Three days, three whole days where Bucky kept his silence the- I'm fine act leave me alone-. and two nights where he wakes up screaming for his nightmares…

Steve would run to his room and would end up sitting close to the door after finding Bucky's bedroom door was locked for the first time since him moving in, "dealing with it alone"…

So as stubborn as he was, Bucky clearly was everything But Ok, So both of them would sit outside his bedroom listening to him panting and breathing like a damn drowning man seeking that first breath of air, trying and failing to break the surface of the water.

They indulge him and they accepted it, giving him his space, But as it was expected, none of it worked. because the nightmares of these couple nights were more intense, he never used to scream like that.

He spent his nights screaming and his days hating himself for it. He was more silent than usual but still kept to his chores, making dinner and working in the living room.
And Moon and Steve were seriously starting to get tired of this! Not of him, but for that damn stubbornness which was not helping him in the least.

This new routine needed to change or else they would end up doing something Bucky would not like at all.

On the fourth day, however, Bucky and Steve were sitting in the main room. Steve watching Tv and Bucky going through what he should make for dinner, the soundtrack and noise of 'hell's kitchen' was proof of him trying to keep a semblance of normalcy after that blowout. Moon could hear it from her room on different occasions.
The doorbell rang a real divine intervention. Something to shake things up a bit!

-" Moon…. Bring your ass to the living room now!"

-" Hey Nat! "Bucky heard Steve greet Natasha.

But other voices, unfamiliar ones, were coming from the living room where it was hidden from Bucky's sight!

-" Moon !" insisted steve
-" coming"… she replied from the corridor. "I can't find my other flip flop!-" one hand over her flip flop and the other holding her glasses. "And you know I hate walking barefooted-!" she trailed off after witnessing the new addition to the house!

And just like that, a deafening shriek was heard, and what the hell?

-" Lokiiiiiii? Oh my god Loki is that really you!" she ran to him, arms ready for the hug of the century.

-" Hello darling"… a warm British accent replied with an equal rush to get to her.

-" How are you here?" Moon asked, surprised but already locked in a black-suited set of arms.

-" I had some free time lately and I thought I should tag along for a bit!" the dark figure replied! "Oh heavens! I missed you" he added. A warm smile harboring his face.
-" I missed you too ! it's been too long!" she whispered. still hugging.

-Alright, let me through" added a new voice behind the tall, dark ugh..man hugging his... friend.

Trying to see the face that came with the soft voice, busying himself gathering what was on the main table where he was still going on the files a moment ago, Bucky witnessed it all.

That Black haired guy with his threatening accent moved to a side revealing the other addition to the group. Leading to a myriad of expressions on Moon's face, as if she couldn't decide which emotion to show. it was pretty endearing to witness and slightly funny!

-Babyyy! Omg Baby..baby !" she was off in a minute hugging the new woman.

Ok! so another important person to her life that he didn't know about!

-" Honey, I'm home?" The other girl replied with a fond warm voice, which made Bucky think about his mother.
interesting.

Hugging like they didn't see each other in ages, what Bucky guessed was true!

-" I have missed you baby girl you have no idea!"
-" I think I can guess!" Moon replied, laughing with her eyes watering and threatening to spill at any minute. still buried in her friend's chest.

Bucky noticed the questioningly disbelieving face Steve was having at the moment. looking at the new girl almost with...reverence.

was this?! Nooo!

-" Am home!" was all she said to steve! smiling. and at that moment, Steve went to the two girls and hugged them both, Moon squeezed between the two, leading to her laughing out loud about how girly they all were. And that man adding a comforting hand over Moon's head in some sort of an outside party of the group hug. Natasha commented about how no one wants to hug her which made Moon free her hand and drag her by her jacket to add to the pile of feelings! the Loki guy was laughing aloud!

Bucky looked at them for a moment, and just like that, he understood the whole story Steve said to him before.

He still didn't get who that British guy was and still bothered him, but he knew this girl, this woman hugging his friends.
' wait, Loki from her comics, LOKI! The God of Mischief!

I see now! so he's another one of her close friends.'

And Shine was Moon's Best friend, the one she introduced Steve to back in college, the one he's been with ever since.

This was Steve's Girlfriend….And she looked. fierce!

He cleared his throat in an attempt of making himself noticed from that overly emotional-apparently long-overdue get-together.

-" And you must be James!" To his surprise, it was the girl saying it, what was her name? god, he forgot his best friend's girlfriend's name!

-" Bucky!" He corrected, offering his hand to shake.
-" Shine, nice to finally meet you Bucky. I've heard a lot about you…" she added, smiling politely. after she was finally let go by the emotional octopus monopolizing her.

-" My Girlfriend, Buck" added Steve, winning him an annoyed look from her, and a proud smile from Moon, and well, that dark guy was still looking at him with a blank face, and it's starting to get to his nerves.

-" I figured!" he replied ``shine with an "I " but pronounced "sheen" an unusual name!

-" How are you even here?" Inquired Moon thank god! it was starting to feel uncomfortable

-" It's as if I'm not even here!" cut Natasha. She looked more amused than angry, to be honest.

-" I'm sorry!" Moon added, smiling like a kid! Natasha replied by shaking her head disbelievingly…

-" well, I'm here for Bucky!" said Natasha with a faux hurting face!

-" In here!" Bucky replied, approaching the group with a kitchen towel on his left shoulder.

For some reason, he looked more of a soldier heading for battle than a man greeting friends at the door, Nat thought.

-"No one is going to introduce us?" he added flesh hand already going into a handshake towards Tom.

-" I'm Bucky," he introduced himself " what was it...Loki?" he joked

-" it's Tom, actually. " Tom replied, " She's the only one who calls me that" he added looking at Moon smiling

"Hun hun!" Bucky noted of course she does!

-" Hey, Buck, I came to get the case files" cut in Natasha

still looking at Tom, Bucky replied,"Sure, let me get them for you."

Heading back to the table next to the big window, where he was working all afternoon. But his eyes didn't leave the dark figure still holding Moon close! Going back and forth between the task at hand and the guest.

-" O.K…" Natasha acknowledged, a knowing smile on her face, This could be interesting….see, she was right! something was definitely happening here!

A quick look to Steve who looked amused by the whole situation, nodding back to Nat with a swift wink.
Natasha took it as a sign of good faith and dropped it! She'll get the full story later.

"Alright I'll head back now", Natasha added, tucking the Manila folio in her suitcase. "It was nice seeing you Tom, It's been a minute!"

"It sure has! Natalia, see you next week then!"

"I wouldn't miss it or I'll have to hear about it for a while if I do!" she replied.

"I don't doubt it! " replied TOM! amused

" what's next week?" asked Moon, eyes rounded with curiosity.

" It's…" started Nat. "It's Tony's Halloween party!; did you forget!"

" IT'S NEXT WEEK?" she asked!

" Are you ok? Have you been living under a rock?" Nat added, genuinely surprised.

" This explains why there are no decorations this year. It's weird being here at this time of year and not sinking under your overly enthusiastic spooky month extravaganza!"

" Oh My God! I completely zapped it! Holy shit! Steve! why didn't you tell me!? "

" I..just ..well." he babbled

" shut it! you're no use! UGHRRRR I can't believe I missed the whole fucking spooky month!" hands coming to her face completely done! "It's my favorite hollllliday !Ughr kill me pls!" she quavered, hands to her head!

" Come on Love, it's not the end of the world! you still have time doing whatever you want!" added the brit.

" I know, I guess I was so out of it lately that I didn't even notice it was the end of October" she pouted!?
seriously!

" But I missed it all. The fun! the shopping and costuuumes! Omg, I didn't get to actually go through what I had in mind for his year! Ohhhhh'' she trailed off with a whine!

This is where Steve came to the rescue!

-" It's alright Moon, you can start now and we can help", he offered with a comforting hand on her shoulder, "what did you have in mind?"

-" A Lot! and it's...well, never mind! it's a lot to ask of any of you, to be honest…"

-" ask what? did you want to put us in matching costumes again!?" asked steve.

-" Nooo!" she cut him, blushing Ok! she definitely planned it…" drop it!" she freed herself from Loki's! ugh, stupid name ...Heading to the center of the living room, but her blush wasn't lost on her friends! Because the three of them were already laughing!

-" You did! you totally did!" added Natasha! taking the Iconic hand on her hips pose and looking at her dead in the eyes!

Steve's arms crossed over his girlfriend's shoulder, standing behind her and that guy was smiling with his hands in his pockets,

-" Ok I did! but drop it! It's too late anyway!" she added, gradually shifting to the center of the room, sitting on the couch, hands on her lap! " It will never be here on time so forget it!" with Bucky finally here this year….god you suck Moon! "and you're not going anywhere!" added Moon, "have dinner with us, Nat"

The three of them joined her, Steve leaning on the armchair still locked to his girl and that guy to her left with Natasha standing behind them.
Trying and failing, comforting that whining woman-child who was sad about a dress-up party!

-" It's alright love, You can dress me in anything you want!" added that -seriously -starting to piss -me off-dude-and-his-damn -sexy-accent! nudging her on her shoulder.
she huffed a smile! hand over his in grateful gesture.

And that made Bucky stand up abruptly, heading for the kitchen, he's not just gonna sit there and watch, he had dinner to finish! for god's sake!

With The new additions to the house, it took a couple of minutes for everyone to calm down, well, everyone did except for our girl who was still hipped and excited about the guests.

Shine went to freshen up, and after a couple of minutes, Steve found an excuse to follow her back. Well, It's understandable.

Bucky in the kitchen. while the black-haired guy was annoyingly too close to Moon who was all smiles and giggles, surprisingly finding every little hushed comment from the dude very funny 'yeah annoying like I said.

Steve and his girlfriend took their sweet ass time, Bucky guessed what was really happening, that bastard! at least he's having fun…

Bucky knew about her, Steve mentioned her before. He knew she was a geologist, studying earthquakes? I guess or something like that! in Japan for the past year.

Steve met her the same time he met Moon, Moon was the one hooking them together actually, which was a match made in heaven, it looks like they've been together ever since.

Another loud crack of laughter erupted from the couch, tearing Bucky from his thoughts, he had a clear view of them from the kitchen.

Tom was chatting and joking, laughing loudly and speaking with his hands.

-" he was literally half-naked, with the towel around his waist, barely hanging there, hair blew and a baffled look on his face, he couldn't even grasp what was happening to him…" Tom snickered obviously talking about a common friend.

-Oh my god! poor Blondy! " commented Moon "it must have been hard to see him like that!" she added.

-" Quite the contrary actually!" he boasted, " it was very funny to witness his lost puppy face in distress, I really enjoyed it!" he admitted proudly.

-" I bet you did!" she jested, he laughed once more.

Nat on the other hand was looking at Buck like it was the first time noticing something in someone.

"We should order something to eat", announced Tom after a while

"oh, how silly of me, you must be famished!" Moon noted "Bucky already prepped Dinner" she added looking at Bucky

"still in the process of making dinner," Bucky piped from the kitchen, Ok that sounded convincingly Not annoyed! good job dude!

" Oh, you need a hand mate?" asked Tom, already taking his suit and tie and entering the kitchen while rolling his shirt sleeves.

And he's a nice guy too! Great!, Bucky checked on Moon following them, and looks like she started blushing the minute Tom did the sleeves thing. 'Ughr! what's up with girls and forearms?'

"It's ok man, It's already done, just have to set the table I guess!" replied Buck

Watching all of the scene unfolding, Natasha chuckled! oh, something was DEFINITELY happening in this house.
Ohh! She'll grill Steve about it when he finishes with his girl.

Food ate, glasses emptied, laughter echoed and good time unfolded.

Insisting on doing the dishes and be helpful to his hosts, Tom offered and Moon joined. Busy with their task, Nat and Steve followed shine on the couch, deep in conversation about what was shine working on for the past six months, while Bucky put the kettle on for some tea. which looked like she was studying the different rare components and natural elements, which exist only in Mount Fuji. which was pretty impressive.

After everyone settled down and resumed the subject at hand, leaving only Tom and Moon at the sink, when Tom finally asked.

-" So what's your story with Hot mess over there?" he asked rinsing a plate

-"ugh!" she gurgled " nothing passes through you does it!" still not surprised by the question "where should I start?" she added

-" The beginning would be helpful Love!"

-" do you have the night off, cause it's a damn long story!"

-" I have all the time in the world, but right now, I need the highlights!" he joked fondly

-"Humm! So he's Steve's best friend from childhood, Ex special force, discharged with honors recently, due to an injury. And he found himself living with us" she counted

-"Bringing with him his sad puppy eyes, his big heart and... and hair and that beautiful smile and delicious food and PTSD and nightmares and …" she sighed," and me being Me, well, guess it was inevitable.." she trailed off looking at the gradually flattening foam.

Tom looked at her intently,

-" wait, is he The winter soldier!? " he wondered, she nodded looking down.

-" well, you always had a thing for broken souls…" he smiled "Did something happen between you two?"

-" well, we got closer, he started to trust me with time, and ended up going closer and closer. Life with him started to be so fun and full. And then we danced...and...we-"she whispered trailing off. suddenly sad." and after that, we had a fight, well more like he had a blow up on me, because of our way of treating him I guess!?". ugh! "I guess he was right, we tend to be overprotective over him sometimes, and it doesn't help his guilt."

She conceded admitting defeat.

-"I don't know what I should do to help him Tom!" she sighed, looking at him with eyes already filling with tired tears." I don't know how to help him, and it seems that I'm only adding to him whenever I try to do something!"

-'' It's alright love!" He whispered, dragging her into his arm, plates were forgotten, "you did nothing wrong, I'm sure he knows you didn't mean it"

-" I wanna help him so bad!" she sniffled "and since that afternoon, we have this huge distance forming and it's all my fault!"

-" we. we almost kissed…" she whispered after a moment, voice muffled in his chest

-" Oh sweetheart!"

-'' one day we were alone, and I was working from home on my pages and he was working out as he does after a rough night, music blasting. We progressively started singing and dancing. It was so much fun! and suddenly the mood shifted and I could feel the tension between us…" she counted! smiling with wet eyes" and then he started to lean in...I wanted it so bad Tom you have no idea…"

-" And then what happened?" asked tom; genuinely curious

- "We were interrupted by a friend, from work." she divulged " and since then it's awkward and sweet at the same time...then the fight happened and now it's just awkward!"

-" I see!" he noted…" Can I ask you something love, and don't lie to me, I'd know it"
she smiled looking at him

-"Do you want him? like really want him regardless of his issues?" he asked, worried, " and from what you told me, he sure as hell has a bunch!"
after a moment, she replied

-"I really do!" she trailed off…" and it's terrifying" she added" but I'm not sure if he wants me or if it's just my imagination"

-"Alright!" he replied with mirth in his smile. adding a kiss on the top of her head.

He could see from the start that Bucky was interested in Moon, from the moment he met the guy, I mean, he was ogling him since the moment he got into the damn apartment. like another alpha threatening his territory. And every time he got closer to her, the guy's facial expression hardened.

-" Alright! leave it to me" he added once more

- "ugh!" she looked at him knowingly, " what are you cooking in that mind of yours!"

-" Nothing you should be worried about! on the contrary, you'll love it"

-" Tom! Honey, your Loki is showing!" she replied worriedly

Tom burst out laughing, resuming his task with the remaining plates, he just smirked his all so mischievous smile and it kind of confirmed everything in Moon's mind!

He is up to No good!