A Place for You & Me ・Bucky Barnes

a day at the park

An alarm wakes Bucky up at 7:30. He rubs his eyes, in disbelief that he finally had a good night's rest. He looks around his room. The closet door slightly open, the blinds letting sunshine through, the walls covered in a few art pieces. He decides to lay a few moments and take in the serenity of the morning. Upon sitting up, he looks down at his left arm. The morning suddenly became sour as his mind filled with memories. A text from Sam snapps him out of it. 

Made it back. Hope you slept in that bed! James smiled. He was thankful to have a friend like Sam. 

Getting up, he starts to think of a few things he could get into for the day. Maybe he could walk in the park again, maybe even enjoy food outside at a restaurant. He was still trying to work on getting out with people around. 

After taking a shower and eating a small breakfast, he resolves to head down to a pond in a nearby park. People are out bustling, parents with their kids, old couples walking about, teenagers hanging out. James is happy to see their joy, but it only pained him on the inside. He chooses a secluded bench to sit on and watches the ducks. His eyes are pensive as he avoids all feelings of sadness that seem to eat at him. Looking about, he notices a young couple sitting on a blanket together, enjoying a small picnic. His attention is interrupted by a small child that approaches him with a baseball.  

"You wanna play?" the small child asks. 

James gives a curt smile. "Uh, you have to ask your parents first."

A woman calls the child, "Elijah! What did I tell you about approaching strangers!" 

She storms up to the kid and grabs his hand. 

"I'm so sorry for bothering you. He loves to just walk off and play with strangers." 

Bucky smiles. "It's alright."

She picks the boy up and the child waves at James. "Bye-bye." James waves back and watches them leave. He looks down for a second and sees the boy dropped his baseball. He picks it up and follows the woman. 

"Hey, ma'am. Your son dropped his ball." 

She turns around, wide-eyed. 

"Oh! That silly ball." She grabs it from his hand, noticing the gloves he's wearing. "Thanks." 

She points to his hand. "Did you get a burn?"

He looks at his hand and tightens his jaw. 

"Uh, yeah. It's healing." He looks down. 

"Well, Elijah, what do you say to this nice man?"

"Tank you," the child says with a big grin. 

James gives a small smile. "You're welcome, kid." He quickly turns away, putting his hands in the pockets of his jacket. 

After walking a bit further past the bench, he walks down toward the pond and sees a few ducks coming up to him. He bends down and tries to touch them but stops when realizing his gloves. He sighs and looks down at the grass. I will never be normal again. Looking up, he sees the young couple again. His mind begins to think about Zoe and how she makes him feel normal. She doesn't know the real me. He shakes his head and begins his walk elsewhere. 

~

After waking up rather tired from her stressful night, Zoe plans a day out before her shift in the afternoon. Wanting to avoid the same situation, she decides to go to the store before work. She eats breakfast and heads out of her apartment. The sun is bright and she enjoys the bustling of the roads. She walks past a park on her way to the store. After grabbing a few items for the rest of the week, she heads back to her apartment. It dawns on her that the day is rather beautiful and she should enjoy the sunshine. She decides to walk in the park after dropping her groceries off.