Relapse ★ Bucky Barnes

A Promise To Always Be Yours

MARCH 10, 2017

★ ★ ★

After many long months of preparation and waiting, the day Bucky and Marlena (and the rest of their friends and family) had been waiting for had finally come. Not only was it Bucky's 100th birthday, it was also his wedding day, and he and Marlena were more than ecstatic because of it, though neither of them couldn't seem to shake the nervousness that had settled inside them because of it.

Marlena was in her outrageously enormous dressing room inside the church, standing in front of the full body-length mirror as Wanda and Natasha picked at her dress. It was a beautiful white number inspired by a time period that Bucky was far too familiar with: the 1940's. She had picked it out hoping Bucky would feel more comfortable and more at home, because although it was her wedding, too, she still put him above her own self. She always would; she loved him far too much not to.

"Stop shaking, Marlena," Natasha grumbled as she fixed the long sleeves of Marlena's dress. "You have no reason whatsoever to be nervous; you're marrying the love of your life."

Up until today, Marlena had been feeling relatively calm about the wedding, but the moment Natasha and Wanda began pulling her dress on her, the reality of the situation began to set in and Marlena became a nervous wreck. She wasn't sure what it was that made her so nervous either. She was marrying the love of her life and her very best friend, and she was more than ready to do so, too. She was ready to start her life with Bucky Barnes, as she had been for over a year now, so she couldn't even begin to understand why she was acting the way she was.

"I can't help it, Nat." Marlena let out a shaky breath as she looked at herself in the mirror, running her clammy hands over the fabric of her dress. The longer she looked, the realer it all became, and the worse she felt.

"It's normal for the bride to be nervous at her wedding," Wanda chuckled.

"I'm gonna throw up."

Natasha made a face and hurried to grab her veil from the table. "I will literally smack the shit out of you if you do. Anyway, I'm sure Bucky's just as nervous as you are, Marlena. One-up him and chill the hell out."

"She isn't wrong, though," Wanda admitted. "I can feel him from here, though I'm pretty sure he's worse off than you are. He doesn't want to be the center of attention, and he's afraid of how he's going to react when he sees you for the first time in over twenty four hours."

"That's it!" Marlena exclaimed as she turned around rather abruptly, nearly knocking her veil from Natasha's hands. "The center of attention; that's what's bothering me and making me so nervous. I don't wanna profess my undying love for him in front of so many people. I don't want so many people watching me."

Natasha let out a sigh and turned the brunette back around to face the mirror as she began putting her veil on top of her head, careful not to mess up her tidy up-do. "I can assure you that when you get out there and see Bucky waiting at that altar for you, it's only gonna be you and him inside this building—no one else. Just think of him, Mar, okay? Think about him and you'll be okay."

Marlena nodded her head in response to the redhead's words and did as she said, and almost immediately she began to calm down. Even after so long together, the very thought of Bucky still had an incredible effect on her.

The moment the veil was situated on top of Marlena's head, there was a knock at the dressing room door, startling all three of the women inside.

"Who is it?" Natasha called out.

"Greyson," came the muffled answer.

Marlena let out a sigh of relief as Wanda moved to open up the door for him, allowing him access into the large room. Marlena spun around to look at Greyson, and as he looked over the dress that adorned her small body and the made up face of the girl he had watched grow into something so beautiful and so mature, tears pricked in his eyes. He was unable to hide his emotions as he looked at her, and because Marlena could feel everything he felt, she was unable to hide her emotions as well.