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emeraldiis · 3 years

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Cross Country Love Affair // Nebraska

A/N: idk if i'll be happy or sad when this fic is over, it's been such a fun journey

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Tag List (send an ask to be added!): @mantarini-i, @luxoree, @boofy1998 @yallimobsessed

Pairing: Bucky x Reader

Word Count: 2.7k

Summary: Bucky makes your blood boil like no other man can. In a twisted turn of events, the two of you are stuck on a road trip from hell. This fic follows Bucky and the reader from Florida all the way to Washington state. Nothing like being trapped in a car for fifty hours to break the ice. Distance makes the heart grow fonder. Or something like that.

Warnings: canon typical violence, enemies to lovers, eventual smut, alcohol use

“It’s a shame, I kinda wanted to drive through Kansas, see Dorothy,” Bucky said, fingers tapping on the wheel. He’d been trying in vain to make conversation for hours now, but you refused to budge. He had fucked with you for the last time, and you were over it. Puffing his cheeks out in frustration at your lack of response, he tried again. “Have you ever been to Nebraska?”

“Nope.”

“Oh. Well, now you have.”

You were still beyond pissed at Bucky for his little stunt on the side of the road. Teasing you was one thing, but he had gone way too far with it. It had delved into downright bullying, at this point. You’d even let him pick the music, too irritated to even think about choosing a playlist. Sensing your sour mood, he stayed away from the dad rock and instead put on some of the classics. He had probably figured it was a safe choice, one that would keep you from finding another reason to be mad at him.

“Do you want to stop somewhere in a few hours, get some rest?”

“Sure.” One word answers were all you could muster. What little camaraderie had been building between the two of you throughout this trip had been crushed into nothingness. A black hole of distrust and anger, sucking every bit of positive feelings you had towards Bucky in and crumbling them to bits. You couldn’t believe you’d ever let yourself be attracted to him. Because come on, why would you ever want to fuck someone that cruel? He had the looks and the body, but his personality consisted of one thing: douchebaggery.

“Look,” Bucky started, face paling when you whipped your head towards him to stare daggers. “I’m sorry for messing with you like that, I probably took it a bit too far.”

“What makes you think that?”

He looked pointedly at how both of your legs were angled towards the door. “Well, for starters, that’s the first time that you’ve said more than one word at a time for hours.” He sighed and shifted in his seat, rolling his shoulders to loosen the muscles there. “We have a little bit more than twenty four hours of driving, I’m not going to spend the rest of it sitting here in silence with you.”

He had a point. And besides, you still had a job to do once you reached Seattle. As angry as you were, you needed to be able to rely on your partner to have your back. “Fine, what do you want to talk about?” You’d meant to extend an olive branch, but the words had more or less been venom with the way you spit them.

“I’m not saying we have to force conversation, I just want us to be civil.”

“Then you shouldn’t have been a shit head.” That earned you a groan of displeasure. But it made Bucky shut his mouth and focus on the road, which was a win in your book. Anything to keep him from acknowledging you. “And I changed my mind about the hotel. Let’s at least make it to the next state before worrying about that.”

“Okay, that’s fine with m–” Bucky cut himself off, quickly reaching forward to shut off the music. “Did you hear that?”

You cocked your head and listened. The van was now eerily quiet, save for the soft rumble of the road under the tires. And then you heard it, an unmistakable rattle that no one wants to hear their car make. The rattle turned into a tremor, which very quickly became a full on quake that made the van shudder. You yelped and gripped the handle above the door while Bucky swore under his breath. To his credit, he was able to safely maneuver the vehicle to the side of the road and pull over. The van shook and rattled all the way to the side of the road, and then croaked to a stop. Bucky cussed again and smacked the steering wheel, startling you.

Without a word, he opened the door and stepped out. You did the same, and were immediately greeted with an unfortunate sight. The front passenger side tire was almost completely flat. “Hey, over here,” you called across the van to where Bucky was inspecting the tires on his side. He jogged over and groaned when the flat came into view.

“Well, that’s great,” he mumbled, hands on his hips as he frowned. “Hold on, I think we’ve got a spare in the trunk.”

You sighed and busied yourself with watching the cars fly by on the highway. The light of day was quickly fading, and you shot an anxious glance to where Bucky was rifling through the trunk. It’d be a pain in the ass to change a tire during the day, but in the dark? You wanted no part of that. “Hurry up, it’s getting dark!”

Thankfully, it was only another minute before Bucky emerged with the spare. He hoisted it up on his hip to carry it over, and jerked his head back towards the trunk. “Will you grab the jack and the lug wrench?”

“The lug wrench,” you repeated to yourself softly, racking your brain to try and remember what that looked like. You’d changed a tire before…once. Reasoning that you’d probably know it when you saw it, you trotted over to the trunk and took a peek. The jack was the first thing you grabbed; it stood out pretty obviously. Then you pursed your lips in consideration and grabbed the first silver thing you saw that looked like a wrench. ‘“Is this it?” You asked as you walked over to Bucky, who was now kneeling on the ground next to the tire.

“Yeah,” he said after glancing at the objects you held. “Wait, have you never changed a tire before?”

“Of course!” You said a little too quickly. “Well, once. And I mostly watched.” You kicked at the dirt on the ground, avoiding Bucky’s eyes and waiting for the teasing to start. You could take down a whole pack of Hydra soldiers, jump from a high rise building and live, and shoot an apple off someone’s head from across an entire field. But changing a tire? That was not in your toolbox of skills.

Bucky watched with a blank expression as you set the jack and wrench down beside him. Finally, he said, “Well, I guess I’ll teach you.”

Oh. You narrowed your eyes, trying to determine if this was the set up to some rude joke. Bucky held your gaze. After a moment, you decided that he was being genuine. “Okay, but this won’t make me like you any more.”

With a snort, Bucky shook his head and went to work on changing the tire. Not wanting to stand there feeling completely useless, you flipped on your phone’s flashlight and shined it wherever he directed. He explained what he was doing with every step, even giving you a chance to help with the lug nuts. There was no condescending tone, no remarks about how a shield agent couldn’t even change a tire. Just one person showing another a useful life skill.

And even though you had promised yourself that Bucky was dead to you, that he was an asshole that deserved none of your attention whatsoever…you found yourself admiring him. Maybe it was the way the setting sun cast a golden glow across his features. Or the strong hands that gripped the wrench. Or the light shine of grease that he’d somehow smeared across his cheek. Or the gentle, almost nurturing tone he used when he showed you how to tighten the lug nuts so that they’re not uneven. Whatever it was, Bucky was sucking you back into his gravity. So much so, that you nearly dropped your phone in surprise when he clapped his hands together and stood up.

“There, that should get us to a shop.” He hoisted the old tire up and carried it over to put it in the trunk where the spare had been. “Are you still against getting a hotel? We could drop the car off somewhere and pick it up in the morning.”

You thought for a moment. After everything that had happened today, you weren’t keen on making this journey any longer than it needed to be. But on the other hand, sleep was a thing that was very important. At least, so you’d heard. “It’d make more sense to just spend the night in the next town.”

So off you went, limping the van to the nearest place that had both an auto shop and a hotel. Luck was on your side that night, it seemed. The mechanic at the shop you found promised to have a new tire by noon the next day, even shooting Bucky a wink and saying, “At least you and your girl can have a romantic night in a hotel, eh?” Thankfully, Bucky ignored the comment, not wanting to start another fight while the embers of the last one were still burning. Your luck even followed you the entire walk to the motel, where the receptionist assured you that yes, they had a room with more than one bed. You could have kissed her, you were so happy.

Although the shower beckoned you with its steamy embrace, you opted to skip it for now and just head straight to bed. The sooner it was tomorrow and you could get back on the road, the better. You grimaced when you realized that you had neglected to pick up some actual sleep clothes, and all you had was a t-shirt and the boxers that Bucky had leant you. Chewing on your lip in deliberation for a moment, you decided to just suck it up and sleep pantless. It wasn’t like you were going to be prancing around the hotel, anyways.

To his credit, Bucky made a point to face the other side of the room when you began to get changed. He was lounging on his bed, already shirtless and wearing plain gray sweatpants. If you’d been a little less pissed at him, you would’ve made some comment about how he was dressed like a man-whore. But the energy between the two of you had completely shifted. Now, you didn’t even feel comfortable teasing him, with how awkward things were. You kind of missed the back-and-forth the two of you had; it was fun to make jabs at each other, no matter how hostile it got.

After changing, you crawled under the covers, shutting off the lamp on your bedside table and burrowing deep into the blankets. The room was quiet, save for the occasional rustle of skin on sheets. Your mind whirled with question after question: did Bucky know that he hurt you? Did he care? Did he suspect that there was more than contempt for him in your heart? Feeling overwhelmed, you shoved your face into the pillows and waited for sleep.

It came quicker than you expected. But it was ripped away just as fast.

The room was dark and silent when your eyes snapped open. There was an uneasiness in your chest that felt like more than just the awkward tension from earlier. Something was wrong. Still, you knew better than to act before thinking. You laid stone still, straining your ears to listen out for anything out of place. So quietly you thought you might have imagined it, the door to the hotel creaked open. You stiffened immediately, cursing yourself for having fallen asleep facing the far wall. Bucky’s bed was closer to the door, meaning whatever threat had just entered would have to deal with him before you.

Heart racing, you turned over as slowly and quietly as you could. As your eyes adjusted to the dark, you could just barely make out the form of Bucky lying on his bed. He was facing you, eyes open wide. They met yours, and he mouthed “wait.” Now wasn’t the time to be bratty and defiant. You obeyed his request and stayed where you were, trying your best to get a peek at the door without making any more unnecessary movements.

And then the room exploded into light.

You gasped and shut your eyes, your hands coming up to clutch at your head. “Flashbang!” You shouted and immediately rolled until you were falling off the bed and to the floor. From there, you could reach your bag and grab your knife. There were the sounds of a struggle from the other side of the room, and you blinked harshly, trying to clear the spots in your vision.

You leapt up from the floor, your eyes finally recovering from the assault. Bucky had been pinned to the floor by a huge man dressed in all black. You launched yourself across the room and caught the man by the shoulders. He yelled in surprise and swung an arm around in an attempt to fling you off. The momentary distraction gave Bucky the chance he needed to land a devastating blow to the assailant’s jaw. The sickening crack of vibranium on bone rang out in the room, but he wasn’t deterred. The man screamed and slashed down at Bucky with a dagger that he’d produced from seemingly nowhere.

He moved with incredible speed, but you were faster. Your blade came around to rest at the base of his throat, pricking into the skin and drawing blood. Bucky took the opportunity to roll out from under him and pin the man’s arms to his sides. “Move, and it’ll be the last thing you do,” you hissed out from behind him, putting pressure on the knife. Your bare knees rubbed harshly on the carpet and you grit your teeth in anger. Fuck this dude for distrubing your sleep, blinding the shit out of you, and making you fight him on this crusty ass floor.

“Who sent you?” Bucky asked, looming closer to the man. “Hydra?”

He chuckled, surprising the both of you. “I don’t think it matters now, does it?” He had a thick Russian accent, and you shot a glance at Bucky. Before you could speak again, however, the man clamped down his jaw. You didn’t have to see his face to know what was happening. In less than ten seconds, he had gone limp in you and Bucky’s hold, and his breathing stuttered to a stop.

“Hydra loves their fuckin’ cyanide pills,” Bucky growled, letting go of the body and shoving it to the side, away from you. He paced and ran his hand through his hair, then stopped and stared at you.

You shakily rose to your feet. “Why’re you looking at me like that?’

“Nothing, I just–” he snorted. “I just realized you took down an assassin in nothin’ but a shirt and panties.”

Fuck. You whipped your head down to see that, yes, your legs were in fact completely bare. “Um,” you started, cheeks lighting up. And then you burst into laughter, because what the fuck was your life? Your hands came down to rest on your knees as you wheezed, shoulders shaking.

Bucky had sat back down on his bed, trying and failing to hold in his laughter. “Doll, I gotta say,” he choked out between snickers. “That is both the hottest and funniest thing that I’ve ever seen. Hell, if I had been that guy, I wouldn’t have been able to concentrate to save my life.”

“It’s psychological warfare,” you said after you got your breathing under control. “We should totally get the hell out of here, though.” And just like that, you and Bucky were back to normal. Well, as normal as the two of you could get. You figured there was something about wrestling an assassin to the ground in the middle of the night that really brought people together.

“The van is still in the shop, genius.”

You waved a dismissive hand. “We can just steal something. All our bags and stuff are with us, and who knows what’ll happen if we try to wait until morning? Our location’s been compromised.”

Bucky grumbled something about Shield always trying to partner him up with criminals, but began to pack up his stuff. “If we get arrested for grand theft auto–” he pointed a metal finger at you. “You’re being my prison bitch.”

Yeah, definitely back to normal.

#cross country love affair #bucky barnes x reader #imagine #reader insert #fanfic #marvel #mcu #tfatws

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