Falling Under Pressure (Bucky Barnes x OC)

Chapter 11 : Bucky's Side

Meanwhile, Bucky and Steve sat on the couch of the living room, away from the kitchen while Nat and Winter conversed.

Bucky too had explained all the events of the day before to Steve, taking just as much time as Winter had to explain.

"Wow...well, I'm glad that you're done with Sharon. I'm sorry about what she did, Buck," Steve said, giving Bucky a strong pat on the shoulder while Bucky tilted his head to the side in agreement with an unbothered expression on his face. "So, your parents really think you and Winter are dating?"

"Yep. We have dinner at six, so we're going to tell them we're not dating during dinner," Bucky informed, leaning back into the couch for some added comfortability.

"So you're not going ahead with Sam's plan?"

Bucky laughed at that. Never in a million years would Winter even consider going ahead with Sam's little fake dating plan, and Bucky respected that. They'd just have to find another way to get their parents off their backs that didn't involve having to be intimate in that way with each other.

"Of course not. Do you really think Winter would do that? Pretend to date me? Plus, I wouldn't pretend to date her either."

"Right. Like you wouldn't date Winter," Steve said, sarcastically with a chuckle, "I notice the way you look at her. You look at her like she's the most beautiful girl you've ever met," Steve laughed when Bucky looked at him with furrowed eyebrows of complete confusion.

"I don't look at her like that," he denied, "I mean, yeah...you know...she's...pretty, but I don't see her that way," Bucky tried to shrug it off, hoping that Steve wouldn't try to put him in an even more uncomfortable position. Bucky would never admit to having an old crush on Winter. The amount of teasing he'd go through, saying he was in love and shit. Besides, there was no way. His feelings developed when he was 14. He didn't know what love was then. Hell, he didn't even know what love was at 19.

"Alright, bud," Steve mischievously smiled, tilting his head to the side in temporary agreement while Bucky rolled his eyes. Unbeknownst to Bucky, Steve only dropped the subject because he already knew that what he said was right, even if Bucky didnt know it yet. The slight blush that formed on Bucky's cheeks gave him away.

"Do you think your parents will believe you?" Steve questioned, moving on from the previous topic of Winter.

Bucky sighed, it was indefinite whether the pair would even be able to convince their parents that they weren't together, but they had to try, "Hopefully," he shrugged, "Or else Winter will really kill me," Bucky chuckled.

"Oh, I almost forgot," Bucky said, sitting up and reaching behind his back jeans pocket, pulling out a small ruler and handing it to Steve who gave him a confused expression, "Here. I thought you might need a new one since ninth grade. Figured you only need a short one," he shrugged with a smile.

Steve realised what he was talking about, tossing the ruler at Bucky with furrowed eyebrows, "Sam told you, didn't he?" he asked with a small smile as he shook his head, even though he was annoyed and embarrassed, he had to admit it was a funny situation of their younger years.

Bucky was unable to hold in his laughter while Steve let out a sigh.

"Moving on."

-

Steve and Bucky talked for the next hour before moving back to the kitchen to regroup with the girls who were on their third glass of wine, Winter only slightly tipsy, not so much that it would affect her physical stability.

"Buck, Stevie," Winter greeted the two with a grin, about to take another sip of her wine until Bucky pulled it out of her grasp, making her pout at him.

"That's enough. I'd like it if you weren't completely drunk during dinner," he shook his head with a small laugh while Winter rolled her eyes at him.

"I'm not drunk," she stated, confidently, even though her brain was slightly fuzzy, nothing to worry about. She'd be able to make it through dinner...hopefully. A little tipsiness was nothing to worry about.

"Well, you better not be, or else you might agree to something you definitely don't want to agree to."

"Barnes, always ruining the fun," Nat jokily sighed while Bucky raised an eyebrow at her. Yes, sometimes he did ruin the fun for Winter, but that was only when alcohol and horny teenagers were involved. Besides, he just really didn't need her drunk on a night as important as that. They'd have to have their minds set on their job, convincing their parents that they weren't dating.

"Trust me, I can have a lot of fun. Maybe I'd be able to show you one day," he winked at her while Steve side eyed him, Winter rolled her eyes in disgust and Nat raised her eyebrow at Bucky.

They knew he would...and Nat would.

"Don't ever imply that you wanna fuck her again," Winter narrowed her eyes at Bucky in disapproval, but he simply smirked at her.

"Why? You jealous?"

"Haha very funny," she replied, sarcastically while Bucky chuckled at her.

"Just telling you what I see," he shrugged, smugly.

"I hate you."

Bucky simply smiled at her.

"Alright, well, you can't go to dinner in yesterday's clothes. You can borrow something of mine," Nat announced, coming over behind Winter to push her out of the kitchen and around the corner to get to her room.

"There was that look again," Steve spoke up in a low, slightly teasing tone while Bucky threw his hands in the air in disbelief, his voice laced with irritation, trying to deny Steve's comment.

"There's no look."

-

Steve and Bucky were talking in the kitchen, waiting for Winter and Nat to come back. It'd already been 10 minutes since they left and it was 5 : 40pm.

Bucky leaned over to call out in the direction of the corner where the girls went around to Nat's room, "Wint, come on. We need to-" he called out, but was cut off when Nat and Winter came back into the room. Winter wore a loose knit, slightly dark cream coloured sweater with a pair of dark jeans.

"Turns out I left some clothes here by accident so now I get to wear my own clothes," Winter announced with a cheerful smile.

"Great," Bucky smiled back with a small chuckle at how Winter was beaming at such a simple thing as being able to wear her own comfortable clothes.

"The look," Steve muttered under his breath so that only Bucky could hear him.

"There's no look," Bucky spat in a low voice, barely moving his mouth so that Winter and Nat wouldn't grow suspicious of what the two were talking about. "Come on, we need to get going. You really took your damn time," Bucky shook his head with a chuckle while Winter rolled her eyes at him.

"It took a while to find this, ok?"

"Alright. Come on, let's go. Time to have the most uncomfortable dinner of our lives," Bucky joked while Winter walked over to the door, "Why the hell are you so eager?" Bucky raised an eyebrow at her as she turned around to look at him from the door.

"The sooner I can stop being your 'girlfriend', the better," she announced before waving to Steve and Nat and walking out the door.

"Oh come on, Wint. I'm not that bad," he called out to her.

"Yes you are," she called back, "Now, hurry your ass up, Buck."

Bucky let out a small laugh before giving Nat and Steve a small wave and rushing out the door, closing it behind him, setting off to follow Winter.

"What's the bet that they come out of that dinner still as a couple?" Nat asked with a smirk, Steve standing beside her, both of them still staring at the door where the other pair had just left.

"20 bucks," Steve chuckled.

"You're on, Rogers."