while you sleep | bucky barnes x reader

chapter five

You smoothed out your skirt for what felt like the millionth time as you stood in front of your bedroom mirror, nervously staring at yourself. You felt fine in your knee-length dress and flats but did you...feel fine? That was still very much up for debate.

If anything, you were feeling overwhelmed. Few days after confronting Steve, he told you that he and some of the other team members would be getting together for a little dinner. He said Bucky had planned to join them and thought this would make for a good chance to introduce you two to one another.

At first, you eagerly agreed and Steve looked relieved as he shared with you the restaurant and time. But then as the days went by and you were now just minutes away from coming face-to-face with your soulmate, you were downright terrified.

Steve said Bucky knew a bit about you, including an idea of what you looked like, but what if he just... didn't want any part of this. Steve never explicitly said Bucky wanted to meet you, just that he could arrange it, so why would you assume a man who had been weaponized and brainwashed wanted to waste time on you?

You shook your head, trying to actually shake the thoughts. You had invested too much here to back out. Those thoughts of love and hope were suddenly abandoning you the more you stood there so you knew you had to kick your own ass into gear.

Smoothing out your dress and putting the final touches on your lipstick, you slung your purse over your body and pulled up the restaurant directions on your phone. There was no more time to even consider another bad thought as you began walking to the place.

This was bold of you, sure, but you had to remind yourself you wanted this. You wanted to finally sit across from the man who felt you knew - or at least a part of him you knew. He wasn't like that anymore, Steve had told you, and you believed him. There was nothing you could pinpoint saying this man was attacking anyone with knives recently. That eased some concerns but still didn't tell you that he would want this.

When you finally made it to the restaurant, you stood on the sidewalk, staring up at the sign. It was a nice place. Not overly fancy but still pretty hip and the reviews sounded nice online.

So, yeah, you were at the right place, you could confirm from your phone, but the device only got you so far. No one could direct you to actually walk in.

You averted your eyes to the door and that's when you saw motion coming from inside the restaurant. Your eyes flicked over, seeing Steve waving at you from inside the lobby. You gave a small smile, forcing any more concerns down your throat, and took the steps to enter.

Steve greeted you with a big hello as you were putting your phone away and tugging at the end of your dress.

"Hi, Steve," you smiled as he gave you a brief hug, probably practically feeling how you were shaking but he didn't say anything about it and instead motioned towards the dining area.

"The table is just right around the corner from here," Steve said, a hint of hope sparked in his eyes and that made you feel warm, but the anxiousness wasn't fading. You nodded in acknowledgment and waited for him to lead you but he just stood there, staring at the doorway.

He wanted you to enter first. The realization made your heart plummet but you didn't want to say anything and instead, you just simply put one foot in front of the other. Like baby steps, cautiously and careful, you gripped your bag tightly as you made your way through the arched frame into the dining area.

Turning the corner, you were abruptly greeted by one James Buchanan Barnes sitting at a table... for two. Two? This wasn't some group dinner, you quickly realized. Steve had set you up.