Sara quickly came back with a dampened rag in her hands and ushered me to sit down on the couch beside Steve. I did as she requested and slowly took a seat. "This might sting." she warned softly as she knelt down to clean up my knees. I hissed and slightly pulled back at the small sting when she began to wipe away the dirt and blood. Her soft, motherly eyes shifted over to Steve, then to my eyes, and back again to what she was doing. "You're a friend of Steve's?" The woman asked gently.
I glanced over at my new found friend, Steve, and smiled. I looked back to her as she worked and nodded. "Yes, ma'am." I answered.
Steve, now able to breathe, sat forward and stared at the door like he was waiting for someone. Waiting for Bucky to return. "Mom," Steve spoke up, turning his gaze to Sara, "Would it be okay for Maggie to stay with us for a while? She doesn't really have any place to go." he said, barely even sparing a glance at me. Sara's brows raised and she lifted her eyes to meet her sons.
"Oh, no. I am okay, really. I dont want to be a burden." I insisted, though I would much rather stay there than stay at home with Charlie and a mother that rarely even looks at me.
Her eyes softened and she spared me a sweet grin. "No, honey. It's no trouble. You can stay as long as you need." she said with a warm smile.
"Thank you." I accepted, glad to have someplace else to stay. Of course, I would need to go home and get my things and explain to Sara my situation at some point. She finished cleaning up my knees and let me keep the rag to wipe up my hands as she took a seat in a chair across the small living room.
Suddenly, the front door swung wide open and a battered Bucky came tumbling in. He stumbled inside and slammed shut the door, leaning on it as he tried to breathe. "Bucky!" I jumped up, my heart nearly stopping. Sara and Steve jumped up as well but I was the first to his side. Blood dripped from his nose and a large purple bruise swelled on his cheek bone. His knuckles were bloody and bruised as well but other than seeming exhausted and out of breath, he looked fine. "Are you alright? What happened?" I asked, worried about my protector. Leaning on me for support, he made it to a chair in the living room and sat down with an oomf.
"I'm okay, really. It isn't that bad, I promise." Bucky winced and adjusted his position.
Steve's mother raised her brows at us three beat up kids, worry in her soft eyes. "Would somebody care to explain what happened? I thought you were going dancing." she asked, crossing her arms with frustration.
"We did go dancing." Bucky answered for us. "But then we wanted to just go for a walk and get to know Maggie a little more." he said.
Sara looked to me and since Bucky has stopped talking, I took that as my cue to explain. Which meant telling her about my stepfather. "I live with my mother and stepfather, Annette and Charlie." I stated. "I don't have much to do with my mother anymore because of Charlie..." I said and my throat began to feel like it was closing up as I choked back tears.
"Charlie abuses her, mom." Steve spoke up, noticing me struggle to talk. "He drove by us while we were walking and stopped. He-he got out of the car and he looked so angry... He was yelling and she was terrified. He slapped her across the face! That's when Bucky stepped in." Steve summarised. I relived the trauma in my head with fear and tears spilled from my eyes silently and I stared down at the floor, still standing beside the chair Bucky was seated in.
"Oh, poor darling." Sara whispered, a hand over her heart as she stepped forward and gathered me in a loving hug. I froze, unsure of how to react because I had only ever had a genuine hug like this from my real father years ago. Her warmth radiated around me and I couldn't help but hug her tightly, burying my face in her shoulder as I squeezed my eyes shut while my entire body wracked with sobs. "Shh, shh. Its okay." she cooed and rubbed circles in my back. Was this what a real mothers love felt like? My mother had never treated me with such care since before my father passed away. We stood there for a few minutes until I calmed down, and even then I didn't want to let go. But the embrace came to an end anyway and she bent down to examine Bucky's injuries. "What happened next?" she asked, wanting to know the entire story.
I wiped my cheeks and took in a breath. "Charlie punched Bucky. Bucky told us to run here so Charlie couldn't get us. We didn't make it far before Steve's asthema made it so he couldn't breathe. I carried him the rest of the way as fast as possible but I tripped and that's how I scraped my hands and knees." I said. Bucky looked up at me with shock but didn't say anything. It was hard go read his expression completely, but I looked back to Steve's mother and didnt look too far into it.
"What about you?" Sara raised a brow at Bucky. "What happened with you?" she asked.
Bucky looked down at his bruised and bloody knuckles and swallowed slowly. "After he punched me, I punched him back. It was only to protect them, I swear. They started to run away but in order to keep him from following, I hit him again and we got into a fist fight." Bucky said, brows furrowed as he tried to remember everything. "I won." he smirked proudly and let out a single chuckle. I hid my smirk, but deep inside I was glad he had won. Charlie deserved every punch thrown at him.
Sara stood and pursed her lips, tapping her foot on the floor. "What happened to Charlie?" she asked. Bucky slowly swallowed and guilt consumed his face.
"I... I knocked him out. I left him in his car and ran here." he said, not making eye contact with Sara. Sara pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head.
"Thank you for protecting them." she said before letting out a sigh. "But you know your mother doesnt like it when you get into fights, Bucky. I don't like it either." she said sadly before moving down the hallway and out of sight. Bucky looked up at me and I stared in the direction she had went.
He continued to stare at me until she had returned with a fresh rag and some bandages, but it didnt bother me. Sara passed Bucky the supplies and started back for the hall. "I am going off to bed. Steve, show Maggie where she can sleep for now. Bucky you are welcome to stay. You can put the couch cushions on the floor like always." she stated.
"Its okay, ma'am. My mom is probably wondering where I am at." he smiled kindly. Sara nodded and trailed back down the hall and out of sight. "I guess I should get going. I will come back tomorrow to see how you two are." Bucky smiled and stood. My eyes met his and I lightly smiled at him.
He took a step forward and wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into a tight embrace. I blushed and hugged him back. "Thank you." he whispered, his breath tickling my ear. I grinned and our embrace ended. With a tip of his head, Bucky was out the door.
Steve let out a sigh and turned to face me. "Are you tired?" he asked. I shook my head no, unsure of how I was supposed to sleep after the events of the day. "Good, me neither." he said, looking back at the front door. "Bucky is a great guy. He is basically my brother and I don't know if I would still be alive if it weren't for him protecting me all the time, but, I just want to warn you now." Steve said.
I tilted my head and furrowed my brow in confusion. Steve frowned and took a seat back on the couch and I sat in the chair Bucky had sat in. "Bucky likes to flirt." Steve informed me. "So don't get your hopes too high." he finished. I swallowed slowly and nodded in understanding. It sort of hurt to know this now. I knew girls were all over him, but to learn he was a womanizer put an ache in my chest. I swallowed slowly and nodded in understanding. From then on, I would only try to be his friend.
"Actually, Steve, if its alright with you I would like to try and sleep a little." I mumbled sadly. He frowned, but stood and waited for me to stand as well before he took me to a small, extra room with boxes stacked on one wall and a tiny, stained matress against the other.
"Its not much but its what we have for now. I have some spare blanlets and pillows you can borrow until we get you some of your own. I can almost bet you might be here for a long time, aren't you?" Steve asked softly.
I shrugged my shoulders. I didn't want to go back home, but they didnt need to worry about housing me when they hardly knew me. How could they be so kind? "Im not sure." I said quietly so it was hardly audible. Steve nodded and left me alone in the doorway for a moment, soon returning with a large blanket and thick pillow.
He tossed them onto the matress and gave me a sad smile as he went to exit. "Sleep well, Mags." he said as he passed.
"You too." I said, flicking off the light and crawling under the blanket on the matress, closing my eyes and begging to sleep.