Winter Is Coming (A Bucky Barnes Fanfic)

Chapter 6: Avalanche

"The very fact of snow is such an amazement." -Roger Ebert

***

Harley awakes to a pleasant smell that is powerfully familiar. She smells the sweetness and is instantly propelled back into her teen years.

*Stumbling out of the bar she and Bucky had managed to sneak in to, the duo stagger back towards home, hoping their hangovers won't be too bad the following morning.

They're one alley away from their houses when Bucky stops Harley.

"Wait, I gotta tell you somethin'," he slurs quietly. "It's real import'n."

Harley gazes up at him with glassed over eyes, not blinking until they sting too much. "What?"

Bucky looks like he's trying to remember. "Uh, dammit, I forget."

Harley shrugs over-enthusiastically, muttering an 'oh well' and pulling Bucky along by his sleeve.

"Wait! I got it!" Bucky slurs. No sooner has Harley turned back around to face him than a pair of surprisingly cold lips meet hers. They taste like the tequila and vodka they shared. She pulls him against her harder by his tie as he pushes her against the brick alley wall, his hand moving dangerously far up her thigh and under her dress.

Bucky mutters against her lips, "Marry me."

The next morning, neither of them remember a thing after the first drink.*

She sits up in her bed--or Bucky's bed--and remembers that night out of the blue. She's also almost positive that Bucky had joined her sometime in the night, but she doesn't want to say anything about either memories in case she only imagined them.

Drifting into the kitchen she finds Bucky sitting on the counter reading the paper while he sipped, surprisingly, water.

"No coffee?" Harley asks. "Are you sick of it now?"

Bucky grins and puts the paper down. "No, I'm just not feeling it today. I made you tea though." He brings over a teacup of chamomile tea. "I had a dream that you were drinking some. It made me remember that you love it."

"And you just so happened to have some sitting in your cupboard?" Harley questions, taking the cup gratefully. "You think this stuff is repulsive."

Bucky studies her for a moment. "Alright, alright, I got it from Steve."

Harley laughs. "I knew it! What time is it?"

"Only nine-thirty," he responds. "Did you know you talk in your sleep?"

Harley raises her eyebrows as she drinks her tea. "Do I?"

Bucky nods slowly. "You said something about Hydra last night. I don't know what, I just heard Hydra."

"So you did come to bed eventually," Harley realizes.

Bucky smiles and looks at the floor. "You looked cold, okay?"

Harley has to hold back a laugh. "Bucky, I'm made of fire. Do you really think I have the capability of getting cold that easily?"

Bucky shrugs. "I know you can't. I was just using it as an excuse."

Harley hides her smile by drinking more tea. "Can I braid your hair?" she asks, tilting her head to the side and imagining his hair in little braids.

"No."

She frowns. "Fine."

"I have a question. Well, more of a proposition."

"Go for it."