Before I start, I forgot to change the title for the last chapter. All my chapters already had titles before I even started writing this story, and before that chapter was supposed to be about Rumlow and Pierce. Anyway, it's pretty much irrelevant now because by the time you see this I will have already changed the title. It was 'bullies' before.

Sorry if that caused any confusion, because the title definitely didn't match the content. Lol did anyone even notice?

**

Bucky couldn't help but assume the worst when he sped down the highway to the nearest hospital. Steve tried to offer him some comfort, but it didn't do much to ease Bucky's mind. Still, Bucky was grateful that Steve insisted on coming.

Winifred was waiting for the two boys outside, pacing back and forth. She looked slightly distressed, but not as much as she had sounded on the phone. She had sounded so panicked and worried that Bucky's mind had immediately jumped to the worst conclusions.

"Bucky!" Winifred shouted as soon as she saw the two approaching. She gave him a quick suffocating hug before letting go and heading inside, expecting Bucky to follow.

Bucky did, with Steve close behind. His worries had been eased slightly, but it all came back as soon as he was overwhelmed by the white walls and hospital smell. He hadn't been to a hospital since his own accident, not even to check on his metal arm, and had never really thought much about them sense. It quickly became apparent that he definitely hated them.

"What happened?" Bucky asked Winifred, a slight waver to his voice.

"There was a car accident," she said. "But Rebecca is going to be fine."

Bucky finally let out a breath of relief. "But you sounded so worried on the phone."

She sighed. "Before, all I knew was that she was involved in an accident. I didn't know how bad it actually was. We don't know details yet, and Rebecca won't tell us anything."

A sudden realization hit Bucky, and he couldn't believe that he hadn't thought of it before. When his mom told him on the phone that Rebecca got into a car accident, she didn't mention anything about anyone else involved . Bucky had just filled in the gaps, assuming that she was in a car with someone else. Thus far, there had been no mention of who was driving.

It was Rebecca. Bucky just knew it.

Though Winifred still looked fairly distressed, it wasn't to the point she would have been at if her daughter was physically harmed. Rebecca couldn't even drive, and she had only just turned fifteen.

Maybe Bucky was completely off, and there was someone else involved in the whole thing. But his theory made sense. Winifred had also said that Rebecca wouldn't tell them anything, but shouldn't there be other people involved that could? Unless, of course, there never was anyone else. And if the driver was too injured to be offering answers, wouldn't Winifred be worried about them, too?

It seemed to take forever just to get to where Bucky's sister was staying. At once point, Steve's hand brushed again his, and then Steve interlocked his fingers with Bucky's. Bucky let him because he needed the support, even if his sister was apparently okay.

Winifred eyed their interlocked hands, though she didn't say anything and her expression didn't change. 

Just before they walked into the room, Steve squeezed Bucky's hand. He let go, prepared to allow Bucky some time alone with his sister. Bucky wasn't even sure that this was what he wanted. If Rebecca really was fine, then he supposed that he would be okay without Steve at his side. Besides, Winifred would be there and it wasn't as if he needed Steve to function.

So Bucky gave Steve one last nervous smile before following his mother into the room.

The first thing he noticed was George. He was the one sprawled out on the hospital bed, while Rebecca sat on a chair beside him, elbows digging into her knees and her head in her hands.

"Hey," Bucky said carefully.

At the sound of his voice, Rebecca looked up. Her cheeks were tearstained and her eyes puffy and red, but besides a thin scratch across her cheek she looked physically unscathed.

Though Bucky found that he had no words to say to her. There were a million thoughts and a million questions in his mind, but he thought it would be best if he didn't bombard her with them. Yes, he wanted to know exactly what had happened. Especially now that he knew she wasn't dealing with anything life threatening. However, if she didn't tell his parents then Bucky knew she wouldn't tell him either.

"I'm going to get some coffee," George said, rolling off the bed and nearly falling onto the floor in the process. In normal circumstances, Winifred would have laughed at her husband, but these certainly weren't normal circumstances.

There was a brief moment with which Bucky considered following his dad, but decided against it; Rebecca shot him a look, silently pleading for him to stay behind. He was sure that she just didn't want to be left alone with Winifred, who would have no problem doing whatever she could to get answers.

The three just sat in silence for a while. Bucky wanted to ask if it really was Rebecca driving, but he feared the answer.

It was one thing for a teenager to do something incredibly stupid, even if it was as drastic as driving alone without learning how to drive. It was another thing when that teenager was someone like Rebecca, who was usually quite reserved and lived on the safer side of life.

It had been shocking enough when she got busted for drinking, but now this? Bucky wanted to know what happened to the antisocial girl who spent all her time reading fanfiction and watching TV shows.

"I just want to go home," Rebecca said, the first to finally break the silence.

Bucky couldn't agree more. Even though he hadn't been at the hospital for long, it was already beginning to feel suffocating.

He thought of Steve, probably just outside the door, and was glad to have an excuse to escape. He almost felt nervous around Rebecca, in the same was that he'd feel when meeting someone new. That's exactly what it was, though. Rebecca was someone else lately, and Bucky wished he knew why.

"We'll be going soon," Winifred said. "As soon as the doctor comes back, probably."

But the doctor didn't come back for a while. Eventually, Bucky got tired of waiting around, and left to go see Steve. The blond boy wasn't right outside the door, though he wasn't far.

"Is she okay?" Steve asked immediately, a concerned look on his face.

"She's fine," Bucky said.

The concern did not leave Steve's face. "From the look on your face, it doesn't seem like she's fine."

"Well she is, okay?"

Steve held his hands up in surrender. "Okay! Okay. I was just worried, that's all. You said she got into a car accident."

"Yeah, well the car took most of the impact. She's fine."

"But you're not."

Bucky let out a heavy breath. Clearly, Steve was not going to let it go that easily. Bucky wasn't quite sure if Steve knew him that well, or if he was just that easy to read. However, he was saved from speaking his mind when Winifred and Rebecca left the hospital room together, both looking fearful for entirely different reasons.

"Steve, I should really get going. But thank you for coming," Bucky said gratefully. "It means a lot."

"It's no problem," Steve said.

The Barnes family and Steve, along with Bucky, went their separate ways. The ride back to Steve's place was a very quiet and long one, with neither hardly saying a word. Steve wanted to ask Bucky what was wrong, and Bucky desperately wished he would. Part of him wanted to let it all out, but at the same time he didn't want to dump this all onto Steve. They had only just agreed to start dating, and Bucky didn't want to give him a reason to end it already.

When Bucky pulled his car up to the Rogers' driveway, Steve didn't get out. Bucky could see, even from the corner of his eyes, that Steve was preparing to say something. And Bucky had the feeling that he knew what that something was.

And he wasn't wrong.

"What's going on?" Steve asked.

Bucky swallowed and turned to Steve, whose expression still seemed to be the same since the hospital. It was hard to put something into words when he was still trying to work out what was going on himself.

"It's my sister," Bucky said. "I'm worried about her."

Though Steve didn't appear to be surprised by this in the least, he still said, "I thought you said she was fine."

"She's not hurt," Bucky reiterated. "But. . . I just don't understand what happened."

"What do you mean?"

"My mom hasn't said it, but I'm pretty sure she was driving that car. Their car. I just don't know why she would do something like that. She's changed, Steve. My mom knows it, too. She seemed more worried than angry."

"Maybe it's about that Stacy girl," Steve suggested. "I heard she wrecked her brother's car."

But Bucky knew it had to be more than that. While it wasn't as apparent when they first moved back to Brooklyn, there was a slight change in Rebecca. She just hadn't been the same since they lived in Russia.

"Maybe," Bucky said.

"You know. . ." Steve hesitated, then continued. "Sometimes moving away takes a toll on someone. Maybe she just liked it in Russia better."

The same thought had crossed Bucky's mind many times. He figured that it was definitely part of the reason why his sister seemed different, along with the whole Stacy thing. There might not even be just one thing wrong with Rebecca, but many. Bucky wished that he could just wave a magic wand and solve everything, but he knew that it wasn't that easy.

He had tried giving Rebecca space, but that obviously wasn't the solution. She was great when it came to Bucky sharing his own issues, but he found that she never wanted to do the same. It was why he thought that by not interrogating her it would be better off. He found that telling someone about his issues made them easier to bear, and he wished that Rebecca would talk to him because the same thing might happen for her.

Bucky did consider staying over at Steve's, but he didn't want to be a shitty brother again. The last time Rebecca was in trouble he had driven off to Steve's house and kissed the boy, and then had completely forgotten what his sister was going through. This time, he needed to be there for her.

He promised Steve that he would text him later, and was forced to drive off after Steve left the car.

He felt like a shitty boyfriend, having to just leave Steve behind after dragging him all the way to the hospital. Sure, Steve had insisted on coming, but Bucky still couldn't help but feel guilty.

He knew that Steve understood him wanting to be there for his sister, but they had literally just gotten together and Bucky would be lying if he said he didn't want to spend his time with Steve.

**

Upon getting home, Bucky felt both thankful and regretful all at once for deciding to come in the first place.

He had walked into the middle of a yelling match, and he certainly didn't feel welcome. While Winifred didn't tell him to leave, Bucky didn't think it would be right to just stand and watch.

Before racing off to his room, he heard Winifred shout, "why would you do something so stupid?"

Bucky swallowed and shut his door, though it did little to drown out their voices. George was unsurprisingly quiet, usually not partaking in the punishment part of parenting.

"It could've been a lot worse!" Winifred's voice rose above Rebecca's. "You could've—" Winifred broke off, unable to finish her own statement. But Bucky knew exactly what she meant, and so did his sister.

"What? Died?" Rebecca shouted. "I wish I did."

She said the last part much quieter, though Bucky was almost sure he heard her right, as much as he wished he didn't.

"You don't mean that," Winifred's voice was much quieter as well.

"I don't have any friends!"

Bucky suspected as much, though it still hurt to hear his sister say the words. He knew that moving hadn't worked out as well for her as it had for him, and he desperately wished it were different.

"Everybody hates me!" Rebecca continued. "All my old friends. You. Probably even Bucky, too."

It was like a slap in the face. Bucky wanted to jump out there and tell her that it wasn't true, but he was afraid to interrupt. As it was, he felt bad for eavesdropping even if it was unavoidable. Even with his poor hearing, he had no trouble overhearing their every word.

"That's not true," Winifred said.

"I just destroyed your car!" It sounded like she was close to tears. "How could you not?"

"I'm just glad you're okay! I don't care about the car! I just want to know why."

A silence followed this. Bucky could imagine Rebecca dramatically shrugging her shoulders, then refusing to answer. He didn't even have a clue what the answer could be. Even though he didn't have the whole story, he just didn't see why Rebecca would have chosen to drive his mom's car. There was no plausible reason.

It appeared that they were done arguing, because the silence stretched on and Bucky didn't hear either of them again.

Cautiously, Bucky made his way to Rebecca's room and knocked on her door. She didn't respond, but Bucky went in anyway.

She was just sitting on her bed, scrolling through her phone. There were no more tears in her eyes, but she definitely did not look happy.

Bucky sat beside her but didn't say anything. If she wanted to talk, she would. After a while, Rebecca set down her phone and rested her head on Bucky's shoulder. No words were shared, but this simple act of brotherly affection was enough.

Bucky imagined that she was probably pretty traumatized. He remembered his own car accident, and the moments before the crash. He had been terrified, and the accident had haunted him for years. It still did, in fact.

Seriously, why was his family always getting into car accidents?

**

A/n: I don't know why, but I really don't like this chapter. I can't write hospital scenes, so I tried my best to avoid details, but I think it just turned out shitty. I should've made Rebecca injured even just a bit, to make it more realistic, but ah well.

So technically I'm only supposed to have 24 chapters in this book, but I don't know anymore. That would mean only 3 left, and I don't think I can finish this in 3. Since maybe the fifteenth or sixteenth chapter, I've changed everything, so I have no idea where I'm going with this story anymore. With any luck, it'll never end.

Sorry I keep doing long authors notes.