Fine Line (Bucky Barnes x OC)

Plans

Bucky wandered into the kitchen, his revelation still sending a shock through him. He took a seat at the table and stared blankly ahead, listening to the harsh silence reverberate around him. He should be helping Luna. They should be isolating which factory was most likely to be housing the device Thomas was building and going over schematics in case they needed to make a quick exit. Instead, he was staring at the wall like an idiot trying to come to terms with the fact that his feelings for Luna had done a complete one-eighty since the start of the mission.

When had he fallen in love with Luna? Maybe a part of him always had feelings for her and he was too stubborn to admit it. Instead he goaded her into verbal, and sometimes even physical, altercations. Bucky had always found Luna attractive and, although there was a time he would have rather bitten off his own tongue than ever say it out loud, he admired her commitment to her job and her determination to make sure every mission was successful.

The times when he sought her out just to argue with her, or when he went out of his way to poke and prod at her, made sense to him now. It wasn't just because he enjoyed the argument, he realized it was because he wanted to be near Luna. There were several times where he had searched the compound after being away on assignment, actively looking for her. He told himself that it was because he missed irritating her, but he was lying to himself. Even then, he was falling for her and he didn't even know it.

The thought of loving her didn't scare him like he thought it would. What did scare him was the possibility that she would laugh in his face and reject him when he told her. An airy chuckle pushed past his lips and he shook his head at his predicament. It was humorous that just a few years ago, he was more scared of the Winter Soldier resurfacing than falling in love. Now the scariest thing he could think of was having his heart broken if his feelings weren't reciprocated.

Bucky sat at the table thinking over every interaction he had with Luna. He scrutinized the things he said, the things he did, and how he felt in each moment. If he was being honest with himself, being around Luna made him feel alive. She sparked something inside him. Rather they were fighting, sitting in silence, or being intimate, she made him feel things he thought he would never be able to after integrating back into society.

"Bucky?" Luna's voice jolted him from his thoughts. "Why are you just sitting at the table zoning out?"

Her brow was crinkled in concern. He never noticed the adorable little line that ran down between her brows when she looked worried. He still had so much to learn about her. He wanted to be able to read her like a book; to know her on a deeper level than anyone had before.

"Iceman!" Luna snapped in his face. "Are you okay?"

Luna laid the schematics that were under her arm onto the table and took the seat next to him.

"I'm fine, LuLu. Just thinking about...things."

"What things?" She propped her elbow on the table and rested her head in her hand.

Bucky paused, trying to think of a reasonable explanation.

"The, uh, the mission."

"You're a terrible liar, you know that?" She scoffed. "Wanna tell me the truth now?"

Bucky sat back in his chair and scratched at the stubble on his beard.

"I was thinking about you...about us." At least it was only a half lie. "How we're gonna do things when we go back to the compound."

"Oh, yeah?" She smirked. "How are we going to do things?"

Her eyes twinkled with mischief and she sat forward in her chair, gazing at him.