The Winter Highlander || Bucky x Reader

Part 6

Note before reading:

You know what. Yes- there are tropes in this chapter. Do I care? No. They are tropes for a reason. I could literally live on them instead of air. We do not need oxygon. We need a grumpy Bucky Barnes with a stubble.

--------

You hadn't seen Arsehole, which you had taken to calling him again, for almost two days. It annoyed you to no end that your mind kept wandering off to Bucky Barnes so often. It really wasn't rational that you spent so much of your time looking out of the coffeeshop window, hoping to catch a glimpse of him as he would head up to 'his mountain', as Deirdre liked to call it. Now make no mistake, the only reason you wanted to see Bucky Barnes walk by was to show him how little you cared about him. Perhaps you would add a cold shoulder or a cocked eyebrow to show your displeasure at his latest outburst. You know- glower at him a little, show him just how much you weren't thinking about him at all. So, you felt your head turn to the window several times per hour. Perfectly reasonable right?

Right.

It wasn't until Saturday night when you finally saw Bucky. It was a rather terrible affair as you were on your way to The Fat Falcon for your drink with Steve; carrying a tart for Graeme all the way, when right before you were about to go in you saw a car stop right next to the pub. From it emerged Bucky, accompanied by a young red-haired woman. She had the kind of red curly hair people would get seriously jealous of, and bright blue eyes like Bucky's. They spoke softly and hugged.

You felt a pit form into your stomach as you saw Bucky linger on the smell of her hair, his arms lacing tightly around her as if he were afraid to let go. Then, as if he could sense you were there, Bucky looked up straight at you, still hugging the redhead. You didn't breathe for a moment, feeling you had intruded on something extremely private and sacred, as Bucky was showing emotions you had never seen written in his eyes before. Until that moment you had doubted he was even capable of it.

Your cold-shoulder-turning and eyebrow-arching plans evaporated almost instantly as he held your gaze for just a second longer, turned down his eyes and let go of the woman. He stepped away from the car so she could get back in and watched her drive away with a small wave of her hand.

The two of you stood there in silence for a while, the pie still lodged in your shaky hands, the night extremely cold but none of you moving just yet. You felt kind words threatening to spill over your lips, so instead you chose utter silence. Bucky's eyes moved down towards the very bright yellow wellies you had put on, as it had been raining for days on end, the cold not quite cold enough to turn everything into a world of ice and snow.

"What the bloody hell are those?" Bucky murmured coldly, the insult not having the same playful twinge it usually had. He hadn't used your nickname.

You oddly missed it, and felt his words were more hostile now that they weren't accompanied by it. You felt disappointed as, after him seeming so ordinarily human, he had grown closed off again in mere seconds.

"Wouldn't want to get to my date with wet feet," you replied, your voice monotone and factual as you felt unsure what you were trying to make Bucky feel.

Bucky looked straight back into your eyes as those words had left your mouth. Oddly enough, Bucky seemed to struggle to process those words in his mind until you were able to see him clench his jaw very slightly, his eyebrows lowering as he glowered at you. He was- annoyed. You almost chuckled. Almost.

"Steve's waiting for me. See you later Barnes," you shot, also choosing not to use Arsehole. Oddly enough it felt more hostile that way.

Bucky's lips were about to form a response at the knowledge of you going on a date with his best friend, but you turned around before he could utter it and headed through the doors of The Fat Falcon, leaving Bucky gloriously angry and alone outside.