Valorous (Book Three)

Chapter: 18

DAY: 137

Winter Soldier

I rode in through a heavy downpour, on the motorcycle we borrowed from Remy. Steve was supposed to meet with me back here, he's only a minute or two behind me. I climbed off and went inside. Earlier I got a call from Logan saying that something was up with Lark, he mentioned that she was jumpy and that she kept zoning out, more than usual. Lark had started acting distant, ignoring us whenever we talked to her, going into a daze, sleeping like a cat, waking up in the middle of the night and never falling back asleep again.  Steve told me to just give her space, telling me that she could have still been in shock, but I knew better.

I ran inside through the garage and up some small stairs to the main part of the house. Logan was there waiting.

"Where is she?"

"She's in the bathroom, she's been taking a shower for over an hour now." Logan gestured to the hallway.

"Why didn't you try to contact me sooner?" I said as I walked over towards the hallway.

"I tried, you didn't answer the link." he shouted to me.

At the end of the hallway you could see the light on underneath the door. I knocked a few times and then opened the door.

"Lark?" When I stepped in I saw Lark sitting there in the shower, fully clothed but completely dazed. I shut the door behind me and stood there, completely taken back with the way she looked before me. She looked depressed, her eyes looked glassy and rimmed red, she must have been crying. But she looked tired and weak, like she hadn't been eating. I was scared.

"Lark?" I walked over to the shower and knelt down in front of her. She looked up at me.

"Bucky." she just barely said.

"What are you doing?" I asked her gently. "How long have you been in here?" I reached forward to take her hand but she flinched and moved away. The water was still fairly warm, but it would go cold soon if she didn't turn it off.

"Please, leave." she said, looking straight at me. "I just need to be alone."

"No, I'm not leaving." I told her.

"Please, just leave me alone." she said again, I could see her starting to cry again. "Please."

"No." I told her. "No. Never." I stepped into the shower and sat down beside her, sitting in the shower of warm water, that soaked me within seconds. "I'm not going to leave you, Lark. You can't make me."

"Just need to be alone, Bucky." she said, trying to stand up. I caught her hand and she tried to pull against it.

"Lark, stop." I told her.

"No." She tried to pull away from me. I stood up and pulled her back.

"Let me go!" she shouted.

"Stop!" I told her as I wrapped my arms around her waist and held her.

Lark tried to pry herself away from me, tried to kick me back and shove me away but I kept a tight grip.

"Stop before you hurt yourself!"

Lark froze up suddenly, stood there and cried, sobbing. I quickly turned her around and held her in my arms, shutting off the water behind me and letting out a tight breath. Lark sobbed, heavily, her hands gripped my jacket tightly in her fists.

"Shh. I'm here." I told her. "I'm not going to leave you, Lark. I'm here."

The door to the bathroom suddenly opened and Steve was standing there with wide, panicked eyes. "I heart shouting, everything ok?"