chapter eighteen: lucky guess.

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a/n: everybody pretend i didn't post this 8 months after my last update <3 and thank mars and laiynie that i'm posting it at all LMAO love n light

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JOEY WAKES NATURALLY THE NEXT MORNING

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JOEY WAKES NATURALLY THE NEXT MORNING.

Or, more accurately, afternoon.

She got a free pass on training today, because even the Avengers recognize that mental exhaustion is just as serious as physical exhaustion.

So, for the first time in a while, she's gotten the chance to sleep in on a weekday and wake up on her own accord. When she does though, the fact that her mom is living a thousand miles away hits her all over again, and her heart drops to her stomach.

She closes her eyes and takes a breath. "Hold it together, Joey," she tells herself, before finally getting out of bed, changing her clothes, and heading to the kitchen.

She starts flicking through cabinets, looking for some kind of comfort food, and decides on a box of whole-grain Cheez-its. She pours some into a bowl and takes a seat at the counter— she doesn't want to go back to her room to be left with her thoughts, but she also doesn't exactly want to be around people. The kitchen's as good of a place as any.

While she eats, she scrolls through her phone, and when she hears someone coming in, she looks up briefly before going back to her snack.

"Sup, Jo?" Bucky asks, going for the fridge.

Joey sighs. "Nothing."

Bucky looks over his shoulder apologetically as Joey clicks her phone off, leaving it on the counter.

"I'm sorry, kid," he tells her.

She shrugs. "There's nothing to be sorry for. I'll be OK, I'm just... y'know."

He nods, pulling a yogurt cup out of the fridge and closing it behind him.

"I know. You will be OK. Have you talked to her at all today?"

She shakes her head. "I haven't been up very long. I got a pass on training today, so."

"I noticed." He nods, opening his yogurt and eyeing Joey as he grabs a spoon. Joey looks at him expectantly. "I think... someone else may have noticed as well."

She chokes on her cheez it a little while she pulls her eyebrows together. "What are you talking about?" She asks.

The corners of his lips tilt up as he takes a bite of yogurt.

"Bucky Barnes," Joey presses, leaning forward.

"I think you know what I'm talking about," he goes on, getting a kick out of himself.

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