She Made The Wish △ Bucky Barnes and Steve Rogers

Chapter 12: Drunken Nights

 Sure enough, after about twenty seconds the door swung open, revealing a very awake Bucky Barnes. "Hey Buckaroo, watcha up to?" Ophelia giggled at her rhyme before sending him a proud smile. "I rhymed."

"I can see that. What are you doing up at this hour Ophelia?" Bucky crossed his arms as he leaned into the doorframe, his expression a mix of amusement and concern.

"Why, what time is it?" She looked down to her wrist, frowning when she noticed the absence of a watch. "My wrist won't tell me the time."

Bucky chuckled before lifting his wrist up, "It's a quarter past one, doll."

"Oh," She said, a pensive look on her face. "I'm sorry, I must have woken you up. Sorry Buck!" Ophelia started to turn and leave, but Bucky gingerly caught her wrist.

"You didn't wake me up." He gave her his version of a smile- a twitch of his lips- before admitting that his nightmares were keeping him up. He held his hand out to her, "Here, why don't you come in and have a drink of water."

"Thanks Buck, you're the best bro ever." She took his hand and let him lead her into his apartment, her drunken eyes flickering all over his space. She noted that it was quite clean, but she told herself she would analyze that later. When she was more sober.

Bucky led her right up to his kitchen island, pulling a stool out from under it. "Sit." He said before moving around her and over to grab a cup from one of the cabinets.

"You know," Ophelia started, a sad look on her face, "I shoulda figured this would happen. I should have known you'd be having trouble."

"What, with the nightmares?" He asked as he brought the glass under the tap, running it for a moment to let the water cool.

"Yeah. I should have remembered that you were going to have them for a while." She replied, taking the glass when Bucky handed it to her. "Thanks."

"No problem." His brows furrowed as he mulled over her words. How would she have known that he was having problems with nightmares? How would she, of all people, know this? "What do you mean doll?"

"I know a lot Buckaroo. I knew that you were going to have trouble, I just forgot. That's on me. I should have remembered." She paused, taking a sip of the water. "I should have remembered."

Bucky's eyes softened as he realized just how much this was taking a toll on her. No matter how hard it was to admit to himself that she cared about him, he knew it was true. For some odd reason she had decided to befriend him, there was no denying it. The least he could do was dispel her worries. He carefully reached out and put his hands on her shoulders, squeezing them lightly to get her full attention. "It was not your fault. None of this is your fault."

Ophelia looked away to frown at her cup, still upset that she couldn't do more to help him. "You really believe that?"

"I really do."

She studied him for a moment before sighing. "Fine. But I am going to help you from now on. That's fair, right?"

Bucky smiled softly at his friend. "Yeah, I suppose it is."

Ophelia clapped her hands, wincing slightly when it was too loud for her ears. "Yay! I'm glad that I will be able to help you."

"I still don't understand why you want to help me." He stated, leaning against the kitchen counter as he looked at her sitting in her dazed state.

"You only want good for the world; your deepest desire is to help people, to make things right. That's beautiful." She replied, blinking lazily as she spoke. "You are a beautiful person, Bucky Barnes. Broken, but beautiful nonetheless."

He scoffed, appalled that anyone could think this highly of him. He was a murderer- a killer. A cold blooded killer. "That's rich. I may be broken, but I'm anything but beautiful."

"Of course you're beautiful."

He just rolled his eyes before asking, "Really? You're just drunk. You don't believe that."

Her eyes widened, shock running through her warm, buzzing body. "Not only do I believe this, but I believe this with all my heart. Bucky, you have to believe me- you are a good person."

"How could I ever be good?"

"Do you want the best for Steve?"

"I don't see what this has to do with any-"

"Well, do you?"

"Of course. I love that kid."

"And you want the best for me?"

"Always."

"And you know what you were forced to do was wrong?"

"Well, of course it was wrong."

"Exactly Buck. It was wrong and you know that. Only a good person would know that."

"Even if this is true, how could anyone possibly help me?" He asked, running his fingers exasperatedly through his hair.

"Believe in me." She smiled before leaning closer to him. "That's the secret, Bucky- believe in me." She whispered.

He couldn't help but smile back at his friend and her amazingly pure heart. "I will try my hardest to believe in you."

"Promise?" She asked, looking up at his face as she thrust her pinkie finger towards his chest.

"I promise I will try." He hooked his finger with hers, sharing a look of hope with her. Maybe, just maybe, he could get better. With her help, of course.

"That's good enough for me, Buckaroo. You know why?"

"Why?"

"Because now I know that you know that you're not alone." She gave him a wide smile. "And that's all I want."

He smiled when she giggled at her trail of words that made little sense. At least he still understood what she was trying to get across. "Okay, Ophelia, let's get you to bed."