A New Start

Chapter 13

You awoke the next day feeling pretty good considering you had the most epic kiss in your entire life. You have kissed men before and have had relationships, but nothing recently. 

In fact, your dating life was completely non-existent since you came to live at the compound. Not many men would be ok with your line of work and where you live, so you never really paid much attention to being in a relationship. 

A few agents have asked you out over the past year with a few second and third dates, but you always just politely declined or decided to be friends instead. You wanted your focus to be on your job and the team.

You thought about the way Bucky's hands held you, the softness of his lips, the smell of his skin, and his taste. This made you blush, so you pulled the sheets over your head and let out a soft whimper. 

What have I done? 

This is Bucky Barnes we're talking about. Steve's best friend. The Winter freaking Soldier for crying out loud. And I kissed him. Like kissed. Him. Like he was the last man on earth.

You heard the door across the hall open then close. You held your breath praying Bucky wouldn't come knocking on your door, but then you heard the elevator ding and you exhaled. Thank God, he's gone you thought. 

What happens now? 

Your mind was racing. 

How am I going to act? 

Am I going to tell Nat and Wanda? 

Why am I so nervous? 

Do I tell Steve? 

Was it just a kiss? 

What did he want from me? 

Did he just kiss me to see what it would be like? 

What did I want? My God the man can kiss. He smells so good. What is wrong with my head?

So many things were spinning in your mind your phone went off and you jumped. You grabbed it and saw it was a message from Nat which was a relief. She needed satellite assistance at the base they were monitoring so you got out of bed, got dressed, and headed to the communications room. 

You replied to Nat, got her what she needed, and returned a few other messages and logged off from the system. 

"F.R.I.D.A.Y., where is Bucky?" you asked the AI. 

"Sergeant Barnes is in the Gym Agent Turner. Want me to tell him you are looking for him?"

"NO!" you shouted frantically back at the voice. 

You felt bad for snapping at F.R.I.D.A.Y., but you didn't feel like running into Bucky yet.

Ok, Bucky was in the gym. At least you figured from the time he left his room to the time you were in the communications room; you would have about half an hour to grab breakfast unnoticed before he made his way to the kitchen. You left the room in search of something to eat. 

Not wanting to stay long and cook something, you grabbed a juice and bagel thinking it would be fast to make and eat. You scarfed that down and headed to your room. You thought you would head outside for a quick hike. This way, you could probably avoid Bucky for a few more hours giving you time to plan your next move later in the day. You headed out unnoticed and walked towards the hiking paths.

Damn it, you should have brought a protein bar, or snack as you were hiking around the lake. Your stomach was starting to rumble. Usually after lunch Bucky is in his room relaxing so if you get there, you could spend some time making lunch, then perhaps head up to your room very quietly. 

Who are you kidding? The man hears everything though you thought to yourself. He told you he has enhanced hearing with the serum he has in his body and can hear all kinds of things. The rocks around the lake were a little slippery from the air temperature so you knew you had to be careful.

Just as you were thinking about what else Bucky has that could possibly be enhanced with this serum, you slipped on a rock and fell awkwardly to the ground. Dammit, you thought to yourself. Of course, you would injure yourself thinking about Bucky and his possible other "enhancements". You scowled back at the rock you tripped on while looking at your foot in disgust.

You knew your ankle wasn't broken as you had broken it before. You knew it was only sprained, so you lay on the shore for a while, gathering your strength for the hobble back to the compound. You figured it was a few miles in distance from where you were to the door to the compound, so it wasn't going to be that bad. You had left your phone on your nightstand as you were making a hasty exit out of there, so you secretly cursed yourself as you got up from the ground.

You always had your phone with you but of course not this time, the time you needed a phone. 

But as you thought, would I call Bucky? What would I say? Hey Bucky, I injured my foot in the bush, can you come and get me but try not to kiss me stupid like last night, ok? Yeah, real smooth Livy you thought to yourself while rolling your eyes.

Once standing, you turned towards the direction of the compound and hobbled your way back making sure to not put a ton of weight on the ankle. You took a few breaks here and there, but finally managed to get yourself moving at a decent pace considering you were walking like a drunken pirate.