In Love On Fire * Buckyxreader *

"I'm excited for you"

After bidding Bucky goodbye you stepped into your bedroom, you thought about getting ready for the day and forgetting about sleep but could only feel your eyelids getting heavier, bones aching from the late-night brawl you had just won.

In total, you got about 2 hours of sleep before being awoken by Natasha.

"Morning sleepy head!" She shouted walking round the bed toward you, coffee in hand.

"No," You yelled back as you buried your head into the plush pillow, not ready to take on the day.

The redhead placed the cup on your nightstand and sat on the bed shoving you onto your back, "it's a big day today come on"

You slowly got up, wiping your face in the crook of your elbow, she passed you the coffee and a smile stretched across your face, "Thanks girly," Natasha swung her legs around and laid next to you in bed.

Being the only other girl in the compound, other than Pepper who was always working, you and Natasha had become good friends. She had helped train you, and was the one who instantly took you under her wing. Talking with the ex-assassin somehow reminded you of the days before you got your abilities, hanging out with high school girlfriends; Although if you ever told Natasha that particular fact she'd kill you. You two were almost as close as Thor and Mjolnir.

"What time is the conference again?" You asked with a raspy voice, sleep still clouding your brain.

"2pm, gives us plenty time to get pretty." She smiled.

"And what will actually happen, no offence but I've never really bothered to watch these things before."

She shot you a glare, "Well, we'll get there, Tony will have a couple of things to announce about Stark Industries with Pepper and then you'll come out in all your glory," She gestured toward the half-asleep bundle that was yourself, "and then you'll introduce yourself, tell 'em your favourite colour, get some pictures and leave." She grinned.

"Sounds fun." You said in a monotone drawl.

"Okay, you get ready, we are all gonna go on a walk around the city, and we can grab you an outfit while we're out." She said patting your leg before standing up and walking out, "Hey y/n, don't worry okay it's gonna go great." She added before leaving the room.

You knew that though, you had spent all night convincing yourself.

Everyone was already waiting in the foyer when you stepped in, the first person you noticed though was Barnes, his hair was tied into a low bun, he wore a crimson hoodie, even though it was 27° out, and black skinny jeans - not the most fashion-savvy but you couldn't deny he looked good. He was smiling, talking to Wilson about god knows what. That smile. You couldn't help but watch as he tipped back his head back in laughter. That smile.

"Okay! Everyone ready?" Steve snapped you back to reality, a murmur of unenthusiastic agreements were heard and everyone headed out.

Steve felt these walks around town would help with team morale and productivity. In actuality, everyone hates them and would rather just stay at the compound. You hung back from the group, scrolling mindlessly through Twitter struggling to even see the device with the sun behind you.

"Hey," A certain super-soldier had hung back too, "you know a team-building walk doesn't usually include someone on their phone." He said leaning in to speak over the noises of New York.

"You know, a scientific experiment isn't usually supposed to get beat by a scientific mistake," You snapped back smiling, he stopped in his tracks.

"You are never gonna let that go huh," He threw his arm around your shoulder to try look at your phone, "what are you looking at anyway?"

"People are talking about what Tony's gonna announce today, I wanna know what they think," You adjusted the brightness on the device, "there we go, wow."

"What?" He asked, now looking ahead.

"Someone got a picture of me when we were in Sokovia, they're speculating who I am," You paused scrolling further down, "wait, they're all complimenting me, this is good!" You giggled and Bucky looked back at you, opening his mouth to say something but stopping himself. "What?" You asked looking up at him, brows knitted into a frown.

"Nothing, it's just nice seeing you like this, I'm excited for you." He said looking away from you, a slight blush creeping up his neck.

"Why thank you Buck," You smiled to yourself before going back to scrolling through the endless tweets speculating your identity.