𝔹𝕒𝕔𝕜 𝕋𝕠 𝔹𝕣𝕠𝕠𝕜𝕝𝕪𝕟 | Bucky Barnes⁽¹⁾

01 | Goodnight, Mr Barnes

September 1938 - Brooklyn

Porter's Diner was nearing closing time as the two young friends sat at their usual booth by the wall. The brunette girl was slumped back on the dark purple seat, which matched the rest of the decor, with a book in her hands, her eyes scanning over the words she had read hundreds of times before. 

Across from her, the shorter blonde boy sat hunched over the table with a charcoal pencil in his hand as he shaded in his latest drawing in his A5 size sketchbook. They were both in their own little worlds, whilst also appreciating each other's silence company.

It was dark out on the street, so the yellowish lights that hung over the heads of the remaining patrons in the diner seemed to glow that much brighter. If anyone tried to look out of the window, all they would see was a reflection of what was around them, plus the bright, flickering glow of a streetlamp or two. One of the smaller windows was left open a fraction, allowing a cooling draft to travel through to otherwise warm front-of-house.

An unwrapped muffin sat on the small plate on the table in front of the woman, a few bites taken out of the side. The jug in the middle of the table was damp with condensation from the ice which had melted into the water, and a small ring of the clear liquid was gathering on the paper napkin underneath the glass. The blonde boy had finished the sandwich he'd ordered earlier, and the empty plate held only a few crumbs as it sat at the end of the table, waiting to be taken.

The woman was so engrossed in her book, she hadn't even realised the young brunette man that had snuck up behind her and was looking at the page she was reading through.

"...'I've no more business to marry Edgar Linton than I have to be in heaven'..." Bucky Barnes read over his best friend's shoulder. "Oh my God, you're reading that again?"

"Hey!" Elenora Madison gasped, hugging her copy of Wuthering Heights to her chest protectively. "I like it, okay?"

"Oh, I believe you," Bucky chuckled, sitting down in the booth across from her. "That book is in tatters; you've read it so much."

Elenora frowned and assessed the damaged book in her hands, grimacing at the torn and dog-eared pages. The spine was slightly worn down, as were the outer corners of the hardback cover. She looked across to Bucky, who was seeming very smug now that she had realised he was right, and she tutted, taking a bite out of her muffin with a frown.

"Ignore him, Ella," Steve Rogers spoke up from beside Bucky. "Buck, you're acting like you've read any book other than 'The Hobbit' since it came out last year."

"Damn right," Ella pointed to the blonde. "Thank you, Steve."

"That... that's different," Bucky shrugged, seeming unsure of himself as he ran his fingers through his short brown hair, pushing the thin locks away from his forehead.

"Why?" Ella asked. She leant over the table on her elbows, her chin resting on her hands as she smiled sweetly and mockingly.

Bucky tilted his head in a glare. "Because I-"

"Because what?"

"Because it's... Well, it's... oh, shut up."

"Haha!" Ella and Steve both laughed and high-fived.

The sudden loudness earned the trio a couple of side-eyed glares from the other customers in the diner. There were only two or three other occupied tables, as the place closed in thirty minutes. Still, the ambience was calming, with only the sound of inaudible chatter and a few clinking plates filling the space.