arm's length away ━ bucky barnes

chapter thirty: begging for a life

TW: kidnapping, torture (kinda?) and brief mention of suicide.

☆

"Rora."

No answer.

"Rory."

She was still in a deep sleep, so he tried again, poking her cheek with his index finger.

"Rory!"

Her eyes flew open and Bucky held in a snort at the sight of her dishevelled appearance.

"What the fuck?" She whispered groggily. "It's 3 in the morning, what do you want?"

"It's a full moon."

"You're not a fucking werewolf are you? Because I don't think I could handle-"

"I'm not!"

"Then what's the big deal?"

He was suddenly nervous.

"Uh," He scratched the back of his neck - cheeks pink, though she couldn't see in the darkness of the room. "I read somewhere that stargazing is best when there's a full moon." He whispered shyly, looking down at his hands in his lap.

The was a pause and then she let out a small laugh.

He flushed red and he was suddenly embarrassed.

"Go get a blanket; it's better up on the roof." She instructed.

His head snapped up and he stared at her with wide blue eyes. "You really want to look at the stars with me?" He spluttered.

She smiled softly. "Of course I do."

And that's how Bucky Barnes and Aurora Amedeo found themselves laying side-by-side on a blanket, staring at the stars from the roof of their building.

The night sky was aglow with bright city lights, but Bucky found beauty in something else.

"Aren't they pretty?" Aurora asked, eyes sparkling as she looked at the constellations.

"Beautiful." He replied absentmindedly.

She turned to look at him only to see he was staring right back at her.

"You're not even looking at them!" She accused with a playful glare.

"Maybe I'd rather look at you." He shrugged.

"Just look." She shuffled closer, placing her warm hands on his cold cheeks and directing his head towards the sky.

"Have you ever stargazed before?" He asked, seemingly out the blue.

"My brother and I used to climb to the roof of our high-school and stay there until sunrise." She didn't quite answer his question but he took it as a yes.

"I thought you said Leo would never sneak out?" Rory had told him stories about her and Emilio but not once had she mentioned stargazing.

"He didn't. My other brother did."

He was shocked into silence. Rory had never mentioned another sibling before.

She spoke up again, sensing his confusion. "He wasn't actually my brother, just a best friend who felt like one."