Winter's Children /// Bucky B x Fem Reader

Chapter 14: Sober Nights

Y/N's POV:

"Forgiveness huh? Same old Y/N." He smiled and shook his head.

"I don't often forgive Buck. You know that." I poured myself another drink.

"Yeah right... Anyways, you sure you want another drink?"

"Yep. Ever since I took the serum I don't get drunk."

He nodded in comprehension.

"So what's the name of this game we're playing anyways?"

"I would usually call it 'drunken nights' or 'truth or drink' but it's more of 'sober nights'" I laughed.

"Yeah I guess you're right".

A comfortable silence grew between us as I stared into my drink. What I didn't notice was that Bucky was staring at me. When I finally looked up, feeling a stare towards me, I was shocked.

"What's wrong?"

"N-nothing it's just- it's good to see you again after all the crazy stuff thats happened."

"What is with you and stuttering today? You never stutter." I ignored his previous statement, although it made my heart flutter a little. I've never had these feelings before.

"To be honest, I don't know myself. At first, I thought it was because of seeing you again after all this time but then I realized that..."

"That what Bucky?"

"It's you."

"What?"

"You're the one who makes me stutter and act like a giddy schoolboy with a crush. You're the one who makes me feel like all of this madness is normal. I feel normal when I'm around you, I don't feel like someone or something else I'm not. You make it so easy to talk to you. Hell, you've gotten me to open up more than I've ever opened up to anyone." I listened, looking at him. "...even Steve." He quietly added.

Holy shit. Steve was- well his brother in other words. He always told me how close they were. If he said that, I really mean a lot to him. What do I do? What do I say? Do I feel the same? I don't deserve him. What if something happens and I break him? 

Again.

I was lost in thought. He noticed my worried expression and silence and misunderstood.

"I'm sorry I shouldn't have. This was a mista-"

In one swift movement, I cupped the side of his face and kissed him. It all happened so fast if you blinked you would have missed it.

I did it. I did the one thing i've wanted to do ever since i realized my feelings towards him. 

The one thing i promised myself i wouldn't do. 

The one thing that me feel normal.

At first he was shocked, but then he kissed back. We pulled back to breathe, our foreheads touching.

"I have a hunch you feel the same way?" He smirked.

I let out a breathless chuckle. "Something like that."

"What?!"

"I'm kidding!"

A short, comfortable silence came between us. Then I spoke again.

"To be honest, this is all new to me and I don't know what to do about it."

"When did you know? About your feelings, I mean." He nervously asked. He was so cute!

"The moment you burned down my kitchen."

He laughed.

"I'm serious! That's when i realized it was more than whatever we had going on back then. That's when i realized that i wanted to more than just protect you. What about you?"

"Remember when I started getting my memories back? I told you about an old recipe of my mom's and how it always made me feel better."

"Yeah so?"

"So, the next day you recreated that exact same recipe. It was the best home-cooked meal I had in over 50 years. That's when I realized I wasn't going to find anything better, and I'm not talking about your cooking skills, which admittedly I did forget how amazing they were. I'm talking about how you took care of me for those weeks."

"Oh Buck..." I looked away from him.

"What's wrong? Y/N, are you ok?" He quietly asked.

"Yeah, it just reminded me of something my mother always said. One day, she was telling me the story of how my dad and her met. She invited him over for dinner with the family and instantly hit it off. Then, she reminded me how 'the way to a guys heart is through his stomach.'" I laughed. "I guess she was right."

"Your mother sounds like a wise woman."

"She was." I lightly smile.

Then realization hit me like a truck.

"Oh my goodness."

"What? Did i say anything or-?"

"No. Not that. I just figured it out." I grabbed his hand. He looked down at this. Now he was really scared.

"Figure what out?"

Silence.

"Y/N?" His tone was harsher now. He never was patient. "What did you figure out?"

"Your friend Sharon is the Power Broker." I looked up to meet his eyes.