Come Back With Me

I Brought Tomato Soup

Bucky thought of every grand gesture in the book to try to reunite him and Ellie. Every single idea seemed to be too much. Then he realized that maybe he needs a small gesture but a significant one.

He packs what he needs and heads to the Rogers' house.

He knew Sarah was at the hospital and Steve was out grocery shopping so Lizzie would be home alone.

He got to the porch and was about to knock when he started freaking out. What if Rebecca was wrong? What if this damages things further?

He's terrified of this going wrong but he has a gut feeling that this is right so he knocks on the door.

In no time at all, Lizzie is opening the door. He can tell by her look she is surprised. She opens her mouth to say something but he holds out the items in his hands.

"I brought tomato soup," Bucky says.

She gives him a smile and opens the door wider for him to enter.

When they were younger, Lizzie used to get nightmares and flashbacks about the incident. Steve would try to calm her down but it didn't always work. When they were really bad, she would just stay up and sit at the kitchen table.

One night, Bucky was staying over when she had a nightmare. She didn't yell in her sleep like she normally did so luckily she didn't wake Steve. She walked down to the kitchen and sat at the table.

She forgot that Bucky was spending the night so she jumped when he entered the kitchen.

"Nightmare?" Bucky asks.

Steve had told him she had been having nightmares. He could also tell when she was having a flashback. Her eyes would glaze over and if anyone would try to touch her during those episodes, she would scream. Luckily, she was pretty good at coming out of them herself.

"Yes," she says in a whisper.

There was no use in lying to Bucky, he probably already knew about the nightmares from Steve.

Bucky doesn't say anything but begins looking around the kitchen. He finds a can of tomatoes and adds them and some water into a pot. He knows his mom makes tomato soup when they are sad so maybe this will cheer Lizzie up.

Apparently canned tomatoes and water is not how you make tomato soup.

The taste was horrendous but it lifted her spirits for sure.

The next day, Bucky asked his mom to teach her how to cook tomato soup. It took a few more tries but eventually he gets it down.

To this day, it is the only thing Bucky knows how to cook.

For years, he would make tomato soup to cheer up Lizzie even after the nightmares went away. He would make it when she was scared for a big test. He would make it when Steve was particularly sick and she was worried about him. He would make it on days where she missed her father or when she hadn't seen Sarah in a couple days.

The pair would sit down with bowls of tomato soup and would talk about what was bothering her. Today definitely felt like a tomato soup day.

Bucky set the soup on the counter and began filling the bowls while Lizzie made some toast that they could dip in the soup.

When they finished, the pair sat across from each other at the table.

"What's going on in that head of yours?" Bucky asks.

He would always start the conversation like that whenever they had a soup day.

Like her brother, when you asked her a direct question, she couldn't lie. It made it so much easier to get her to speak about what was bothering her. He didn't usually understand girls but he understands Ellie.

"I miss you," Lizzie says.

Bucky did not expect that. He expected a laundry list of his transgressions, not for him to say she misses him. But he should've known because it's Ellie. Rebecca says she forgave him and Ellie isn't one to harp on things that she has let go. If she forgave him, she won't keep dragging him through his faults.

Bucky knows she has more to say though so he stays silent.

"And I know that's my fault but I didn't know how to reach out. I pushed you away time and time again and I'm sorry. I know that you would never hurt me willingly but I was scared. I wasn't scared of you per say, I was scared of being so weak. I've always prided myself on being strong and that night made me feel weak. I should've talked about this with you sooner so I'm sorry. You've been my best friend for years and I threw that back in your face. I still don't like how that night was handled but I overreacted. I didn't let you explain why you acted how you acted. I hope you can forgive me for all of that," Lizzie says.

He should've known Ellie would apologize to him. She has the biggest heart he's ever seen. She always saw the best in others but she sometimes struggles to see all the good in herself.

"There's nothing to forgive, Ellie," Bucky says.

And then she launches herself into Bucky's arms and everything is okay in the world. She starts crying happy tears and Bucky just holds her tighter. He smiles into her hair and kisses the top of her head.

They both can't help but think that nothing feels as right as being held in each other's arms.

The rightness throws Lizzie for a second. Should being in the arms of a boy that isn't her boyfriend feel so right? Even if he is her best friend. She doesn't know what it says about her when she realizes that it feels too good to really care.

"Does this mean we can be friends again, Jaime?" Lizzie asks.

Bucky smiles wider at the nickname. It has been months since he heard that name come from her beautiful lips.

"Best friends, El," Bucky says.

They are so caught up in each other that they don't realize that Steve has come home. He looks at the pair in the kitchen with a large smile.

He decides to leave the groceries in the entrance way and go upstairs.

Bucky and Lizzie don't know how long they hold each other but neither can bring themselves to let go.

For the first time in forever, everything is right in their worlds.