Riley Grace slept with Bucky Barnes five years ago. It was also the night before he married her sister. Now, Riley's back in town and she needs a place to stay.
18+ ONLY. 🔞 no minors. Modern AU.
This story includes the following: Cheating, abuse of...
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Riley's laughter dialed down as the innocent moment between two friends passed, seemingly slipping from her grasp, inside the crowded restaurant.
She couldn't believe that in less than twenty-four hours, her best friend and her sister would be married. She also couldn't shake the feeling that neither of them had ever understood true happiness, not as she did at that moment.
She was going to miss it — laughing together.
There were other aspects of her relationship, more obvious ones, that she would definitely miss more, but for years, the two of them always just shoved that under the table. As she pondered that, the laughter ceased altogether, and instead, they looked at each other, realizing they had run out of time.
She's the first to realize her hand is still on his arm. Bucky studies her hand, and she follows his gaze. Recognizing what they are doing, she removes her hand from him as if the touch had burned her.
Bucky subconsciously frowned at the action, finding himself missing her touch.
She cleared her throat, "Sorry, I -"
"You wanna get out of here?"
He was digging through the closet, throwing boxes from here to there. He wasn't looking forward to seeing her. That much was evident as he swung a beige Pier 1 throw pillow across the bedroom, nearly knocking the lamp from the nightstand.
The bottom of it shook, and the shade swung back and forth, making the yellow glow bounce from side to side off the walls of the room.
He looked at the crooked cushion in annoyance. With a huff, he got up from the floor and made his way to the side of the bed to fix it. As thankful as he was that he didn't strike the lamp from the table, on the one hand, he was also mad it did not fall.
Riley deserved a broken lamp; if anything, she deserved no light at all. Darkness would be the best thing for her; complete and utter obscurity.
But no, instead, she got a bedroom that was probably the size of her old living room (he remembers her old place very vividly), a full view of the city, fifty-five stories high into the sky, and some of the finest Egyptian cotton sheets.
She was being treated like a queen by them, much to his dismay.
He stared down at the bed, considering if he should 'accidentally' step on the white duvet with his exceedingly filthy boots.
He had to squeeze his right hand into a fist to stop himself.
The sheets were too damn expensive, Buck.
Ashlyn thought it'd be a good idea for Bucky to get the guest bedroom prepared while she picked Riley up at the 7 train entrance.
Since they had only recently moved in, the guest bedroom hadn't seen guests yet, meaning he had to spruce it up. There were pieces of furniture that still had to be appropriately placed about the room, the curtains still had to be installed, and then he had to make the bed.
