Hallowed (B. Barnes)

Chapter Twenty

Bucky sits in Alina and Mihaela's apartment, his fingers tapping on his knee, he plucked up the courage to come to see them. They'd moved in together at the end of January, they claim that they were inspired by Bucky and Sydney. Alina is sat across from him, studying his face, waiting for him to start. He hasn't sought her out on his own since things started working with Sydney, not outside of work and him fixing up her mother's apartment.

"James?" She asks, he nods a little and takes a deep breath.

"What do normal people do for Valentine's Day?" Bucky asks, Alina looks at Mihaela in the kitchen, the two of them share an amused look. Alina turns back to Bucky.

"James, we're two lesbians" Mihaela points out.

"No, I know that" Bucky assures her. "But you're two normal human beings with normal feelings and....normal likes and dislikes and....stuff" Mihaela and Alina both give him a soft look. It's so rare that people see them as normal people, the world is slowly coming around to the idea of two people of the same sex engaging in love, but Romania, in 2014, is still behind a lot of countries in their LGBT rights, and someone like Bucky, who in their mind is white, straight, and appears Russian at times, seeing them as human means a lot, Alina knew long before Mihaela that Bucky was different, same with Sydney, neither of them even blinked when Alina introduced Mihaela, it was just....this is normal, why is she making a big deal out of it? Alina was the one that was overreacting. Bucky and Sydney have a look of...High school prom king and queen. Quarterback and head cheerleader, entitled and opinionated, but they're so far from that.

"You are asking for Syd" Alina offers. "So think about what she would like. She's a pretty simple person, she likes romance, traditional romance. So flowers, music, dinner...." Bucky pulls a face. "Too complicated for you?" Alina teases.

"No!" He is quick to argue. "It's too...I don't know, predictable, to...overdone" He explains. "She's special, it needs to be original" Mihaela returns to the room and sets a tray of coffee down.

"What about Control?" Mihaela asks Alina, she shakes her head in response.

"Too much noise, too many people, he won't like that" Bucky looks between them. Alina looks at Bucky. "Open to travel?" She asks him.

"Preferably within Romania" He answers. "And cheap, I...don't have a lot of money"

"Brasov" Mihaela offers. "Remember that weekend we spent there?" Alina nods.

"Or Viscri" Alina adds. "Both cities are very old fashioned, very traditional architecture, cobbled streets, slow-paced life, very romantic"

"I don't have a car" Bucky admits. Alina appears thoughtful before she smirks at him.

"You can take mine" She offers.

..................

Bucky sits at Sydney's laptop, information about Brasov. It is a good idea to take Sydney out of the city for a weekend. Take in the sights. He's not sure he can afford a hotel though, not one that Sydney deserves. Maybe he can sell one of his guns. He wrinkles his nose. No, he might need that at some point. He closes the laptop lid and pushes it away. It was a stupid idea. What was he thinking? He glances back towards the bed where Sydney is sleeping. She deserves better than some boyfriend that can't scrape together enough cash to take her out for Valentine's Day. He stands and moves back to bed. She shifts, sensing him near her. He climbs into bed and takes a deep breath.

"James?" she mumbles as she reaches for him. He takes her hand as he curls into her back, his arms wrapping around her waist. She hums and leans back into his hold. He presses his nose to her neck and closes his eyes. He wishes he could give her everything she deserves.

..............

Sydney sets a piece of paper in front of Bucky as he eats his breakfast, he raises an eyebrow letting his eyes shift to the paper. Hotel booking confirmation email. He lifts his eyes to her and she smiles softly.

"You left the tabs open when you closed the laptop" she points out, he blushes and looks down at the paper again. It is from the hotel he was looking at in Brasov the night before. He made such a rookie mistake by not shutting the laptop down properly.

"I didn't book this" he admits, she nods.

"I know" she assures him. "I did" she adds as she leans on the counter. He closes his eyes and then nods a little before he looks at her.

"I wanted to do something nice for...our first" he groans. "But I couldn't afford it" he admits quietly. "You didn't have to do this" he touches the paper and sighs. She smiles at him and touches his hand, Bucky threads his fingers with hers. "I would have come up with something else" she sits on his knee and he curls his arm around her waist, her fingers brushing his hair back behind his ear.

"Do you want me to cancel it?" she asks him, he takes a breath and kisses her shoulder before shaking his head.

"No" he answers. "No, we can still go"

"It would mean leaving the city" she whispers.

"I'll be fine" he assures her. "I've got you" she smirks and then chuckles. She does it every single time he gets all mushy on her. When he lets himself get all caught up in the romance and fluff of their relationship. Some times she catches him looking so sad and lost that she worries about him, but then he gets all fluffy and she knows that he's okay. Not perfect. Not complete. But okay. Just like her. It's why it works between them, they are two broken pieces that fit together. Fixing the seams the best way they can, in their own ways, but it only works for them. Bucky knows that no one else will mend him the way Sydney has been doing, and she knows that there is a reason why now, after all this time, it is him she's fallen in love with, because he soothes away all the hurt she's suffered.