You Make Me Glow - Bucky Barnes POV

Chapter Six - Trying to Make a Connection

"Well hey sexy," Steve greets you with a kiss on your temple as you walk through the door. "How was Nat? Did she kill anyone for you while you were at the coffee shop?"

You pull away to look up at his face and laugh, your eyes wide with confusion. "No??"

"Aw, too bad." He throws you a teasing smile as he loads up a frying pan with breakfast food. "I'm making eggs, how do you want yours?"

"Uh, scrambled would be great." You slowly sit down on the couch and flick on a random morning talk show. You see their mouths moving as your eyes stare at the tv, but your thoughts are far from the screen. Nat's voice reminding you that you don't need to have an answer right now keeps entering your mind, but she's silenced by the way Bucky was looking at you on the street. What happened? Did Steve say something hurtful? You can't imagine Steve ever saying something mean, but then what made Bucky look like he wanted to throw up? He looked like he just got back from the front lines of a war.

"Heeeeere you go," Steve says as he hands you a plate of steaming scrambled eggs, along with a quick kiss on the head. "What did you and Nat talk about today?" He sits down on the couch next to you and turns his attention to the tv, laughing along with what they were talking about. Completely oblivious to your thoughtful state.

"Thank you..." You take a bite of your eggs. "Um, not much. Just girl stuff." You can barely focus on anything but your wonderings. "Hey, did something happen between you and Bucky while you were running?" It was abrupt, but you couldn't not ask.

Steve cocks his head thoughtfully as he chews. "No? I don't think so, why?"

"I saw him run past the coffee shop as Nat and I were leaving and he seemed upset."

"Ohhhh." Steve shakes his head regretfully. "Yeah, we talked about how Bucky can see color."

WHAT. You almost choke on your eggs, and you need to take a sip of coffee to keep from coughing up your mouthful of food. "Oh?"

"Yeahhh I think its a touchy subject. He said he met the person who made him see colors, but he can never be with her." He clicks his tongue as he takes another bite of eggs. "I feel bad for him, he seems pretty torn up about it."

So he doesn't know who it is. "That's all he said? That he can never be with her? Did he say her name or how he met her?"

"Yeah." Steve's words are slurred as he speaks through his full mouth, his eyes turned back to the tv absentmindedly. "No names, no nothing. I think it's kind of a hot spot for him. Maybe she broke his heart."

"Mmm yeah." Your mind is already racing. You set your plate on the table in front of the couch and stand up. "I'm gonna go to the bathroom, be right back." 

"Okay, hey can you pour me more coffee on your way back?" Steve calls after you.

"Um yep no problem!" You see Steve's cell phone next to the coffee pot. Making sure he isn't  looking at you, you carefully pocket Steve's phone before heading into the bathroom.

You close the bathroom door and quickly fumble with Steve's phone to unlock it. You smile when you see his wallpaper is a goofy selfie you guys took on your honeymoon in Vegas, you had to force yourself to not correct Steve in wearing a bright yellow Hawaiian shirt with bright yellow active shorts since you had to pretend you still couldn't see color. He had said it was his favorite top, so what could you do except go along with it? What a dork... Ugh come on focus! 

You unlock the phone easy enough since your fingerprint is saved, and go into contacts and start scrolling. His info is near the bottom of the B section since Steve's phone is loaded with names you don't even know, probably secret service agents or government officials. You open the contact and quickly type his phone number into your own, then pocket both phones and flush the toilet to seem less suspicious. You run the water for a few seconds, then step out and walk back towards the coffee pot. "Still need s refill?"

"Yes please!" You glance at him and you see he's still invested in the tv, it's now playing an old tv show from the 50s. You carefully slip the phone from your pocket and set it back where it was before, then moved your hand to the coffee pot and picked it up. 

"Here you go," you say as you pour more coffee into his mug. Phew.

"Thanks baby." Steve sits up higher on his seat and gives you a quick peck. "You got any plans for the rest of the day?"

"Uhhh," you walk back to the kitchen and set the coffee pot back on the maker. "Yeah I was gonna go shopping."

"Fun! Can I come?"

Shoot. "Well I'm gonna go makeup shopping." 

Steve chuckles, "I don't mind!"

Hmm... This could be a problem. "Uh, okay!" 

...

"So explain again why you need TWO lipsticks?" Steve is holding up two lipsticks and looking at them like they're a math problem.

"Shut up!" You laugh and take the lipsticks from him and place them in your basket. "I said you could come along, don't make me regret it!"

Steve laughs, turning to look at an eyeshadow palette on display. "Whoa, why is this so expensive?"

You turn to see he's looking at the James Charles palette. "It's the name on it."

"So if you just put your name on makeup people will buy it?"

"Well yeah he puts makeup on for a living." You point at his dramatic eye look on the front of the palette. "So since he's good at it people trust him and would spend more money."

Steve looks at you, his eyes wide. "Wait, you can make money by just putting on makeup??"

"Yeah on YouTube. He's actually super successful."

"Wow..." Steve blows air through his lips and rubs his head. "I really picked the wrong career."

You burst out laughing, and Steve laughs too. "What, you don't think people would buy a Captain America palette?"

His eyes light up. "Wait that's a great idea."

You laugh again, "Okay, let's call Morphe. I'll bet they'll collab with you."

Steve puts an arm around you, "I don't know what you just said but yes."

You and Steve head to the checkout and you buy your lipsticks. As you head out the door you steal a few spritzes of an expensive perfume, explaining you like the smell but not enough to buy it. 

After makeup shopping, you drive to a nearby clothing store and pick out some jackets you think would look good on him and Steve chooses some cute heels. You go out for lunch in what you just bought and then make a Starbucks run before going home.

"Wow, is this what you do with Nat??" Steve sets his Starbucks cup on the living room table and sits down on the couch. "This was actually really nice!"

"Yeah, we usually get coffee or do shopping like we did today." You smile at him, "what, are you surprised you enjoy girl things?"

He laughs, "honestly yeah!"

"You sit down on the couch next to him and he puts an arm around you as he grabs the tv remote and starts scrolling. "Wanna watch a movie?"

You realize you never got to get a hold of Bucky all day. You think about stepping out and trying to call him now, but sitting on the couch feels so comfy you decide it can wait. "Yeah!" 

I hope he's okay. I'll try and call first thing in the morning.