One Shots || Bucky x Reader || ABC

A || Astronauts and Attraction

One year and five weeks before space

You were in the process of tying your trainers when you suddenly found yourself staring at your own reflection. It took you a second to realize it was the Hayden Planetarium's flyer that had been released last week; with your cheesy smile on the cover. Your best friend, Elsie, grinned at you as you smashed the flyer out of her hands and your peripheral vision.

"I look ridiculous in that photo," you complained as you finished tying your shoelaces and started to rummage through your sports bag to look for your water bottle.

"Oh come on- Look at that toasty grin. It's heart-warming," Elsie smirked as she put the flyer away in her pocket. Though you were quite pleased with the series of lectures on astrophysics that you were set to give in a month, you weren't as excited about having to do so live. In front of an audience. Of people.

"Let's just get to training," you commented briefly as you located your water bottle and left the locker room to head into the gym. Elsie chuckled loudly as she followed you out.

As usual, the gym was extremely quiet this early in the morning which meant you saw the same work-out obsessed people every single morning, because who else would willingly go to the gym at 6am? From a distance you could already see the blue-eyed man, whom had caught your eye for weeks now, working vigorously on the weights as you studied him from afar. Each morning he would move to the pull-up bar opposite of you to continue his work-out. And each time he would send you a pearly-white smile, the right corner of his mouth lifted up slightly more than the left. Even after weeks of receiving that smile, you felt as silly and flustered as a thirteen-year-old teenager with a mad crush.

You refocussed your attention on the training at hand and picked up your weighted vest at the desk. The vest weighed a total of 50 lbs and made your body feel extremely heavy, your legs straining as you walked to the treadmill and set the timer on 45 minutes. Elsie started running on the treadmill next to you without a weighted vest. From the corner of your eye you spotted the blue-eyed man wiping the sweat from his forehead with a towel as he made his way over to the machine opposite of you where he, as per usual, made sure to do his pull ups in your direction. You were no longer able to say it must be a coincidence; he must somehow truly be interested in a space nerd like you. Suddenly, you felt incredibly silly wearing the weird vest around your body instead of a cute top.

"Have you asked him out yet?" Elsie asked in what she would call a whisper, but was loud enough to quiet an entire kindergarten class high on Red Bull. But, thankfully, the muscular man opposite of you appeared to not have noticed the remark and was busy adding weights.

"No, I haven't. And I never will," you shot back in a frustrated whisper, breathing heavily as you worked hard to keep up with the speed of the treadmill.

"Well, all right then," Elsie sighed as she got off her treadmill and opened her water bottle to take a large gulp. "Can you hold this for me darling, I'll be right back," she smiled as she pushed the open water bottle and her phone into your hands. Confused why she didn't just put her stuff on the chair nearby, you watched in horror as she increased the settings of your treadmill and shot off like a rocket to the locker rooms. A panicked squeal rolled from your lips as you contemplated throwing the phone and water bottle away in a rush, when the speed increased to such an extent that your legs were failing to keep up.

In a shrieking clash of awkward clumsiness your feet lost their footing and sent your body sprawling over the treadmill, rolling unceremoniously onto the floor behind it. You groaned as you felt your body land on the heavy weights of your vest and instantly decided Elsie was the worst friend e-

"Oh my god- are you okay?!" a deep voice asked and when you opened your eyes, you stared into two piercing blue ones. His breathing, too, was laboured as he frantically looked you up and down to look for any injuries. You couldn't help but notice his chocolate brown hair that had slipped out of a messy manbun and the way how his muscular upper arms were tightly being hugged by his shirt.