I'm Broken

Chapter One

BUCKY'S POV

Whoever is throwing stones at my window is going to get their ass kicked into another dimension, I swear to God. I let out a loud grunt and pull my pillow over my head tightly before peeking out at my alarm clock. It's six thirty in the damn morning. This is not okay! I bet it's Clint bloody Barton. Steve uses the front door while Barton is an idiot.

I keep my pillow over my ears until the sound gets louder. Is that idiot using boulders? I scramble out of bed and haul up the window, glaring down at the blond boy in the purple hoodie.

"I'm gonna go down there and kick your goddamn ass!" I shout at the boy. That punk has the nerve to smirk and poke out his tongue.

"Come and get me then!" Clint teases before taking off down the street.

I grumble angrily because I'm in my pajama bottoms with no shirt but I shove myself through the window onto the fire escape. The metal is freezing cold against my bare feet but I ignore it and all but fall down the fire escape to try and catch up with Barton.

"Barton, get back here!" I scream as I tear through the streets after the boy.

The boy, who occasionally stops at a corner to pull the finger and sticks out his tongue. I chase him to a park but he disappears. I know he's up a tree but which one... my main question is how much coffee did that idiot drink, and did he sleep? At all? My guess is too much and not enough. Instead of trying to find him, I find a park bench and sit down, ignoring the cold morning that it is. I cross my arms over my chest, only just remembering that I'm shirtless.

"If you come down, I'll buy you some coffee and pancakes from Jimmy's before school." I rub my arms slightly to warm up a little but I stop when I hear Clint falling out of a tree followed by a grunt. I roll my eyes and get up to go help the guy to his feet and check for broken bones.

"Come on, I'll patch you up at my house." I say, helping dust off the dirt.

"Do I still get coffee?" I roll my eyes at his question but nod with a chuckle. "Is that a yes?"

"I'll get you coffee." I promise, wrapping an arm of his around my shoulders, and we limp off. "Did you sleep at all last night?"

"No..." Clint mumbles quietly. He doesn't like it when I bring this up.

"Come crash at my place." I offer for the millionth time because I know he doesn't like it at his home.

"I shouldn't. You've already got Steve living with you." I give Clint a hard look. There's more than enough room at my house for him. Yes, Steve lives with me but that's because my parents adopted him when his parents died when he was fifteen and he needed a guardian to stay out of the foster system. "I'll just make a mess and drink all your coffee. Plus, I'm eighteen, I'm allowed to live alone. It's no big deal."

"My door will always be open for you, just remember that Birdboy." I stop to ruffle his blond locks a bit before we continue walking. "You really need to stop falling out of trees. You're getting heavy."

"Oh shut it, Weiner Soldier." Clint grumbles back but I just laugh at his nickname for me.

We get back to my apartment, using the spare key to get in, and I start patching up the scrawny boy. The main thing he's upset about is his hoodie that he loves. It's got a rip in the sleeve but Steve is good at sewing, so I'll ask him to stitch it up when he wakes up.

"Keep that there." I scold Clint for the tenth time when he pulls the frozen peas away from his slightly bruised ribs. "You won't heal right if you don't listen." I only just realise then that his hearing aids are turned off, but I know sign language, so I start signing to him. Like a child, he squeezes his eyes shut. "Fine."

"Everything okay?" Steve patters through in his pajamas, gently rubbing his eyes.

"Clint made me chase him through the city, then fell out of a tree." I shrug with a sigh. Steve just nods and goes about making a pot of coffee. "Can you please stitch up his sleeve when you've woken up?"

"Will do." Steve salutes, grabbing three mugs from the cupboard. "I'm guessing you promised coffee and pancakes from Jimmy's?"

"That's why he fell outta the tree." Steve and I both laugh at that.

Clint has been on his own for a little over six months now. His brother, Barney was killed and his parents left without him right after the funeral. Clint's almost eighteen, living in a shitty little apartment in the most dangerous part of Brooklyn, trying to make ends meet. What he doesn't know, is Nat, Steve and I have been giving the landlord whatever money Clint owes so he won't become homeless. Clint firmly believes that as soon as we graduate, the three of us and our other friends will leave. We've each assured him that we won't but he's skeptical about it. I wish he'd at least believe one of us, believe me.

I've taken care of three siblings, and Steve, I wished he'd let me do the same for him. I like helping people.
I take two cups of coffees from Steve's hands and take them over to Clint but I put them down so I can sign.

"Turn hearing aids on, or no coffee." Clint looks shocked that I'd sign such a thing but he sighs and does as he's told. I give him his coffee which makes him smile happily. "Take off your hoodie, Stevie will fix it up."

He downs the coffee in one go, unsurprisingly, then tugs his hoodie off and hands it over to Steve. I notice that there's a large bruise on his hip when his shirt lifts slightly. It looks a couple days old. I frown, watching his shirt fall back into place. I want to say something but he'll get all defensive and say he walked into a door or table - which, with Clint is completely possible - but I know better, if his neighbours have hurt him again, I'm gonna lose it.

I look up into those light green eyes and smile like there is nothing at all bothering me, and I give him my coffee because I don't want it. The cold already woke me up this morning on my 'run'.

While Steve is fixing the sleeve, and Clint is happily humming from caffeine, I shuffle through the house and wake up my siblings before going to get ready for school. My parents work odd shifts. My mum is at work right now and my dad is most likely sleeping after getting home at four this morning.

I grab a few layers of clothes and tug them on along with some boots. I quickly grab my phone, wallet and backpack and head to the lounge and help my siblings with their lunch.