[the avengers ➼ imagines]

bucky barnes

The soft red hue of the alarm clock on your bedside cabinet could no longer be ignored. 3.54am.

You had tossed and turned all night, desperately wanting to slip into a peaceful sleep, void of any nightmares, but no such luck graced you.

Sick of your own thoughts, you lifted yourself out of bed, realising just how thirsty you were. Throwing an old t-shirt over your top half, to save yourself from the embarrassment of anyone seeing you naked, you headed for the kitchen.

It was dark, though you had familiarised yourself with every turn, every obstacle and every step in the building. Your body knew exactly where you were on muscle memory alone.

Finally, you reached the kitchen. Not paying much attention to your surroundings, since everyone was in bed, you grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. The cool liquid soothed your dry throat.

Closing the fridge, you almost jumped out of your skin at the dark figure that appeared behind the door. "What the fuck?" You screamed, grabbing the nearest weapon you could, a whisk. Not the best for defence.

Just as you were about to attack the unknown person, they spoke up, "Shit, it's me! Calm down." You felt yourself relax at the sound of the familiar voice.

"Bucky? F.R.I.D.A.Y, could you turn the lights on please?" You asked, and just like that, the room was enveloped in light. "You scared the hell out of me! I could've hurt you!"

"With a whisk?" Bucky raised an eyebrow, gesturing to your weapon of choice. "Just give me a second, let me grab a sieve for protection and we're even."

"Shut up." You rolled your eyes, whacking his arm with the utensil, to which he chuckled in response.
"What are you doing up?" You asked.

He shrugged. Silly question. You already knew the answer. Bucky's nightmares weren't exactly uncommon to anyone in the building. When he first arrived, they were terrifying. He would hurt himself, try hurt others, try and escape. Steve had to explain to him that he was safe and that none of you were going to hurt him.

"I understand." You smiled. And you did. You also struggled with nightmares, not as badly as he did but they were still horrible to deal with. Missions began to affect you a lot more, they invaded your dreams to the point that you didn't want to go to sleep because you were scared of what horror awaited you when you closed your eyes.

"Why are you up?" He questioned, looking at you as he realised the time.

"Just couldn't sleep, tossed and turned for hours." You replied, walking towards the couch in the common area, plopping yourself right down in the centre.

"You heading back to bed?" He asked, awkwardly sitting on the arm rest.

"Nah, no point. I'd just be doing the same as I was before. I might watch a film, you wanna join? I'll let you pick." You offered, knowing that nobody ever really gave Bucky a choice at film night because he didn't know what anything was or who anyone in the films were.

"I don't want to intrude."

"Don't be silly. Come on, don't leave me here on my own?" You pouted, guilting him.

He rolled his eyes jokingly, "Fine, if you insist." He chuckled.

There was a silence between you both for a few seconds as Bucky stayed in the same spot on the arm rest.

"You can sit beside me, you know?" You gestured to the spot beside you. He hesitated for a moment before perching himself at your side, leaving a tiny gap.

You rolled your eyes before cuddling into his side. He froze for a moment, shocked at your movement. You got nervous, scared you had crossed a line, but he quickly relaxed.

You turned the TV on, loading up the Netflix App. You scrolled for a few minutes, giving Bucky the chance to read what all the different films were about. He finally settled on The Intern, to your happiness. It was one of your favourite films.

You pressed play, quickly throwing a blanket over you both. You felt his arm move slightly, as if he was hesitating. Seconds later your felt the cool, metal of his arm wrap around your body, pulling you in closer to his side. You felt your skin flush as butterflies danced in your stomach.

You and Bucky had both gotten along well since his arrival, he instantly felt drawn towards you. There had been moments where he made you feel certain things, things you only felt when you liked someone - but neither of you had acted on your feelings.

You spent the next hour enjoying one another's company. You snuck glances at Bucky, a small smile on his face as he became further invested in the film. You were so content, slowly slipping off into a peaceful, nightmare-less sleep.

_______________

THE NEXT MORNING.

"That is just adorable."

"Isn't it just? I knew those two had something."

A few members of the team had risen from their slumber, welcomed by the sight of you wrapped in Bucky's arms as you both snored away.

"I've never seen him so peaceful." Steve commented, a smile gracing his lips as he watched his best pal sleeping, not a single sign of fear, anger or anxiety anywhere on his face - all thanks to you.

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hello guys so i haven't written anything in like waaaaaaaay over a year so this is probably so SHIT but idk i had an urge to write something because I just finished reading some imagines on tumblr

so i hope you enjoy !