Trying Your Luck - Bucky BarnesxOC

Part 16: Wanna Be Yours

They walk around the grocery store. Sam checks his phone while Bucky wanders the produce aisle aimlessly. Bucky sees him smiling every so often or doing a happy little head wiggle when he presses what Bucky assumes to be the send button. He wants to tease Sam about it, but there's a little bit of joy in watching the guy get so giddy over a woman.

Bucky hides a smirk and goes back to wandering aimlessly through the produce section. When he was hiding out, he mostly lived off of canned tuna, protein bars, raw vegetables, oatmeal, fruit, and bread. He never had to think much about putting together a full meal. Food was simply fuel for the next fight. It wasn't until he got his mind back that he actually began to enjoy eating for the pleasure of it. Who knew that food was actually supposed to taste good?

"So, what are you thinking of cooking?" Sam asks.

Bucky shrugs and lets out a soft sigh.

"I don't know. My mom used to make stew with bread and butter, but that was mostly a wartime thing." He sighs. "I don't even know what half of these vegetables are, to be honest with you."

"Go simple," Sam suggests.

Bucky nods. His mother also used to make some chicken... thing. Shit, what was it again? Now more than ever, he wishes he could just pick up the phone and call her or drop by his old apartment that's now been converted into a bunch of fancy coffee shops and office buildings. The New York he knew as a child is completely gone. There are days when he longs for it, for something simpler than the life he's living now. It was so much quieter back then.

He grabs some carrots, and some potatoes while Sam watches him in between checking his phone. Bucky casually approaches the deli and grabs a package of chicken breast while looking over at Sam.

"Who are you texting?"

Sam sighs and his head drops.

"Veronica."

"So it's going well?"

"It's going," Sam replies. "Not necessarily at the pace I'd like it to, but I'm getting there."

"Other than her going away to school, what exactly is the deal with you two?"

"It's —"

"Complicated. Yeah, so's my life and you still bug me about it all the time," Bucky reminds him.

Sam grins.

"I do, don't I?"

Bucky rolls his eyes and heads for the checkout. Sam grabs his arm.

"Where are you going?"

"To pay. What —"

"With bland chicken and vegetables? I don't think so. You're not doing that to the woman you love," Sam replies.

"I don't — fine. I'll get salt or something."

"Salt?! That's it?! No! You'll get cumin, paprika, ground pepper, cayenne, garlic powder, salt, onion powder, oregano, coriander —"

"These words mean nothing to me, Sam."

"Give me the damn basket," Sam replies. "I'm going to teach you something today. You are not feeding her chicken with salt and nothing else. We'll need some cheese for the potatoes, too."

Bucky follows Sam to the spice aisle and watches as he proceeds to dump jar after jar into the basket. There must be 10 spices in there.

"I'm using all of this?"

"Yep," Sam replies. "I'll teach you how to make my grandma's spice mix. She put it on everything when I was a kid, but it's great on chicken. Trust me, it's the easiest, most delicious thing you'll ever eat."