All I Want Is Everything

If

It took twelve days for Ella to recover from her concussion, and she'd worried that there was permanent damage done. "No," her doctor said when she went in for an evaluation. "I can see where you'd be worried, but there's no evidence of that. You just had a bad concussion and it takes awhile for the brain to heal, same as a joint, for example. Or that fracture in your cheekbone. The x-rays show that's healing nicely as well. Let's get those stitches out while we're here." The lesser cuts were almost healed too and the bruising had lightened significantly. After getting out of the doctor's office, Ella went to a theatrical supply company and got some heavy-duty foundation that worked to conceal most of the remaining bruising on her cheek.

During this time, most of her friends kept their distance in order to be restful but sent over meals and flowers. Pepper and Tony had arranged for a housekeeping service to show up twice. Ella had a lot of thank you notes to write. Bec had called or come over every day, Sam did the same, and Bucky came by each day, sometimes just to make sure she wanted for nothing, other times to spend time with her, napping or talking.

She was thinking about what to do for dinner when there was a knock on the door. She opened it to find Bucky. A little surprisingly, he wasn't dressed in his normal summer shorts and fitted t shirt. He was in nice pants and a well-ironed button-down. Maybe he'd been meeting with a new agent? Thor was irritating him by waffling about whether he thought it would be ethical to rep both what was left of Shield as well as their former drummer. Ella didn't see what the problem was, and if she were Thor and somebody had to go, she'd cut the band loose first. "You look nice," Ella said as Bucky came in. "No, that came out wrong." Bucky laughed.

"I get it, Bella," he said. "I know it's last minute, but I wondered if you're free for dinner this evening. Now that you're all medically cleared and all."

A tingle ran down her spine. She'd been wondering a bit if she'd hallucinated him asking her for a date because he hadn't referenced it since then. "I am," she said, and happily went to touch up her makeup and hair and change into something nice. She returned in a floaty cotton dress and espadrilles, and they went to a good seafood restaurant. The conversation flowed, Bucky was attentive and interested, and Ella was happy. Until she rose on her toes to kiss him good night—a kiss on the lips, sure, but she wasn't going to force her tongue down his throat—and he moved his head slightly so that her lips landed on the stubble under his high cheekbone. She tried not to be disappointed, but then again, it was a first date and he was trying to be a gentleman, show how he'd improved. There was a slight scorch mark on the back yoke of his shirt, which she found rather endearing since it showed he was actively working to learn life skills that she and Bec took for granted.

A few days later, he called and asked for a date on Friday, which Ella was pleased to accept. She took care with her appearance, making her hair and makeup as nice as she could manage as well as selecting flowing linen pants and a sleeveless blouse that showed off her toned arms and shoulders, the tattoos on her left arm, and a strategic view of cleavage: sexy but not slutty. The date was dinner and a movie, "The Big Easy," which from Ella's perspective was perfect: both sexy and a decent plot about police corruption. Bucky seemed taken aback to see Dennis Quaid onscreen, but Ella didn't mind. Been there, done that, and while it had been awesome, it was in the past.

Bucky seemed to have recovered by the end of the movie, and they talked about the plot; he admitted that he'd heard that it was a good movie but didn't look into it. They talked about other things, including his search for a new agent. He'd given up on Thor's endless dithering, told him that he'd be by to formally terminate their relationship, and he was shopping for agents. Becca knew a few and he was looking forward to moving on.

This time at her door, he leaned in... and kissed her forehead.

What the fuck?

"I don't know, Bec," Ella said to her friend the next day. "I really thought he was interested. In more than my friendship, but now I don't quite remember what he said when he said he was interested in me. Maybe I misunderstood."