Red in my Ledger

Chapter Thirty-Seven

I had another nap.
When I awoke again, I took some medicine as I still felt gross.
Then, I opened the box off chocolates as Bucky applied the vaporub to my chest.
I held up a chocolate to his lips until he opened them, and I placed it on his tongue.
He continued to rub his fingers in a circular and soothing motion above my bra.
I ate another chocolate as he did.
My phone started to ring, which confused me because the only people that had my number were here in the tower. It was Tony.
"Hello?"
"Y/n? Where are you?"
"Uh, where are you?"
"I'm in your room. You're not here."
"Right. That's because... I am in Steve's room."
"Really? What are you doing in there?"
"Oh, uh, I didn't want to be alone, but I didn't want to get anyone else sick. But Steve is a super soldier so he won't be affected."
"Makes sense. I'll be there in a sec."
"Oh you don't have to-"
"Already on my way y/n."
"Ummm..." I sat up and looked around for my T-shirt. I spotted it and awkwardly started putting it on while still on the phone to Tony. "Can you bring me a tea?" I asked to try and stall him.
"Sure. Do you want any food?"
"No, no just the tea is fine. See you in a minute, bye!"
I hung up and stood up from the bed.
"Gotta go. Tony's coming to find me" I told Bucky.
"Yeah okay."
"Come see me later?"
"Definitely. Bye y/n."
"Bye baby" I smiled and kissed him, before hurrying out the room and down the hall.
I didn't knock on Steve's door; I let myself in. It was empty.
I jumped on his bed and made myself comfortable as though I had been there for hours.
Tony arrived not long later.
"Hey y/n" he smirked. "Guess who I ran into in the kitchen."
Before I could answer, Steve appeared beside him.
"Hi" he smiled awkwardly.
"Capsicle here told me that he hasn't seen you since breakfast. I thought that's strange, surely he would have noticed you in his room."
"Oh, uh..."
"Care to explain?"
"I- I'm really sorry Tony I went for a walk but I didn't tell you because I thought you'd be mad because I'm sick" I lied. "Then I realised, yeah I'm sick, so I came home. And I only just got back a few minutes ago and like I said I didn't want to be alone but I didn't want any of you to catch my cold so that's why I came here. I'm sorry."
"It's okay y/n. Next time, just tell me. Tell someone. What if something happened when you were out and no one knew where you were?"
"I'm really sorry" I apologised again.
"Well we can't do anything about it now. Here's your tea" Tony handed me the mug.
"You like tea?" Steve questioned.
I nodded as I sipped.
"Yeah, you?" I asked politely.
"It's alright" Steve said. He was looking at me oddly, but I decided to ignore it.
I took another sip, but started coughing and spilt a little.
Tony took the cup back as it took me a minute to stop coughing.
"I'm sorry Steve" I gestured towards the tea stain on his sheets.
"That's okay. They needed a wash anyway."
I looked down into my lap, embarrassed that I had made a mess.
"I think I'm just gonna go back to my room" I sighed and pushed the covers aside to get up.
"I'll come with you" Tony offered.
"No, I don't want to get you sick too."
"Y/n, if you don't want to be alone, you're more than welcome to stay in here" Steve suggested.
I hesitated. As gross as I felt, I would appreciate the company.
"You won't mind?"
"Of course not."
"Thank you Steve" I smiled at him.
"You sure you're okay?" Tony asked.
"Yeah. Thanks."
"Okay. Take care of her Rogers" Tony said while grinning at me, then left the room.
Steve sat next to me and I smiled lightly as he brushed the hair out of my face.
"Movie?"
"Sure."
I watched as Steve started to set it up on his TV, then he came over to sit next to me again as the intro music started to play.
"Did you really go on a walk?" he asked.
"Mhm."
"Hm. Where'd you go?"
"Oh, um, just walked around the block a couple times."
"And you were alone?"
"Yeah."
"Hm" Steve sounded thoughtful.
"What? What's wrong?"
"Nothing. Don't worry about it."
"Oh okay."
I cuddled up to him under his arms and closed my eyes.
No matter how hard I tried I couldn't fall asleep, so I gave up and watched the film.
After a while, I heard Steve start snoring softly next to me.
I quietly pushed past myself off the bed.
I turned off his TV and switched off his light before tiptoeing out the door.
I started making my way back to Bucky's room but I had a voice coming from inside.
It was him, but I waited outside and listened to what he was saying.
"Yeah, no, Steve told me he would you give my number... so did you want to set something up? ... are you free for dinner, maybe, Friday night? ... it's a date. I'll pick you up around 7, if you send me your address... yeah, sounds great... bye."
I knew the call ended but I found myself standing still, hesitating to knock.
In the end, I decided to walk off and go back to my own room.
He must've heard me because I heard the door open behind me.
"Y/n, honey" he called quietly.
I turned back.
"What's wrong?" he asked as he came towards me.
He put his hands on my hips then slipped them round my waist, pulling me against his chest.
I didn't object, despite being in the hallway where the others could see. I leaned my head on him and listened to his heartbeat through my chest.
"Y/n?"
I realised I didn't answer his question.
I didn't know how and whether to actually tell him I was having second thoughts about him going on this date, but he'd already set it up and I didn't want him to cancel without an explanation.
"I'm fine... tired."
With no hesitation, Bucky picked me up.
I closed my eyes and buried my face in his t-shirt.
Of course, I didn't want anyone to know about Bucky and I yet. But I didn't even think about asking him to put me down.
-
Bucky carried you all the way back to your room and lay you down on the bed where you tiredly rolled over to face the wall, curling up into a ball.
Bucky kissed your head then got up to go.
"Babyyy" you whined.
"I'll be back in a minute doll" he whispered.
He left momentarily and returned with the cold medicine.
"You still awake?" he asked as he crouched down next to the bed.
"Mhm" you groaned as you faced him, but didn't open your eyes.
"I got you the medicine. It will help you sleep and hopefully you'll feel better when you wake up in the morning."
"Hm" you moaned.
Bucky smiled at you, even though you couldn't see with your eyes shut.
He opened the medicine and poured a little onto the little spoon he had brought.
"Open."
You dropped your jaw a little, and he placed the spoon on your tongue.
You closed your mouth around it.
Your face instantly crumpled with disgust and you opened your eyes.
Bucky laughed a little when he took the spoon back.
"Gross."
"I'm sorry. I didn't know what kind to get... and I'm extra sorry because it says you gotta take two spoonfuls."
"Fine."
He repeated the action again, and you pulled the same face as before.
After screwing the lid back on the medicine and placing it (along with the spoon) on your bedside table, Bucky kissed you on the forehead.
You closed your eyes to go to sleep. You quickly passed out.
"I love you" Bucky whispered despite knowing you couldn't hear him.
He tucked a strand of your hair behind your ear.
Then he left to let you rest in peace.