Two Sides of The Same Coin: Grumpy x Sunshine

The Archer

And for a while, things remain mostly the same. 

You, Bucky, Sam going on missions, enjoying your life, and absorbing modern-day society like a sponge. Except now, your circle had expanded. A couple times a week, you'd visit the compound. In addition to Bucky, you also now routinely saw Steve, Tony, and Bruce, who each helped you continue to learn and adapt in their own unique ways. You knew there were more on the team, but according to Sam some members were always out and about, while others like Tony and Bruce preferred to stay closer to home.

It was all the same, until it wasn't.

-

"I think it's just going to be us today," Sam mumbles to Bucky, who's just barely walked in the door to your's and Sam's shared home. Bucky knew something was off when he didn't hear your normal excited greeting. He also didn't realize how much he'd come to look forward to watching you be genuinely excited to see him again.

"I already told you I'm fine, Sam," you call over your shoulder, your eyes still focused on the street in front of you. You're sitting on the windowsill, knees tucked to your chest, your chin resting on your knees.

"Yeah, when you blink once every 10 minutes that's not fine. Ask Bucky, he'd know."

"Thanks for that," Bucky sarcastically replies, though his eyes are firmly planted on you.

"You're welcome," Sam retorts.

Bucky rolls his eyes then takes a large deep breath. "What's wrong?" Bucky asks to no one specifically.

"I told her about the move," Sam whispers.

"And? She doesn't want to be on the compound or something?"

"I do," you absently mumble, though you're not entirely listening to their conversation.

"It's not that," Sam continues. "It's just a big change. Not that I'd know considering she's refusing to talk to me," he pointedly remarks, trying to coax a reaction out of you.

"Oh," Bucky nods.

"Can you stay with her?"

"You don't need me for the mission?"

"I'll call Steve. Who knows? Maybe she'll talk to you."

"I don't need a babysitter," you mutter.

"I'm not supposed to leave you alone, you know that. Besides, I'm definitely not leaving you alone like this."

"Okay," you weakly agree, having no energy to plead your case.

You were told it was called disassociation, at least that's what your therapist called it. But one second Sam and Bucky are talking about who's going to stay with you, and the next it's completely silent. Your eyes momentarily flicker away from the window to the figure sitting in front of you.

With how far gone you were, you didn't even notice Bucky taking a seat on the windowsill right in front of you. His legs criss-crossed as he stared out the window with you- just two minimally blinking figures, sitting in complete silence.

It actually attested to how much you trusted the man in front of you, this wasn't a side of you anyone else except Sam saw. You were careful to never present yourself like this, and the fact that you were okay with Bucky seeing you like this, whether he knew it or not- it meant a lot.

"That guy," you state out of nowhere, nudging your head to a pedestrian on the street. There's nothing that particularly stands out about this old man. His walk is slow, hunched over as he clutches a bag of produce. "He passes by every single day. Every single day at the same time."