homecoming » bucky barnes AU

chapter twenty one

Almost a week had passed when Laecie had made the decision to stay home while James worked.

She had spent the week with Steve and her friends, away from James. They had went to the park and played soccer together, they'd gone to the beach and Laecie and Steve had even been on a date, and it was good. They'd had sex a couple of times, too. But, it didn't quite measure up.

Laecie convinced herself that it was normal to feel this way after leaving a relationship (sort of) and moving on. Steve was lovely, but she wasn't sure she felt the way she had thought about him.

Somewhat luckily enough, after a morning spent together the previous day, Laecie and Steve had come to the conclusion that perhaps this wasn't working out at this time. They kissed and lay together for a while after, but ultimately their intimate relationship had come to an end. Laecie was relieved in a way. It was nice to just be back to normal with her friend and she didn't have to worry about being a certain way with him. However, she was feeling a little embarrassed that it didn't work out after making such a big deal about it in front of James that night at Natasha's.

Steve hadn't spoke to James since that night either as far as he had told Laecie.

But, this morning, she had nowhere to escape off to in order to avoid the brooding brunette in her garden. She went down to the patio and sat at the table with a book. It was a romance novel, something she loved to read when her heart was aching so she could still feel a small fraction of the emotion you could feel when you were in love.

Her sunglasses sat on her nose comfortably as her eyes scanned over the words scattered over the pages below. She chewed her lip absentmindedly.

Below, she could hear James rattling around but she chose to ignore him. She didn't really have much of a choice. The sun kissed her skin comfortingly, her anxious stomach easing with the welcoming heat. She let out a sigh.

Thomas' cold fingertips ran sensually down Theodora's shoulder as it dragged her nightgown down her side...

Laecie flicked the page.

His soft, pink lips kissed from her temple and down her jaw as he did, gently caressing her shoulder for a moment. His green eyes looked up to her as he pulled back, staring to her longingly for a moment.

Laecie raised her eyebrows as she continued to read more and more, engaging with the story, imagining a man anywhere near as good as Lord Thomas Sundrey. She sighed and read on.

As his breath finally faltered, he pulled out from Theodora and kissed her softly, laying nude beside her and holding her as if she were the most delicate flower he'd ever laid his eyes on. He nestled his chin into her neck and breathed, "I love you."

Laecie found herself in tears. The story wasn't particularly sad, but she just wanted to be loved, she guessed. Properly, truly loved and taken care of. It obviously hadn't helped that she had been through two very different breakups in a little over a week.

She shut the book over and stood up. She swept her cheeks of tears with the back of her wrists quickly, composing herself. Carefully, she peered over the side of the patio, down to the pool, to see if James was still there. She looked around a little, allowed herself a satisfactory smile, then went inside to grab her small radio from the desk in her room. Perhaps a nap in the sun now that James had moved onto work elsewhere would help ease her mind a little.

She changed into her bikini and brought the radio out with her as she padded barefoot down the second set of steps to the pool. She put herself on her usual lounger and popped her sunglasses back on her face. She flicked the radio on and lay back to nap.