The Pink Ghost

Twenty-Five

When Gwen exited the room, Bucky was standing outside the door waiting for her.

"Peter told me to tell you he's going to burn some rubber?" He looked at her in complete bewilderment.

"Why would he burn rubber? I can't imagine it'd smell good." His nose scrunched and his lips curled up as he made a look of disgust.

Gwen laughed, "That means he's racing. Wanna head to his room with me? I'd like to spend time with him, but I'd like you with me, too."

Bucky was confused, but he didn't care. She wanted to spend time with him and he would take the offer no matter who else he had to put up with.

"Sure, doll. Let's go." He smiled.

When they reached Peter's room, the door was left open allowing Gwen to walk right in. Bucky followed.

Peter glanced up, but quickly back to the TV to focus on his race, "Hey guys! As soon as this one is over, I'll restart it. Bucky, there's a third controller in my desk over there, if you want to play."

Smiling, Gwen rushed over to sit next to Peter on the couch. Bucky wasn't expecting Peter to offer him a controller to play with them. He opened the drawer in the desk as he was told to, pulling the controller out, he slid the drawer closed and walked back to Peter's couch. Peter sat at the far-right end of the couch, Gwen sat in the middle, indian-style. Bucky sat next to her, receiving a pretty big smile from her.

She took his controller and turned it on, making sure it was synced with the console. When she handed it back to him, his fingers brushed the side of her hand accidentally. Sucking in a breath, he quickly looked away to hide the sudden rush of emotions he was feeling.

Gwen felt his fingers brush against her skin and quietly gasped. Her eyes widened at the contact and she wanted nothing more than to lean into his side and cuddle with him.

Peter noticed the exchange between the two and chuckled to himself. Shaking his head, he wondered how long these two would dance around one another before someone confessed their feelings. It was obvious to almost the entire team that Bucky felt for Gwen. When she was gone, he sulked around a lot. He never chose to hang out with the team, only being around during training, meals, missions, and the occasional movie night that Steve would drag him to.

Even Nat tried dragging him out one day for a ride on the motorcycle and he just wasn't having it. When Gwen's name was brought up, he always perked up, always wanted to chime in and talk about her. He made sure to listen to everything being said whenever someone would share a memory of her.

Peter noticed it all and it bothered him at first, he was afraid that he'd lose his best friend if she ever fell in love, but after talking to his aunt May one evening, she made him realize that friendship doesn't just go away because someone falls in love and it's even better if the friend can get along with and become friends with the person their friend loves. After that, he made every attempt to be friendly with and become friends with Bucky.

"Alright, let's get this set up for three players. Barnes, you're going down." Peter challenged.

Laughing, Bucky shook his head, "Is that so, spider monkey?"

Gwen burst out laughing, Peter looked annoyed.

"It's Spider-Man." He corrected.

"Sorry, must be the mind thing," He waved his hand, gesturing towards his head with his fingers, "You know Tony took a lot out of my brain."

"Yeah? He must have taken your intelligence, too." Peter mumbled.

Bucky sat forward and looked over Gwen at Peter, "What was that?"