Red - Bucky Barnes x OC

030

Celeste stood excitedly in the elevator up to James apartment, clutching his gift and her bag. She was sad she wasn't spending it with Jas at their apartment but this sure was a good pay off.

The doors opened and the smell of cinnamon and vanilla hit her face, she loved the smell of Christmas. The sound of the Rat Pack played softly as James wandered to the kitchen with a smile on his face.

"Hey doll" he leaned in and kissed her taking her bag from her hands as she tried to hide his gift bag. They promised they wouldn't do anything extravagant with it being their first Christmas.

"No peeking!" She tried to hide the bag behind her. James laughed "I'm not!"

Celeste skipped over to the Christmas tree they decorated - after a few arguments about how many lights should be on it, and placed the gift under it next to what she was assuming were hers. She smiled to herself and whipped around to find James walking towards her with 2 glasses of what looked like a cocktail in hand.

"What is this?" Celeste questioned him, "I didn't know you could make cocktails."

"You never asked me to make them, and since you're the professional, why should I?" He smirked at her "but since it's Christmas, I thought I'd make us snowballs"

"I love snowballs! Me and my gran..."

"Used to make them together. I know Doll" he smiled at her as he finished her sentence.

Celeste leaned against the kitchen island and let a wave of melancholy wash over her, she missed her family a lot over Christmas - she missed her grandma even more. They always spent it together with big family dinners, Jas and her mum would come over on the evening for games night. Which always ended in arguments and Jas and Celeste drunk. She was so grateful to have James, he listened to every detail of her life and tried his best to incorporate into theirs, making new memories for her along the way.

He knew she was still grieving for her grandma, he knew she always would. And that's the thing with grief, it never leaves - we just build a life around it until time heals the pain, and we focus on the love we gained.

James saw her mind wander off into her head "what you thinking about?" He reached out to push her hair back behind her ear. Celeste snapped out of her daze and smiled at him "I'm missing home, but you're making it better" she raised her glass to his as they clinked them together.

"I know you are, but I spoke to Steve yesterday and he told me he managed to get in touch with the big guy in the red suit to change your address" he smirked at her, coaxing out her inner child.

She laughed as she pulled him towards her by his belt, she parted her lips as his tongue slid its way into her mouth. Playing gently with her's before she pulled back and smiled at him "who knows, he might have dropped off one of your presents early" he winked at her.

Celeste raised her eyes brows, intrigued
"Oh might he? And when do I get to know this?" She took a sip of her drink and walked over to James couch. He sat down next to her, he's large body swallowing up the cushions as he pulled her legs over him.

"Depends how well you behave tonight" he held her eye contact as he took a drink, licking the sweet liquid from his lips. Celeste gently bit her bottom lip, enough so he wouldn't notice, letting herself fall into the moment.

"And what if he dropped off a gift for you too? Does that mean you have to behave?"

A smirk tugged at the side of James mouth as he poked his tongue to his cheek. "I can try, but this little game won't be played for long. You know this Celeste."