Drawing Lessons

The Truth Comes Out

"Are you actually gonna sit there and expect me to buy that shit?"

"Hey, Rebecca, watch your language." Bucky warned. His tone was relaxed as he scolded her, a warm mug of earl grey tea in his hands. To him, this was a perfectly normal morning conversation with his sister.

"As if it matters." She rolled her eyes, "Were you never gonna tell me?"

"Becca, I still have absolutely no idea what you're talking about." Bucky took a sip of his tea. Rebecca stopped for a moment to ponder why he liked tea. It tasted horrendous, and didn't even wake you up properly the way coffee did. She'd have to think more on this later, but for the time being she needed to talk to her brother:

"Are you playing dumb, or are you just dumb?" She finally asked, looking him dead in the eye.

"Neither? You're being all weird and cryptic." Bucky accused, setting his mug back down on the kitchen table. The two of them were sitting there together. No one else was in the house. Steve had gone home and their parents were out running errands. Bucky sighed at his crazy little sister, "Could you just tell me what you want already?"

Rebecca Barnes stopped for a second, thinking about it. She cocked her head to the side and pursed her lips together. How long was this going to take? She had things to do this afternoon. Might as well speed things up with her oblivious brother.

"Do you love Steve?" She asked innocently, her head still tilted to the side. Bucky choked on his tea, his face burning a bright, fire-engine red. That was a good reaction, she decided.

"Do I what?" Bucky sputtered, trying to regain his feeling of calm from a few moments ago.

"Do you need to me to repeat myself?" She asked dryly, reaching forward and taking Bucky's mug from him, sliding it across the table before picking it up. She took a sip of the brown liquid. Upon contact with her mouth, she gagged, making a gross face and shoving it back across the table towards him. Why did he drink tea? What was the appeal of it?

"I don't know," Bucky paused, staring intently at the floor, "Are you gonna take this seriously?"

"Bucky, I'm dead serious. You're my brother. No matter what kind of shit I put you through, I'll always be here." Rebecca laid her hands out on the table, looking forward at her older brother, waiting. He sighed heavily.

"What if I told you that I was?" Bucky said, his voice low and gravelly. Nervous.

"That you were what, exactly?" Rebecca chose her words carefully, not wanting to scare him away. She just wanted to know. She had asked a very specific question, after all.

"That I'm gay?" Bucky asked it like it was a question, which, when Rebecca paused to think on it, it really was. He was asking her if it was okay that he was gay.

"What do you think I'm going to say?" She asked gently. To be honest, this wasn't really news to her. She just wanted to know more about Steve. But, understanding how important this was to Bucky, she waited patiently through the boring, serious conversation that he probably wanted to have. Did he not know that it had always been obvious to her? What could he possibly think she was going to say?

"I don't know," Bucky spoke softly, scared. He'd already done this once, and it had gone well then, but he wasn't really prepared for it just now. Not with Becca. She was too much, and he was terrified. "That it's a problem. That I'm a problem. Something's wrong with me. I no longer count as your brother. I should just leave. This changes everything. You don't want to see my face ever again. I don't know what you're going to say, that's what makes this so hard."