Saved - A Bucky Barnes love story

I think you have an admirer

When you get to the bar all hell is going on there. Today, in addition to you and Mary, your colleague Amber and your boss Liv are in the bar. When you come behind the counter to put on your apron, you can see that your colleagues have noticed that something is wrong with you. They have known you long enough to know when Brock has become violent again. You never told them the details, but the injuries speak for themselves. All of you have been so busy all evening that no one can ask any questions. When the last guest has left you, and Amber clear the tables and then help Mary and Liv clean up the bar. "Ok honey, can you tell us what's going on or do we have to pull it out of your nose" Liv asks casually while drying a glass. "What do you mean?" you ask nervously and avoid her gaze. Before Liv can say anything, Amber answers. "No offense sweetie, but you never wear makeup. Unless your boyfriend used you as a punching bag again." She comes to you, puts a hand on your shoulder and bends down to look you in the eye. "The makeup covers bruises right?" "Guys, that's nothing, really. I ... we had a little argument. I guess I provoked it" you still can't really look them in the eye. You know you can trust them. Once you just couldn't hold back and broke down in front of them. The moment it happened, you were so afraid of the consequences. That Brock would find out about it. But they promised you that they wouldn't tell anyone until you're ready. And so far they have all stuck to it. "Michelle, this has to stop. Nobody can earn as much as you spend a month on makeup. Apart from what he does to your body and soul with it" Liv is seriously worried about you, you can see that in her face. In all the years you have worked for her, she has become a kind of mother substitute. You can't really remember your biological mother, you were too young when your parents were killed in a fire. But that's exactly how you always imagined a mother to be. Someone who cares about you, who always listens to you and who is always there for you. Someone who does what is in your best interests, even if it may not be the right thing to do. "It's not that bad, really. I promised him to come home straight after work. But instead I had a drink with Mary here. I can understand why he was upset about it." You try to justify that he beat you up. You're almost glad they only know about the beatings. You don't even want to imagine what would happen if they also knew about the sexual assault. "Stop protecting him. He will never stop beating you unless you finally do something about it," says Amber. "But he does love me. And he always apologizes afterwards. Well mostly at least. And I ... I need him" you say with bowed head. It's almost a whisper. Liv shakes her head "of course, and next time he'll hit you even harder. Come on Michelle, you have to see that this has absolutely nothing to do with love." "But I don't have anyone but him," you mumble to yourself, knowing that this is not true. But through all the years that Brock has robbed you of your self-confidence and your self-esteem, it is almost impossible for you to recognize the truth as such. "That's not true and you know it too. And you know that you can stay with me at any time if he doesn't support you any more," says Mary before she puts her arms around your shoulders from behind. You put your hands over hers and notice how it is getting harder to hold back your tears from second to second. "But how could I leave him? If he does this to me when he loves me, what will he do to me when I leave him?" your voice breaks at these words. Now Liv puts her hand on your shoulder too. "Hey we will do everything we can to prevent him from harming you. We could go to the police anytime. You know that we are all behind you. And it looks like you have a admirer" she says, pointing behind you. You take a moment to pull yourself together before you turn around. The man in the leather jacket is standing at the door. He looks as if he is feeling uncomfortable, he has his hands buried deep in his trouser pockets and he looks shyly at the floor. You can't explain it to yourself, but somehow you're happy to see him again. You feel kind of bad because you just left him in the market. You walk slowly towards him. "I'm slowly becoming sure that you are stalking me," you say, which elicits that sweet, somehow insecure smile from him again. His voice sounds different than it did this morning. Kind of sad and ... broken? "I just wanted to apologize if I said or did anything wrong in the market," he still looks down at the floor. You give him a gentle smile which he seems to see out of the corner of his eye. He's finally looking at you properly and you can see how his sad face brightens up a bit. "You only invited me for coffee. No reason to feel bad," you assure him. "But you looked so upset and scared when you left" again he looks at you as if he had done something bad to you. "Believe me, it wasn't because of you" you smile at him encouragingly when you realize that you still don't know his name. "I guess it's about time you give me your name. Otherwise it'll get really weird." He laughs. It's that kind of laugh again that you've never noticed at Brock. It's a sincere, seemingly heartfelt, serious laugh. It makes you smile a little wider. "My name is James Buchanan Barnes. But please call me Bucky. What's your name?" You playfully hold out your hand as you say, "I'm Michelle. Michelle Taylor. Nice to meet you, Bucky." He shakes your hand in a playful move. When you touch it, you have the feeling that your whole body is being struck by an intense electric shock. You have never felt anything like this before. Despite the intensity, it is a wonderful feeling. It takes a lot of strength to remove your hand from his. You release your hands and look at each other for a moment without saying anything. Then his gaze falls on the counter behind you where your colleagues are. He clears his throat "I guess I'm late for a drink, right?" You are confused for a second, turn around and see that Liv is counting the money in the till and Amber and Mary are talking. "Oh .. um .. yes we are actually closed" you say and suddenly you are shy again. Bucky seems kind of nervous too. He steps from one leg to the other as he says, "um ... maybe I can take you home?" he asks and looks at you questioningly. Immediately the fear begins to gain the upper hand in you again. After Brock was waiting for you in your apartment yesterday, you can't risk not coming home straight after work. You don't even want to think about what Brock would do if he saw you with another man. What if Brock did something to Bucky? "Thanks for the offer, but I don't think that's a good idea," you say and look at him apologetically. You are about to say goodbye and bring him to the door when Liv joins your conversation. "To be honest, that's a great idea. Then I can be sure that you will get home safely," she goes to the cloakroom and fetches your handbag. You look at her and ask her with your gaze what exactly she was thinking. While she hands you your handbag and then takes off your apron, she signals to you with her look that she is sure that this is a good idea. With a sigh you give in and turn back to Bucky. "So shall we go?" he asks you. You say goodbye to your colleagues before you say "yes, let's go." As you go outside through the door, you pray that Brock will never find out about this.