Shadows and Secrets Book Three (A MCU FanFic)

Chapter 20: Plots and Schemes

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trigger warning: references to suicide and self-harm that may be offensive or upsetting to some readers

trigger warning: mild references to sexual content that may be offensive or upsetting to some readers

Bucky's POV

    He was conflicted.

    Did he get Natalia a birthday present?

    On one hand, that was the normal and nice thing to do. People got their friends presents on their birthdays. And he had known Natalia for years; she was like his little sister.

    However, Natalia might not even know her birthday was next week—December 3rd. He only knew because Winter read her file once, and he wasn't sure she would want to know this information.

    And he and Marjorie were supposed to be in hiding, not appearing at birthday parties for cameos.

    But if Natalia expected a birthday present and he didn't deliver, she would probably beat him up. Never mind being in hiding; she would find him.

    So he was making a pros and cons list. And worrying. Lots of worrying, because Marjorie was gone.

    Marjorie had gone to the twins' dorm because apparently Rei was breaking-out and refused to come out of their room. Riku dragged her away before he figured out why Marjorie could help with that. He eventually realized her healing powers must work on acne.

    He should at least tell her when her birthday was. Let Natalia decide if she wanted to ignore it or not. That was probably the safest option.

    It would be even safer to do it over the phone...

    Texting was out—he wasn't that tactless—but a phone call would suffice. That way, he wasn't in range.

~

    "Awwwww," said Marjorie as she teleported back into their room and nearly gave Bucky a heart attack. "Adorable."

    Bucky scowled. So what if he was currently hugging a large duck SquishMallow named Avery? That didn't make him any less cool. "I'm not adorable," he argued.

    "Uh-huh." She slid behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. "If you say so."

    "Is that Marjorie?" asked Natalia. She sounded preoccupied and distracted over the phone.

    "Yeah," he answered. Marjorie curiously tried to see the name on his phone screen.

    "Tell her I said hello." Natalia hung up on him. Rude.

    "That was Nat," he explained. "She says hello."

    "Okay." This didn't seem like it was big news to Marjorie. She nuzzled the back of his neck.

    "... Don't you want to know why?"

    She frowned; Bucky felt the curve of her mouth on his neck. "Should I?"

    "I don't know," he said honestly. Didn't girlfriends normally get jealous when their boyfriend called other girls? Not that there was anything to be jealous of.

    "You would volunteer the information if it was important," she resonated. "I don't need to know all of your personal drama. Of course, now you made me curious, so I'm going to guess until I get it right."