Bucky Barnes || One Shots

Flame (Fluff)

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Avenger!Reader

Summary: You go undercover to a festival with your best friend and object of your affection, Bucky barnes.

Word Count: 1.9K

Warnings: Mentions a bout of being self conscious, vague mention of alcohol consumption.

"You know you look more suspicious like that, right?"

The two of you were leaning over the stone wall of a bridge above the river, watching the lit pyres blaze on the water below you. You smiled as you watched couples pass the spectacle in gondolas as a band played on a stage behind the both of you, welcoming you to melt into the festivities.

You had been focused on the scene in front of you when you commented on your partner's appearance, but when you felt his gaze shift towards you, you met Bucky's eyes and smiled.

"Easy for you to say." Buck quipped, waving his gloved hand. "You don't have a metal arm."

You rolled your eyes.

"Don't roll your eyes at me."

"Well at least you can see my eyes!" You argued, gesturing at his ensemble. "You're wearing sunglasses at..." You paused, glancing at your watch. "Nine o'clock at night."

"Super soldier vision."

Watching the reflection of the fires below burn in the lenses of his sunglasses, you reached forward and pulled them off of his face.

When the tips of your fingers brushed against his temple as you did, you swore your breath caught in your throat for a brief second.

Both you and Bucky had been treading the line between friends and lovers for far too long. You got along with one another more than you did with any other, but what you made up for in bravery on the battlefield, you lacked in communicating your feelings. So, instead of the both of you being honest about the admiration you had for the other, your unspoken romance lived in stolen glances and brief touches that left the other person fumbling over their sentences.

"Can't you see better now?" You asked. "How often do we get nice views like this on a mission?"

For a moment, Bucky just stared ahead of him and thought of saying: Always. As long as you're there.

But just as every time before that, the words laid lodged in his throat and hidden in his mind: so secured that he wondered sometimes whether he even knew how much he loved you.

When he realized he had taken too long to reply, Bucky scoffed and turned his attention to the band behind the two of you.

There were a crowd of couples learning to dance, the entertainers from earlier replaced with a band and leader instructing the crowd on how to salsa dance. Although Bucky had learned how not to draw attention to himself through decades of being an assassin, something about the idea of learning to dance with you amongst the couples enticed him.

Whether it was the red glow over the crowd from a mixture of the fire and stage lights or the smiles on the faces of the elderly pairs who danced hand and hand- he wasn't sure. But he knew one thing and it was that if you wanted him to blend in, Bucky would make sure the two of you fit right in.

Bucky held his hand out to you in an inviting gesture, though you had known him long enough to eye him warily.

"What's that for?"