Love and Winter (Bucky Barnes) Hiatus

7 - to be held

They had lunch the following day, and had met up several times during the following week. Bucky had pretended he had just bought a new smart-phone (at least that was what Reagan called it, he didn't understand how this phone was smarter than the others), so that she had to show him how it worked.

She had done so gladly. Laughing at his surprised face and his marvelled expression each time she taught him something new. He was pleased when she showed him how the messaging system worked, how you could use it to send both messages or pictures.

First thing she had sent him was the pictures of their time at the amusement-park, her favourite being the one of him wearing a helmet and sitting in the obnoxious pink car with hearts and stars all over it. His favourite was the one with them and the large teddy bear that was squished between them.

At the moment they were both sitting on the sofa in her living room, her eyes fastened on the television as something called "orcs" attacked something that looked like a man and someone she had said was an elf, a dwarf and something he thought was called a bobbit.

He found more interest in her amazed expression than in the movie, though he enjoyed the plot.

By the end of it she had been asleep for around thirty minutes, the three late-night shifts she had pulled at the bar catching up with her. He chuckled as he gathered her in his arms, once again carrying her into her bed.

Just as he was about to close the door a whimper made him stop.

Reagan was whimpering and whining in her sleep, making his face fall into a frown. Sitting down by her side he gently reached out his arm, hesitantly placing his palm on her cheek as she muttered a soft 'no'.

As his thumb started slowly traced her cheek her eyes fluttered open, her mismatched eyes finding his blue ones quickly.

"You alright?" He asked softly, surprised at the worry in his voice.

"Nightmare," she replied in a whisper, her eyes flickering around the room for a moment as if looking for danger as she drew shuddering breaths. He was unsure how he could console her, but maybe she wanted to be left alone? This was not quite the same as the ferris wheel. Carefully he removed his palm from her cheek, moving it towards his lap instead.

"Do you want me to get you anything? Water maybe?" He asked gently, rising from the bed and taking a step towards the door as he kept his eyes on her. Her eyes had widened quite a bit at his movement, and she suddenly shot up into a sitting position, one of her hands holding onto the blanket so tightly that her knuckles turned white. The other hand she had reached out towards him, her fingers grasping around air as she tried to take ahold of his arm.

"Could you just stay here? Please?"

Her question stomped him, and lowering his own hand that had been resting on the doorknob, he slowly nodded his head. And then he stayed there - by the door - standing so still that most people would think he wasn't breathing?

"Hey James?"

Reagan's voice was still quiet and filled with fear - her words combing out in a trembling tone. He found himself taking a small step towards her, his eyes flickering around the room to make sure that she was indeed safe.

"Do you think you could maybe come over here?" She knew she sounded like a scared little girl, and part of her hated the vulnerability in her voice - but damn it she was still shivering and her heart was still thundering inside her chest.

Looking up she found James standing on the side of her bed, his eyes looking at her calmly as he waited for her to give him instructions for what she wanted.