Bad Company Blues - Bucky BarnesxOC

Part 11: move over

A/N: No smut in this one. It'll be back next chapter. These two idiots have feelings to talk about.

CW: Mentions of sexual abuse.

She can't get that kiss out of her mind as she watches Bucky spruce up the pasta sauce. She wants more of it. She wants to wrap her arms around his waist and nip at his neck while he cooks. She wants to purr filthy things in his ear and make him so fucking hard that he turns the burner off and makes love to her on the floor. Slowly, with passion and love.

Instead, she just lingers by the fridge, holding onto it for dear life as she watches him cook.

He says the shit he buys from the grocery store is too bland, so he spends some time digging around in the cupboards until he finds some spices to put it in. Dried oregano and basil, more salt (he insists there isn't nearly enough in it), he chops and sautés some garlic and onion, and some pepper. He stirs it with a wooden spoon and holds it out for her.

"Here. Taste this and make sure it's not shit."

She snickers and shakes her head. Eden still wants to keep her distance, but Bucky doesn't want that to happen. Or so it seems.

"I'm sure it's fine."

Bucky rolls his eyes.

"Do you think I poisoned it or something? Come on, Eden. Humor me, for once in your damn life."

Eden scoffs. She's been humoring him for the past hour.

She kind of likes it, though.

Reluctantly, she walks forward and tastes the sauce, letting Bucky feed it to her. It's actually good. Eden nods, and Bucky's face lights up.

"It's good."

"Good." He sounds relieved and keeps stirring. "You know, the one thing my dad taught me was how to spruce up some shitty canned pasta sauce."

"I wish mine taught me that. All I learned was how to hotwire a car."

Bucky chuckles.

"Yeah, I got that lesson too. How old were you?"

"Seven."

"Ten," he replies.

It's kind of nice not to be fighting for once. Bucky seems relaxed while Eden wrestles with her thoughts, going over the whole day in her head, and wondering what the fuck led them to this. It all feels so confusing and fucked up, especially combined with the fact that they're on the job. Eden wonders how it's going to be once they're finally out of this blizzard and this safehouse. The radio said they're getting another dump of snow overnight that'll blanket the city, and they're facing another power outage.

They might be stuck here longer than she would like.

She was supposed to call Wanda to let her know she was okay, but there's nowhere to talk on the phone where Bucky won't hear her.

She lets him take over cooking completely since he seems to have more of an idea of what he's doing than she thought. It's impressive, honestly. He seems to know his way around the kitchen with ease. It feels like he's at home here. The more she learns about Bucky, the more she finds she actually wants to talk to him and ask him questions. Secretly, she's always thought he was interesting. He looks like he's lived seven different lives and he's only 35.

"Where'd you learn to cook?" She asks.

"My dad, mostly. He owned a restaurant when I was a kid. And prison."

"You cooked in prison?"

"Worked in the kitchen," he replies. "It's a good way to steal shit they won't normally let you eat. Got me in with the Russian gangsters. They liked Twinkies."