Avengers Imagines

There For Each Other- Steve Rogers

(Gender Neutral Reader)

Warnings: Implied smut

A/N: This is gonna be a long one, probably the longest one yet.

Fourteen Days Since the Snap

Sleep wasn't an option. If you slept, then you would see the worst moment of your life play on the back of your eyelids. You'd see Bucky, the love of your life, helplessly turning to ash, over and over again. In theory, you could sleep and be in a world where Bucky and half the universe was still alive, but evidently not. So you couldn't sleep. Not for about two weeks now. 

You laid in bed and watched your clock turn from 2:31 a.m. to 2:32, and deeply longed for one thing; hours and hours of sleep being held by Bucky. Not the nightmares that caused your stomach to churn. Tears started to streak down your nose, bringing with them the pulsing sting in your tired eyes. 

Rolling onto your back, you stared at the dark ceiling, not bothering to fight the tears. A shaky breath passed through your lungs and you held onto your chest, which felt like it had about 300 pounds weighing it down. You missed him. You were consumed by it; the sadness, frustration, anger. Though the last two were directed at yourself. Why did it have to be him? It was a selfish thought, but a repeating one all the same. 

In the middle of your thoughts, you heard something hit the wall behind you. It was the wall your bedroom shared with Steve's. 

You sat up, and with strained ears, you heard muffled whimpers on Steve's side of the wall. Guilt and worry washed over you. As you got to your feet, you wiped the tears from your face and quietly padded over to your door. 

Steve had been putting on a brave face since the snap. There were far too many repercussions to deal with for him to fall apart. But he lost his best friend. He lost half the universe. Tony was still stranded in space. Thanos was still nowhere to be found. You feared Steve was dangerously close to imploding, and by what you were hearing, that was unfortunately likely. 

As you walked down the compound hallway, you saw an equally exhausted Natasha also walking towards Steve's door. You waved her off. 

"It's okay Nat. I got him," you whispered with a raspy throat. Nat only offered a sad smile and nod, and headed back down the hall. Standing in front of Steve's door, you took a steadying breath, and headed in. 

Steve was still mildly thrashing under his sheets, various things knocked off his nightstand, and a thin layer of sweat covering his face and chest. You closed the door behind you quietly and tiptoed over to him, his pained whimpers only causing your stomach to sink further. His thrashing hadn't freed him from his nightmare filled sleep, and only seemed to worsen as time went on. Despite you sitting next to him rather gingerly, you knew you had to wake him up. 

"Steve..." you whispered at first. A harsh awakening may not go well. Your hand found his arm, squeezing gently. 

"No...no, please..." he murmured, voice cracking. Only then did you notice the tears streaking down his cheeks, which caused them to return to your own eyes. 

"Steve, wake up," you said more firmly this time. Your shaking of his arm was firmer as well. 

"N-No, Bucky, come back." You bit your lip harshly but it couldn't have hurt as much as whatever Steve was experiencing. His movements got more intense, throwing your hand off your arm, and the tears only fell more and more quickly. 

Taking a more drastic approach, you straddled his waist to keep him in place, and shook his shoulders. "Steve!" you shouted that time, and finally, his blue eyes met yours. Confusion and panic flooded his features as relief filled yours. "You're okay, you're okay," you repeated and though his expression softened, you realized you were still on his waist. With a slight blush dusting your cheeks, you climbed off and sat on your feet beside him. "Sorry, you were having a nightmare," you explained, voice now small.