[1] 𝘿𝙀𝙑𝙄𝘼𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉 | 𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧𝙨

✰ 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐲-𝐨𝐧𝐞: 𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐫

➸ 2015
📍ROMANIA
Bucharest
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PEOPLE SAY that your room is a reflection of your mind.

Galina never truly understood what that meant until she stepped into his apartment.

It was much smaller than her room at the Tower which was a given. It was like a small cube.

As soon as you walk in, there's a small closet on the left and his bed was just a little bit beside it except, it wasn't truly a bed. It was a mattress with a sleeping bag on top of it.

Towards the right, was a small bathroom and in the very back of the apartment was the kitchen.

She immediately took notice of the dead flowers withering away in a plastic vase in the middle of the kitchen isle as well as the mismatched cups and dishes stacked in a broken open cabinet above the sink.

She felt her heart breaking a little — he's trying to be normal.

"It's not...a lot." Bucky says timidly as he shut the door behind them, rolling back and forth on his heels.

"It's cute." she looked at him over her shoulder with a reassuring smile before stepping deeper into the apartment, the floorboards creaking. "It's better than nothing."

Bucky nodded in agreement, awkwardly clearing his throat. "Do you want water or anything?"

"Yeah, sure." she replied as she found herself plopping down on the rundown couch that he most likely got from a flea market.

Bucky opens up his white box fridge and takes out two water bottles before swinging it shut and walking around to the couch, handing her the bottle as he sat down.

"Thank you." she commends, twisting the cap open with a small click before bringing the bottle up to her lips and taking a sip.

She watched him carefully — his eyes were focused on his lap as his fingers drummed against the bottle anxiously.

She can feel the anxiety buzzing through his veins and it broke her heart all over again.

"How've you been?" she softly asks, bowing her head slightly to try and meet his eye.

Bucky finally looks up at her, giving her a faint shrug. "Okay." he paused. "Memories...they're coming back quicker than I expected."

"That's really good."

"I think it's because of whatever you did the night before the Triskelion."

Galina's brows furrowed together in confusion, a small pout on her lips. "How'd you know I did anything?"

"That's the only explanation." he gives her a sincere nod. "Thank you."

"Of course." she smiles as her eyes diverted to her own lap because god has his stare always been this intense? "I see you go to the market."

"I do."

"Anything good over there?"

"Fruits, vegetables, everything." he tells her, finally untwisting his water bottle and taking a sip. "I usually go there every Sunday but sometimes I go to clear my head."

He's getting comfortable, she thought.

"I would go anywhere but the market to clear my head." she comments in a jest. "It's very busy."

"Well, that's what I like about it." he says. "It makes me feel normal."

"I get it."

"How have you been?" he redirects the attention from himself.