Sweetheart, | winterfalcon short stories

somebody else's bed

REQUESTED! That's right, I do requests now, leave them in my review book.

This was requested by CertifiedCrackhead, here's something happy for you bud, I hope you like it.

James woke up to sunlight streaming on to his face, he scrunched his eyes closed and turned away from the invading light. He must have forgotten to close the curtains before passing out, A pounding at the back of his skull confirmed the beginning of a hangover. 'god, how much did I drink last night?' he mumbled into his arm. 'and where the hell is my arm' he slowly sat up before opening his eyes, giving himself time to adjust he opened them.

A stirring next to him caught James' attention. Had Natalia crashed here? He rolled over onto his side to avoid moving his already aching head and opened his eyes. The occupant of his bed was certainly not his redhead. The head resting on the pillow beside James was dark-skinned and male. And he was entirely unconscious. James couldn't make out his features from where his face was pressed into the auburn pillows, but his body was certainly something to be admired.

Wait. Those weren't his pillows. 'shit' James winced and he forced his eyes to move around the room that wasn't his. He rolled over in the bed and found his phone resting on the nightstand.  At least he'd had the sense to put that somewhere safe. He opened the phone and squinted at the list of missed calls and text messages.
Shit. What happened?
James flicked through the notifications. He quickly dismissed the alarms and reminders that were set for his medication and appointments. Clearly, he wasn't going to be taking his pills on time, and if all the messages were anything to go by, he'd already missed brunch. Clearing off the missed calls and the voicemail Natalia left. He moved on to the text messages.
 
Nat: Hey, where'd you go?
                                         -20:47
 Nat: This place is crowded, I'm leaving. Meet me at that taco stand.
                                                            -20:59
Nat: Did you hook up? Door keep said you left with some guy. -21:35

Nat: You better be getting laid.  - 22:18

Nat: I'm going to bed. Call me tomorrow, you big idiot  -23:58

Missed Video Chat from 'Nat' at  09:23

Nat: You better be dead.
                                       - 09:30
 
James stifled a chuckle.
 
Jamie: Sorry. I woke up in some guy's bed, How much did I drink last night?
 
James made sure his phone volume was low while he waited for a response. No use waking up the man next to him
 
Nat: You got into a drinking game with some college kids.  
Jamie: Fuck.
Nat: Is he hot?
Jamie: I can't see his face, but he definitely works out
 
As if Fate had decided his morning was too calm, the other half of the bed began moving. he quickly put his phone down and braced himself to face the man he may have slept with. He turned to look just in time for Mystery Man's head to pop up from the bedding.
Yeah. Ok. He was hot. 

'Mornin.' The sleepy mumble made James smile. For a second he forgot about all the awkwardness and disappointment that usually came the morning after.
'Hey' James almost whispered back. He glanced around the room. 'Have you- um.  Do you know where my arm is?'
As predicted, Man's eyes flicked down to his left side. James braced himself for the stilted conversation that would follow. This guy would politely get him all set up to leave, and avoid any attempt at physical contact until he got the message.

That's what always happened. It's why he stopped dating. 'Oh,' he bit his lip and looked around the room. 'I think- sofa?' To James' shock, the guy smiled at him. 'I'll go find it, be right back.' the soft, quick kiss on the mouth he received startled him. He found himself watching the man before he dashed from the room. That man made his head spin. Hopefully, some of that was the hangover.

There were some muffled bumps and swearing before he returned a few moments later, wearing boxers and triumphantly holding James' prosthetic arm like a prize. 'It ended up behind the sofa.' He explained as he handed it over to him. 'You were saying something about it, and then it was just gone.' He chuckled. 'Sometime around when our shirts were abandoned.' This guy was talking like he was no big deal, and he couldn't help smiling as the man sat on the bed next to him.

'Thanks' James mumbled. As well as this was going, he didn't hold out hope that the next part would be as smooth. 'I'm sorry, uh-' he was cut off 'oh, You need help putting it back on?'

Jesus Christ, was this guy for real?
'Uh I-' There was no graceful way to do this. He sighed. 'What's your name?'
'Sam, its- I'm Sam' the guy responded in an even tone, but James could see the light dim in his eyes. 'Sam.' James smiled. 'Thank you. I, uh-  I was drinking last night, pretty heavy from what she told me, and I had an accident a couple  years ago that caused.' Bucky indicated vaguely to his left shoulder. 'It also caused some brain damage, so, uh- I forget things sometimes. When I drink, mostly.'

"So you don't remember last night?' Sam asked, and James nodded. The look of horror was expected, but what Sam said next wasn't. 'Oh, God. I didn't- I mean, you were coherent, right? You seemed really on board, but- I didn't take advantage of you, did I?'
'No! No, no, no.' James rushed to reassure him, maneuvering himself to the edge of the bed. unconcerned with covering his nudity. 'If I was sober enough to work the clasps on my arm, I was definitely fine to consent. I'm just sorry I don't remember anything. It uh-' he looked around at the room. Two pairs of pants and boxers were scattered around, socks too. 'It seems like we had a good time, and you're being so nice to me.'

'Nice to you?' Sam echoed. It took him a second to understand what James was trying to say, and the look on his face as realization dawned made James' chest constrict in a wonderful way. 'What kind of jackasses have you been seeing?'
James laughed and shook his head. Sam was still watching him with some kind of affection in his gaze, and James' face heated in response.

'How about we get dressed' James ventured. 'And I'll take you out for brunch. You can tell me all about last night.'
Sam's smile was beautiful, and James forgot the light throbbing in his head for a moment. 'I'd love that' Sam said warmly. 'Oh and uh, do you mind?' James asked sheepishly pointing to the arm in Sam's hand. 'Yeah sure, how uh,  how do I not break this' he said positioning himself so he Could put it on at a good angle.

After a few minutes and some fumbling Sam put it on correctly, he watched fascinated as James flexed and wiggled his fingers. He then remembered there was a redheaded woman that he was supposed to text. After congratulating Sam and thanking him, James picked up his phone. He looked at Sam and asked, 'Do you mind? It's for my friend, she was kinda worried about me.' Sam laughed and edged closer to James to that he could take a picture and send it to Natalia.

Sam's hand was resting against James' hip as they took the picture, and after when Sam wasn't looking, he changed it to his wallpaper.

They quickly got dressed and headed out for brunch. They left the building hand-in-hand, talking about their past and their childhoods. James learned that Sam was a therapist for vets down at the VA, and over a plate of blueberry pancakes, Sam learned that the accident that caused James to lose his arm was from a grenade in Afghanistan. They exchanged numbers and parted with a short but passionate kiss.

James thanked whatever deity was listening that he'd found Sam.
And Sam did the same as he walked away.