James Bucky Barnes, the former soldier, doesn't think he's got any gentleness left in him. But Grace Juniper Cunningham, the former child prodigy, strongly disagrees.
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"𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯."
"𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴�...
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1, 2, 3—
Bucky's door swung open before I got to 4. I stared at him in shock, feeling panicky suddenly, chest tight.
"Sorry," he muttered. He closed it for me to finish.
—4.
He opened it again.
"Hi," I said, a smile spreading over my face.
"Hi," he said, already smiling.
It was 7 in the morning. I would have come earlier, but I knew he'd be worried if I walked to the subway before sunrise.
"I, um..." I wasn't sure what to say, so I just closed the remaining distance between us and wrapped my arms around his waist, resting my head against his chest. His warm hand tangled into my hair, keeping me in place, and his cold hand slipped under the bottom of my sweater to touch my waist without obstruction.
"I love you," I told him. "I'm sorry."
"'S okay. I love you too."
"I feel really safe right now," I continued. "I'm anxious almost all the time lately, but not right now."
"Good," he said, tone sounding clipped for some reason.
"I promise. I know I'm right this time. I love you," I said, worried he might be mad at me now.
He didn't reply, and pulled me in even tighter, even more firmly against his chest. He didn't say anything for a long moment.
"Bucky?"
"Mm?"
"Why are we just standing here?"
"Give me a second, doll," he said gruffly.
"Are you mad at me?"
"No. I don't want you to see me cry."
Oh.
"It's okay!" I protested. "We can sit down."
"I'm not crying right now," he said. "Just give me a second to make sure I won't."
"You can cry if you need to."
"Nah."
I didn't realize it was possible for him to press the side of my cheek even closer into him. I couldn't look up or pull back to see his face at all.
"I love you?" I tried.
"Not helping," he grunted.
"I wish I could unzip your skin?" I tried again.
"Yeah," he said with a shaky laugh. "Keep going with that."
"I wanna see what your heart looks like."
"Yeah, okay. I'm good now, you fuckin' freak." His voice was still a little gravelly, though, and he held me for a beat longer before letting me go. He cleared his throat and stood aside. "Come in?"
