Better Love || A Bucky Barnes Fanfiction

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Their sleep schedules had been shot to Hell. They had assumed that - being in each other's arms every night - they'd find the peace they needed to have a full night's sleep. But that only ever happened in fairy tales, and they were living a John le Carré/Stephen King novel lifestyle now. They were both plagued by nightmares that would haunt them often. Elena's were always about Thomas or HYDRA or losing Bucky. Bucky's were always about his fractured memories, life as an assassin, and losing Elena. However, they had each other, so the nightmares were bearable. In the end they could always calm the other down, and they'd fall asleep once more and wake when the sun would rise.

Like this morning, the first rays of dawn shining through the window above them and coming to rest at their feet. Bucky was the first to open his eyes. Last night it had been he who had woken up in a sweat, tears staining his pale cheeks as he recounted to Elena the nightmare that had shaken him so. To counter the dream, Elena had embraced her love in her arms, kissing his tears away while whispering sweet promises against his skin. Eventually the fear of his dream dissipated and the pair melted into one another, finding solace in each other's touch. Thinking of that moment, Bucky cast his eyes down to his left, finding his love nestled against him, his metal arm cradling her close against his side. With his free arm he caressed her face, brushing aside the thick strands of blonde hair that covered her from his view. Now he could see the soft constellation of freckles that danced across the bridge of her nose, and the rosiness of her cheek, and the way her lips pulled upwards slightly, a smile in her sleep. 

She shifted against him in her sleep, one hand moving up from his stomach to his right collarbone, and gently he picked it up and pressed the knuckles of her hand against his lips, inhaling the scent of her skin. No matter where they were, she always carried the faint smell of flowers and rain with her. That's all he needed to know he was safe and at home.

"Skipping the foot fetish and moving straight onto hand, hm?" Elena mumbled, making Bucky chuckle. He kissed her hand once more before letting it return back to its original spot against his collarbone, looking down towards her. Elena's eyes were still half closed, but he could see a sparkle inside the sliver of blue that could be seen.

"Xуй," he murmured, earning a scoff from the woman beside him who sat up to lean over her partner.

"Dick? Seriously? You thought I wouldn't get that one? Dirty words were literally the first ones you taught me, try a different language."

"Pulă," Bucky offered instead, but Elena only shook her head, throwing a leg over her lover's waist and straddling him.

"I know my swear words in Russian and Romanian, stultus," she grinned. "Also French, by the way."

"Which that wasn't. What the Hell was that, actually?" Bucky asked as Elena leaned down and pressed herself against his chest, his arms automatically coming up to wrap themselves around her back.

"Latin. I took a paper in my third year of college. One of the only words I remember, it means stupid or foolish - but obviously I meant stupid. Other words include sapientia, which means wisdom, vir, which means man or hero, and basium, which means kiss. I could tell you some noun declensions and verb endings if you like."

"Oh, no wonder I didn't understand it. You're using a dead language," Bucky teased. Elena sighed, lifting her head up slightly to look at him.

"It was a waste of a paper, wasn't it?" she smiled. Bucky shrugged.

"Maybe a basium will make you feel better?" he suggested, making her laugh.

"I don't think you're using it properly, but I agree with the suggestion profoundly, so gimme those lips of yours, lover," she giggled, leaning down and meeting his lips with hers. They kissed, Elena running her hands through his tangled brown hair, a laugh dancing between the pair when her fingers became caught in the snags.