Avengers Imagines

The Folly Of Love (Pt. 1/2)

"Sure you want to hear about this?" Bucky sat at the breakfast bar, loudly tapping his metal fingers against the marble countertop — a nervous tick. Bruce set is toast side, pinching his nose. "You have been talking to me about this on and off more than six months now, so yes, I think both of us would benefit from this conversation."

"Okay. She is the most beautiful person I have ever seen, and I have been alive for significantly longer than any of you." Bucky tried to think of ways to describe the girl, ambiguous enough so as not to rouse suspicion. "She listens to all the crap that spews out of my mouth with only mild complaining. She understands and cares so much. She is generous, she is kind, it's like she is remarkable in every single way."

"Yep. You are in love all right." Bruce took a seat opposite the former assassin, prodding at his now cold toast, wondering whether his jaw was up to the task. When you walked into the room, the little hairs on the back of Bucky's neck stood up. It was incredulous to believe he had come to recognise someone's footsteps so well.

"Hey, Buck, did you ask Tony to install a radio in your metal arm?" Your question caused heat to rise up in Bucky's cheeks. He was grateful for the long hair covering his red ears, which would otherwise have been exposed for all to see. "N-No?" He hated the fact that he stammered.

You laughed, a soft, amused laugh. The way your nose scrunched up brought a shameless grin on his face.  You patted his cheek. "Well, Tony designed a prototype and he's asked you to come test it tonight."

"As long as you're going to be there." He hopped down the high stool he had been sitting on, with the aid of the hand that was on his face, not that he needed the help. The expression on your face turned apologetic. "Not tonight, no. Tonight's date night. Although I swear if Steve takes me dancing one more time-"

And that was how Bucky was reminded. Again.

-

The afternoon seemed to stretch on forever. It was days ago that Bucky had tried out the inbuilt radio metal arm and decided to save it for special occasions, whatever they may be.

Speaking of Bucky, he had claimed a corner of the bed for himself — half laid down, his legs propped up against the headboard. On the remnant part sat the rightful owners of the bed. Leaning on the headboard was Steve, and leaning on Steve's chest, were you. It all honesty, it was strange to you at first how involved Bucky was in Steve's life and by extension, yours — but in time, you came to love him in much the same way as his best friend did.

"Is there something you want to tell me, Bucky?" Steve bore a serious expression, although a playful smile tried to break through, which was only visible to you by the virtue of your proximity.

Bucky caught himself right before the instinct of sitting back up took over. He was the furthest thing from nonchalant but at least he could look the part. Did Steve somehow learn about his feelings? That was not possible, he had never given away your name even when he spoke about you, the occurrences of which were few and far between.

He was still tangled in his thoughts, which felt like a thick jelly, when your voice broke through. You lightly hit Steve on the chest. "Stop giving him a hard time! Bucky looks like a deer caught in the headlights."

The struggling smile completely broke through Steve's demeanor. "And what about me? Seriously, Buck, you like a girl and you didn't even tell me? Even (Y/N) had to overhear about it when you were talking to Bruce the other day."

Relief washed over Bucky. Oh, how he wanted to talk to his best friend about the woman he loved, but telling the man he had fallen head over heels for his girlfriend did not seem like a good idea. Not unless he was looking for a broken nose, or a couple broken bones, at least. Not to mention putting at risk a literally age-old friendship.

"You guys." He groaned in the most pedantic way possible. "I'm not sure she even likes me that way."

"Yeah, sure." You scoffed. "Like I am going to believe someone out there with a lick of common sense is going to pass up an opportunity to date Bucky Barnes."

Bucky averted his gaze — turned it to stare at the wall. "You'd be surprised to know."

"You know, other people would think this is weird." Tony was at the door, a clipboard in hand. His comment about the unusual closeness the three of his teammates shared was not the first and was certainly not going to be the last.

The clipboard in Tony's hand puzzled Steve to no end. Either the tech viz had lost a bet or locked himself out of his own servers — it was anybody's guess. "Other people would also knock." The captain quipped.

"And you have nothing to say about this?" Tony turned to you. In answer to the question, you merely shrugged. "I don't know, Tony. Having two super soldiers in my bed leaves next to no room for complaints."

"Whatever." Tony raised his eyebrows so high, they almost disappeared into his hairline. "Cap, can I borrow you for a sec?"

Steve kissed the top of your head before pushing himself off the bed. Bucky was sitting up, having done a complete 180 in order to see all that was going on. He had been quiet for a while, from which you promptly deduced the worst. You scooted closer to him, close enough to whisper. "Don't take it seriously. Tony thinks he's being funny. You know I love you, right?"

Your hand was on his, reaching all the way over his legs in order to make contact with the flesh arm. He wondered if you could feel the goosebumps running up and down his skin or feel the heat that had suddenly exploded all over his face. To all appearances you had not, your lips still spread into an endearing smile.

"Y-Yeah." Bucky had to nod, for he had failed to recover his lost voice. You squeezed his hand gently before leaving the bed yourself. Wrapping your arms around Steve from behind, you peeked over his bicep. "Tony, I know you have this major crush on my boyfriend but can I have him back? You know, before you send him on the very important mission in the very important place that you can't tell any of us about?"

"Right, sure." Tony readily agreed. "Barnes, with me!" He announced before leaving the room, shortly followed by Bucky.

-

Bucky was not necessarily happy about his best friend been gone, but he did feel closer to you with Steve not around. Not that he would try anything. Just that with a boyfriend not hanging on your arm all day, it was easier to imagine himself in the empty place.

"Hey, wake up." It was your voice he was hearing. It came as no surprise, Bucky dreamt of you often — mostly mundane things such as reading a book together, walking in the park or merely holding hands. Tonight, however, things seemed to be heading in an entirely different direction.

In the half-asleep lucid state, he lacked the presence of mind to debate morality. Your face was so close to his, he could feel your breath fanning out on his cheek. In a moment of disoriented clarity, Bucky latched his lips onto yours — holding you by the back of your head, one arm pulling you closer — softly tugging at your bottom lip.

Sooner than his liking, his mind reestablished the connection with his body, making him aware of two things — one, there was slight resistance he was facing, which was less than conducive to the way his own dream would take shape and two, whatever he was feeling was too realistic to be imagined.

Bucky's eyes shot open in immediate horror.