𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝙰𝚜𝚜𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚗

Chapter 26: Denial

Bucky's (P.O.V.)

"Have you made a move yet?" I'm on my way to breakfast when I'm joined by Nat in the hallway. And just my luck, she brings up my 'crush' on Angela. I roll my eyes and shake my head.

"No, Nat."

"Why not?" She prods.

"Because that's not what's going on. You've got the wrong idea." She smirks to herself.

"I think you just don't want to admit it, Barnes." I scoff at her as we round the corner.

"You keep telling yourself that." When she doesn't answer I glance down at her. Her smirk is still there and I squint my eyes with hope. "You're not going to stop, are you?"

"Nope, but nice try." I sigh, accepting my fate even if it's not what I wanted to hear. Angela was a nice girl, a woman with great potential. Even if I did accept any sort of feelings towards her I'm sure she wouldn't want anything to do with me. For God's sake, she's been forced to share a room with me for three weeks already. I'm surprised she hasn't tried to escape out the window yet. Nat and I enter the small dining area, noticing that Steve and Sam are already there. But I'm caught by surprise when I see Angela walking away from the kitchen area with two apples in her hands. She's making her way towards my direction.

"Where'd you come from?" I ask her with confusion. "I left before you." Her smirk reminds me greatly of Nat as the space between us narrows.

"A magician never reveals their secrets." I quickly catch the apple she tosses to me as we pass each other and I watch her for a second as she continues before turning to the other three people in the room. Steve's hands are shoved into his sweatpants pockets as he arched his eyebrow at me, Sam giving me a similar look and Nat just smiling next to me.

"Barnes has a crush on Angela-"

"I do not!" I blurt to cut Nat's accusation short. Steve laughs while Sam gives me a weird look.

"Since when does Bucky have a crush?" He asks.

"I don't," I retaliate, my arms outstretched at my sides with annoyance. I turn my head to the side to look at the woman next to me before bringing my apple to my lips and taking a bite. "Can you go back to bothering Steve now?" Her hair sways as she tilts her head from side to side, her face scrunching goofily to imply she's contemplating my suggestion.

"Hmmm. Uuuuhhhh Nah, that's not fun." She continues following me to the fridge where I grab a bottle of water since I have an apple already. I have early patrol today so I have to train sooner than usual. "I set you up to patrol with Vision, right?"

"Yeah, why?" Each week everyone is given a different partner and time to watch over New York. It's a way for us to stay in tune with what's going on while being able to learn how to work together with different teammates. Nat shrugs.

"Just making sure. I've got Clint."

"You always get Clint." She smiles at me and leans against the countertop.

"Be in charge of the schedule and you'll get first dibs on your partner," She says flauntingly. I roll my eyes.

"And I'm assuming you have the late shift again?" One corner of her mouth tilts higher than the other as she smirks slightly.

"As always." I sigh as we look at each other.

"You know, one of these days I'm going to have to hack the schedule. You know I hate having the first shift." She shrugs her shoulders innocently.

"Oh well, life isn't always fair." She pauses, her eyes shining with devious knowledge. "What if Angela just happened to be your partner next week?" I finish my apple and toss it into the trash can.

"You know she can't leave the facility. Besides, she's not a member of the team."

"Yet," She mutters. I raise my eyebrows and point my finger at her accusingly as I start to make my way to the gym.

"That's enough outa' you for today." Nat practically sings her next sentence like a child.

"Have a good day, Barnes."

(Nat's P.O.V.)

I watch as Bucky makes his way down the hallway towards the gym, my feet taking me back to where Steve and Sam were still standing. Their conversation was cut short when they both noticed my knowing expression on my face.

"I know that look," Steve announces. "What are you thinking about, Nat?" I raise my eyebrow at the two men in front of me with crossed arms.

"You guys aren't as oblivious as Metal Arm over there, are you?" Sam laughs out loud with a scoff.

"Of course not. You could see his interest in her from a mile away." Steve's eyes squint at me but his lips are softly upturned into a playful smile.

"What are you getting at?" He asks, both of them now intrigued. I glance between them, my lips pursed together to try to contain my smile.

"I think it's time we find out if she likes him, too."

"Okay," Sam nods. "And how do you expect to find that out?"

"Simple," I say. "We see if she gets jealous over him."

Song that inspired this chapter: What Am I - Why Don't We