Chapter 26
The door slammed shut, and the echo of it ricocheted around the room. Charley stood in the centre suddenly alone in the abyss that was apparently her home.
What was she supposed to do now?
She glanced down at the paper in her hand where Steve's number was written down. She couldn't really make out the numbers in the dark but didn't care anyway. She had no intention of dialling the number. Bubbling annoyance swelled up in her chest as she scrunched the small bit of paper in her hand and let it go from her hand onto the floor, adding to the mess that was her apartment.
Right now she didn't really care. Although the distant smell of blood was distracting from her current emotions. She turned to stare at the massive blood patch that stained her carpet, her anger only increasing at the sight as she grabbed the nearest object to her and flung it across the room at the door, pitifully hoping he would hear it. The object had missed the door completely from her hasty throwing and ended up cracking in half, two metres away from the door.
Still not feeling satisfied Charley grabbed the dinner chairs and with one hand flipped it over, causing a ripple effect as one knocked into the other chairs making them all fall over with a clatter. She let out a scream of annoyance the burning pain in her chest increasing with each object she threw.
Her arms grew weaker the more she punched and threw things. Physically and emotionally aching she finally collapsed onto the couch, drained from energy but her heart wasn't getting the message as it was beating twice as fast and sick rose up in her throat. The minutes dragged on and her cat jumped up onto the couch, curling up beside her. Her hand unconsciously went down to stroke her but she moved away suddenly, shaking.
"I'm sorry, did I scare you," Charley leant out her hand again for her cat to lean into but she didn't and jumped off the couch again, rejecting her owner. Charley felt a tear pool around her eyes before the gates burst open and she couldn't control it anymore. Tears fell from her cheeks before she could stop them, her t-shirt now dossed in blood and tears.
Finally after she was dried out of tears she fell asleep curled up on the couch where Bucky had slept on more times than he had slept with her. It still smelt like him. She breathed it in before falling asleep with the comfort of his smell as if he was there, hoping that maybe some miracle would occur and he would be back in the apartment tomorrow, apologizing profusely.
*~It Started With Pizza~*
He wasn't there when she opened her eyes seven hours later to the sound of her phone alarm whirring in her ear. The buzzing growing louder each time she ignored it.
Finally she grabbed her phone remembering her work shift that started in an hour time. It was too late to call in sick, so with a heavy sigh she forced herself up. From head to toe she felt numb, she could move but she felt nothing from it.
Knowing she was going to be late anyway she took her time getting ready, finding her top at the bottom of her bed, having not been washed, her hair probably needed a showering but she couldn't be bothered. It was already knotty from bed hair but who would even care anyway . She poured herself some dry cereal, deciding to comfort eat rather than start making the journey to work.
When she finally did leave there was traffic filling the roads, making it impossible to move more than a metre in ten minutes. Already half an hour late she decided to pull up by the side of a road, pay a parking metre and walk the rest of the way hoping the fresh air would kick some sense into her and make her feel something. She'd take anything right now.
Eventually she made it into work and accepted Aiden's threats about her job without so much as a cringe and began folding jeans, every so often she looked across at the delivery room where the doors were blacked out. This was supposed to be the shift they shared together.
"Where's James?" Aiden asked, stopping in front of her. She stopped and stared for a moment, trying to work out who he meant by James and then realized that was what everyone called Bucky here.
"How would I know?" She shrugged in defence.
"You two seemed to be close, you went to the Christmas party together, didn't you?"
"That was a long time ago," She said as bitterly as before trying to not look up at him for fear she'd give something away.
"If you say so," Aiden breathed in clearly irritated, "Whatever, look considering you were late I need someone to close up shop tonight."
Still not looking up she reasoned, "I thought that was your job"
"It is but I've got somewhere to be. I'm just saying if you don't want me reporting you lateness to the bosses I'd help me out," his tone got darker, "You get payed extra anyway, I don't know why you're complaining"
"Do it, tell the big bad boss on me. Don't really give a shit," She shrugged, moving him aside so she could reach the jeans that had fallen askew from customers passing.
Stunned, Aiden seethed inwardly, "What's gotten into you?"
"What because I'm not doing you bidding?"
"No, just-"
"Aiden I've had enough of you, just go away please," She ordered him for the first time in her life. For a moment she thought he was going to try and argue but instead he span around and began to waltz away, probably to go bitch about her to one of the other workers there.
She wasn't sure why she argued the way she did. She could do with the extra cash and had no plans for later anyway, with Bucky gone now she could do with the distraction of staying later but the thought of it made her heart do a palpitation. That was how she met him, in the middle of the night on the shop floor, she didn't think he head could deal with that on top of everything else.
Her shift ended after six more hours in hell where she got a decent glare from Aiden as she left the store who now had to stay behind to close up but she couldn't care less, it was in his job description anyway to do so she didn't see why he kept picking on her to do it for him.
When she got home she went straight to bed.
The following day she got up, had breakfast, watched a movie, had a shower, watched another movie and went to bed.
The day after that she got up, had breakfast, watched a movie, went to work for an afternoon shift, was questioned by her bosses about her lateness (assuming Aiden had told them), came home and ordered a take-away and then went to bed.
The next day she got up, skipped breakfast, finally cleaned up the blood stain from her carpet and then to ring Bucky's mobile over and over again but when she'd found it hidden in one of the draws in their bedroom with 12 missed calls, she'd finally had enough and thrown her phone across the room cracking it. She skipped dinner and then went to bed.
After a week of the same routine had passed of no news from anyone Charley felt like she was finally going crazy. She'd cleaned up the last bit of mess from her living room and now it was spick and clean again, cleaner than she'd ever seen it anyway. She had less furniture now, everything had been broken apart from her TV, sofa and dinner table.
She'd barely eaten, only about one meal every day and was starting to lose weight, and becoming considerably weaker. She didn't even want to get out of bed most days. She didn't know what to do with herself, her past year had been completely devoted to getting Bucky on track and now he had just left her.
She couldn't be angrier.
Everywhere she went she was scared for her life now, knowing Hydra knew about her. Half of her wanted to call Steve just so she knew she'd be safe but the other stubborn half of her wanted to remain alone, it was what Bucky wanted… her calling Steve, and why was she at liberty to give him what he wanted when he had left her?
Trying to deflect her thoughts before she hulked out and broke something again, she put in another movie, just so she could critically evaluate her life choices even more. She should have stayed in England. America was such a bad idea, she could be making films right now, just like she wanted to and here she was weeping in her living room where there was still a small trace of a blood stain remained.
Her phone rang and she had to pause the movie. Seeing an unknown number she hesitantly answered it.
"Hello, is this Miss Weller?"
"uh-hu, who's this?"
"Hello I'm Susan, you missed your therapy session this morning?"
"Oh did I?" Charley groaned in annoyance, that was the last thing on her mind. She really didn't have the patience for some therapist analysing her every move and word, "Must have forgotten"
"You can reschedule. We have an opening this afternoon if you'd like"
"Love too," Charley whistled sarcastically but Susan didn't seem to hear the sarcasm as she gave a laugh of delight.
"Great, I'll see you at four tonight," before Charley had time to argue her case the phone cut off leaving a deafening beeping sound.
"Fucking fabulous."
*~It started with Pizza~*
"Hello, I'm Susan," the therapist in a neat blue suit raised her hand to shake. With a nervous hand, Charley took it, not lingering any longer than necessary as she quickly took a seat in a surprisingly comfy chair.
"Hi, nice to meet you," She introduced giving a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes, she had a feeling the therapist noticed too as she began to jot down onto her notes. She really wished people would stop doing that.
"Now I've just got to make it clear, these sessions are just for you to get your feelings in the open, I heard from you doctor what happened to you in the store with the winter soldier? Would you like to talk about that?"
Not really. She thought inwardly breaking eye contact and looking up at an impressively large painting of a metal clad knight on the wall. She wasn't sure if it had been painted intentionally so that the eyes of the knight stared directly down at the patient, putting more pressure on them to answer.
"I'm fine, the doctor just thought I'd be traumatised over it which I get some people would be but it's different."
"Why is that?"
"Just is."
"No offense but what I can see is that you seem very cold, very common in patients who are trying to withdraw themselves from a situation," Susan tried to explain but Charley was having none of it and shook her head quickly.
"That's not what's happening, the events with the winter soldier happened days ago. I'd completely forgotten about it, hence forgetting about these bloody sessions," she said sharply.
"Okay, if you don't want to talk about this let's talk about something else," She tried another tactic, finally placing her pen down on the side-table and crossed her legs to actually listen, "Where do you work?"
"Retail"
"Do you enjoy it there?"
"Not at all."
"Why don't you just quit then?"
"I don't exactly have any qualifications. It's hard to find a job," she said as she added a lie, "I've been looking but nothing has shown up" It was a complete lie obviously, she had gotten settled into her job and never had any time to look for a new one.
"I understand that," Susan smiled sweetly, "What about your personal life. Relationships for instance, are you seeing anyone?"
That was the killer. The exact conversation she wanted to avoid. Charley gulped back air as she tried to come up quickly with a reasonable response but with the metal clad knight staring at her intently and the therapist gawping at her she couldn't think.
"It's complicated," She settled with.
"How so?"
"it's a long story"
"Well we still have forty minutes, and you don't seem to want to talk about anything else," She smiled again, showing her white perfectly straight teeth with a patronizing grin.
Despite how intimidating this woman was, perhaps she was right, perhaps she needed to tell someone. Someone who wasn't Steve Rogers and someone who was bound by the patient-therapist confidentiality agreement. Obviously she wouldn't reveal any details about being the winter soldier but she could tell her somethings. Just to get it off her chest, maybe she could help her understand it all. Understand why he left.
"He left me, only four nights ago," Charley quietly admitted. She hadn't told anyone, even her family who knew about Bucky's identify were left in the unknown, she'd been avoiding their calls ever since the store incident and were probably wondering if she was okay and once again questioning her life choices.
"Did he break up with you?"
"Not exactly," She paused, "He was quite a dangerous person, had a lot of bad connections," She tried to fill in the gaps, "told me he was leaving because he loved me. Whatever that means"
"Sounds like he was trying to protect you from something"
"Someone once told me that men always seem to think it's their responsibility to keep us women safe," She mimicked the words of Agent Peggy Carter, never having forgotten them. If only she'd known how true they were
Susan bowed her head, "it's probably true"
"I just don't know where he's gone or if he's safe"
"I'm guessing you loved him back?"
"Course I did," Charley teared up without meaning too. Luckily she pulled it back quickly and was able to shut down the tears before they could fall and she embarrassed herself.
"How long had you been together?"
"A year. We met last August"
"How did you meet?" Charley looked up, regretting spilling the information about Bucky instantly not realizing the hounding questions that would be asked.
"over pizza," She couldn't help but smile at the distant memory, "I gave him some because he looked hungry"
"That's sweet," Susan smiled, "What are you going to do now?"
"I have no idea…" Charley thought about it. She had no idea. It was like she had transported herself to 12 months ago when she was alone and depressed with no friends, her boss hating her and on the literal edge of moving back to England for a source of comfort. Now that Bucky was gone she had nothing holding her here, except for the hope that he came back, what if she moved away and he came back and she was gone? With pressure to answer to quickly said, "I might go back to England, I'm sure my parents would love to have me back, I can't really afford to keep my apartment anymore anyway. It's about time I moved back"
"What about this guy?"
"I don't know. I've tried ringing him, but he left his phone at mine. What's the point in waiting for him when I know he has no intention of coming back," it was the bitter truth.
"If you want to know my opinion," Charley looked up hopefully. Right now she needed someone's help to guide her on what to do next. She'd debating selling her apartment so she could use the money to go looking for Bucky but she doubted she would have much luck. The Avengers had been looking for him since last year and had been unsuccessful and if they with their recourses couldn't do it, how would she?, "I think it would be healthy for you to go back to England. Even if it's only for a week or two as a holiday. Getting away from a situation to see it from a fresh perspective may be just what you need"
*~It started with Pizza~*
She fiddled with her plane ticket to England for tomorrow. She still had to hand her notice into work and call her parents about her arrival. Although she thought she might keep that bit a surprise and just arrive at their door. It would certainly be interesting to see their reaction. The only problem was getting from the airport back to her house. She'd just call a taxi, she supposed.
The tickets had been purchased straight after her therapist meeting who had convinced her it would be the best choice. She couldn't wait around anymore, depressed, waiting for Bucky to return knowing full well he had no intention of coming back. There was no point in waiting around.
"We're going home Mabel, bet you miss mum and dad," she gently stroked Mabel's head. She had finally forgiven her for the temper tantrum Charley had had the day Bucky had left after days of rejecting her affection, "It's time I get my life in order I think. Maybe I can join a filming agency as a runner or something, do you think that's possible?"
Obviously Mabel didn't answer, but remained an emotionless log on her lap.
"Thanks for the input."
A banging on her door made her look up. She quickly grabbed a hoodie to cover up her cupcake pyjamas underneath to save her the embarrassment of still being in her pyjamas at three in the afternoon. The banging got more aggressive and she had to quickly shove the hoodie over her head and shoved her plane tickets into the pockets. Alerted, Charley grabbed Mabel and sneaked over to the peep hole. She couldn't see much but what she did see was enough to make her silently yelp.
Armed men were standing there, they looked like they were wearing uniforms but she couldn't be sure as she quickly pulled away from the door. The word; Hydra skipped through her head as, in a panic, she ran and grabbed her cracked phone and searched through the cupboards and draws quickly to find the paper she'd screwed up with Steve's number on it. She had intended to throw it away but kept it for situations such as these.
The banging continued. With shaky hands she managed to find the number and quickly dialled it in, slamming the numbers into her phone.
"Open the door ma'am or we'll have to force it open. We know you're in there"
"Shit. Shit. Shit," Charley cursed, finally clicking the 'call' button on her phone. Her stomach was racing and head spinning for him to pick up the phone. She'd never been so desperate for someone to answer their damn phone, "Come on hurry up-"
"Hello, who's this?"
"Steve? Steve is that you?"
"Uh- Yeah, do you mind me asking who this is?"
"I'm- I'm…" the banging became more intense as she tried to think, "Bucky's girlfriend"
"What?"
"He left me your number I don't know what to do. I think Hydra are at my door," She let out, as she heard someone now pushing their shoulder up against the door in the attempt to get it open. It wasn't a very strong door and one or two more strong pushes would definitely break it off it's hinges.
"What do you mean Bucky's girlfriend?"
"I'll explain later just help I'm at- AHHHH!" The door burst open and Charley dropped the phone in a panic and placed Mabel on the counter, grabbing the fry pan on the side and peering around the kitchen door where she could see three policemen in her living room surveying the area. One was on the floor where he had pushed the door open, rubbing his now sore shoulder.
"Miss Weller please reveal your location or I may be forced to shoot. We don't believe you are dangerous but we have information to presume you to be so"
They would find her eventually, she reasoned as she opened the door. Logically this was the best thing to do, "I'm here." She rose her hands up into the air in defence as three guns were quickly pointed towards her. At least they weren't hydra; she thought as positively as she could, which meant her phone call with Steve was for nothing, "What are you doing in my apartment?"
"Take a seat," The policeman ordered as a fourth officer came out of her bedroom whispering into his walkie talkie that was pinned onto his jacket, "Stand down, the winter soldier isn't here"
"What the hell…" Charley breathed out as she did as she was told and sat down. Colour draining from her cheeks as the police officer pulled out a small plastic bag, inside she instantly recognized her old phone, "That's my phone! How did you-"
"We picked this up a day or so ago from a thief whose been dealt with now." It was quite a different situation from the last time she had been with a police officer only five days ago where she had been treated with care, handed a shock blanket and a glass of water, now they seemed to be interrogating her.
"My background?" Charley realized allowed. It had been of her and Bucky. The person who stole it from her had obviously not wiped it from the screen and being the most famous assassin of the 20th and 21st century the police would recognize him in an instance, "I can explain"
"We're arresting you on the charges of associating with a known terrorist," her eyes widened as the policeman pulled out a pair of handcuffs. By a police officer behind her he gently held onto her shoulders and pulled her upwards.
She couldn't go to jail. She was leaving for England tomorrow. She was going to get her life back on track. Panicking she remembered all the moves Bucky had taught her. There was only three of them, all of them had guns but they were all now in their holsters. If she could shock them just enough so she could get away, She could spend the night at the abandoned gym her and Bucky used to train in. Her cat was right beside her so quick enough to grab.
As she formulated the plan in her head, adrenaline pumped through her and just before the handcuffs were clasped around her, sealing her fate she kicked out, kneeing the policeman in the shins, whilst head butting the one behind her. Blinding her dizzy. The other two police officers tried to dive for her but she managed to dodge them and reach down for her cat and tucking her under her arm.
"Back-up, we need back-up," she heard the police officer shout through his walkie talkie in a pained voice. A shot ricocheted over her head as she quickly ducked to miss it, bits of wood flying everywhere. She managed to get around the corner of her apartment and into the hallway. She had no shoes on and the floor slammed painfully into her feet with each step. Practically flying down the stairs, she considered her next move.
How many back-up police were there? Would she be able to hide until they started looking elsewhere? She had no idea how these operations worked.
She turned behind her to see if they were following her but the hallway was empty and she was so close to the exit, if only she could get to her car or something.
She slammed into something hard, fast. Doubling back she clutched her head, pulling her cat closer and preparing to attack. She raised her hand in defence position but saw the person in front of her was none other than Steve Rogers, trailing behind him was Sam Wilson.
"Oh my god. You came," Charley gulped, fresh tears appearing in her eyes as relief settled in. She'd be alright now… wouldn't she?"
"You're that girl from the other day, over the video conversation," Steve realized, eyeing her face as if checking she really was that girl.
"Yeah that's me…" She guiltily admitted.
"You're that girl from the park?" Sam piped up from behind Steve.
"You know her?" Steve turned around.
"Yeah, she's that girl I flirted with and then got suspicious of because of that dude she was with."
"That was her?" Steve raised his eyebrows.
"I deserve some kind of detective award, man," Sam grinned at that. She didn't think it was the time of place for self congratulations.
"You better start talking now," Steve insisted but Charley found she was lost for words for once in her life as the sound of running footsteps were echoing behind her.
"Put your hands up or we'll shoot," A police officer yelled at her, she heard the click off his gun to take it off safety. Frozen in place, she slowly turned around and raised her hands, retreating back a step or two so she was directly in front of Steve, her back knocking into his chest. She had no idea what else to do. The officer before her had a bloody nose and looked angry enough to shoot her. She couldn't run now after Steve had come all this way. The police officer moved forward-
"Wait. There's been a misunderstanding here," Steve stepped in front of her, "Sir, I'm Captain Steve Rogers a member of the avengers initiative. We'll take it from here"
"Captain America?" The officer seemed stunned but faltered as he dropped his gun, suddenly memorized by the sight of an apparent here of his, "Is that really you?"
"Yeah. This lady is in our care now and I'd appreciate it if you spread the message"
"Of course sir"," The officer smiled, lowering his gun back into his holster, "You know my grandfather worked in the military alongside you in the war"
"And a hero I'm sure he is," Steve nodded with proudness, "I hope you can take care of everything here? "
"Of course Sir."
"Glad to hear it," Steve gave a single nod. He waited until the police officer had moved passed them, talking through his radio before unexpectedly turned around and glared at Charley, "You better start talking."
"I will"
Sam grabbed her shoulder and guided her out of the apartment building. She saw load of cops in their cars looking confused, stationed at random locations. Looking at it now she was foolish to think she could get away. There were at least five police cars with two police officers in each car just on this road.
"This is our car," Sam said, pointing at a lavish metallic black car, she was sure it was a model of Tony Stark as she couldn't imagine Steve choosing to ride in anything this flashy.
"How did you get here so quick? I didn't even have time to give you my location?"
"We were in Washington luckily and we asked Tony to give us the coordinates to your address after he tracked your phone call," Steve replied, "We wouldn't have got here otherwise"
"Thank-god you did," she mumbled breathlessly
Sam drove as she sat in the back. It was completely silent and she tried to ignore Steve staring at her through the windscreen mirror curiously. It was halfway through the journey before Steve finally piped up.
"You might as well start explaining things now," Steve asked, turning around in his chair to face her, "Let's start with your name"
"Charlotte Weller, most people call me Charley though," She spoke fast, overwhelmed with guilt. She had had so many opportunities to speak to the people before her and never said a word; all Steve had been doing was looking for his best friend. Maybe together they could find him.
"How do you know Bucky? Over the phone you said you were his girlfriend, no offence but how can that be true?"
"It's not exactly true anymore, he left me, but we met over a year ago, the night after the helicarrier crash," she explained. Steve's eyes widened in response.
"That long ago!"
"And here we've been travelling across every state in America trying to find him and he's been cosy here with you," Sam piped up looking disapprovingly in the mirror at her making Charley shrink in her seat.
"Look, I'm sorry but it wasn't my place to tell anyone where he was. It was his choice to get in contact with you and he didn't want to," Charley argued feeling they seemed to be blaming her a little more than she thought she deserved. Fine, maybe she had had plenty of opportunities to let Steve know his best friend was safe, this was her third run in with him now.
"Why not? He saved me. Why would he pretend that it never happened?" Steve questioned, turning fully around in his chair to interrogate her.
"I didn't know him when you did, but that was seventy years ago and from what I can tell he is a completely different person. He told me he didn't want you looking at him like a monster," Steve's face fell looking horror-struck, "He was just scared"
"I just wanted to help him," he turned around in his seat and stared blankly at the ongoing road before him. There was barely any traffic on the roads and it was an easy drive to wherever they were going. Charley's thoughts led her to believe they were going to some secret base hidden behind some impossible but obvious place.
"I know." Charley smiled lightly, "I told him as much"
"So you've been there for him all this time?" Steve stared ahead of him.
"Yeah I guess"
"Thank you"
Her face blushed red before she had time to respond. She could see the corners of Steve's eyes flittering up to the wind screen mirror, carefully analysing her. She turned her head to look out of the window at the passing houses that flittered by, "you don't need to thank me."
Sam slowed the car down and pulled up outside a nice looking house. Charley peered out of the car window seeing that the blinds were pulled down along all the windows on the house.
"Where are we?"
"My house," Sam responded, opening the car door and pulling out house keys, "I'm rarely here anymore but it'll give us a place to lay low whilst the police figure out what the hell they're doing and come back again"
"Yeah… " Charley ducked her head guiltily as Steve opened the back door for her like the old fashioned gentleman he is, "I don't think I ever said thanks for that. Were you even allowed to do that?"
"Probably not," Steve shrugged, "I'll probably have to get Tony to pull some strings later"
"Sorry," she said shamefully, feeling guilty she had gotten them involved in such a drastic way. If only she'd called Steve sooner.
"Don't mention it."
They entered the house in silence. Inside Charley noticed the bare interior. It was obvious that Sam wasn't here much, things were half packed in boxes and the walls were empty.
"Do you want a glass of water or something?" Sam offered, "I would offer something stronger but my cupboards are empty"
Smacking her lips together making a clacking sound she realized just how dry her mouth was, "No, a glass of water would be good"
Sam disappeared into the kitchen. Steve set up place on the couch, his elbows resting on his knees in deep thought. Unsure of what to do, Charley took a seat opposite him waiting for the uncomfortable silence to end.
"What do you want to discuss?"
Steve looked up, surprised she'd broken the tense silence on her own accord, "I don't know. I wasn't exactly expecting a distressed phone call from Bucky's supposed girlfriend this morning. At the moment I'm just trying to take it all in"
Slowly nodding Sam reappeared with three glasses of water in his hand, he passed one along to Charley who took a large gulp instantly, making things much more awkward when the silence was interrupted by her slurping at the water.
"So, I'm confused. How do you just end up being the winder soldier's girl? Are you some English spy, an ex-assassin?" Sam pondered. Charley stared confused at him, did she give off a spy vibe. If so, she'd take that as a compliment. She looked down at herself wearing sweatpants and an overly large hoodie and cupcake pyjamas, realizing… no she did not give off that vibe at all.
"No. I work in a clothing store"
"You seemed to be able to handle yourself pretty well back at your apartment. Wasn't there three fully trained police officers in your room?" Sam narrowed his eyes.
"Bucky's been training me a bit and it was more the adrenaline today," she passed it off, having no idea what she had been able to take those men down. She doubted she would have got far if Steve and Sam hadn't shown up when they did.
"How did you meet then?" Steve asked
"Well, I had taken the late shift, at the time I had no internet at home so was using the store wifi and I was just sitting in the office finding out what had happened with the helicarrier crash…" She wasn't really sure if this amount of detail was necessary but wanted to include as much as possible to Steve who had been waiting to hear news about his best friend for a whole year now. She waited for validation to continue when Steve bowed his head, "… which is why I stayed later than necessary. I ordered pizza for myself when I heard rustling on the shop floor. The first thing I saw was his arm and the fact that he was really wet. I don't know why, I never asked"
"Day after the helicarrier crash?"
"That night, yes"
"He'd pulled me from the river"
"Oh"
"Anyway, continue…"
"I got spooked at first and was about to call the police but then I saw all he wanted was a fresh pair of clothes and I don't know, I just wanted to help him, so I gave them to him for free and then offered him some pizza. I don't think he really trusted me at first, he wouldn't eat the pizza until I promised him it wasn't poisoned. After that he came back mostly every other day and I'd buy us food until I offered him a place to stay at mine" She couldn't stop talking now. It was nice, telling someone about Bucky. The only other people who knew were her parents and she tried to avoid talking about Bucky with them as much as possible knowing they heavily disapproved.
By the time she got to the end of her story it was dark. No one had moved to turn the lights on whilst she explained and the room had been engulfed into darkness slowly.
"How much does he remember?"
"A lot," Charley was glad to say, not wanting to crush Steve's hope as much as it had been already over the past year, "There's still gaps in his memory but he used to talk about you a lot, whenever something would remind him of you he'd say"
"What'd he tell you?" there was an air of envy in his voice as he asked her.
"He remembers how you met on the school yard, how you defended some girl and then you got beat up in the process and it was Bucky that saved you. He remembers his sister and how you, him and her used to go dancing," At that his eyes lit up and he smiled fondly.
"I remember that too. I never wanted to go and neither did Bucky because his nights were always ruined because some guy got a bit too touchy feely with his Becca. But she always managed to convince him to go"
Steve stared off into the distance, caught up in the memory. It was easier than Charley thought it would be to talk to Steve about Bucky. She had been worried that Steve's imagine of what Bucky had been like in the past would be tainted by the different man he was now but after their conversation she realized just how far Bucky had come.
"Do you have any idea of where he went?" Steve asked finally. She had been waiting for this question all evening.
"No idea and there's no point looking, he's ran off before and I only found him because he decided to come back," Charley frowned, shoving her hands into her hoodie pockets and she felt the sides of her plane tickets cutting into her hand. With one swift movement of her hand she managed to complete a full rip of the ticket down the centre, "He won't be found unless he wants to be found, but I'll help as much as I can"
A/N sorry I realized I never replied to the reviews on chapter 24. I'm really sorry, I completely forgot. This'll be my last update until Christmas so have a Merry Christmas everyone!
XxNimith531xX: thank you so much for the review. I'm sorry I'm a lousy updater (once a month :/) but I promise I'll always update, this story will never be abandoned :D Merry Christmas!
Artemis7448: haha, Bucky is an idiot. They'll be back together soon enough don't worry about it. Makes time for Steve/Charley bromance. Lol. Merry Christmas and thank you so much for the review, it means the world :D
Marina2351: aw you're too sweet. Sorry for taking so long to update and thank you so much for your review, always lovely to hear people compliment your writing, glad you're enjoying it. Merry Christmas!
Becca: aw thank you so much. Sorry for the last heart wrenching chapter (this one wasn't exactly sunshine and daisies either lol. Sorry about that) I hope I'm portraying Steve and Sam just right, they're big aspects of the rest of the story.
.2016: Thank you so much for the review. Merry Christmas my friend!
AlyBaly1: thank you so so much for your review, sorry this chapter took so long I just hope it's good. Merry Christmas!
KnightOwl247: haha, sorry about that. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter! Merry Christmas!
Sergentjamesbarnes: you weakling. You were too easy to break :P
Lara Barnes: so sorry for the heart wrenching last chapter. They won't be apart… for too long :/ (no promises there :P) lol. Thank so much for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter. Have a very Merry Christmas!