ᴛʜᴇ ꜱᴛᴀʀᴋ ᴛᴡɪɴꜱ

Chapter 9

Two days later

It is now the evening before mine and Peter's birthday. Knowing mum and dad they have probably planned some kind of surprise party. It really is a them thing to do.

"Hey S, you excited for our first birthday back home?" Peter settles himself next to me on the sofa. I look up from my book and send him a smile.

"Not really, it feels weird to be back home on our birthday. Knowing our parents there's probably going to be some kind of surprise party." I sigh and put my bookmark in the book I was reading. I place my book on the coffee table in front of us and grab my drink.

"I know, I feel the same way. Like I want to be excited because we're back home, but I really don't know how to act. It's weird, because we've been wanting to be back home on our birthday for as long as we remember." I take a sip of my drink and look Peter in the eyes.

"That is exactly what I was thinking. It's almost like there is this guilt inside me, yelling at me for celebrating our birthday when we were at Hydra. I mean, it wasn't much but we still celebrated it with people who care about us and those people weren't our parents. I just don't know how to feel."

"It's almost like we are punishing ourselves for finding a small sliver of happiness while in captivity." Peter says, a pained look indicating he's thinking.

"I don't know what to do P, I really don't" I sigh, letting my head fall against the soft cushion of the sofa.

"I say we try to enjoy it as much as we can, we'll get back to normal eventually. Hopefully." Peter looks out the window.

"Yeah, I guess that is the best thing we can do." I breathe out, fiddling with my fingers.

We sit together in silence, both staring out the window. Neither of us is saying a thing and we hear people behind us going into the kitchen and leaving. We're both in a sort of trance, this used to happen a lot at Hydra. Before we know it we're being called for dinner and an hour has passed. Peter and I look at each other and let out a little laugh.

"Let's go P, before we fall back in the trance" I laugh and get up. Before I can walk away I get pulled into a hug by Peter. I immediately return the hug and smile. I pull away from the hug and go to take a seat at the table. I sit down next to Bucky and Peter takes a seat in between Harley and me. Bucky and I hold hands underneath the table.

-

It is half past ten when I realise I haven't spoken much to Bucky yesterday and today, I wonder what he's doing. I get up from my seat next to dad on the sofa, and am about to leave to go look for Bucky, when dad asks me where I'm going.

"I just realised I haven't spoken to Bucky much yesterday and today so I'm going to go find him." I send dad a smile and walk towards Bucky's bedroom. I knock on the door and wait until I hear a faint 'come in'. I slowly open the door and immediately send an apologetic smile in his direction.

"I'm sorry" I say and turn my gaze toward my feet. It doesn't take long before a different pair of feet makes it way toward me. I feel Bucky's pointer finger and thumb lifting my chin so I am now looking at him.

"You have nothing to be sorry about, my love" He sends me a reassuring smile and I immediately feel a wave of relaxation wash over me.

"I didn't mean to" I say and I turn my gaze to the wall behind him.

"I know. Doll, you have absolutely nothing to be sorry about. I know that being back home is overwhelming for you. Even if you don't want to admit it, I know that's the truth." He smiles a soft smile and pulls me into a hug. I gladly return the hug. I stand on my tiptoes and bury my face in the crook of his neck. Bucky notices I'm on my tiptoes and he lifts me up so he's now holding me. I wrap my legs around his torso and feel a few tears make their way down my cheeks.

"Is there anything I can do to make whatever you're battling with right now easier?" Bucky whispers softly.

"Just hold me. Please." I sniffle and bury my face in his neck even more. He nods and walks over to his bed. He lays down and pulls me with him so I'm laying on top of him.

"That I can most certainly do." He places a little kiss behind my ear and I end up falling into a peaceful sleep.

-

I wake up to Bucky playing with my hair. I slowly open my eyes and turn to look at him. He smiles at me and places a quick yet passionate kiss on my lips. I return the kiss and lay my head back on his chest.

"Did you sleep okay?" Bucky places a kiss on my hair.

"Yeah, I always do when I'm with you." I kiss him on the lips and turn my head so I can see the clock on his nightstand, it is now five minutes until midnight. Bucky's eyes follow my gaze and he grins.

"It's five minutes until your birthday." I can't help but let out a little giggle after seeing him all giddy.

"It most certainly is." I smile at him, placing a kiss on his lips. We spend the next five minutes cuddling. The minute the clock turns to midnight Bucky captures my lips on his. He kisses me passionately and I kiss him back with the same amount of passion.

"Happy birthday, my love" He hugs me tight and places a kiss on my neck.

"Thank you so much, Buck," I hesitate for a split second, "I love you."

Bucky looks a little taken aback and it's making me anxious. The anxiety immediately disappeared as soon as I saw the huge grin starting to form on his face.

"I love you too." He pulls me towards him and engulfs me in a big hug. He whispers sweet nothings in my ear and places yet another kiss on my neck. After about ten minutes we decide to get up and go say happy birthday to Peter. When I open the door however, I see Peter already standing there, getting ready to knock on the door.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY P!" I throw my arms around my twin brothers' neck and hug him.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY S!" He immediately hugs me back. When I pull away from the hug I see Harley standing behind Peter.

"Happy birthday Soph" He hugs me and I hug back.

"Thank you Harls" We both turn around to see Bucky congratulating Peter and then pulling him into a hug. After we all talked for a bit we decided to go to bed.

I head back into Bucky's room and lie down in under the covers in his bed. It doesn't take long before I feel his arms around my waist and I'm being pulled toward his body. He buries his face in the crook of my neck and about ten minutes later we both fall asleep.