"What do you mean I can't return it?" Kagome gripped the edge of the display tightly, looking down at the gold watch on the small pile of cloth.
"I'm so sorry miss, we have a no return policy for items that have inscriptions, we can't resell them that way." The clerk tossed her an annoyed look, as though she should have known.
Kagome groaned and sighed, "no, I understand…"
"Shall I wrap this?"
"I would appreciate it, thank you…"
Her cerulean eyes followed him as he made for a table behind the desk, wrapping with practiced ease and returning with her parcel.
"Anything else I can help you with?"
Kagome took the box gingerly, "no, thank you."
With one week left until Christmas, Brooklyn was thrumming with the holiday spirit. Distracting the worried to the horrors of the outside world, her ears picked up on the carolers down the streets. Little kids played a kinder version of war in the streets, diving into snow banks for cover.
"Kagome!"
The priestess turned from watching the people, greeting Steve with a half-hearted smile as he approached.
"How are you?"
Steve shoved his hair from his eyes, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his oversized coat, "I'm doing alright. It 's been a good week for me, I managed to convince Bucky I didn't need to go to the hospital after slipping on ice."
"Oh my god, are you alright?" Kagome turned to look at him, her eyes wide as she glanced over what she could see.
"I'm fine, why do you two always give me that look?" his eyes narrowed slightly as they walked, "I'm not going to break in half."
Kagome mumbled a quick apology, Steve softening his eyes as he glanced at her, "so are you two… are you still together?"
"At this point, I would say 'no'. I haven't seen him since he walked me home almost a week ago." Kagome explained softly.
"I'm sorry to hear that, I know how much you meant to him," Steve moved to place a comforting hand on her arm with a reassuring smile. When he asked Bucky the same question, he received a shrug and a grunt before distracting himself with something.
"I did it to myself, nothing to be sorry about."
Steve pulled his arm back, "I heard you were invited to their place for Christmas Eve."
"Are you going?" she hoped he was, she needed the extra distraction.
"No, Helen and I are going to her parent's…" he trailed off as Kagome looked at him surprised, "as friends."
"Well good, I'm happy to see you getting out. I have your gifts at my place, would you mind if I drop it off?"
Steve grimaced, he wasn't overly fond of getting gifts "whenever is good for you."
"I'll stop by on my way to work tomorrow then."
Steve opened his mouth, quickly shutting it as he thought better about what he was going to say, "for the record… he's not doing okay."
Kagome bit the inside of her cheek, Steve had no loyalty to her over Bucky, she had broken the heart of his best friend, it was already a miracle to her that he had called to her on the street. "I'm sorry."
"I'm not trying to make you cry, I just—any chance you guys can work this out?"
Kagome rubbed her fingers under her eyes before the water could freeze to her skin and show off to the world her despair, "I don't know, Steve."
"Do you want to?"
The priestess sighed, how did she tell him that she hadn't been able to sleep in her bed because it was too big and cold? Or that she couldn't bring herself to eat the three muffins left because those were Bucky's favorite? "It's not about what I want, I figure he's been avoiding me for a reason so I'm just going to respect that. Anyway, I'm going to go, I'll see you tomorrow."
She turned on her heel sharply, making her way back through the city. She didn't want to go home, it was empty and nothing about it screamed home anymore since Bucky left. She supposed she could go out for a drink; it was one of those nights where it would turn into one too many she could feel it.
With a resolved nod she made her way to the closest bar, finding an empty barstool in the corner and ordering, tapping her fingers on the bar top absently.
"Here's your Old Fashioned, anything else ma'am?"
Kagome shook her head; gripping the glass in her hand gently, 'to the end of your love life as you know it.'
She sipped her drink at the mock salute to herself, "oh yes, it's going to be one of those nights."
Three drinks in and she was motioning for the bartender to pour another, he eyed her critically as she swayed slightly on her stool, obviously attempting to keep the world from spinning with her.
"You sure?"
Kagome leaned forward, attempting to focus her eyes on one of the three men in front of her, "I asked, didn't I?"
"Alright." He turned his back to her.
"You look like you're ready for a good time, what do you say?"
Kagome glanced over her shoulder, her stomach rolling at the proximity of the man's beer breath, "I don think so."
"C'mon sweetheart, I'll be gentle."
"Hey pal, she said no."
Kagome blinked as she turned, three Bucky's standing there with their jaws set, hands in his pockets as he leveled a glare at the man behind Kagome.
For a second, she was sure the man was going to start a fight before he scoffed and skulked off.
"Why are you always saving me?"
"I'll always come to your rescue darling, doesn't matter what's going on between us," Bucky claimed the stool next to her, watching the bartender place her drink on the counter before turning to him. "Steve told me you looked a little off and that he saw you walking this way,"
Bucky waved the bartender off, turning to watch the woman beside him, "how many have you had?"
"This is my third…" she furrowed her brows, "fourth."
"Okay, you're done. I'm going to take that now… you'll thank me in the morning."
"What's the matter Barnes? Scared I'll do something stupid? Well, I've got news for you, I've already done that."
Bucky chuckled as he rubbed his forehead, "come on, let's get you home."
He tossed the bills to the countertop, moving to help Kagome from her stool when she waved him off. She bent down to pick up the bag at her feet as Bucky placed his hand at the small of her back, guiding her down the street to her apartment, "why'd you drink so much?"
"Do you know how annoying Christmas is?" Kagome huffed in response, ignoring his question.
Bucky slung an arm around her shoulders to better keep her steady as he pulled her closer to him, "I can't say that I do."
"It is, it is the absolute worst."
The brunette bit back a laugh, in the three years they'd been together Kagome had seen him drunk more times than he cared to admit, this was a new light to see her in. So far, he knew she was a rambler and slightly angry.
"Someone's not in the holiday spirit this year," he remarked casually.
Kagome stumbled into Bucky, the man quickly sweeping her into his arms without missing a beat, "why should I be? There is nothing holly and jolly about being newly single because you can't keep your shit together."
"I'm not mad, there's nothing wrong with how you felt. I told you from the beginning, if you were going to break my heart it was yours to do it."
He set her to her feet carefully, checking her pockets for her keys before unlocking the door, "we're alright."
"You're such a liar," Kagome shoved past him, stumbling into the darkened room.
She tugged her shoes off, flinging them to the side and climbing out of her coat. Bucky turned a lamp on, moving back to the door and locking it before leaning against the wood. His eyes were drawn to the bag she dropped on the couch cushion, a small parcel peeking at him from the opening.
"I'm not lying, sweetheart, we're fine."
Kagome whirled on him, closing her eyes when the world continued to spin; "I messed up."
"Come on, let's get you to bed; we'll talk about this when you're sober."
Kagome pulled her hand from where he grabbed hers, "no we won't."
Bucky raised his eyebrows, "why won't we?"
"When's the last time we talked? When you walked me home a week ago? We spoke more before we started dating."
Kagome waved her hand at him, almost dismissively before pulling her fingers through her hair, "forget it. Lock up if you leave."
She moved carefully through the apartment, unzipping her dress and dropping it to the floor as she pulled the blankets to her bed back and settled under them.
Bucky turned around slowly and flicked the lamp off, unlocking the door and cracking it open before shaking his head and shutting it again, throwing the lock. He made his way into the kitchen filling a glass with water for Kagome during the night and making sure to grab a small sleeve of crackers from a cabinet before making his way into the bedroom.
He set it on her nightstand, brushing her hair from her face as he gazed down at her.
"Are you staying?"
He crouched beside her bedside, cerulean eyes watching him closely, "do you want me to?"
Kagome nodded slightly, Bucky standing up and kicking his slacks off before folding them and his outer shirt before placing them on her vanity stool. He slid between the sheets behind her. Bucky's fingers itched to pull her to his chest and breathe her in; he hadn't slept right in the last week.
She kept to her side, before rolling to her other side and curling into his chest, "thank you."
"For what?"
"Always being there for me… I don't deserve you," she sighed.
The faint smell of whiskey tickled his nose, "it doesn't matter what happens, I'll always be there for you. Do you know why?"
Kagome's dark head moved against his chest in answer. "No matter what happens, you're always going to be my girl… you were made for me, doll."
He threaded their fingers together with his left hand, his right toying with the ends of her hair as she sighed into his chest. If he felt the dampness on his arm he didn't bring it up, holding her tightly against his chest until they both fell asleep.
Kagome groaned and rolled over, the motion making her stomach lurch as she fought back the verge to release the contents of her stomach all over her bed. The last thing she remembered from the previous night was ordering another drink, she didn't know the number, but the aftertaste it had left in her mouth was making her gag.
She groped blindly in the filtering sunlight, her hand brushing against the sleeve of crackers on her nightstand. 'Did the hangover fairy leave these?' she rolled to her back, dragging the crackers with her.
"What's that smell?"
She struggled to sit up, holding her head and shoving a cracker in her mouth to appease her rolling stomach.
"Make sure you drink the water, too."
Kagome rubbed her eyes, glancing back to the door as Bucky walked forward with a small plate, "what are you doing here?"
"I picked you up from the bar," he teased lightly, settling next to her and placing the plate on her lap.
"You were out of bacon… and eggs… and milk. Don't worry, I took care of it."
Kagome leaned back as she willed the pounding in her head to stop, "I'll pay you back."
"Don't start spouting ridiculous nonsense, you don't have to do that. What do you remember from last night?" he grabbed his pillow and flipped to his stomach, propping himself up to see her better.
Kagome forced herself to swallow a piece of bacon, licking her dry lips before taking the offered cup of milk from Bucky's hand. "I remember talking to Steve, going to the bar, ordering an Old Fashioned…"
Her brows furrowed, trying to decipher the blurs in her head. Kagome glanced at her watch and grimaced moving to get off of the bed, "I have to get to work..."
Bucky covered her watch and gently lowered her arm, "relax, I swung by the hospital and told them you were sick. Took Steve his presents he said you were stopping by with—by the way, you have got to find a better hiding place then under the bed."
"Why are you doing all of this?"
"Because I love you," he smiled softly at her before glancing down at her breakfast, "eat up; it'll help."
Kagome stabbed a piece of egg and brought it to her mouth, pressing her head back into the pillows as she chewed slowly, eyes closing to block out the sun and sounds.
"Kagome?"
Her head lolled to the side, cerulean eyes cracking open to stare at him, pain and exhaustion shining through as she hummed her response.
"We need to have a chat, darling."