#salinaswritingchallenge

[notimetoblog]

Unfair

Summary: She can’t  help but get frustrated at her inability to leave behind little love marks, but Bucky doesn't mind. After all, it is his birthday and spending time with her trying to solve this dilemma is all he could've wished for. 

A/N: Hi guys!!!! It’s been exactly one month since I last posted a fic and im so excited to be able to share this one with you guys!! It is my (super late) entry to the beautiful @sgtjbuccky ‘s challenge! I am so sorry Sal, for taking this long to post! Thank you, though, for being so kind and understanding! It’s also Bucky’s birthday today, so I knew I had to write something fluffy just for him! Thank you all so much reading and I hope you guys like this one. 

It happened every time, and yet the little sounds of disapproval that came from her as she ran her lips across his neck, randomly stopping for a playful frustrated bite, always made him chuckle. 

She laid on top of him, both cozily surrounded by the mess of blankets they had not bothered to fix after last night’s pre-birthday festivities. Her warm body pressed so nicely against his as he wrapped his arm around her waist to bring her even closer. 

“It's not fair,” he heard her whisper, her breath tickling his neck as she found yet another spot on his neck. 

With furrowed brows she raised her head, staring back at him with those lovely eyes of hers. The morning light seeping through his parted curtains cast the prettiest of glows on her adorable pout. She was frustrated, and it made her even more loveable. If she didn't already have his heart, that little pout of hers would’ve won him over in a second. He couldn't quite remember what had officially made his heart hers, but that pout surely was at the top of the list — probably tied with the beauty of her eyes, the warmth of her soul, and the sound of her laugh. 

The happiness he was feeling at having her so close, feeling so wrapped up in her warmth, was evident in the way his lips so easily turned up into a genuine smile.

 “You already tried last time, doll, and it didn’t work.”

“I know,” she said slightly defeated, that pout of hers beautifully intact as she let her eyes roam his neck once more hoping to find the perfect spot. “Still doesn’t make it fair.”

He let his head turn to one side, giving her ample room to continue her exploration of his neck. The gentle pattern she was tracing on his neck with her soft, warm lips was enough for him to feel his eyes close on their own volition. The way her breath fanned across his neck raising goosebumps on their path had his breath quicken. She always had this effect on him. Always could make his already fast-paced heart beat just a little bit faster. Running a mile in less than 5 minutes barely had any effect on his breathing, and yet one simple kiss from her made him breathless.

And ever since she had discovered this little thing about him, their mornings would often be filled with this; her laying directly on top of him trying to find just one tiny spot where she could leave a slight mark.

Her discovery had come in the middle of an incredible night, one the Bucky often thought back to. He had let his lips and hands roam every inch of her body, had taken in those beautiful sounds he was bringing out of her, and he had playfully left a few marks where only he could see. Gently he had sucked a tiny bruise right below her collar bone, letting his tongue soothe and kiss over it, making her squirm much to his delight. With a challenging smile she had turned them over, finding the same spot on him but as she came up her brows had instantly furrowed.

“What?” he had heard her ask quietly only to have her bring her lips over the same spot again saying there for just a little bit longer.

“What’s the matter, darling?” he had asked after she had done the same thing three times, letting his hands continue to roam up and down her sides.

“It won't stay,” she had almost whined, bringing her lips back to the same spot for the fourth time. “It just disappears.”

“What disappears?”

“Wait, give me a sec,” he had heard her say as she found a new spot right below his jaw.

“You’re playing dirty, sweetheart,” he had chuckled as he felt her gently suck a new mark where most people would be able to see.

But there wasn’t a teasing look on her features. Instead one of confusion remained.

“Why doesn’t it stay?” she said a little louder this time, finding yet another spot.

“You haven’t told me what’s so confusing, doll,” he reminded her, turning his head to the side as she pressed her lips to various spots on his neck.

“The mark, Bucky,” she had said, frustration slowly seeping in her voice. “It’s there for like a second, and then it goes away. Look.”

With that, she had gotten up grabbing his hand and pulling him into their bathroom, the bright lights blinding them for a second.

“Look,” she repeated as she brought her lips to his neck once more, but his eyes had remained on her reflection. With the lights on, every inch that he had kissed was now on display for him; something she immediately noticed. “Focus Bucky,” she had giggled. Gently he felt her suck another mark, but as soon as her lips came up, he saw the slight bruise immediately disappear. “Why does it go away? I want it to stay, Buck.”

A chuckle had washed over him after he almost immediately understood what was happening.

“Darling,” he had begun, his arms wrapping around her waist to bring her close again. It hadn’t been more than a few minutes, but still, his body craved hers. “It’s the serum. You know how I can heal broken ribs in a few days? I guess I can heal your cute little marks in seconds.”

“What?” her voice had become scandalized. “How is that fair?!”

“I thought you liked the fact that I healed fast,” he had teased.

“Yes, when there are bullets flying in your direction, but not when I want to leave a little mark.”

“Guess you’re just going to have to try a little harder, doll. I won’t complain if you want to continue your study for a few more hours.”

And she had. Unwilling to give up she had tried her hardest but the serum, of course, wouldn’t let her succeed.

And now she once again laid on top of him, months later, her lips desperately trying to find just one spot that would succumb to her.

“You’re the worst,” he heard her whisper, her voice and the laugh that followed muffled by her proximity to his neck.

“I mean, you’ve only tried my neck, sweetheart. Who’s to say other parts of my body aren’t weaker?”

Her head instantly came up, eyes full of that playful glint he adored. He mimicked her expression, eyes playful, eyebrows wiggling, hoping it would be enough to lead them both to continue the fun they had started last night.

“I know what you’re thinking Bucky Barnes,” she laughed. “Keep looking at me like that and see what happens.”

“Is that supposed to encourage me to continue or threaten me to stop. Because I’m really excited to see what’s gonna happen if I continue.”

“Only one way to find out I guess.”

“It is my birthday today, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it is,” she smiled, biting her lip in the way she knew made him go crazy. “Happy Birthday.”

“Guess, I’ll take my chances and continue,” he said, letting his eyes continue to gaze into hers with that playful glint.

“Oh, it’s on, Sarge,” she said as she let her lips crash into his with a laugh. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

His birthday was just beginning, but having her here, both taking their time to explore each other already made it the best birthday he’d ever had. 

----

Bucky Tag Club :) 

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[the-canary]

Bel Ami -  B.B (11)

Summary: You had bigger fish to fry in NYC between your new job, living in a new city and old friend – you were sure in over your head, but who’s that cute stranger that keeps helping you out? (Reader/Bucky Barnes) 

Prompt:  Person A: “Okay, I have something to confess… I like you. I have for the past two years now and it’s been killing me to hold it in this long but I think you deserve to know.” Person B: “You nerd, we’ve been dating for the past two years.

A/N: this is for @sgtjbuccky‘s writing challenge. 

Feedback is always welcomed

Bucky can’t stop thinking about it after he leaves you at your apartment. You had been shining from the small spa treatment (after a lot of convincing in his part for you to just do the damn thing) that he had taken you after work, but in those dresses -- that’s when you really shined and he couldn’t keep his eyes off you.  

“I look pretty,” you can’t help but remark, as you twirl around in the mirror with a giddy laugh (after slightly more convincing). Blue eyes keep watching you the entire time. He hadn’t seen you this happy since before his stupid actions when he had started to feel more than friendly affection towards her.

He was still your friend, but he was slowly realizing that he wanted more than that. There was an itch, never-ending loneliness, to be by your side but now he was paying the price for his rash behavior.    

“You’re gorgeous,” Bucky breathes out, completely lost at the sight of you. He could understand why Rumlow has wanted to by his side, but Bucky promised himself to never stoop that low with his time or money to grab your attention.

“You think so?” there’s a dark look in your eyes, as you turn to look at the man.

It’s then Bucky realizes that you had heard him. He feels bashful and childish for getting caught saying such a thing, but he knows better than to pull back from this feeling now. His blue eyes meet yours as all he can do is nod with a soft yeah on his lips.

His heart flutters non-stop as you grin before turning back to look at more dresses. Bucky doesn’t push back when you lean in a bit more during your quick dinner at a local diner. Nor does he stop you when you give him a quick peck on the cheek as you towards your apartment building at the end of it all.

He hasn’t felt like this in a very long time and Bucky considers a huge idiot for trying to ignore this feeling for so long.

———–

On the other side of town, Winnie Barnes is slowly realizing a whole bunch of things. Since her husband’s death and maybe since her son had come back from war, she had been expecting a certain type of person to come back -- a Bucky that was as troublesome as he was charismatic, while willing to take over his family’s company. Maybe, Bucky had seen that too, but he knew that after coming back from his war tours that he simply couldn’t be that man anymore.

Through the small falls and triumphs, Winnie had hoped that she could one day have her son back -- faults and everything as long as he could smile like he used to.  

He never did and so, Winnie and by extension, his sisters wrapped him in plastic wrap as best as they could. What the woman hadn’t realized was that her son, regardless of how slow and how much it hurt, had moved forward with trying to rebuild his life as best as he could.

“Your son is stronger than you think,” the young woman remarks like she knows Bucky better than her, “I’ve never seen him happier than when he was with those dogs. Maybe...maybe, you could consider giving back to them.”

Winnie lets out a shaky sigh as she stares at the photos and brochures that she had been given to take home. However, what grabbed her heart the most was the photo of Bucky and a dog by the name of Daisy if she remembered correctly.

Bucky was smiling and laughing so hard that it reminded her of his youth.

Her James was still there, but he was stronger than before as well -- she had just never seen it.

———–

Rumlow thinks he has the chance to talk to her when they are both walking down to the last meeting before the gala. The man had been waiting for the perfect time to seize his pet once more.

He had just been throwing his money around when Mrs. Barnes came along, but the utter terror in her face had been worth all the spent cash when they first saw each other. But, that was it -- she was watched like a hawk by both the Barnes boy and the redhead since they made contact.

This wasn’t college where he could buy people out as easily, but everyone had a price and with a few bills, he could get some people to keep those two occupy.

“ You really gonna keep ignorin’ me ?” he asks from the back of her. She freezes for a moment before she keeps moving further towards the room where they are bound to be locked together and that when Rumlow with strike -- to finally get the one thing that had escaped him back in college.

At least, that’s what he thinks will happen until he sees Winnie Barnes and a man standing there with her. He clicks his tongue in annoyance before he keeps walking forward -- the sight of the old brood inflating all the fun he was planning on having.

He doesn’t look at Mrs. Barnes or the man, but he can feel it. Rumlow can feel the tension leave the air as the wrack of sobs echoed in the hallway as he moves towards the elevator.

He takes the wonderful sound in as he sees her slump forward into the older woman from the corner of his eye.

This is more than enough for now. He still had plans brewing for the gala night after all.

———–

It’s scary how your world can crash and burn all over one person. It had happened once before to you thank Rumlow and as you felt the man behind you -- it was happening once more. However, you weren’t what happened in the end when you saw Winnie Barnes and your boss, Nick Fury, standing near the opening of the meeting room that he pushed forward.

However, deep down, you knew that you had averted something for now and that’s when your fear shattered. You knew how unprofessional it was to be crying in front of your boss and you didn’t know how Mrs. Barnes felt about all this.

But, at that moment, all you cared about was sweet relief and maybe Winnie understood that in some way, as she tries to comfort you as a mother would.

“Hey, hey. What happened?” a familiar voice comes in after a few minutes clearly out of breath, as you let out a shaky sigh.

You look up and your world realigns itself once more at the sight of familiar blue eyes.

You realize at that moment how deep certain feelings run right at that moment.

[prettyyoungtragedy]

Tear in my Heart (6)

Summary: Steve Rogers has been your best friend since college. He’s loud and obnoxious and an utter womanizer but he’s your best friend. So when he asks another woman to be his fake date to his brother’s wedding, why did it piss you off so much?

Characters: Steve Rogers x reader

A/N: Angsty people everywhere. The wedding, Steve finally sees the reader in her dress and there’s a cliffhanger of an ending! Thank you to @suz-123 for being my beta and helping me with this! I hope you guys enjoy it, if you liked it throw me a reblog!

This is written for @sgtjbuccky  ‘s writing challenge! 

Warnings: Angsttt!

It was six in the morning when you woke from your restless sleep in Sam’s room. He had given you the bed and was asleep on the nearby couch, snoring lightly and laying in a very uncomfortable looking position. You feel a little guilty for making him sleep on the couch but he didn’t seem to mind, in fact he insisted.

Last night when he found you in the hallway alone and crying like an idiot, he immediately took you to his room without even asking what happened. It was as if he already knew. He let you sleep in one of his t-shirts and said you could stay as long as you wanted but, for all his niceness, you still felt like shit.

Sighing tiredly you slipped out of the bed and gathered up your things before quickly getting changed into your dress from last night. You scribbled a quick note for Sam on the notepad on the side of the bed and quietly left the room.

You had to go back to the suite you shared with Steve, you didn’t have a choice. All your clothes were in there and the last thing you needed was one of his family members seeing you still wearing last nights clothes sneaking through the hallways. So you walked back to the suite in the dead of the morning, hesitating at the door for a moment.

You had no idea what you were going to say to Steve about where you were or why you’d rushed off like that last night. Actually you did know what you wanted to say to him but you knew you couldn’t say that, the only thing that came to mind was that he broke rule number one, Don’t hook up with anyone while you’re here.

It just felt so much worse that it had to be his ex girlfriend.

Taking a deep breath you swiped your keycard at the door and pushed it open, quietly stepping in.

You were surprised to see Steve already awake, he was sitting on one of the couches frowning down at his phone and the moment he hears you walk in, he shoots to his feet.

“Hey.” He said softly, you can see the guilt on his face.

“Hey.” You muttered in return, walking passed him towards the bedroom.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah.”

There’s a pause and he followed you to the room, waiting hesitantly at the door for you to say something to him, anything but you say nothing.

“Where’d you sleep last night?” Steve asked, “Bucky’s?”

You looked at him with a frown, why the hell would he assume you went to Bucky’s room.

“Sam’s room, and, even if I had gone to Bucky’s room, is that a problem?”

“No, I just assumed because of last night, you two...disappeared together.”

“Is that what this is about?” You exclaimed frustratedly, “Because I disappeared with him?”

“What? No, I don’t care who you sleep with-”

“Sleep with him?! Are you an actual fucking moron?! Why would I sleep with him? I am here, as your date!” You yelled, a little louder than you had expected, but you were thoroughly taken aback that Steve thought you’d gone off to sleep with Bucky.

“I just mean that-”

“No, just don’t. You slept with someone else, Steve, not me!”

“Cricket -”

“Ugh shut up Steve, can we drop it, I am not in the mood to talk about this anymore.” You snapped, it was a little harsher than you had intended but you suddenly had a headache and seeing Steve had brought up those feelings inside you, again, and you really didn’t want to deal with them this early in the morning. Especially not after what you had seen him doing just a few hours ago.

“Y/N, I’m sorry.” He blurted out, “I fucked up and-”

“You have nothing to be sorry for, we’re not in a relationship, Steve.” You cut him off.

“I know I broke our rule, you can slap me now if you want, I deserve it, I’m an ass.”

“I don’t care, Steve, I just want to sleep, so, if we’re done here, I’m going to bed.”

A hurt look came across his face for a moment and then he just nodded before he walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. You sighed deeply and rubbed your face tiredly, this whole situation was a cluster fuck and you weren’t dealing with it very well.

Shutting Steve out was probably a bad idea, but you were mad at him and you needed to deal with that. Maybe it wasn’t fair to be madat him considering he really didn’t owe you anything but you had just assumed he could respect you more and honor the pact you two had made, clearly not. But right now, all you wanted was to curl up in the soft bed before you and pass the fuck out, which is exactly what you did.

Steve sighed again rubbing his face tiredly and shook his head as he stood in the quiet livingroom of the suite thinking about how hurt you looked , “But I didn’t sleep with her.” he muttered softly to himself.

Steve is sitting at the breakfast table, listening to his family engage in conversation with one another but his mind is elsewhere. He is listlessly moving the scrambled eggs about his plate unable to eat any of it for some reason. His mind keeps replaying the argument he had with you this morning and the more he thinks about it, the worse he begins to feel.

Thankfully Natasha hadn’t shown up for breakfast either, the whole situation was already fucked up and the last thing he needed to do was speak to Natasha after their fight last night. He’d left her standing there when he started after you and she felt a little slighted. He was an idiot sometimes, he now had two girls he loved, mad at him.

“Where’s Y/N, this morning?” Pepper asked him from across the table, but he doesn’t seem to hear her.

“Steve?” His mother says softly beside him, touching his arm. This rouses him from his thoughts and he looked at her.

“Sorry, what?”

“Everything okay, darling?” She asked, “With Y/N?”

“Yeah, she’s just tired and wanted to sleep in. I think she’s a little hungover.” He lied.

“And it has nothing to do with the fact that you left with Natasha last night?”

Steve sighed deeply and looked at his mother, she knew him too well for him to lie. As much as he wanted to hide things from her, he knew it was useless to do so.

“I think I fucked up,”

“Well then go fix it.” She smiled gently at him.

“I don’t think I can, or at least she won’t listen to me right now.”

“Stevie, darling, if there is one thing I know its a woman who's in love and that girl is head over heels in love with you, believe me, she will listen to you if you tried a little harder.”

Steve froze, his heart jumping in his chest when his mother said you were in love with him. For a moment and only a moment, he’s elated to hear she thinks you’re in love with him and then his stupid brain kicked into overdrive. You couldn’t be in love with him because you were with Bucky last night, that was the only reason he was with Natasha last night. You liked Bucky and Bucky liked you, he isn’t an option for you and never was. 

This sudden realization soured his mood.

“I should go take her breakfast,” Steve said getting up from his seat, leaving his untouched food. His mother catches his arm before he walked off and gives him a look.

“Stevie, just talk to her.” There’s a firmness to her tone that he knows comes from a good place but at the same time, it irritates him.

“Okay.” He nodded and then shrugged her hand off before he walked off back in the direction of the rooms.

When Steve returned to the room, he found you already awake sitting on the balcony reading a book in the morning sun. You’d already gotten yourself breakfast and were drinking a cup of coffee which sat beside you on the bench you sat, steam slowly rising from the ceramic blue mug.

“Hey,” Steve said clearing his throat as he stepped onto the balcony.

“Oh, hey.” You replied looking up at him for a moment before going back to the book in your hands.

“Can we talk for a second?”

“Sure.” You sighed and closed your book, placing your index finger between the pages to bookmark the last page you had stopped at and looked up at him expectantly.

Steve moved to sit on the lounge chair opposite you, it was white beech wood with the prettiest pastel blue cushions on it. He clasped his hands in front of him, looking down for a moment and you hear him sigh.

“I’m sorry.” Steve said quietly, “I never wanted to make you feel ...you know.”

“Again, you have nothing to apologize for, I am not your girlfriend and the reason I left was that I didn’t want to cockblock you, you have a history with Natasha, I get it, exes at weddings always end up fucking. And as for how I feel, I feel fine, perfectly fine. Actually, I have no feelings about this situation so can we get over it now?” Your response was one you had been working on since you woke up, you wanted to tell him how much it hurt you but you decided against it.

Steve Rogers was not the relationship type, he was the kind of guy you fuck once or twice and then when you’re in your forties still think about sometimes. He was incapable of loving anyone or anything besides himself.

“I never slept with her.” He insisted.

You hesitated for a moment, unsure whether to believe him or not, but then, you thought resolutely, you didn’t care either way. “Whatever, I don’t care what you did with her.”

“But we made a pact.”

“Steve, it’s just a stupid little pact. You can do or sleep with whomever you want, you’re a grown ass man or atleast you pretend to be and I’m only here because I forced you to take me as your date. You don’t owe me anything.”

Your words stung, as much as he could see you putting on a front that you didn’t care, Steve knew you and he could see how much this upset you and he wanted to kick himself for it. 

Why the fuck couldn’t he just be normal and not do shitty things, he thought to himself.

“It meant something to me.” He said softly.

“Well, clearly not, otherwise you wouldn’t have broken it.” You snapped, sounding a lot more upset than you had intended. You immediately took a breath and reigned in your emotions, not wanting it them to show or get the best of you, this was just a facade, you were his fake girlfriend, that was all.

Without missing a beat you stood up, picked up your coffee from the table and walked back into the suite. Steve sighed but gets up to follow you inside as well.

“Are you going to be mad at me for the rest of the trip?” He asked.

You set the coffee cup down on a nearby counter and turned towards him, forcing yourself to smile at him. “No, I am not mad at you, at all. Stop thinking I am.” You said

“Okay...are you sure?”

“Positive, fuckface.”

Steve suddenly grinned at you looking relieved, and you wanted to roll your eyes. Boys are so fucking dense sometimes, but you weren’t going to dwell on it either. Steve did a shitty thing, and it hurt you but you were here for him and he was your best friend. You didn’t want to lose him as a friend just because your heart suddenly decided he was what you needed in life.

“Do you want to go to the farmers market nearby, today? Everyone is going to be busy with the wedding shit so we can escape for a bit.” He suggested.

“You want to go to a farmers market?” You found yourself laughing at this idea.

“Yeah, why not, I mean I can do normal human things.”

“Just you and I?”

“Yeah, We can invite Sam and Bucky but I don’t think that’s their scene.”

“Okay, yeah, I guess let’s go to the farmers market.” You muttered tossing your book onto the couch and heading towards the bedroom to get dressed, Steve following you.

“Oh, and, Steve?” You said pausing in the doorway and turning around. 

You looked up at him for a second and then without warning slapped him across the face. He stumbled backward, his hand flying to his cheek a shocked expression on his face.

“Wha…” He stuttered.

“That's for breaking rule number one.” You said casually and then walked away, leaving him standing there looking stunned.

The farmers market was quite literally something out of a movie, it was everything you could have imagined it to be. All the little stalls with their colorful fruit and vegetables, the heavenly smells of fresh produce being chopped or blended or cooked into something delicious looking. Of course, the speakeasy which just stole the entire show.

You strolled through the market with Steve whose arm was casually slung around your shoulders. You had chosen to ignore it for the time being and just enjoy being here with him, even though those stupid feelings were yelling at you again.

Steve was talking about how much he hated strawberries when you suddenly halted both of you, causing him to look down at you in confusion.

“What?” He asked adjusting his sunglasses on his face.

“My ex is here.” You groaned turning away from the direction in which you see him.

“Oh, shit, which one?”

“The most recent one, you dumbass.” You rolled your eyes at him.

“Erik?”

“Yeah.”

Steve looked around for a moment until he sees him, and suddenly he pulled you a little closer towards him. This surprised you since you and Erik hadn’t broken up badly, it was sort of a mutual agreement that things just weren’t working out anymore between you two and it was time to call it.

Needless to say, you’d always said he was the one. You did take the breakup pretty hard and Steve was there for you through all of it, the late night calls and all the tears. Packing up your apartment and getting rid of all the memories you shared with Erik and then the hardest part of them all, saying goodbye to him as a friend.

Steve was a trooper through it all and you’d always remember that. For all his snark and sass and man-whoring ways, Steve Rogers was the one who helped you back onto your feet after your break up with Erik.

“Oh no, he’s seen us, fuck.” You groaned softly, your heart rate speeding up when you see a surprised look come over Erik’s face and he started towards the two of you.

“Just act cool, hoe. You got this, remember, we prepared for this?” Steve murmured to you, giving you a little squeeze and at that moment you were glad the first time you were bumping into Erik since the breakup that Steve was here with you.

“Hey you,” Erik said greeting you as he walked up to you, his arms already reaching out for a hug. You stepped out of Steve’s arm and returned his warm hug, the familiar feeling of it hitting you harder than expected.

“Hey, Erik.” Your voice sounds a lot softer as your whole mood changed around him, you’d forgotten just how much he’d meant to you.

Steve greeted him with a curt nod and a handshake as if the two of them hadn’t been friends before the breakup. He stepped a little closer beside you, brushing his hand against yours as if he were marking his territory. You chose to ignore Steve’s blatant manly display and smiled at Erik. Fuck, he was handsome, even more so than you’d remembered. All broad-shouldered and muscular, brown eyes and angular jawed.

“What are you doing here?” He asked, returning your smile with his dazzling one.

“We’re in town for Steve’s brother's wedding.” You said.

“That’s awesome, congrats to him.”

“Thanks.”

An awkward pause before Erik spoke again, “We should hang out sometime while you’re here, maybe get a cup of coffee.”

“Yeah, I’d like that.”

“So would I,” Steve interjected, asserting himself into the conversation.

“Oh, yeah, of course, man, it’d be nice to catch up,” Erik said ridding himself of his surprised expression.

You stopped yourself from rolling your eyes at Steve and ignored him as he slung his arm over your shoulders. Erik’s eyes glanced at Steve’s arm around you and then he looked at you slightly arching an eyebrow at you, almost as if he were silently asking you the question you knew he couldn’t ask out loud.

“Anyway, give me your number and I’ll hit you up sometime.” He said pulling out his phone and handing it to you. Without hesitation, you took his phone and punched your number in before handing it back to him.

From the corner of your eye you see annoyance flash across Steve’s face but if he is annoyed, he doesn’t say anything. A few more words are exchanged between the three of you before Erik says goodbye and walked off, leaving the two of you alone once more.

“So are you seriously going to have coffee with him?” Steve said sarcastically the second Erik is out of earshot.

Rolling your eyes at his question, you shrugged Steve’s arm off your shoulder and began to walk to one of the nearby stalls. You didn’t know if you would go out with Erik or not but you like the idea that you had the option to, of course, this wouldn’t make Steve very happy.

“Hey, don’t ignore me.” He grumbled falling into step beside you.

“I’m not ignoring you, I am choosing not to answer your stupid questions.”

“It’s not a stupid question.”

“It is, and it’s also none of your business.”

“Well, it kinda is because remember last time…?” He gave you an expectant look, and you sighed. In a way Steve was right but you weren’t going to tell him that.

“Are you jealous, Steve?”

“What? No, I am not. But, you are my fake girlfriend, so...” He shrugged trying to play it off cool but you could see it bothered him a little.

“Whatever, can we just get some alcohol in us and enjoy the rest of this farmers market.”

“Yeah, Gin bar?”

“Absolutely.”

Upon returning to the resort from an entire day of activities with Steve, the two of you tried your best to slip past all the guests that had been arriving for the wedding later that evening, but he was caught by one of his family members and dragged out onto one of the wooden decks to say hello to everyone.

For the next hour, the two of you spent your time making small talk with the guests. It was tedious having to answer the same questions about how, and when you and Steve met and if you two were getting married next and what was the future plan.

But by the end of it all, you had the entire fake story down to the minutest of details. It was actually kind of fun making up stories about the fake relationship the two of you had, Bucky and Sam watched the two of you lie your way through the crowd and rolled their eyes every time Steve said how in love with you he was or when you kissed his cheek in an attempt to sell this little charade.

You ended up bumping into Natasha at the bar at some point, as much as you tried to avoid her. It was inevitable that you’d have to speak to her.

“Do you have a moment?” She asked smiling at you.

“Sure,”

“I know you saw Steve and I last night, and I want to assure you-”

“Natasha its okay, whatever you two did I don’t really want to know. It’s most likely just going to upset me and ruin this whole thing and we’re here for other people so let's drop it, okay?”

She regarded you for a moment before she nodded, “I am sorry.”

“Please, don’t be.” You offered her a smile. You couldn’t hate her or be mad at her, she’d actually dated Steve and you were just faking it with him.

Steve appeared beside you, he looked between you and Natasha for a moment. “Nat.” Was all he said before he grabbed your hand and pulled you away from her.

“Let’s get out of here,” Steve said quietly to you practically dragged you away from the other guests.

“God, if I had to hear one more story about my cousin and her kids, I would have killed myself,” Steve grumbled as the two of you stepped onto the elevator.

“Oh, they weren’t so bad, I kinda liked them.” You laughed.

“Of course you would, all girls like that dreamy crap.”

“No, you’re just a stone-hearted, cynical, asshead.” You retorted and Steve laughed again.

Neither of you realized that you were still holding hands as you stepped off the elevator and made your way towards your shared suite. Steve walked beside you swinging your hand slightly in his.

“I had a good day.” He said smiling down at you.

“Yeah, me too, we haven’t done that in a while, huh?”

“Which is weird because we spend almost every waking day together.”

“But always with Sam and Bucky.”

“True, those two really need to find girlfriends.” Steve laughed.

“And you don’t?”

“I have one.” He replied grinning at you and suddenly pulling you closer to him, this gesture takes you by surprise as he falls a step behind you and wraps his arms around your shoulders, walking the two of you down the hallway.

“A fake one.” You shot back playfully but your heart was hammering in your chest at that moment.

“Semantics.” came his reply just as you opened the door to the room. You both stepped inside his arms still around your shoulders, his chin now resting atop your head as you walked.

“This is a very weird position to be walking in.” You said chuckling and stepping out of his arms.

Steve pulled a face at you when you walked away, but he doesn't say anything. It’s almost time for the wedding and neither of you has even started getting dressed.

“Hey, can I ask you something?” You said dropping down onto one of the couches.

“Shoot.” He replied taking a seat beside you, his shoulder touching yours.

“What happened between you and Natasha?”

“I told you, nothing happened last night, we-”

“No, I mean, why’d you break up and never speak about her.” You interrupted him.

“Oh…it’s a long story.”

“Give me bullet points?”

“Well, if you must know, I loved her, she broke my heart and moved across the ocean and never spoke to me again.”

“Why did she leave?”

“Her education was a little more important than we were, I guess.” He shrugged, the look on his face told you it bothered him to talk about this so you decided to drop it.

“We should get showered,” You said kicking off your shoes and tousling his hair before padding towards the bathroom, “We have an hour and a half till the wedding.”

“Oooh, together?!” Steve said excitedly following you.

“No, Steve!”

“Ah, man, that's no fun.”

“Moron.” You laughed as you pulled your top off and walked into the bathroom, shutting the door before Steve could see anymore.

Steve gazed after you for a few moments before he shook his head and sighed at the feeling in his chest whenever he heard you laugh. He wanted to say something to you, no he needed to say something but he had no idea where to even start.

And after today, spending the whole day with you doing things that required you to be so close to him all the time, Steve knew he was irrevocably in love with you and he was clueless on how to process this information.

You stood before the long mirror in the room, Steve behind you waiting for him to zip up the beautiful black dress he’d bought you. His fingertips slid up your skin causing you to shiver slightly as he pulled the zipper up, slowly and you felt the dress hug your body.

Looking at him through the mirror, Steve looked exceptionally handsome in dark blue tuxedo, hair brushed back away from his face, and he smelled fucking amazing. It was hard not to notice how well the blue of his tuxedo complimented his eyes, those pretty blue eyes of his.

“All done.” He said stepping back and smiling at you, the sound of his voice causing you to quickly look away from him and at yourself in the mirror.

“Thanks.” You mumbled, feeling heat creeping into your cheeks, and silently prayed he didn’t see you admiring him.

“You look amazing.” Steve complimented you.

“You don’t look half bad yourself.”

He smiled at you then held out his bowtie for you to put on for him, “Tie me?”

You sighed and laughed softly, wondering if he would ever learn to tie his own tie. Even though you secretly loved it when he asked you to do it. “Come here, idiot.” You said, taking the bowtie from him.

Steve smiled brightly at you and stepped a little closer to you, the smell of his cologne invading your senses as the two of you stood in front of each other. You slid the bowtie around his neck and began to tie it, Steve keeping his eyes on your face the entire him.

If both of you feel this almost tangible electricity between each other, neither of you say anything at that moment. Your fingers brushed against the skin on his neck and he swallowed thickly, as he felt his heart jump a little.

Steve’s mind is racing, all he wanted to do was lean down and kiss you. You looked so fucking pretty in that dress, with that red lipstick on your pretty mouth. It was frustrating him.

“All done.” You smiled at him, brushing his shoulders, and straightening his tux jacket.

“I have something for you,” Steve said stepping away from you, he turned around and walked over to his bag. He rummaged around the bag for a moment, you moved to sit on one of the chairs and watched him with a curious expression until he pulled out whatever it was and He walked back over to where you sat.

Your eyes traveled to the black Harry Winston box that Steve set it on the dresser beside, a smile on his face as he waited for your reaction. You looked up at him in confusion.

“What is that?”

“A gift, obviously.” he rolled his eyes.

“For me?”

“Yes, dumbass.”

“But why?”

“Just because.” he shrugged.

“Oh…” Was all you could say, Steve had never gotten you this kind of gift before. Your heart was suddenly racing as you watched him open the velvet box and reveal the prettiest emerald necklace you had ever seen. It was just rows of emeralds and diamonds laid next to each other, on a silver setting, simple and stunning.

“Steve, it’s-”

“Perfect.” He finished your sentence for you, removing the necklace from the box and moving to stand behind you. He placed it on your neck and clipped it on at the back, his hands lingering on your shoulders, longer than necessary.

“Why did you get me this?”

His eyes met yours and he just shrugged, “It suits the dress,” he smiled at you.

“It’s too much, I can’t accept it.” 

“Shut up and just say thank you,” He chuckled,

“I love it, thank you.’ You said, sounding breathless.

“You look perfect.” He murmured softly.

As you were about to reply, a knock on the suite door interrupted the two of you and you both turned towards it. You hear him sigh as the moment between you is now gone, and he made his way to the door to answer whoever it was.

To say Tony and Pepper’s beach wedding was stunning would be an injustice. It was like something straight out of a fairytale. The entire private beach had been completely transformed since that morning, and it took your breath away.

The beautiful archway that had been put up where the couple would be married, was adorned with gorgeous white roses and fairy lights. The white chairs that were placed in rows in front of it had beautiful yellow and white roses along the aisle Pepper would walk down and the backdrop of the setting sun and the beach made it look surreal.

You took your seat in the front row beside Steve’s mom who forced you to sit beside her, she now held your hand, a happy smile on her face and tissue in hand, as the ceremony began. You couldn’t take your eyes off of Steve who was standing to the left of Tony, his eyes were on the happy couple who were just about to recite their vows and I do’s, a small smile on his face.

And when the minister announced them, man and wife, Steve’s eyes met yours and he smiled at you, giving you a wink. That little gesture felt as if he’d set your whole world alight and you couldn’t help but smile back at him, as everyone rose to their feet and clapped for them, now, Mr. and Mrs. Stark.

You lost Steve in the crowd of people congratulating the happy couple and found yourself making your way through the crowd towards the nearest bar you could find.

“You look beautiful,” Bucky said, suddenly appearing beside you.

“Thanks , you don’t look too bad, yourself.” You complimented him, even though he looked fucking gorgeous in his black tuxedo. How he didn’t have every girl here throwing themselves at his feet yet, amazed you.

“Are you kidding? I brought my A game.” He replied adjusting his bow tie proudly, making you laugh.

The two of you conversed for a few moments longer before Steve finally found you. As he walked towards you, his mother on his arm you suddenly felt your heart skip a beat. Everything about him at that moment made you feel warm and fuzzy, from the way he looked in his tux, to his mom on his arm and especially the smile he wore on his face.

“Hey you.” He said softly leaning down to kiss you on the cheek when he reached where you stood.

“What did you think of the ceremony, Y/N?” Maria asked you, she’d let go of his arm and was now taking a glass of champagne from a waiter who walked passed.

“It was beautiful.”

“It was, and you look stunning.” She commented gesturing towards you, “I love that necklace.”

“Oh, thank you, Steve gave it to me today.” You replied reaching up to touch the beautiful necklace he’d given you.

His mother looked at him for a moment, a wry smile appearing on her face, there seemed to be a look exchanged between the two of them but you had no idea what was going on so you ignored it and struck up a different conversation.

A bit of bickering banter between Bucky and Steve and more chatter about the wedding, then holding onto Bucky’s arm he walked you a few feet in front of Steve and his mom as you headed off towards the reception.

“So, you gave her the necklace?” Maria asked Steve quietly as they walked a few feet behind you and Bucky, just out of earshot.

“I did,” He nodded.

“Does she know about it?”

“No, I haven’t told her yet.”

“Are you happy, Stevie?”

“I am…”

“Then I am happy for you and for her.” His mother smiled at him giving his hand a little squeeze, “She’d be proud of you and how far you’ve come, they both would.”

“Thanks, mom. I wouldn’t be where I am today without you though.”

“Ahh, I did the bare minimum, this was all you.” She pulled him down to her level and kissed him on the cheek before walking off to join the rest of the wedding party.

Steve watched his mom walk off, his eyes moved from her, to you. You stood with Sam and Bucky now, laughing at something Sam said and Steve feels his heart stutter. You looked like a goddamn princess in that dress, and all he wanted to do was kiss the fuck out of you, but he couldn’t.

So he sighed and trudged over, putting his best smile on his face and shoving his feelings aside again.

The reception was beneath the stars, fairy lights adorned the entire area. Beautiful white roses, crystal glasses, white and gold decor sat on the tables. From the moment you walked into that reception it felt like you were in another world.

“Holy shit, this is fancy.” You muttered. Beside you, Steve chuckled softly and slipped his hand into yours. He leads you through the reception to find where you two are seated.

After finding where you were seated, Steve took the seat beside you with a smile on his face. He seemed a lot calmer and less on edge than he had in a few days. Maybe he was glad this was almost over and you two could go back to being just friends and not pretending to be in love.

“Want a drink?” He asked you softly, his hand still holding yours.

“Sure.” You nodded, he leaves the table and disappears into the crowd. You looked around the table to see who you were seated with, Sam, Bucky, Natasha, and Steve’s parents were seated at your table. All of them talking amongst each other.

The music is loud but pleasant as it sounds through the air, a band plays some rendition of a song you didn’t recognize. Laughter echoes in the air, the clinking of glasses and cutlery, cheers of merriment and happy words are shared among the guests.

Steve returned to the table with drinks for the two of you just as the first course of food was being served.

“Sorry, got caught up with some of the guests.” He apologized, handing you your drink.

“It’s fine.” You waved his apology off with a smile.

Steve moved his seat a little closer to yours, he rested his arm on the table and took your hand in his again, brushing his thumb on the back of your hand. You don’t react to the gesture, in fact you were waiting for him to do it. It was a gesture you’d kind of accustomed yourself to these last few days, you liked when he did it.

His dad struck up a conversation with the two of you, discussing your job, your family and then turned the topic to work and Steve and the company. You sat quietly listening to Steve passionately talk about his father’s company and you couldn’t help but smile, he seemed so into it for once you didn’t think he was just a general fuck about at that company.

“What?” He asked you turning his attention towards after his father had gotten up to go and dance with his wife.

“Nothing, it’s just…” You paused trying to find the right words, “Nice to see you this way.”

“What way?”

“You know, a normal functioning person.”

“I am normal.” he chuckled jabbing your arm with his finger.

“Please, you’re the furthest thing from normal, or functioning.” you snorted.

“You’re one to talk, you hang out with me so how does that reflect on you.”

“Okay, good point.”

Steve smiled at you, the two of you just looking at each other for a moment. The way his blue eyes sparkled under the starlight made your heart flutter, the closeness of his body to yours, it was all heady.

His gaze is pulled away from you suddenly when someone tapped on glass, the clinking ringing through the air signaling to everyone there was a toast about to happen. It was Tony, he stood up and spoke about his bride and how happy and thankful they were for everyone here and for celebrating with them and so on and so forth.

You were hardly paying attention to the speeches that everyone gave, the best man went up and gave a speech, as did the maid of honor. But your attention was on Steve, and his hand that was on your thigh dancing dangerously up your leg, his eyes forward as he paid attention to the maid of honor and her speech.

His fingers ran up your exposed thigh, from your knee to where the slit in the dress stopped on your upper thigh. Every moment his fingers slid across your skin, you felt yourself grow more flustered, your heart jumping each time they danced up your leg.

A eruption of clapping brought you back to reality and the loss of Steve’s touch on your leg, you quickly gathered yourself and clapped along with everyone else even though you had no idea what you were clapping for. Once the speeches are over, everyone goes back to talking among themselves and the music starts up again,

Steve leaned close to you, his mouth right at the base of your ear and you feel his breath tickle you, a shiver runs down your spine and he hasn’t even spoke yet.

“Do you want to dance?” he murmured softly.

You just nodded afraid that if you spoke your voice would betray you at that moment. Steve takes your hand and guided you towards the dance floor, all while leaving you wondering when the hell you gave him such power over your emotions.

He spun you around the moment you touch the dance floor, his arm around your waist the other holding your hand. He drew you close to him and placed his cheek against your temple. The two of you sway along to the slow song, and you moved your hand from his shoulder and curved it around the back of his neck, he reacted in turn by holding you close.  A gesture of intimacy, one neither of you was expecting from the other.

The song had ended and another started, but neither of you notices. Steve pulled back slightly and looked down at you, his face just centimeters from your now. Once again your heart hammers slow and hard in your chest as you looked up at him.

“Steve…” You said in almost a whisper.

“Yeah?”

“What are we doing?”

“Running with it.”

Suddenly his lips were on yours, fervently kissing you and you let him. This wasn’t part of the facade anymore, this was real and tangible and it felt electric. The passion and fervor in his kiss stunned you, he held your hand to his heart gripping it tightly and then finally breaks the kiss, leaving both of you breathless.

Tags for this fic are closed.

[februarytheseventeenth]

Whatever It Takes | Masterlist

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Reader

Summary: Determined and desperate to get married to the love of his life after the disastrous turn of events, Tony decided to bring you in to help plan his wedding. To ensure your safety, he also recruited a certain blue-eyed captain to be your bodyguard.

A/N: Hi! This is written for the incredible and beautiful Salina @sgtjbuccky’s End of Year Writing Challenge. The prompt was “Unless I screw this up again, I’m going to marry you.” “Well you better not mess this up”. I’ve been cooking up this idea since last year, and I’m so excited to finally share it with you all! It’s mostly fun and fluff, with lots of sass and maybe a bit of action!

Status: In progress

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Epilogue

[ofstarsandvibranium]

Not The Ideal Proposal

Fandom: Marvel

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader

For @sgtjbuccky ‘s End of Year Writing Challenge. My prompt was:

“Take my hand.” 

“Why?” 

“I’m trying to ask you to marry me, so take my damn hand!” 

“GOD FUCKING-YOU KNOW WHEN YOU SAID WE WERE GOING ON A DATE, THIS ISN’T WHAT I HAD IN MIND!” you yelled above the gunfight. You were pissed. You and Bucky were celebrating your three year anniversary and it all went to shit when Steve had called for emergency back up on a mission nearby. 

You stood up from your hiding space, firing your gun at the assailants, and you dove behind collapsed desks. Bucky joined you within moments, panting, “I swear, doll, the night was supposed to go a lot better than this.”

Bucky pulled the pin out from the smoke grenade he somehow got a hold of and threw it over the desks. Smoke burst through, clouding the room but that didn’t stop the raining bullets. He took your head and nodded to his right, “Let’s go.” He pulled you with him, crouching down and doing your best to go unnoticed. 

Once the two of you made it behind the group of hostiles, you both shot each one in the head before they even noticed you were there. 

You let your arm that held your gun fall limp to your side. Your other hand still intertwined with Bucky’s. You let out an exhausted sigh and spoke into your comm, “Hostiles taken care of. How’s it lookin’, Steve?”

“We’re all clear. Thanks guys. I’m really sorry your anniversary was ruined.”

“This definitely makes it the most exciting so far,” Bucky said with a joking tone. You couldn’t help but roll your eyes with a smirk.

“Anyway, you two go ahead. We got it from here.”

You tugged on the sleeve of Bucky’s now ruined suit jacket, “Quick, before he changes his mind!” the two of you made your way through the building, looking like elegant messes. 

Bucky’s blue velvet suit was crumpled, ripped, slashed, and covered in debris dust. Your matching floor length dress had been ripped to give you more ability to fight. Your hair was in disarray and covered in dust. You also had lost an earring at one point. Your heels were long gone. You kicked them off sometime during the fight. 

“Honestly, where the Hell can we go now? We don’t particularly look ready for some fine dining.” you said with a shrug.

Bucky stopped and looked at you. His eyes were soft as they stared into his own. He held out his metal hand, “Take my hand.”

Your brows furrowed in confusion, “Why?”

“Sweetheart, please don’t fight me on this. I’m really bummed our anniversary didn’t go as planned but I’m trying to ask you to marry me, so take my damn hand!” he said with an amused smile.

“W-What?” 

Bucky playfully rolled his eyes as he reach over and grabbed your hand, “Tonight didn’t go exactly how I wanted it to. We were supposed to enjoy the musical, go to dinner after, and I was going to take you to the Brooklyn bridge where I was going to propose. But since that all went to shit, I’m just gonna do it now.” Bucky slowly lowered onto one knee, “Y/N L/N, you have been the best thing that’s ever happened to me. You’re my best friend, my love, my life. My everything. Sweetheart, I love you so, so, so much.” he reached into his pocket and pulled out a black velvet box, opening it to reveal a beautiful ring, “Will you marry me?”

You nodded. Too in shock to say anything. Bucky immediately stood up and slid the ring onto your finger. You looked at it in awe and up at Bucky, “I-”

“I know this wasn’t an ideal proposal, you know, with us looking like crap while standing outside a building after we just killed some people, but-”

You pressed your lips to his, “Shut up. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Bucky wrapped his arms around you, pulling you up against his chest, “I love you, Future Wife.”

“I love you Future Husband and Happy Anniversary.”

[the-rightful-king-of-jotunheim]

Obsession

  Pairing: Tony Stark x Reader

  Warnings: A couple of swear words and some minor angst

  Requested: This is my entry for @sgtjbuccky ‘s Writing Challenge with the prompt >>“Person A: “Because I’m worried that the next time you look up from your latest obsession, you’ll be alone and no one is going to be there."Person B: "Are you saying that you’ll leave me?"A: "I would never."B: "Promise?"A: "Promise.”<< 

  Word Count: 1.122

  A/N: After seven drafts and a couple of months, it’s finally here! I wanted this to be the best I’ve ever written (couldn’t reach that goal) because I wanted it to be worthy of Salina’s eyes, you know? Her stories always make you feel like you’re actually in them and the plot, the words, the way she writes them... No, I’m not in love with her, why would you say that? Anyways, I just want to thank her for every single one of her works and hope you like what I’ve scribbled...

~~~~

        Obsession:

        /əbˈsɛʃ(ə)n/

          • an idea or thought that continually preoccupies or intrudes on a person’s mind

   Taking a utilitarian angle at your life one day and realizing what you’ve been doing all these years has never done any good to this world might be soul crushing. But witnessing with your own eyes that not only had they worsened the Earth but had also worsened you was devastating enough for Tony Stark to lose himself and all his beliefs.

   After the veil had uncovered his eyes to make him take a great look at his masterpiece, Tony had done everything in his ability to be a better version of himself. He changed the motives of his actions; suddenly there wasn’t only Tony, there was a billion souls, a million innocent lives, and a planet he had to protect from all evil. Including himself.

   Instead of abandoning Mark I, he kept on going. He failed multiple times, even spent the first couple of months with no notable success. But he moved on with a persistence no one believed he had. And unlike a common hero story, he finally succeeded when his hopes were at their peak.

   The path to making a better person of himself lead towards the path that was making a better Earth. So Tony kept on walking, with his head held high and a confidence that would accompany him along the journey. It proved not to be easy but he had expected no less. This wasn’t just one human being he was dealing with, no, it was a whole planet that had the good and the bad –with a percentage that consumed all faith.

   All along the way, Tony faced dangers and obstacles he hadn’t even dreamt of, yet with the courage the world admired, he managed to tick off the list one by one. But soon Tony realized the threats were much bigger than him, much more bigger than this whole planet. And he not only burdened himself with the task of saving the world but also the universe.

   When it started being a bit too much, when the thoughts of his actions being pointless had corrupted his mind, when he deemed he had lost the fight; it dawned on him. All those times, all those fights, all those restless nights he was never alone. The reason he was able to come this far was not because of some otherworldly change in his personality or abilities but because he wasn’t alone. Neither the burden nor the sorrow was solely his to bear.

   One of the key factors of his newly found awareness was (Y/N). He realized she was there since the beginning, she was there until the end. And the fear of losing her slowly crept up his spine, through his brain and into his heart.

   The fight that was shaking the walls of the compound today was because of this little thought that grew into what kept Tony awake at night and cast an ominous glow into his eyes. He had tried to keep it away from himself but the punches and kicks that overthrew mountains of creatures were proving to be futile now.

   “For the last time, Steve, (Y/N) is not coming with us.” Tony said, trying to keep his calm.

   “I’ve told you, Tony, we’re short on people.” Steve sighed.

   Slowly approaching Tony, you wrapped your arms around him, trying to help him relax at least a little bit. “I can handle it. It’s what I signed up for, isn’t it?”

   The air around you grew thicker, he had made it clear that he didn’t want you to go on this mission the night before yet here you were acting as if you had never agreed not to. Steve stood up from the chair he was sitting on and stepped closer to give a sense of sincerity to his words, “You know you can’t always look after her like she’s your baby, right? She’s one of the strongest Avengers but most importantly she’s independent.” he looked at you, “She can choose what she wants to do.”

   Unable to hold him back, your arms loosened with the sudden outburst from Tony and he furiously stepped towards Steve, “Don’t bullshit me with that independence crap, Rogers! You know how dangerous this one is!”

   “You said it yourself, Tony! It’s not only mine or yours or her life in danger, there are a billion lives at stake!”

   “You think I don’t know that?” he spat, “You think I don’t know that we’re responsible for more than we can handle? A whole universe, for fuck’s sake!” he dropped his hands from Steve’s collars, “But I’ve lost enough, Rogers. And I’m not willing to lose the one thing I’ve got left.”

   Before Steve could say something you gave him a look and dragged Tony into your room. You knew that something was bothering him recently and, Tony being Tony, no matter what you did, you couldn’t get him to tell you what it was. As much as it was painful to watch him worry himself to almost death, you couldn’t help but smile at realizing exactly how much he cared for you.

   Once you were at a safe distance from Steve and in the warmth of your room, you seated him on the bed and kneeled down in front of him. Grasping his hands that were covering his concern filled face, you slowly brought them down to plant a small kiss on the palm of his hands. Feeling him ease up a little bit, you sighed and looked into his chocolate browns.

   “Tony… Be patient with Steve.” Sensing him tense up again, you started rubbing slow circles with your thumb, “I know you don’t exactly have the butterflies and blossoms relationship but… He’ll be there when no one else can.”

   Tony’s head snapped up at your words, his eyes hastily flicking between yours in search of the reason behind those specifically chosen words.

   “Why did you say that?”

   You took a deep breath and tried to choose your next words carefully, “Because I’m worried that the next time you look up from your latest obsession, you’ll be alone and no one is going to be there.”

    “Are you saying that you’ll leave me?” he whispered.

   Not once taking your eyes from his, you shook your head, “I would never.”

   But Tony needed more than that. He needed something to assure him that you never would. So, knowing you had kept every single promise of yours, he asked like a little kid seeking reassurance, “Promise?”

   And you replied, for maybe the millionth time, giving him your word that you would never leave him, “Promise.”

   What the neither of you knew, however, was that the promise you had made that day was the only one you weren’t able to keep.

Taglist: @theoneanna @powerstrangerdacre @fairlightswiftly

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[authoressskr]

Kiss Me Good

This was written for @sgtjbuccky’s End of Year Writing Challenge.

This is my first time writing Marvel, so I hope I did it justice!

Prompt: “I don’t know what to say. I’ve always been really bad at goodbyes.”  “Yeah. Me too.” (Prompt bolded in text below.)

Characters: Reader, Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, Thor Odinson, Bucky Barnes, Sam Wilson, Clint Barton, Pepper Potts (Mrs. Stark), Natasha Romanov, Erika (OFC), Wanda Maximoff, Mention of Hulk/Bruce Banner   ::   Word Count: 5295

Pairings: Steve Rogers x f!Reader

Warnings: Language, Mentions of Injuries

Note: PLEASE do NOT repost, copy & paste, post or share my works (and claim as your own) on any other platform WITHOUT MY EXPRESS PERMISSION AND CONSENT.

-+- REBLOGGING is fine and very appreciated! -+-

“Got any new year’s resolutions?”

“Can’t say that I do, Tony.”

“Such a bore, Captain.” Steve sighs at Tony. He really should have known better than to stop by the kitchen on his way to the gym. He removes the lid from the jar containing the rest of the smoothie he’d made before his run, and hoping to avoid the New Years Eve party discussion, swallows down what’s left. But Tony just stares at him expectantly, popping a few chocolate covered blueberries into his mouth with a knowing smile as he makes himself comfortable leaning against the kitchen island.

“Don’t die?”

“That’s a nearly every day resolution for us.” Tony rubs his hands together. “What you need is a good way to start the new year. Maybe be kissed by a pretty lady?” Steve frowns, not liking where this is headed at all.

“I don’t want to go to another party, Tony.”

“Well, that’s a terrible way to welcome the new year - with a bah humbug mentality towards my parties.”

“I am attending!” Thor chimes in cheerfully, tugging at the towel wrapped around the back of his neck with a wide smile.

“See? Thor is coming! And happy about my party to boot.” Tony smile in agreement with the Asgardian as Sam and Bucky walk into the living room, making Steve think he can finally get out of this conversation.

“Isn’t Pepper’s new assistant going to be there? Man, I’ll really miss Erika. Glad her husband got that job in Japan though.” Clint remarks casually from the other side of the bar, tucked close to the wall with a bowl of ice cream in front of him. Huh. Steve hadn’t even noticed he was there. That’s what he gets for attempting to dodge Tony...an annoyingly intuitive former assassin.

“The cute dame who spilled the coffee all over Steve?” Steve suppresses the groan threatening to spill from his mouth, shooting a glare at his best friend instead. Bucky just shrugs then leans on the wall by Clint, all eyes now on Steve.

“I do not want to go to the New Years’ Eve party.” He says it firmly, turning away from his friends to rinse out the dregs from his cup.

“I do not like green eggs and ham.” Tony mocks as three sets of heels come clicking up behind him.

“Tell me the party isn’t Dr. Seuss themed, Tony.”

“No, Pepper. But that is an excellent idea. F.R.I.D.A.Y. please make a note of that for future party ideas.”

“Yes, boss.” Tony give Pepper a smile before directing his attention to her right.

“Ah! The cute dame in question!” Steve scowls at Tony while Bucky actually leans back in his seat a little to wink at her. Watching her forehead furrow slightly before Erika chastises Tony and Bucky for teasing the new hire.

“It’s alright, Erika. I’ve endured worse than being called a cute dame. What can I help you with Mr. Stark?”

“Well you see, Captain Rogers over there doesn’t want to go to my fabulous New Years’ party tonight.”

“Isn’t that his prerogative, sir?” She cocks her head to the side, ever so slightly and Clint smirks at Steve, watching him definitely not watch her.

“I won’t stand for that kind of talk in this company, Miss Y/N.” She gives him a sharp nod and small smile. “Alright, now, if you were me - how would you convince the illustrious Mr. Rogers to attend?”

“I believe you would have already mentioned the copious amounts of liquor, all the attractive models and generally beautiful women, and the delicious finger foods.” Tony nods at her words, forefinger tapping against his lips. “Well, I would need to know more about him but I think for starters, I would attempt to find something the good Captain was interested in. Perhaps invite the World War II vets that live nearby? Give him a three hour cop out time? Have Ms. Romanov use her far more talented self to get Mr. Rogers to agree to come?” She pauses then looks Steve dead in the eye, fighting not to smile. “Fondue?”

Bucky snorts loudly, faking a cough to cover his smothered laughter as Steve’s eyes widen and he damn near begins to stutter out a series of questions...only for her phone to ring.

“Excuse me everyone.” And she clicks her way down the hallway a little to take her call.

“Where did you say you picked her up from again?” Sam asks Pepper with a smile.

“She came highly recommended from Fury.” Tony pipes up as Erika nods seriously.

“Mrs. Stark, that was Thomas from Tech, eighth floor. He wanted to let you know that the loading dock damaged some of the cargo due to the snow and ice on the ramps.”

“We’ll go down and take a look. Did he say what the cargo was?”

“He sent an itemized list.”

“Very good, Y/N. Well, Tony, I came up here to let you know that you’ll need to find another DJ. The one you booked slid on some ice this morning - on his motorcycle - and broke his collarbone and fractured two ribs.”

“Pay him for a week, his hospital stay and I’ll find someone else for tonight. And I trust you two ladies will also be coming tonight?” Heads bob in agreement before Pepper kisses his cheek and says a quick goodbye before disappearing towards the elevator with her assistants in tow. Tony turns his gaze back to Steve, eyes damn near twinkling at the flustered face Steve had pulled just a few minutes ago.

“Fondue?”

“Shut up.” He glares at Bucky then turns towards the gym, Bucky quickly catching up with his escaping best friend, both sets of super soldier ears catching Thor innocently asking what fondue was.

“I suppose this means you’re going tonight now?”

“I’m gonna use you as a punching bag, Buck.”

“Like that’s gonna get that pretty dame outta your head, punk.” They didn’t even make it to the gym before Steve punched Bucky. Hard.

Bucky just laughed.

You could hear the music and chatter through the elevator doors, nervously running hands down the front of your dress before Erika politely coughed as her husband chuckled beside her.

“Better get used to this. Tony likes parties to distract himself. Also, I think, as a sort of calendar too.”

“That’s a loud ass calendar.” You mutter, warily looking out of the elevator doors at the throng of people before you, trying to fight back the cringe threatening to flash across your face.

“Come on. Night’s young and the elevator doors aren’t just going to stay open.” Erika gives you a little shove forward, sending you from the safe silver space and into the noisy expanse. “Don’t worry, this doesn’t happen too often. And you’ve handled everything else so far with flying colors!” She nudges her shoulder against your own before dragging her husband towards the bar.

“You look lost.” Tony’s words made you jump a little, making his easy going smile widen just a tad. Smiling to hide your nerves, you nod.

“Overwhelmed, I think is the word I would have chosen.” Tony offers his arm with a small eye roll.

“Overwhelmed? By anyone who knows Fury? I highly doubt that. Now, what will you be drinking?” You hesitate slightly, Tony guiding you towards the bar, nodding and smiling as he passed his guests. “Something strong for someone who faced down Captain America?” You can feel the heat in your cheeks and ears, eyes dropping down at his teasing.

“I shouldn’t have done that. I should have been more respectful.”

“Well, he is old.” Tony agrees with a nod, holding up two fingers to the bartender. “Shot? Now, no saying no. I’m your boss.” He hands you the shot glass and you clink before tossing it back and letting out a little hiss at the burn of the alcohol.

“12% my boss.” Tony points a finger and shakes it gently, grinning.

“Ah, Captain! And the Silver Sergeant!” Your spine straightens, shooting Tony a panicked look as his smile only grows. He leans in and hugs you, whispering “Guess that I’m only 12% of an ally right now.”

You’re being more than 12% of a dick right now, Tony Stark. You think as he disappears into the crowd. Forcing yourself to move a little closer to the bar and order a drink. You hear a soft grunt, which makes you wrinkle your forehead a little.

“You, uh, come here often?” You can’t help the chuckle that spills out of your mouth, quickly thanking the bartender before turning to face Captain Steven Grant Rogers.

“No.” Bucky’s shoulders shake a little at the interaction, moving around the two of you to get to the bar. Steve’s neck and ears turn a lovely shade of pink at your answer. Your eyes quickly widen as your teeth sink into your bottom lip. “Sorry. You’re just, um, fluster-worthy?”

“Are you asking…?” He rumbles out a light laugh. “Is that a word?” You take a little sip to steel yourself.

“I said it aloud, thus it is a word.” You both are surprised at your confident tone, the good captain smirking down at you.

“There she is again.” Bucky thrust a glass into Steve’s hand before heading towards Clint a handful of feet away. You miss the look they share, your mind too busy trying to think of a way to first, apologize and second, smooth this over so as not to affect your job. Sucking in a deep breath, you gesture to an empty spot by the terrace doors as he nods in agreement. You aren’t sure what you were expecting, but Steve offering his arm is not it at all. You dip your head in gratitude before linking your free arm loosely with his.

The cacophony of the room seems to die down a little once you reach the massive doors and you’re suddenly trying to dry swallow down your nerves. One of his big hands gesture to a few plush chairs.

“No, thank you. You?”

“Nah.” You chuckle against the rim of your glass as you take another sip causing him to cock an eyebrow. “Yes?”

“Just didn’t expect you to be a man of so few words, I suppose. All the stories I’ve heard…”

“Stories.” He scoffs, taking a long drink from the tumbler in his hand and dropping his gaze to the floor.

“I didn’t mean to insult you.” His blue eyes shoot up from his shoes to your eyes. “Now or, you know, earlier today.” His mouth opens to reply as you quickly blurt out, “Coulson mentioned it to me.” A chuckle rumbles out of his wide chest and you take the time to really appreciate - look - at what he’s wearing. The gray blue button up is stretched across that wide expanse of chest, with a black dress jacket fitting snugly over that. Black slacks and black dress shoes complete the outfit, you notice just before his voice rang out, moving a little closer to you as the crowd shifted in the room with more couples beginning to dance.

“I didn’t take it personal.” A handsome, boyish smile is plastered on his face - reassuring you. “Just something I hadn’t heard since before I came out of the ice. Startled me.”

“Well I am sorry to have startled you then, Captain Rogers.”

“Steve.” He corrects quickly before finishing his drink.

“Steve.” You confirm, smiling up at him. “I didn’t mean to spill the coffee on you a couple weeks ago either. You just seem to make me nervous.”

“Why do I make you nervous, Y/N?” There is a sudden lump in your throat as he smiles down at you, some of his rigid posture relaxing just a tad.

“Well, you and Bucky,” His smile goes down a few watts, you’re sure of it, “Are god’s honest heroes. Both now and during World War II.” And the wattage is back up. “On top of that, you are a very imposing figure - 6 plus of solid muscle - who is apparently a sometimes terrifying teddy bear?”

“You callin’ me soft?” He teases, easing just a tad closer as you begin to relax, his finger tapping absentmindedly against his empty tumbler. You flutter a hand to your chest, gasping softly.

“Do I look like a person to call you names, good sir?”

“I don’t know,” He drops his gaze again before raising them slowly, those blue eyes piercing through you, “Pretty dames can get away with an awful lot.”

“You callin’ me pretty?”

“Yes ma’am.” You nearly drop your glass at the bashful blush that creeps up his neck and the too cute drop of his gaze. You down what’s left of your drink and clear your throat, grateful when a waiter comes by to gather both your glasses. You take a chance and reach forward, placing a hand on his forearm and give it a little squeeze as his head snaps up.

“Thank you for the compliment.” You mutter softly, looking him in the eye briefly before scanning the crowd to get away from his intense baby blues. You weren’t sure your heart could take too much of those eyes gazing directly into your own.

Steve shuffles a little, Sam having moved into his line of sight a half dozen feet behind you. Sam is pointing at you and then his own glass and making a forward rolling motion with his free hand. Geez.

“So, uh, how’d Tony convince you to come work here?” Hearing your soft chuckle makes his heart thrum a little louder in his chest and he can’t keep the smile from his face for long.

“Well, the money isn’t terrible,” you pause as a waiter comes by with an array of appetizers, taking a napkin and a few as he did the same. Bucky is beside Sam, pointing to the chairs - a hell of a lot more subtly than Sam - his hair swinging slightly as he gestured.

“Would you like to sit now?” He questions, his chest tightening as she smiled at him and nods, moving just a few feet to the plush red pair of chairs. She pats the chair next to her, crossing her ankles and angling her legs to the right - politely waiting for him to sit. “Anything besides the money?” He prompts her to continue, popping a bacon, cheese and artichoke encrusted square of bread into his mouth.

“I’d never been past South Dakota, so this was a big opportunity. Not just to see New York, but to travel with Pepper as well.” She pops a stuffed mushroom cap in her mouth, her eyes fluttering closed at the taste before opening and continuing. “I know it’s work, but I’ve always wanted to travel.”

“Why haven’t you?”

“Um, it’s hard to explain...I’m pretty shy most of the time and by the time I had a good job and a little extra money, most of my friends were getting married and having children so they couldn’t go. I didn’t want to go by myself, so,” He watched your left shoulder rise and fall as your fingers tuck a piece of hair behind your ear, more from habit than actual need. “I, um, just worked.”

“I know how that feels. Just waiting, ya know. It’s more difficult than havin’ an adventure.” A bout of rich laughter come from you, startling him in a wonderful way.

“Except for your kinds of adventure I suppose. Those seem pretty difficult.”

“Bucky likes to say that once they cured me of the laundry list of ailments I had, I was even more reckless than before. Which he insists is ridiculously reckless.”

“You say that as if you aren’t ridiculously reckless…” She narrows her eyes playfully, making him swallow a little harder than he intended, a shit-eating grin spreading across his face.

“Name callin’ again, Y/N.”

“Okay. Okay.” Shifting a little closer to him, she pops another appetizer into her mouth. “If you could go anywhere, Steve, where would you go?”

“Somewhere with white sandy beaches and ocean for miles. Just lying under a tree and looking out over it all. What about you, doll?”

You cock an eyebrow, but don’t say anything about the name. “I’d like to go somewhere historic, somewhere like the Mediterranean - Italy, Greece, somewhere like that. I’d also absolutely adore going to Scotland.”

“So bright, breezy wine drenched easy going places or Scotland with it’s clouds and rain and rolling green hills?”

A nod of excitement is his answer, her eyes lighting up. “Have you seen those little igloo hut things in, um, Finland I think?” He shakes his head, grinning simply for the fact that the excitement is nearly palpable. “Well, they’re little huts that you can rent and it’s surrounded by trees and you can see the Northern Lights and I would love to do that. Enjoy a hot spring during the day, pick up some weird chocolate I’ve never tried and just lay there with someone special - cause the ceilings of the igloos are super thick glass - and watch the Northern Lights til we fall asleep.”

“That sounds like a hell of an adventure, doll.”

“Erika said I was probably a travel agent or something in another life.”

“Maybe you were a great adventurer and you still got the itch to go. Maybe not discovering new, dangerous lands, but appreciating the ones we have access to now.” A boldness must have come over her again because her hand settles over his, her thumb swiping just by his own.

“I’m callin’ you soft now, Steve.” He wants to blurt out that at this point she can call him whatever she damn well pleases. Ever since Tony and Pepper had introduced her to them, he’d been starstruck. Bucky called it “mooning” on account of his “cow eyes” every time he saw her. Steve didn’t care what anyone called it either. He had a soft spot for her and if not for the fact that his tongue was currently stuck to the roof of his mouth he’d probably be a chucklehead and say something stupid.

“Just a reckless, soft, dangerous, 6 foot plus teddy bear.”

“You forgot smooth.” Leaning in closer, he mirrors you, a little too eager for closeness. Just over your shoulder is Clint - pursing his lips repeatedly and pointing at your back, making his fight back the urge to glare. “A lot smoother than Sam and Clint and Bucky.” He can feel the heat shoot up his neck and settle in, his cheeks and ears burning red as the butterflies in his stomach kick up their fluttering. Tilting your head towards the windows with a sweet and knowing smile on your lips, “Windows are reflective, Captain.”

“They’re - uh - just tryin’ to help. I got a bit of a crush.” You snap back like the thought hadn’t even crossed your mind.

“On me?” It’s spoken so quietly, had he had normal hearing he would have missed it.

“Yeah - coffee, fondue and all.” There’s silence, which he won’t admit worries him, making him sit up straighter as well. He’s pretty sure this just went upside down on him, since you just sit there with your forehead scrunched slightly - makin’ you look even cuter in his opinion - before he realizes he shouldn’t be thinking of you in that way anymore. “I’ve made you uncomfortable. And I apologize for that, doll, I mean, Y/N.” The butterflies in his stomach promptly turn to rocks in his stomach. “I won’t --” The rest of his sentence is cut off by the softness of your lips against his.

“Midnight isn’t for another two hours!” Sam shouts over your shoulder as you two pull apart, with what he’s sure is identical looks of surprise painted on both your faces.

You both ignore the light laughter around you, Steve tugging you onto your feet and slipping out the french doors to the balcony.

“I have a bit of a crush too.” Your confession whispered shyly into the chilly night air. Steve shrugs his jacket off and slips it onto your shoulders.

“Anyone I know?” He’s closer now, your soft perfume tickling his nose.  

“I spilled coffee on him two weeks ago. And sort of  wrangled him into a party he really didn’t want to go to.” Her fingers brush up along a few of the buttons of his shirt before their eyes meet.

“That guy sounds like a pushover.” You move closer, your chests now almost touching. “Must be a special dame.”

“Well, he is an exceptional man. A softie at heart. A star spangled man with a plan.” He groans loudly at the last bit, causing a laugh to spill from your pretty lips. “It was really too good to pass up, Steve. You can’t hold it against me.”

“A kiss might make me feel better.” Even as he says it, he can feel the heat flush through him.

“Come here with that cute boyish smile.” This one he wants to do right, his hands fluttering down to your waist as his gaze darts from your lips to your eyes. You give him a small nod before pressing closer and raising up on the balls of your feet with your hands planted firmly on his chest.

Pressing your lips together chastely, Steve marveling at how soft your lips are before tilting his head slightly and moving them against yours gently. A soft inhale of breath through your nose spurs him on - spurs him to dart his tongue over her bottom lip. She gives a little gasp but he pulls back, her forehead scrunching up again before she opens her eyes, seeing his lips tugged upward in a gentle smile.

“Gotta treat you like a lady.”

“Really? Your hand sliding down to my ass was gentlemen-like but french kissing isn’t?”

“What a dame.” He mutters happily before his hand returns to her ass, pulling her back against his chest and his mouth slanting over hers happily and a bit greedily.

By the time they pull apart, they’re both sporting dopey smiles. “Can I take you out tomorrow night?”

“As long as you’re my New Years Eve kiss, Rogers, you got yourself a deal.”

Your floating on cloud 9 the next morning at work, hastily clicking your way through a few emails when you hear a soft knock, drawing your gaze up to the tall, blonde drink of water filling out the doorway.

“Hey, doll.”

“Hey! What’re you doing here?” You rise from your desk, moving around the desk as he enters the office. When you meet in the middle, he leans down to press a soft kiss against your lips.

“I, uh, needed to talk to you.”

Uh-oh. Your chest tightens at his words. Was last night a mistake? Swallowing hard you plaster on a smile. “Go ahead.”

“We got called out for a mission. We leave in about an hour. So I wanna ask for a rain check for our date tonight.” He pauses, big blue eyes giving you a puppy dog look. “If you’d have me still.”

You relax and give a small chuckle. “I think I could wait a little longer, handsome.” His big hand wraps around yours, giving a little squeeze as his face brightens up with a smile. “Thank you for coming up here and talking to me.” You heave a little sigh and squeeze his hand back, feeling his thumb rub across the back of your hand soothingly. “I don’t know what to say. I’ve always been really bad at goodbyes.”

“Yeah. Me too.”

“I guess just kiss me good and be safe, Steve.”

“I can do that, doll.”

“Miss, the boss requires your presence in the infirmary.” You set the papers onto your keyboard, grab your cell and rush towards the elevator, pressing the up button a few more times than necessary. You’d never been called to the infirmary and that worried you more than multi-billion dollar deal paperwork.

Once you arrive, you shove your phone into your dress pocket and book it down the hallway towards the more private end where the Avengers are usually treated.

You see Sam leaning against the wall, nodding to his right as you approach, your forehead scrunching as you turn, not able to stop the loud gasp that escapes from you.

Steve and Bucky look like they’ve gone a few dozen rounds with heavy machinery.

“They heal fast,” Wanda whispers as she enters behind you, giving your elbow a friendly squeeze. “They looked worse when Tony and the Hulk dragged them out of the building. I know that isn’t helpful, but just to put it in perspective.”

“Barnes and Rogers are sedated because they had multiple fractures in their legs and feet and continued to walk and run on them.” Tony come in with a little less of his usual sashay, huffing out a breath as he gave a small smile. “Just easier to deal with them this way.”

“Is this why you called me down here, sir?” You swallow the lump in your throat, moving closer to stand between both beds. You take Bucky’s hand and give it a squeeze before turning and running your fingers through Steve’s messy hair.

“Figured they’re rather wake up to your face than mine. And I know the boss, she won’t mind.” Tony winks at you before pushing off the wall and heading for the door. “Oh, and they’ll be awake in about 45 mins or so.”

“Thanks, boss.” His hand waves you off as he exits the room, Wanda giving you a wink of her own - arranging some water and glasses on the table on the other side of Steve’s bed - before gracefully sailing from the room. You withdraw your hands from the super soldiers before pulling a plush chair between them, settling in and returning your hands where they’d been, gently cradling Bucky’s hand in your own and running your fingers through Steve’s hair.

“I don’t really know many stories off the top of my head...and I’m drawing a blank on what to talk about...don’t you hate when that happens?” You chew on your bottom lip, thinking about things you had memorized that weren’t work related. “Do you guys like Edgar Allan Poe?”

“The angels, not half so happy in heaven,

Went envying her and me-

Yes! - that was the reason (as all men know,

In this kingdom by the sea)

That the wind came out of the cloud by night,

Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.”

Steve wanted to let his eyes flutter open but it felt so nice, fingers running through his hair and her soft voice easing him awake, he didn’t want to open his eyes just yet.

“But our love it was stronger by far than the love

Of those who were older than we-

Of many far wiser than we-

And neither the angels in heaven above,

Nor the demons down under the sea,

Can ever dissever my soul from the soul

Of the beautiful Annabel Lee.”

He can hear Bucky’s heartbeat kick up from its resting rate before the short pause she’d taken is broken again.

“For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams

Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes

Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side

Of my darling- my darling- my life and my bride,

In the sepulchre there by the sea,

In her tomb by the sounding sea.”

Bucky clears his throat, startling her.

“No offense, gorgeous, but that was a little depressing.”

“Edgar Allan Poe does tend to be more depressing, sorry. And it’s one of the few things I still have memorized that isn’t work related.”

“Real pretty though.” Steve smiles out, her hand stilling in his hair.

“Depressing pretty.” Bucky chuckles.

“Kind of like your faces right now.” She teases, both men wiggling into a sitting position and giving her playful glares. “Would you both like some water?” They both mutter out a grateful ‘yes’ as she moves to get that for them.

Once they’ve drained their glasses, she flips her chair around to face them better, sitting with a small smile gracing her lips.

“So, is it confidential? The building that whipped Captain America and Sgt. James Buchanan Barnes asses? Maybe code named reckless?”

“I see you’ve talked to Tony, doll.”

“I think I’m entitled to a little ribbing.” Both men look confused for a few minutes. “Do you not know the date? It’s almost February.” Steve knows his mouth has dropped open momentarily at this news. He honestly hadn’t thought it had been that long they’d been on mission.

“Hard to keep track of the date when you’re constantly ankle deep in mud,” Bucky grunts out, shifting in the bed.

He watches you straighten up minutely, lips thinning ever so slightly into a line before forcing a soft smile. Oh, doll.

“I’m sorry. That was selfish of me.” Bucky flicks a look at him for help, upset that he had upset you - even unintentionally.

“We aren’t upset at you, doll. We just didn’t think it had been that long.”

“Completely unintentional, beautiful, I swear.” Bucky’s words nearly overlap his own, both sets of blue eyes switching to puppy mode.

Her phone trills in her pocket, all of them falling silent. She pulls the device from her pocket and unlocks it, quickly typing out an answer before clicking it closed and standing.

“I’m sorry - I need to get some paperwork sent off. Do you need anything before I go?”

A light bulb goes on in Steve’s mind as Bucky gives a barely there shake of his head.

“Just kiss me good and don’t be upset at our grumpy old man words.” A smile, a real smile, breaks out on her face, lighting it up again.

“I can do that, handsome.” She leans in, bracing her hands on the bed before pausing just a breath away. “Only if you forgive me. I tend to be pretty sensitive.”

“Nothin’ to forgive.” He mutters before their lips meet, his hand coming up to rest on the back of her neck, not too eager to have her move away too soon. “I’ll be all healed up before tomorrow night…” He pecks at her lips after he trailed off, repeating the motion again with a smile.

“How about we have a pre-date dinner tonight? I’ll bring some food, Bucky can third-wheel it and tell me some good stories he’s got on you.”

“Chinese?” Bucky pipes up hopefully, Y/N turning to look at him before Steve tightens his fingers ever so slightly on her neck to keep her lips in close proximity to his.

“Sure.” She presses her lips firmly against his before pulling back. “I gotta go review, scan in and then mail those papers. I’ll be back in a bit.” She makes her way to the door before turning and looking as stern as she could manage with a big smile. “Listen to the doctors, please. No hobbling around on your fractures if they aren’t healed - okay?”

“Yes, ma’am.” They both chime out together.

“Thank you!” She gives a little wave as she leaves, prompting Steve to look over at his best friend.

“No telling her about that time at the beach. You know the one.”

“But, Stevie, I was gonna lead with that story...” Bucky is sporting a shit-eating grin as Steve settles back against his pillow, closing his eyes with a smile. “Hey, Steve?” He hums in acknowledgment. “You know that means that Valentine’s Day is just a couple weeks away now.”

“Not. Helping. Bucky.”

Tagging: @sgtjbuccky @unleashthemidnight @thewhiterabbit42 @nobodys-baby-now @clockworkmorningglory @ourloveisforthelovely @stay-frosty-royal-unicorn @chelsea072498 @sakurablossom4 @galaxiesinmyymind

[authoressskr]

Man, Nat pulled one over on Bucky. But Bucky has plans for all that frustration now. 😏

In Safe Hands (one-shot)

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x f!Reader Words: 3815 Prompt: “No offense, but I really don’t like you.” - “My job isn’t to be your friend. My job is to protect you.” Summary: Civilians don’t belong on missions. Oh well? A/N: Written for @sgtjbuccky‘s end of year writing challenge! Thank you Salina!! I had a lot of fun writing, so I hope y’all enjoy :3

>>> My Masterlist <<<

“This is Agent Barnes.” Natasha Romanoff gestured with glinting eyes towards the tall muscular man leaning against the table in the conference room.

“Hello,” you said politely. “I’m—“

“I know who you are,” Agent Barnes said curtly. Your eyebrows flew up as he turned to Natasha. “What I don’t know is why she’s needed. Civilians do not belong on missions.”

“She’s a specialist,” Natasha said evenly. She lifted her chin, eyes steely. “And it’s not up to either of us, remember?”

Barnes scoffed. He mumbled something under his breath, too low for you to hear.

“Rude,” you muttered.

His eyes shot straight to you, a frown etched on his chiseled face. Oops.

Keep reading

[the-canary]

Bel Ami - B.B (10)

Summary: You had bigger fish to fry in NYC between your new job, living in a new city and old friend – you were sure in over your head, but who’s that cute stranger that keeps helping you out? (Reader/Bucky Barnes) 

Prompt:  Person A: “Okay, I have something to confess… I like you. I have for the past two years now and it’s been killing me to hold it in this long but I think you deserve to know.” Person B: “You nerd, we’ve been dating for the past two years.

A/N: this is for @sgtjbuccky‘s writing challenge. there is a little mix going around the prompt, but i hope you enjoy it anyways.

Feedback is always welcomed.

Brown eyes watch like a predator would their neck meal. She pretends not to see a she turns to move more towards the Barnes kid. He didn’t think he would be so lucky, he just needs to find the right moment.

Green eyes keep watch from the back, making sure that everything keeps running smoothly and waiting for her own moment as well...should the need arise.

———–

It’s a strange sight, watching you move to and from one office to another as you get the final preparations for the gala ready. However, it isn’t because you are avoiding James now -- it’s quite the opposite actually as you stay as close as possible when a certain man comes into the office now and then. However, Bucky can see that brown eyes do the same thing as well -- they roam you and wherever you are and you keep your head down.

James isn’t sure what to feel about all this, but he is sure that you and Rumlow (new and obnoxious money that his mother had brought in for connections in Upper New York) know each other, he just needs to find out how and what the hell did he do to you because this demure and quiet version of you is something that Bucky can’t stand.

———–

The Maximoffs don’t know that Rumlow has entered your life once more. You have always been quiet and enduring in the things you had suffered under the man and it seemed that he still had that effect on you, as both Wanda and Pietro have their own angry remarks (cursing in a different language and suddenly getting agitated) when Bucky tells them what has been going on at the meetings.

James is silent, but slowly seething is rage as Pietro -who always knows you better-- begins to tell the story.

“They had some classes together back in college,” he states while looking at through the window though his hands constantly keep moving together to keep him busy, “She helped tutor people whenever they needed help. She started helping Rumlow because he was just awful at everything, but throwing his money around.”

Blue meets slate gray eyes as Pietro frowns, “ He was nice one second, but the moment the moment she turned her down -- Rumlow made her life a living hell. He called, harassed her, had other people bully her just because she didn’t want anything to do with him.”  

“She took a whole semester off after a couple of gals almost threw her down the stairs,” Wanda adds, “Rumlow eventually dropped out, but she is still scared to come back.  She shut everyone out and was too scared to move anywhere else, thinking that she--”

“That she would meet Rumlow again,” Pietro finished off, as Bucky claps his hands together, “We told her to come and look what happens.”

The three of them sit there in the restaurant  for a good while, unsure of what the next step could be and what exactly to do about Rumlow, especially if he started actively looking for you once more.    

———–

You, on the other hand, were moving things forward and thinking of ideas that could better serve the charity gala. Deep down, you knew that it was really about the richest women in the city getting to meet James -- Nat had told you so, but that didn’t mean that you couldn’t do some real good as well especially for the causes that were important to him.

Yes, seeing Rumlow again was scary thing but there were bigger fish to fry -- namely, the dark-haired woman sitting across from you in a sunny cafe a few blocks from the Barnes Tower. It had taken you some time to get a meeting with her, but while Winnie thought you were going to declare your unending love for her son, like so many young women had done before -- you were sitting in front of her with a pamphlet and charts in regards to a certain service dog organization.

“What is all this?” she can’t help but ask as you take a quick sip of your cup.

“I know there isn’t one solid foundation that the gala money is going to,” you explain as she fiddles with the pamphlet, “So, I thought to throw in my hat for an organization I have come to love since coming to New York.”

She stays quiet, blue eyes glancing over the piece of paper you had gotten the last time you had visited. You can’t help but wonder if she is thinking about James, but shrug off -- this was something larger that needed all your attention at the moment.

“They help a lot of people, Mrs. Barnes,” you explain before pulling out your laptop, “Especially someone you hold dear. So, don’t you think that you should just look into them, even just a little?”

Winifred Barnes frowns at your declaration, but stays sitting so you proceed with the rest of your presentation with a smile on your face.

———–

You aren’t quite sure what is going on when James tells you that there isn’t going to be a meeting today, that  he had ordered everyone --including Rumlow-- to leave early and take some time from throwing away all his family’s money.

You frown at the joke, as Bucky lets out a nervous chuckle before leading you down to the main entrance and into the back of a black-tinted car. You almost don’t enter the blasted thing, but then he does that thing--

“Just humor me,” James lets out in a stressed chuckle as he pushes a hand through his hair and you can’t help but think that he is slowly starting to read you like an opened book -- the thought scares just a bit. However, at the sight of those sparkling blues, well you really can’t say no.

“The moment I want to go home--”

“I’ll take you right back,” he finishes your sentence, as you just stare at him for a moment before getting inside and  start being driven farther from the heart of Manhattan.

Bucky grins and your heart doesn’t stop thumping the whole way there.

You end up staring at the bright lights from the car window, completely unaware of who was staring at you the entire time. 

Though, he ends up laughing at the sight of your wide eyes at where he has the two of you stop, though completely unsure of how you might take the whole thing, but after everything you had done for him thus far -- he knew you deserve some pampering.

[februarytheseventeenth]

Whatever It Takes – Prologue

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Reader

Summary: Determined and desperate to get married to the love of his life after the disastrous turn of events, Tony decided to bring you in to help plan his wedding. To ensure your safety, he also recruited a certain blue-eyed captain to be your bodyguard.

Warnings: None..?

Word Count: 632

A/N: This is written for my darling @sgtjbuccky’s End of Year Writing Challenge! It was supposed to be out yesterday, but I got totally sidetracked so sorry about that! Also just to be clear, the reader and Tony are not related, in case you’re wondering. I’ll have the first chapter up as soon as possible. For now, please enjoy! If you have any questions about the story, or just about anything at all, feel free to ask me!

Any constructive criticism/feedback is always welcome and appreciated!

“Tony, this is serious.”

“I know, Pep. I know. The team are on it. You are gonna get your dream wedding. Don’t worry, okay?”

“It’s our wedding,” Pepper sighed before looking back up at Tony, tapping the glowing plate in his chest, “And it’s you I’m worried about.”

Tony didn’t say anything but hugged her closer to him.

It seemed everything was against him marrying Pepper. First, their previous wedding planner thought it was okay to sell the wedding information to the press—as if he hadn’t paid her enough already—hence the public knew the date of their big day. She was fired, of course, but what’s done was done and they decided to stick with the original schedule. It turned out to be a huge mistake, as now, one month until their wedding, FRIDAY picked up some suspicious activities that led her to believe there was a bomb planned for the wedding. The team hadn’t been able to find the person responsible yet, so they had no choice but to put the wedding on hold.

It was late at night when they finished dealing with everything. The last task was writing a check to their new, now ex, wedding planner since she’d quit right after hearing about the bomb threat, understandably.

“What are we going to do now?” Pepper asked after a while, breaking the silence.

Tony remained quiet for a few more seconds before he straightened up and turned to face her, “Let’s get married. Here. Next week.”

“W-what? Tony, that’s not possible.”

“No, think about it. It’ll be just us and our friends. A private wedding. No one will know.”

“But a week? How can you make that happen in a week? This is not like those parties you like to throw, Tony. It’s a wedding. And you know nothing-” Pepper trailed off at the look on Tony’s face. She knew all too well what that look meant, or more specifically who it was meant for.

“Y/N.” She said knowingly, and had to bite her lip to suppress a grin at the way Tony—almost like automatically—immediately rolled his eyes at the mere mention of the woman’s name.

“Yes, her.”

Well, that explained how. Kind of. “But I thought she didn’t do weddings anymore?”

“She’s about to do one now, even if I have to get on the floor and beg her to-”

“Ooh, that sounds too kinky for me.”

The pair jumped at the new voice chiming in over the room’s sound system.

“What the- how- when- why?!”

“Well, twinsies, I may or may not have programmed FRIDAY to call whenever my name was mentioned in your presence. Gotta know what you’re up to, right? Oh, hi Pepper!”

This time Pepper couldn’t contain her amusement at the exasperation on Tony’s face. She couldn’t wait to see the two get together again. “Hello Y/N.”

“Uh, we’re in the middle of a conversation here, if you don’t mind. Hang up. I’ll see you in a bit.”

“Oh, okay then. You know where to find me. Bye!”

“FRIDAY?”

“She’s gone, boss.”

“Good. I’ll deal with you later.” Facing Pepper again, he sighed before taking her hands in his, looking at her determinedly, “I swear to you, Pep, unless I screw this up again, I’m going to marry you.”

“Well, you better not mess this up, then, because I really want to marry you.” She gave him a fond smile, loving the way his eyes lit up at her words.

“Yep, right. You got it, Ms. Potts.”

“Are you going to see her now?”

“Uh-huh, just gotta make a call first.” Winking at her curious expression, he waited for the person on the other end to pick up.

“Tony? It’s almost midnight.”

“Hey, Cap, wanna go get a drink together?”

Next Chapter (Coming Soon)

Taglist: @sgtjbuccky @extremeobsessions101

WIT Taglist: @itzmegaaaaaaan @humanexile @achishisha @delicate-rogers @llamaluverlizzy  @whitewitchdown

[tetralea]

During the last hour

So, this is my submission to the wonderful @sgtjbuccky‘s End of Year writing challenge. Thank you for hosting this, and giving us the opportunity to participate! :)

The pairing turned out as 40!Stucky this time, but Steve is not smoll anymore, because it takes place during the war. 

There are some warnings but not too much, just some angst, fluff, kissing, near to death experience (kind of), almost too late confessions, WWII, and Steve very obviously being in love with Bucky. 

Word count: 2.5K

A/N: So, I wanted to write this as a Bucky x Reader kind of or straight into smut story, but it have never really worked out. That’s why I decided on Stucky, because I am a trash for those two together, and because I kind of wanted to try writing some angst? It’s not very deep or hardcore angst tho, and it almost turned into smut, but I could resist this time. 

I am horrible at giving titles, and sorry for my grammar. 

There was yelling and continuous gunshots. Wounded and dead everywhere. The smell of burned flesh and smoke filled the air.

Steve took a second to think about the process and the decisions he made which took him into this place. The place where he was so eager to get and where Bucky was obliged to go. They become soldiers, got to the war but neither of them had any idea of how it would be, how horrible it really was, how many friends they would see die or get captured. How many villages will be burnt by the time they get there, how many men, women and children would suffer, cry for help and beg them to help. It was hard to imagine, even harder to process.

He had a second before breaking out of his hiding place to look at Bucky. He was focused, his back against the thick wood, holding his gun ready to shoot.

He shouldn’t have been here.

No, Bucky should have been in Brooklyn, charming girls and dream about his future, not here in the god damn war, fighting next to him, risking his life.

He was more worried about his friend than for himself. If anything have happened to Bucky… He shook his head. He could have never forgive himself, he never thought about living longer than Bucky, not with all the sickness and health conditions he had. But now? Now he had a big chance that I might happen.

At this moment he had the signal and broke out, taking down a few Hydra operatives, running after the rest of the Commandos. He and Bucky broke into the facility while the others were securing the doors.

‘The rooms are empty.’ He heard Bucky’s voice from the hallway, lowering his weapon. ‘There is no one here.’

‘It looks like there wasn’t even anyone here.’ Steve looked around, searching for any hidden doors, but there was nothing. ‘Something is not right.’ He walked around one more time, staring at the walls.

‘Fuck.’ Bucky sweared and the blond one’s head turned to his direction immediately. He was standing a on a trap, which could have been a missile, but something else happened.

Some parts of the ceiling opened and a few packages fall out right between them and the only exit of the building.

‘Steve?’ Bucky’s voice was scared as he pointed to the small grenade looking object. It wasn’t very clear first but as is stopped rolling a small picture of a skull got visible on the outside. ‘Should we run? I don’t think it a missile, I think it was the trigger.’ He asked not daring to move at all, his hands slightly shaking.

Seemingly nothing have happened for a second, only the distant gunshots and yelling broke into the silence of the cold room.

‘Let’s go. I don’t really want to know what are these.’ Steve’s gaze was fixed on the small objects on the ground waiting for them to kill both of them right then and there, but it didn’t happen.

He started to walk towards the exit when the little balls got opened and choking white smoke got released into the air.

‘Buck, run!’ Steve yelled and grabbed the shocked man’s arm to pull him out of his trans. The hallway was longer than they remembered and by the time they reached the end they barely could see from the thick smoke in the air.

Before reaching the door Bucky grabbed one of the vessels of the gas and shoved it into his pocket, next to his knee.

‘What the hell?’ Steve was standing outside of the building now, trying to gain his balance back and clear his vision, but nothing have helped. He could hear Bucky desperately gasping for air and coughing heavily, and he wished to hold him in a way his friend did to him whenever his health got weak and he thought that second would be the last, but he couldn’t see him, he couldn’t reach him.

‘We need to take him back to the others, he needs the meds, he needs a doctor.’ The Commandos’ yelling made him numb with fear. No, no it can’t be! Not now, not here. It is too soon, he is not prepared.

The numbing fear was the last thing he remembered before pure whiteness filled his vision and all he could hear was a loud beep in his ears and then it was darkness.

His body was heavy, he had a terrible headache and his throat was burning.

The gas. Bucky!

Steve opened his eyes instantly, and sit up on the mattress, looking around, his heart pounding heavily against his chest and his eyes burning but not from the smoke.

Bucky!

He was there, alive and seemingly well. He was quietly sitting on the mattress and reading a piece of paper. When he noticed the noise coming from Steve’s bed he looked up with a tired but relieved smile.

‘Hey, pal!’ He waved with the paper kindly. ‘It was just time for you to wake up.’ He laughed and stood up to walk to his friend.

‘Are you okay?’ Steve asked a bit too fast, his blue eyes running up and down on Bucky’s body, trying to find any injuries, but he looked just fine.

‘Yes, I am fine, so far.’ He sat down and turned his painful steel gaze from Steve.

The blond man slid to the side of the mattress a bit to give the brunette more space, tilting his head, trying to read Bucky’s expression. What? What now? They were alive and back from the trenches, what else could it be.

‘The smoke was probably poison, Steve.’ Bucky’s voice was distant and painful, still refusing to look at Steve. ‘I grabbed one to bring here, and the chemists say that it is something lethal. They don’t know how much time do we have, or how it is gonna happen, but we don’t have much time left.’

No, no, no! It can’t be! It can’t end like this. Not here, not now! There were so many things…

‘You should go and see Peggy, she was really worried about you. You should spend your time with her while you can.’ Steve couldn’t believe his ears. Bucky wanted to send him away? He wanted him to leave? To leave him alone? Dying?

Even if he did, why did he looked so broken, so sad, not even looking at him. ‘Come on, I am not leaving you alone!’ He grabbed the round shoulders and shook Bucky a little. ‘We are… I am with you till the end of the line, remember? Don’t you dare to ask me to leave you alone!’ Steve concerned voice finally made Bucky turn to him, his beautiful blue eyes weak and filled with pain.

‘Why not? You love her.’ He shrugged his shoulder turning his eyes to Steve. ‘Go, don’t waste your time to me.’ He nodded towards the exit of the tent encouraging Steve to leave.

‘But- I love you too!’ His voice was pure and honest it even surprised himself.

The light blue eyes turned to him in shock, Bucky’s pink lips parted in shock, staring at the man next to him.

‘I could never leave you, you are my best friend. We are in this together.’ He shook his head, making Bucky turn to him a little more. ‘I did not come so far, rescuing you from the Hydra to leave you just like this, Buck. I love you so, so much more than that.’ The warm hands cupped Bucky’s face, holding it gently, desperately trying to erase the pain from those otherwise happy and sparkling eyes. ‘Buck, you were the first and only person who could see me! Not only the weak, sick kid I was, but what I was beyond that. You were there for me every day, every hour and every second I needed you, and even in times when I didn’t know I needed you, so please, please don’t push me away now, okay? Please let me be here, with you, because even if I do love Peggy, I couldn’t stand the feeling of losing you and not spending every last second with you.’ They were both shaking a bit, maybe it was the poison or the cold, or something else.

‘God, I hate when you are with her. I hate the way you look at her, the way you try to charm her and how she is falling for it.’ Bucky confessed with a forced laugh. ‘I knew it would come, and I know I should be happy for you, but I have never thought I’d come back from the war, I never thought you would come after me and God knows, I never though we would see each other again.’ Bucky couldn’t not notice how warm Steve’s hands were after all the cold touches during the years, just as he couldn’t not notice how plump and soft his lips looked and how Steve never shook his own hands away from the blond locks. They were sitting close on the small mattress, legs tangled together, hands on each other, their foreheads pressing together.

Steve didn’t say anything, he didn’t have to he didn’t want to. He just let the calming presence of Bucky sweep into his soul, the way his skin was hot against his own, how it was still soft despite of all the scars and wounds he had, how his breath was fanning across his lips and it made him tremble in an oddly inappropriate way, but he didn’t care.

‘Is it okay, if I just stay here?’ Bucky broke the silence with a whisper.

‘No, I don’t mind at all.’ Steve laughed a little as they laid down and he covered themselves with his blanket.

They just stayed there, their legs tangled together under the hard fabric of the blanket, their foreheads only and inch away. It was only a little smile and a surprise giggle what Steve made when Bucky’s hand found his, interlocking their fingers, saying more with this little gesture and with a thousand words.

‘I wouldn’t be anywhere else right now, then here with you, you know?’ Bucky asked quietly, his eyes still closed. ‘It feels so natural, like how it was and it supposed to be in all our lives.’ He squished his hands around Steve’s.

‘Yes. I don’t know what it makes us but, I need to ask you something, before it is over, because I need to know, and it doesn’t matter now, right?’ Steve inched his head back a little to look at Bucky, making him opening his eyes too. He took a deep breath ad looked into those impossibly blue eyes. ‘I love you, a lot. More than anything. So, do you? Do you love me?’

Bucky’s eyes went wide not really being able to answer immediately. He felt overwhelmed by his own feelings, which he surpassed for so long, and the whole situation and Steve’s confession left him speechless.

At the very moment they heard moving and talking outside of the tent so as quickly as they could they let each other go and pretend to just sit and talk together, when the doctor entered. He had a big smile on his face and was waving some papers to the two men.

‘I gave great news for you Captain Rogers and Sergeant Barnes.’ He laughed and handed them the two papers. ‘The poison wasn’t deadly. It was designed to make the enemy unable to move and escape from the facility so they can capture more of ours, but you made it out!’ He smiled wide, grabbing the two soldier’s shoulders. ‘It gets cleared from the body in approximately two days, so it is recommended to have some rest until than and no exessve physical activities are recommended. So-‘ He clapped his hands, and stood up. ‘have some rest and you will be better than new by tomorrow.’ He waved and walked out of the tent with a relieved laugh, leaving the two men in utter shock.

‘So, it turns out we’re not actually gonna die after all.’ Bucky laughed nervously as he was staring at his own medical records.

‘Dammit.’ Steve mumbled, suddenly hearing again everything what they said in the last hour. They both stayed in place, not really daring to move or look at each other.

After a minute of horrible silence Steve cleared his throat. ‘You didn’t answered my question.’ He said softly, making Bucky look at him in disbelief. ‘You know that us not dying doesn’t change any of it, Bucky. I still love you. Do you love me?’ He asked carefully, now not really being sure about the answer at all.

Bucky closed his eyes and smiled, terrifying Steve endlessly. It was a horrible idea.

‘I do, Stevie. I love you, so fucking much.’ He let out an awkward laugh biting his bottom lip before looking up to the concerned eyes.

Their gazes were staring for a second, searching for any sign of dishonesty but there was none. Bucky moved first, leaning close, his hand sliding to the back of Steve’s head, before the blond one could have closed the distance between them. Their lips meet in a soft, gentle kiss. They took their time, getting to know the other one’s lips, they way it felt on their own, the unfamiliar yet thrilling sensation. Bucky have kissed many before but none of them felt this good, this right, this soft and honest and Steve just got lost in the new sensation. He wasn’t unfamiliar with kissing but kissing Bucky was something different, it made his heart race and his soul ache for more. He whimpered into the warm lips when Bucky opened his mouth and slid his tongue into his mouth, stroking and circling his tongue, making Steve feel all the butterflyes in his stomach. The long fingers dipped into the brown, messy locks, pulling Bucky closer, letting him push Steve’s chest a little to lay back onto the mattress.

‘One more thing…’ Steve whispered between the dot kisses. ‘Would you… Would you be my lover? If you think it’s Peggy you are wrong… I want you, always wanted you.’ He panted, pulling Bucky even more onto his body.

‘Oh, god, yes!’ Bucky growled sucking on Steve’s bottom lips. ‘But I thought we shouldn’t do any heavy physical exercise yet.’ He smirked which earned a deep red blush on Steve’s cheeks.

‘You should take me out first, like you did all those girls.’ He laughed kissing Bucky again.

‘Well, I might can’t do it here, but I am sure as hell, we can do the other stuff if you promise to be quiet.’ He laughed happily peppering Steve’s flushed cheeks with kisses.

Maybe it wasn’t too soon, maybe it was almost too late after all. Maybe they were in the God damn war, but they were together, alive and right now, utterly happy and unbelievably in love.

A/N: I really hope that even if it was kind of short it was enjoyable, and the ending is not that bad as I feel it is. This was the first challenge I participated, but I hope there will be more in the future. 

Tags: @sgtjbuccky, @ruinerofcheese, @akamaiden, @learisa, @angryschnauzer, @hellomissmabel

[the-canary]

Summary: You had bigger fish to fry in NYC between your new job, living in a new city and old friend – you were sure in over your head, but who’s that cute stranger that keeps helping you out?  

Pairing: Modern!Reader/Bucky Barnes

Status: Ongoing

Prologue

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

Part 9  

Part 10 

Part 11 

Part 12

Part 13

Part 14

Epilogue

[beckzorz]

In Safe Hands (one-shot)

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x f!Reader Words: 3815 Prompt: “No offense, but I really don’t like you.” - “My job isn’t to be your friend. My job is to protect you.” Summary: Civilians don’t belong on missions. Oh well? A/N: Written for @sgtjbuccky‘s end of year writing challenge! Thank you Salina!! I had a lot of fun writing, so I hope y’all enjoy :3

>>> My Masterlist <<<

“This is Agent Barnes.” Natasha Romanoff gestured with glinting eyes towards the tall muscular man leaning against the table in the conference room.

“Hello,” you said politely. “I’m—“

“I know who you are,” Agent Barnes said curtly. Your eyebrows flew up as he turned to Natasha. “What I don’t know is why she’s needed. Civilians do not belong on missions.”

“She’s a specialist,” Natasha said evenly. She lifted her chin, eyes steely. “And it’s not up to either of us, remember?”

Barnes scoffed. He mumbled something under his breath, too low for you to hear.

“Rude,” you muttered.

His eyes shot straight to you, a frown etched on his chiseled face. Oops.

Well, it was rude. You met his gaze with every intention to hold it, but Natasha sighed, distracting you both.

“Really? Grow up, Barnes. She’s going with you whether you like it or not.”

“Yeah, yeah…” Barnes pursed his lips and looked you up and down. “And you’re a civilian, I take it?”

You opened your mouth to respond, but Natasha beat you to it.

“That she is.”

You shut your mouth.

Barnes rolled his head on his neck. You studied him with undisguised interest. His pulse was visible under the pale skin of his throat for a brief moment, rapid and regular. He was a specimen, that was for sure. You tore your gaze away and looked back to Natasha.

“So,” you said, “when do we leave?”

—-

The SHIELD plane—jet—was sleek, and you couldn’t help gaping as Barnes led the way inside.

“Are all your modes of transportation like this?”

“Like what?”

“You know…” You gestured around at the sleek interior, the plush seats. “Tricked out, I guess?”

Barnes snorted. “No,” he said curtly. He marched up to the cockpit while you stowed your small suitcase in a side cabinet—no reaching overhead, not here. You kept your purse with you and checked your phone, wondering whether Natasha would bother checking up on you again before you returned.

Assuming you returned, anyway.

After a short exchange with the pilot, Bucky rejoined you in the cabin without another look. “Buckle in.”

You obeyed with clenched teeth. Was he going to be a terse asshole the whole time? If he kept this up, you wouldn’t even be able to get pleasure from checking him out. Even hot jerks got ugly after a few hours.

To your surprise, he took a seat a few feet from yours. The silence was only broken by a brief announcement from the pilot and then the sounds of the engine revving up.

Ten minutes later, you were miles high. You massaged under your ears, sore from swallowing through the rapid ascent. The jet was faster than the commercial planes you’d flown in before.

At a gentle beep from overhead, Barnes unbuckled and stood to stretch. You blinked. He wasn’t fully geared up yet; all he had on was a long-sleeved shirt and thick cargo pants. His shirt clung to his bulging arms as he stretched out his shoulders, and you dragged your eyes down his torso. When he switched arms, a bit of his shirt rode up against his stomach, baring a neat crescent of pale skin.

You swallowed thickly.

Barnes snorted and turned away before you had the wherewithal to look away. Damn. Had you been too obvious? Probably. You’d never had much need to disguise your interest. Every time you’d been around a guy as sexy as Barnes, you’d been the least notable person in the room. Easy enough to admire someone from a respectable distance—the other side of a classroom, a different table in the library, the occasional meander through the cubicle farm at your last job…

But now, it was just you and Barnes in an airplane cabin, which in all its sleekness left nowhere but a tiny bathroom to hide. And given how Barnes had bothered sitting by you during takeoff, he wasn’t about to leave you alone.

No, once he finished his obscene stretching—you did not look again—he’d probably come back and grill you to assure himself he was right to treat you like a useless idiot.

The thought turned down your mouth. This wasn’t about Barnes and his attitude. This was a mission. It was important. You unbuckled, got the file from your suitcase, and sat back down cross-legged to read through your part. Again.

Eventually, Barnes did sit back in his seat. You inclined your head in his direction in lieu of greeting, too immersed in work to speak even though you could feel his eyes on you. To your surprise, he didn’t chide you for being rude. It was enough to prompt you to turn to him when you reached a break in the file.

Barnes was still looking at you, a frown on his chiseled face. You raised an eyebrow.

“Yes?” you asked.

“I still don’t think you should be here,” he stated. “Romanoff said you didn’t have any experience with this sort of thing.”

You pressed your lips together. “If you’d listened, she also said that my expertise was necessary. Are you an expert in COBOL? No?”

“Why would I be?” he shot back. “COBOL is all but obsolete.”

“And yet their OS is in COBOL! Wild.” You jerked the file back up and scowled at it.

“How do you know COBOL?” he asked.

You huffed and tossed the file down beside you. “My dad taught himself ages ago, and he taught me too.”

“And why exactly did you stop working with him?”

“Wha—you read my file?”

“Of course I read your file. What did you think it was for?” Barnes snorted and crossed his arms. “I’m not going in blind, in any direction.”

It took all of your willpower not to stare at his bicep, but you managed to keep your eyes on his face. But not his mouth, or the sharp line of his jaw.

God you needed to get a grip.

“So why’d you stop working with him?”

“I wanted a change,” you said evasively. “Anyway, COBOL isn’t obsolete. It’s less well-known now, but it’s vital to a ton of systems. Governments, banks, credit card companies, post offices—”

“Fine, fine,” he interrupted. His head fell back against the seat, though he was still looking at you. “And why, exactly, did you get picked for this? Your dad must know more.”

“I thought you said you read my file,” you grumbled. “Didn’t Natasha explain?”

“Natasha?”

“Agent Romanoff, whatever.” You waved aside your slip of the tongue. “She’s a celebrity, chill.”

“Right…” His eyes were narrowed now. “She did explain. But I want to hear it from you. Maybe then I’ll feel better about bringing a civilian on board for what should’ve been an internal matter.”

“There’s that welcoming reception I was starting to miss,” you said snidely. “Why would SHIELD prefer a healthy twenty-something to a diabetic asthmatic in his fifties? I dunno, you tell me. Maybe with your advanced… everything—” you gestured vaguely at him— “you’ve forgotten that the rest of us have to deal with regular bodies.”

Barnes looked you up and down, his eyes lingering at your arms crossed tight across your chest. You gripped the edge of your seat and clenched your teeth. He drew his eyes back to yours with a darkly teasing look, but when he took in your scowl his grin died fast.

“Sorry.”

“For what? Being rude, insinuating I’m not good at my job, trying to mansplain my area of expertise…”

“You could be the gold medalist in COBOL as far as I care,” Barnes snapped. He jumped to his feet and in a blink a knife was in his hand. “What’re you gonna do if someone comes at you with a knife?”

You blinked, unmoving but every muscle taut. The knife’s point gleamed under the fluorescent light, less than a foot from your face. It was a pretty sparkle—no dull knives on him, that was for sure.

“Really, Agent Barnes?” You reached out and pushed his hand aside. “What if there had been turbulence?”

His lips twitched. He spun the knife absently around his fingers and straight back into its sheath against his thigh. You swallowed and picked up your file again, straightening it in your hands to distract you.

“Besides,” you said, “Agent Romanoff said anything unexpected happening was unlikely. A simple in-and-out sort of thing.”

“She only said that because she’s always expecting everything,” Barnes said. He ran a hand through his hair, but as soon as he dropped his hand it fell back around his face. “Well, at least she told you to listen to me.”

“My dream in life,” you quipped. “Obeying orders.” If only he knew.

“Orders are what’s going to keep you alive,” he said grimly. “And I need you to show me what you can do.”

You scrunched up your nose. “You want to watch me code?”

“No, smartass. Stand up.” He rolled up his sleeves to the elbow.

You stood slowly, file still in hand, and studied his contrasting forearms. One pale skin, the other dark metal. How were they exactly the same shape? How did the Wakandans make the metal arm mimic every muscle so perfectly?

Why weren’t these things available to everyone?

“Hey,” Barnes said, snapping under your nose. You jumped. “Put the file down and stop staring. If you think Romanoff’s a celebrity, I’m sure you’ve seen the arm before. I’m not a museum piece.”

“Sorry, geez,” you grumbled. You brushed past him and stuffed the file back in your suitcase. You stood up, but before you could turn around, a cold arm clamped around your neck. Barnes pulled you back against his chest, his other hand clamped onto your upper arm.

Every instinct screamed for you to throw him, but you forced them aside. You were a civilian. A civilian.

“Excuse me?!” you yelped instead, grabbing ineffectually at him. “Let go of me! What the fuck!”

“Orders are gonna keep you alive,” Barnes growled. You shuddered despite yourself; chokehold or not, his voice went straight through you. “So make sure you listen.”

He let go of you at last. You stumbled away from him and leaned heavily against the wall, blood pounding as you stared unseeing at the floor. The man was a brute! Why were you letting him affect you like this? Your hands twitched. You curled them into tight fists and struggled to steady your breathing.

“Everything okay back here?”

The pilot must have heard your yelling; he’d popped his head out of the cockpit and was looking between the two of you with wide eyes.

“Yeah, we’re fine,” Barnes said. “Sorry, it won’t happen again.”

“It better not,” you muttered.

The pilot nodded and disappeared. You sat straight on the floor and glared up at Barnes. His self-satisfied look was more grating than the fact that he’d almost choked you. Did he have no shame at all?

“No offense, but I really don’t like you,” you told him. He shook his head in disbelief.

“My job isn’t to be your friend. My job is to protect you.”

“Natasha managed to be pleasant,” you countered. You rolled your neck out with a wince. “Here’s hoping you didn’t just make it hard for me to sit at a computer for an extended period of time.”

“We’ve got painkiller,” he said unrepentantly. He held out a hand to help you up. “C’mon, civvy. I know I didn’t hurt you.”

You ignored his hand and stood on your own. “Maybe not,” you said. “My neck will be fine.” You met his eyes, chin high. “But there are other kinds of hurt.”

As you swept past him, a flicker of doubt crossed his face. You bit your lip to hide your smirk.

Good. Let the man suffer.

---

The rest of the flight passed in a tense silence. When you hit a patch of turbulence, you’d just managed to hold in a snarky comment about it. Barnes had glanced your way anyway, his eyes alight, and for a second you were on the verge of grinning. Then he went back to scrolling through his file, and you went back to studying the snippets of code Natasha had gotten from the target.

The descent was even more ear-popping than the ascent, and you were nearly in tears by the time you landed. You stayed hunched in your seat as Barnes unbuckled.

“You alright there, civvy?”

“Ugh. This jet looks nice, but my god it’s even less friendly than you,” you said. You rubbed your aching jaw and stretched. Your shirt hitched at your waist.

Lo and behold, Barnes’ gaze strayed to the exposed skin at your hips. A sly grin bloomed on your face as you spread your hands below your breasts and slowly smoothed your shirt down. He swallowed.

“Well,” you purred. “Let’s get out of here.”

Barnes’ dark eyes shot up to your face. His tongue darted out to wet his lips. “Let’s.”

“My ears are killing me,” you said cheerfully. You all but skipped past Barnes as his jaw clenched.

“You’re killing me,” he retorted, but his lips twitched in amusement as you both geared up.

SHIELD had a car ready and waiting, a nondescript murky color with tinted windows and a faded license plate. Bucky, who was apparently an expert at everything but COBOL, took the wheel. He had to shove the seat all the way back, and even then he looked cramped.

You twiddled your thumbs in the passenger seat as the car sped out of the rural airport. The bleak scenery sped by. Snow dusted the landscape and clung to the eaves of the occasional abandoned building. You didn’t see a single living soul.

Somewhere not too far away was the abandoned building where you’d have to work your magic.

Your stomach churned unexpectedly at the thought. You’d been calm for so long, and now you were freaking out? Not cool. You sank into your seat and closed your eyes. Breathe in, then out. In, then out, slow and even until tranquility spread over you like a blanket.

When you opened your eyes, Bucky glanced over. “You alright?” he asked.

“Peachy.”

“Don’t lie,” he said.

“I’m not?”

Barnes scoffed. “Sure,” he drawled, “and I’m just thrilled to have you on board.”

“As far as I’m concerned, this is just an unusual business trip,” you said, lips pursed. “If anything goes wrong, it’s your job to keep me in one piece. Otherwise your mission doesn’t get completed, and who will Agent Romanoff blame for that?” You tapped your chin. “Oh, that’s right—you.”

Barnes’ knuckles turned white as his grip on the steering wheel tightened. The car accelerated.

“Woah there, Agent Barnes, mind the speed limit.”

“Fuck the speed limit,” he muttered.

“And fuck me too?” you asked sweetly.

He glared at you. “I’ll deal with you once we’re home safe. In the meantime, just shut up, will ya?”

“As you wish, O Mighty Avenger.”

You closed your eyes and pressed your lips together to keep from grinning. Did he realize just how easy it was to bait him? He wasn’t doing it on purpose, at least you didn’t think so. That glare wasn’t feigned. But the mix of aggravation, sexiness, and superiority was a target you couldn’t ignore.

Still, the guy was your bodyguard. Was it right to tease him so mercilessly? You snuck a look at him, sitting back in his seat with his arms and his thighs and his scowl.

Irresistible, really.

You sighed and closed your eyes again, imaginary code clouding your mind’s eye interspersed with that scowl, that jaw, those arms.

Hopefully he’d forgive you, in the end.

---

“Finally,” you muttered. You were hunched over an ancient console at the back of a cluttered room, typing furiously. Barnes hovered by the door, his rifle out. The room was freezing. Your fingers were numb, and you could see your breath. Every cold inhale sliced through your lungs like a knife. Still, you were making progress.

Barnes swore. “Someone’s coming.”

“Figures,” you muttered, still typing.

“How much longer do you need?”

“Too long.”

You stood up from the rickety wooden chair and nudged it with your toe, eyes still on the screen. “Can you block the door?”

“Broke the jamb to get us in, remember?” he snapped.

“Shit. Well, time to do your half the job, then.” For the first time, you looked away from the screen and met Barnes’ eyes. “Don’t let me die, Agent Barnes. I’ve got plans for later.”

“Wha—”

“You said you were gonna deal with me once we’re home safe,” you reminded him with a tight smile. “So kill some goons now so you can murder me later, why dontcha?”

Barnes shook his head. You didn’t know if he smiled at your joke; your eyes were back on the screen. A thump echoed down the hall. Your heart skipped a beat.

“Anytime you want to start shooting…”

“Shut up, civvy,” Barnes growled.

Five seconds later, he shot straight through the door. You flinched at the unexpected sound of wood splintering, but the sound of a garbled scream was what you’d been waiting for. In the next few seconds, three more shots went through the door, but others whizzed through only feet from your head.

“If they shoot the computer, we’re gonna have problems getting this all done!”

You hit enter, and an automated program started running. You watched it for a few moments and finally let out a relieved sigh.

Then the door burst open.

Barnes scampered backwards, still pulling off expert shots, but the stream of people coming through the door was more than either of you had expected. And the ones in the front had riot shields, protection from even Bucky’s shots. You ducked behind the console, heart pounding, and whipped off your coat. You yanked the center back seam and reached into the down.

Screams started to intersperse with the grunts coming from by the door. Was he going for their feet? A bullet pinged; he was reduced to blocking shots now?

Enough of the bullshit.

You stood smoothly, pulling your arm out of your coat, and braced your semi-automatic pistol against the back of the console. You pulled the trigger in quick bursts, reloaded, and let out another round. Within ten seconds the crowd around Barnes had fallen, none the wiser. You stood straight and wiped your forehead with the back of your hand.

Barnes stood alone by the door, his jaw slack as he stared at you.

“You—”

A boot scraped against the floor on the other side of a desk to your right, and you shot straight through the desk without even looking. Whoever it was collapsed on the ground with a gargle.

“I what, Agent Barnes?” you asked, blinking innocently as you tucked your pistol into your belt.

He swallowed. His eyes were wide and dark. “You…” He shook his head. “What the hell, civvy?”

“You really shouldn’t listen to everything Natasha says,” you told him. You pulled the chair back to the console and studied the scrolling code. “Hey, looks like we’re in good shape!”

Bucky stormed over, grabbed your shoulder, and spun you to face him. His face was—unreadable. “Are you with SHIELD?”

“Well reasoned.” You shrugged his hand off. The giddiness of a fight still thrummed through your veins, but you weren’t going to let him see that. “Now we just need to wait until it finishes. Shouldn’t be more than a few minu—oof!”

Bucky threw a leg over you and straddled your lap, his unexpected weight sending your heartbeat into a tailspin. He pushed your wool headband off your face and cupped your neck in his cold metal hand. You gaped, eyes wide and blood pounding.

“Wha—”

“Time to deal with you,” he said, a wicked grin on his face. He tipped your face back, ran his thumb across your cheek—your breath caught—and kissed you.

The feel of his soft lips against yours was enough to turn you to putty under his hands. Had you been cold before? You couldn’t remember. Heat flooded through you, curling your toes and eliciting a moan as he teased open your mouth. You clutched the front of his jacket for purchase.

Bucky pulled back with a satisfied hum. You blinked your eyes open. His eyes were bright and blue and beautiful.

“What was that for?” you managed.

“You, you brilliant creature,” he said, grinning. “You seriously think I wasn’t going to kiss you after all that? You think people get past my radar every day?”

“No… Do you kiss everyone who gets past your radar?!”

“Usually not,” he admitted. “But you’re something else.” He tugged on your ear with a smile.

You giggled. Even the metal hand on your neck was warming up now. Your breath mingled between your faces, still only inches apart.

“Did you get past Nat too?” he asked.

“Of course not,” you said. “The whole thing was her idea, actually. Oh shoot!” You clapped a hand over your mouth to stifle your laugh. “My mission was to get back without tipping you off!”

Bucky’s eyebrows went up. “So the whole COBOL business was a sham?”

“Of course not. I didn’t get recruited for no reason, you know.”

“Huh.”

“Oh, she’s gonna be pissed,” you groaned.

“I’m sure she’ll forgive you,” he said. “No one expected an ambush like that.”

“Yeah, well, from what I do know of her, I wouldn’t put it past her to have orchestrated the whole thing. She could’ve tipped them off, no problem.”

Bucky’s eyebrows creased together. “You know what? That’s a fair assessment. That is right up her alley.”

You both digested this for a moment.

“Well, I appreciate the help even if she doesn’t.” He gave you a wicked grin and wiggled his eyebrows. “I very much appreciated it.”

You swatted at his shoulder with a blush. A beep from the console grabbed Bucky’s attention, and he hooked an arm around your waist. He hoisted you up as he stood. In a flash he’d shifted so you were on his lap in the chair, his chin tucked against your shoulder. You studied his profile before he nudged you to look at the screen.

“Oh. All done.” You glanced around the room, suddenly aware of the bodies strewn around. “Did you kill all of yours?” you asked.

“No,” he said. “Just most of ‘em.”

“Well, in that case, how do you feel about a philanthropic tip to the local authorities?”

Bucky laughed low. The rumble of his chest echoed through you, and you smiled at him with unabashed delight. “Sounds like a plan.” He traced your mouth with his fingers, reverent and sweet. How was this the same man who’d been so insufferable before?

Well, he could explain himself later. For now, you just kissed him again.

The rest could wait.

Thanks for reading! Tagging: @kentuckybarnes @sugarplumstarks @fortheloveofjbbarnes @sgtjbuccky @bitsandbobsandstuff @buckitybarnes @the-whitewolfie @the-canary @moonbeambucky @itsbuckysworld @c-a-v-a-l-r-y @buckybarneshairpullingkink @lexgirl79 @laurfangirl424 @alittle-crazy @prince-of-poptarts @kenzieam @shreddedparchment @bambamwolf87

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[the-canary]

Bel Ami - B.B (7)

Summary: You had bigger fish to fry in NYC between your new job, living in a new city and old friend – you were sure in over your head, but who’s that cute stranger that keeps helping you out?(Reader/Bucky Barnes)  

Prompt:  Person A: “Okay, I have something to confess… I like you. I have for the past two years now and it’s been killing me to hold it in this long but I think you deserve to know.” Person B: “You nerd, we’ve been dating for the past two years.

A/N: this is for @sgtjbuccky‘s writing challenge. 

Feedback is always welcomed.

“So, you’re telling me the room shrunk,” Sam rants off with a laugh, “It was only you and her.”

“Shut up, Wilson,” Bucky groans back, trying to forget the sad look in your eyes.

“Shit Barnes, you have it bad,” Sam states, though he leaves out the last part to himself.

Bucky doesn’t say anything as he keeps staring into space, trying to forget his stupid mistake and those stupid set of rules -- only for Sam to throw a pillow that lands straight on his face.

Wanda doesn’t say anything when you come to your face red and blotchy as you go into the kitchen and grab the strongest drink you have from behind one of the cabinets. She keeps watch, as you come into the small living room and for a moment she is glad that Viz had left early, he had the emotional deposition of a robot at times though he meant well.

She takes a step closer to you and you take a step back before opening and chugging a drink from the large bottle, “Can you please call Pietro so I have someone’s ass to kick in Mortal Kombat?”

Wanda wants to laugh and joke about the incident, but the dark looks stop her. However, she doesn’t say anything as you move around her and go into the hallway that leads to your room.

“You don’t cry like that over just friends, dummy,” she murmurs to herself, wondering what had happened to that girl that had promised to lock up her heart after a certain incident back home and what was so great about a certain James Barnes.

“You look like someone killed your puppy,” Natasha can’t help but remark after the end of another mini meeting between all the companies within Barnes Tower. And while last time, she had seen a certain man smiling and shyly looking away from the representative for Fury’s company -- James wasn’t even looking in her direction anymore.

It had only helped a little that she has been called in the middle of the meeting for work, though James kept on lingering on where she had been sitting like some lovestruck teenager.

“Nat,” Bucky remarks as if trying to reprimand her but she doesn’t really care nor does she find it threatening.

“What did you do this time, Barnes?” she asks, ignoring him and moving with her own set of questions though Sam had already given her some information. However, there was something missing from everything she had seen and understood.

“I fucked up,” is all he can manage to say, as he once again plays with the marshmallow cufflinks at the edges of his suit. Nat can’t help but raise a perfectly shaped eyebrow because in all her time that she had known Bucky --before and after his time in the army-- he was never one to admit when he was wrong or when he was sorry.

However, things had changed since high school and Dot, hell things had changed since their own date a few months back and Natasha could only really pinpoint it to one thing -- that gal from Fury’s company.

He lets out a small, self-deprecating laugh before finally turning to look at her as he went on with his story of what had happened that weekend -- how he showed her to all the places he loved and how they dance and when he realized just how pretty she looked in the lightning and how he just wanted to kiss.

It was then that he remembered about his mother and everything that could go to hell if he gave in, so he pushed her and the look on her face--

“You threw her away or worst that you’re playing with her,” Nat pushes his right shoulder with a hard jab, “She probably thinks you’re playing with her, you dumbass!”

“I--”

“You don’t mean it that way,” Nat explains, already two steps ahead of him, “But, people don’t understand that if you’re inside your own head the whole time, James.”

Bucky sighs before running a hand down his face in frustration. Nat stands in front of him with her arms crossed over her chest and a serious look on her face, that he swore could have killed him once or twice by now.

“I am getting a feeling that this isn’t like Dot or even me,” Nat starts off in an even tone, “But, you have to keep your priorities in order -- if you want to help your mom and sisters, you can keep dragging this poor woman alone.”

“And if I just want to be happy?”

“Well, then you have to think about whether this is all worth it,” Nat remarks with a shrug like it’s the easiest thing in the world, but all Bucky can do is groan in annoyance over his own stubbornness and stupidity.

Too bad for Bucky, you were already making certain choices to protect your own heart.

“Are you sure about this?” Pietro can’t help but ask, on the second night of you two playing video games, as he watches your hand hover over a certain phone number.

“Self-care,” is all you do to answer back, as he shakes his head. You hit the block button and move back to playing the game with Pietro before taking a sip of your drink.

You were done of getting your heart being played with for another person’s amusement.