Unchained Melody

Chapter 7

When I woke up I was facing away from Bucky, who was still on my bed. His arm was underneath me, around my waist holding me flush to his chest. I attempted to wiggle my way off of the bed. His grip around me tightened with each movement.
"Please don't leave me." He whined softly. He didn't even seem to be awake, just talking in his sleep.
I sighed softly and rolled over to face him. My hand came up to gently brush his hair from his face. "I need to go wash my face, Buck. My eyes are all puffed up and gross."
He shakes his head, "It looks cute like that."
I rolled my eyes as I studied the features of his face while he slept. My fingers slid to his ear, gently running my fingertip over the top of it.
His eyes opened slowly, a soft smile forming on his lips as he locked his eyes onto mine. "See, absolutely adorable."
"You must be soo lonely that you're seeing things. I guess not getting any for, hmm, 80 years does something to a man." I smiled back trying not to bust out laughing.
"I hate you." He rolled over to face away from him.
I couldn't help but bust out laughing. Rolling over before I sat up to get out of bed. Walking over to the kitchen to splash some water on my face and grab a cup of orange juice. "You could have moved to your own bed. The twin bed is not made for two."
"Or we could put our beds together. Make one big bed." He rolled onto his back now, placing his hand under the back of his head.
I gasp, "James Buchanan Barnes! How are you supposed to bring cute Wakandan women home when you are sharing a bed with another woman?"
He rolled his eyes and got up before walking over to me at the counter. "Who says I want to bring other women home?"
"Your track record, Bucky." I patted him on the back as I went to go grab my backpack. "You dated like how many people from when we met till we went MIA?"
He huffed under his breath. "It was never anything serious! I couldn't have who I wanted anyway."
"HA! They are probably dead now anyway." I smiled at him while he stared at me with a blank face. I took a sip of my orange juice while watching him.
"No." He was mumbling to himself while he started to make himself a bowl of cereal. "It's you."
My orange juice flew out of my mouth as I started laughing. I set my cup down so I didn't spill it before wrapping my arms over my stomach, laughing to a point where tears ran down my cheeks. "You're... Ok... HAHA... It's... It's no time for jokes."
"I'm telling you the truth!"
"Ya, I don't believe you. You're probably just horny." I snorted as I tried to catch my breath. "Even if you did mean it, Steve would murder you. Shit, you would murder you. If you ever saw anyone look at me with malicious intent you'd rip their head off... which makes a lot of sense as to why you were so ruthless with some missions. Huh."
He rolled his eyes as he grabbed a towel and threw it at me. "Ok kid."
"Whatever you say, old man." I stuck my tongue out at him. The towel landed on my lap and I used it to wipe the orange juice off of my face and then the floor. I opened up my backpack to pull out the file.
Bucky rushed over and grabbed it from me before I could even pull it all the way out. "No."
"But... Buckyyy!"
"Again, no. You don't need to know anything in that envelope. I know how it feels to remember. The only thing keeping me sane is having you around me. So, for a third time. No."
I slumped into my chair, crossing my arms over my chest.
"We can give it to your brother. If he wants to read it then he can read it and let you know the important stuff. But you will not be reading it. Not after what it did to you last night." He set the file down on the counter before going back to his cereal. "And don't try to pull anything smooth. I will hide it and I will know if you looked at it."
"Fine... then no big bed," I smirked. Maybe he wants it enough to give the file back.
"That's fine," He shrugged as he brought the spoon up to his mouth and took a bite. "I don't mind sharing a twin. You were the one with the problem."
I groaned and rolled my eyes.
"Be mad at me all you want Melody. I refuse to see you hurt like that." He continued to eat as he talked. Taking the last few bites then setting the bowl in the sink before walking over to open the curtains, letting the sunshine into the small hut.
I dramatically hissed at the light as I brought a blanket up to cover my eyes. I heard a chuckle before I was lifted up out of my chair and thrown over Bucky's shoulder.
He carried me outside and over to the edge of the pond across from the hut. "I'll throw you in. Say you're sorry for laughing at me!"
"N-No Bucky!" I flailed my arms and kicked my legs all while laughing. "Don't! You can't get your arm wet!" I wrapped my arms around his waist, trying to hold on for dear life.
He laughed, for the first time in what feels like forever, before setting me down. "Ok. Ok. I won't throw you... I'll push you."
Within seconds I was sitting at the bottom of the pond. I gasped as I came up for air, wiping my face off with my hands, completely drenched. My eyes locked on Bucky, who was sprinting back towards the hut, probably to get away from me. "You get your ass back here, Barnes."
"It looks like you two are having a good morning." Shuri, T'Challa's younger sister came walking down the path and over to the pond. She extended me a hand to help me out.
"You could say that," I took her hand and climbed out of the pond.
Shuri was the princess of Wakanda. She was probably one of the kindest and smartest people you could ever meet. She also had a great sense of humor, in my opinion. Shuri is the one who will be working to fix Bucky's arm.
"Well, I have come by to discuss his arm." She said softly as we began walking towards the hut. "We have started to rebuild the actual arm. I want to get the old arm off of him and put in the mechanism that the new one will be attached to in the next few days. By the time he recovers from the surgery his new arm should be done."
"So what you're saying is his arm will be removable?"
"Essentially. If there's ever an issue where he goes out of control or it stops working correctly I want you or someone to be able to take it from him. It won't completely immobilize him but it should help." She pulled up the hologram of the blueprints on her phone to show me.
"When do you want him then? I would love for you to take him off my hands for a couple of hours. If you cant tell he's been a pain." I motioned to my drenched clothes.
She laughed as she nodded back to me. "We can start tomorrow if you would like. Give you two enough time to prep. He shouldn't take too long to recover but he should be good to go by the time the arm is finished."
I nodded. "Thank you so much, Shuri. I really appreciate all that you and your brother have done for us these past few weeks."
"It's our pleasure," she hummed softly. "Oh, Melody. I would suggest that you don't tell him that you can remove the arm. It might be pointless if he knows that you can do that to him. Once it is on I will teach you what you need to know."
I smiled, nodding a little faster, "Thank you!"
She began to walk away before spinning back around. "One more thing! The King would like to see you at some point today. I don't know what for, he should be in all day today."
"Alright! I will probably see you then, then. Have a good day!" I watched her walk back down the path until she was out of sight before heading back into the hut.
Bucky was waiting with a towel.
I snatched it from him and walked over to where we had all of our clothes. Closing the curtain so that I could change in peace."Shuri wanted to let us know that you can go up to the palace tomorrow and start getting your arm changed out. She also said T'Challa wanted to see me today." I pulled on a new pair of ripped skinny jeans and a tank top. "Is that alright with you?"
"Mhm," he hummed softly as he waited for me.
Once I was dressed I opened the curtain back up and grabbed my jacket. Walking over to leave a gentle peck on his head before walking to the door. Closing the curtains to block off the door before I walked through them, off to the palace.

When I got there T'Challa was waiting outside for me. "How are you doing?"
"We have been doing alright. As I told Shuri, thank you for everything. I really appreciate everything you guys have done for us." I smiled as I walked over to him. Following him into the palace.
We walked for a little while and just chatted. Trying to get to know each other. It was pleasant to be in his company. He was a lot like his sister in that way, kind, smart, and caring. I could probably go on for hours.
He asked if everything has been going well with Bucky. He wanted to make sure that Bucky has had enough time to work on his memories, and to get back a better mindset. One of the main reasons we decided to come to Wakakanda was because Bucky needed somewhere that he could rest, to try and work through everything that was going on in his head. Try to be happy like he was before the war. From my viewpoint, he seemed to be close to there. He was happy again, and talkative.
Another thing he brought up was us going home. He told me that he had talked to Steve. Steve told him that he was able to sort everything out with Tony and that, when we are ready, we can return home. Honestly, that was the best thing I had heard in months. Finally able to go home and not have any problems, not be hunted by the government. Sounds like it's completely impossible.
It was practically nighttime when we were done. I joined him and his family for dinner before he had given me a ride back to the hut.