Red, White & Blue | Bucky x Reader

Chapter Nine

Around dinner time, my bunkmates and I are relieved from duty, and we head to the mess hall, gathering our plates before finding a few empty seats amongst the crowded tent and sliding into them.

Across the table, Georgia watches me as we eat, a knowing smile on her face. "So, Y/n, who was that man you were talking to earlier?"

"Which one?" I ask her, feigning innocence. "If you hadn't noticed, we talk to a lot of men on a day-to-day basis."

"Don't play coy," she laughs, tossing a piece of her bread roll at me.

I duck and laugh. "His name is Bucky. He's a friend from home."

"Oh, honey," Marie cuts in. "A friend does not look at you the way that man was."

"What?" I ask, my brows pinching together. "How was he looking at me?"

"Like you are his favourite person in the whole world," Georgia swoons, a dreamy look in her eye.

I laugh but don't respond, wondering if Bucky could have feelings for me.

"Tell us about him," Evelyn persists.

I launch into a story about Bucky, about how we grew up with Steve, and about how I joined the Nurse Corps after both of my friends left for the army. I even tell them about the night of the Expo, when Steve made the comment about me having feelings.

"Well, do you?" Marie asks me. "Do you have feelings for him?"

"I don't know," I say, blushing and staring down at my food.

Georgia laughs. "Honey, your reaction to that question tells us everything we need to know. You definitely have feelings for him."

"Okay, fine," I admit. "Maybe I do have feelings for him... but it's just a little crush."

Georgia squeals loudly, causing a few nearby soldiers to look over at us. I give them an embarrassed smile before reaching across the table and try to calm her down.

"I knew it," she tells me, a huge smile on her face. "I knew you liked him. Are you going to tell him?"

"I don't know," I reply. "It doesn't seem like a good time, with a war going on and everything..."

"It might be the best time..." Evelyn says, leaving the rest of her thought unspoken.

The following day, I decide to take my friends' advice and talk to Bucky, not about everything, but to at least get a sense of if my feelings are mutual. After searching the camp, I finally find him sitting with Dugan and Jones in the grass just behind the barracks. In the middle of their little circle sits an upturned bucket with playing cards thrown upon it.

"Y/l/n!" Dugan greets me, looking up from his hand. "Come join us!"

"I'd hate to intrude," I reply.

"Nonsense," Bucky says, taking my wrist and pulling me to the ground next to him.

Dressed in my service uniform, I take a seat and carefully tuck my legs to the side, pulling my skirt over them.

"Well, don't you look nice today," Dugan remarks with a wide smile, gesturing to my uniform. "Barnes, doesn't she look nice?"

"Yeah," Bucky responds, taking a quick glance at me before turning back to Dugan. "She always looks nice."

"Not working today?" Jones asks me, shuffling the cards and dealing us each a hand.

"No, not today," I answer. "They have me off-duty... unless there's an emergency."

The conversation is light as we play and I keep sneaking glances at Bucky, trying to look for the signs the girls were talking about. Every so often, I catch his eye, and he smiles at me.

"How's your arm?" I ask, putting one of my cards on the pile.

"A little sore," he replies. Still in a sling, Bucky uses his right hand to hold his cards while using the left one to put one of them on the pile. "But it could be worse."

"Bet you're wishing it was a bit worse, aren't you, Barnes?" Dugan jokes.

Bucky shoots him a quick glare before changing the subject. "Hey, Y/n, I was just telling the guys about when that fair came into town, and Steve and I talked you into riding the Ferris Wheel with us. Do you remember?"

"Oh, my God. I thought I blocked that memory out," I say before turning to the other men to explain. "I'm not the best with heights. The views are nice, but it's the impending death if you fall that gets me... Anyway, Bucky manages to get me into one of the seats and Steve gets the one after us. Once at the top, Steve decides to shout, 'if you're going to fall, fall this way so I can catch you,' and that sent me into a panic. I had a death grip on both the bar of the seat and Bucky's arm."

"I had fingernail marks in my arm for a week," Bucky adds. I playfully hit him in the chest as the men laugh at the story.

For the rest of the afternoon, the four of us play cards, reminiscing about old times.