I hate you, don't I? - Stucky

Who's the one with the problem?

"Hey, Steve", Nat barged into his room without as much as a knock. "Are you coming to the bar tonight? You should probably take a break, you've been studying for like four hours".

Steve looked towards the clock and was shocked to see it was well into the evening already.

"Oh, um, yea I suppose so".

He clambered up with a slightly sore hamstring and changed into a nicer shirt before following Nat from his room.

"You know you could knock?" He said.

"Yea, like you'd be doing anything except shoving your face in a book", she scoffed.

"Hey!" He practically whined. "I don't just read my books.... I just focus more on them".

Nat didn't say anything except chuckle at him as they walked out the tower and a block to their local pub.

It was a pretty safe bet that you'd find at least a handful of agents or trainees from the shield tower in this bar each evening. It was a favourite, and the owners didn't mind the extra protection they brought with them. Sure, there were still fights like anywhere with alcohol, but they never amounted to much with a room full of trained agents.

"Here, you can get the next round", said Nat as she placed a beer in front of Steve.

"Thanks", he mumbled.

They sat in their little booth in silence. Sipping on their beers and peeking around at everyone. Steve just liked people watching, but there was no doubt Nat was watching and listening to each person, Noting everything there was to know. This is yet another reason why she will always be the best out of them all.

"What's on your mind?" She eventually broke the silence.

"There's nothing on my mind".

"Mm, I bet. You beat him, so why are you still angry?"

Of course she already knew the problem. Steve smiled lightly at her but shook his head.

"I don't know. He's been a pain in my ass since we started the program. I don't know what his problem is".

"What, you don't like being stared at whilst you work out?" She joked.

"Not when it looks like he wants to slit my throat".

She tilted her head in agreement and sipped at her drink.

"Maybe he just likes the look of you".

She knew she was treading into unstable waters but she couldn't help herself. The look on Steve's face at the comment had made it worth it.

"I don't think tough guys getting distracted by my looks".

"You never know", she said in a sing song voice, getting a scowl in return.

"And he spends all his time joking around with those idiots and still expects to beat me in training. He doesn't want to do any of the work".

Now he'd started, the dam had broken and he started ranting to Nat about all the reasons Bucky  Barnes was the worst person in their class. No, on the planet. There was no one else more antagonising than Bucky. And Nat listened to everything he had to say.

On the other side of the bar, Bucky sat at a table with his friends, already on his fourth beer.

He kept going to push his long hair behind his ear as a nervous tick, but kept forgetting he'd cut it before joining the program. It was now short on the sides and back and had a little volume on the top. It was much easier, but he missed the comfort of hiding behind the longer locks.