affliction

fifty-two

early update I wonder why hmmmmm idk

Beth's POV

Me and Bucky just got out of the elevator and onto a floor I haven't been to yet since I've been back. We're walking slowly down the hallway, hand in hand.

I look up at him. "You really went and visited it alone?"

He nods. "Yep. Almost every day." He sighs, then continues. "You would visit it all the time and just stare at it, remembering your childhood and the good memories from it. I felt like someone should be there to do the same thing while you were gone."

My heart pangs in my chest. He informed me that he visited my childhood home daily while I was gone, I'm in awe at this man. I don't reply, I just squeeze his hand tighter and lead my head onto his upper arm as we walk.

We finally reach a set of big double doors. He uses his left hand to open up one of them, ushering me inside. Once I step in, I notice that it's big open room that's got a dance floor, a bar, a bunch of seating, and a few instruments.

I turn to him. "What is this, a ballroom?"

He nods. "It is. It's where Tony hosts all his parties."

I lift one of my brows. "Where's my coming home party?"

He rolls his eyes. "Oh trust me, he tried to have one the second we got you back. We all had to stop him, would've been in poor taste. You didn't have a single clue who we even were at the time."

I laugh and start to pull him down the stairs to the main floor. "Hey, a party might've livened me up. You never know."

He smiles down at me. "The second you get all your memories back, I promise I'll have him throw you a party."

I tried to hide my smile and turn my gaze away from him. I lift my fist to my mouth and cough out, "push over."

He laughs loudly as we reach the bottom of the stairs, him leading me to the center of the room. "You're a push over, too. You just can't remember it because you have soup for a brain."

I fake gasp. "A memory loss joke? Ouch."

He smiles. "Too soon?"

I shake my head. "Never."

He finishes pulling me across the room and then suddenly stops. I look in front of me and see the piano. I turn towards him, "What, do you play?"

"Kind of. I played when I was younger, it was a real hit with the women."

I laugh. "So, why are we here then?"

He turns towards me. "Remember how I told you that you played piano, and that you played it well?" I nod. He sits down and pats the spot next to him. "Sit." I do as he says and wait for him to continue. He sighs. "Okay, so you played me a song once and told me the song made you think of me." He grabs two knobs that are about my waist level and lifts, pushing the piece of wood back and exposing the keys. "While you were gone, I taught myself the song. It's not as good as when you play it, but you'll get the general gist."

My eyes soften. I wave my hand in front of the keys, motioning for him to play it. "Well, go on then. I wanna hear it."

He turns his head and looks me in my eyes. "Okay, but just keep in mind that before learning this, I've only played the piano once since like 1940. And that one time was with you. So, just.. don't judge me too hard."

I swear I can feel my heart crack in half. He's so nervous. I grab his chin, leaning up and pressing my lips to his cheek. "I would never judge you. Anyway, I'm sure you're great. Start whenever you're ready." I rub his arm and then scoot to the edge of the seat to give him more room.