ʙᴀᴅ ʀᴇᴘᴜᴛᴀᴛɪᴏɴ

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴇɪɢʜᴛ: ʙʀᴜɪꜱᴇꜱ

Bucky keeps looking between your eyes and the bruise on your arm. Thankfully he hasn't noticed that you have a matching one on your other arm. You contemplate lying to him, because you're scared of how he's going to react. Jace is very good at pushing buttons and the last thing you want is for Bucky to get in trouble because of you.

Except you don't want to lie to Bucky. Not now, not ever. You love that you can both be open and vulnerable with one another, you don't want to risk losing all of it for a stupid lie. Especially a lie about Jace, of all people.

"You have to stay calm." You warn him.

You should have known that telling him that would have the absolute opposite effect.

Bucky sits up and pushes away the covers. "Up."

"James..."

"Toots." He says in a very serious tone, letting you know he's not playing around.

You sigh and sit up, your heart is racing in your chest from how nervous you are.

Bucky sees the bruise on your other arm right away. He reaches over with both hands to touch your bruises but stops before making contact with your skin.

He looks down at his hands, then your arms, then his hands again and you see the exact moment he realizes where they come from.

"I'm gonna kill that asshole."

His eyes are filled with anger, you've never seen him like this and you don't like it.

"I'm fine." You remind him, speaking in a soothing voice with the hopes it'll help calm him down.

"That-" He gestures to your bruises. "That's not being fine. You don't put your hands on a woman, ever. You don't cheat on them either. He wants to be a violent asshole, I'll show him."

Bucky gets out of his bed and grabs his jeans, pulling them on as he looks around for his shirt.

"What are you doing?" Your brows furrow with confusion as you watch him.

"I'm going to find him and I'm going to make sure he never comes near you again."

"What? Bucky, no." You shake your head and rush out of bed to stand between him and the door. "You're going to get back into bed and you're going to avoid him as much as humanly possible."

"Why would I do that?" He stops moving, a few feet in front of you.

"Because I don't want you anywhere near him."

You can see his jaw clench and unclench.

"Are you serious right now?"

"Dead serious." You cross your arms in front of you.

"I can't believe you. You're protecting him? Taking his side? After what he did to you?"

What he says hits you like a slap in the face. You drop both arms on your sides and you look at him with wide eyes.

"I am not trying to protect him or take his side. I am trying to protect you because that's exactly what Jace wants. At the first thing you'll do he's going to have you arrested. I was trying to protect you."

The sad and hurt look on your face is enough to calm Bucky down. It feels like a bucket of ice cold water has been dropped on him.

"Toots." He takes a step toward you but you raise your hand in front of you to stop him.

"I think we're both very tired right now and it's best if we stop talking." You walk past him to grab your bag and put on your shoes.

"Wait, don't go. Please." He turns around to look at you.