A/N: Hey guys! I'm so bad, I'm sorry! It's been Over a month since I updated - I'm sorry my loves! I'll try and get the next update out a bit quicker, but unfortunately no promises. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this lil chapter! Lots of love xx

~O~

The cool air nipped at Aurora's sun-kissed skin and gently fluttered through her thin, emerald silk nightgown. All the other girls were asleep in their various rooms. Aurora was sharing a bed with Victoria - Betty was the only one that got her own room.

Aurora stood on one of the many balconies that jutted out of the stone chateau, overlooking thousands of clusters of tall, golden trees and, beyond them, the silhouette of a city that she'd never explored. It was beguiling, but made her sad in a lot of ways. There were so many cities in the world and each one had its own kind of beauty and, chances were, she'd only get to experience a handful of them. Her life seemed too small and the world too big.

She wanted to talk to Bucky. Her phone was in her hand and she wondered if, subconsciously, she'd planned to ring him from the moment she'd slipped out of bed, trying not to disturb Victoria.

She dialled his number and pressed the expensive smartphone to her ear. He answered right before it went to message bank.

"Did I wake you?" She was whispering, although she wasn't sure why. The girls were a whole hallway away, although they felt more like a world apart.

"No," he said, also quietly. "I was already awake."

Silence. Aurora liked the quiet between them. It was settling and contented. It was the silence of two people who simply liked each other's company, even if they were miles and miles apart.

"It's really beautiful here," she finally said.

"I've never been to Canada," he admitted. "I've never really been anywhere."

She frowned. "That's not true. You went some places with the military didn't you?"

He fell quiet and Aurora wondered if she should have kept her mouth shut about it.

When he next spoke, his voice was whispy and faraway, like his mind was distant from their conversation. "I didn't see anything beautiful in the military. There was nothing beautiful to see - not really, not where I was."

Aurora gulped around a sudden lump in her throat. "I'm sorry."

"Don't apologise," he said and she knew he wasn't annoyed with her. They were quiet for a little longer. "Why are up so late?"

Aurora picked at a small strip of peeling paint. "I don't know...I just feel out of place here. Like a china doll crammed into a plastic doll house."

She wanted to be with him, next to him, in his arms. She wanted him to be kissing her in that horribly breath-taking way he did, to be touching her in that pleasure-gasping manner. She wanted to feel his hot breath on her neck and his lips on her throat, his hands on her legs and then her hips…

She let out a shaky breath.

"What are you thinking about?" He murmured.

She bit her lip, her cheeks warm with colour despite the cool air. "You," she admitted and gulped on a suddenly parched throat. "You touching me."

There was a brief pause on the other end of the line. Then, Bucky groaned quietly. "Rora…"

She leaned down and pressed her forehead against the cool veranda railing. "I know," she breathed. "I just can't stop thinking about you."

Maybe I'm obsessed, she thought worriedly. She tried to think back to how it had felt to be with her last boyfriend - whilst she had cared for him, very much, it had never been like this. Her mind was brimming with Bucky and her chest ached at being so far away from him. Almost definitely, it was unhealthy.

In a half-hearted attempt to divert her attention, she asked, "Why are you up so late?"

He didn't answer for a little bit, but when he did his voice was hesitant and thick with emotion. "Sometimes...sometimes it's hard to sleep. Sometimes it's hard to even close my eyes."

Worry rushed through Aurora and her eyebrows pulled down. "Why?" She questioned softly.

He let out a shaky breath. "I wasn't in the military all that long compared to a lot of people...but I did some bad things Aurora," his voice was broken and she had the distinct feeling that he did not talk about this with many people. "I killed people. People who didn't always necessarily deserve it. I can't ever forget that."

She didn't realise that she was silently crying until a tear splattered onto the white of the railing.

"Bad things happened to me," he admitted. "But maybe I deserved them, all things considered."

She hiccupped a little and wiped furiously at her cheeks. "Aurora?" he sounded alarmed. "I didn't mean to upset you."

"Don't say that," she managed to get out. "Don't say that you deserved any of the crap that happened to you. That's not true."

"Rora...there's things you don't know about me..."

"It doesn't matter," she said firmly. "You're not a bad person Bucky...I just know it."

Bucky felt like his heart was fracturing in two. He hadn't felt that much overwhelming emotion in a long, long time. There were very few people in the world who truly believed that Bucky was a good person - Steve and Natasha pretty much populated the list - and so being able to add one more name mattered a whole lot to him and brought him one step closer to believing it himself.

"You mean a lot to me Aurora," he whispered, his voice as whispy as the wind.

Her heart swelled. "I know," she said. "I'll talk to you tomorrow Bucky."

After she hung up, she stared out over that city for a long, long time.

~O~

"How was your weekend with the Manhattan royalty?" Wanda questioned bitterly as she and Aurora flopped down onto Aurora's bed after a long Monday. Rora's parents were, again, both out at one of her father's many work dinners and thus they had the entire apartment to themselves.

"Don't be shitty," Aurora said as she leant back against the wall. She knew Wanda was a little jealous that Aurora hung out with Betty and her crew so much, but in all honesty Wanda had no reason to be. She was Aurora's best friend and she liked the strange girl much better than she liked the queen. "You know I would much prefer to hang out with you than them. But being nice to them is the path of least resistance. I just want to get through this year without mishap." And considering my current relationship, that is going to be a mission in itself.

Wanda sighed and flipped onto her stomach to face her friend. "Fine. Whatever. Hang out with the bitches. Moving onto more interesting topics… I think my brother has a crush on you." Wanda smirked, but Aurora frowned.

"Yeah, I uh...I sort of guessed that."

Wanda's face fell. "What is it? I think he's under the impression that you like him back."

Aurora chewed her cheek and felt a bit guilty. "I know I'm flirty sometimes, but I didn't mean to lead him on. I'm just...I'm not really interested at the moment is all."

Wanda sat up, leaning forward a bit. "Why? I'm not going to lie, most of the girls in our school are half in love with him. You seemed into it."

"I guess I was at first but…" Aurora looked at her friend, at her dark auburn hair and honest eyes. She trusted Wanda, at least enough to tell her a partial truth. "To be honest...there's someone else."

Wanda looked taken aback at this. She stared at Aurora a moment, looking a little untrusting all of a sudden. Aurora knew that Wanda most likely felt a little betrayed - after all, Aurora was sure that if Wanda started up something with a boy, she would be the first to know.

"Really?"

"Yeah, it kind of crept up on me," Aurora admitted.

"Who is it?" Wanda looked cautious now and it made Aurora upset. She didn't want her closest friend to be upset with her.

"He's older, you don't know him. That's why I didn't tell you - or anyone for that matter. My parents wouldn't approve of an older guy," she explained.

"A college boy?" Wanda quickly dismissed her annoyance in favour of excitement. Aurora's stomach churned. If only.

"No, actually, he's...older than that."

Her friend's eyebrows furrowed. "How old? He's not married, is he?"

"No, God," Aurora sunk down into her bed. "He's...he's old enough that it would be considered a little...unconventional, is all."

"And that's why you're not into my brother?" Wanda continued.

Aurora shrugged. "I guess so."

"So...what's his name?"

Aurora shook her head. "I'm not supposed to say. I just...wanted to tell you."

"You can't even tell me his name?" She questioned incredulously. "Seriously?"

"It's not that I don't trust you," Aurora insisted. "It's just better this way."

Her friend made a small, half-believing sound in the back of her throat before sighing. "Alright if you say so. Now tell me everything Queen Betty said about me on the stupid trip…"

~O~

A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed! The next chapter will be Aurora and Bucky's date so it will be at least a little more action! Pleaseee leave a review and tell me what you think! It means a lot to me!

Love you all xx until next time