Nightingale (Sequel to Solider Boy)

Seventy-Two

Hours later, long after the impromptu party had dissolved all together and Melody had taken some Advil to help with the pain in her leg, they had settled in for the night. The jungle outside the many tall windows of the apartment a black tangle below them. Bucky wasn't asleep yet, nor was he especially tired; this had been one of the best days of his life. Melody, likewise, was not asleep either, but her eyes were closed, resting and he was pretty sure that she would be fast asleep very soon. She had that gift of being able to fall asleep anywhere and what was more, she could it very quickly. 

She's going to be my wife, he thought, unable to keep a grin from forming on his face. She wanted to be his wife, wanted to be Melody Barnes.

Melody stirred, as though aware that she was being watched. "What?" she asked, but her gaze flickered where his own was resting and she smiled, figuring out the answer without his input. "You like that," she commented and Bucky ducked his head, blushing as he let his hand twine around hers, fingers just brushing the warm metal of her ring.

"I like that you want my name too, though I still think it's risky."

Melody shrugged. "I've considered the risks and I'd say their minimal."

She'd already presented him with the detailed analysis of the situation once already, right after she'd gotten back to the apartment and gotten off her wounded leg. She'd organized it, from how common the surname 'Barnes' was, as well as how there was no documentation of her ever getting near his known hideouts and having so many alibi's because she was always at work. He wasn't eager to hear it again, so for now he intended to let the matter drop. 

Besides, risky as Bucky still found her choice, he couldn't help but be pleased with the fact that she wanted to take his name. The tradition he knew had fallen a bit out of fashion since the nineteen hundreds, and he had assumed Melody would feel the same way, especially considering all the work she'd done to earn the title of "doctor". But he'd been wrong.  He was starting to think his assumptions about Melody and marriage were off. This was the second time she'd surprised him.

"I know it's early," he mused, "but I'm curious; are you completely opposed to a traditional wedding?" He couldn't see Melody wearing a white dress, veil and walking down an aisle towards him, but considering how Bucky had been wrong twice, he wanted to find out if he was going to be zero for three. 

"Define traditional?" 

"White dress, rings, vows-best man embarrassing me at the reception." He grinned, no doubt that Steve would have some very interesting stories to tell, provided that was the route they went. Bucky knew what he would've preferred, but he'd go along with whatever Melody wanted. How they got married didn't matter to him nearly as much as the fact that they'd be husband and wife when it was over. He could let go of his old-fashioned notions if that was what she wanted.

Melody considered that, absent-mindedly running her fingers over the ring. "I don't know," she said after several moments. "Like I told you, I've never really thought about all this before. I don't know how I feel about any ceremony, traditional or otherwise."

Bucky rolled closer to her, sliding his metal arm over her waist. The pressure of her body underneath it registered dimly with the sensors. The subtle sensation made him grin. The arm before had not been able to give him that so this, being able to feel her under his touch, however vague was a miracle. "We don't have to do anything crazy, honestly, we could just sign a license and be done with it if that's what you want."

"That isn't what you want," she noted, the statement not a question, but an observation. 

"No," he admitted. Bucky didn't want to put any pressure on her, but he wasn't going to be dishonest either. "It's not."