Stubborn
Recovery hadn’t been easy. You were never one to sit and let people take care of you. Once the swelling had gone down and your eyesight began to return, your restlessness only increased.
Whenever your upcoming discharge was mentioned, Bucky would do his best to convince you to stay at the tower.
“You’d have your own room. Everyone would give you your space,” he reasoned.
“I have my own room” you retort, “At my place.”
“You can’t very well take care of yourself. What if something happened to you?”
“Way to look on the bright side there, Bucky. Thanks for having confidence in me too, by the way.”
“I- I don’t like the idea of you being alone.”
“And when all of you are gone? Missions and all that?” You quirked an eyebrow at him, waiting for his response.
Suddenly he couldn’t met your gaze. Sitting in the chair next to the hospital bed, Bucky clasped his hands together.
“I’d be there,” he mumbled.
You reach out and grab his arm, pulling it towards you. “Yes, except when you aren’t,” you grin, taking his hand.
When he doesn’t move, or respond, it hits you. “What did you do?!” you ask, glaring at him.
At the doorway you hear Sam. “Told you she’d be pissed. Finally telling her how you took time off?” he laughs to himself.
Eyes wide you turn to Sam, who was now taking a seat in one of the chairs along the wall.
“Oops,” he feigns, smile widening.
You turn back to Bucky, emotions alternating between shock and anger.
“For how long?” you demand.
“If you’d stay at-” Bucky begins.
“Six weeks!”
Bucky just glares at Sam who couldn’t look more pleased with himself.
“Six weeks?!” you shriek.
“With the possibility of a few more, if needed,” Sam adds.
You open your mouth to start telling Bucky off for all of this, for keeping something like this from you until last minute, that you don’t need to be coddled, when he squeezes your hand. “They’ll be fine without me. They managed before I came along, they can do it again.”
A muffled snort from Sam’s direction breaks your remaining anger.
“Fine, but I am not staying at the tower,” you remind him. “Let me be useless in my own home.”
S.H.I.E.L.D. won’t let you step foot in their building for the time being, and when they finally do, you will have to pass their physical and mental health screenings before you can go back to work. Without your job to keep you busy you’re not sure being back in your apartment is much better than being stuck in the hospital room, but it would be a change of scenery. And it’s nice to be heading back home.
Getting up the stairs was a challenge all by itself, but then you had to keep fighting off Bucky’s attempts to help you.
“You can be ridiculously stubborn, you know that?” he asked as you pushed his arm away from you.
“Me?! I’m the stubborn one?! You just carry that crap from the car for me and keep your hands to yourself.”
The closer to your apartment you got, the more you had to use the handrail of the stairs to help support your bodyweight. You were determined to make it inside of your place before giving in to Bucky’s need to assist you. Even if that did make you stubborn. And exhausted.
You make it to your floor and Bucky walks just ahead of you, making it to your door and unlocking it before you’re able to reach him. Giving him an appreciative smile as you walk through the threshold, he returns it with a look of satisfaction at finally being allowed to help.
The bedroom looks too far away, so you settle on laying across the couch and close your eyes.
Just as the thought of sleep enters your mind, you’re swept up.
“Nuh-uh. Bed.” Bucky declares, carrying you to your room. “You aren’t sleeping on the couch.”
Setting you down, you’re too tired to mess with blankets or clothing, and just settle down onto the bed. When he tries to walk away, you grab him and refuse to let go of his hand, pulling him onto the mattress. He doesn’t object, laying behind you as you quickly fall asleep.