Bucky Barnes Oneshots

Sleep Paralysis

It was dark when you opened your eyes.
You looked around the room after the nightmare had woken you up and were lucky to find none of the figures that haunted you at night.
You went to sit up, to go and get yourself some water but nothing happened when you moved.
It was like you were glued to the mattress and the blanket was weighing down on you, not letting you go.
You looked down to your hands, to the engagement ring on your finger and tried to lift it and it was quavering when you lifted it off the comforter.

It's been a good three years since you had one of these episodes and gladly, Bucky was never present when you had them.
You knew they would scare him, make him worry about you and that's the last thing you wanted to do.
Thinking back to what the sleep technologist said, you tried to get your wavering breath back under control and your fingers clenched the fabric of the grey comforter.
You started panting, unable to move and that's when finally the panic kicked in.
Soft whimpers escaped your closed lips and you felt like someone was pressing you down to the bed with all their strength, not letting you get up.

Your eyes darted to the side when Bucky turned around to you, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.
He had no idea what sleep paralysis felt like or what you were going through at the moment so when he noticed your widened eyes and heavy and shaky breathing, he sat up and turned on the light.

"[Y/n], what's wrong?" He asked in a hushed tone and you only managed to groan as an answer.

Your lips felt like they were sewn shut, as if they didn't want you to call for help or let Bucky know that this would be over in a minute but sadly he had to watch you stare at him and lay there like a corpse.
He soon realized that you were somehow unable to tell him so he did the only reasonable thing and tried to calm you down.

"I'm right here, doll, nothing can happen to you." He said with one hand on your cheek. "You have to calm your breathing, ok? In and out, in and out."

If you weren't paralyzed, you'd wrap your arms around him for being so sweet and trying to help you but you still couldn't move.
You tried to do what he said and it worked, you slowly started to calm down, your breathing slowed down and you could feel your muscles loosen and wake up.
You scrambled up and pressed your back against the headboard, wringing your hands.
Bucky pulled you flush into his side, the cold metal of his arm felt warm on your arm and his right hand was in your hair.

"I'm here, [Y/n]. I'm here." He cooed into your hair, softly kissing the top of your head.

"I'm s-sorry you had to see that." You stuttered.

"It's okay. I'll get you something to drink, I'll be right back." He rolled out of bed and you heard his trudging steps go to the kitchen.

He returned and with shaky hands you took the glass from him and downed the water in one go.
Your throat felt sore, maybe from being unable to scream for his help and the ice cold water felt soothing.
You could feel Bucky's eyes on you and you didn't have to be a genius to know he was worried.

"It's called sleep paralysis. Your brain wakes up before your body does, so you can't really move and that's pretty terrifying sometimes. It's like having a panic attack while you're sleeping." You explained softly.

Bucky pulled you into his side again and pulled the covers over both of you.

"How long does it last?" He asked.

"Usually just a minute or two. That's how long the body takes to follow with waking up."

You laid back down and placed your head on his chest, his heartbeat doing wonders in calming you down and felt the drowsiness return.

"Is there anything I can do?" Bucky asked after wrapping his arms around you.

"Not really. I just have to "wake up" on my own." You sighed sadly.

"Then I'll be there for you when it's over." You could feel him smile against your hair and snuggled closer to him, relieved to have him by your side.

"Thank you, Bucky."