let's go dancing → barneswald

iii. helpless hearts

based on this prompt: this really cute guy rented the apartment over the bakery/flower shop/store i work at and i keep trying to find excuses to be outside when he comes home

After Clara left the Doctor, she quit her job at the school and moved to New York. She loved teaching, but...not there. Not anymore. She called around, dropped a few names, and secured herself a job at a small flower shop. It was quiet, bordering on boring, but at least the pay wasn't too bad, and the owner, Lea, was nice.

Her days were normal now. They mirrored her job exactly: quiet, boring, but strangely peaceful. She'd never had the chance - or the guts - to consider a normal life, and now that she'd been forced into one, she actually kind of enjoyed it. She made friends with the young woman who owned the shop, she chatted with the regular clients, she waved at people who passed by every morning on the way to their jobs. It was routine, and it kind of grew on her.

Of course, there were those days when she'd stare out the window, expecting to see a blue box materialize outside; those days when everyone in a long coat was Danny Pink.

And then one day, there was someone whom she was not accustomed to seeing: a man with long, greasy hair, a scruffy beard and the most shocking blue eyes she'd ever seen. The first time she saw him was when he almost tripped over her, carrying a box from his car to the door of the building above the flower shop.

"Oh my gosh!" she exclaimed. "I'm so sorry. Here, I'll help you with that." She stooped down to collect a few papers that had fallen and set them on top of the cardboard box.

The man was hesitant in thanking her, almost like he wasn't accustomed to saying the words. His voice was soft, scratchy almost.

"Are there any boxes left?" Clara asked.

"No." He paused and said, "Thank you" again.

"Not a problem." She held the door open for him, and watched him walk down the hall. Right as he was about to mount the stairs, she called after him, "What's your name?"

He was silent for a moment, almost like he was trying to remember. "Bucky," he said finally. "Bucky Barnes."

She smiled. "I'm Clara Oswald."

After that, Clara watched eagerly for him on the street. At first, his timing was irregular. One day he would leave at noon and come back around seven, the next he would leave before she got there and wouldn't return until after she'd gone home. Eventually, Bucky Barnes fell into a pattern of walking out the door at nine-thirty sharp and getting back at six forty-five. And every time, Clara would watch as he walked in front of the window of the shop. (She knew it could be considered as creepy, but she couldn't help it, nor did she want to.)

Sometimes she felt bold enough to wave at him and try to catch his attention, but after a while she went all-out and did everything she could to be outside of the store when he walked by.

"Someone spilled the flowers outside, I'll go rearrange them."

"I think the water needs to be changed."

"There's a dead flower! I can see it!"

Lea saw right through her.

"Clara, there's no point in making up excuses. Just ask him on a date already!"

Clara's cheeks reddened. "I don't know what you're talking about," she said stubbornly.

"Do you want me to do it for you?" her friend threatened, smirking. "Didn't think so. Now go," she urged. "You'll be late."

Clara rolled her eyes a little and exited the shop. She heard the door to the building open, and stood up as Bucky walked out.

"Hey," she called out. "Bucky!"

The man froze, tension flowing from his body. She crossed over to him, and noticed how much shorter she actually was.

"Oh," Bucky said when he saw her. It was blunt, but also filled with relief. It seemed as if he was afraid that someone was chasing him.

"Yeah, hi." Clara took a deep breath. "So, I was wondering whether...you might want to have lunch with me? Like, as a...a date?"

He smiled a little. It seemed to come easier than it had when she'd first seen him.

"Okay," he said. "Is tomorrow okay?"

Clara grinned at him. "Perfect."

a/n
this is post-catws and post-season 8 finale. obviously. also i have this headcanon that clara actually gets really flustered around bucky and he thinks it's so goddamn cute.