The Coffee Shop Girl ~ Bucky Barnes

Prologue

Bucky Barnes was not prepared for moving into the Avengers Compound. It was a big shock to his system having so many people around, especially when he had been fighting most of them only a few months previously. He was grateful that Tony Stark had allowed him to stay there, even if the man tried to avoid him as far as possible; Bucky could understand this response to his presence, given that he had killed the man's parents. Though many of Stark's teammates had been less than welcoming to him and Steve, Bucky was surprised how pleasant Natasha had been. The woman often helped get him out of situations where he was faced with a lot of people he didn't know, and she did her best to get Steve off his case when the man was trying to get him integrated and Bucky just wanted to be left alone.

It was one day a couple of months after Bucky had moved into the Compound, when he was sitting in the kitchen after an argument with Steve, when it happened. Steve had been trying to convince him into going to some of Sam's therapy sessions and Bucky hadn't been able to explain why he didn't want to go. That he would be the only person in the room who had been on the opposite side, that he had probably killed the teammates of more than one of the other veterans. Eventually, Steve had left him by himself, claiming that he needed to go punch something. It made Bucky feel bad that he caused this anger in his friend, but he also knew that it wasn't his fault; Steve was just so used to being in the new millennium that he had forgotten what it was like when you couldn't go anywhere without there being multiple cameras pointed in your direction.

Bucky had been sitting there for a while when movement at the door caught his eye; Natasha strode into the room with the same self-assurance she always seemed to have, and nodded to him. She was dressed casually in dark jeans and a white top. Her red hair was pulled back into a ponytail and a smirk was resting on her lips as she observed him.

"I take it you're the reason Rogers has already destroyed three reinforced bags this morning, Barnes." His wince was all the answer she needed and her smirk dropped into a frown. "Do you want me to get him off your case?"

Bucky was surprised at the amount of genuine concern in her voice as she asked this; the redhead very rarely acted in such a way, normally she was joking around or she was the silent assassin Bucky had trained her to be during his time as the Winter Soldier. He shook his head at the woman, and Natasha's frown merely deepened.

"Look Barnes," She started, sitting down at the counter across from him. "I know what it's like when people are constantly trying to stick their noses into your personal business and you don't want them to. If Rogers can't keep himself to himself, I am quite happy to tell him to back off, even if you don't want to say it to him yourself."

Bucky shook his head once again, he didn't want to cause a rift between Steve and Natasha, especially considering how hard each of them were trying to help him get used to everybody else in the building. He had no desire to be the thing that broke them apart, given that they had been friends before Steve even found out he was still alive.

Natasha didn't look convinced by his response, but Bucky was glad when she dropped it nonetheless. "I was wondering if you would like to go somewhere with my this morning." She suggested, tucking her hands into her pockets. "You don't have to, but there is this little place a couple of blocks away that I think you might like."

Bucky had planned to hole himself up in the room Tony had given him for the rest of the day but he didn't want Natasha to feel like he was trying to avoid her, so he nodded his head anyway. Standing up from his place at the counter, he quickly grabbed his jacket from the back of the chair and pulled it on. Natasha did not question this action, knowing that despite it being a warm day, Bucky would want to avoid anyone seeing his arm. It was another thing Steve was always trying to persuade him about because he thought it was important his friend became used to people staring at them, but Bucky was used to pretending he was normal and didn't like leaving the metal limb on display.