Positive Regard

Chapter Thirty

The neighbors from down the road came over while Bucky was gone. We hadn't met them yet; the other neighbors said they were on vacation. Who went on vacation for over a month?
I went to open the door when they rang, even though I really didn't want to talk to anyone.
One guy had dyed purple hair, and the other was blonde. The purple haired guy was dressed in a Pierce the Veil shirt, whatever that was, and ripped jeans, but the blonde guy was dressed in what I would call Sunday best--work clothes, I guess.
"Hi." I said, no idea who they were.
The purple haired guy smiled. "Hey. We're your neighbors from down the road. I'm Jay and this is Johnny. Rosemary, right?"
"Yeah. Rose." I smiled. "It's so nice to finally meet you."
They were gay? And living together?
Damn. The twenty-first century was like a completely different world.
"You too." The blond smiled. He had a charming smile. "I know you've been here a while, but we decided to bring a home-warming gift anyways."
Jay picked up something from the floor and offered it to me. "Have a peace lily."
I smiled and took it. "Thank you. Do you wanna come inside?"
They followed me in.
"This is Jay and Johnny. This is my friend Pepper. My husband's out of town for the time being, though. You barely missed him." I smiled. I was ready for them to leave so I could stop smiling.
"Business trip?" Jay asked.
"He's in the military." Only kind of, but what else could I say? That he's going to fight aliens in a supposedly third-world African country that's actually way more advanced than any other country? I think not. "Have a seat."
"Ah, nice." Jay said approvingly.
"What branch?" Johnny asked.
They sat in chairs, so I sat on the couch beside Pepper. "He's in the army."
"Where's he at? Afghanistan?"
"No. He's somewhere in Africa. It's kind of a... special circumstance."
"My ex was in the Marines. It's hard to be a military spouse, but damn, did he look fine in his dress blues." Johnny said with a whistle.
Jay looked at him.
"What? I didn't mean him. Just Marines in general." Johnny said defensively.
"I should've fucked your brother."
"My brother hates you."
I couldn't tell if they were joking or not, but it didn't seem like they were.
"Do we have to fight everywhere we go?" Jay asked, exasperated.
"You started it." Johnny snapped back.
They both turned back to me and Pepper with smiles an apologized at the same time.
"Please excuse Jay. He's jealous and self-conscious."
"Your ex is fucking gorgeous." Jay snapped.
I thought Jay was pretty fucking gorgeous too, but it's whatever.
"Not as gorgeous as you, babe." Johnny said with a smile.
Jay rolled his eyes. "Oh, shut up."
Pepper stood up. "Do you guys want coffee or anything?"
She was great at fixing uncomfortable situations. She must've had to pick up on that fast, working for Tony.
"Sure. Let me help you, darling." Johnny stood up and followed her out.
I asked Jay where they'd been on vacation, and we talked about that until Pepper and Johnny came back. When they left, they told me to let them know when Bucky was back, and they'd take us out to dinner. Bucky would be fine, of course, but damn would Granny have had a heart attack.
"They're nice." Pepper said.
"They are." I agreed, sitting back down on the couch. "But I don't want too nice of neighbors. Then I have to socialize."
She laughed. "Yeah, that's true, I guess. Maybe you'll get lucky and they and Bucky won't get along as well."
"Bucky gets along with everyone."

We were asleep when Bucky came home. When the bedroom door opened, I thought it was Pepper.
"Hey." I mumbled, barely opening my eyes. "What's wrong?"
"I'm home." Bucky's voice said.
I turned the lamp on and sat up. "Bucky?"
"Hey, baby." He smiled, closing the door behind him.
"Shh. Pepper's here. She's sleeping." I got out of bed and hugged him.
He wrapped his arms around me, kissing my head. "Pepper? Why's she here?"
"So we could bitch about you and Tony." I smiled.
"Ah, okay. Do you wanna know what happened now?"
"Tell me in the morning so you won't have to repeat it to Pepper. Is Tony back?"
He shook bis head. "I haven't seen him."
"Shit." I sighed.
"I'm sure he's okay, doll."
"He's in fucking space, Bucky!" I whisper shouted.
"Woah." He said calmly, raising his eyebrows. "Okay. Chill out, Rosie. He's Tony Stark. He's always fine."
I started crying again. "Bucky, Loki's dead."
"What?"
I grabbed the letter from my nightstand and handed it to him.
He wrapped his arms around me and read it behind my back. "Damn, baby. I'm sorry." He dropped the letter onto the bed and put his hand back on my back. "I'm so sorry."
After a minute, I stopped crying and let him go. He was probably tired. He looked tired, at least. He'd probably been too busy to sleep the past couple days. "Three days is way better than six months." I said, laughing a little.
"It is." He kissed me. "I missed you anyways."
"I missed you too." I smiled. "You must be tired."
"I am."
"Go change. Why are you dressed like that? How do you even get out of it?"
He laughed. "I used to wonder that about corsets. Aren't you glad that's over?"
"So very glad."