Escape (An Avengers fanfiction) [ON HOLD]

Chapter Eighteen

It's noon when there's a knock on my door. "Come in!" I call and turn to see who it is, glancing over Loki's arm which is slung around my shoulders. The door slowly opens and Steve walks in with a man that looks vaguely familiar.
"Anna, Loki, this is my friend, Bucky Barnes." He says, beaming at the man beside him.

I get up and go over to get a good look at Bucky. He's got brown hair that's been pushed behind his ears and really nice grey eyes. He stiffens as I look over the rest of him. He's got a muscle shirt that shows off his arms, one being made of metal and has a red star on the shoulder. Black cargo pants cover his legs and boots are on his feet. He smiles when I beam up at him and hold out my hand.

"Hello Mr. Barnes, it's nice to meet you. You have really nice eyes."
"Thank you and just call me Bucky. You're not scared of me?" He asks quietly, while shaking my hand with his normal arm.
"I have no reason to be." I reply simply, which makes him look at me curiously.

Steve claps his friend on the back and they start leaving. He calls back, "Thanks Anna, see you later. Oh, and we're all thinking about going out for lunch. Let one of the others know if you have a preference. I think we'll be heading off soon." And with that, they leave closing the door behind them.

I walk up behind Loki and put my arms around him, my head buried in the crook of his neck. I inhale, taking in the scent of Old Spice and letting out a little sigh. "You smell good." I mumble.
"Oh do I? So do you. You smell like berries and those cake things."
"Cupcakes?" He nods and then flips me over the couch and onto his lap, facing him, before I can blink.

We sit there, staring into each other's eyes for what seems like forever until my stomach growls rather loudly. Loki chuckles, "Hungry?" "Always." I get off of him and he gets up. We go out to the living room where everyone is, ready to leave for lunch. I look down and yet again, I'm without shoes but hey, at least I have socks on. I start heading back to my room to get shoes when Loki grabs my arm and waves a hand at my feet and my black Converse appear on them, laced and ready to go. "Where to?" I ask as we all fill the elevator. "Shawarma." Nat answers. I look at Loki for an answer on what exactly "shawarma" is, but he just shrugs.

We all walk through the busy Manhattan streets until we get to a small restaurant that's mildly busy. We get through the line and order our food, which turns out to be a burrito like food with assorted meats mixed with lettuce and sauce wrapped up into the food known as Shawarma. We go find a few booths to sit at and dig into the meal. Everyone seems pretty used to the exotic flavour, but I groan at the taste, eating mine up quickly. Loki chuckles at my response and offers me his partially eaten one. I make sure he's serious before taking it from him and scarfing it down. After everyone is done eating we split up, I drag Loki to a nice little ice cream shop down the road. I get us each a chocolate cone and we eat and talk as we wander around Manhattan.

"So how's your week been?" He asks me, grabbing my hand as a guy walking my eyes me.
"It's been pretty good. I love having a family again. I've met this guy, he's so nice and he's a perfect gentleman."
"And who's that?" He asks, a hint of jealousy in his voice.
"You! You silly pickle!" I giggle while swinging our interlaced hands.

He blushes and brings my hand up to his lips and presses a gentle kiss to it. "You're the best." He says as we walk along. I smile down at the ground. We pass a group of stick thin girls and I sigh softly and start to break myself down. I'll never look like that. I'll never be perfect. I'm not pretty, or desirable in anyone's eyes. Loki's probably just pitying me. I start to tear up, but quickly brush the salty drops away with the back of my free hand. Loki pulls me over to one of the buildings and stands there looking at me. "Anna, look at me." I slowly lift my eyes to his face and he looks down at me with worry. He lets go of my hand and runs his thumbs over my cheeks tenderly.