Sydney slammed the apartment door, wincing as she remember it was 3 AM and her roommates were all asleep. She dropped her messenger bag nonchalantly next to the couch in the living room before stumbling into the kitchen.

She squealed when she noticed she wasn't alone. "Bucky, holy shit!" She'd forgotten just how silent Bucky had been ever since she first met him a year ago. She had just woken up, gone to the kitchen for tea and found Bucky nursing a hangover. He didn't let her know he was there until the kettle had boiled and she was pouring the scalding hot water into her mug, well, her hand because she jumped. She didn't know that anyone had taken one of the two spare rooms for rent in her and Natasha's apartment, she must missed the non-existent memo that Natasha hadn't sent her.

Bucky turned from where he was hunched over the counter. He noticed Sydney and a smiled twisted the corner of his lips. "Hey. How was work?" He was shirtless, allowing Sydney to drool at his beautifully chiselled abs. Probably the best part of her night.

She thought back to the bar those few hours before. "Don't even. What are you doing at three o'clock in the morning?" She shook her head as she sat down on the breakfast bar, placing her elbow on the table and resting her face on it.

"Baking cookies."

Sydney frowned. "Why?" 3 am isn't the usual time for baking. At least not for Sydney. Or any other sane human being living in New York City. Except maybe her friend Max.

Bucky added the cookies onto the pan before shoving it in the oven. "Because I can. Also nightmares." He shrugged indifferently.

"Aw, Buck." Sydney sighed, a look of concern washing over her face. He'd been having nightmares ever since he first arrived. She didn't know what had caused them, Bucky would keep that to himself, but he told her what happened in the dream occasionally. "You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm okay." He pulled out two of the three trays that were in the oven, and placed it on the counter in front of her. Sydney smirked and leaned over the counter to nab one of the delicious treats, and stuff it in her face. Bucky raised an eyebrow before rolling his eyes and picking one up himself. He leaned down against the counter and smiled. "So what exactly happened at work?"

Sydney sighed and hung her head. "Well, this guy was harassing Hayley so I told him to stop. Then when I was doing the rounds, he grabbed my ass and refused to let go." Bucky tensed, his jaw visibly clenched as he ate his cookie. "Then I punched him in the face, and Benny kicked him and his friends out. Fucking college boys."

"Is Hayley alright?"

"Yeah she's fine. She hates it, but she deals." Sydney shook her head, before crossing her arms and tucking her face into the crook of her elbow.

"What time are you in tomorrow?"

"Uh, 7 am. Photography. Shit." Sydney tipped her neck, rubbing her eyes with her hands.

"God, Sid. You can't survive on 4 hours of sleep." He shook his head as he pushed all the cookies he'd made onto a large plate, before shoving them into the large fridge Natasha had installed.

"I have to Bucky. I can't lose my job, because I can barely afford next year, and I have to go to class because it's a waste of my money otherwise."

"Can't you just say you're ill? Surely you've done all the work so far?" Sydney yawned while Bucky argued her case.

"Well, yeah I'm ahead of most people but it's still class." Sydney shook her head, her eyes following Bucky as he walked around the table to Sydney's side. He picked her out of the seat and threw her over his shoulder, while Sydney squeaked. "Bucky! What are you doing?"

"Taking you to bed." He picked up her messenger bag as he strolled across the living space to Sydney's room, opening the door and closing it behind him.

"Bucky." Sydney whined as she was dropped on the bed, her jacket tugged off along with her shoes. She pulled her skinny jeans off and swapped them for her pyjama shorts before flopping face down. Bucky crawled into the bed with her and was quickly pinned down by Sydney who had attached herself to Bucky's shirtless abdomen, sucking in all of his heat.

"Night Sid." He murmured as she drifted off quickly.

The next morning was a bit odd. She was surrounded by warmth, which was always odd; she usually managed to kick her covers off in the middle of the night, leaving her cold in the mornings. Secondly, she hadn't been woken by her alarms. she turned over at her clock and widened her eyes at the time she saw. 8:15 am. "Shit!" Sydney shot up in her bed accidently elbowing Bucky in the ribs as she freaked out, pulling him out of his slumber with a groan.

He pulled her back down into bed, yanking the covers over them as she squirmed. "S'okay. Your professor sent a text saying there was no need for you to come in." He kept an arm wrapped around her waist and smiled sleepily. She stopped squirming, lying silently, before she spoke.

"So is this a thing we do now?"

Snuggling closer to her, he agreed. "Mhmmm."

"Cool."