Multi-Fandom Imagines

The Avengers [b. barnes]

Pairing: James 'Bucky' Barnes
Imagine: Trying to console your best friend Bucky.
Warnings: Starts out as angst, turns into fluff.

It was complete coincidence that your apartment within Stark Tower was beside Bucky's.

It was purely luck that the two of you became the best of friends.

And perhaps it was only fate that you heard him one night.

The super solider and you were very close friends, but there had always been a line. Buck didn't discuss his previous life-and neither did you. It was an invisible line, but one you never crossed. It was only happy, only positive and cheeky between the two of you. Pranks, missions, you name it; you and Buck could keep people smiling.

You had no idea he was struggling just as much as you were. Because behind closed doors, you suffered. Plagued with your past, you could hardly stand being alone lest the thoughts coming creeping in. It was much easier to keep those around you happy than to do it for yourself.

It's because of this struggle that you were even awake at 2 a.m. Your nervous energy was uncontrollable and you had long ago given up on sleep, settling on playing Stardew Valley instead.

You were in the middle of chasing down your favorite NPC and trying to get them to love you when you heard it first. It was so quiet you briefly wondered if you imagined it, then it happened again and you knew you hadn't.

Bucky was crying. Sobbing, more like it, if you could hear it through your shared walls.

Setting down your switch, you pulled a sweatshirt on over your pajamas. There was no way you were going to sit back and let Bucky be upset by himself-you were going over.

You left your room, tiptoeing down the hall to keep from waking anyone else. The two of you never bothered knocking on each others doors so you quietly let yourself in.

His apartment was impeccably clean, much more so your own. It was also cold-and not temperature wise.

Your apartment was covered head to toe in random every day things; decorations you impulse bought at Target, weird paintings you found at thrift stores, cards and drawings your family sent, etc. In other words, it was lived in. But Bucky's apartment didn't have anything personal, only filled with the furnishings supplied by Stark.

It wasn't the moment to inquire about it, but you made a mental note to help him fill his space with things that made him happy.

You creeped deeper into the apartment, towards the bedroom that was in the very back as you tried desperately not to trip over anything in the dark. The door was shut, and you gave a soft knock before pushing it open.

"Bucky? It's me."

It took your eyes a moment to find him in the dark, but when they did your heart lurched.