she listened TO WHAT HE HAD TO SAY and she felt a small smile tug at her lips. it might have been faint but it was still there. that was something she loved about her brother; that he would protect her no matter what the cost and in all honesty, she would do the same for him as well. she knew he worked hard to keep him and their sisters fed, with a roof over their heads and a place to sleep at night. she was hoping that she could get some kind of job soon so that SHE COULD HELP OUT by any means necessary. 

leaning forward herself, she wrapped her arms around him once more in a warm embrace. he made her feel safe and she needed that now more than ever because she had a gut feeling that neither of them were going to be getting that much sleep that night. letting her arms drop down to her sides, she wiggled over a bit in the bed and pulled the sheets over her tiny frame with the blanket from earlier now on top.  

         “ if anyone ever tried to hurt you they would have to deal with me. I’ll kick their asses. ”

rebecca knew that it was not lady like to swear but she felt like she got her point across. rolling onto her side she scooted over a bit so that her brother would have room; she didn’t want to roll over and squish him or anything ( even though she was pretty darn tiny to begin with ). she could feel her eyelids growing heavy as sleep threatened to take over but she FOUGHT TO STAY AWAKE. she knew that if she closed her eyes that the nightmares would come.

          “ I don’t want to sleep            the nightmares will come if I fall asleep. ”

   “Language,” Bucky said automatically, recalling the many times their mother used to admonish him for swearing, usually accompanied by a swat with whatever she had to hand. But there wasn’t any bite behind the word, and he moved along with her, tucking his arm under her neck, still holding her. There was a bit of light coming through a slit in the curtains, and he could just about make out her face in the gloom. 

   A quiet sigh left through his nostrils, and he pulled her closer. Once sure the blankets were tucked around her, as he would when she was much smaller and he was on babysitting duty, he pulled away a little again. 

   It had been hard having to be brother and parents in one. Some days he’d sit with his door closed, staring at one of the walls, wondering how he was meant to do it. Keep them all under the same roof, even with their family helping, even with his jobs. The girls had to cook for themselves–how often was he too tired to even do that? And the months when all the money had to go on just keeping them alive, rather than new clothes they needed, or getting to go to the movies, or the beach, or the fair, or anything Bucky had enjoyed as a kid with Steve, well, they were hard. He wondered sometimes if he was making a massive mess of it all. 

   “When I had nightmares,” he murmured back, looking up at the ceiling, “Da used to come sit with me, and promise to fight them away. I’d do that for you too.”