Bucky Barnes X Y/n: I hate you, I love you

Chapter 52

I was up at my favourite spot with Emori sat in my lap and stroked her, I haven't seen her around me lately, but that's probably because she likes roaming around the compound and finding new places to sleep in, and keeping away from Emori and Apollo, she's still frightened and a little shook up after they chased her around the compound and had to hide under my shirt so they wouldn't find her, but I think they honestly did it because they found her curious and hadn't seen something this little or new, so they chased her to understand, not knowing themselves that they'd actually scared her from that one experience alone.

So now she only comes out when she knows they're not around me and then gives me so much love that I don't complain about it, she's adorable and I honestly don't mind it at all.

'Y/n', I heard over my shoulder and look over, 'Steve', I said and smiled, 'is that for me', I ask when I see two mugs in his hands and he smiles, 'yeah, just how you like it', he says and before he hands it to me, he sits beside me and put's it on the ground, 'It's still hot so I didn't want to give you a hot cup', he tells me and I laugh and take the handle, 'So you found Emori then', he says and we look at her, lying on her back and snuggling into my legs, which makes me laugh, 'she found me', I tell him, 'she hasn't gotten use to Emori or Apollo so whenever she see's me alone, she takes the opportunity and comes to me', I tell him and watch him chuckle over the rim of my mug.

'Perfect', I tell him and he smiles, 'good', he says, 'now that I got that right, maybe I can pick your brain', he says.

'Ew, Steve, that's disguising and a little disturbing, even for you', I said and it earns me a throaty laugh, 'It's a phrase people use, to get your opinion', he says and I'm beginning to understand, 'Oh', I said and laugh with him.

'Go on then, ask me anything', I said whilst he sets his mug down and I run my other hand on Emori's stomach which reciprocates in her purring at the tenderness, she usually hated it when I stroked her belly or gave her belly scratches, but that's probably because she was a feral kitten and wasn't used to people touching her, but now that I've eased her into it and gained her trust, she loves it.

'It's about Evie', he begins to tell me, 'we made a deal and it was fun, but now, I don't know, something's different', he says with a sigh and grabs his mug again, 'she's acting different this past two weeks and I don't know if I've done something wrong or she just doesn't want to spend time with me anymore', he says and I sigh to myself, '...she's nice, I like that we both like the same things and dislike some things to, it's nice to learn from her and her from me, but she's been keeping herself at arms length', he explains and I look at him.

'Listen', I said, 'Evie has a big heart, she cares about people, likes looking after others and loves so big that she goes head over heals without thinking about the consequences', I tell him, '...honestly I noticed you both weeks ago, so I spoke to her, and she assured me that she just made a friend and likes that you understand her', I said, 'But I think I should've left it alone and not spoken to her because now she's keeping herself distant and that's either a good or bad thing', I explain, '...hearing you talk about her like that, I should've left it alone, but I'll speak to her, I just didn't want to see her hurt that's all', I finish and there's a long pause.

'I noticed that about her', he breaks the silence and I look at him, surprised, 'really, you have', I ask and he nods, 'Yes', he replies, 'I noticed it a few days after she's been in the compound', he tells me.

'Oh, then you know then', I said and watch him nod, 'I do, because I like her too', he says and I hear the truth behind his voice, 'after Peggy and coming back here, I thought I'd never find anyone like...', he begins and I know he's searching for the right words, 'Like you', I said and he nods, 'yeah, she's just so different, and caring that I wonder if she's actually real', he says, 'you know, I saw her in the kitchen a few days ago, making food with all the ingredients that were going to go bad, so she made containers of food and sent them of to the homeless after doing the research', he tells me and I smile and nod.