How do you heal?

Chapter 51: This Isn't Awkward At All

Luckily Stark had bought a larger dining table while Bucky was away. That night at dinner the new table was surrounded by all the current compound residents including Annie. Even Stark and Pepper had joined them for the welcome back meal and it was over the top.

"Annie, this food is amazing. How long did all this take you?" Pepper asked, leaning over Pietro who sat between the two.

Bucky watched as Annie smiled and bumped Pietro's elbow with her own before answering. "It actually didn't take as long as you'd think. Since somebody," she cocked her head and stared pointedly, "was trying to make up for dumping a bucket of dirty water on me today I had a very fast sous chef that cut my prep time to almost nothing." Pietro grinned at Annie and moved his arm to the back of her chair before returning to his discussion with Thor.

The rest of the dinner Bucky tried to pay attention as across from him, Wanda and Vision recounted tales from their recent trip to Scotland but his eyes kept wandering just right of Wanda to Annie. She left her hair down and her long curls, that had grown well past her shoulders, had been flipped to one side creating a curtain that blocked most of her face. He could feel himself growing irritated the longer he stared. She kept her attention on the far end of the table, towards Stark, Pepper and Rhodey. Occasionally she would trade remarks with Banner and Thor across from her but it was clear she was avoiding him. He didn't blame her, not really. He had dumped her in a three sentence letter because he thought she would be better off. Still thought she was better off, and safer, if they weren't together. But that didn't stop his rising jealousy as he watched Pietro interact with her. His finger playing with her hair, his hand running up and down her bare arms, leaning over and stealing food from her plate with a cocky grin.

"Hey, you good?" Nat asked.

The question pulled him from his spiraling anger and he turned to Nat. "Yeah, just peachy."

Nat looked him up and down before glancing across the table to Annie and back. "You sure? Because that muscle spasm in your jaw tells another story."

"All good, Romanoff, the meat's just a little tough. Hard to chew." He replied, stabbing at his plate and taking another bite.

Nat smirked. "We both know that's a lie and a bad one at that."

Annie was a terrible liar. Sure she could put on a brave face and fake pleasantries in small conversation for a few minutes but she couldn't sit at this dinner table for hours and interact with Bucky and not show the sadness on her face. So she was doing her best to hide behind her hair. She knew it, and she was one hundred percent sure Tony knew it because he kept giving her weird looks from the end of the table. She was also pretty sure Pietro knew it and could sense her nerves. Once he put his arm on her chair after she playfully mocked him to Pepper he never removed it, instead she could occasionally feel him twirling her hair or running his hand over her arm.

Towards the end of the meal, during a lull in conversation where Annie was trying to peek through her hair to look at Bucky, Pietro grabbed his fork and stole a bite from her plate. "Ew, weirdo. What are you doing?" She asked, thankful for a reason to keep her attention on this end of the table.

"Eating." He replied as if he had done nothing unusual. Which, when Annie thought about it she guessed it really wasn't all that unusual. He was always grabbing little handfuls or pieces of her snacks. He had just never done it at a meal.

"I can see that, but why are you sticking your fork onto my plate when you have the same thing on your own?" She asked.

Pietro smiled and shrugged as he swallowed and answered "It looked like a really good bite." Annie just shook her head and laughed taking another bite as Pietro said, "So I was thinking we could wake up early tomorrow and go hiking on that trail you mentioned. Then after we can grab lunch in the city and maybe watch a movie later. How does that sound?"

Annie had been thinking about wandering around the city or asking Wanda to go shopping with her to avoid being at the compound all day. Eventually she would have to get used to Bucky being back and running into him around the compound, especially on her off days but it was too soon and she wanted to ease into that. So Pietro's plan was perfect. "Sounds like you just planned my whole day off."

Annie was cleaning up after dinner and putting away leftovers when Tony walked over from the living room where the others were laughing and talking. "So, am I going to have to add a poolside minibar for your late nights or are you gonna be okay?"

Annie laughed as she finished loading the dishwasher. "I'm going to be okay but you should definitely add a minibar anyways. Honestly I'm surprised it wasn't in the original design."

"Yeah well, I was trying to be a responsible leader but I think Cap has that covered so I can go rogue now." Tony replied and watched for a few moments as Annie bent down and pulled a few tins from under the island and began measuring components into a hinge top mason jar. "Seriously, Red. Are you good?"

Annie finished scooping out the last ingredient and began putting lids back on tins as she answered. "Tony, I'm the one who said you should forgive them. It would be a bit hypocritical for me to not do the same. I appreciate your mama bear protective mode but I'm gonna be okay." She opened a drawer and pulled out a sheet of paper with labels and a marker and began writing as she continued. "It's just going to be weird for a few days, that's all." She stuck a label on the jar and placed it under the island with all the other tins. "Now if you will excuse me I'm going to sneak away before Sam tries to pull me into that kumbaya group because I have a full day tomorrow and want to get some sleep."

As Tony hugged her goodnight he said, "Alright, Pepper and I are going to get out of here too. If you change your mind though, you tell me and I can boot cyborg anytime."

"I won't." She said quietly over her shoulder as she headed to her room.