Touch in the Dark - Bucky Barnes

Chapter 8

* Like a butterfly, her wings began to unfold. *

    When Finley got to her apartment, everything was silent. The only thing she could see was the light coming from the bedroom. After she locked the front door, she took a deep breath before she braved going in there. She took slow hesitant steps forward, clutching the knob with shaky hands. Counting down a few seconds, she twisted the knob and tried to act like nothing was bothering her.

    She was shocked at what she had found. Daniel wasn't home. He must have accidentally left the light on to the bathroom, but there was no sign of him anywhere. Finley felt nauseous. Even though it was a refreshing thing that he wasn't home, it also worried her because she didn't know why he wasn't home. She decided that she was just going to go to bed and prepare for the next day.

    She had already told Daniel that she would be out for a work event. She gave him as many details as she could without revealing the location or the time. After the decently fun day she had with Tony and meeting the others, she wanted to spend time with Pepper and Tony to get to know them better. She was warming up to the idea of accepting the invitation for cocktails.

    It didn't take long for Finley to fall asleep. She needed the rest after not sleeping the night before. She slept through the night, only waking up once to notice that Daniel still hadn't come home. She sent him a text to check on him, but there had been no reply. Yes, Finley was worried...but she also had her mind on other things.

    As the morning sun rose and the clock was ticking closer to 8, Finley woke to a still empty apartment. She was hurt and even pissed that she hadn't heard anything from her boyfriend. He wouldn't talk to her, he wouldn't text her and he wasn't spending time with her.

    Finley had her suspicions that he was seeing someone else, but she wasn't going to call him out for that until she had proof. She hopped out of bed and jumped into the shower. She made sure to prepare herself for a fun day ahead. She wanted to make sure her legs were shaved, her body smelled good and she looked spectacular.

    By now, the only marks and bruises she had to worry about were the belt marks and the bruises on her jaw. She happily put on some comfortable clothes to wear to the Compound. Finley had to cover the ones on her face with her foundation before the makeup artist saw it. If she had to make an excuse as to why she did her base already, she would. Finley decided to pack a bag of extra clothes and essentials just in case she wanted to change out of her dress when they got back to the Compound.

    After her bag was packed, Happy sent her a text saying he was at their meetup spot. Finley quickly locked up the apartment and made her way to her driver. She was moving better than before and the pain from the belt wasn't as bad unless she put pressure on it. Finley and Happy greeted each other warmly. Finley was happy to see the man, excited for the day.

    "I see you're in a better mood today." Happy teased.

    Finley rolled her eyes, "Yea, yea. Today is going to be fun. Have you ever been to these kinds of events?" Finley wasn't going to admit out loud that she was extremely nervous.

    "Of course. I go to everything with Pepper and Tony. It can be...a little overwhelming or just intimidating...but once you get used to it and tune out the things that don't matter, it can actually be a lot of fun." His words of encouragement were nice, though Finley was still a bit anxious.

    They made it to the Compound, Happy jumping out of the car to let Finley out. Pepper opened the front door and came out to meet her.

    "Finley! Come on in girl, we have so much to do." Pepper just about linked arms with the girl, leading her into the giant building with a quickness to her steps. Pepper led her to the elevators, bouncing with excitement.