Early Mornings
Avery felt warm and safe. On their side, with their back against the wall? No, their bed was in the middle of the room, not against a wall. Avery could feel a weight across their middle. Slowly opening their eyes, they saw it—Bucky's metal arm holding them to him. It was 6 a.m., and their training started in an hour.
"Hey, Bucky, I need to get up." He wasn’t moving, still fast asleep.
"Come on, James, wake up." Avery said louder, still nothing. Okay, new plan.
"Good morning, Sergeant." Avery pushed themselves further into him.
"Good morning, Doll." He replied, and then his eyes flew open as he looked down at Avery in his arms.
"Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to—I wasn’t trying to take advantage of you." Bucky panicked, probably thinking Wanda would kill him if she realized he took advantage of Avery being distressed to end up in their bed. He looked up and noticed the window.
"Do you never shut your blinds in here?" He got out of bed, picked up the controller, and closed them. What time was it? 6:05? Oh no, Sam would’ve been running, and he’d totally seen him in here.
"Oh, I didn’t realize there were blinds to close, to be honest," Avery said, looking up at a panicked Bucky. "Hey, it’s okay. Nothing to apologize for. You helped me sleep."
"Same, actually, Doll. I don’t think I’ve slept that well in years." Avery smiled at him. How this man could go from asking for a goodbye kiss to panicking because he woke up next to them, Avery would never understand—but it was charming.
There was a knock at the door, and Nat walked in. Avery scrambled out of bed, now also panicking. Definitely busted.
"Come on, lovebirds. You're gonna be late. It’s your first day of training. Get dressed, let’s go!" she said, then turned to Bucky. "Bucky, with me. I have an update on the women. See you in the gym, kid." She left the room as quickly as she came, leaving Avery and Bucky stunned. So, if Nat knew Bucky slept here, everyone probably did. Avery felt like they were definitely getting fired for this.
"Thanks again, Sergeant... Sorry, I meant James," Avery said, feeling embarrassed. They weren’t very good at not calling him that.
Bucky moved closer to Avery.
"You’re doing that on purpose to me," he said, suddenly right next to them, his hand at their waist.
"What am I doing, Sergeant?" Avery teased, hoping to get him to have that confidence from before again.
"I don’t know if you’re going to save me or destroy me, Doll." With that, he pulled away and left Avery against the wall (an actual wall this time). "Get dressed. Nat can't train you like that."
Yes, dressed, training, work. All Avery wanted, though, was to crawl back into his arms and be called Doll.