𝐺𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝐼𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑃𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐶𝑜.

II.

𝐼𝐼. 𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑇𝑜 𝐷𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠

Bucky

"Okay let's uh," she wrinkles her nose and smiles sitting criss-cross on an old wooden chair with a red cushion, "I'm Antiffany Stark. Call me Tiffany." She said, lighting a cigarette.

It was clear she already knew who I was so I told her the truth, "James Buchanan Barnes." I reply, my heart squeezing uncomfortably at the sound of my own name.

"But people call you Bucky." She says, blowing out some smoke and taking a bite of her orange chicken. I noticed it wasn't a question, she said it matter-of-factly.

"I guess." I shrug. I watch a corner of her mouth twitch up in a smile. Her eyes seemed to be taking in every aspect of me, analyzing intently. I feel my cheeks heat up as I notice she is quite pretty.

"Well, James," she puts her cigarette out and offers me her hand. A show of respect and vulnerability, "you are welcome to stay here as long as you need. I own the building and with everything Steve has ever done for me, it's the least I can do to help you disappear. If you choose to stay I won't be telling Steve for a while. I want to give you time to..." her eyes flicker down for a moment to her food before quickly returning to me, "adjust."

I sit for a moment a weigh my options.
I may be endangering her if I stay here.
𝐼𝑛𝑑𝑜𝑜𝑟 𝑝𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑖𝑛𝑔.
She would have to lie to Steve about my presence.
𝐴 𝑠𝑎𝑓𝑒 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑛𝑜𝑤.

"I would like that very much." I find myself shaking her hand.
She smiles. I watch her stand and walk down a short hallway, opening a closet door. She returns with a pile of blankets and two large pillows.

"I have a guest room, I'm sure you're tired." She says, nodding towards the hall. I stand up, glaring for a moment at my dirty plate on the table.

"Don't worry about it, seriously." She insists. I nod slowly and walk towards her down the hall.

She shows me a nice medium sized bedroom with a queen sized bed planted firmly in the center of the far wall. She begins putting the blankets and pillows on the bed, a nice deep green shade covering the mattress.

She turns to me, waving awkwardly to the bed.

"Goodnight."

"Thank you." I reply. She waves me off and smiles before closing the door. I sit on the edge of the obviously expensive bed and begin to unlace my boots. Kicking them to the side and pulling my coat off, I sit for a second, absorbing the strange day I had. She was a nice girl. Maybe 24 or 25. It did bother me that she was a Stark a bit,  given that if I recall correctly, I murdered her parents.

Unbuttoning my jeans to get a bit more comfortable, I slide under the comforter and lay my head on the sponge-like pillow that smelled like it had been in a cabinet for a while. I felt my body relax immediately. Something about being here made me feel kind of... safe. Like because she knew Steve, everything might turn out okay because he hadn't given up on me. I felt something I hadn't felt in a long time; a flicker of hope. Maybe I can be a whole man again one day.

Closing my eyes, I let finally let myself drift off into darkness.

Antiffany