seeley street | b.barnes AU || ON HOLD

chapter seventeen

☆☆☆

B U C K Y

STEVE'S KITCHEN smelt like burned pasta. How he burnt it, I wasn't so sure. It took a special kind of stupid to burn something that's cooked in water. 

His living room window creaked as I slide it open, hoping to get the smell out of the apartment. Steve was shaking a towel underneath the smoke detector to keep it from going off. The last thing that we needed was for his landlord to call the fire department to check if there was any damage. 

Sam was laughing his ass off on the couch, not helping, which wasn't a surprise. His new fiancée Leila was rolling her eyes at him, but I could tell she was trying her best not to laugh. The two were even more inseparable since they had gotten engaged. 

The newest member of the group, who had been invited over for Steve's Monday Night Pasta Party - his name for it - was Natasha. I guess Steve and her made it official after their third date over the weekend, and while the relationship was still new, they seemed infatuated with each other. 

It was disgusting. Almost as disgusting as the smell of burnt pasta. 

"I was distracted, okay?" Steve said defensively to Sam, who must have started grilling him. 

"For how long, man?" Sam said. "I'm starving, and now we're going to have to wait and order something."

"It's not his fault," Natasha said, attempting to defend her new boyfriend, but her voice wasn't very convincing and she ended up laughing again. 

"Just for that, you guys can buy the pizza." Steve huffed. 

I rolled my eyes as I crossed the room and sat at his small kitchen table. Steve, Sam, and Leila all started chiming in about what to get as the chair next to me pulled out and the new redhead sat down next to me. 

She took a sip of the beer that she had been drinking before speaking. "So are you going to be there on Halloween?"

I grimaced slightly; I really didn't want to dress up. But I did want to see Lucy, especially if she was going to be dressed up. "I'm sure Steve will drag me along."

"Not a certain blonde you're interested in seeing?" She asked me. 

This was exactly why I wasn't thrilled when I found out Natasha would be here. She was ballsy, and I knew she would ask about my interest in her cousin. I was hoping that she wouldn't, but I wasn't surprised that she did. Despite the few times we'd actually met, or even talked, I knew she wasn't exactly the type to hold her tongue about anything. 

"Are you interested in seeing her?" She continued when I didn't answer. "I'm very protective over the people I care about, especially my little cousin."

I took a sip of my beer, unsure of what exactly to say. "I can tell."

"Okay just cut the crap, are you going to ask her out, are you just looking to be friends? What's the plan?"

I glanced at the redhead, an innocent smile playing on her lips. I wondered how long she had been planning on asking me that. 

"You're a very quiet person, Barnes," Natasha said. "Just tell me, come on. Steve already told me that you're interested in her. 

"Of course he did," I muttered. 

"No guy not interested in a woman would walk her home twice at the end of October. If you tell me you're interested in Lucy, maybe I could help you out. She's my cousin after all."

I looked at her again and she was still smiling. I wasn't entirely sure what to say. On one hand, Natasha knew Lucy infinitely better than I did, and she would be able to help me out. But on the other, I doubted Natasha would keep anything I say secret. I'm sure Lucy would know everything I say about her in the few seconds it takes for Natasha to text her. 

And I didn't really need Natasha, let alone Lucy, to know just how interested I was in the blonde. Not yet, at least. 

"Well, I feel like you should know that there's someone else interested in Lucy," Natasha said, "So if you are interested in her, you should probably you know, ask her out."

"Who else is interested in her?" I asked. My stomach felt tight and my hand tightened around the beer bottle. 

Natasha smiled and leaned back against her chair, " Who else, huh? That was easy to get you to admit."

I bit the inside of my cheek as I realized I fell perfectly into her little trap. I looked at my drink, shaking my head. "Okay, okay, fine."

She laughed and leaned forward, grabbing her own beer. "If you want to catch her attention, wear a costume."

"I don't dress up," I told her. 

"Maybe not. But Lucy loves Halloween. And if you show up in a costume, she'll notice you. If you want to catch her attention, just deal with a little public embarrassment for one night." 

I grunted and took a sip of a beer. "I don't think so. I think I'll figure something else out."

Before Natasha could reply, Steve wrapped his arms around her from behind and greeted the two of us. "What are you guys talking about over here?"

"About how much of a pussy Bucky is," Natasha replied, giving me a pointed look. 

I finished off my beer. 

"Oh, I can talk about that all day." Steve laughed. 

I rolled my eyes and stood up, "I'm going to get another beer."

thanks for reading ily all