I Walk The Line (A Bucky Barnes Fanfiction)

Chapter 27

I finally decided to put my book down at 6am. I had a slight headache from reading the whole night. Even the early morning sun hurt my eyes. I lifted the collar of the shirt I was wearing to my nose, inhaling Bucky's familiar scent. My stomach made a soft sound to remind me that I hadn't eaten in well over 10 hours. I groaned and got up to stretch. It was Saturday, so I knew nobody else was awake. They'd usually sleep in during the weekend, unless there was a mission.

I tiptoed to the kitchen. I didn't even bother with putting on some sweatpants or changing from Bucky's shirt. I was careful about wearing it, because nobody knew that I had it. Besides, it was quite embarrassing, given that he wasn't my boyfriend or anything, and he didn't give it to me. I made sure I was being extra quiet as I started making pancakes. I figured that I'd change once I'm done, then maybe wake Bucky up so we could eat together.

I bit my lip at the thought of him. Over the few weeks that we'd been living in the Avengers Tower, we grew apart a bit. Ever since I got better, he spent a lot of his time with Steve. Our relationship didn't really change much, other than the fact that we spent less time together. My nightmares stopped being so intense, and even if they were, there was no way for me to bleed out of my now completely healed wound - meaning that he stopped sleeping next to me. I kind of missed spending 90% of my time with him. I didn't blame him for wanting to spend time with Steve - they hadn't seen each other in 70 years. But I couldn't help missing him. It was such a strange feeling, missing someone who sleeps 20 feet away from you. Besides, I was being selfish. We'd spent every single day together, for 2 years. He insisted on basically being my personal assistant/servant for the last 5 weeks. And I'm not an easy person to deal with, I know that. I tend to be quite annoying sometimes. I talk too much, or not at all. I'm sarcastic and I make stupid jokes all the time. I talk about things nobody wants to hear about. So, I guess I did understand why he preferred to spend his time with Steve. It still hurt a bit, but I was okay with it in a way.

I swallowed the tears that formed in my eyes. Those kinds of thoughts came quite often, especially now. I kinda learned how to deal with them over the years. I started humming "Settle Down", one of my favourite song by The 1975, and moved to the beat playing in my head. My voice gradually got louder until I was really singing, still not loud enough to wake anyone up. 

Once I finished the pancakes, I decided I should change. I turned towards the hallway, just to find Bucky leaning against the door frame, his arms crossed on his chest and a playful smirk on his lips. I jumped at the sight of him. "How long have you been standing there?" I asked, slightly annoyed. He walked to the kitchen slowly, then leaned against the counter right across from me. I suddenly realized that I was wearing only his shirt and underwear. Sleeping in pants just seemed like too much trouble.

"Not long", Bucky finally answered my question. His eyes moved down, looking at his shirt for a second, then back at me. "Is there any particular reason as to why you're wearing my shirt?" He asked with a hint of a smile. The fucker was enjoying the hell out of my embarrassment.

"Our stuff must've gotten mixed up on the way from Romania", I said calmly, but my voice was higher than usual. "I'll give it back if you want." I tugged the end on the shirt upwards a bit, showing a bit of my hip, then let it fall back on my thigh. He smiled warmly, then stood up straight and walked around the counter to stand in front of me. "Don't take it off", he said, taking the same part that I held in his hand, rubbing the fabric between his fingers. "It looks good on you", he added, looking me straight in the eye. There wasn't a hint of humor or sarcasm in his voice. I couldn't help but smile.

He glanced at the plate of pancakes on the counter, then back at me. "Is it okay if I eat with you?" He asked shyly. I nodded. "Of course. Let me just set the table."