Hallowed (B. Barnes)

Chapter Sixteen

Bucky doesn't get up just yet, he can hear Sydney softly singing as she moves through her apartment, it's not very often either of them are feeling all that jolly first thing on a morning, Bucky is usually the first awake and he hides out in the shower until he's calmed down, Sydney is usually cranky until she has had her first coffee. They are not morning people. But this morning, something is different. Bucky feels calmer, lighter and Sydney is singing. It's Christmas. Their first together as a couple. His first since....the 1940s. And he's excited about it, about spending it with her. He even got her a gift. Just a small thing. He knows she wears a charm bracelet, she never takes it off, so Bucky got her another charm to hang onto it. A red star. Just something to show a connection to him. It's cheap, he doesn't have the money to get anything expensive, but he saved some cash from his paycheque from the building manager, he doesn't get much once rent and utilities are taken out but he made do, plus he's been eating at Sydney's a lot so he saves money on food from eating hers. He stretches and then cringes, his flesh hand reaching up for the scars on his other. Every morning. He groans as he presses his fingers in trying to alleviate the ache. He'd almost forgotten about it. Almost. It's always there, at the back of his mind, but this morning it wasn't the first thing he'd thought of. s

"Morning" Sydney states, Bucky turns his head to look at her, he pauses and then starts laughing. She chuckles back and bounces where she stands which causes her outfit to dingle. She's wearing a sweater dress that's covered in bells. "What?" she asks him innocently. "What's so funny?" she bounces again which just makes her jingle again. Bucky laughs harder.

"Stop" he states. "I need to pee" he scolds her as he clutches his stomach, she jumps onto the bed and smiles down at him. He smiles back up at her. She's so beautiful. He doesn't deserve someone so...pretty. "What are you doing up?" he asks her, she shrugs a little.

"I know I've been away a lot recently" she offers. "And things were forgotten" he frowns at her.

"What things?" he asks her, she cocks her head and smirks before chuckling.

"Christmas, silly" she answers. "I hadn't decorated, I'd forgotten actually...."

"That's okay" he assures her.

"No it's not" she stops him. "I haven't wanted to celebrate Christmas since...." she lets out a breath and shrugs. "Since...I was a kid, but I wanted to this year, because of you, because I have you, and well...I had this plan, it was going to be the best Christmas ever" he smiles softly. "But then I had that job and I ran out of time" she shakes her head. "I got up early to fix it" she leans down and kisses him before jumping back up. "Now hurry up...it's magical" she bounces out the room, her dress jingling as she goes, Bucky chuckles softly and then remembers he has to pee.

............

When Sydney said magical, this wasn't what Bucky expected. She clearly didn't have time to go out and buy decorations but she's tried to make them herself. There are loose bits of glitter all over the floor and the kitchen counters, paper chains and the fairy lights from Halloween strung up. Bucky smiles, because to him....it is magical. She went to all this trouble to make this day nice, for them. Their first real holiday as a couple. He is in love with her. This just makes him realize how much. That even something as simple as paper chains makes his heart swell. Because of her. Bucky looks down at his hand that holds a small box, he hasn't gift wrapped it, he didn't think it was something he would do, all that bright paper, and ribbons and stuff, it isn't him. Sydney falls onto the couch with a sigh and a smile, she sets her feet up onto the coffee table and smiles across at him.

"It looks great in here" he offers as he approaches her.

"I know it's not, you know...." she shrugs a little.