A/N: Hello, my loves! I apologize for nearly taking two months to get a sequel out, but there is a reason for that. (Aside from spilling coffee on my laptop, which thankfully still works lol) I will talk more about that in a second author's note at the end. :)
I decided to finish this part with an open ending. I could just finish it here and leave it up to your imagination. Or, I could turn this into a (mini) series. (I'm honestly up for the challenge, but I'm wondering if any of you are interested in more). Let me know what you all think!
-M <3
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It took just over an hour for her to drift to sleep, but I remained next to her for as long as I could. I did not dare to take my eyes off of her, not even for a moment. It felt as if she would slip through my fingers the moment I looked away, becoming nothing more than a warm memory and a devastating loss. Her mortality was always something that I worried about, especially when she went on missions. I did not think that I could ever survive losing her. And after what almost happened today, I knew that I most certainly wouldn't have.
My fingers gently pushed a strand of loose hair behind her ear, moving to linger against her cheek, still damp with tears. Even as she slept, Y/N did not look like she found peace. Dark shadows lingered under her eyes, and bruises dotted the skin of her jaw from the mission. Her body, although settled into the mattress and against my chest, felt tense as if she could not let herself rest.
The buzz of my phone interrupted my thoughts, and my hand reached out to grab it off of the nightstand. Steve's name flashed across the screen, and not long after, Natasha's and Wanda's did as well. I could not even bear the thought of looking at any of them so I had only asked FRIDAY to update them on what happened and asked to be left alone. The incoming text notifications rotated between the three of them, yet I refused to answer any of them.
I had a hard time identifying exactly how I was feeling, but I knew that anger was certainly there. How could it not? Perhaps I had been ignorant to how bad things had become, but I trusted all of them to at least treat Y/N with some sort of dignity. Instead, they had treated her like she meant nothing, and she accepted it without a second thought. That hurt infinitely more than the wound in my shoulder.
I placed the phone back on the nightstand, sinking deeper into the covers and gently pulling Y/N closer if that was even possible. I let my lips brush against her forehead, my eyes finally falling shut for a moment of peace. Not even a minute later, the buzzing of my phone resumed and I couldn't help my small groan of irritation when it did not stop.
"Is it Steve?" I glanced down to find my bride looking up at me, her gaze still heavy with sleep.
"Doesn't matter. Go back to sleep, doll. I'm sorry I woke you."
"You need to go talk to him." Y/N shook her head gently, reaching up to place her hand on my cheek. "I'm sure he's worried about you."
"Let him worry, then." I sighed, my left hand moving to cover the one she placed on my cheek. "I won't leave you again."
"I will be just fine, baby. " She promised gently, giving me a small smile. "It's not like you'll be gone forever."
"No... but you almost were." My voice felt weak, and the image of finding her on the floor with the medicine bottle popped open flashing in my mind. I had never been more afraid in my life, and the thought of leaving her now seemed nearly impossible to even consider.
Y/N's smile faltered at my words, and I looked away, my chest aching as I tried my hardest to force my tears away.
"Bucky, look at me."
I felt myself shake my head, my bottom lip trapped between my teeth as I sat upright in bed. Flashes of what could have been flooded my mind. The lowering of her casket at her funeral, the never-ending grief that would follow it, everything. It felt so real, yet it fortunately, would not be a reality, at least not for years to come.
"Baby..." I felt her hand against my back and I hesitantly turned to look at her as she moved to sit up beside me. "I am not going anywhere. I promise you."
"I was almost too late." The words felt so bitter as they left my lips and the lump in my throat only grew larger. "If I had come in even a moment later than I had- "
"Stop." A soft hand grasped my chin, and my eyes focused on hers. Tears were beginning to pool in hers, and I felt immediate guilt for being the reason behind them. "Don't blame yourself for something that was out of your control. "
"It should have been, doll." I shook my head sadly, my heart aching in my chest. "I should've realized how bad things had gotten before we were sent on that mission. And I certainly should've knocked some sense into Steve too."
"He's a smart man. Maybe one day he'll figure it out." She gave a small smile, and I couldn't help but roll my eyes playfully at her attempts to lighten the conversation.
"Maybe he just needs a solid punch to the face. I will literally knock some sense into him."
"Beating up your best friend does not seem like the way to resolve this, Bucky."
"Maybe not." A sigh slipped through my lips, and I smiled as Y/N gently ran her hand through my shortened hair. "But it feels like the easiest way. And perhaps the most satisfying after all that's happened."
"I don't want anyone else to get hurt, baby." She shook her head and removed her hand from my hair to place it in my vibranium one. "You're just going to have to talk it out."
"Talk it out? You make it seem like we are fighting over who ate the last piece of pizza in the fridge, not over something as serious as this."
"You'll have to forgive him, Bucky." Y/N sighed softly, looking down at our conjoined hands as our fingers interlocked. "I'm already trying to. It's hard, but I love him like he is family. We can't lose them. And I know you certainly can't lose Steve again... not after all that has happened."
It was silent for a few moments before I leaned in and kissed her forehead softly
"It amazes me how much grace and forgiveness you have in your heart. And it makes me love you all the more." I smiled before pulling away. "But honestly, killing Steve sounded like the most rational idea in my mind."
"Oh, stop. You would not kill him."
"Eh, maybe not. I think knocking his lights out would suffice. But you get the point."
"I know you're joking around here, but I'm serious... please do not kill Steve." She shot me a stern look as I rose from the bed, grabbing my shirt from the floor and pulling it over my head. "I really do want to make things right here."
"I know..." I leaned down and kissed her softly. "I promise that I will try to be as civil as I can."
"Good." Y/N smiled before tilting her head towards the door. "You better get going, then. Don't need anyone knocking down the door."
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I walked quietly down the hall, feeling tense as I approached the living room. I quite honestly did not know how this was going to go. Part of me hoped that Steve had gone to bed, finally giving up on waiting for me. But as I grew closer, the sounds of a movie playing and the familiar voices of all three of my teammates smashed that hope to pieces.
Realizing that they were too engrossed in conversation to notice my entrance, I cleared my throat quietly, watching as all three heads whipped around in my direction.
"Bucky..." Steve stood up from the couch but did not make any further movement in my direction. Instead, I continued to move toward him.
My fist connected with his nose with a sickening crunch, and I heard the two women gasp as Steve fell backward onto the ground with a grunt. He raised his hand up to his nose, wincing as he pulled it back to find a small splatter of blood coating his fingers. "I guess I deserved that."
"Oh, you deserve a lot more than that." I shook my head as I cracked my knuckles, watching him slowly rise to his feet again. "But I promised Y/N I wouldn't kill you."
"Bucky..." Wanda's hand gently touched my shoulder, but I pulled away, taking a few steps back to look at all three of them.
"Y/N's going to be fine." My voice grew hard as I watched each of their faces light up with relief. "No thanks to any of you..."
"Barnes-"
"No, I don't want to hear it." I snapped, my eyes fixed on Natasha as I cut her off. "I do not want to hear any of your goddamn excuses that you think will justify what happened today, or any of the weeks before, quite frankly. I don't give a shit that you felt 'betrayed' by her. You absolutely destroyed her."
"We're sorry...."
"You're sorry..." I muttered, echoing Wanda's words as I processed them quietly. "But you weren't sorry until you drove her to swallow a bottle of medication in her room. You weren't sorry until I woke up, and you had to own up to what happened."
The room fell silent, and I watched as each of their faces fell at the revelation of what Y/N had tried to do. Wanda's tears began to fall and Natasha's head fell into her hands. Steve looked absolutely devastated, but I could not tell if anything about him was genuine anymore.
"I can't believe how willing she is to try to make amends with all of you." My voice cracked, but I refused to let my tears fall free in front of them. "She loves you like family, yet you so easily trusted the word of a fucking journalist over hers. How could you treat her like this?"
The room fell silent again, and I was growing irritated with the pity party that the three of them seemed to be having. I walked up to Steve again and shoved him forcefully in the chest.
"Answer me, Rogers. How could you fucking do this? You are like a brother to me. I trust you with my life, and despite all that has happened, I trusted you with hers. How could you treat the woman that I love like she meant nothing?"
Steve's eyes were watery with tears, but they did not do anything to smother my rage. Fuck his tears, I was angry.
Furious that the man I had grown up with would treat my bride in a manner as vicious as this. Furious that I had not intervened sooner than I had. Furious that I had not protected her as I promised in my vows, for better or for worse.
The silence was deafening, and I knew that Steve did not have an answer that would ever be good enough. My eyes flickered to the other two women who remained somber and silent.
"Y/N can forgive you all she wants. Until all of you can answer for what you have done, I will have nothing to do with any of you. Even you, Steve."
The three of them looked at me silently, sadness in their expressions and tears in their eyes as I slowly turned and walked back towards Y/N's room. Despite not having harmed her physically, Y/N's life had almost been lost. It felt impossible to even imagine forgiveness, but I sure wish that I could. I loved Steve like a brother, and I had grown close with Wanda and Nat too. But no love would ever be stronger than the love I had for Y/N. And because of the lies of a stranger, her life was nearly lost in the process.
I could hardly recognize the three of them as people I cared about, let alone find it in me to forgive them. Maybe one day, after time had passed and Y/N had healed, I would find it in me to do so.
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A/N 2:
Hello again, my lovely readers! Here is a little explanation of what has been going on. For the past couple of weeks, I have had a really hard time with school and managing my depression. I decided this past week to take a break from college for a semester and focus on healing and finding what makes me happy again. While I am disappointed that I won't graduate when I expected to, I am excited not only to get some rest but to write more. I absolutely love writing for this blog, and my other fandom blogs as well. I hope that I can post more often, and write a lot more in general. My requests are open, so if you have any ideas you'd like me to try to write, I am more than willing to do so! Thank you all so much for the support and I will see you next time!