Daylight | Bucky Barnes x OC

xxiv. august slipped away.

A month in Naples quickly passed. Aurora and Bucky had settled into a fine routine of breakfast by the river, making their own lunch and dinner wherever they pleased. It was nice and regulated and domestic and it almost caused Aurora to forget about the life she had left behind in exchange for this period of bliss with her new... friend.

Friend probably wasn't quite the right word anymore. They weren't friends. Not in the way that a normal person would define a friend. There were far too many longing stares and brushing of hands for them to be just friends, however, neither of them were ready to admit that yet.

Bucky had begun to struggle more frequently with nightmares, and Rory had also begun to struggle to fall asleep after her ordeal in Portugal, so for /safety/ reasons - the two were now confined to just one bed. Bucky found his nightmares a little less frequent and when they did surface, all he had to do was look at the peaceful blonde next to him to remind him that he wasn't there anymore. He was in Italy with Aurora, and without any warning - things got a little easier for him.

And so, the story continues.

"I'm thinking Rome next." Aurora suggested over coffee, taking a sip of her caffeinated beverage as she looked at a map on her phone. "We've been here a while, and its only a short train journey from here." She added with a shrug.

Rome sounded nice. It was the type of place that young James Barnes in 1930's Brooklyn could only dream of someday visiting, the only problem was the part about the train. Bucky hesitated for a moment, and Rory quickly picked up on his discomfort.

"Is something wrong?" She asked softly, scanning his features for some indication of what could be wrong with her suggestion "We can always skip Rome and go to Milan if you don't wanna-" She began.

Bucky shook his head "No, no Rome sounds really good. I just-" He began, unsure of how to proceed.

Aurora placed her hand over his flesh one "Hey, in this together, remember?" she said with a reassuring nod.

Bucky nodded in return "Well, I guess it just feels... strange." He began "One of the only clear memories I have is of.. the train." He concluded, looking down slightly.

Rory pursed her lips, understanding his discomfort. "Well, we have a few choices. We can drive to Rome, it may take a little longer but that's okay - it could be really scenic." She suggested "Or, we can go by train and you can face your fear knowing I will be with you every step of the way." Aurora added.

Bucky looked into her eyes, just looking at her making him feel so much better. "I say we go with the second option then." he said with a small, forced smile.

"Are you sure?" Aurora asked, not wanting to push him into anything he wasn't ready for.

Bucky squeezed her hand gently "Yeah. How bad can it be?" He said with a shrug "Shall we get packing?".

Rory placed the sufficient euros down on the table "Let's do it."

The two of them headed back to the hotel and re-packed their belongings. They had both bought a few more items of clothing but neither of them had too much luggage, so within the hour they were both checked out and headed to the train station.

As they approached and Aurora collected their tickets, she could sense Bucky getting jittery. It was understandable that he would have anxieties about this mode of transport and Rory just wanted to ensure he was still alright.

"Hey, you still good?" She asked, looking over at him, tickets clutched in hand.

Bucky looked over at her, nodding sharply before the two of them headed to the platform to wait for their train.

The bustle of the commuters on the warm day distracted both of them for a little while. Aurora people watched while Bucky tapped his leg, eagerly awaiting the arrival of their train so they could get this over with.

Even though he knew it was an experience that he knew he'd have to face at some point, he couldn't help the apprehension. At this point, he was so far removed from the person he used to be that he didn't even know who he was anymore - however, every day he spent with Aurora led him a step closer to finding out.

"Buck" Rory said softly, trying not to startle him as she broke him out of the trance he seemed to be in "Buck, our trains here" She added.

He looked at her, forcing a smile as he stood up with her and ushered her onto the train. He took the cases and placed them on a luggage rack before they quickly took their seats next to each other. Rory took the window seat and Bucky took the aisle. A few weeks ago, he would have been reluctant to sit with his left arm next to her, but slowly he had grown more comfortable around her so he didn't offer to move, he simply sat and tried to listen to the drowned out conversations of strangers to distract himself.

The train began to move, and strangely he didn't initially feel too bad. The journey would only take just over an hour, so it was going to fly by. Bucky distracted himself for a little while before he began to tap his leg to diffuse his anxiety before he felt a lump form in his throat. His breathing began to get fast, the business of the carriage and the confinement of it beginning to get too much. The movement of the train didn't help with that feeling.

Aurora busied herself by looking out of the window, admiring the open space between Naples and Rome before she noticed Bucky's posture had changed. She noticed quickly that he didn't seem as alright as he did before, she looked at him and placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, you've got this" Rory said softly, her right hand moving down and locking her fingers with his bionic ones "We've got this".

Bucky's first impression was to pull away, wanting to hide that part of himself from everyone but somehow - he didn't feel the need to do that with Aurora. She noticed that he didn't pull away, looking up into his eyes. "You trust me?" She asked and Bucky quickly nodded.

Aurora slipped her hand from under his, maintaining eye contact as she slowly peeled the leather glove from his metal hand. Placing it slightly aside as she rejoined her hand with his. It was the first time she had touched him in this way, and despite how normal it may have seemed to some - the moment was infinitely more intimate for both of them.

Bucky initially thought to stop her, unsure of how he would feel if she did this. Unsure of if this was something he was comfortable with, but instead it just felt natural. It felt good, not in a physical way. He couldn't feel a thing, but his heart began to beat a little faster and that felt good.

It felt good because this meant that despite her asking if he trusted her, it proved something else. She trusted him, and accepted /all/ of him - and that alone caused all of the previous anxiety to drift into nothing and all he could think about was her.