Initiation ▷ BUCKY BARNES

ONE

PART ONE
"NORMALITY"
❝ In which The Winter Soldier rekindles a past love.
Set before Captain America: The Winter Soldier. ❞

IT WAS A HARSH NOVEMBER DAY. The sky was gloomy and full of dark clouds which threatened to spill gallons of rain upon Bloomington – a rather densely populated city in Illinois. 

Avery Peterson was currently sitting in a packed restaurant in the heart of the city, her dark brown eyes focused entirely on what her friend sitting opposite her was saying. The restaurant was full of chatter with a bunch of people queuing outside in hopes of getting a table – luckily for Avery her friend Sarah was able to pull a few strings and had managed to get a table booked last minute.

"Avery, did you want another drink?" The brunette was stirred out of her daze when she felt an elbow softly nudge her ribs. The woman looked up to find her friend Carter staring at her with raised brows as he waited for an answer. Avery nodded sheepishly and passed her empty glass to the waiter.

"Just another orange juice please."

"Of course. Anything else?" The waiter asked. Carter shook his head before smiling politely at him and the waiter nodded before walking away from the table. Avery was silent for a few moments as she took her phone out of her pocket to quickly check her messages. The woman replied to one text before putting her phone away and smiled at Sarah and Ben – her date for the evening – who appeared to be in a deep conversation about fireworks for some apparent reason. The whole time she could feel Carter gazing rather intently at her and the brunette shifted uncomfortably.

"Carter, you're staring. Again." Avery pointed out, laughing half-heartedly at the end so that no tension would be created. Carter looked away from Avery and sighed before softly chuckling to himself.

"Can you blame me? I mean, you are my date for the evening." The brunette looked up at Carter to find him flashing her his signature boyish smile – the type of smile that would send most girls insane. Perhaps if she were still in high school and still obsessed over him like she was at the age of fifteen, Avery would've reacted differently. But as she'd grown up and matured, she'd found that her feelings for Carter had changed. Nonetheless, she accepted his never ending questions about going on a date and here they were.

Before Avery had a chance to say anything more to Carter the waiter appeared with her glass of orange juice. After thanking him the man curtly walked away, only for Carter to subtly glare at him as he left.

"So Avery, Carter," Ben began, his deep blue eyes full of intrigue and happiness. "where did the two of you meet?"

"High school." The two spoke in unison. Avery turned to face Carter who had a smile forming on his lips as he grinned to himself, seeming to remember past memories from his school days.

"Avery here had a huge crush on me, she just couldn't get enough of me." Carter said whilst flashing Avery a playful look to which she jokily rolled her eyes.

"But in the end it was Carter here who had to ask me out on a date four times before I accepted." The brunette interrupted before Carter could say anything more.

"Four times?" Ben repeated in disbelief, his eyes widening in a taunting manner as he looked over at Carter who appeared to be rather embarrassed about the situation. Avery couldn't help but laugh at Carter's reaction and Ben continued to press on with questions about the two's past. After a little while Avery felt her pocket start to vibrate and quickly checked her phone to find that she had an incoming call. The woman flashed Carter and the other two an apologetic smile before proceeding to get out of her seat.