Willow And The Winter Soldier (Bucky Barnes X OC)

Her Broken Heart

April 2nd, 2021

"Do you think I should tell him about my exes ?" Willow asked her friends as they were calling on Discord.

"In my opinion", Dysariel started, "you should wait. You don't know each other for very long. Once you are sure you can trust him, yes."

"Or once we met him", joked Ophelia. "We'll be able to tell you if he's got red flags."

They all laughed at this. However, Willow couldn't stop thinking about her feelings for James and her past relationships that made her very unconfident about a new one.

✪✪✪

Willow's first ex-boyfriend, Veil, was really sweet at the beginning. It was a long-distance relationship so they only saw each other during ays.holidays. They stayed together for two and a half years. But over time, Veil began to judge Willow moree and more, saying that she should wear makeup because she looked like a child. This made Willow very uncomfortable because she didn't like makeup, it wasn't her. She tried anyway.

Then, Willow had to go to a hospital for teenagers due to her school phobia and depression. It was great for her because she got to know other people who had similar problems, but also to go back to school little by little as there was a school part inside the establishment. She was hospitalised for over a year and being with nurses, psychologists and psychiatrists made her want to become a psychologist herself. She wanted to help people.

Willow decided to share this new dream with Veil, but he only answered by the fact that she would never achieve it because she was depressed. He never supported her in what she loved. At this time, they were together for more than two years, and he had started to drink a lot. She tried to help him but he didn't want any help from anyone.

Veil started to be meaner and meaner, criticising every move, words and reactions Willow had. Her family noticed all those things and kept telling her to run away from him. Unfortunately, she had developed an emotional dependence toward him and she didn't want to admit that breaking up was the solution. That the relationship was toxic.

During summer 2018, she found a student job and met wonderful people. It was a new experience and she really enjoyed it. She made new friends which hadn't happened since she met Veil. That's when she realised she didn't love him anymore. The breakup wasn't easy, especially as it was on the phone. But it was also a big relief for Willow. She stopped being sad and anxious. She felt stronger and happier.

After struggling with depression and school phobia, she obtained her baccalauréat at 20 in 2019, and decided to start studying Literature, Languages and Foreign Civilisations in English. During her first year, she met Zephyr and Tiana. And at the beginning of 2020, she met William on a dating app. The second ex-boyfriend.

They started dating really fast. Way too fast. And Willow started another emotional dependence. They stayed together for about 8 month. After a few months, Willow started noticing some weird things. She did her research and found out that William was lying to her. Not just little lies. He was lying about his life, his identity. Everything. When she started to confront him, he only told her that she was sick. He played with her feelings and manipulated her.

After all this, it was even harder for Willow to trust people. She needed to heal. She continued her studies and during her second years, she met Dysariel, Ophelia and Axel. It then led us to 2021 when she met James.

She felt like James was different, she was really comfortable around him. But her friends were right, she needed to know him better before fully trusting him. Before starting something with him. It was hard because she wasn't really patient.

✪✪✪

1:15 pm. She still had two hours before meeting James at his hotel. However, for the first time since they met, she was really anxious. What if he didn't share her feelings? What if he was like her exes? What if her issues ruined another relationship?

More and more questions came to her mind, making her feel like she was a burden. Tears started to blur her vision. It was difficult for her to breathe and her heart was pounding in her chest. She felt really sick and had to run to the bathroom where she threw up. Her whole body was shaking.

After having somewhat recovered her breath, she decided to take a shower. She stayed a moment, enjoying the hot water passing on her body, each drop washing the anxiety. When she finally felt a bit better, she got out of the shower and was taken by a great fatigue. She decided to lie down on her bed for a few minutes. But she fell asleep without setting an alarm.

✪✪✪

She was awakened by the doorbell. It was 3:30 pm. Fuck. She suddenly stood up, opened her window to say that she was coming in a second, dressed as fast as she could and went downstairs to open the door. Bucky was there.

"James, I'm so so sorry, I fell asleep."

"Don't worry, I was just worried because you weren't here and didn't answer my messages or my calls. So I decided to come see if everything was fine."

"Do you wanna come in?" Willow asked, not wanting to let him in the cold.

"Sure, thank you." James was also welcomed by Scamp who brought him one of his toys. "I can see that you're still full of life." He said as he sat on one of the stools in the kitchen.

"Is it okay for you if we stay here, I can make hot chocolate like we said last week. It won't be like at the hotel but..."

"Willow, I'm sure it'll be even better."

She smiled and her cheeks turned red which James noticed. He thought she was really beautiful.

She started to take the milk out of the fridge and the chocolate powder out of the cupboard. She then poured the milk into a pot.

"You'll tell me when the temperature is correct for you."

"Do what you're used to doing, I'll adapt. If it's too hot, I can wait and it'll allow us to talk more."

"As you wish", she said as she poured the hot milk into two mugs.

They both added the quantity of chocolate they wanted and James swore that it was the best hot chocolate of his life.

"Okay, so why were you asleep?" James finally asked.

"It wasn't supposed to happen, I swear", Willow panicked.

"Willow, Willow," he stopped her, taking her hand in his, "it's fine. I'm not mad. I'm not gonna lie, I thought you forgot me or didn't want to see me, but it made no sense so I came. And I don't regret it."

"I'm happy then. Well, I started to feel unwell and needed a shower, but after that I suddenly was so tired and I didn't notice I was falling asleep. But I feel better now, especially after a good hot chocolate."

"Oh, so I'm losing against a beverage ?"

"Yeah, sorry Mr Barnes but we have a special relationship. You can't compete with that."

They both laughed at their stupid jokes. And continued talking, until it was time for James to leave because he had another meeting for his future new company.

"My holidays start in two weeks, so if you want we can see each other when I don't study for my exams?" Willow's heart was beating so loudly she was sure James could hear it.

"I'd love to. I'll pick you up here if you want and we can maybe eat somewhere."

"Yes, that'd be great."

He kissed her on the cheek, making her blush again. They said goodbye, and during the evening they sent each other a message saying "goodnight