Do You Trust Me? // Bucky Barnes

24

Bucky

There was a hushed sort of whisper in the wind as the sun beat down on the backs of their necks and the men worked in silent contemplation. Bucky loved these moments; the time when he and Steve could just exist - working in tandem, moving around one another as if their minds were combined. Usually, in these blissful moments, time slipped away from them both, and existing like this was like existing before... Before the war. Before the serum. Before the endless torture and choices Bucky could not erase. But today, Bucky's mind was elsewhere as he tightened nuts and bolts and Steve watched over his shoulder. Today, Bucky's mind was woven around the small, scared, spectacular woman he'd kissed goodbye just an hour ago.

As his hands stilled and the lapping waves and groaning wood of the rundown boat slipped into a soundtrack of nothingness, Bucky's mind replayed it over and over.

His hands cupped against her cheeks, hers delicately placed on his wrists... The softness of her skin as he brushed his thumb back and forth across her cheek. The way her breath hitched slightly when he had leaned in. His mind fixated on the moment their lips had connected, tender and unsure, and his heart hammered in his chest as he replayed the soft whimper that slipped from her lips as he pulled away reluctantly. Dark eyes, afraid and confused, staring up at him as he pressed his forehead against hers and breathed in the comfort of holding her. He had hated walking away from her - backing away slowly with his eyes glued to her as she stood in the doorway, her arms folded and her smile shy and sweet - even if he knew she needed this. She needed a moment to process, to think, to talk to Talia. And something had stirred in his chest as he backed away from her; the need to give her everything and more. The need to do this right. So he had let Steve and Sam drag him away, even when all he wanted was to sink into her and to never resurface.

"So." The steadiness of Steve's voice cut through the distraction of Bucky's mind and pulled him back to his surroundings with a jolt. "Now it's just us, and we've given you more than enough time to daydream about her, it's time to talk."

"What?" Bucky scoffed. "I was not daydreaming."

"You know you sighed, right?" Sam snorted where he sat with a coffee in hand and a smug grin against his lips. "Like a love-sick asshole."

"I did not!" Bucky pushed a hand through his hair as he stared at the wrench in his hand and tried to ignore the looks passing between Steve and Sam. 

"Talk, Buck," Steve prompted.

"Do I have to?"

***

Ava

"Do I have to?" Ava groaned as she buried her face in the cushions of the couch and Talia giggled next to her.

"Well," Peter hummed and crossed his arms. Standing over Ava and Talia, Peter Parker was trying everything he could to look somewhat intimidating - his face was twisted into a distrustful scowl and his shoulders were back as he narrowed his eyes - but, for everything he was trying, Ava still found amusement in him. "We woke up to you and Sergeant Barnes spooning on this very couch, Sergeant Hall. So yes, we need you to explain yourself."

Talia rolled her eyes and Ava - independent, controlled, self-sufficient Ava - she closed her eyes and let herself think of James Buchanan Barnes.

Her chest squeezed when she thought of the way he had looked at her this morning. Her skin heated and desire pooled when she imagined the touch of his lips against her shoulder and then her mouth - when she remembered the way his hands had held her close and held her gently as he smiled against her skin and sighed in contentment. The way his lips tasted like mint and coffee and something so deliciously masculine - something just Bucky - and how much she had hated Steve Rogers and The American Eagle for taking him away from her. Her heart broke into a painful sprint when she contemplated just how desperate she was to never, ever be away from him. And fear took root when she considered what that meant.