Doll. // Bucky Barnes X OC

NINE

It's been two weeks since Melany and Steve's break up. Things have finally started to calm down since Steve harshly asked Sharon to leave that night. Sharon, of course, denied his requests to try and mend things with him. Sharon was finally leaving tonight. Steve had gotten the ring back. He'd been avoiding Melany to give her space, but also to focus on getting Sharon to leave. After her stunt two weeks ago, he knew he was done with her.

Between Steve and Bucky, they had exchanged a few small conversations as they passed each other. Most of it was Steve asking about Melany, to which Bucky would reply "She's fine," knowing full well she wasn't.

Bucky kept his word to Bruce, checking on Melany. Nat did her part as well to help her best friend get over Steve. Bucky helped with that without even knowing. She was growing distant, and that made him worry some. She spent more time in the lab and with Nat. He tried to understand, and Melany was too busy trying to occupy herself with other things to notice. Nat took notice of Bucky's irritation quickly after the few days of her hiding away.

"What's wrong, James?" Nat asked him as the two of them went to the training area of the compound.

"Nothing." He grumbled, keeping his gaze in front of him.

"Is it about Melany?" As Nat said her name Bucky glanced over at her. Nat sighed. "She hides after a breakup, she spends time with Bruce. They talk about it. He eventually will tell her to stop hiding and she'll find someone better." She paused. "I think you should be there when she decides to come out of her hole." Nat pushed.

Bucky chuckled and a small smile spread on his lips. "I don't know." He sighed, running his hand through his hair. "Do you think she's interested?"

"I know so," Nat reassured him. "Just give her some time. Don't jump at the opportunity." Nat warned. "That can scare her." Nat looked over at Bucky who had a small frown on his lips. "But she seems to trust you, so she might make the first move." Nat winked, smirking.

"Doubt it." Bucky looked down at his feet as they continued to walk. "It took her forever to not be afraid of me, even though she knew I'm no longer the Winter Soldier." He sighed.

"Yeah, yeah. White Wolf and whatever." Nat smiled at him.

He gave a small smile back. "Are you sure she'll be fine?"

Nat gave a sharp nod. "She will be."

The two of them trained separately in the training confinement. Bucky stopped when he saw Steve walk through the doors. He looked exhausted. Dark bags were under his eyes and his shoulders were slumped over. He walked to Bucky who took a sip from his water.

"I wanted to apologize for the way I reacted a few weeks ago." He took a breath, keeping his gaze on Bucky. "Sharon was just completely screwing up everything." He blamed Sharon.

Bucky squinted his eyes. "You can't blame Sharon for all of this. You should've told her to leave the second you thought anything was going on. You shouldn't have kissed her." Bucky retorted, sitting down on one of the benches.

Steve sighed, irritated. "I didn't come in here to fight, Buck."

"I know," Bucky replied quickly.

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry," Steve repeated.

"I heard you." Bucky didn't look at Steve.

"Buck."

"I'm supposed to forgive you for hurting her? You don't need to apologize to me." Bucky snapped. "I'll admit that I kissed her, but it was her cheek. There's nothing wrong with it, but it freaked her out. Nothing else happened after that." Bucky paused. "How did you find out anyway?"