Chapter 7
Bucky woke up in a cold sweat. He could feel tears on his cheeks, stinging his eyes. He wiped them away angrily. He lurched up and stumbled to the bathroom, getting there just in time to throw up in the toilet. Wiping his mouth, he sat against the toilet, breathing heavily. He practised breathing exercises, trying to calm himself down. It had been ages since he’d had a nightmare. The ache of his left arm was more pronounced every time he had one. Even with his new prosthetic, he could feel a gaping hole where it usually was.
He shook off the ringing in his ears, resolutely not recognising it as the screams of his unit around him. This was a bad one. Clumsily, he hoisted himself up and staggered to the bedroom, pulling the charger out of his phone. He searched his contacts for Natasha’s number, squinting at the bright screen. He held the phone to his ear and listened to the ringing, still breathing carefully so as not to work himself up again.
“Hello?” a gravelly, sleepy voice answered.
“Oh shit, you’re not Natasha.” Bucky blurted, too wound up to realise he was being quite rude.
“No, I’m not. Bucky? What’s wrong?” Steve sounded a lot more awake now he could hear the tone in Bucky’s voice.
Bucky scrubbed a hand over his face, feeling the three day old stubble on his cheeks, “Ah, nothing Steve. Sorry to have woken you up. I promise to get the right number this time.” He chuckled, but it sounded forced even to his own ears. He inwardly winced.
“Wait, Bucky. Maybe I can help? I mean, I’m awake now, aren’t I?” Steve sounded weirdly urgent to keep Bucky on the line. It was probably Bucky just projecting. As bad as he felt, the sound of Steve’s voice was actually helping him relax.
“I mean, if you’re sure. I don’t know if Natasha would appreciate being woken up now, now that I’m thinking about it.” Bucky said it lightly, but he knew without a doubt if he phoned after a nightmare, Natasha would always pick up and talk to him until he’d calmed down enough to fall back to sleep. She never complained about it, either.
“So what’s up? I’m assuming you were calling Natasha in the middle of the night for a reason. You don’t have to tell me. Just know that I’m here to talk if you want.” Steve said hesitantly. Bucky could die from embarrassment right then. No way could he tell Steve he’d woken up from a nightmare. He was trying to befriend the man, not drive him away with his dysfunctionality.
“Uh, I’d rather not talk about it. You want to watch a movie or something? You got Netflix, right?” Bucky sat himself back on his bed, grabbing his laptop and pulling his duvet back over his legs.
“Yeah, hold on a sec.” Bucky could hear Steve shuffling around, presumably getting his laptop. “Got it. What do you wanna watch?”
“Uh, I’ve heard that new horror film is good?” Bucky worried his lip between his teeth.
Steve chuckled, “No offence Buck, I don’t think I can watch a horror at this time of night. I’ll be awake for a week. They give me pretty terrible nightmares, even in the daytime.”
“Okay, okay, no horror.” Bucky laughed to hide the discomfort the mention of nightmares had caused. He scrolled down his laptop screen and found the perfect thing to watch with Steve. “How do you feel about cheesy rom-coms? They give you nightmares too?”
“I’m always up for cheesy romance,” Steve laughed, “which one did you have in mind?”
Bucky gave him the title, and they counted down from three to press play at the same time. They joked and chatted through it, pointing out bits they thought were funny, and groaning at the abundance of corny moments. Before Bucky knew it, it was getting light outside. He yawned widely, smiling when he heard Steve laugh. “Okay, Buck, time for sleep. I’ll see you tomorrow night.”
“Technically it’s tonight.” Bucky couldn’t help being pedantic. It was in his nature.
“Goodnight Bucky. Sweet dreams. I’ll see you later.” Steve promised.
“Night, Steve. Sorry for waking you up and keeping you awake with bad comedies.”
“Nah, it was good fun. I really enjoyed talking to you.” Bucky could hear the smile in Steve’s voice. He said goodnight and thanked him again before hanging up. He plugged his phone back in, put his laptop on the floor and rolled over, falling asleep instantly.