Honesty ♧ Bucky Barnes

Flirty Waitresses and Coffee Dates

A coffee, black, one spoonful of sugar.

That was how Bucky had always used to drink it, and Steve smiled to himself when the bubbly blonde waitress returned with their order, placing a glass of orange juice in front of Steve, and a steaming mug of black liquid in front of Bucky.

The diner was refreshingly small, a vintage-themed place with pink and white striped walls, and as it said on the plaque outside, a 'genuine 40s feel'. The irony wasn't lost on Steve.

"I'll be back in just a second with your food," She smiled, staring at Bucky's face for slightly too long before spinning on her heel and walking back towards the kitchen.

"I think she has a crush on you," Steve muttered when she was out of earshot. Bucky let out a snort of laughter.

"Some things never change,"

Steve smirked and shook his head, taking a sip of his orange juice. It was nice, refreshing. He would have preferred to be drinking something slightly stronger, but he had his reputation to keep up.

"Always a ladies man," Steve chuckled.

Bucky raised his lip in a smile but said nothing, stirring his coffee with a metal teaspoon and taking a sip, the scalding liquid burning his throat on the way down. It was a good burn. It was nice to finally be able to feel things again. It had also been a long time since a woman had looked at him with anything other than an expression of fear or scientific interest.

He could never shake the feeling that when he was with Erin, she was always studying him, seeing how he acted and moved and hypothesising the reasons behind it. It could get exhausting after a while. Not that he didn't enjoy her company. She was one of the very few people, Steve included, that Bucky managed to feel comfortable around. She hadn't minded him going out for a drink with Steve. If anything, she had basically shoved him out of the door, desperate for him to have some face-to-face interaction with another person.

"What happened after that day on the helicarrier, Buck?"

Bucky looked up at Steve. So he was just going straight in for the questions, no waffling around. That was fair enough.

"I pulled you out of the river," He saw Steve give a small nod of recognition at the memory, and continued, "Then I laid low for a while. Motel after motel, paying with cash."

The blonde waitress returned, and placed a scone in front of Steve, and a cheese sandwich on Bucky's place. He didn't fail to notice the way that she bent down very purposefully in front of him, giving him a full view of her cleavage.

She walked away, hips swaying, and Bucky noticed Steve trying to hold in a laugh. He rolled his eyes.

"Just like old times, huh?" The blonde chuckled, taking a monster-bite of his scone and waiting for Bucky to continue with his story. The brunette rolled his eyes at the jab but kept on talking nonetheless.

"I had notebooks from my time at HYDRA. Only a few, and not many of them filled, but there was a page that kept getting to me. It just said 'Jefferson. Memories?' and Erin's address."

Steve raised an eyebrow.

"And you don't remember writing it?"

Bucky shook his head.

"Not at all. It took me a few months to pluck up the courage to check it out. I wasn't sure if I could trust Jefferson. If they were a possible helper or a HYDRA agent, you know?"

Steve nodded his head. He certainly did know. Ever since the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. he had been constantly looking over his shoulder, always worried of spies, assassins, whatever might be thrown at him. He could see that it could be even worse for someone like Bucky. Someone with no friends and no memories, nobody to rely on in an emergency.