It took Bucky a few days to adjust to Layla's presence, but he was quite surprised to notice how naturally it came to him.
She let him his spaces, yet always aware of his needing.
One morning, when she left for work at 5 am, when Bucky woke up, he found a large box on the kitchen island with a yellow post-it on it.
"Good morning princess; I'll be back this evening. I made you pizza, it's in the oven. Keys are near the door; please feed Flora. Lay"
Bucky frowned as he kept staring at the little piece of paper.
He could almost hear her voice reading the round shaped letters. He folded it carefully and put it on the back pocket of his black jeans before his hands reached the box.
Flora jumped effortlessly on the kitchen island, meowing curious at the box.
The plates of his left arm fletched a little as he opened it slowly.
He grinned without even realizing it.
Folded carefully there were a few jumpers and jeans, all in navy blue or black shades. A few notebooks were held together with a thin string and, in a little leather pencil case, there were a few pens.
Bucky observed the pens closely; they were shiny and elegant, made with lucent colored glass.
His fingers tremble a little, his heart pounding in his chest.
He couldn't remember having something so nice, something so beautiful just for himself.
Hydra took everything from him.
Everything.
He held tight the green crystal gift in his hand, his thumb caressing it softly.
Flora meowed loudly, trying to climb the box and hide inside.
Bucky chuckled amused and pet his new furry friend, trying to distract her from the box.
-Alright then, here the box- he emptied it, finding a few books, a Brooklyn mug, some personal hygiene items and a little stuffed cat.
He went to the floor in front of the couch, his pen and stuffed animal in his hands.
His mind started wondering, the cool fingers of his metal hand caressing the soft kitten.
-Do you want to talk about it?- Layla asked with a soft smile, sat on the white carped in front of the couch, a few meters from him.
When she came from work, she found the Soldier on the floor, his back rested on the grey couch and his eyes lost in the pinky sky in front of him.
She realized that he hadn't eaten all day.
Still in her working clothes she reached him silently, Flora curled in her arms.
Bucky looked at her with a blank expression, still lost in his wonderings.
She smelled like coffee and vanilla, and Bucky had to stop the urge need to get closer and smell that curious mix.
-Why you don't keep pics on the wall?- Layla rose is highbrow up, watching him like he grew up a tail.
-Beg you pardon?-
-Your walls, they are empty- his eyes snapped through the living room, followed by the amused ones of Layla.
She gave her living room a cursory glance, as if she was sitting in her home for the really first time.
By the walls, there were flowers, old maps, postcards, pictures of big European cities, but there wasn't a trace of her.
-Is this what is bothering you?- she asked him softly, truly perplexed.
-I read the files that Natasha gave you, and I know you read them too…- his expression darkened a little, Layla nodded. He sighed.
-you know everything about me, yet I know nothing about you- it wasn't true, and he knew it.
He knew that she was always late for work, that she liked pastels and that she had a hell of a sweet tooth.
He knew that she travelled a lot, that she collected postcards and that she used to light up lavender scented candles when she was stressed out for something.
He knew that she had nightmares at night, that she had trouble breathing and that she didn't like physical contact.
He knew that she liked watching at the sky by noon, that her favorite color was lilac and that she'd get scared easily.
He knew that when she was pensive or going to say something, she bite her lower lip without even realizing it.
He knew a lot of other things about her, but he needed to find out something odd, something dark or disturbing about her that could slap him back to cold reality, that could confirm that it was all way too good to be true.
Layla looked at him with a sympathetic smile on her face before getting up.
"I'm coming back in a minute"
Back with three huge albums, Layla moved the little coffee table and sat on the fuzzy carped, right near Bucky. She gave him a plate full of slices of pizza and, with a red wine glass on her hand, she opened the first photo album.
"This is gonna be embarrassing"
When the pinky clouds outside the window started melting in dark blue shades, Layla and Bucky were still laughing and commenting the old pics. Layla's cheeks were bright pink and her eyes glassy for all the laughs. On the other hand, Bucky were so much relaxed, his eyes a little bit bright and his lips genuinely raised up in a soft smile.
"and here we were in Russia, I was fucking freezing" Layla bit her tongue the moment that she talked, she turned quickly to Bucky to see his reaction. His eyes were looking curiously at the picture, he didn't seem tense. Layla sighed in relief.
"How old you were?" he asked, snapping her back from her concern. She looked at the picture, getting a little bit closer to him.
"I was fifteen, this is the last family portrait we ever did" Bucky looked at her with the corner of his eyes, not missing the sad note in her voice. His blue eyes laid back on the happy faces of her family.
Layla was covered head to toe with warm winter clothes, her smiling face popping out a furry white hood. Her lips and her nose were bright red, her eyes happy and still childish.
By her, there was a thin tall girl. Her pale complexion so different from the olive skin of Layla.
The girl, Layla's step-sister, had a soft smile on her face and long, straight raven hair.
She looked so different from Layla and their younger brother, a five years old kid with the same, huge smile that Layla had.
Bucky turned his face to Layla, but she didn't notice him.
Her gaze was cold and her lips reduce in a straight line while she was looking at the picture.
Her eyes were so different from the one caught in the photograph, hidden by a perpetual layer of sadness.
Feeling his eyes on her, she popped a smile before starting drinking her fourth glass of wine.
Bucky turned the page gently, smiling at a seventeen years old riding a camel with wild brown curls up did in a turban.
Layla's eyes widened as she jumped on Bucky, trying to cover the picture with her hands. It didn't take much to the soldier to raise up his arm and the picture to the air, chuckling amused as she was awkwardly trying to catch her balance again and standing up from Bucky's legs.
Even redder she watched him with narrow eyes; the grin on his face became even bigger.
"I would like to have it back, thank you"
"I want the story first" he stretched his arm even higher, making Layla sigh. She was to tipsy and clumsy to have a chance to fight him and actually win. Her eyes snapped to Flora who was sleeping on her back a few pillows away. She then looked at Bucky, narrowing her eyes even more and lowering her voice as much as she could.
"I have a beast, don't make me do it" Bucky rose an highbrow up, his lips in a mischievous grin.
"I will take my chances"