Bucky Barnes Imagines Vol. 1 (BB X Reader)

Off Limits

Bucky sat on the couch watching you float around the kitchen of the apartment you shared with him and Steve. You moved in with the pair when you finished college. Being the protective big brother he was, Steve didn't want you living alone in New York City, so he and Bucky agreed it would be best if the three of you shared an apartment. It had been three years of absolute torture for Bucky. He loved having you there, but being so close to you was hell. He had been in love with you since you were both kids, but you were off limits. You were Steve's little sister and Bucky, to put it nicely, was a bit of a player.

In his defense, the women were mostly a distraction to keep him from thinking about you. Women didn't last long in his life because he was always comparing them to you...and they never measured up. Of course he couldn't tell Steve that because he would kill Bucky for thinking of you like that. Bucky was resigned to sitting on the sidelines, watching you go about your life dating losers who treated you like shit and seeing them get to touch you in ways he had only ever dreamed about. You were busying yourself in the kitchen making dinner while Steve and Bucky watched a football game on TV. Actually, Steve was watching the game. Bucky was watching you. Bucky was startled out of his trance when he heard Steve yelling at the TV.

"Oh come on! That was such a shit call. Did you see that, Buck?" Steve glanced over at Bucky and then back to the TV.

Bucky wanted to tell Steve that he had in fact not seen that, because he was too busy staring at your ass and the way your yoga pants clung to you like a second skin.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Bad call." Bucky mumbled. He stood from the couch and ran his hand through his short brown hair. "I'm not feeling great. I think I'm gonna go lie down for a bit."

"You want me to come get you when dinner is done?" Steve asked, eyes still glued to the TV.

"Uh, no. I'll eat later if I feel better." Bucky glanced at you once more and then walked to his room.

He fell face first onto the bed and groaned into his pillow. Bucky didn't know how much longer he could do this, live with you without being able to claim you as his. Every day he found something else that made him fall deeper in love with you. Today it was that you offered to make dinner, even though it was his turn, so he could watch the game with Steve. Yesterday it was simply because he noticed the adorable way your nose wrinkled before you sneezed. He was head over heels and he couldn't do shit about it because he couldn't betray Steve like that.

Bucky flirted with you over the years, but every time he did Steve would give him a look or pull him aside and explain that you were off limits and that if he ever caught Bucky's hands on you, he'd chop them off. Steve was protective of you. Since your parents died, you were his only family and he tried to make sure you were safe and taken care of. Bucky could respect that, but it also didn't mean he wanted to break that rule any less.

Bucky spent the rest of the night in his room, scrolling through his phone and looking at apartment listings. He didn't want to move out, but he was running out of options and this seemed like the most sensible one. After hours of researching different apartments, Bucky's stomach began rumbling. It was almost midnight, so he pushed himself up and walked into the kitchen to grab something to eat.

A smile broke across his face when he opened the refrigerator and saw a bowl of spaghetti with a sticky note on top of it. You had written his name on it with a note saying you hoped he felt better. You finished it off with a heart and your name. You always made it a point to not only look after Steve, but also Bucky. Looked like he had found two reasons today that made him love you more than yesterday.

He popped the top off the bowl and grabbed a fork. He sat at the counter in the dimly lit kitchen and ate the spaghetti cold. While he ate, he scrolled through more apartment listings. Half-way through the bowl, you came stumbling into the kitchen with your eyes half closed. Bucky looked up and nearly choked on his mouthful of noodles. You stood in the doorway in nothing but an oversized shirt that came a few inches below your ass and panties.