Just Roommates

Chapter Ten

Sure enough, a week went by. Bucky had finally reeled himself in some and found himself actually being able to concentrate on work for what it was, and not just as a distraction as he had been.

Who knew it only took one night of going out with the guys and not getting completely plastered to have a good time? Sure, Y/N was on his mind, but he thought he was finally starting to make some progress on moving on. Maybe... At least that's what it felt like in the moment.

That is until later.

Bucky was coming home from a late-night meeting. As stated before, work had been number one in his mind the past week whether he wanted it to or not. The company had finally decided to join parties with Stark Industries.

Sure the man could be an annoying and a stuck-up jackass most of the time, but the two companies actually shared quite a bit of the same goals and ideas. Tony had the technology and Bucky had the connections. It only made sense to join up and grow from there.

Because of this merger, Bucky's week had been chaotic and absolutely consumed with contracts, meetings, and talks with their staff over what worked best, and where they could best merge the two companies. He was exhausted, to say the least. Exhausted and not mentally aware of anything outside of Barnes Prosthetics Industry. It was the perfect distraction that he needed.

But as he walked by Y/N's room, he noticed dim lighting coming from under the doorway. She had said she wouldn't be home for a while because of meeting up with Thor after his trip away.

See, while Bucky was working nonstop, Y/N was also. Thor had left the week after Bucky and Steve's little talk. Having some convention in Nevada to go to. So that week, Y/N took up teaching extra classes and found herself taking the time to catch up on things from the weeks she had spent nonstop with Thor. Which caused her to get behind in work, teaching, and all the other things she did. 

So Bucky hadn't really seen much of her, or any of her, because of their conflicting schedules. Even with Thor not being there to steal her away, most nights when he got home she was already asleep, or she was coming in late herself.

But her light being on was different. He was pretty sure tonight she was picking Thor up from the airport too, so she most likely would've gone to his house and not have been here tonight.

He quirked an eyebrow at the glow. It was barely there, so it must have been her small bedside lamp subtly lighting her space.

He put his briefcase down at the doorway and leaned an ear to the door. Maybe she had brought Thor over? Please God don't let that be the case. He could barely handle the thought of her being with him at his house, let alone hearing them through his own walls.

Sure Bucky felt like he was finally moving on from having the past two weeks of distractions, but jealousy easily slipped into his veins when he thought about Y/N.

Instead of hearing voices though, he heard sniffling. He straightened at the sound, not being able to understand what was happening. Was she crying? Sick? 

Y/N didn't cry much. Even for an emotional person, it was still really hard to make that girl cry. Bucky had only seen her do it maybe 3x in all of his life of knowing her. And sick? She was always healthy. Physically she took care of herself so well with having the background of a fitness and wellness coach. He hadn't remembered the last time she even had a small cold.

Enough of the guessing, Bucky didn't hesitate to knock.

"Y/N/N? You there?"

There was a soft shuffling as if she was moving blankets. Then a few more sniffles.