The Winter Soldier is Still Here (Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier x reader)

Then and Now

That night I went home walking on air...despite that I drove. Bucky had gotten my number...or rather, I put it in his phone because he was still learning how to use it. He promised he'd call the next day but asked me to please let him know I got home safely. As soon as I walked into the door of my apartment, I leaned against the closed door, took a deep breath through smiling lips, and pulled my phone from my bag.

Hey, I made it home.

I had to wait eight minutes, scared something had happened, or he had changed his mind before I got a message back:

Good. I'll talk to you tomorrow. Sweet dreams, doll.

I had to think a moment how to respond back? He was still typing. Do I respond back? Do I tell him 'sweet dreams'? Do I say thank you? Do I ask if he got home? I finally settled with simple, not overly committed when he hadn't sent anything, maybe it was a glitch.

Okay. Good night, Bucky.

As soon as my message sent, another message came through:

Sorry, it takes me so long to type.

This made me laugh out loud, literally.

That's okay! I'll try to remember to call from now on.

I had noticed he was typing again after I sent my message.

Either is fine with me. I'll let you go now, I know you're tired. Sleep well.

I didn't think I'd be able to sleep because of still flying high from the perfect kiss, but as soon as my head hit the pillow, I was gone.

When I awoke, my phone had a message from Bucky.

Good morning. :) <--- I learned how to send a smile through text!

I smiled so big that my cheeks hurt, before biting my lip and smiling like I did when I was really happy. I started to text him back but decided to call instead, attempting to shake the grogginess from my voice first, as he answered.

"Hello?"

"Good morning to you, too! I'm so proud of you learning how to make a smiley face!"

"Don't patronize me," he replied lightly.

"I swear, I'm not! I really am proud of you!"

"I could have just text you, you didn't have to call. You prefer text, right?"

"I don't mind, Bucky. Most of the time, yes, I prefer text, but I told you last night I'd call, so here we are."

He laughed before continuing to reassure me that texting would be okay if I preferred it.

"It may take me four months to type one message, and I might miss the sound of your voice, but I'd do it for you."

I couldn't help but bite the inside of my jaw to keep the growing smile out of my voice.

"Okay, Bucky, I'll keep it in mind."

"So...what are you up to today? I'm guessing you aren't going to the farmer's market."

"No, with working every day this week and having school work to complete, I didn't have time to go to the farm to pick up anything. I'll probably just call and check in on Roger and Betty today. They knew I wouldn't be coming this week, but I like to check in on them all the same. I'll probably spend most of my day trying to finish my last paper of the week. I've got some more research and eight more pages to write and since I have to work tomorrow, there won't be a ton of time to work on it."