One Night In Brooklyn | Bucky Barnes 1940's

1.03 AM

Between bantering back and forth Bucky had somehow managed to make Eloise admit that she had asked him to stay, and then pretended that he was staying reluctantly, which made her furious, which in turn made him laugh. However, an entire hour had passed and they had not yet killed each other, which provided some hope for the part of the night that was yet remaining.

"Won't you be tired tomorrow?" Eloise whispered. The rain had started to drip again, heavy droplets hitting the window hiding behind the curtain, the old building was creaking loudly and in the distance you could hear the honking of cars, with the occasional scream of someone getting soaked by a puddle of rainwater.

The insults between them hadn't stopped, but the attempt at genuinely trying to hurt the others feelings were gone. And she seemed to find that the arrogance had left Bucky's voice. But he swore that she had just started to find it charming, which was a theory she fully refused to believe.

"I plan on sleeping on the train. It's going to be a long trip" He yawned, stretching slightly and lowering his arm down behind Eloise's head. They were sitting next to each other on the bed, both of their backs pressed against the steel headboard.

Eloise looked at his hand carefully placing itself by her waist and then back at him. He was pretending not to see her drilling gaze and just stared right ahead.

"You are so stupid" She laughed, playfully slapping his arm.

"Hey...I got this far" he shrugged, and there was the arrogance again. "I don't know why you pretend to be so mean" He pulled her a bit closer.

She surprisingly didn't resist the gesture.

"I don't pretend to be anything" She scoffed.

"Yes you do, doll" He laughed.

Eloise slowly placed her head against his chest, sliding even closer to him. Bucky wanted to lift his fist in the air as a way to celebrate victory. But fearing he may ruin the moment and make her distance herself again, he refrained.

"I think..." Eloise began, but immediately closed in on herself. The silence hung in the air between them.

"You think what?" He looked down at her.

"Doesn't matter" She waved her hand dismissively and tried to give a slight chuckle.

"...I think..." He started.

Eloise glanced up at him, awaiting the rest of his sentence.

Bucky looked back down at her "I think it matters. Finish what you were saying" He gave her a squeeze.

Eloise let out a deep sigh.

"You want to know the god-honest truth?" She giggled with a sort of melancholy.

"That's the only thing I'm interested in" He responded immediately.

"It's easier to be mean to people. So they don't get too close. So they can't leave you. And even if they do, it can't hurt you." She whispered. A part of her felt extremely strange about blurting out something so honest, so transparent. But she didn't feel guilty. She didn't even feel scared of judgment. Bucky was a stranger before tonight, and he would be a stranger after tonight. What harm could be done from someone you would never see again?

"It's almost like validation, right? Like, you were right all along, and since you were, you never really lost anything. You only did the right thing. And the walls just get thicker and thicker." He sighed, his hand brushing against the soft skin of her arm.

Eloise looked up at him a bit taken aback by the fact that he had put it so well into words.

"...yeah...Exactly.." She whispered.

Bucky nodded, but didn't say anything.

"I'm sorry...about earlier...for calling you cra–" He tried.

"Don't" she interrupted him, not wanting to be reminded.

Bucky put his hand underneath her chin, lifting her gaze up and holding it forcefully.

"I'm serious, Eloise. I'm sorry. I was out of line" He said sternly.

"Okay..." She nodded softly.

"Can I still ask you anything?" He whispered.

"Yes" She smiled, her eyes moving towards his lips.

"Do you wanna argue about whether or not I should have moved the condom from my uniform pocket now?" He whispered smugly.

Eloise punched him playfully on the leg, making him laugh and squeeze her harder.

"I hope you know how strongly dislike you." She rolled her eyes, unable to cover her growing smile.