❝War-torn child, you know better than anyone how to cry in silence for things gone by and how to kill and kill without seeing their eyes. War-born child, you were made to hold brawls between your knuckles and bury old friends and old memories betwee...
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Edited 12/26/2015 @5:31 PM Edited 08/10/2016 @10:26 AM Edited 12/04/2017 @1:48 AM Edited 03/8/2025 @9:25 PM
THE WORLD WENT STILL AND SILENT.
Andy didn't know what to do beyond stare. Afraid that if she blinked, he would disappear and she would realize he had never been there at all. She didn't want to know what that would mean for her sanity— didn't want to take her hand from his arm and lose him all over again.
The spell was broken when panic flickered in Bucky's eyes. Andy inhaled sharply as she realized he was real. He was real and standing right in front of her.
In her shock, he managed to free his arm from her grasp. Terror seized her as she realized what was happening. She didn't stop to think about the consequences, refusing to give him the chance to run.
Before he could turn his back to her, Andrea reached out. Her fingers closed around his shirt, pulling him close to her as she buried her head into his chest. Her heart was a wild beat against her ribs.
She closed her eyes, holding him tightly. As if he would disappear if she didn't. She refused to lose him— she couldn't. Not when he was right here, standing in front of her.
"Is this real?" She whispered, aware of her every trembling breath.
Bucky was so still against her. She could hardly feel his steady breathing. The rise and fall of his chest. She didn't trust herself to be able to separate dream from reality. She only knew that she didn't want it to end.
And it would end, whether she wanted it to or not. This encounter would come to pass and he would be gone. Again.
Out of reach, touch, sight.
She felt the intake of his breath before he spoke. "Real," he said softly. "It's real."
Andy didn't miss the unsure tenor of his voice. Neither of them seemed ready to believe what was standing right in front of them. But, if he'd been tailing her this long... She had to wonder if any of it had been accidental, though she tried not to harbour any high hopes for what that might mean.
After a moment, he shifted and Andrea's face warmed. He was uncomfortable. She quickly let him go, stepping out of his embrace. It was entirely reasonable for him to resent physical touch, but it did little to ease her embarrassment.
"I'm sorry," they spoke at the same time, echoing each other's sincerity.
Andy blinked at him, the only tell of her surprise. Silence drifted back into place between them. Andy withdrew into herself, guarded behind those heavy walls she'd built to withstand everything he made her feel. If only for his sake.
![Destruction ━ Bucky Barnes [2]](https://img.wattpad.com/cover/41479856-64-k226482.jpg)