bucky barnes imagines

vi. PANIC ATTACK

You weren't having a good day.

First, you'd dropped a glass in the kitchen and the sharp fragments of glass cut into your hand when you tried to clean it up. As if that wasn't bad enough, it was pretty early in the morning, meaning that the other Avengers had been woken up by the noise and were quite annoyed at you.

Then you realised that you'd run out of your favourite cereal. You figured that it would probably be a good idea to stay out of everyone's way for a while, so you walked to the store... only to find that the product you wanted was out of stock.

After a frustrating morning, you decided that you should go for a run, which always helped you to relax. But clearly, that was too much to ask – you slipped and hurt your ankle, which made the walk back to the Avengers facility more difficult than you'd bargained for.

All you wanted was to sit on the couch and binge watch Netflix by yourself until you felt better, though you might've known that your plan obviously wouldn't work out. As you walked into the living room, Tony and Steve appeared to be waiting for you, both with their arms crossed. You were acutely aware of Bucky standing awkwardly in the background, who watched silently as your teammates began to speak.

"Glad you've finally decided to join us, Y/N." Tony rolled his eyes sarcastically and you stared at him in confusion before coming to your senses and gasping. You'd forgotten about a debriefing, and a quick glance at the time told you that you'd completely missed it.

"Shit, I'm so sorry, I honestly didn't mean to. It completely slipped my mind."

"Really?" Steve raised an eyebrow at you. "Because it's not the first time you've let us down, Y/N, and I'm willing to bet that it won't be the last."

You opened your mouth to protest and apologise repeatedly, but Tony cut you off. "Look, Y/N, it's simple. We all want you here, but as an Avenger, you're replaceable." Your eyes filled with tears as his words sunk in. "If you don't want to be a part of this anymore, you know where the door is."

Tony and Steve both turned away from you, obviously done with the conversation. You could feel Bucky's eyes on you as your tears began to spill, so you quickly turned away and ran to your room, closing the door behind you before curling up into a ball on the floor.

As sobs shook your body, it was becoming increasingly difficult to breathe. Your hands trembled and you knew it was too late to stop the panic attack that you were about to suffer. Still, you blocked everything else out and tried to focus on getting your heart rate back to normal.

Meanwhile, outside the room, another argument was just beginning as Bucky approached Tony. After everything that had happened between them, the two rarely spoke, which was for the best. But this was an exception. Although nobody knew it, Bucky thought the world of you and he hated it whenever somebody else upset you, so naturally he wanted to defend you.

"Hey, you were too hard on her. Whatever happened today, I'm sure it wasn't her fault."

Tony sniggered. "Yeah, you have a lot of experience with things supposedly not being your fault."

Bucky's eyes narrowed for a second, but he looked regretful as he sighed, knowing what Tony was referring to. He ignored the comment, turning the conversation back around. "This isn't about me. Y/N is one of the best members of your team and she would happily lay down her life for you, and you too, Steve. She needs us, and I... I mean, we, need her."

Steve looked at his best friend, smirking at the small slip up. Before anybody had a chance to make fun of him for accidentally revealing a little too much about the way he felt towards you, Bucky walked off.

From the corner of your room, you heard a small knock on the door. When you didn't respond, it opened slowly and Bucky stepped inside. Without speaking, he lowered himself on to the floor and sat beside you. Recognising that you didn't want to talk, he simply wrapped his right arm around you to hold your hand. You felt somewhat comforted and leaned your head against his shoulder.

"Remember when we took a walk in the park and those ducks tried to chase me? And you were laughing so hard you couldn't even stand up, so I picked you up and carried you away because some little kids were making fun of me?" Bucky tried to distract you with some of your fondest memories, which seemed to be working. You were calming down and let out a small, tearful giggle as you remembered how hilarious that day was.

For another ten minutes, Bucky continued to comfort you until he was confident that you were feeling almost back to normal. When you finally turned to look at him, you found that your faces were just inches apart. Your heartbeat sped up again, but this time it definitely wasn't a bad thing.

As Bucky gave you a soft smile, you couldn't help yourself. You leaned towards him and lightly kissed him on the cheek, causing him to blush adorably. After a few seconds, he gently lifted your chin up and kissed you properly. His lips were warm and soft as they moved against yours and by the time he pulled away, you felt breathless.

The two of you stayed in each other's arms for a while longer and you could feel your eyelids starting to droop as you became tired. Bucky noticed this and carefully picked you up, taking extra care so he didn't hurt you with his metal arm. He set you down in your bed and tucked you in. You were half asleep, but you still felt him sweetly kiss your forehead.

"Sleep well, doll."