#bookieworm

“Doll, are you cold? Take my jacket, you’re just shivering.” Bucky fretted about your health and happiness on the seat to the right of yours. He was sat in the middle of you on the commercial flight to Kyoto, right next to an old lady who hadn’t moved in the thirty minutes you waited for the plane to take off. Maybe she was dead.

Oh shit, that just made that dreadful feeling in your gut even worse.

You shrugged off Bucky’s leather jacket from where he tried to place it over your shoulders and attempted to still your shaking hands. It probably would have been a good idea to tell Bucky about your fear of flying earlier, but wouldn’t that just be inconsiderate to his experiences? Your boyfriend had fought in fucking World War II and lived more than one hundred years, not to mention the fact that he was an Avenger. And you? You worked as a preschool teacher with a backstory of a stable income and sheltered childhood. It was laughable how different the two of you were.

Still, it as near impossible to stop your racing heart that was threatening to leap out of your chest, and blood roared in your ears with the scent of that airplane air invading your nostrils. You hadn’t been on a plane in, what, ten years? Maybe even more, but you had steeled your nerves weeks beforehand when Bucky told you he’d scored tickets out to Japan, somewhere you’d always wanted to go. Interesting how having to actually be on the plane slipped your mind, and you scolded yourself internally for your lack of preparation, because now you were next to your supersoldier boyfriend who was wondering why the hell you look like you were going to pass out.

The plane jerked. You screamed.

There were no sounds for what seemed like minutes and your view was just a block of white fuzziness. You didn’t hear Bucky’s callings or the flight attendant asking you if you were okay, nor did you feel his hands resting on your forearms. All you knew in your mind was that you were in danger, and hot tears began to spill down your cheeks with your silent whimpers. 

You didn’t know how long you stayed like that, not that you cared in the moment anyways, but by the time your vision came around, the whole plane seemed to have its eyes on you and you wanted to scream. Bucky saw the imminent fear in your eyes, how you cowered in your seat and how your chest rapidly heaved. He glared at everyone over your seats, his icy cold stare immediately finding everyone else minding their own business. 

When he was satisfied with what he saw, he pulled your head into his chest, resting his lips on your hairline. “What happened there, bub, are you okay?”

You sniffled into his shirt, trying to not let your tears stain the thin material. “I feel like a piece of shit,” you whispered, “I’m scared of traveling, it’s so fucking dumb. I always feel like the apartment’s gonna get robbed, or I’m gonna die outta state, or the plane’ll crash and we’ll all have to live Lord of the Flies style.” 

Bucky laughed at your joke, kissing your head with a grin. Yeah, you had gotten James Barnes to read Lord of the Flies. Call him whipped, but he’d drop anything and everything for you.

“That’s not dumb at all, doll, I just wish you would’ve told me before. I don’t wanna go if it doesn’t make you feel good.”

“No, no, I wanna go to Japan, it’s just,” you struggled to come up with words, “I hate the journey, but love the destination. Pretty much the opposite of that old proverb.”

He chuckled along with you, and your heart felt a little lighter when you smiled. “Gotta agree with you, sometimes the journey fucking sucks ass. But really, we don’t have to go if you’re feeling anxious, doll, I just wanna be wherever you’re happy and safe.”

“I wanna go,” he eyes you wearily, “I promise. Just- could you call Wanda to check up the apartment every few days?”

“Of course, bub, whatever you want.” He kissed your head one more time before whipping out his phone and texting the redhead. You grabbed his vibranium arm and he caught your eyes with a smile. You were happy when you were with him.

You were always safe, too.