Sunrise | Bucky Barnes x Reader

Weathered The Storm

"Are you nearly- doll, seriously? Why are you still sitting in your towel? We got places to be!" Bucky huffed. He was leaning against the doorframe of the bedroom, arms crossed and a frown on his face that made you chuck your phone down and look at him with big guilty eyes.

"Sorry, Buck. Sam sent me a cute birthday video with Sunny and then I was replying to everyone's messages." You gave him an innocent smile and he caught his bottom lip between his teeth with a breathy laugh and shake of his head, unable to be annoyed with you. Not that he could blame you entirely, he was the one who couldn't keep his hands to himself in the shower and decided to take you up against the tiled wall. Twice. That alone set his whole birthday schedule back more than he'd like. Not that he was complaining about the sex.

He pushed himself away from the door to stand in front of you, leaning his hands on either side of your damp towel-clad body as he pressed three short kisses to your lips. "Hurry. Up. Please." He murmured between each one.

"Yes, sir."

Bucky gave you an authoritative glare, silently warning you not to start something you knew he would gladly finish because, quite frankly, he didn't have the time. Any other day he would have rid you of the towel in an instant but today, Bucky had a different kind of one-track mind. He pressed a rough, but loving, kiss to your forehead and disappeared to the living room to impatiently wait for you.

____________

Times Square was buzzing, but when wasn't it? Bucky held onto your hand as tightly as he could as you made your way through the bustling crowds, his cap pulled down tightly over his chestnut tresses as he attempted to blend in. He thought it would be a good idea, being tourists for the day. He was a New York boy through and through but hadn't experienced the city like this in decades and he knew you loved the spectacle of it all.

You'd just exited Madame Tussaud's. Bucky found the whole thing utterly bizarre but had taken photos of you beside the waxworks of your favourite celebrities anyway, belly laughing each time you checked no one was looking and threw out a rude gesture.

The next stop on Bucky's magical mystery tour of NYC was Top of the Rock. His original plan was to venture up the Empire State Building, but Steve had told him the views from the Rockafeller Centre were better and so now you were crammed into an elevator whizzing up to the 70th floor observation deck. Your hand rubbed soothingly over the skin of Bucky's right arm as he focused on you, his gaze trailing across your features as he took in every detail of your face as a distraction. It hadn't crossed his mind that you'd be squished into an elevator with a bunch of strangers and you had seen the hairs on the back of his neck stand up with anxiety the moment the doors closed.

It was worth it though. Bucky didn't give two shits about the views of the city, instead, his joy came from the look on your face as you peered out over Central Park and how you ran from one side to the other to take in the Empire State Building and the people going about their lives, commenting on how everyone looked like ants. If he was a public person who liked the attention, he would have given you your final birthday gift up there, looking out over Central Park but away from the hustle and bustle of the streets below. But he wasn't, so instead he just relished in the childlike wonder illuminating your features as you took in your surroundings.

Once safely back on the humid New York sidewalk, Bucky led you through the streets to your lunch destination, Ellen's Stardust Diner. He couldn't think of anything worse than having wannabe broadway stars sing to him while he tried to enjoy his burger, but he knew you loved musicals and diner food so to him it was another opportunity to see your face light up in that infectious way it does.

As mid-afternoon hit, Bucky was becoming nervous, the weight of the little box in his pocket almost too much to bear as you wandered through Central Park hand in hand. He nearly dropped down to his knee several times just to get it over with but he shook himself out of his panic, determined to stick to his plan.