Bound To You (Bucky Barnes X OC)

It's A Date

Jade had been avoiding Steve since he showed up in her lab on Monday. She knew that she needed to talk to him about what happened, but she didn't know how to approach him. She couldn't avoid him forever, she'd be flushing four years of friendship down the drain. Jade wasn't angry at him for confessing how he felt about her, although it had shocked her. However, she was upset that even after she told him no, he kept pursuing her.

He had been texting her all week. Asking her for coffee or dinner. He had sent her flowers and left her notes about all the things he loved about her. He recruited Nat and Wanda to try to get her to agree to a date with him even though they knew about her feelings for Bucky. Even Tony had joined in, dropping not-so subtle hints about Jade and Cap dating, while working on a programming issue for Tony's suits.

Jade was leaving his messages on read and ignoring his calls. She even had Friday set up an alert to warn her that Steve was on his way to the medical wing, giving her just enough time to hide. Okay, she'd admit it was excessive and unnecessary, but to be fair she had never been in this situation before. Jade's experiences with relationships and sex could fit on a post-it note. The mini ones, that is.

Being in hiding the majority of her life had a negative affect on her personal life. She hadn't even had her first boyfriend until her second year of college and that lasted all of two months. Now she was in this tangled web where she was in a secret relationship while being pursued by her best friend who didn't know how to accept no as an answer.

She sighed and pulled out her phone to text Bucky. Seeing his name light up her screen always made all her other problems pale in comparison. Jade's face fell when she saw several new messages from Steve. She needed to end this once and for all. She needed to be firm with him. Not rude or malicious, just firm. Steve was a good guy. He'd understand once she explained it to him in a calm reasonable manner. She opened his contact and began scrolling through his messages.

Steve: Jade, please talk to me. This is killing me.

Steve: If you won't answer my calls, why won't you at least text me back?

Steve: Sweetheart, I'm not going to stop until you talk to me.

Steve: Just meet me for lunch today. That's all I'm asking. Please?

Steve: I'm going to come by the medical wing after my training session with Sam if you don't answer.

Jade contemplated his request. It was Steve. She wanted their friendship back, but was it too late to salvage what they once were? Before responding to Steve, Jade walked out of the lab to find Bucky. She wanted to make sure he was okay with this before she agreed. He had been walking on eggshells around Steve since their last sparring session. Bucky wouldn't tell her exactly what happened, but she knew it wasn't good.

Jade found Bucky in one of the meeting rooms with his feet propped up on the table. Files were scattered in front of him and one rested in his metal hand. His brow was furrowed as his eyes scanned across the pages, completely unaware that Jade was standing in the doorway.

"Hey there, Sergeant." Jade said seductively.

Bucky's eyes shot up and a smirk played on his lips at the sound of her voice.

"Sugar." He greeted.

Jade shut the door behind her and took the seat next to Bucky.

"What are you working on?" She asked, taking his flesh hand underneath the table and intertwining her fingers with his.

"Just trying to comb through these Hydra files again for anything we might have missed." His thumb made small circles on the back of her hand.

"I need to talk to you about something." Jade said, clearing her throat.

"Uh-oh, that's never good." Bucky said and waited for her to continue.

"It's not necessarily bad, I just need to ask you something. Um, Steve asked me to lunch today. To talk."

"Absolutely not." Bucky said firmly. "I know what he's trying to do, Jade. He wants to get you to himself so he can try to win you over. It's not happening."

"I need to talk to him, Buck. I can't keep avoiding him. I need to see if our friendship can be salvaged."

"It's a bad idea, sugar. Listen, I love Steve, I really do, but I don't trust him around you."

Jade chuckled a bit, trying to lighten the mood.

"Are you afraid I'm going to swoon over Captain America and his charm?"

Bucky's mouth tightened into a harsh line. Jade frowned as she continued.

"You have nothing to worry about, babe. I swear to you that I'm not meeting him because I want to take him up on his offer."

A faint smile graced Bucky's face.

"What?" Jade asked, confused.

"You just called me babe. You've never called me anything other than Bucky or Buck."

"Or sergeant." Jade added with an arched brow.

Bucky chuckled and his smile grew. She returned his smile. Her heart warmed at the look on Bucky's face. It was a mix of love and pride.

"You don't mind?"

"Of course not, doll. At least it wasn't James."

Bucky chuckled again and squeezed Jade's hand then leaned in to kiss her. His metal hand caressed her cheek gently. He reluctantly pulled back from her lips and spoke.

"If you feel like you need to do this, I trust you. However, I'm taking you out tonight, so don't be gone too long."

"Really?" Jade asked, excitement shooting through her.

"Yes, really. I realized this morning that, uh, I–um, I've never taken you on a real date and I would like to." An alarmed look flashed on his face and he quickly added, "That is if you want to."

"Of course I want to. It's a date, Sergeant."

Bucky's face beamed at Jade before his lips curled into a seductive smile.

"I could get used to you calling me that, too."

Bucky leaned in for another kiss, but Jade teasingly pulled back.

"Save it for our date, babe." She winked at him as she got up and walked out of the room.

When she was back in her lab, she grabbed her phone and finally responded to Steve.

Jade: I'll meet you for lunch at one. Meet me at the dinner we went to the first time we had dinner together.

Steve: I'll be there. Thank you for agreeing to this, sweetheart.

Jade: I agree we need to talk, but just so you know, my answer hasn't changed.

Steve: We can talk more at lunch. See you then, sweetheart.

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