Your Ivy Grows

Chapter 35

Bucky

Bucky sets Alexis down gently on the bathroom counter and holds back a laugh at the way she collapses against the wall, eyes closed, looking suitably fucked and exhausted. When he steps back, finally pulling out of her, the barest hint of a whimper leaves her mouth. It's instinctual, the way he leans forward to kiss her—it's sweet, tender, and over too quickly. Then he plants a kiss on her temple before turning away from her and crossing the room.

He starts the shower, keeping his hand under the water until it's warmed up to the perfect temperature. His confidence returning, he turns back to her, naked and feeling no urge to cover of himself. Not once has she looked at him as if she views him as less than.

Striding back over to her, he notes the way her legs fall open to welcome him. Her body knows he belongs there as much as he does. Bucky slides his hands up her warm thighs as he moves between them. Leaning down to pepper her neck with kisses, then claiming her mouth for just a few seconds before pulling away. Her eyes flutter open and land on his; she gives him a soft smile. Alexis looks like she wants to sleep, but he's hoping the shower will invigorate her because they really need to talk at some point.

"I've got a hair tie in here somewhere if you want to avoid getting your hair wet." Bucky offers, certain there's a ton of the things littered around his apartment. He'd got in to the habit of tying his long hair off his face as much as possible.

"I'm good, thank you. Didn't peg you as a hair tie man, Barnes."

His lips tip up at the teasing way she says his name. She knows what she's doing, and he knows it's going to take some work to get her to call him anything else.

"Well, you know, this is quite a new look for me." His hand comes up, awkwardly brushing through his shorter strands. "I'm still getting used to it."

"Do you miss it? Your long hair."

"No." And if she were anyone else, he'd leave it there. But she isn't. And more and more these days he wants to open up to her, to tell her the shit he'd never say to anyone else. "It's going to sound fucking stupid—it's just hair. But it felt..."

He pauses, looking up at her as he tries to think of the right words to explain how it felt to sit in that chair and watch as the barber cut away those long strands. It felt like he was ridding himself of way more than just hair. He walked out of that barber shop feeling lighter in more ways than one.

"It felt liberating in a way. The long hair wasn't a decision I made. This," he points up at his hair, "I got to choose this."

"That doesn't sound stupid at all." Alexis hops off the counter, coming to stand in front of him. She lifts up on her toes, running her hands through his hair. "And I like it, it suits you."

"Oh, yeah?" He says as he leans down to brush a gentle kiss to the corner of her mouth. "What about the long hair? Not a fan?"

"On you?" She tells him, her head moving from side to side as she stares at him like she's trying to picture it. "I mean, with a heavy dose of eye liner you'd have looked like you'd stepped right out of an early 2000s emo band."

"Is that a good or bad thing?" He asks because he has no idea if that's an insult or a compliment.

"Always a good thing, Barnes." She says, shooting a playful wink in his direction. "I'd have had your posters all over my walls as a teenager."

"Is that right?"

"That's right. Not sure what your band name would've been. Might I suggest 'The Smug Arrogant Bastards'. It has quite the ring to it, don't you think?"