Bucky was silent the entire ride home. Anna, who had been at the tailor shop across the street while Bucky was in the market, tried to engage him in conversation, but eventually gave up. Bucky felt bad about it, he really did, but honestly, he was too shell shocked to speak. The Fourth of July, Steve's birthday, was in less than a week and he had almost forgotten. Bucky had to close his eyes to blink back tears as a fresh wave of loss cut through him.
Anna pulled into the driveway and once inside, he headed straight to his room. He knew he'd have to talk to everyone eventually, but for now, he just wanted to be alone. He missed his punk.
X-X-X
"What's with him?" Howard asked as Barnes stormed passed.
"I haven't the slightest idea." Anna replied. "He's been like that since we left the market."
"Did something happen with his girl?"
"I'm not sure, he seems awfully sad."
"I'm sure he'll tell us eventually." Mr. Jarvis said as he entered the room. "How are you, Anna darling?"
X-X-X
Bucky ended up skipping dinner that night. For the first night in almost seven months, he cried himself to sleep. He cried for Steve, he cried for those who never made it home, but mostly, he cried for himself. Bucky thought he was finally getting better, but maybe he was wrong. He thought he was starting to live a normal life again, but all he'd done was embarrass himself in front of Rosie.
He sighed as the sun started to come up and began his morning routine. By the time he made it down for breakfast, everyone else was there. They all seemed to lose their ability to speak as he sat down.
Anna was the first to break the silence. "Would you like some eggs, Bucky?"
"That would be great, thanks." He plastered on a smile.
"So, you wanna tell us what's wrong, Barnes?" Howard asked in a rare moment of concern.
"Nothing. It's just that I remembered that Steve's birthday is next Tuesday. That's all."
Howard froze. "His birthday is on the Fourth?"
"Yep. He hated it too. Especially after the serum." Bucky grinned.
Howard had to put his coffee down because he was laughing so hard. "You mean to tell me," he managed in between giggles, "that Captain America's birthday is also America's birthday?"
"Can't get much more patriotic than that." Bucky claimed with a small grin. Even the Jarvis' were laughing.
The rest of the day went smoothly. While Bucky wasn't totally back to his normal cheery self, he did seem much better. He kept himself busy, doing Howard's bidding all afternoon. When Anna went to get Bucky for their daily shopping trip, he politely refused. He wasn't ready to face Rosie just yet.
"Are you sure?" Anna asked, concerned.
"Yeah, I think I'll just tinker around down here for a while."
"Alright then," Anna replied, "Do you have any special requests?"
Bucky's eyes watered slightly. "Star fruit."
X-X-X
It was 5:00 and Rosemarie was trying to simultaneously watch both the clock on the wall and the door. But she wasn't worried or anything. Absolutely not. She just found it odd that two of her usual customers had yet to show up. Yeah, that was it.
When the door did open, Rosemarie had to fight back her smile of relief. Her face fell, however, when Mrs. Jarvis stepped through by herself. Rosemarie shook herself. So James wasn't here. She wasn't about to let that bother her.
While Mrs. Jarvis made her way through the store, Rosemarie checked out three other customers and straightened up her work area. She tried not to let her disappointment show on her face.
"Good day, Rosemarie." Mrs. Jarvis said cheerily as she approached the counter.
"Hello, Mrs. Jarvis." Rosemarie replied as she went through the motions of ringing up the purchases. she only paused briefly when she saw the star fruit.
"Oh, enough of the "Mrs. Jarvis". I'm Anna." Mrs.-Anna demanded. "How are you doing today, my dear?"
"I'm doing well. Just waiting for my shift to end." Rosemarie answered, determined not to ask after James.
"I'm glad to hear it. I've been fairly buys myself, what with planning Mr. Stark's Independence Day party and all." Anna commented.
"I've heard that his parties can be quite excessive." Rosemarie said as she bagged the groceries. "That'll be $3.00."
"Yes, they can be. They can also take months to organize. You should come to this one." Anna said as she dug through her coin purse. "I'm sure Mr. Stark won't mind and Bucky would love to see you there."
"Oh, I'm not sure." Rosemarie deflected. "But speaking of James, he accidently overpaid me yesterday. Could you give this to him for me?" She asked, holding out the money.
"Of course, you can come!" Anna exclaimed, while refusing to take the money. "it'll be at 7pm at Stark's mansion on Tuesday. Just tell Mr. Jarvis that I invited you." And with that, Anna left. Rosemarie looked down at the money in her hand. It looked like she was going to a party