Some Flag Smashers fanart

Sparring Partners

Bucky Barnes x reader

“Hey sweetheart,” a smooth voice, thick with emotion, drifted over your shoulder. His shadow covered your body and you breathed in his familiar scent.

“James Buchanan Barnes. Good to see you finally made it to the gym,” you turned, giving the former winter soldier a smile. His chuckle made your ears heat up. “I was here this morning. Where were you, beautiful?”

You scoffed. “Flattery won’t save you from this beating.”

Predictable, slow, easily deflected - Bucky was always teasing you for your fighting style. So when you challenged him to a sparring match, the man had to try his best not to laugh. You, on the other hand, were more determined than ever. This fight was yours.

“So,” he began wrapping his flesh hand, “no handicaps? You want the metal arm off to make it easier?” His joking tone was driving you up the wall. All you wanted was to show this pretty boy that you were as strong as any Avenger, and that thought alone kept your jaw from clenching.

You chuckled back, keeping your expression calm. “I can handle some metal.” You stared, watching his fingers work, until he was finally done and ready to take you on.

You stepped onto the mat, bouncing on the balls of your feet. He walked forward, shoulders squared and stance wide. You brought your fists up to your face and waited, studying.

He lunged forward throwing two quick punches. You side-stepped, throwing your back leg into his chest. His hands came down lightning fast, grabbing you by the knee. He laughed.

“Still so predictable, dollface.”

Your jaw worked in frustration as you attempted to maintain balance on one leg. Bucky could almost hear the wheels turning. He thought back to all the time you both spent on these mats, sparring until bruises formed. Recently he had been worried. You were spending less and less time in the gym with him, making him think his teasing had landed one too many blows.

Little did Bucky know but you were spending your time with another Avenger on the mats.

An idea finally came to mind and you braced yourself, taking in a strong breath before launching off your free leg and wrapping your thighs around Bucky’s neck. He hit the mat in shock, releasing your knee and giving you more leverage to choke the massive man out.

You squeezed your legs together with all your strength as your sparring partner tried to escape your hold. Finally, you felt the two taps of victory on your thigh and you released Bucky from his cage, coughing and sputtering in irritation.

“That’s a Widow move!” He gasped in surprise. “Yep.” You let the word pop, unable to contain your smile. You skipped over to your gym bag and gleefully unwrapped your knuckles, basking in the irritated gaze of Bucky Barnes.

“You cheater,” he whispered.

“Sore loser, huh champ?” You smiled, tossing the bag over your shoulder and sauntering out of the gym.

Till the End of the Line: Chapter 5: Moving Upstate

A/n: Hey guys! Sorry it took me so long to post this chapter, life has just been super busy the last few months for both myself and my editor, and I do like to have my work looked through before I post anything so that’s one of the reasons it took so long. Anyway, thanks for sticking with me and supporting and liking my work, it means a lot! Hope you guys like chapter 5!

Matilda awoke with a scream as she sat up in bed. She was gasping for air and felt a thin layer of sweat covering her body. She ran her hands through her hair as she tried to calm her racing heart. The dreams were getting worse. Each night, they were starting to feel more and more real. She took a deep breath, starting to ground herself. She looked around her room, counting anything she could find, putting her mind back in the present. She glanced at her alarm clock on the bed side table and the large red lined numbers read 5:47AM. The sky outside her window was starting to lighten with the sun that would soon break the horizon. Steve stirred next to her; he pulled the pillow he was holding closer to his body, as his other arm brought the pillow under his head into his shoulder. He hadn’t seemed to be disturbed by her screaming. He was so peaceful sleeping, compared to her dream of Bucky. Thinking of Bucky and the dream made her stomach turn as the feeling of falling and being strangled resurfaced. In an instant, the room felt like it was closing in on her. She quickly, yet quietly, got out of bed and headed toward her bedroom door, grabbing a sweatshirt on the way. Turning to close her bedroom door she stared back at Steve. His hair tousled from sleep didn’t hang in his face like Bucky’s did, his blond hair a stark opposite of the assassin’s. Her heart skipped and her stomach turned. She needed to get air. Now.

The sunrise over New York City was always Matilda’s favorite thing to watch. Pinks, oranges, and yellows painted the sky as the dark buildings made up the city scape. The cool breeze of the morning air felt good on her warm face, easing the anxiety in her chest as she took a deep breath of it. She leaned against the balcony railing and peered over the side and looked down. Employees were starting to arrive at Stark tower, normal people going about their normal days, at their normal job. A surprised feeling of jealousy toward those people washed over her. She loved her life the way that it was, so why was she now so envious of those small ant-like people now? The balcony door opened to reveal Steve, white t-shirt and baggy sweats, holding two steaming cups.

“Can I join you?” Steve said.

Matilda nodded, and Steve walked toward her. Steve handed her one of the mugs, bringing a smile to her face.

“You weren’t there when I woke up, so I figured I would come find you,” he said.

“With coffee?”

He blushed. “Okay. Maybe I knew where you were already, and I just wanted to bring my girl something. Is that so wrong?”

Matilda’s heart leapt at him calling her ‘his girl’. The way that the rising sun was hitting Steve made his face glow. She imagined him in ancient paintings of angels or saints, how they were always depicted with white auras around them. She reached her handout and stroked the side of his face, reassuring herself that he was indeed there with her on the balcony and not just a figment of her imagination.

“No, there isn’t.” Leaning her head against his shoulder.

Steve wrapped his arm around her, pulling her closer to him. They stayed like that for a while, watching as the sun rose higher into the sky. A shiver ran through Matilda’s body and she pulled her sweatshirt closer to her.

“You cold, sweetheart?” Steve asked, running his hands up and down her arm.

“A bit yeah, I think I may need another cup of coffee.” Holding up her empty mug, she turned to head back into the tower, Steve following her lead.

The kitchen, usually busy with the rush of the breakfast crew, was quiet. She took peace in knowing that they would have the kitchen all to themselves. She brought her mug over to the espresso machine and pressed a few buttons to wake it up. Once it was ready, she picked her brew and listened as the beans fell from the hopper attached.

“Latte?” she asked, turning to Steve.

“Depends, are you going to do that fancy coffee art that your favorite place does?” He asked, closing the distance between them.

He gently grabbed her waist. “Okay firstly, the baristas at Blue Bottle are artists! There is no way I can do what they do.” She placed her hands on his arms. “And secondly, when did you become such a coffee expert?”

A small blush colored his cheeks as he looked away from her. His smile widening at the comment. “I know things.”

She raised an eyebrow.

“Alright, so Natasha has brought me to a few places with her, and Thor is shockingly obsessed with Starbucks.”

Matilda burst out laughing, snorting as her hand came up to cover her mouth, and tears stung the corners of her eyes. She took part of her shirt and brought it up to whip the forming tears.

“Nothing is going to top that today. That was hysterical.”

“Glad you found it funny.” He pushed back a stray piece of hair that had fallen into her face. He inched closer to her, his hand moving to the side of her neck. As he moved his mouth to hers, she moved her head aside to avoid his kiss.

“Steve, I think we need to talk about this.” she whispered.

He sighed and nodded his head. “Okay, we can talk, but over breakfast? I’ll make pancakes!” He backed away from her and went in search of the ingredients.

She leaned her back against the counter and watched as he turned the corner for the pantry. Her head and her heart were at war with each other, and it was making her go crazy. The beeping of the espresso machine made her jump slightly, and she turned to grab her coffee. She grabbed vanilla oat milk from the fridge and noticed a carton of brown eggs. Grabbing them she called, “Hey Steve! You want some eggs?” He didn’t reply, so she set the carton by her mug and continued making her coffee. She stirred in the milk and took a sip.

The warmth of it took the last of the morning chill out of her. She pushed up the sleeves of her sweatshirt and winced as she passed over her left arm. She looked down and saw dark purple bruises shaped eerily like fingerprints. A chill ran through her body again as the dream from last night came back to her. That was the arm that Bucky had grabbed in her dream. The panic increased at the thought that the same bruises would be around her neck too. She was briefly thankful that her hoodie covered most of her neck. She swiftly pulled the sleeves back down over her arms, refusing to let Steve find out.

“What is happening to me?” she whispered to herself.

At that moment, Steve reentered the kitchen carrying his ingredients “What was that?” he asked, placing his arm-full of things down on the counter.

“Uh, I asked if you wanted eggs.” Grabbing the carton next to her cup.

Steve’s face was stern, looking at her like he was trying to read what was in her racing mind. “Yeah, sure, eggs sound good. Are you okay sweetheart? You’re looking awfully pale.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m good. Just a bit cold, you know.” she said, a bit too quickly. She pulled her arms in on herself, trying to show him that her odd behavior was due to her being cold. She mentally rolled her eyes at herself.

“Okay.” Steve’s answer didn’t reassure her at all that he believed her story.

She forced a smile and took another sip of coffee. She screamed at herself to pull it together. She could figure it out later when she was alone. “So, how do you like your eggs?”

About an hour later they were sitting down to eat. Steve had made way to many pancakes, in a variety of flavors: blueberry, chocolate chip, and peanut butter and jelly. He refused to let Matilda help him; the only thing he allowed her to do was to read him off the recipe that he had found on Pinterest. In the hour of them cooking, her nerves had settled. Steve had made her laugh with his attempts to make exact measurements and his excitement when he got a new idea for a flavor to try. When he was on his last batch of pancakes, she pulled out a pan beside him and whipped up their eggs; fried for her and scrambled for Steve. They sat side by side at the end of the island surrounded by piles of pancakes.

“Great idea about the PB&J. Definitely my favorite so far,” Steve said, chewing a mouthful of food.

“You’ve only had one pancake!” Matilda laughed as she took a bite of her eggs and watched as Steve piled four chocolate chip pancakes onto his dish.

She smiled at him and reminisced on a surfacing memory of her childhood. “You know my dad was the one to come up with the idea. He would always make breakfast on Saturday mornings when I was a kid, and I used to hate maple syrup. So, my dad knew I loved PB&J’s, so he would spread crunchy peanut butter onto my pancakes and roll them up, then he would microwave strawberry jelly and pour it over the rolls. I think I had three helpings of that the first time he made it. After that he would make that for me every Saturday morning.”

She bit the end of her fork smiling at her dish as the memory of her father made her heart flutter.

“I know you must miss him,” he said, placing a hand on her shoulder, his thumb stroking her lightly.

“Everyday. I think he is where I get my love of food and cooking from. My mom was always a horrible cook, so it was up to my dad even before she died when I was a baby. My dad tried to make it fun for me. He would include me in helping him make dinner, and when he asked me what I wanted, he actually listened. When I got older, and he started to really get involved with his work, I took over the cooking and I don’t think I ever saw him happier than when he used to come home to me having dinner already for us.” She whipped away a tear that had fallen from her eye. “Sorry. I didn’t mean for the conversation to get so depressing.” She laughed, mostly at herself, trying to break the growing tension of the room.

“You don’t have to be sorry; I love hearing about it.” He placed a hand on her cheek and brushed away the last of her tears. “You never have to be sorry for sharing how you feel,” he said softly to her.

She smiled at him and leaned into his touch. “Change of topic then?” She took another sip of coffee.

“Uh, yeah, sure. Uh…” Steve paused trying to think of a topic. “Uh…How did you sleep?”

She started to choke on her coffee. “I uh…good. It was good.” She bobbed her head at him, clearing her throat. She put a fork-full of egg into her mouth to avoid further comment on the matter.

He gave her the same stern look he gave her earlier, eyes trying to read behind the wall she put up. “You sure?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m sure.” She still didn’t meet his gaze, instead focused on pushing her food around her dish.

“Okay, something’s up. What’s really wrong?” He pushed her plate of food away, hoping that it would bring her focus on him and the conversation.

“Nothing’s wrong. I’m fine.” She rolled her shoulders back, her hands gripping the sleeves of her hoodie as she crossed her arms at him.

“Till, come on. You know I can tell when something is wrong. You can tell me anything, you know that.” He placed a reassuring hand on her knee and gave it a light squeeze.

She knew that she could tell him anything, and she had done so in the past, but how was she going to tell him this? He was still trying to find his best friend, and now she had dreamt of him three times.

“I uh….” She fidgeted in her seat. “If I tell you, promise me you won’t get mad.”

Steve leaned away from her slightly, unprepared that she would start the conversation out like that, but he reassured her nonetheless. “I promise.”

Matilda took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “I’ve been having dreams lately…”

“Okay, what are the dreams about?”

“They’re about…. uhm…. they’re about Bucky.” She paused and glanced at him from the corners of her eyes. She waited for him to do something, but all he did was just smile at her.

She watched as Steve’s body softened at her confession. The gnawing feeling, she had felt disappeared once she realized that he wasn’t upset with her.

“That’s what you were worried about? Telling me that you keep having dreams of Bucky?”

She nodded.

“Till…” He sighed. “You know every night after I lost Bucky, I dreamt of him. I dreamt of hundreds of ways I could have saved him, how things could have been done differently. Hell, even after we found Bucky in DC, I had dreams about him again. It’s normal, and it’s okay. You’ve been doing so much research and digging, helping me and Sam try to find him, I’m not surprised.”

“Yeah, but it’s not…” She started, trying to get out the rest of the story but getting cut off by Steve.

“It’s just your subconscious trying to work out things. We don’t have control over what we dream about. It just happens.”

Realizing that she wasn’t going to get anywhere with him, she dropped the conversation disappointed. “Thanks, Steve.”

“Any time.” His cell phone started to buzz in his pocket, and he quickly answered it. “Sam.”

The blunt greeting made Matilda smirk.

“Got it, on my way.” He hung up the phone and placed it on the table. “I gotta run, Sam thinks he may have a lead.”

“Okay. I can clean up here.”

He gave her those puppy dog eyes that she hated so much and a small frown. “You sure? I can totally stay and help you clean up before I go.” He stood up, placing both hands on either side of her face and tilted her face back to look up at him.

She gave him a sad smile, hands coming up to grip his wrists. “Yeah, I’m sure.”

His eyes held adoration and it made Matilda’s heart break just a bit. She was the world to him, and she could see it in this one look, and she wasn’t sure if she truly felt the same.

“I love you.” He said the words so easily, and he meant every one. “I’ll be back soon.” He leaned in and kissed her forehead, leaving the warmth of him behind. He looked at her one last time, and with one more swipe of his thumb over her cheek, he left.

****************

May 13th,

How do I start a conversation to one’s best friend / maybe boyfriend about not being completely sure of your feelings for them? Or better yet, how do you bring up the topic of his assassin best friend haunting your dreams and leaving mysterious bruises on you when he’s hiding somewhere in the world? Ugh, journal, what am I going to do? Who do I go to talk to about this besides you? I tried bringing it up with Steve, but he won’t listen. I’m so conflicted with my emotions and the thoughts in my head about this, I’m truly lost at what to do. Maybe Steve’s right, maybe it is all the research that I’ve been doing. That still doesn’t explain the bruises on me. I’m not sure how I’m going to hide the ones on my neck, thankfully they’re down low enough where I could wear a scarf. These dreams just don’t seem normal though. It’s like I’m actually there, physically instead of just my subconscious playing out a scene. Maybe I’ll do some research on this too. Please, journal, send help.

***************

Around one in the afternoon, as Matilda lay on her bed readingThe Hobbit for the fourth time, a female voice sounded over the intercom.

“Hello, Matilda, I am FRIDAY Mr. Stark is sending you this message as a test to see if my new functions work. I am pleased to meet your acquaintance.” The voice was choppy, but Matilda was impressed that Tony had gotten a system to replace JARVIS so quickly.

“Hello, FRIDAY” Matilda placed her bookmark back in her book and sat up on her bed and crossed her legs.

“Mr. Stark would like to know if you are ready to go to lunch.”

“Tell Tony I am, and I’ll be down in ten minutes.”

“Affirmative.”

Matilda giggled at the farewell of FRIDAY. She was sure in a matter of days the AI would be talking like normal and not some creepy robot. She slid off her bed and headed into her bathroom to get ready. Staring at herself in the mirror, she assessed the bruises on her neck. It would take a few layers of concealer and color correction to hide them. When the last layer was on, she stood back and admired her work. She could notice faint shadows of where the dark color stood out, but to someone just glancing at her, no one would notice. Content with her look she went to get changed. Since Trattoria was a kinda fancy restaurant, she decided to put on something cute. She rummaged through her closet until she found the perfect thing. The white high-low sundress was adorned with lemons, and was flowy and open at the bottom. She wore a pair of yellow sandals with the dress and a white sweater to go over the thin straps of the dress. It was early May in New York, so the sweater was a safe choice to go with; it would also conveniently cover the bruises on her arms.

Happy with the outfit, she grabbed her purse and headed down to the main floor. Tony and Pepper were waiting for her when she stepped out of the elevator. Tony was wearing his usual black shirt and blazer with his Ray Band glasses. Pepper, who was standing next to him, had her hair pulled up into a tight bun and was dressed in a tight gray dress and her usual Louis Vuitton black heels. Pepper turned to her and smiled.

“Matilda, oh how I’ve missed you.” She pulled Matilda tight into her arms and swayed her back and forth.

“I’ve missed you too, Pepper. How have you been? The clinic is still working out okay?” Pepper, over the past two years had been living off and on in a specialized clinic to help with her new found powers. Tony had worked night and day to find a cure for her after she was injected with the Extremis virus. In addition to the treatments, Pepper was busy running the company, which left little time for Matilda to see her.

“I’m okay, slowly getting back to normal. I’m taking it one day at a time.” She pulled her back into a hug, squeezing her a bit harder this time.

“If you two are done with the love fest, we have a 1:30 reservation that we are going to be late for,” Tony teased, placing both his hands on the girl’s shoulders.

Pepper rolled her eyes at him, and Matilda just laughed. They both headed into the elevator and down towards the garage.

When they arrived at Trattoria, the hostess greeted the three of them and escorted them to their table. They followed her up to the second floor where the restaurant held parties, events, and catered to very special guests. It was a long room with a large window at the end of it. Bricks covered one wall and the other was where they kept their best wines behind a glass cabinet. The space that usually had four large tables lined up against the brick wall, now only held one table, placed for the three of them. The hostess ushered them in and grabbed a pitcher of water off of a small table to the side of the wine wall and poured them all a glass.

“There you are, Mr. Stark, I hope this suits your requests.”

“Yes, thank you.” Tony nodded curtly at the hostess and took a sip of his water.

“Perfect! Your server will be right up to take care of you.”

Matilda watched as the hostess smiled and did a slight bow to Tony. Matilda stifled a giggle at the flustered behavior of the girl. Tony did have that effect on people.

They sat for a moment in silence as they all looked over their menus. Matilda flipped through the pages of the menu, deciding what she was in the mood for. Their Chicken Parm was to die for, but she was feeling a bit like pasta today. With all the stress of recent events, all she felt like doing was indulging in a carb overload. She was still reading the menu when their server came up.

“Hello, my name is April, and I’ll be your server today. May I get you folks started off with some drinks?”

“We’ll get a bottle of your 103 Dom Perignon ‘05, chilled please.”

“Tony, are you sure?” Pepper said, placing her menu down on the table.

“Yes, I’m sure, it’ll be fine. The bottle please.”

April nodded her head, her blond ponytail bobbing up and down with her. “Alright one chilled bottle coming right up. Are you guys ready to order yet?”

“We’ll need a minute,” Pepper said, giving April a warm smile.

April nodded again and disappeared down the stairs.

“Tony, this is unnecessary.” Pepper said again, more sternly as she glared at him.

“No Pepper, it’s very necessary. We are here to celebrate.” Tony smiled at Pepper and learned forward, crossing his hands on the table in front of him.

“What are we celebrating?” Matilda asked, recalling the news about Stark Tower.

Tony smiled at her. “We have a lot of things to be celebrating. Us winning against Ultron, Pepper’s progress to recovery.”

“You selling Stark tower,” Matilda blurted out before Tony had a chance to continue.

Tony put his tongue in his cheek and looked to Pepper for some help on the abrupt topic. Pepper just raised her eyebrows to Tony in a ‘you’re on your own’ look. Tony looked down at his hands and sighed.

“Matilda, I was going to tell you.”

“When, Tony? When Happy had finished packing up everything and shipping it all away? I wasn’t even aware that you wanted to sell the building! I thought moving from Malibu to New York was going to be the last move?”

“It was going to be, but–”

“But what, Tony? Stark tower is my home, it’s where I have some of the best memories.” Her voice lowered as tears burned the corners of her eyes. “My dad made it a home for us. I’ll never have that again.”

Tony was stone faced as he stared at her. Pepper leaned over and placed a reassuring hand on Matilda’s arm. Tony was about to say something when someone came into the room and walked over to the glass wine cabinet and took out the bottle of champagne Tony had ordered. An ice bucket was wheeled over and the server popped open the bottle making everyone jump. He gave it to Tony to approve, who agreed with the sharp nod of his head, eager to get him out of the room. Once the bottle was placed in the ice bucket the waiter left and the three of them were alone again.

“I was going to tell you once the new compound was finished. I had every intention of telling you, but I was waiting for the right moment. It was supposed to be a surprise, then Happy had to go and ruin it.”

“Don’t blame this on Happy. He didn’t know.” Matilda leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. “What if I don’t want to leave? What if I refuse?”

“Well, that’s just too bad because it’s already sold. We need to be out by the end of next month.” Tony’s voice was increasingly getting louder.

Matilda got quiet, letting the reality of the move set in. “Next month?” Her voice was low as the tears in her eyes betrayed her and fell down her cheeks.

“Aw kid, come on.” Tony let out a breath and ran his hand over his face. “I know it’s your home, and I’m glad the tower means that much to you. It makes me sad too, having to uproot you from what you’re used to, hell, it’s hard on me to sell it. But I did it for you kid. Once the Avengers officially formed, I knew that normal life for you and the crazy work we do couldn’t all live on one floor. I know you wanted to be separate from the crazy lives we live, so that’s why I built the compound upstate.”

Her hard demeanor and the drive in her to fight him over moving was softening at Tony’s confession. “You did it all for me? Why?”

“I promised your father when he first agreed to move here with me that if anything should happen, I would always take care of you, and I hope that I have. I know the superhero life that I was thrown into is something…”

“More like threw yourself into,” Pepper mumbled under her breath.

Tony gave her a blank look and shook his head at her as he started to speak again. “I know it’s hard on you. Seeing us go off and fight the bad guys and come home all beaten up. I know it takes a toll. At the compound you can have your own life with me still being able to protect you. Your quarters will be far away from the rest of the Avengers main stuff, but you’ll still be close enough for us to protect you.”

Matilda was starting to like the idea, but she wasn’t about to let Tony know yet. “I’m still mad.”

“We’re actually going up this weekend to take a look at it and finalize some details. Everyone should be almost moved in now.” Pepper said.

“Everyone?” Matilda questioned.

“The Avengers everyone. Were you not listening to me just now when I was talking?” Tony threw his arms up in the air in defeat. Matilda smiled a bit at his displeasure.

Before anyone could say anything else, April reappeared placing a basket of bread on the table. She pulled out her notepad ready to take their orders. Once their orders were placed, the conversation started back up again.

“So, everyone knows about it?” Matilda asked, taking a roll out of the steaming bread basket.

“The ones who have decided to stay, yeah. Bruce is still MIA, Barton left, and Thor will only be there to scope out the place. Apparently, he has important business to attend to back on Asgard. Then we have the new recruits. Rogers is going to start training them before they officially become part of the team.”

“New recruits?” Matilda asked, popping a piece of bread into her mouth.

“We’re giving Wanda a chance to prove herself. She saved our backs while fighting Ultron, and with losing her brother, Steve and I have decided to give her a chance. If she doesn’t work out, we’ll deal with it then.”

“And Vision?”

“He can wield Thor’s hammer. I think that in itself is enough to let him try out for the team.” Tony flexed his eyebrows at Pepper who was typing away on her phone and took a sip from his wine glass.

“Has Thor said anything about it? I’m sure seeing someone pick up the hammer has to put a dent in his ego.” Matilda smirked, as Thor’s face from that night came to mind. How shocked he was that someone other than him could pick it up.

“We’re going to talk about it this weekend when I’m up there.”

“You said we can all go? I would like to see the compound, if that’s okay.”

“Yeah, of course! We’ll make a weekend out of it!” Pepper interjected, putting herself back into the conversation.

Tony smiled at Pepper’s answer. Matilda was always amazed at how she could concentrate so intensely on her phone and still be actively listening to the conversation at hand. Two waiters brought in their food and they started to eat in silence. Matilda ran over what Tony had said. She would have her own space and be on her own for the first time in her life. She could manage her own space without heroes coming and going, nothing getting blown up or destroyed. She could have Steve over without the worry of Tony looming over her shoulder.

“You okay Till?” Tony asked, pulling her from her thoughts.

She put down her fork and watched as Tony wiped his mouth with his cloth napkin. “Yeah, why?”

“Because you have been twirling your fork in your pasta for the past five minutes,” Tony said laughing, finishing off his glass of wine.

Matilda smiled and blushed. Her cheeks grew warm with the rush of blood. “Oh, yeah, sorry. I was just thinking about what you said earlier.”

“What about it?” Tony poured himself another glass of wine, and topped Pepper’s glass off as well, finishing the bottle up.

“You said I would be separate from the compound?”

“Yeah, you’ll see what I mean when we get up there, but we basically have two main buildings where most of the operating stuff is going to be, but we do have soldiers there. A few men who we have to house to keep the government happy, but we have small housing buildings off to the side of the compound. I took the liberty in remodeling one of them for you, into your own small house. You’ll have all the best security, and everything within a few minute’s walk. I’ll have people there who I trust, and I’ll know you will be safe.”

Something in the way Tony was speaking, was making Matilda wonder if he would actually be there or not. “Yeah, but you’ll be there yourself, right?” Matilda asked.

“I’m not sure yet. I’m not sure where I’ll…we’ll be going,” he said, looking over at Pepper and placing his hand on top of hers.

“You’re not staying at the compound?”

“I don’t see a need to. Rogers is the real leader, and I trust him to make sure you’re okay. Plus, I made sure FRIDAY was installed in your house and she’ll report back to me, so it will be like I’m there.”

“But if you don’t like it, hun, you don’t have to stay. We’re not saying that you have to live there, we’re just giving you an option to be on your own if you want. You know Tony and I always love having you with us,” Pepper said.

“Pepper’s right. Plus, with you and Rogers dating now, it gives you time to be alone and not have everyone over your shoulder. But I’ll say this now Till, God help me, super soldier or not I will kick his ass into an ice cube again if he hurts you in any way.”

Matilda choked on her glass of wine as she blushed again, her neck and cheeks growing hot. “I…I… Uh…”

Tony laughed again. “You really think I don’t see how the old man looks at you? Till, I’m not naive. The two of you have been glued together since day one. It’s not hard to figure out.”

“And you’re not mad?”

“I’m not mad. You’re twenty-one. I’m not going to tell you how to live your life; with the trouble I got into when I was your age, I’m not one to throw stones.”

Pepper rolled her eyes at Tony, and Matilda thought she could actually hear how hard she rolled her eyes.

“Plus, I saw the two of you in bed together last night, so I know,” Tony said.

“You saw us?” She felt like she could melt in her seat and into the floor from embarrassment.

“I was going to check on you. It had been a very stressful few days, and I opened your door to see the two of you sleeping. And you’re lucky that was all I saw. Cap would have learned how to fly if I saw him doing anything else while in my house!”

“Tony! Oh my God, please stop talking.” Matilda hid her face in her hands. She wanted to die, or disappear or anything just to get away from the conversation.

“Tony, you’re embarrassing the poor thing,” Pepper said, placing her cloth napkin down on the table. “Why don’t you go pay the bill, and we’ll be down in a moment.”

Tony tried to say something else, but the look in Pepper’s eyes stopped him. Tony closed his mouth into a thin line and stood to leave. Once he left the room, Pepper turned in her seat so she was facing Matilda.

“I know I don’t really have the right to give you the birds and the bees talk, but I’m here if you want to talk. All I’ll say is to just be smart about your actions.”

Matilda looked up at her, horrified. “Pepper, he’s my best friend. I don’t even know how I feel about him yet, and already Tony has me in bed with him! I’m not a kid, first of all. I know all about the birds and the bees and how to use protection, but one day we were just friends, and the next he’s confessing that he loves me, and then he goes off to fight a killer robot that Tony made, and I’m left trying to grasp my feelings about that while also being scared out of my mind that that was the last time I was going to see him, and when he got back I was just so overwhelmed with relief that he was home again and everyone was safe that I didn’t want to be alone because I was scared I was just going to crash once I was by myself, and I asked him to stay, but he was going to leave, and now Tony thinks I’m sleeping with him.” She inhaled sharply, finally letting all of her thoughts and emotions that have been on her chest out. In the process she had realized that she hadn’t taken a breath, her lungs burning as she brought oxygen back into her body.

“Oh sweetheart, you don’t have to know right now. I’m sure you love Steve in your own way, and if you love him for more than a friend, that’s for you to figure out. But that’s the great thing about falling in love with your best friend, they won’t rush you to make a decision if it’s truly meant to be.”

Tears started to prickle and burn the corners of her eyes. Everything she had been holding onto over the past few days was finally out in the open and off her chest. She felt a moment of peace. She smiled at Pepper, who had pulled her into a hug. She had needed this talk, needed someone to reassure her that it was okay if she didn’t know how she felt yet about Steve, and that it was okay to take it slow. She had missed Pepper. While Tony felt like such a father figure in her life, she didn’t see Pepper as a mother, but more of a big sister. Love and appreciation flooded over her and she squeezed Pepper a bit tighter.

“Thanks, Pepper.”

“Any time, sweetheart. It’s what I’m here for.”

They pulled away, and Pepper gently wiped away a tear that had run down Matilda’s face. The two women smiled at each other, and Pepper got up from her seat, holding out her hand to Matilda to take. Matilda placed her hand in Pepper’s and stood up with her. Pepper circled her arm around Matilda’s waist and pulled her close to her, hip bumping her in the process.

“Come on, let’s not keep Mr. Nosey waiting anymore,” Pepper said.

“I love you, Pep.”

“I love you, too.”

Part 2 of “Friends…..Maybe?”

Summary:Bucky finally mans up and confesses everything and has to ask for forgiveness.  

Warning:None

A/N:I finally decided to write the second part of this. And now I’m going to write another chapter of “Unexpected Gifts” 

“I messed up big time.”

After putting you to bed and texting Steve, Bucky goes to the kitchen and cleans up everything. He puts all the food away. Of course, he can’t help but taste it while he does. Once he taste it, it only causes him to hate himself more.

“God, I’m such an idiot.” He says to himself as he puts a lid on the container.

He puts the dishes in the dishwasher then heads to his room. He gets to his room and his phone chimes with a notification. It was a message from Steve.

Steve honestly doesn’t want to know what Bucky means by his text, but he has a gut feeling it has something to do with Y/N. He shakes his head and types a response. He presses send then puts his phone away.

-What did you do?

Bucky goes on to explain what happened tonight and waits for Steve to answer. Steve never answers.

Over the next two days, Bucky doesn’t see you and he doesn’t try to look for you because he knows you don’t want to see him. What he doesn’t know is that you haven’t moved from the bed since he put you there.

The team gets back in the evening of the second day. Bucky is in the hanger to see everyone. Steve steps off the quinjet with an unreadable expression. Nat and Wanda are next. They both step off and glare at Bucky.

“Barnes, I swear if what you did is not undoable then so help me god.” Natasha’s words aren’t laced with venom.

Bucky can’t help but duck his head because he knows it’s the truth.

Nat and Wanda go inside the compound to find you. They find you exactly where Bucky left you two days ago.

You’re curled up in the bed with your back to the door. You hear the door open, thinking it’s Bucky trying to check on you, you throw a pillow towards the doorway.

“Hey, we haven’t done anything.” Wanda says as she walks into the room and joins you on the bed.

Under your eyes there is old mascara, where Bucky didn’t quite wipe it off enough. Your skin is pale and your eyes are bloodshot and puffy.

“Oh, love.” Wanda reaches over and pulls you into her.

You start to break down again. All the feelings of hurt, rejection, and so much more, all come crashing down on you.

The last two days, you just laid in your bed staring at the ceiling. You couldn’t cry or make yourself get up, you were numb.

Now, you were feeling everything. Nat joins you both in the bed.

“How about you go take a shower and get cleaned up then we will have a girl’s night? We can watch movies or do whatever you want.” Nat says looking over at you.

You turn your head towards her and nod.

“Ok then, go shower. Because not to hurt your feelings but you have a funk going on.” Nat and Wanda laugh

You can’t help but laugh with them. Nat and Wanda get up so you can get out of the bed. You slowly get up, your muscles protesting from a lack of use.

“Take as long as you need.” They smile.

You walk into the bathroom and shut the door. You look at yourself in the mirror for the first time since that night. You’re still in the dress you bought, but your earrings and necklace are missing and your makeup is half wiped off.

You know you didn’t do any of it, so you knew it had to have been Bucky. Your heart flutters just slightly at the thought of him being so kind to do those things, but it’s quickly fades and is replaced with heartbreak.

You aren’t too sure why you are heartbroken, it’s not like he knew your feelings or reciprocated them. You just wanted to be a friend to him, even if that’s all it was. Deep down, you knew you loved him, so if just being his friend was all you had, then that would be enough. You just never got the chance to even be his friend.

You turn away from the mirror and begin to strip. You through the dress into the small trash can in your bathroom. You don’t want it as a reminder of what happened.

You turn the shower on and let it warm up. In no time, the bathroom is covered with steam. You step into the steaming water and sigh in relief. Your body relaxes and relishes in the heat from the water.

Once Wanda and Natasha hear the water cut on, they get to work. They strip your bed of the covers and sheets you’ve been laying in for the past two days. Wanda puts on the fresh sheets and lights a few candles.

Natasha sends the old sheets to the laundry and starts to gather food. She orders your favorite sushi, she grabs ice cream, chocolate, and a bottle of wine or two. Natasha comes back to your room in a much better state than when she first arrived.

She puts all the food on your desk, and they wait for you to finish in the shower.

After what feels like hours in the shower, you turn the water off. You feel more human now that you’ve showered. You dry off and put on a big tshirt and pajama shorts. You towel dry your hair then exit the bathroom.

Your eyes land on the desk full of food and your stomach audibly growls. You all three laugh at the noise.

Wanda uses her power to bring the sushi over to you. You laugh a little more then climb into the bed. Wanda and Natasha sit on both sides of you. Nat turns on your favorite Disney movie, and you all dig in to the sushi.

Wanda brings over the bottle of wine. All three of you pass it around, but you seem to drink the most of it. By the end of the movie, you were more tipsy than Wanda and Natasha.

“Feel better?” Wanda asks.

You sigh and lay back. Tears start to well up in your eyes.

“To be honest.” You start. “Not really. I love you two, but I still feel like my heart has been ripped out.” Tears slip down your cheeks.

“It’s gonna be ok.” Nat says softly.

“Just give it some time.” Wanda rubs your arm.

“How am I supposed to get over him if he’s always around? I see him everyday.” You cry more. “Him and his beautiful blue eyes, his hair, and his hot body.” You sigh and cover your face with a pillow.

“I hate myself!” You groan into the pillow. “I didn’t want to fall in love with, but I did. I let him and his stupid metal arm worm his way into my heart.”

Natasha and Wanda share a look and have to keep from laughing at your alcohol filled words.

“And the thing is, I love him so much, if he apologized I would forgive him.” You move the pillow and look up at the pair of redheads. “You two probably think I’m crazy.”

“No, Y/N, you’re not crazy.” Wanda says. “I truly believe you can’t choose who you fall in love with. It just happens.”

“Is there any more wine or maybe something stronger?” You ask.

“I think I can finds us something.” Natasha gets up and goes to the kitchen.

Sam, Steve, and Bucky are all in the common room. Steve and Sam letting Bucky have it. Even if Bucky couldn’t see how you felt about him, everyone else could. That’s why everyone always told her to keep trying with him, hoping maybe one day he would finally give in.

“Guys, I get it! I know I was a terrible person to her.” Bucky sighs and lays his head back against the couch.

“Do you Barnes?” Natasha asks as she walks out of the kitchen with a bottle of vodka. “Because if you do, you better start finding a way to make it up to her. She is so in love with you that she would settle for just being your friend if you didn’t feel the same, but she would never tell you that.”

Bucky just stares at Natasha in complete shock. You were in love with him? Why? All the things he’d done in his past and the ways he treated you, how could you love him?

Nat just shakes her head before turning and going back to your room.

Bucky looks back at Steve and Sam. “What should I do?”

The guys start to come up with a plan to help Bucky make it up to you.

When Natasha walks back into your room, she finds you asleep on Wanda’s shoulder.

“What took you so long?” Wanda questions the Russian.

“I had to talk some sense into Barnes’ thick skull.” She says.

Wanda gets up from the bed, careful not to wake you. They gather up the trash from your girl’s night and quietly leave you to sleep.

They join the guys in the common room. The guys are still trying to come up with a plan.

“Maybe, I should just go talk to her.” Bucky says. “If I just tell her everything, maybe I cam fix this. Then if that doesn’t work, I don’t know.” Bucky stands up from the couch.

“She’s asleep.” Wanda stops him.

“Then I will talk to her first thing in the morning.” He sighs. Bucky decided to turn in for the night. 

He walks to his room, feeling like total crap. Bucky doesn’t even want to imagine what you feel like. 

Bucky has never had love. He was a ladies man in the 40s and there was definitely no love with Hydra. It was all foreign to him. The feeling he gets in his stomach when you do something for him, the affect your smile has on him, and so many other things, yet, he is a total jerk to you about everything. 

Bucky didn’t want to love you because he thought he was too broken. That he was beyond repair, but he couldn’t stop himself, so he thought if he made you hate him then it would be easier on himself. 

Bucky gets into his room and falls face first onto the bed. He groans into the mattress then rolls over. “F.R.I.D.A.Y. can you let me know when Agent Y/L/N is awake?” 

“Of course, Sargent Barnes.” The AI responds. 

Bucky gets up and gets ready for bed. He takes a shower then puts on only his boxers for bed. He settles in and forces himself to fall asleep. 

It’s well after midnight when F.R.I.D.A.Y’s voice is heard in Bucky’s room. He is startled awake by her voice. 

“Sargent Barnes, Agent Y/L/N is awake and in the kitchen.” She says. 

“What time is it?” Bucky asks the AI. 

“2:36 a.m.” She answers. 

He groans as he rolls out of bed. He knows you probably don’t want to talk, but he has to. He has to get everything off his chest, and hopes you forgive him. 

He is about to leave his room when he remembers he is only wearing his boxers. He quickly rushes to slip on some sweat pants and a tshirt. 

He leaves his room and heads for the kitchen. He finds you searching through the medicine cabinet in the dark. 

“Crap!” You whisper yell as you knock over a few pill bottles. The team kept a cabinet filled with over the counter meds for normal everyday problems.

“Maybe if you turn on the lights, you can find what you’re looking for.” Bucky reaches to turn on the lights. 

“Do not turn on the lights!” You pear around the cabinet door. You knew it was Bucky by his voice. 

“Why? Because you don’t want to look at me or another problem?” Bucky questions as he walks over to you. 

“Both if you really want an answer, not that you deserve one.” You words are dripping with venom. 

“You are totally right, I don’t.” He says softly. 

You continue you search for the Advil not giving him any attention. He reaches over you and pull the bottle from one shelf above where you looking. Bucky hands you the bottle then turns to grab a water from the fridge. He hands you the bottle and watches as you take the pills. 

“Can we talk?” Bucky asks. 

You don’t want to say yes, but you also want to ask him why. “Sure.”

“Can I turn the lights on so we can talk?” He looks at you. 

“Why do we need the lights?” You groan. 

“Because I want to be able to see you clearly while we talk.” He flips the light switch. Bucky watches as you squeeze your eyes shut and grimace. After a few seconds, you open you eyes and let them adjust. 

You look at him and your expression softens involuntarily. You haven’t seen him in almost four days. 

“Y/N, let me just start with I’m sorry.” Bucky says. You scoff. “I don’t think I will ever be able to say that enough to make up for what all I’ve put you through.” He looks down at the ground. “I was a jerk to you because I was scared of my feelings.” He looks up at you and steps a little closer. “The first day I walked in here, I was drawn to you. But, I thought I was too broken to love anyone, so I pushed you away. I tried to make you hate me.” Bucky explains. You listen to him intently, not wanting to miss a word. 

“And I will never forgive myself for the other night. I went out to meet with my therapist and to come with a plan to tell you how I really feel.” Bucky reaches out to take your hand. 

You want to pull away, but his hand wraps around yours, and it feels right. 

“I love you, Y/N.” Your mouth falls open at his words, utterly shocked. “I didn’t realize it until the other night when I carried you out of the dining room, that all the feelings I have when you are around are because I love you.” 

He said it again, and you feel like you want to cry. “Bucky-” You try to find the words but you can’t. 

“I know you right now you probably can’t forgive me for everything that I did, but maybe one day you can? Can we start over? Maybe this time we can be friends?” He looks at you with eyes filled with hope. 

“Bucky, I think I’ve loved you since you got here, and even after everything you did I still love you. I don’t think I will ever stop.” You admit to him. “I can forgive you because I love you, but if you really mean it, that you love me. You have to promise me that you will never hurt me like that again.” You look up at him as tears slip down your cheeks. 

He pulls you into him and places his hands on your cheeks to wipe away the tears. “I promise, doll, I will never hurt you again.” 

Bucky leans down, his lips just inches away from yours. You lean up and close the small gap. Your lips meet and if sparks could fly they would be flying. The kiss is slow and gentle. 

Bucky pulls away smiling. He looks down at you as a smile crosses your lips.

“I love you, Y/N.” Bucky whisper before pecking your lips again. 

“I love you too, Bucky.”  

Story tags: 

@sassybouquetrunaway-universe​@mollygetssherlockcoffee​@angstysebfan​@fab-notfat​@just-dreaming-marvel-2​@mrspeacem1nusone​ @

 Summary: You just want to be Bucky’s friend though you may have a small crush. If you could just be friends that would be enough

Warnings:None…….idk.

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader

A/N: this idea came from my asks and it originally was supposed to be fun and fluffy and then i started writing and it turned into an angst party.  The link for the dress wouldn’t work so i put a picture of it in the story. 

Your relationship with Sargent Barnes is anything but friendly, which is why he is Sargent Barnes, only his friends can call him Bucky. You have tried everything you know to just be a friend to him, even though you may have slight crush on the metal armed man.

You didn’t want your friendship to be forced, so you just started by smiling and saying good morning. He never returns the smile or good morning. You try several more things, but nothing seems to work.

Your next attempt is making him cookies that Steve told you were his favorite, and that they used to get them from a bakery back in the 40s. Steve tells you the name of the bakery, and it just so happens to be the bakery your grandmother worked at when she was young.

You bake a dozen cookies and arrange them on a plate. You walk down the hall to Sgt. Barnes room, knowing he is inside, since he just finished his workout for the day. 

You knock on the door and wait. The door is pulled open, and a slight smile crosses Bucky’s face when he sees the plate of cookies. The smile quickly fades when he hears your voice. 

“Hey Sargent Barnes! Umm, I made you some cookies. Steve might have let it slip that these are your favorite, so I called my grandmother and got her recipe. She worked at a bakery in the 40s and 50s.” You explain to him. 

The look of annoyance on his face only seems to grow as you stand there. “Why would you bring me cookies after I just finished a workout?” He asks, obviously angered by your gesture. 

“Oh, I’m sorry. I guess that thought didn’t cross my mind. I just thought with your super soldier metabolism one cookie wouldn’t do too much damage.” You look down at the plate sadly. “I’ll just go then. If you want one, the plate will be in the kitchen.” 

You turn and walk back to the kitchen, tears brimming your eyes. You place the plate of cookies on the cabinet just as Sam, Nat, and Steve enter the kitchen after their workouts. 

“Oh yes! Cookies!” Sam cheers. He glances at you as to ask for permission. You nod in response. 

“Why so sad?” Steve asks. “I’ve never seen someone so sad after baking cookies. Wait! Are those Bucky’s favorite?” 

“Yeah.” You reply quietly. “After you told me what bakery you two would get them from, I called my grandmother for the recipe.” 

“Y/N, these are amazing!” Sam compliments, bringing a small smile to your face.

Steve reaches over and grabs one. He hums in approval. “Agreed! Takes me back to being a kid in Brooklyn.” 

You laugh softly. “Well, now I have to have one!” Natasha grabs one and takes a bite. She closes her eyes as she appreciates the taste of the cookie. “Oh wow!” 

~~~~~~~~~

Bucky watches as you walk away. He notices the change in your posture. When he opened the door you had a big smile and you stood tall, now your shoulders were hunched and he knew you definitely weren’t smiling. 

He shuts his door and groans out of frustration. Bucky has never hated you in the slightest. He was instantly drawn to you from the moment he saw you, but also in that moment, he decided that he didn’t deserve love or friendship from anyone other than Steve and Sam, if that. He also thought your friendship was you pitying him. 

When he saw the tray of cookies, he really did want one, but then he realized it was you and he had to keep up the act. So, he was rude until you went away. 

On the inside, Bucky’s heart broke at the sight of you when apologized for offering him a cookie. He knew the plate of cookies wouldn’t do an ounce of damage with his metabolism, but he had to keep being a jerk. You didn’t really want to be his friend. Well, that’s at least what he told himself. 

~~~~~~

The rest of the afternoon is spent with Sam, Steve and Nat. They beg you to bake more cookies and to share the recipe.

“I can’t give you the recipe! My grandmother would kill me!” You laugh as you pull another tray of cookies from the oven.

“But what if you’re gone on a mission, and we really want cookies?” Sam leans against the counter with a pout on his face.

“You will just have to wait until I get back!” You place the baking sheet on the stove.

All three of them groan. You can’t help but laugh more. Once all four of you finish eating cookies, the leftovers are covered by plastic wrap.

After a few more hours of hanging out, everyone goes their separate ways. You head to your room for the night. You pass Bucky’s door and you pause for just a second. You mind races with the thoughts of what you could have done to make him hate you so much. The sound of the door opening has you running the rest of the way to your room.

Bucky walks out of his room and heads to the kitchen. His plan is just to get some water then go back to his room.

After grabbing a bottle of water, he turns to leave and sees the plate of cookies on the counter. Of course they weren’t the ones you originally made, but he didn’t know the difference.

Bucky looks to see if anyone is around. He quickly undoes the plastic wrap and grabs one.

“It really won’t do any damage.” He whispers to himself.

He bites into the cookie. He is instantly taken back to being in the 40s. How could they taste exactly the same? 

Bucky can’t help himself, he takes three more cookies and hurries back to his room.

The next morning, you go into the kitchen to make breakfast. You notice that there are more cookies missing. Steve and Natasha are sitting at the table eating.

“Do you guys eat cookies for breakfast?” You ask with a chuckle.

“No, I haven’t had any since last night.” Nat responds.

“Same here.” Steve says.

“Hmm, maybe Sam got some.” You shrug and start fixing your breakfast.

While you are making your breakfast, everyone gets an alert to meet in the conference room. You sigh and stop what you’re doing to follow Nat and Steve to the conference room.

You take a seat inside the conference room next to Wanda. Once every has a seat, Tony starts going over the mission that most of the team will be gone on for the next few days.

“I’m sorry, but Y/n and metal man,” He says referring to Bucky. “your abilities will not be needed for this mission.” Tony states.

You just nod as you continue to listen. It truly isn’t a big deal to you, but Bucky isn’t too thrilled with Tony’s statement.

“So you’re telling me, I have to stay here with her?” He questions while giving you an annoyed look. You lower your gaze to the floor and sink into your chair.

“Barnes, I honestly don’t care what you do while we are gone. Just make sure you are reachable in case of an emergency.” Tony says as he places his tablet down.

Tony wraps up the meeting. Bucky is the first to stand up. He storms out of the room. Steve gives you an apologetic look as he walks by.

“Did I do something?” You ask sadly.

“No, you didn’t. He is just a difficult person.” Steve says before going in search of his friend.

You sigh and stand up to go back to the kitchen to finish your breakfast. The team would be getting ready to leave the rest of the day so no one was going to be around other than Bucky.

Before you can leave the conference room, Wanda and Nat stop you.

“Y/N, don’t give up just yet.” Nat says. “I know you want to, but I say give it one more big try then if he still won’t come around then you can try to move on.”

~~~~~~~~~

Steve leaves the conference room and goes to find his best friend. The last place he expects to find him is in the kitchen with a handful of the cookies you made.

Steve clears his throat to get Bucky’s attention. Bucky looks like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar, which technically is exactly what’s happening

“You know you’re kind of a jerk, right?” Steve asks rhetorically.

Bucky puts the cookies back on the tray and finishes eating the one in his mouth.

“She has done absolutely nothing but try and be nice to you! Hell, if I were her, I would have given up a long time ago.”

Bucky looks down at the ground. “I don’t understand why she wants to be my friend. I mean she’s just trying to pity me!”

“Wow! I guess you’ve kept all the stupid with you.” Steve rolls his eyes. “She’s not pitying you! She truly wants to be your friend. That’s just who Y/N is. She sees past every flaw a person has, she is kind, she is loyal to a fault, and she can make some really good cookies.” Steve goes on.

At that moment, Bucky feels like the biggest douche on the planet.

“And I’ve been the biggest jerk to her since I got here.” Bucky looks at Steve, who silently agrees with him.

“Try and do better while the rest of us are gone.” Steve pats Bucky on the shoulder before he walks away to pack for the mission.

Bucky goes back to his room to think. He knows he has to apologize.

~~~~~~~~~

You get into the kitchen and finish your breakfast. After you eat, you do your laundry, go for a quick workout then decide to relax for the rest of the day.

The team leaves around 10 at night, so after they’ve left, you head to your room for the night. While you’re in bed, you start thinking of one final attempt to show Bucky you truly want to be a part of his life. 

The next day you make sure to avoid Bucky at all cost so you can execute your final act. You even ask F.R.I.D.A.Y where he is to make sure you don’t see him. You spent almost the entire night trying to come up with a plan. Finally, at 2:30 a.m. you decided on a plan. You are going to make him his favorite meal and wear a dress that resembles that of one from the 40s. You tried to learn some slang from the time period but it was much to confusing for you. 

After eating breakfast, you leave the compound to go into the city. You stop by a small clothing boutique then you swing by the grocery store. Once you finish you head back to the compound. 

You get back to the compound and head straight to the kitchen. 

“F.R.I.D.A.Y., where is Sargent Barnes?” You ask the AI as you chop vegetables.

“He left the compound about an hour ago, Ms. Y/L/N.” She informs you. 

“Oh, did he say where he was going?” You ask. 

“No, he did not. Would you like me to run a trace on him?” The AI asks. 

“No, thank you.” 

You continue on in the kitchen until everything is done or in the oven. You glance down at your watch and see that it is almost 6 o’clock. You are hoping Bucky will be back soon. You head to your room to clean up and wait for Bucky. 

You quickly shower, throw on your new dress, put on a little make-up and fix your hair. 

You slide on a pair of sandals and head back to the kitchen to get everything out of the oven. You set the table while everything is cooling off. Once everything is cool enough to handle, you place all the food on the table.

You look down at your watch and it is a quarter to seven, 

“Surely he will be back soon.” You think to your self as you sit down at the table. 

You wait and wait. You stare at the platters on the table, filled with untouched food. The last time you check your watch it is 9 o’clock. You sigh and lay your head down on the table. Tears start to build up and drip down on to the table. Your emotions are running wild and  eventually just drain you. You feel yourself falling asleep, but you don’t bother making a move to get up. 

It’s a quarter to a eleven when Bucky steps off the elevator into the common room. His super sense of smell picks up the lingering scent of his favorite meal. Bucky walks around the room until the dining table comes into view. He sees the table filled with food that has long gone cold and a chocolate cake on a decorative cake stand that reminds him of the cake his mother would make. 

The next thing he spots is your slumped figure against the table. He takes in your appearance, the pink linen dress, pearl earrings, a small amount of make that has been ruined by tears. 

His mind is running a thousand miles a minute. You did this all for him, and he had to go and mess it all up. He left the compound to meet with his therapist and think about what he could do to make it up to you. And now he knows whatever plan he came up with will never make up for this. 

He gently scoops you up from your chair and starts carrying you to your room. 

“Bucky?” You whisper. 

“Yeah, doll, it’s me.” He confirms. 

In your half asleep state, you begin to cry again. “I’m sorry Sargent Barnes, for whatever I’ve done. I just wanted to be your friend and- and-” You sob into his neck. 

He makes it to your room and walks inside. He pulls back the covers of your neatly made bed and lays you down. Once Bucky lays you down, you go back to sleep. Bucky takes your shoes off, takes out the pearl studs, and wipes your smeared make-up off. 

“I’m so sorry, Y/N. I’ll never be able to make it up to you.” He leans down and kisses your forehead before leaving the room.  

He sends Steve a message once he gets back to the common room. “I messed up big time.” 

The fact that I binged all marvel movies I could in four days and finished the first three phases

I so want to create a bucky Barnes book now I’m obsessed with him I stg my brain with him and Loki rn >>>>>>>>

Anyone else from my profile sorry for not updating my book Ive lacked major motivation

I remember this.