"It's so easy to hurt others when you can't feel pain."

{Slight language in the song and one shot}

There she sat. Her heals clicking against the floor in no particular rhythm. Stella Ladler, daughter of the bank mogul Harold Ladler. All the men in the bar would be lying to himself if he said that he hadn't let his gaze linger on her as she sat there. She was beautiful with long blonde hair and deep brown eyes.

She gazed down at her gold watch and sighed. How much longer would he be? She looked over at the door once again. Stella gathered her purse and coat and prepaired to place money on the table in payment for her drink when he finally sauntered in. He walked over to her table and sat down.

"Finally." Stella said irretably. He looked up at her with tired eyes and started to open his mouth to explain, but she raised her hand.

"Stop. I don't want to hear it. Listen, James. Since you are going out with me, I need you to look and act more respectable. Your tired looking and your suit has dirt on it." He just stared back at her. "Do you understand? I'm sure that my daddy would never be seen in a state like you." Bucky remained silent.

There was silence for a few moments before Stella spoke up again.

"Bucky, if you need me to buy you a new suit or something, I would..."

"No. You aren't buying me anything. I can provide for myself, and I don't need your father's money." She straightened up a little bit and opened up her purse.

"Well, in that case, let me at least buy you a drink." Stella slid some money across the table, and he took it after a few moments. He stood up and walked over to the bar, many various thoughts running through his head.

Why was he even with her in the first place? Was it the title that her father held? Was he trying to prove something to himself? Was he impressed by the money that Stella's father possessed? He shook his head in an attempt to loose the thoughts, but instead, another one nestled into his mind's eye.

What did he expect from this relationship? Why had he stayed with her for this long when she did nothing but annoy him? He sure didn't intend to marry her anytime toon, if at all, so what kept him from leaving her?

The debt, that's what.

Before Jacob Barnes left Bucky, Rebecca, and his mother, he took out a large loan from Ladler Banking, a decision which would come back to haunt his family.

So, now, in exchange for paying the debt, Bucky was dating Stella Ladler. Mr. Ladler had proposed the idea to Bucky after it seemed that Bucky would be paying the loan off for his entire life. With every week that passed, another thousand dollars was taken off of the loan. It was a terrible way to live, but it protected his family, and that's all that Bucky cared about.

After Bucky got a whiskey from the bar, he walked back over to the table where Stella sat.

"Why did you have to get a whiskey? Daddy would never think about drinking whiskey in public. It looks too common." Bucky took a large swallow of his drink, trying to ignore Stella who began to talk about her most recent shopping spree.

"Are you listening?" She asked after a few moments without Bucky responding. He broke free of his daydream and nodded.

"Yeah, I'm just a little tired."

"I really think you should stop working down at that nasty dock. I'm sure that Daddy could find you a position at the bank. Of course, you don't have the necessary schooling to work in a banking position, but I'm sure he could find you something."

"I'm happy down at the docks, Stella. I've told you that before." She rolled her eyes.

"Being happy and being wealthy are two different things, James. When will you realize that?" Bucky froze and stared at her.

"Why can't you accept that it's better to be poor and happy that rich and miserable?" Stella was taken aback.

"Because I could never be happy and poor. The two just don't work together. It's not possible. Let's talk about something different. I talked to..."

"I don't care which one of your debutant friends you spoke to, Stella. I'm not done. Maybe it's easy for you to mock those less fortunate than you, but it isn't right." She rolled her eyes again and stood up.

"You'd better stop while your ahead, James."

"No, I'm not going to stop. I think you forget that I'm less fortunate than you. That's why I'm stuck here with you, when I could be happy elsewhere." She glared at him.

"I do know that your less fortunate than me, so you better stop talking now before you regret it."

"Oh, I'll regret it? Maybe it's easy for you to say that, since you don't feel anything. Never have I once seen you express any emotions other than annoyance and jealousy! That's why you're like this! It's easy for you to hurt others since you can't feel pain, so instead of feeling anything yourself, you make others feel bad for having emotions!"

"Shut up, Barnes! I'll tell my Daddy if you don't stop!" Bucky stood up and chuckled.

"You do that, sweetheart. Tell him that I can't stand to babysit his bitch of a daughter any longer. I'll pay back the loan on my own even if it takes my whole life." Stella's blood boiled, and she turned bright red.

"You'll regret this, you bastard!" She yelled as she left the bar.

"Have a good life living off of your daddy's money, rich girl!" Bucky yelled after her, joy filling him. Then he walked over to the bar.

"Whiskeys for everyone and put them on her tab." He said to the bar keeper who just smiled and started pouring the drinks.