Never be the same (Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier)

Chapter 43

"She was broken but never hopeless; alone but never lonely. Her eyes reflected pain but projected courage. She was a beautiful paradox." 

Cindy's POV:

I walked downstairs to the kitchen to brew myself a cup of coffee, saying hello to the maids as I passed them realising how gross it must be to clean up the mess Tony's parties usually caused. Then again Tony did pay them generously for their work, so I guess it wasn't all that bad.

I pressed the button of the machine and hummed a song that was stuck in my head while I waited for my latte to be ready. It seemed like I was the first person up, besides the maids of course. I finally sat down behind the kitchen table with my latte. My thoughts wandered to Adriana as per usual. We hadn't talked much these past few days, she seems to be avoiding everyone and I can't help but wonder what happened. I could only bet it had something to do with her and Bucky since the two of them used to be almost inseparable and now they barely even glanced at each other.

I finished my drink and decided to head out for a walk. As soon as I was out of the house I dialled the number I had been avoiding calling for the past week. I knew I was meant to keep them up to date with everything that was happening, but I didn't want to bring them bad news. They have already been through so much.

"Cindy? How have you been? Why haven't you called? We were getting worried." that last part made me feel worse than I already did.

"I'm fine. I'm sorry I haven't called, I didn't mean to worry you." I looked up to the clear sky, not knowing what I was supposed to say next.

"It's alright. How is she? What have you both been up to for the past week?" her voice was kind and loving like always, I didn't want to make her sad.

"Uh," I paused for a moment, thinking about whether I should lie or tell the truth, "She's safe." I sighed knowing that it was the truth; just not the one she was expecting to hear, I knew she wanted more.

"Did something happen, Cindy?" She caught me, always way too observant of the way people spoke.

"Hm, I mean not really, I-" I decided she had the right to know, "what I mean is she has been distant for the past few days, building her walls up, keeping everyone out."

"What happened?" I could hear the worry in her tone now, I hated it.

"Nothing, well, I'm not sure, I don't know what happened for sure. As I said she has been avoiding people, she doesn't talk to anyone."

"Not even that guy?" her voice always sounded distant when she spoke about Bucky.

I knew there was still a part of her that blamed him about what happened with Adriana, even though deep down she knew he was just as much of a victim as she was. That's what she didn't see though, she didn't see the way Bucky looked at Adriana, the way he cared for her, the way these two had built homes out of each other. I wonder what would happen if she saw them the way they used to be.