seeley street | b.barnes AU || ON HOLD

chapter fifteen

☆☆☆

B U C K Y

LUCY WAS quite possibly the most intriguing person I have ever met. Even after the long conversation that we shared at her kitchen table, I was still incredibly engrossed with her. I wanted to know absolutely everything about her. It was a strange feeling. I hadn't felt like this since my ex-fiancee when we first started seeing each other. The excitement that came with learning about a new person. That anxious bit of nerves that nestled itself in your stomach; I had forgotten the feeling. I had truly believed I never would experience it again.

But now, here I sat, across the table from Lucy. With her pretty blonde hair and dark brown eyes, soft undertones of freckles alongside the stretch of her jaw. She was the complete opposite of my ex, of all my exes. I was never one for blondes until now.

"Natasha and I have always been close," She continued saying. "She's a year older than me and we grew up together. Our dads are brothers."

"Do you have a big family?" I asked her.

"A normal size, I think. I have an older brother and a younger sister, Sasha and Luka. My parents are still married, crazy, I know. Obviously, you've met my grandparents," She nodded her head towards the door to the living room. "And then Natasha's family. She has one sister, Yelena, who moved out west with their mom. Yelena's a science teacher. Her parents are divorced, hence why she lives out west with her mom. That's all the family I got."

"That's not a bad size," I said, "Big enough for a decent amount of birthday presents, but small enough so you don't have to take anyone's crap."

Lucy laughed at my words. "Very, very true."

Our conversation was interrupted by the sound of the front door opening. I recognized Natasha's voice and listened as she came into the kitchen. When I looked back at her, I could see the surprise written across her face. I'm sure I was probably the last person that she expected to see. Especially sitting at her kitchen table.

"Hey.... guys...." She said, "What's uh, what's going on here?"

"We were having some coffee. We ran into each other at the VA and I invited him in for something warm to drink since it's so cold outside." Lucy said.

Natasha again looked between the two of us. "I see. Well, I just got back from the gym and I am starving, I was gonna make lunch. You guys hungry?"

Lucy looked at me with a raised eyebrow and I shrugged my shoulders. "I can eat."

"Natasha makes the best peanut butter sandwiches," Lucy said, her tone lifting in a teasing nature. "It's a staple meal in this house."

"I'll consider myself lucky then," I said.

Lucy and Natasha conversed a little while Natasha made the three sandwiches. The redhead told us about her workout at the gym and how she had spent the better part of the morning sweating her ass off.

The two of them laughed as they talked, a closeness that I could respect. They were very close for being cousins, and I thought it was sweet. It was nice how Natasha teased Lucy just enough and Lucy was able to dish it right back. It was refreshing and it reminded me a lot of how Steve and I used to be. Before everything changed.

Natasha sat with us while we ate, and I was surprised to find that I didn't mind so much. She brought out a relaxed nature to Lucy, one that wasn't present when it was just her and I. I got the sense it was because she and I were just beginning to get to know each other. It made sense, of course. I hoped that within time, she will be relaxed near me too.

"So Halloween is next weekend," Natasha began a new conversation. "O'Connor's is having their usual costume contest, which I will be winning. Bucky, are you going?"

"I didn't even know they did something for Halloween," I said. I glanced between the two cousins. "You guys dress up?"

"Of course!" Lucy said with a smile. "Last year I dressed up as Dorothy from Wizard of Oz, but this year Wanda, Nat, and I are dressing up as characters from Alice and Wonderland."

"I'll be the Queen of Hearts, hence the red hair, Luce will be Alice because she's the blonde, and Wanda is doing a female version of the Mad Hatter because she absolutely loves Johnny Depp and loved him in those movies," Natasha explained.

"Did you ask Steve if he was going yet?" Lucy asked.

She didn't ask me if I was going, nor invite me prior. I had to tell myself that we'd only really just started to be friends, so of course, she didn't invite me. She hardly knew me.

"Yes, he said he'd let me know. He doesn't want to where a costume."

"What about you, Bucky?" Lucy turned to me. "If you come, you have to dress up though. Pietro is dressing up as the Cheshire cat. He always goes crazy with his costumes, it's hilarious." She started to laugh again.

"I'm not really one for dressing up." I admitted, scratching my jaw. "But I'd come for the party."

Lucy smiled at me, "Well, you should definitely consider coming, I think it'll be fun."

ugh I really wanna start writing again I miss it so much it's just so hard to do anything lately seasonal depression has hit my hard

I have my two bucky fics, civil war and an unpublished Peter Parker that I wanna write 😭😭😭

Ily all sorry for being shitty 🖤🖤