GROW (BUCKY BARNES x OC)

12

When she saw him again, after all those months of not knowing whether he was dead or alive, Aurora's body froze. She simply forgot how to move or speak or even think. He walked up to her slowly.

"I'm sorry." Bucky apologized.

Her body was still paralyzed.

"I know I caused you a lot of worry, a lot of pain. All of you, and I'm sorry. I know that saying sorry won't fix anything, but... but I'm hoping to prove it to you. If you give me the chance, I will confront every situation and emotion I'd rather run from, and I will confront them head on. I won't leave again. I promise, I won't ever leave like that again."

Bucky's eyes were watery. He spoke to all the Avengers, but mostly to Aurora. His eyes stayed on Aurora.

"Please say something. Tell me you hate me, just tell me something. Anything." He begged her.

The others moved away to give the two space. When words finally were able to from inside her mouth, she spoke. No tears fell down her face this time.

"I'm better with you. Olivia is too. The Avengers, we all are. Life is better with you. So don't leave again." Aurora said.

She turned and left the room. It was crazy, all she had wanted all those months was for this to happen, to see him one last time, but now that she was face to face with Bucky, it felt unbearable. She was mad. Angry. Furious. And it wasn't just at herself. She was mad at him. Bucky left and left them all to worry. He left them all not knowing. He left them.

The months spent with him missing almost made her start to view him as some kind of idealized version of himself. She remembered everything good about him, and the flaws seemed to fade away into nothingness. Now that Bucky was back, she saw him more clearly. She realized that three months wasn't long enough to go through what he put her through. Not nearly long enough.

She didn't avoid him, Aurora knew that would only wind up hurting her too, but she didn't seek him out. At night when she couldn't sleep. For small talks during the day. In that training room. She didn't seek him out.

Bucky seemed to realize she wanted space, and respectfully gave it to her. That only made her more angry. Why did he have to be so perfect? Why couldn't he be more of an asshole? It would be easier to hate him if he were an asshole.

The nightmares of Chris continued, only now Bucky wasn't a corpse at her feet. He was s screaming body burning in the Tower. The nightmares sent her shooting awake in full blown terror. It always took a few seconds for the horror to fade and for her to realize it wasn't real.

One night, after awakening from the dreadful night terror, Aurora decided she simply couldn't stay in bed any longer. She crept out of her room and wandered down the hall. Without meaning to, she passed by Buck's door and noticed it was slightly open. He wasn't in there.

She didn't know what made her do it. Maybe sleep deprivation. Maybe stupid impulses. Maybe the built up tension from the nightmares and months of unease. She didn't know what made her do it, but she walked up to the elevator and pressed the button.

Aurora took the elevator down a floor to the training room. She walked down the hallway and into the room where she knew he'd be watching for her. She knew he'd have heard her footsteps and known it was her.

She strode into the room, dressed fully in her workout clothes in place of pajamas. He was wearing the same, though his shirt was once again, balled up on the corner of a bench.

Aurora walked up to Bucky and looked at him expectantly.

"... hi." He said.

"I want to train." She said.