A Birdie Lost in Time | Bucky Barnes

|45|

For the third day in a row, Marlow woke up on the couch. At some point, she'd pulled the blankets over her head, so when she peeked out, the sun all but blinded her. Immediately, she covered her face, letting out a slow breath as she shut her eyes.

It wasn't until she'd drifted and woken up again that she finally pulled the blanket down and sat up. The house was quiet, just as it had been yesterday, and she had the feeling that Bucky had told her that he would be... somewhere... that he was going somewhere...

He did.

Last night.

Her head cocked to the side as she tried to remember what felt more like a dream.

Maybe it was?

"Bucky?" she called, head scanning the kitchen and hall. But there was no response.

She ran their conversation through her head—well, it wasn't much of a conversation. He spoke, she... she was half asleep.

But he said he was... going out, and that he'd be back later today.

What did that mean?

The realization that he'd left in the middle of the night struck her then, making the situation all the more confusing.

Why hadn't he waited till morning?

She couldn't remember if he said where he was going, or what he was going to do, just that he was gone.

That fact burrowed into her stomach as she stood and made her way to the coffee pot, mindless as she went through the motions of a regular morning.

He was gone again.

Her eyes shifted to the clock on the stove, surprised when she read that it was barely past eight in the morning. It felt like she'd slept the entire day away, how was it so early?

It didn't matter... And it didn't matter that Bucky was gone. She wasn't going to spend another day worrying about him; he could take care of himself, and what ever he was doing, he kept quiet about for a reason. Whatever that reason may be.

She poured herself a mug of coffee and rounded the island, dropping onto the couch and grabbing her phone from the table, a silent hope that he'd sent an update at some point. But her screen was empty; void of any messages or calls, leaving her still without any answers.

It was an internal battle deciding if she should send him a message.

He obviously wanted to be alone considering he didn't ask her to come or give her details...

Probably an amend.

Maybe with Yori?

That doesn't explain why he would leave in the middle of the night though.

Maybe he was overwhelmed and wanted to be alone...

In that case, she decided that she shouldn't send him a message. Not yet anyways.

She took a big sip of her coffee at the resolution, mind going through a list of what she could do to keep herself busy.

It was a good attempt. She got breakfast from the café, sat at a park, finished her book, but all of that was finished before eleven in the morning.

A sudden burst of cold air urged her to pull her jacket closed as she stood from the bench she was sitting on. She'd done alright keeping her mind from wandering to Bucky, but now, as she made her way back to the apartment with nothing to distract her, she found her thoughts revolving around him.