Hallowed (B. Barnes)

Chapter Seven

Bucky leaves the apartment and looks around for Sydney, she's already approaching her front door. He lets out a breath, she looks so lost, so upset, and it's his fault, a misunderstanding turning into a nightmare. He can't lose her, even as a friend. She's his only friend. His only source of human companionship in this country.

"You don't half move fast" he scolds jogging to catch up with her, he grabs her arm. "Syd" he scolds, she shakes him off and digs in her pockets for her keys. "Stop" he argues crowding her, Sydney backs up a little into the doorway to her apartment block, she takes a breath and looks away from him. "Syd" he scolds. "You are so stubborn" he grumbles. "Will you look at me?" he asks her, she looks to him, lifting her eyes to meet his. He holds up the rose between them and her eyes flicker to it. "Sydney" he starts softly, his eyes watch hers as they shift slightly. She softens. Warms a little. "Would you, please, go on a date with me?" he asks her, she sniffles slightly and lifts her eyes to his.

"What?" she asks him. "But I said..."

"I know what you said" he counters interrupting her. "And I'm ignoring it...Syd, we could leave this here, just be friends, but I like you" he tells her. "And I think you like me...." She nods a little as she plays with the zipper on his jacket. "And if you just want to be friends, then we can go back to that and forget this whole thing...." she shakes her head. "No, you don't want that?" he asks, she lifts her eyes to his. "So...is that a yes to the date?" he asks her, she nods and smiles at him. He wiggles the rose in front of her.

"No ones fought for me before" she whispers taking the rose. He brushes her hair back from her face, fingers grazing over her cheek. "You came after me"

"Of course I did" he assures her, she frowns at him. "You're my friend, I care about you....and you were upset" she hangs her head shielding herself with her hair.

"My family didn't" she whispers, he looks to her sadly. "When I left they didn't come looking for me" she admits.

"I'm sure that's not true" he counters, she lifts her eyes to his.

"They didn't" she assures him with a shrug. "I screwed up, and they didn't care"

"I care" he promises her softly. She leans into his chest. He kisses her head and keeps her close. She needs comfort right now. She clutches to the back of his jacket she nuzzles into his chest. "I'm here" he assures her. They are all each other has now. And whilst his history is messy and bloody, he doesn't have to be just that with Sydney. With her, he gets to simply be James, the maintenance man that formerly stalked her. And he needs her; he needs her presence to chase away his nightmares. She makes him feel more human than he's felt in years. He doesn't want to go back to being what he was without her in his life. He pulls back from her and searches her face as she strokes the petals of the rose.

"This is beautiful" she offers. "Will you thank Alina for me?" he nods.

"I will" he promises.

"We usually have breakfast" she starts. "And we kind of...."

"Yeah" he nods. "Do you still want to go to the cafe?" she shakes her head. "Want to order in?" he counters, she nods and smiles fishing her keys from her pocket before she turns and unlocks her apartment to step in, followed by Bucky who pulls her keys from the lock and closes the door behind him. She's already up the stairs when he turns to her. He smiles though. She's still here, still his friend, still wanting to pursue a relationship with him. He follows her up the stairs and into her apartment. He's struck by how bare it is. Still. He notices every time he's in here. No family photos. No photos at all. He shrugs out of his jacket as he glances around. Not a single one. He knows she and her family fell out and that's why she ended up here, alone but she doesn't talk about them at all. He looks around to Sydney as she sets two mugs on the counter, waiting for the coffee machine to do its thing. "Why did you fall out with your family?" he asks her, she stiffens, her hands pausing over the mugs before she turns away, moving to the coffee machine.

"It happens" she answers quietly, he sets his jacket on the back of the couch and moves into her kitchen area. She keeps her back to him, trying to end this line of conversation, she does it every single time he brings up her family, or when she accidentally mentions them. "Look" she sighs turning back to him. "I don't like talking about it. I don't even like thinking about it" he nods a little.

"That's okay" he assures her. "We don't have to talk about it" he takes a seat at the counter and watches as she sighs and nods.

"Okay," she whispers and moves to the coffee machine as it finishes brewing.

"Want me to put a film on?" he asks her, she nods a little and pours them both a coffee. "Popcorn?" he whispers leaning over the counter, she looks back at him, he raises an eyebrow hopeful.

"What happened to the man who told me he didn't like popcorn?" she asks him, he shrugs.

"Hey, I'm a convert and you made a very compelling argument" he answers with a smile.

"Uh-huh," she comments and grabs a jar of corn kernels from the cabinet. "You want the shakers or should I just surprise you?" she asks touching a row of herb shakers repurposed to hold a multitude of different popcorn toppings and flavorings. She likes popcorn. It helps curve her cravings for blood, plus she also has a specially made blood flavored topping, just for her.

"Surprise me" He answers. "Something new" he grabs the coffees and moves to her couch. Sydney taps her fingers on one of the shakers and smirks.

"Something new" she repeats and grabs it from the shelf.

.........

Sydney sets the bowl into Bucky's lap before she sits beside him, he passes over the remote and smiles at her as she leans against his side pulling her legs up onto the couch with her.

"What did you go with?" he asks looking down at the popcorn.

"In the spirit of breakfast," she answers. "Bacon bits" he hums and nods.

"Alright, I'll try it...." she leans over the back of the couch and grabs a menu from her collection of take away menus and drops back into her seat. Bucky glances to her as she looks through their breakfast options whilst worrying her lip with her teeth.

"Stop staring" she grumbles with a smile. "It's creepy...." he looks away and to the tv as she presses play on the remote, but he can't stop smiling.