Summary: You get a phone call in the middle of the night.
Word Count: 1,545
Warnings: Angst and language
Author’s Note: This is an AU that I have no idea where the idea came from. GIF Credit [X]
My work is not to be posted on any other sites (AO3, Wattpad, etc.) without my express written permission. Reblogs are fine.
The phone was ringing. Again? Still? It was punching through the veil of unconsciousness, yanking you from your dream. You sat up with a gasp and blindly reached for the slim phone on your night stand.
“‘Ello?” you murmured, your voice heavy with sleep.
“Shit, I woke you.” It was Bucky, and he sounded as if he had gargled with shards of glass before placing the call.
You cleared your throat and wiped the sleep from your eyes, taking in the dull red numbers of your clock. “It’s okay, Buck.”
“No, it’s not. I… I’m sorry.” He let out a bone-shuddering sigh, one that made your chest tighten.
“What’s going on, are you okay?”
There was another sigh before he answered. “Yeah, no. I don’t know. I mean… I’m fine, Y/N.”
“It’s been a while since I heard from you,” you noted softly. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
Bucky sniffled loudly, the kind where you knew he’d been crying. “Right as rain, doll.”
“You know you can talk to me, Buck.”
“I know.”
You hated how utterly broken he sounded. “So, talk to me.”
“I ummm, I don’t… I didn’t mean to call you so late,” he stammered.
Your throat went tight and tears stung your eyes. “It’s okay, baby. Talk to me. Tell me what’s going on.”
There were several moments of silence, moments that felt like they could have been hours, days, weeks.
“I’m uh, I’m gonna go,” Bucky grit out. “Sorry for wakin’ ya.”
Before you could say anything, the line went dead. You let out the breath you hadn’t realized you were holding and set the phone down.
Seven and a half months. That was how long it had been since you and Bucky had spoken to one another. In that time, you had worked hard to move on, to build a life that didn’t revolve around Bucky.
When it had been the two of you, dangerously in love, not caring about anyone else; it was the best, and worst, time of your life. It wasn’t healthy, being obsessively dependent on one another, but it was as if neither of you could stop. You wanted… needed to be with him, and he with you. It had been amazing and tumultuous at the same time. The man literally drove you crazy. But fuck, did you love him.
To this day, a part of you still loved him, and you knew you always would, but you couldn’t go back. Not now, not ever. No matter how broken he was. No matter how badly you wanted to pick up the pieces and put them back together. Again.
After scraping a hand down your face, you fell back against your pillow and shifted until you were in a somewhat comfortable position.
“Everything okay?” was Steve’s mumbled question as he rolled over.
“Ye- yeah. Everything’s fine.” You set your hand over Steve’s, the one that was resting on your belly.
He hummed sleepily as he curled into you. “You sure? You seem awfully tense.”
You turned to press a kiss to his forehead, sighing happily as his fingers swept back and forth against your bare skin. Your unborn child pushed against his hand, twisting and turning excitedly in your gut.
“Someone’s awake,” he noted and pushed up to his elbow, his lips pressing against the taut skin of your stomach a moment later.
“She heard your voice,” you commented, your hand pushing through his wayward hair.
Steve was smiling crookedly as he rolled to his side, supporting his weight on his elbow, and pressing his fingers against various spots on your stomach, chuckling as the baby pushed back a moment later.
You were thoroughly enjoying the site before you, grunting when the baby kicked harder than normal. Even in the dark, you could see the glimmer in Steve’s eyes with every kick and tumble he was responsible for. And then, just like that, the smile on his lips fell away.
“It was Bucky on the phone, wasn’t it?” he asked, his voice like sandpaper.
Your heart actually stopped beating. “What?”
“Bucky, on the phone,” he reiterated. “That’s what woke you.”
You couldn’t lie to your oldest friend in the world. “Yeah. Yeah, it was Bucky on the phone.”
“What did he want?” he asked flatly, his hand sliding from your stomach.
“He wouldn’t say,” was your quick answer.
Steve rolled his eyes and scraped a hand over his face. “He wouldn’t say,” he scoffed loudly. “That’s a new one.” He pushed off the bed and tugged on the first t-shirt he found.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” you demanded to know as you found your way out of bed, albeit in a slightly less than graceful way. Once standing, you pulled down the shirt that had ridden up, and adjusted the pants you were wearing.
Steve was now pulling on a pair of jeans. “You said you’d never lie to me.”
“I’m not,” you bit out. “I asked him what was wrong and he wouldn’t tell me. Just apologized for waking me up.”
Next, he tugged on a pair of socks. “He shouldn’t be calling you in the first place.”
“Steve,” you sighed as you followed him out of the bedroom. “It’s not a big deal. I’m pretty sure he was drunk, and the call was less than a minute. Where are you going?”
“To give him a reminder,” he ground out, shoving his feet into his boots.
You grabbed his hand and tugged on it. “You don’t need to do that,” you insisted. “I’m sure it won’t happen again.”
“You’re sure, huh?” he snorted angrily, pulling his hand from yours. “Sorry, but that’s not good enough, Y/N. Not this time.”
“What’s this really about, Steve?”
Steve shook his head and grabbed the car keys from the hook on the wall. “This is about making sure he doesn’t contact you ever again. That was the promise he made in front of a goddamn judge so he wouldn’t do any time. Or do you not remember why he had to do that?”
“Of course I remember,” you mumbled, emotion thickening your voice.
Bucky was on his knees in front of you, a cup in both your hands. “We’ll be together forever, just like we promised,” he vowed darkly.
You were shaking your head, having a major case of second thoughts. “I don’t… Bucky, maybe this isn’t -”
“We promised, Y/N,” he ground out. “In front of God, we promised.”
And you had, but honestly, you had thought it was a joke or something. You never actually thought that Bucky meant it when he said he wanted to ‘drink the kool-aid’ and be with you in the afterlife.
“Bucky, you know I love you, but -”
“But nothing,” he growled. “We’re doing this.”
Panic blossomed in your chest. “No, Bucky.”
Rage contorted his face as he screamed, “We will be together forever!”
Before you could figure out what was happening, Bucky had you pinned to the floor and was trying to force you to drink the poisoned liquid. You spat out what you could as you struggled, but he was so much stronger than you, and some of the juice ended up getting swallowed.
He shoved off of you and was just about to drink his cup when Steve appeared out of nowhere, slamming his shoulder into Bucky’s midsection.
“Y/N, please,” he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I just… I need to know… to make sure that he keeps his distance, that you, that the baby are safe. Because that is my number one priority right now.”
You stood in front of him, as close as you could, given the size of your stomach. “I am safe, Steve. Because of you, we are safe.”
When he looked down at you, he shook his head again. “He can’t find out,” he murmured. “If he finds out, I’ll lose you and the baby forever, and I ca- I can’t do that.”
“He won’t,” you vowed. You grabbed his hand and rested it where Bucky’s child started kicking. “You’re the man she will call her father, that will threaten any boys that want to date her, that will walk her down the aisle at her wedding. You, Steve. Nobody else.”
Steve was sniffling and nodding his head. “I’m just… he was my best friend, my brother, Y/N, and I lost him.”
You cupped his face and kissed him sweetly. “He was brainwashed, Steve. There was absolutely nothing we could do to save him.”
“I know, I do,” he murmured, fat tears rolling down his cheeks, onto your hands.
“If he is still involved with… them -”
“Hydra,” Steve muttered angrily.
“Yes, them. If Bucky is still involved with them, if he’s still not… himself, it would be a bad idea for you to go over there,” you explained, your voice shaking. “I’ve lost Bucky. I can’t lose you, too. I need you. We need you.”
He blew out a ragged breath, nodding his head in agreement. “You’re not going to lose me, doll. I’m here. I’m right here.”
“Good, that’s good,” you said with a sob.
Steve’s arms wrapped tightly around you and held you close. “I’m not going anywhere, doll. I’m with you until the end.”
TWO
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