[COMPLEMENTARY PARTS] - Never Ending story

Scarred. ◇

11 p.m., back to New York. Lying down on the sofa, Y/N is swaddled in a peculiar piece of clothing in look for a moment of peace and comfort through them, until a ring of knocks makes her open her eyes. A ring of 6 familiar and well-known knocks.

Getting up, she goes to the door to open it.

"Hey."

Y/N looks at him in silence for a few seconds, a dash surprised by his presence, but just as reassured by it.

"Hi, James.", she replies, letting a light smile get drawn on her face.

"Can I come in?"

"Yes, sure."

As she steps to let him enter, his eyes' attention is drawn by Y/N's clothing, by this peculiar piece of clothing she's wearing at the moment. Noticing his stare, Y/N looks down to this sweater before gently passing her hand on it to caress it.

"Yes, you... left it there."

James keeps looking at it for a few seconds before looking back to her eyes, letting a light smile get drawn on his face as well. This specific piece of clothing was her favorite piece of his.

Not a week would pass without this sweater being laid on her skin, and he remembers it. He doesn't know that it is one of the things that helped her go through these almost 3 lonely and devastating years she had to survive while he was away, but what he knows is that he didn't left it there.
The truth is she's the one who moved his things away when he left. She did pack his stuff, clothes, so if anyone left anything, it's her, which means she kept it. She kept a part of him, as always.

"I must have, yes.", he replies while looking back at her. Holding the gaze for long seconds, Y/N crosses her arms, taking a step closer to him.

"You're okay?"

"Yeah, yes. I'm okay. "

"Why did you come this late, Bucky? Something happened?", she says as her eyes go to a worried state.

"No, no I just wanted to see you, that's it. And to check on you, we haven't seen each other since you left Madripoor."

"Oh, yes. I'm sorry I was exhausted, I did nothing else than rot in this sofa since I got back here, actually. But come, let's talk.", she says as she grabs his arm to go sit back on the sofa. Keeping eyes on her face, Bucky's eyes are now the one conveying worryiness. From the weak and hand shaking grip to the dark circled eyes and pale face, his concern is only growing.

Sitting and locking back eyes with him, it takes Y/N not more than a second to read its blue nuances and riddle the concern that they express right now.

"Judging from these eyes, Sam told you why I left, didn't he..."

"He didn't need to, I know when you're not fine, Y/N. I still know you, always", he says, looking at her exhausted face with the same still worried eyes. Y/N stays silent and looks down, Bucky’s caring going directly towards her heart.                                                        
"It's me, Y/N."

Y/N lightly frowns, looking back up to him.

"Do you want to talk? To me?", asks Bucky. Even though Y/N's silence remains, her eyes are speaking for her. The answer is yes, she wants to talk to him. Yes, she needs to talk to him, to her one and always-been confident. Yes, she needs to let this sorrow out for once, to let this pain that is consuming her out before it's too late, but at what cost?

Part of her never healing wounds are part of Bucky's ones, and revive his wounds for even an once of mind easement for her is unthinkable, she thinks. It's him first, then her. It has always been and will always be, whatever it takes. With this promise in mind, her hesitation goes away. She finally looks down a few seconds to hide her distressed eyes, forcing a weak smile to try to reassure him.