Bucky's POV

After roaming around for a few hours to clear my head, I realize that it's almost four in the morning and my eyes widen. Has it really been all day?

I make my way back to the compound through the dark and head upstairs. I hear a door slam shut and furrow my eyebrows. My mind immediately goes to Ally as I run up the rest of the stairs and swing the bedroom door open.

"Look who finally came back." Ally says as she sits on the floor. "I was just about to leave."

I furrow my eyebrows. "Leave?" I ask. She presses a bottle to her lips and I snatch it from her. "Have you been drinking all night?" I dump the rest of the rum down the bathroom sink. "What's gotten into you?"

She laughs at my question as she stands from the floor. She stumbles a bit so I catch her but she pushes me away.

"Why don't I storm out on you and disappear for a whole day and see how you feel?" She asks.

The bedroom door creaks open and Steve walks in. I get a whiff of alcohol and furrow my eyebrows. "Have you been drinking too?" I ask him.

"We found some of Thor's stuff." He admits, looking right passed me.

"You two were drinking together?" I raise my eyebrows. "What else happened?"

"Nothing happened." Steve says, nowhere near as drunk as Ally.

"Why do you care what happened?" Ally crosses her arms.

"Because you're my girlfriend?" I furrow my eyebrows at her.

She rolls her eyes and walks across the room to start packing her things. I grab her hand and pull her towards me to stop her from packing and see that she's crying.

"Al?" I ask, my anger dissipating. "What's wrong?"

"I don't want this." She cries, trying to pull away from me.

"Don't want what?" I ask, she just shakes her head.

I feel a hand on my shoulder and turn to find Steve looking at me. He gestures for me to follow him as he sits on the other side of the room.

"It's hard for her." He sighs, I furrow my eyebrows. "All these emotions." He specifies. "She told me she hates having these relationships and friendships because they make her feel things that she's never had to deal with on her own. She was so angry and upset with you earlier for disappearing so now she wants to leave and go back to doing her own thing."

I glance over at Ally to see her angrily packing her bag. "What do I do?"

"Stop being an asshole." He says. My eyes widen at his use of language. "Stop storming off and disappearing. Don't let her go."

Ally grabs her small bag and throws it over her shoulder before storming out of the room. Steve pushes me to my feet and I chase her out of the room.

"Ally." I grab her hand again. "I'm so sorry." I begin. "I've been such a jerk. You don't deserve any of this."

She turns to face me completely as she listens.

"Truth is, I'm not too great at any of this either. All I know is that I love you and I don't want to lose you." I admit.

She looks up at me and her grip on her bag loosens. "I'm still going to the west coast."

"Let me come with you." I hold her hand tightly. "Please. I don't want to lose you again."

Her expression softens. "Go grab your things. I'll be outside."

I run back to my room and messily pack a small duffel bag before running outside. I see her waiting on the bike and jog over to her.

"Maybe I should drive." I say, realizing that she's still beyond drunk.

She slides back on the bike and I sit in the front. Her arms wrap around me and I rev the engine. Steve runs out to say goodbye to us, he and Ally share a long, intimate hug before he steps away. We wave goodbye one last time before driving off, away from the sunrise.

---

Alexandra's POV

I wake up to the sun shining in my face and groan. I feel emptiness beside me and sigh. Did James not come home last night? I sit up and furrow my eyebrows at the unfamiliar room when James walks out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist.

"Good morning, sunshine." He smiles.

"Where are we?" I ask.

"We stopped in Nebraska last night because you were getting tired." He says.

"Nebraska?" I furrow my eyebrows. "Where are we going?"

"The west coast, just like you wanted." He raises an eyebrow.

"What the hell happened last night?" I ask.

As he gets dressed, he explains what he knows about last night's events. I hold my head in my hands as certain things come back to me.

"I'm so sorry." I sigh. "I don't know what got into me."

"Rum." James chuckles. "And some other Asgardian drink."

I look up at him and he brushes my hair out of my face. "I haven't been completely honest with you."

He furrows his eyebrows.

"Nick did say all that about HQ, and it is in California but.." I take a deep breath. "I rejected the offer."

His eyes widen. "You..? But, why?" He asks.

"I don't care about the west coast." I admit. "I just want to be with you. Lovers by day, crime fighters by night."

A blush creeps across his face. "Then why'd you say all that to Tony?"

"Well I did want to get out of there." I chuckle. "But I was thinking our old apartment maybe, not the other side of the country."

He shakes his head playfully at me with a smile on his face. "So you're telling me I drove all the way to Nebraska for nothing?"

"Not for nothing." I wrap my arms around him. "You're with me, aren't you?"

He smiles and places a kiss on my lips. "That's a good point." I smile at him. "So, considering we're in the middle of the country.. Where to now?"