This Is Stella's Reality

December 24, 2014

Natasha sat behind me on my bed, delicately letting my hair fall from the hot curling wand in her hand. It fell in tight curls down my back and warmed the skin there.

"Are you wearing that dress we bought together?"

I nodded, "It's hanging in the bathroom." We had gone shopping with Tony's card a few days ago. I had fallen in love with an Elie Saab crushed velvet minidress. It was black and faded into a deep plum purple at the hem, long sleeve, and wrapped around the waist.

She smiled, "Paparazzi is going to go wild for you."

My stomach twisted into knots. Tony was throwing the Christmas party in the city. There would be actual celebrities and cameras and more than just our usual friends and SHIELD agents.

Bucky and I really couldn't be together tonight. There would be too many eyes. My heart seized. I sighed, "Not looking forward to it."

She chuckled, "Why? Didn't enjoy the last round of The Winter Soldier and The North Star articles?" There was a mockery in her voice that irritated me.

"That can't happen again."

"Why?"

I turned to her, careful to avoid the hot iron behind me, "Because Bucky isn't safe. Hydra is still after him." I paused, letting the anger die from my voice, "You saw what happened at your party."

She hummed, "I remember." There was a lull of silence. More of my hair tumbled into curls before she spoke again, "You know we would do anything to protect the two of you."

"I don't think it's that simple, Nat."

"Never seems to be," her voice sounded far away.

The atmosphere was thick between us. I swallowed down my anxiety, "How are you and Steve?"

"What?"

I laughed, "Don't play stupid, Nat."

She took a deep breath. It ghosted down my skin, "I don't know what you're talking about, babe." Typical.

"If you say so." I rolled my eyes as she finished my hair. She took a brush and lightly separated the curls. They rolled smoothly down my back, glossy and perfectly kept.

Nat stood and regarded me for a moment. There was a look in her eyes I couldn't read. She smiled, "Finish getting ready; we leave in an hour, North Star."

My door clicked shut, and I turned to my bathroom. My dress hung against the doorframe. The crushed velvet was luxuriously soft as I passed my palm over the sleeves.

The door opened and shut. Bucky's shoes clicked on the hardwood floors. He poked his head into the bathroom and smiled, "Hey, doll."

He looked breathtakingly handsome. His hair was swept back, the tux he wore was black as midnight and fit his frame perfectly, and his shoes were polished like mirrors.

I felt the heat tickle my cheeks, and I turned back to my dress. "Hey, ducky," my voice was quieter than I meant it to be.

He held my hips and swayed with me, "What's wrong with you, my love?"

"Thinking about all the cameras and prying eyes that'll be at the party." I moved my head to look up at him. I wasn't going to lie to him.

His eyebrows pinched together, "We can still be together at the party, though." He drifted his gaze over me. One day.

I sighed, "I know. I just don't want anything to happen."

"Like at Nat's party?" His voice was serious.