I've Got you Under my Skin

Chapter 4

It was Friday night and Natasha had invited some of her friends and colleagues over for dinner. The party in itself was boring.

At work, Natasha had a reputation for being mysterious and she was adamant about keeping this bossy persona even though you all knew she was a huge dork. Her colleagues were terrified of her, and Bucky had to admit, it was pretty funny.

Bucky entered the kitchen and paused when he saw you. You were standing at the kitchen table with an assortment of washed vegetables in front of you. You were busy chopping vegetables into little sticks.

Things had been awkward between you after that night you spent babysitting Steve's kid. If he closed his eyes, he could still feel your fingers on his cheek, your body pressed close to his.

You only had sex once after that night. It happened at his apartment after you had had a difficult day at work. He had taken you up against the door, no words had been exchanged at all. It had left him feeling dirty. Empty.

He wanted more than meaningless hate-sex, but he wasn't sure what he wanted exactly. And, most importantly, he wasn't sure what you wanted.

"Hey," he greeted. "Nat put you to work?"

You chuckled. "Yeah. Apparently I'm not allowed to tell her colleagues she adopted a stray dog because it would-" still holding the knife, you raised your fingers to make exaggerated air quotes "-blow her cover."

"Yeah, she's clearly enjoyin herself," he said, stepping closer to you. "Y'know, m'pretty sure that's some kind of kinky roleplayin shit. Sam's been called her 'ma'am' all night."

"Nutjobs," you laughed, shaking your head.

"I wouldn't say that," Bucky said, not quite touching you, but close enough that you could feel his body heat. "His crazy matches her crazy. It's romantic in a sort of twisted way."

The shy smile you gave him made his heart stutter. He tried not to dwell on it. Instead, he took a knife and helped you cut the carrots into little sticks.

He didn't say a word, but the silence between you was comfortable. It was probably the first time you felt comfortable in each other's presence.

Once you were done, Bucky playfully bumped his hip against yours. It caught your attention so you put the knife on the table and turned to him.

"I have somethin for you," he said with a nervous grin.

"For me?" Your eyebrows raised in surprise.

Bucky reached a trembling hand into his bomber jacket pocket for the box he had decided, at the last minute, to take with him. Your eyes widened when he handed you a little white box with a baby pink ribbon tied around it.

"It's heavier than it looks," you commented with a laugh. "What is it?"

Bucky rolled his eyes. "I hate when people ask that. Open it 'nd find out."

"Okay, relax," you laughed, pinching the end of the ribbon, untying it. "I'm opening it."

Inside was a silver snow globe with miniature representations of the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, the Flatiron Building and the Chrysler Building. The base was engraved with the New York City skyline.

Bucky was holding his breath, your lack of reaction was making him even more nervous. You just stared at the snow globe, unmoving. The silence was too loud, he had to say something.

"It's a snow globe," Bucky explained as if it wasn't obvious. "My sister's boyfriend never visited New York so we took him to all the tourist spots. I saw your collection of snow globes on your dresser the other day and I noticed you don't have one from New York and it's dumb 'cause we live in New York," he paused, nearly breathless, "so when I saw it in the shop, I thought you might like it but it's fine if you don-"