With a list of names written in his little brown book, Bucky Barnes is determined to make amends for all he has done. But when he can't make amends with the man that saved the world, he has no other option but to turn to his daughter - Estella Stark.
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Birthdays. They used to be one of Estella's favourite days of the year, especially her own birthday. The thrill of opening her presents in the morning used to be too much for her to sleep at night, and the excitement in the morning would always wake her up more than what a cup of coffee could do. She thrived off the feeling of everyone's eyes on her, wide smiles plastered across everyone's faces as her fingers ripped apart wrapping paper. The presents were exciting and having a room full of people there for her made her feel so incredibly loved and appreciated. But there was only ever one person she wanted there on her birthday, and that was her dad.
It was the only day of the year that he would set aside his business and inventions to spend the whole day, or even the weekend, with his first-born daughter. He was one of the busiest men in the world, so he could not spent every single day with her, but he always ensured that her birthdays made up for all their lost time. He would take her all around the world, have the biggest birthday parties, and she would have so many birthday presents that she would have to get Tony's staff to help her unwrap it all. Estella loved the amazing privileges she had to even receive all these extravagant things; but the young woman only ever wanted one thing for her birthday, and that was Tony. As long as he was just there, she would be the happiest girl on the planet.
This year, for obvious reasons, was not going to be one of the birthdays she would cherish forever. In fact, as her eyes fluttered open on the morning of her birthday, she decided that she would spend her day underneath the warm covers in her bed and sleep until it was no longer her birthday. She hoped that Tilly and Darcy would waltz in her room with the tons of alcohol they had bought the day before in attempt to celebrate, and in which, Estella would only leave the comfort of her bed to get completely and utterly blackout drunk. Either way, she did not want to remember her birthday. There was nothing good about it this year.
Nothing but a mere reminder of what she has lost. Nothing to gain, no experiences worth a second of her time.
Perhaps it did not make it any better that she was yet to talk to Pepper or Morgan. There were a few missed calls left on her phone that she had not bothered to do anything about, and she had luckily managed to dodge the blonde woman when Estella was out with Bucky. She never thought she would be one to self-sabotage the relationships around her, and here she was, ignoring a woman who went out of her way to raise her when Tony could not. The worst thing was she did not know why. Her tired eyes would stare at the phone beside her, lit up with Pepper's smiling face and her name written in white letters. She would feel relief having to avoid another minute of talking to her.
Maybe it was just because she felt guilty about the dinner the night of her graduation. Maybe she was too scared to allow herself to face the truth of her actions and apologise for the things she said, fearful that they would not forgive her. It was easier to avoid it all by talking to someone like Bucky, but she did not know why. She cared about what he thought of her and she was worried he would be annoyed by her and her problems, especially with the way she seemed to always take it out on him. But he listened to her, and he was kind. He somehow brought her some sense of peace just by listening.
