✔𝚮𝐞𝐥𝐥𝛐 𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞 ➳ 𝚩𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐲 𝚩𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐬

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 37: 𝐈𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝛐 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝛐𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝛐𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭

𝐓𝛐 𝐜𝛐𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐮𝐩 for all the time they had been away, Bucky went down to the river for a quick dive, and Jo sneaked into her room. It was her little idea, of course. If Peggy asked him anything, he could say he was down swimming, and she had gone inside a couple of minutes after they had gone out the door. She could come up with more if Peggy decided to ask her, but Jo doubted it.

She sneaked up the spiral staircase without an issue, and Bucky came up a couple of minutes later. The door to Wanda's room was completely shut, which meant she didn't want anyone to go in or knock. If she did, the door would be cracked open.

Jo had left the leather jacket downstairs, and she quickly changed into the cherry-stained shorts, along with another of her dad's old t-shirts. She seriously needed to get started on the portrait for Steve's birthday.

"What should I get Steve?" She asked while trying to sketch out the portrait. It would portray Steve and Peggy looking at each other, and hopefully, she could get that loving glint they always had in their eyes onto the paper.

"He gave you brake pads, right?" Bucky asked, over-looking some work papers he hadn't been able to finish earlier.

"Mmhmm," she hummed while trying to get Peggy's nose just right.

"Well, isn't the painting enough?" He asked, looking up from his papers. "If you got paid for your work, a portrait would still be too expensive."

"Yeah, but this is of both of them, so it can't be his only gift," she explained while he shook his head.

"Well, we can figure it out tomorrow when we go into town," Bucky said and scribbled something down on a page.

"Has he asked more about the girl you talked about?" She then asked, sighing deeply. To think that he had actually told Steve about them was still beyond her.

"A bit, but I don't think he's realised it's you. I said it was a girl from my class, added some other stuff too," he explained and put down the papers on her bedside table.

"Lot of lies there, am I having a bad influence on you?" She playfully asked, glancing at him as she took a step away from the canvas. Perspective was needed to see if she got the sketch right.

"You have the best influence on me," he replied, and she grinned widely.

"You're going soft."

"Think that's more of that wishful thinking, honey," he smirked and folded his hands behind his head, watching her. Jo tried to respond, but a large yawn interrupted her, causing her words to fade.

"Shit," she laughed and scratched her eyes, trying to focus back on the canvas.

"Come here," Bucky said, lifting the sheets and making grabby-hands out at her. She let out a giggle. He was definitely going soft. She did put down her pencil and take off her shorts, climbing underneath the sheets with him. "It's late." He brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, calloused fingers sweeping over soft cheeks.

"I love you," she smiled, and he kissed her, reaching over to kill the light on her bedside table.

"Love you too. Now, get some sleep," Bucky muttered and wrapped an arm over her waist, pulling her closer.

╼ 𓇣☀️𓇣 ╾

The driver's seat in the yellow Camaro had a distinct flowery scent to it. No matter the time of year, it would have a hint of summer mixed in with the leather of the seats and the tobacco from years of absorbing second-hand smoke.  This summer, the only scent that was new, was the cherry-like one. No matter how furiously Jo tried to clean the seat, whenever the car was left in the sun for longer periods of time, the cherries returned.