You safe me

Chapter 13 - Friend of mine

Her side burns and she presses her hand against it. It's like torture. "P-Peter, stop. Please. Ow, ow. I-I can't anymore." Y/N laughs and gasps as the pain increases. Peter is still gesturing around widely and talking about some stuff that happened in school lately. She tries to catch her breath as she hears a moan from beside her. She looks over and finds Bucky stir awake. He slowly opens his eyes, but they quickly go wide, and he sits up straight, looking around widely. "Y/N!" His expression is wild and a little panicked but calms as he sees Y/N, still giggling, on the couch beside him. His expression turns fond, and he relaxes back into the cushions. Y/N holds her side, which still hurts and smiles at Bucky. Then she stretches her hand out and traces her fingers along Bucky's stubbled cheek. "Slept well?"

"Hmm." Bucky hums and closes his eyes a little. She feels him lean into her touch. "I'm surprised you didn't wake up from our laughing." She giggles again. "Ow." Bucky's eyes shoot open and he looks at her in concern but Y/N keeps giggling. "S-sorry. L-laughing still hurts." She watches as Bucky relaxes once again. His eyes don't close again this time, he keeps watching her fondly. "What?" She lays her head at an angle and looks at Bucky curiously. "Nothin'. You're wearing my shirt." Y/N smiles and looks down at herself. She actually wears the hoodie Bucky always wears when he knows that Y/N is too comfortable as cat and wants him to carry her around, so that she can sleep in his pocket. "Yeah, I asked Peter to get it for me. It was a little cold in here." She looks back up to find Bucky still with this fond look on his face. His eyes switch to Peter, and he yawns as he stretches and sits up. "Hey, Pete."

"Hello, Mr. Barnes." Bucky rolls his eyes and Y/N giggles again. "You shouldn't call me that! I'm feeling old. Call me Bucky."

"O-okay, Mr. Bar- Bucky." Y/N burst out laughing again, holding her side. "Ow, ow. Shit." She continues laughing and wipes the tears from her eyes. "What are you doing, doll?"

"P- Peter told me a s-story from his school." Y/N gasps for air, still a little giggling. She thinks she needs a new dosage of painkillers soon if she continues like this. "Is that so?" Y/N watches Peter nod, and she smiles at Bucky. "Peter and I get along very well. I like his stories even if they hurt me." She giggles again and this time Peter joins in. but Bucky frowns. "Y/N. Your supposed to keep it lightly. When you're hurting, you should take something."

"Nah, it's my own fault." She takes some deep breaths to calm herself down but Bucky is already standing and walking over to the kitchen, where Y/N left her painkillers that morning. He pops two pills out and fills a glass with water before he carries it back to Y/N and passes it to her. She rolls her eyes but takes it, nonetheless. Bucky slips in beside her and lets her lean in on himself. They wave at Steve and Tony, who come into the room before Y/N turns to Peter and they start chattering for a bit longer.

* * *

A little while later Y/N is tired of sitting around. Bucky is dosing on the couch again, not really asleep but not really awake, either. Peter went back to do some homework on the coffee table. Steve and Tony are still there, both on their tablets, but Y/N doesn't really know what they are doing. She stands up and stretches as far as her stitches allow. She feels immensely better now and Bruce promised to look at her wound later, so that they can sort out if she's allowed to change again. It's not that Y/N doesn't enjoy being human and to spend some time with the others. It's actually pretty funny, and she learned a lot about them, but the itch is growing. She wants to change, to run and climb, to get patted and snuggled, cradled against chests and napping in laps. She walks a bit along behind the couches, looking over Steve's shoulders to find him drawing on the tablet. She's a little jealous of his skills. She walks further and watches over Tony's shoulder but scrunches up her nose as she sees diagrams on it. Stopping at Peter's side she crouches down carefully and pics up a pen. She quickly scribbles a little, funny face on the edge of his paper and makes him smile before she continues and stops at one window. It's facing the side of the entrance, and she's able to look down at the street and see the passing people on the sidewalk. She's about to turn around against she sees a tiny black spot on the ground. She narrows her eyes and tires to take a closer look. Then she sees it. She leans back a bit before she leans more forward with shock. Her brows are furrowed and she squints her eyes. "That can't be..."