Ghost Soldiers || Bucky Barnes

Chapter 26: Stay

The whole month of august passed by really quickly, but Clementine had never been so happy in her life. Her job was going great, and so was her relationship with Bucky. She felt how their relationship had become stronger ever since they had told each other how they felt. But now that there was more trust, they used to fight sometimes and challenged each other often. But despite their differences, they had one thing in common: that they were crazy about each other.
They spent every minute they could together. She spent the night at his place whenever she could, and they went everywhere in Manhattan so they could enjoy the last days of summer they had. She had also became close friends with Steve, and she didn't mind having him around a lot. She knew Steve and Bucky were like brothers, and she was just glad they all got along quite well.
It was already the first week of September, and Clementine's family was coming back on the next day. She was happy to see her sister again, but now that her parents were coming back, she would have to be careful about seeing Bucky. They hadn't spoken about how they were going to handle everything when they got back. They knew it was going to be difficult, and that things were going to change a lot, so they avoided talking about it every time.

That Friday evening, Clementine got out of work early. She enjoyed Fridays tremendously, since usually her shift was shorter and she had the weekends off. Usually, she would meet Bucky in Manhattan, and they would go out to a bar or just to dance. That day however, she was going to meet him at his place so they could talk about how things were going to change. She wasn't thrilled about it, and neither was he, but it was necessary.

She took a taxi all the way to Brooklyn. Traffic was heavy that day, but she got there before 8 p.m., just in time for dinner. As soon as she got into the apartment, she saw him by the kitchen cooking pasta. It was the only thing he knew how to cook, but he had been right, since those were the best spaghetti she'd ever tasted.

"Hey, you." She said, kissing him in the cheek.

He then turned around and smiled at her. "You're late."

"I know, sorry. The hospital was crowded today... there was this big accident in Manhattan in some construction site." She said, sitting on the kitchen counter.

"That's rough..." he said.

"Yes... one of the patients died in the OR table. I thought I would get used to seeing people die by now, but it never gets easier." She said.

Bucky then finished slicing up the tomatoes and went to sit next to her. "It's not supposed to be. But it will get easier soon, sweetheart."

She smiled at him and sighed. "Buck, we need to talk about my parents... we have been avoiding talking about it for weeks."

"Can we talk about it later?" He said, smirking, as he grabbed her by the waist and brought her closer to him.

Clementine then rolled her eyes and shook her head. "No, we are not doing this now. It's not going to work this time, Barnes."

"It always does." He said, still smirking.

"Not today." She said, pushing him away gently. "Sometimes I'm immune to your charms, James Buchanan Barnes."

"Are you, really?" He said, biting his lower lip.

"Yes... so stop doing that." She said, narrowing her eyes. "That lip thing you do won't work this time either."

He then raised his arms in defeat and sighed. "Alright, you win."

She then smiled, feeling proud of herself. "Good. So, as you well know, I cannot longer spend the night here... at least for now, until they settle down. And no more surprise visits through my window, either."