Truth Doesn't Change The Way You Lie (A Bucky Barnes x OC story)

Chapter 20

The following day, Amelia looked in her bathroom mirror to see the bruises on her face coming out. It had only just began to hurt, as she realised how much damage a boot to the face can do. She tries to cover it up with makeup but nothing seemed to be working.

She walked back into her living room, everywhere still being a tip, she decided to try and sort things out more. To her surprise, not much had been stolen, only a few pieces of jewellery and some cash that she had left lying around. Amelia guessed that by catching them by surprise meant that they couldn't grab as much as they had planned.

Her phone buzzed and she saw that Bucky had texted her.

From Bucky <3
Hey Doll, me and Sam are being sent on a mission later today so I won't be able to speak to you. Don't know how long I'll be, could be until tomorrow.
I Love you

From  Amelia
Ok, Just try and be safe
I love you too x

Oh and make sure Sam doesn't die!

Amelia was already feeling emotional from what happened, but seeing Bucky's message made a tear escape from her eye. She didn't want to tell him about the incident incase he became worried whilst on his mission.

She looked at herself in the mirror, her hands on either side of the sink. She huffed as she grabbed her makeup wipes and removed what was covering her bruises. After all it wasn't doing a great job of covering it. Amelia looked at her bruise and the scrapes on her cheek, resting her fingers over it before wincing. "Fuck it." She exclaimed. "Fuck it, fuck it, fuck it." She repeated to herself before opening the bathroom door and going up to her bedroom. She saw Bucky's apartment key sitting on her bed, still attached to the note. She grabbed it along with some clothes, which she shoved in a suitcase. As she went back into the living room, Alpine was sitting on the counter purring at her.

"Are you coming with me, Alpine?" She bent over to be eye level with him, and he gave her a headbutt, as if to agree. "Okay, come on then." She lifted him up and cradled him in her arms, giving him a fuss before placing him on the ground. Amelia packed some of his things, along with searching for his carrier.

Once she had packed everything she needed, which wasn't a lot, she put Alpine in his carrier and double checked she had her passport and Bucky's key. She booked a taxi and headed to the airport, buying the next ticket she could to New York, not caring about how expensive it would be. All she cared about was getting away from her problems and being in the same space as Bucky. That's all she needed to feel safe.

-

The second Amelia had arrived at Bucky's apartment she fell back on to the couch and let all of her emotions out, only just letting everything that happened hit her.

She unpacked some of her things, knowing that Bucky might not even be back for a couple of days. She made herself at home, putting her skincare products in the bathroom, and hanging some of her clothes up in Bucky's wardrobe. At the same time looking through his clothes, just letting the smell of him seep through her. She got changed out of her clothes and put on one of his tops, the same one that he had let her wear previously.

She perched herself on the window ledge and lit a cigarette as she watched the stars above, Alpine cuddled by her feet. She liked having this time to herself, just in Bucky's apartment alone. For some reason she felt safe even though he wasn't there, just knowing that she was away from all of her troubles and that she would see him soon comforted her.

After she stumped her cig out and threw it on to the street below, she made her way to the bathroom. She splashed her face with some water to try and get rid of some of the redness on her face. She stared at herself in the mirror once again, examining the boot like marks on the side of her face. Amelia couldn't help but think about the moment when she saw her apartment in pieces. She tried to calm herself down as she felt the tears coming back.

"Come one Amelia, you're stronger than this." She huffed, her hands either side of the sink as she talked to herself in the mirror. She could feel the fear and anxiety rising through her body, not being able to control it. "Fuck, come on." She said to herself once more, feeling a panic attack approaching. Amelia tried taking deep breaths but nothing seemed to be working. Her body felt cold and shaky despite her efforts to calm herself down. Her fear started to turn to anger as she pictured the state of her apartment, and what the two people had done to it. She began to think the worst: what if they had taken Alpine, or what if they had beaten her up more. She felt herself start to loose control of her anger, it taking over her mind.

"Fuck!" She yelled as she pulled her fist back and lunged it towards the mirror, punching a splitting crack through the centre of it. Seconds later she felt the adrenaline wear off, noticing that her knuckles had been sliced by the shattered glass. Her breath was shaky as looked over her hand, "agh... shit, that stings." Amelia ran her hand under the tap, making sure that there was no glass stuck in it. Once she had cleaned her hand, she held a cloth to it to stop it from bleeding.

Little to Amelia's knowledge, Bucky was on his way it to the apartment. Before he could put his key in the lock, he heard a strange meowing noise from the other side of the door. Once Bucky had unlocked the door, he slowly opened it to reveal a fluffy Alpine rolled over, wanting attention. "Hiya buddy! What are you doing here?" He said in an adorable voice to the cat. "Is your mom here?" he carried on. "Amelia?" Bucky stood up, looking around the apartment to see if she was around. "Amelia?" He repeated.

"I'm uh... I'm just in the bathroom" Amelia didn't expect him to be home that early, and she wasn't sure how he would react to seeing her face and her hands. She had kept the light in the living room dim anyway, so at least that would help to hide it. She wiped the drying tears from her face and opened the bathroom door, keeping her head down as she ran into Bucky's arms.

"Hey, hey what's up?" Bucky sounded concerned as her hug practically body slammed him.

"Nothing I just-" Amelia started to get chocked up by her words, "I just missed you. That's all."

Bucky was still stunned that Amelia was even there. He pulled her head closer to his chest and stroked her head lovingly. "How long have you been here?"

Amelia kept her head to his chest, "not that long, only a couple hours."

Bucky took her away from his chest and placed his hand on her chin, lifting it up to look at him. "Why did you message-" His eyes settled on her bruising, seeing her puffy eyes, noticing that she had been crying a lot. "Who did that to you?" His voice changed instantly, becoming stern and serious. His thumb traced over her cheek as a tear fell. She started to sob, not letting her arms fall from around Bucky's waist. "Doll..." she gazed up as he spoke. "What happened?" His voice slowed, making sure she knew he cared.

He pulled her off his body, keeping his hands on her shoulders as he sat her down. He walked over to the sink and filled up a class of water and grabbed the first aid kit to change Amelia's bandage, seeing the blood already seeping through. He handed her the glass of water and she sipped it, calming her nerves. "Please Amelia." He wiped her knuckles, "talk to me."

Amelia sniffled as she began to talk, "There were two people in my apartment when I got back from work." Amelia pulled her hand away from him, tucking herself back into the couch, curling her knees up to her chest. "They ran away when they saw me, but the girl ended up uh..." Bucky stared into her puffy eyes. "She kicked me in the face" she chuckled through the pain. "I'm fine though. Honestly Buck, I swear."

"Amelia please don't lie to me." He placed his hand on her cheek and she nuzzled into it. "I know you're not okay. You don't have to hide it from me." Amelia's breath shuddered, letting her emotions unravel to him.

"I'm sorry Buck" Amelia sobbed.

"Stop that, you have nothing to be sorry about." Bucky couldn't help but think that the people had something to do with his past. "Do you remember what they looked like?"

"I... I don't think so. I'm pretty sure they had masks on."

"That's alright Doll. Don't stress about it too much. You're here with me now." Bucky wrapped his metal arm around her, keeping her to his side. "I promise I'll keep you safe." He whispered into her ear. A small smile crept across Amelia's face through her tears, making her feel comforted.

Bucky pulled the blanket off the edge of the couch and wrapped it around the pair of them, making sure the only thing that mattered was that Amelia felt safe. "You're safe now Doll." He whispered once more, even thought he knew she was asleep.