Timeless

Chapter 44

A/N: Oops my hand slipped and all brain cells left

Two weeks later, Kathryn still hadn't left the house. It had taken her three entire days to be able to string any sentences together or even find the energy to leave their bed. She barely ate anything that first week—unable to stomach even the simplest of things. On day two, Gale had absolutely insisted that she try to eat some toast. Kathryn had puked it up shortly after—sick to her stomach from feeling as though she were reliving the experience for the first time.

He had called off of work—and they had spent their first Valentine's Day as a married couple quietly and with him trying to convince her to walk around or try to do anything except just lay there. Not even Meatball had been a convincing point for her to get out of bed at first.

Their phone had been disconnected until the second week. And both of them knew that the teams of news reporters camping out on the edge of their street were just waiting for an interview with Doctor Death . The mere thought of it made Kathryn shake. She wasn't that person anymore and she could no more summon that presence than she could change the outcome of the war or how Hausmann had died.

Kathryn was frustrated with herself on a deep and personal level that she couldn't even express. Because how do you go about telling someone that you were reliving the worst experience of your life? How could she possibly make him understand that the physical pains that she was feeling were all too real—and caused by the memories.

But after that second week, they had obligations to get back to. They had lives that they had to lead. Kathryn couldn't just disappear into their house forever and pretend that things were fine. She had a job—Gale had a job. And that wasn't all. Bucky was getting married, after all. And they couldn't just miss that.

So that first week of March, Kathryn did her best—she really did try . She had showered and eaten and everything. But at the thought of putting a dress on her skin, the thought of going and being around other people, people other than Gale Cleven , it made her want to curl up into a ball and just simply die.

So when Gale exited the bathroom fully dressed and nearly ready to go to the wedding and he found Kathryn sitting there on the bed, book in hand—and pajamas still on, he couldn't help the frown. "Kath, don't you need to get dressed?"

"I'm not going."

He let out a sigh— it wasn't that he blamed her, but sometimes she acted like a child and it was frustrating. "You're gonna miss your own brother's wedding?" He raised a brow. Because if there was one thing he knew, it was that Kathryn was stubborn as a mule and dedicated to her brother in a way that no one quite understood except she and Bucky.

"Yes," Kathryn replied simply.

"And what am I supposed to tell him?"

"Congratulations, obviously."

"Kath—"

"Compromise?" Kathryn offered. "You take Meatball and dance with him at the wedding instead of me and I can sit here and not have to talk to anyone."

"I think I'll get a few weird looks."

"You've danced with Meatball before in front of the guys."

"Kath," Gale's hands landed on his hips as he stared her down. "Come on, you're going."

"Is that an order, Major Cleven?"

"Attitude, Mrs. Cleven."

At that, she rolled her eyes and set down the book. "I mean it, I'm not going."