Stranger Who Knows All My Secrets [A Marvel FanFic]

Chapter 35: Haribo Gold Bears

There are only so many things a person can do to stay cool aside from peeling off their flesh and by the third day of the blackout, Bucky's skin felt raw from the number of times he had showered and scrubbed himself clean of sweat and grime. The day dragged out as he and Elena laid out in the living room melting, showering, reading, napping, showering again, and trashing the food in the freezer that had gone bad. 

Thankfully, Mrs Winston, next door made the building dinner that night just as she had made them all breakfast the day before. She was a kind, giving, cooking machine and when she gave Bucky extra jerked chicken, he asked if she needed a husband which made her and Elena laugh.

That night was unfortunately hotter than the previous one with not so much as a breeze coming through the window and he listened to Elena toss, turn, and scratch for hours in her bed. Bucky himself was too miserable to even bother with moving, he was now one with the floorboards and his brain had past the point of being fried, it was extra burnt like that chicken Elena had made in Maine. 

On the fourth morning, they ate Cheerios without milk as they sat on the floor at the coffee table playing chess which he lost repeatedly. Apparently, Bucky wasn't as good at this game as he thought and eventually, he flipped the board off the coffee table and gave up. Elena thankfully had a lot of books to keep them busy when boredom hit and that was pretty much how they spent the days as attempting to go outside meant scorching hot sun and dehydration. 

They only went out to take Gurgen for his walks, to get updates on the power restoration efforts, or grab sandwiches from the deli which managed to stay open with the help of several generators. It had become the information center, the owner playing the news via radio 24/7, letting people use his landline to make calls to family and keeping medications in his fridges for several customers who needed to keep them cold. 

The deli owner even moved some of his inventory to set up tables and chairs so he could act as a makeshift cooling station for the elderly, which had Elena joking that Bucky should whip out his AARP card. That fourth day also saw the National Guard come out to provide meals and set up a larger-scale version of what the businesses in the community had already been doing. It was a welcome relief but had several people pointing out that they should have arrived much sooner and it wasn't any surprise when tempers began to flare and arguments broke out in the streets. 

Just another reason for Bucky and Elena to hide out in her apartment with Gurgen. Staying in also meant Bucky didn't have to wear a long-sleeved shirt of which he had the one he kept needing to wash by hand whenever they got back from venturing out. Inside meant he could wear a t-shirt and briefs while never moving from the couch or floor and thankfully the heat made him too miserable to even consider becoming distracted by Elena. 

There was just not enough brain function left to be bothered by the fact that she was living in a sports bra and pajama shorts. It was too hot to even think about their bodies being so close together. The thought of it was so ridiculous, it made Bucky laugh at himself as he lay face down on her couch on the fifth day. That night was actually the hardest though, it was a sweltering ninety-three degrees at midnight and as Bucky lay on the floor in Elena's room, he was prayed for death.

He was actually sticking to the wood and it felt so gross he got up to shower. Poor Elena looked just as miserable in her sleep, splayed out on her bed, all blankets abandoned. Even Gurgen retreated to the bathroom to sleep on the cool tiles which made kicking him out for privacy almost impossible but worth it. The shower was refreshing and Bucky put on clean briefs forgoing all other clothes before laying out on top of one of the blankets Elena had given him that he hadn't bothered using before.

He wasn't going to survive this heat wave, he was going to turn into a puddle of goo. At least the heat has kept the nightmares away, he thought as he grabbed a pillow and drifted off to the sound of generators and late-night laughter.