you're gonna choke me. Jump down."   

You stood up on your own. You stayed hovering in the doorway as Bucky walked over to the cupboard to get you a bowl. Steve came over to you and hugged you. You didn't hug him back. "How are you, y/n/n?"   

You shrugged. Steve bent down in front of you, looking up. He placed a hand on your cheek. "You alright?" You nodded once.

"Sweetheart... I got your coco pops" Bucky said.

Steve stood up and stepped aside so you could go and sit at the table. You started eating your cereal. Bucky kissed the top of your head. He moved to the other side of the room to talk to Steve and Sam.

"She okay?" Steve asked.

Sam spoke before Bucky could answer. "What happened? Last I heard she went to stay at her dads for a few weeks."

"And that's never going to happen again" Bucky explained. He lowered his voice so you couldn't hear him. "I can not let her get hurt any more. I swear I'll do whatever I need-"

"We know, Buck" Steve whispered. "You want to keep her safe, and we're all here to help you with that."

The three guys kept talking as you ate breakfast in silence. Tony and Thor entered. Followed by Natasha and Wanda a couple minutes later. Bucky acknowledged them when they came in but didn't think anything of it as he continued his conversation.

They had all come to sit around the table with you. They had all tried to talk to you. And they had all failed at getting anything more than a shrug, or a nod, or a one word answer from you. You had stopped eating. You held your hands in your lap, pulling at loose bits of skin around your fingernails. No one noticed.

"Do you want to do anything today?" Wanda asked you.

Bucky looked over when she asked the question, waiting for you to answer. But you didn't. You were still staring down to avoid eye contact with anyone.

"Y/n?" Bucky walked over when you didn't say anything. "Sweetheart..." He placed his hand on your shoulder. You flinched, quickly turning your head to look at him. "You wanna go back to your room?"