#lumberjack!au

All descriptions are the author’s, except those marked with *, which are mine.

★ TWO-SHOTS

How to Make Small Talk in Five Simple Steps & How to Make the Right Decision in Five Simple Steps [tfatws] by @certifiedskywalker

1. When people meet, they often use small talk as a means to negotiate and define the start of a new relationship. When you and Bucky meet, you both struggle to find the right words. 2. On the daily, people are thrust into situations that force them to make a choice, sometimes a series of choices. Since meeting each other, you and Bucky have struggled to decide when to speak up, when to tell your truths to the other.

Graveyard & Sacrifice by @wkemeup

[avengers!au: avenger!bucky x engineer!reader/mutant!reader; friends to lovers] 1. As the unofficial healer for the Avengers, you pride yourself on the ability to mend heroes with the touch of your hand. Only, your gift comes at a heavy price — one you keep secret from your friends —and when Bucky asks you to do the impossible, they’ll discover why your gift is called a sacrifice, too. 2. In the midst of an attack, you’re dosed with an unknown chemical and your healing ability becomes compromised.

Deadweight & Deliverance by @loving-bucky-is-easier

[avengers!au: avenger!bucky x avenger!reader; friends to lovers] 1. The reader is reluctant to go on a two-person op with Bucky, and her instincts prove to be far more accurate than either of them would have thought. 2. [18+] Almost three months to the day since you’d woken up in the med bay with his hands wrapped around yours, since you’d finished your first kiss in a hospital bed and he’d stayed with you until Helen shooed him away. Almost three months of dating Bucky Barnes, which was lovely and confusing, because how many couples got together because of an accidental confession of love mid-argument post-torture in a terrorist facility?

Timeless Love: one | two by @beccaanne814

[catws & civil war; agent!reader x 1940s!bucky/fugitive!bucky] YN has finally met the love of her life. The problem is – it’s a long distance relationship. She lives in Washington D.C., and he’s in Brooklyn, NY. There’s also one other minor detail – he’s from 1943 and she’s from 2012.

Insomnia & Daydream by @bemine-bucky

[avengers!au: avenger!bucky x techie!reader; friends to lovers; fluff] 1. You and Bucky keep each other company at 3am.* 2. [18+] You can’t help but replay your night with Bucky over and over again in your head.*

Keep it Going & Acquaintances by @writingcroissant

[avengers!au: avenger!bucky; 1940s!bucky x 1940s reader/enhanced!reader] 1. Bucky remembers a girl from the 40s, a girl not even Hydra could make him forget. 2. [18+] Bucky found his long lost love in a whole new century.

Looped & Looped (again) by @softlybarnes

[avengers!au: avenger!bucky x avenger!reader; can be read as separate oneshots] 1. You are inadvertently trapped in a time loop without any memory of the last five years, including your relationship with Bucky. But Bucky would stay in the loop forever, explain everything again each day, if it meant getting to stay by your side. 2. Bucky is inadvertently trapped in a time loop without any memory of the last five years, including his relationship with you. But you would do anything, if it meant getting to stay by his side. (alternate to Looped where the reader loses their memory)

Bucky’s Got Game & Doc's Got Game by @real-jane

[avenger!bucky x doctor!reader] 1. Bucky's got a crush, and Sam's a little worried about whether or not he's gonna see it to fruition. 2. What really happened when Bucky told the good doctor how he felt. This is the prequel to Bucky's Got Game!

Flustered: Part 1 & Part2 by @lovelybarnes

[avengers!au: avenger!bucky, avenger!reader; friends to lovers] Bucky loves to get you flustered*

Just Across the Hall (Part 2) by @buckysbabygorl

[Modern!au, neighbors!au] Y/N can’t stand her annoying neighbour, who always seems to pop up at the worst times.

Of Jewels and Gems & Of Thieves and Queens of Hearts by @anika-ann

medieval!au: princess!reader, thief!bucky; strangers to lovers‘I snuck in the castle to steal the royal crown but I’m stealing you instead au’.

★ SERIES

Guiding light by @wkemeup

[complete; avengers!au: avenger!bucky x avenger!reader; friends to lovers] It was supposed to be a simple mission. Get the intel and go home. Until everything goes wrong, and you’re taken captive by Hydra. While you struggle to stay alive and hold your sanity, Bucky begins to lose himself to a darkness and gives into the soldier because he doesn’t know how to breathe without you. Not until he brings you home. If he even can.

Delicate Edges by wkemeup

[complete; biker!au: biker!bucky x florist!reader] Your family’s beloved flower shop was not the only thing you inherited when your parents passed. Trapped under a mountain of debt to the Hydra club, you bear the cost of your father’s desperate bargain. It’s only in moments when the charming Bucky Barnes walks into your shop that you can forget the cruelty of the biker clubs of this town. But a war is brewing. The border is crumbling. You’re trapped in the middle. And Bucky will stop at nothing to keep you safe.

A Sky Full of Song by wkemeup

[complete; pirate!au: pirate!bucky x pirate/siren!reader; idiots to lovers] Despite the bitter resentment of the crew, you found a home on Captain Barnes’ ship; on the ocean where you belonged, at the side of a captain you swore loyalty and heart to. But when course is plotted for a legendary island, the secret that has kept you alive for years is threatened to be revealed.

3B by @softlybarnes

[complete; tfatws; neighbor!bucky x neighbor!reader] Bucky is used to being alone, so is the girl living in apartment 3B. He keeps to his routine, to crossing off amends. But mutual loneliness forges an unlikely friendship. Alone and reclusive, sweet and incredibly strange, with deep secrets and regrets, 3B has more to reveal than meets the eye.

Oh! The weather outside is frightful: one | two | three by @mallowswriting

[ongoing; avengers!au: avenger!bucky x avenger!reader; enemies to friends to lovers] Bucky Barnes is a condescending, infuriating ass. Your mission has gone terribly wrong. There’s no way this could get any worse. Right?

Dormiveglia by @beccaanne814

[complete; endgame!au] Out of the seventy years Bucky was held captive by HYDRA, most of them were spent in a cryogenic state. Considering the horrendous atrocities he suffered during his waking hours, it’s no wonder he created an idyllic world in his dreams—with a woman he can never have in real life.

Strange Times by beccaanne814

[complete; post civil war!au: ex avenger!reader x fugitive!bucky; 1940s!au: pre-serum!steve, 40s!bucky] You have a certain type - smart, charming, and handsome as sin. For years you’ve been in love with the only man you thought possessed all of those traits, but a chance encounter with a Strange individual sends you and a certain ex-assassin on a journey of self-discovery. As you try to find a way back home, will you also be able to uncover the perfect man hidden beneath layers of guilt and self-loathing.

Flour Girl by @avengerofyourheart

[complete; modern!au & Bakery!au: baker!bucky x baker!reader; enemies to lovers] Discovering the cute guy you just flirted with is the heir of a rival bakery, you suddenly find yourself running into him all over the city. Can your small boutique bakery compete? And how do you deal with the guy who seems determined to make your life a living hell? Luckily you’re distracted by a secret admirer…But who is he? (Inspired by “You’ve Got Mail”)

Catch Me by @buckyywiththegoodhair

[complete; avengers!au: avenger!bucky x avenger!reader] In which a bet leads Bucky to have to catch you every day for a week, no matter what.

Trick Question by @nacho-bucky

[complete; modern!au: doctor!reader x paramedic!bucky] It’s a weekly battle of wills for Bucky and the Reader, as they navigate the stunning pressure that is pub trivia. Can these obdurate opponents find any middle-ground?

Beautiful People by nachobucky

[ongoing; post-endgame!au; avenger!bucky x Plus-size!reader] Bucky is adapting to a civilian life, busy with a new project and a possible career change (if Sam gets his way), as Steve prepares to move on and the Avengers ease into a new phase. Day-to-day life is consumed with the details, but Bucky finds himself looking for a different perspective. That’s where you come in. 

Reflections by @breadqueen95

[ongoing; post-civil war!au; avengers!au: avenger!bucky x enhanced!reader] When Steve and Natasha lead the fight against Hydra in 2014, they had no way of knowing just how many secrets there were left to uncover. They suddenly have one more person to add to their list as they search for Bucky Barnes. Fast forward to 2018. Bucky Barnes is living with the team at the Avengers Compound, trying to settle into life as an Avenger and as a free man. Steve and Natasha, with the help of the third part of their leadership trio Tony Stark, have finally managed to track down the human subject that escaped four years ago. And you…you’ve been on the run for four years. Desperately avoiding any detection by hiding your identity, resisting your memories, and suppressing any flicker of power raging to get out. What happens when an unexpected arrival forces you to face everything you’ve been running from?

Just One Kiss by @sarahwroteathing

[complete; 40s!bucky] Bucky Barnes has been chasing after you since he was ten years old, but you’re determined not to give in. How long can you hold out when all he’s asking for is just one kiss? (40′s happy ending AU)

Project Amaranth by sarahwroteathing

[ongoing; tfatws; enhanced!reader] When a mission goes south, Bucky discovers an occupied cryotube in an abandoned bunker. He knows nothing about the person inside, but is completely unwilling to leave them behind.

For the Love of the Game by @pellucid-constellations

[complete; modern!au, college!au, baseball!au] Bucky Barnes was a menace. NYU’s top baseball player, he was used to girls falling at his feet and could smooth talk his way out of just about anything. You hated him. He couldn’t figure out why. So when the novelty of weekend parties and quick hookups finally wore off—and his feelings for you began to grow—he made it his mission to fix it.

Undisclosed by pellucid-constellations

[complete; lumberjack!au: lumberjack!bucky x librarian!reader] Desperate to outrun a secret that could cost you your life, you seek refuge in a small mountain town. Its deep forests and small cabins make it the perfect place to hide, but the travel website hadn’t mentioned anything about the quiet, burly lumberjack that wouldn’t leave your thoughts. No one had warned Bucky about you either.

A Million Reasons by pellucid-constellations

[ongoing; College!Bucky x reader; enemies to lovers] Bucky Barnes, with all his trust fund money and family connections, gets assigned community service. You, as someone that’s technically part of the community, now have to put up with him. Every day. And he won’t stop killing your plants.

Harmless by @shurisneakers

[complete; avengers!au: avenger!bucky x villain!reader; crack!fic: perry the platypus!bucky x doctor doofenschmirtz!reader] Bucky volunteers to go stop a small-time villain, but nothing can prepare him for what exactly he has to deal with.

Unsolved by shurisneakers

[ongoing; Buzzfeed unsolved!AU, avengers!au: avenger!bucky x avenger!reader; crack fic, strangers to lovers?, slow burn] Bucky doesn't even believe in the paranormal. So who the hell thought it was a good idea to stick him in a series about everything haunted for the internet's amusement? With his loose-canon of a teammate who has no concept of subtlety or shits left to give, to make things even worse.

These Ties That Bind by @sweetascanbee

[complete; soulmate!au, avenger!au: avenger!bucky x teacher!reader] When you're sixteen years old, you get a soul mark with the letters 'JBB' emblazoned on your left wrist. The only problem is, soulmates pairings have basically gone extinct, and the man you've been paired with has been dead for seven decades.

The Last Name by @demonpoxballad

[complete; post-tfatws; ex-shield agent!reader] There’s one more name from the past bouncing around Bucky’s head. One more scribble ripped from the pages of Steve’s old book. Another person to make amends with. Except this one is different: he can’t remember doing anything wrong. No murdering or enabling of evil plans. No threats or political conquests. In fact, Bucky can’t remember much of her at all.

No Such Thing by @sanguineterrain

[complete: football player!bucky x journalist!reader; enemies to lovers] You’ve been assigned to write a column for your school paper on the team’s spectacular running back. You don’t care very much for your university’s football team; you just can’t understand the hype, okay? Turns out your distaste for football bigheads was exactly on point: James Barnes is insufferable.

It Started With A Smile by @writing-for-marvel

[ongoing; Regency!au/Bridgerton!au: duke!buckyx baroness!reader] At the start of the new social season, Lady Whistledown predicts this will finally be the year solitary Duke James Barnes finds a wife. After a chance meeting at Lady Danbury’s ball, can you and the Duke overcome all obstacles thrown in your path by his scandalous past and your overbearing mother insistent against your match?

On the Run by @fanfic-scribbles

[complete; post catws; avengers!au: avenger!bucky x smartass!reader] Your life is fairly normal, up until Captain America shows up on your doorstep asking for help for something nobody should know about. Some things you do know are: 1) James Buchanan “Bucky” Barnes is an asshole, 2) This is all his fault, and 3) You’re going to punch him in the face. If you survive.

Bag of Tricks (oneshots) by @heli0s-writes

[complete; avengers!au: avenger!bucky, avenger!reader; chaotic dumbass!reader x exasperated!bucky; friends to lovers] The shenanigans of one chaotic dumbass and one smart ass.*

Wordpeddler by heli0s-writes

[complete; social media!au, avengers!au: avenger!bucky; strangers to lovers] An online petition for the Avengers to be interviewed turns into a series of misadventures with the so-called wordpeddler.

Flirting and Football by lovelybarnes

[ongoing; modern!au, college!au: football player!bucky; strangers to idiots to lovers] College football star Bucky Barnes is immediately enamored when he meets you. You? Not so much. But Bucky Barnes is determined. And the teetering-on-cynical views that you hold for relationships are about to realize exactly how determined he is.

Blunt [18+] by @buckysbabygorl

His dad was home from work when they got back, and Ted was allowed to have an extra scoop of ice cream for dessert. “So, what did ya learn today?” His father asked. “Not to climb trees,” Ted replied. “Nah,” his dad shook his head, “You just learned one wrong way to climb a tree”. When Ted got his cast taken off a couple of weeks later, he climbed right back up the same tree he’d fallen out of. He climbed almost every tree in the neighbourhood that summer. Ted’s never been a quitter. 

He knows he was lucky to grow up with parents as fantastic as his folks were. For all the growing pains, and the tragedy, he can say he actually had a really good childhood. He knows guys his age carrying around the weight of the world on their shoulders. They fight their own pasts, and shadowbox their childhoods, trying not to hand down their aches and heartbreaks to their own sons. Ted hopes he manages to only pass down the good things to his.

Henry broke his arm at school a while back and it nearly sent Ted into a panic. Henry took it in stride, excited to get his cast signed when he saw his friends. He got that from Michelle, his carefree nature. Ted's always been a  worrier. 

“Were you scared?” Ted asked Henry that night, tucking him into bed.

“Nope! My teacher said you and mom were coming to get me. It hurt a lot though”.

“How ya feeling now?”

Henry shrugged, “I don't know if football is the sport for me. I don't think I'm very good at sports”.

Ted hummed, weighing his son's words, “ya know, I broke my arm when I was your age. Fell outta tree. Thought I'd never climb a tree again”.

Henry grinned at his father's story, “did you?”

“Lots of ‘em. Your grandpa--my dad, reminded me that we all make mistakes. But a lot of times mistakes are just lessons on how not to do something,” Ted pauses, “don't stop doing something you enjoy. Just figure out a different way to do it”. 

“A different way to play football?”

Ted wasn't shocked by the question. He's always had the habit of letting his tongue get ahead of his thoughts. Words flow without thought, and even he's left piecing together their meaning. 

How do you play football differently? 

“They call soccer, football in England,” Ted floated the idea. 

“A different kind of football,” Henry nodded in the affirmative. 

When Ted's eyes flutter open again, the first thing he's aware of is the cold. Snow has found its way down the collar of his coat. And then he sees her, Diane Sawyer. 

Only in his dreams.

Is he dead? The thought crosses his mind. 

“Hello?” She says, “can you hear me?” 

Not Diane Sawyer. 

He groans trying to sit up.

“Woah, take it easy. That was quite the tumble you took,” the angel lady says, gently pushing on his chest to get him to lie down again. He doesn't fight it. 

“How's your head? Are you in any pain?” She asks. Oh, that's not an accent he's used to hearing.  

“Noggin feels fine,” he confirms. 

She nods, letting him sit up slowly, it's easier to breathe now. 

“What's your name?” 

“Ted Lasso”.

“It's nice to meet you Ted. I'm Rebecca Welton”. 

He hums, “it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Ms Welton. I gotta ask though, is that an English accent I'm hearing”.

He's got a lot of questions, come to think of it. How long was he out for? It's hard to tell just by looking at the sky, equally as grey as it was when he set out in the morning. The wind has died down, the ice rain seems to have calmed back down to playful flurries.

How far did he fall? He can't quite make out the top of the hill, but he must've fallen a fair distance. He hit something on the way down, that much he can feel for sure. His shoulder throbs, but a cursory movement confirms that it's not broken or dislocated.

She smiles softly, almost as if it's in spite of herself, “Rebecca, please. Ms Welton is my father. But, to answer your question, I'm from London, yes”. 

“If that's a joke I love it. If not, I can't wait to unpack that with you,” Ted chuckled as she helps him to his feet. 

Goly, she's tall. It's hard to tell in the snow but she's nearly as tall as he is. She's not wearing a heavy winter coat, and yet here he is shivering in his. 

A pair of jeans, sturdy-looking boots, a cable knit sweater in the softest shade of pink, and a Sherpa-lined flannel. He looks around but can't see a backpack other than his own, a few feet away.

“Are you hiking here too?” He lets himself wonder aloud.

“No, I live here. I work here,” she tells him, “come along-- the snow has slowed down, but there's sure to be more of it, and I have absolutely no interest in catching a cold”. 

Rebecca's cabin is bigger than the one Ted stayed in last night, but it's nowhere near large. It's rustic by nature but decidedly comfortable-- lived in. It's clear she's made the place her own. 

The glow of a dimming fire casts a warm orange glow over the room, but blow glass wall sconces do most of the illumination work. There's a sitting area with a large leather sofa, softened by the chunky knit blanket draped over the back of it. A high-back armchair sits nearer to the fireplace. Across the room, is a small open kitchen, sage green cabinets, and a butcher block island. There's a baby pink kettle on the gas stove, and a quick sniff of the air smells like warm lemon. 

There's a bathroom at the end of a short corridor. Unlike the camper accommodations, this cabin has a staircase that Ted assumes leads up to the sleeping area. 

Ted accepts Rebecca's offer to take his coat from him, watching as she hangs it next to her own. He follows her lead toeing off his boots and setting them on the mat by the door. 

“Make yourself at home, get yourself warmed up,” she nods towards the fire. 

He does as he's told, lowering himself into the chair. He's beginning to feel the aftermath of his falls, tender spots all over his back and limbs he's sure will be black and blue tomorrow if they aren't already. His shoulder throbs but he pushes down the hiss of pain, finding a comfortable enough position to rest in.

“I really appreciate you takin’ me in like this,” Ted speaks for the first time since he entered her home, “I've read far too many online articles about people getting buried in avalanches-- most certainly how I'd like to go”.

“It's really not a problem,” she cuts his rambling short, putting the kettle on to boil again, “how do you take your tea?”

“I don't”.

She looks startled, borderline appalled for a moment before she speaks again, “sometimes I forget I'm the one with an accent here. Hot cocoa?” She tries again. 

“Ooh, yes please!” 

The drink warms him from the inside out. Conjuring images of winter's past. And it's easy to relax, breathing deeply and settling into the sound of the resumed inclement weather outside, and Rebecca shuffling around the kitchen. 

She checks over his injuries again. Still no sign of a concussion, and she clears him to sleep tonight. He can see the irony in the fact that this trip was one he was supposed to take alone, but he's never been one to turn away from making new friends. 

He sleeps on the couch, wrapped up in his sleeping bag, nice and cozy by the fire. 

The moonlight wakes him, trickling through the window. A quick glance outside shows him that the front porch and steps have been completely snowed over. The blanket of snow is a good foot deeper than yesterday, and he resigns himself to know he won't be getting back on the trail today. 

It's about a quarter after four when he checks his watch and he knows he's not getting back to sleep. He's been haunted by bouts of insomnia, and lack of sleep on and off his whole life; it's only gotten worse in the last year and a half. 

The first time he remembers it happening he was 16, about to turn 17. He'd gone from feeling like the whole world was his to explore, with a big exciting life ahead of him, to feeling like every room he walked into was collapsing around his ears. 

As a kid, he'd seen people lose people. Watched his parents and friends process loss. 

He'd been too young when his grandparents passed away to fully understand or process the grief, but he can remember his Ma crying in the kitchen, her face hidden in his father's chest. 

He'd had friends at school who had family pass away. When he was 13 or 14 the family dog Hank had to get out to sleep. Ted had cried himself to sleep that night. He'd lost one of his bestfriends. But none of that could've prepared him for the death of his own father. 

It had taken him months to accept that he needed help sleeping. The sound of a gun shoot ringing in his ears every time he closed his eyes. He ended up having to take medication for a couple of years to combat his insomnia. 

It hasn't been that bad in years, but stress still triggers him, leaving him waking at all hours, or staring at a ceiling waiting for a dreamland he knows isn't coming. 

Ted has learned to cope. He's found things that keep his hands and mind occupied. Today he bakes. He hopes that his socked footsteps on the floorboards are silent to a sleeping Rebecca upstairs, and he prays that his creations are enough to cancel out any potential intrusion or overstep as he makes himself at home in her tiny kitchen. 

He scrapes together enough flour, butter, and sugar to bake a batch of shortbread cookies, following the recipe he's had memorized since he was old enough to help out in the kitchen. 

The sun is just starting to peek through the curtain of the clouds when he pulls the cookies out the oven, letting them cool while he makes breakfast. He can hear her moving around upstairs now, and it only makes him smile, excited to present her with the delicious little biscuits, as she'd probably call them, he's crafted. 

The moment Ted had laid eyes on her, he trusted Rebecca. Kindred spirits almost. A meeting of fate. His father always told him, “there are a lot of people in this world. A lot of people you'll love, but for better or for worse there are some people you'll just know you were meant to meet”. 

Ted holds that philosophy close to his heart. He was always meant to be friends with Beard. Ted was meant to be a father, and he was certain he loved Henry king before he even existed.

In a lot of ways meeting Michelle felt like destiny. The only two people in the parking lot late at night. What were the odds? 

Separating from Michelle, and getting a divorce had felt like a stab straight to the heart. It challenged what he had always believed in. If he was meant to know her, then how could he lose her?

He chooses now to see it as a lesson. He sees now how he had a hunk himself down and held himself back to love her. They didn't fit together the way they should have. But loving her had taught him to see the good in the world again. Without Michelle, Ted wouldn't know Henry. And with that perspective he's learned to be grateful. 

This vacation, this hike, the snow, and his fall all lead him here. When he opened his eyes and saw Rebecca with her blonde hair and green eyes he'd labeled her an angel. She'd rescued him from more than just the snow. 

And now, as he scrambles eggs, and fries up some bacon, Ted knows he's more at ease than he has been in months. There's an instant familiarity, he wants to explore. He was meant to know Rebecca. 

“Did you make these?” Rebecca asks pointing at the perfect rectangular shortbread pieces on the counter. 

“Sure did!” Ted smiles, plating breakfast for the two of them, “I couldn't sleep, and I wanted to say thank you”.

She hesitated before lifting one to take a bite, and he watches eagerly. 

“Fuck me,” she mumbles, her fingers catching the escaping crumbs. Her eyes light up in a way he hasn't seen yet. Like a kid at Christmas, pure and genuine joy, and Ted can't help but wonder when she last felt this way. She shys away after her initial outbursts, as though she's embarrassed herself somehow. 

Ted's eyebrows shoot up and he allows himself to chuckle, “I've got some breakfast here for you as well”.

“You didn't have to, Ted. Thank you”.

“It was the least I could do,” he shrugs.

After breakfast, Ted showers, taking advantage of the hot water, and the superior water pressure. He layers up, putting a flannel over his thermal shirt, long johns under his jeans. 

Rebecca told him while they ate that she needed more firewood, and he was expected to help. It's been years since he chopped wood. The last time was probably one of his camping trips with his dad but he's beyond happy to be of use, especially if he's stranded here for at least another day. 

Rebecca is tall, strong, and powerful. Dressed in a navy blue snowsuit, her hair down in natural curls, contained only by her wool hat. She carries her ax on her shoulder, smirking at Ted's jokes about ax murders-- he's been watching too much true crime lately. 

There's a tree that's already been toppled and she quickly gets to work chopping away at the section that will be split into firewood. 

Definitely an angel.

 The forrest is beautiful. Even more stunning in the valley they stand in now, looking up at the hills, evergreen pines, dusted white. It’s silent, every sound muffled by the snow. Indescribably peaceful, and the company hes found himself in only adds to it. A part of him wishes he could stay here forever. 

When he takes over chopping the wood, his hand brushing hers as the ax changes hands, he distracts himself from the burn in unused muscles by asking Rebecca how a lovely English woman such as herself ended up in the American wilderness. 

“My friend from college, I call her Sassy, she’s an ecologist. And after I got divorced, I followed her out here with her daughter to help with some research she was doing,” Rebecca explains, stacking the firewood on the tiny sled she’d dragged out. 

He can tell by the way she hesitates to mention her divorce that it was probably pretty messy. Her shoulders drop, and he hates the way she makes herself smaller. “And you just stayed behind?” He asks, encouraging her to continue. He wants to know her.

“I fell in love with this place. I went home, but I kept coming back here. Hiked all the trails, saw all the sights. And then there was an opening for a summer guide and park coordinator. I took it”. “I bet you’re good at it,” Ted smiles, not missing the way she blushes. “I enjoy it. It’s a lot of kids, and families in the summer. And the coordination is mostly clerical,” she shrugs off the compliment. The ax back over her shoulder as they walk. 

She’s looking at him, watching him as they retrace their boot prints back to the cabin. He lets her have her moment, and ignores the way he’s cheeks feel warm under her gaze. 

Ted makes dinner. He takes his time cooking up stake and potatoes, getting Rebecca to help out cutting up carrots and root vegetables. Her laughter he’s learned is one of his favourite sounds, and he goes out of his way to do it. Rebecca is the most intoxicating mix of grace, and absolute silliness. She glows when she smiles, and it melts his heart. She dances through the kitchen as she twists the cork out of a bottle of wine, thrilled as she pours them each a glass. 

“This is by far the best dinner I’ve had in ages,” she sighs, starring down at her empty plate. “I appreciate you sayin’ that. It was the least I could do”. She shakes her head, at his refusal of her compliment, “I mean it”. “I know you do,” he smiles. 

The room is quiet, the crackle of the fireplace seems so loud when all he can hear is their breathing. “Rupert-- my ex. He was a real piece of shit,” Rebecca swallows before continuing, “And when I left him, I thought that all I really wanted was to be alone”.