Come Back With Me

You Kissed Her?

"Bucky?" Riley asks.

The only Bucky he knows is standing in the other room but surely it isn't him. He always thought that Lizzie and Bucky had a familial type of relationship.

It can't be him, can it?

"Yes, Bucky," Lizzie confirms.

"Bucky Barnes?" Riley asks.

"Yes," Lizzie says.

Riley finally snaps. His girl was going behind his back with her best friend. He trusted them together.

"What the hell, Elizabeth?!" Riley yells.

Bucky was waiting just outside the room. He was attempting to listen but they were too quiet to hear. That was until he heard Riley shout.

He runs in and sees Riley standing over Lizzie. He isn't particularly close and he doesn't seem to have any violent intent but it was still too close for Bucky.

He immediately puts himself between her and Riley.

"What the hell are you doing?" Bucky yells.

He can feel Lizzie rest her hand on the small of his back behind him. He knows she is trying to relax him but he knows it won't work this time.

He always thought that Riley wouldn't hurt a fly but he is incredibly surprised when he punches him in the face.

"You kissed her?" Riley yells.

He is so pissed off that he can't help but push Riley's buttons a bit.

"Oh, I've done a lot more than kiss her," Bucky says.

"Jamie!" Lizzie says from behind him.

Riley goes to hit him again but Bucky is ready this time and blocks the punch. Bucky goes to hit him but Steve walks in between them.

He must have heard the yelling and come to break up the fight.

"Let's all calm down," Steve says.

Bucky could easily move his friend out of the way but he won't do that to him. He'll just go around Steve instead.

Riley is still angry but he won't hit Bucky again, he will defend himself though if Bucky decides to retaliate.

Lizzie manages to work her way around Bucky and moves in front of him.

She stands in front of him and holds his face in her hands. He doesn't look at her but continues to glare at Riley over Steve and Lizzie's heads.

She pulls on his head so he is forced down to look at her.

As blue eyes meet blue eyes, he looses the fight that's in him.

"Jaime, please calm down," she says.

She begins running her fingers through his hair like she knows he likes.

He rests his forehead against hers and takes some deep breaths.

Riley gets a pit in his stomach at the sight.

So that's what Lizzie looks like when she's in love.

She never looked at him the way she is looking at Bucky.

He needs to leave, he can't watch them together like this.

"Contact me if you decide to meet up with Royce," Riley says.

"I'm sorry, Riley," she says regretfully.

"We can't help who we fall in love with Lizzie, even if we wish we didn't," Riley says sadly before leaving the house.

Steve silently slips from the room after Riley leaves so the couple can talk alone.

Bucky turns back to Lizzie and strokes her cheek.

"He didn't hurt you did he?" Bucky asks softly.

"No, I was the only one doing the hurting," Lizzie says.

She then gets a good look at Bucky and notices he has a bruise forming on his cheekbone from where Riley had hit him.

"Well, I guess he did hurt you," Lizzie says.

Now that the adrenaline was wearing off, he was beginning to feel the pain in his face.

She notices his slight wince of pain.

"Sit," Lizzie says firmly.

Bucky sits on the couch and Lizzie comes back from the kitchen with a bag of peas and places it over his face.

Lizzie takes a seat next to him and he immediately takes hold of her hand.

"Are you alright?" Lizzie asks.

"Yeah, to be honest I kind of deserve it. I'd do worse if some guy tried to kiss you while we were together," Bucky says.

He knows how guilty she must feel right now and he's worried about how the conversation with Riley effected her.

"Are you alright?" Bucky asks her.

"I love you so much and I'm so happy we are together, I just sometimes wish that there wasn't so much pain involved getting here," Lizzie says.

He understands where she is coming from. He knows that Lizzie has the biggest heart and she hurts when other people hurt.

"I know I should have ended things with him as soon as I realized I loved you. I was scared of being with you but that was no reason to keep stringing him along," Lizzie says.

"He was safe cause he didn't fully have your heart so he couldn't break it. I understand why you did it," Bucky says.

"That doesn't make me any less horrible," Lizzie says.

He never wants her to feel like she is any less than perfect.

"If you were horrible then you wouldn't be hurting right now. Besides, I was the instigator so I also deserve some of the blame," Bucky says.

They both fall into silence because they know they aren't going to change either of their minds. Continuing on would just lead to an argument.

"What are you going to do about Royce?" Bucky asks.

"I don't know what to do. The guy still terrifies me but I think this is an opportunity to get all the cards on the table," Lizzie says.

"What do you mean?" Bucky asks.

"Well, we're kinda living in fear right now not knowing if he's planning on coming after me or not. If we met with him, we might know what to expect," Lizzie says.

Lizzie knows that Bucky won't let her go alone and quite honestly she doesn't want to go alone.

"How do we know it's not some form of trap?" Bucky asks.

Bucky wouldn't put it above Royce to try something like that. He has enough reason to hate the pair of them.

"I don't think it is. Riley left the terms of the arrangement open to us. We get to decide how the events proceed. He can't very well plan a trap if we're the ones calling the shots," Lizzie says.

He knows she's right but he doesn't want her to do anything if she's not sure.

"I'll follow your lead on whatever you want to do. Whatever you want, I support you 100%," Bucky says.

Lizzie thinks through all the implications of her decision. Of all the possible pit falls and creates contingencies in her head. She knows that this is the best move.

"I want to do it. I want to see what Royce wants," Lizzie says.