April Showers | Bucky Barnes x Reader AU

10 | snow globe

A/N: It felt like things were going a little too well, sorry! More notes at the end.

Warnings: heavy drinking, mentions of vomiting (again, just a disclaimer that I have no experience with this sort of thing and have therefore done some minor research. It may not all be accurate.)

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"And that is how change happens. One gesture. One person. One moment at a time."
The Sweet Far Thing, Libs Bray

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Bucky's on cloud nine when he gets home. He closes the door gently and stands with his hand on the wood for a moment. Alpine approaches him, the bell on her collar emitting a soft jingle as she wraps herself around his ankles.

Bucky sighs. "Hey, you."

He picks her up and the fluffy cat purrs in his arms. It's been a whirlwind of a day. It's been a whirlwind of a week. Bucky feels like his life is a snow globe and someone's picked it up and shaken it. Hard.

His apartment feels too quiet now he's alone. He misses April's boisterousness and Y/N's voice. He'd forgotten how much he loves her accent. He always has been that typical American who finds an English accent is incredibly sexy.

He bought himself a bottle of whiskey on the way home. The cheap shit, figured if it didn't taste great, he would be less tempted to drink the whole bottle. But he has a pile of manuscripts to read and figures a glass or two to get him through won't do any harm. He just won't tell Steve. And it's better than a line of coke, right?

He settles on the couch with a bag of chips after pouring himself a few fingers of whiskey over ice. He puts the bottle away once he's done, feeling a little bit proud of the small things he's doing that he thinks will help. The pile of manuscripts on the coffee table in front of him looks daunting all of a sudden and with a sigh, he picks up the first one. It's the thriller. Not his favourite genre but he'll skim read, send Steve his notes in shorthand.

Twenty pages in, he gets bored. The main character is annoying him to no end and the overuse of the word 'suddenly' is making him want to pull his hair out.

He's going to have to power through, Steve will have his head if he doesn't. He pulls the lid from his trusty red biro and gets to work.

He can't concentrate, mind wandering to possible scenarios of a life he could have with Y/N and April. Alpine curls up next to him on the couch and he has a thought. Reaching for his phone, he pulls up the short text chain he has with Y/N.

Bucky [Sent 00:14]
Does April like cats?

He puts his phone down, it's late and he imagines she's probably asleep. Or not. His phone dings and his stomach dips like he's on a rollercoaster.

Y/N [Sent 00:16]
Loves them! I took her to a cat cafe for her 8th birthday and she burst into tears. xxx

Bucky laughs, making Alpine jump.

"Sorry, Alps." He gives her an apology scratch behind the ear which she seems to accept, settling back into slumber. His gaze falls back to his phone and he types out a reply.

Bucky [Sent 00:18]
Happy tears, I hope! What are you doing Sunday? xxx

Three kisses. Just like they used to.