Heart of the Ocean

Chapter 4

When y/n woke the next morning she was slightly disoriented. They must have moved during the night because she remembers Steve and Bucky cuddling together, but now she was sandwiched between their warm bodies. Wiggling out from between them proves more difficult than she had thought, especially with two pairs of strong arms wrapped securely around her waist.

After some more wiggling, she manages to free herself from their grasp and walks into the trees to relieve herself. When she gets back both men are wide awake and looking around frantically, Steve is already halfway out of his tail by the time he spots her. Once she reaches them both hold out their hands for her, pulling her into a warm embrace.

It is quiet for a time until a thought occurs to her. "How is your arm?" Y/N asks Bucky to which he replies by unwinding the seaweed from his arm and revealing the healed skin beneath. She delicately traces her fingers along the muscles, admiring the way that there wasn't even a scar left over. "Wow..." she murmurs in awe.

Bucky clears his throat gruffly, trying to shake off the warmth her touch elicits in his soul. "So, we never asked, where on the mainland do you stay? We should probably take you home, but we can't exactly just swim up to a beach full of humans..." Bucky hisses slightly on the last word, not noticing the hurt look that flashes through the young woman's eyes, nor the way Steve facepalms at his mate's crassness.

Y/N pulls away her hand, shifting further away from Bucky and curls slightly in on herself, fighting to keep her voice even and steady as she stares at the water, "I don't live on the mainland. I have a house on an island about a hundred miles south of the reef where you found me. I am the sole inhabitant unless you count the souls that I rescue and help heal before returning them to their world."

Steve can almost see the girl sinking further into her self and her own mind and his heart breaks for her. He drags himself over to her and wraps his arm around her shoulder, tugging her into his chest. "What Bucky meant was that you probably miss your bed and comforts of home, that's all," he tries to soothe her as Bucky realizes his mistake, his head falling into his hands.

"Well, I do miss coffee and my clothes that aren't stiff with salt," she concedes softly. "But I don't want to say goodbye to either of you, even if I know that I can't ask you to stay..."

"You don't have to ask doll, we'll stay with you as long as you'll let us. You aren't getting rid of us that easily, merman's honor," Bucky jumps in, eager to see her smile again.

Soon enough Bucky and Steve, with Y/N clinging to Steve's back like a little monkey, are cutting through the water like twin speedboats. The island that at first was merely a dot on the horizon grows steadily larger as they approach. There is a small dock with a boat bobbing in the water and a large house right on the edge of the water with large windows and French doors.

Once the water is shallow enough for her to stand, y/n slips from Steve's back and begins walking towards the house. Once they reach the beach Steve slips off his tail and turns to wait for Bucky who is still in the water and looks like he is in enormous pain. Then the look passes and he slowly makes his way out of the water on two shaky, yet very much human legs. Y/n, who had been watching from the front door of her home, quickly averted her eyes and scuttled off inside to find them all clean clothes. This already interesting week just became twice more interesting and it was only Wednesday...