Hush, Hush

1

My roommate was leaving for the weekend to go to New York. Which meant I would be alone in my apartment, and I only had leftover pizza and water to last me until Monday. I wasn't exactly the lazy one, but I worked at the cafe on my university campus during the week. My roommate was Natasha Romanoff, an exchange student from Russia, and she was the one who introduced me to my boyfriend.

My boyfriend was James Barnes, another Russian exchange student that lived in the dorms on campus. I had met him at a party Natasha brought me to, and she had introduced the two of us. James wasn't exactly my type at first, he was a pretty boy that could make any girl drop their panties for him, and he looked at me as if I was a slab of meat.

Yet, as I spent more time with James, I realized that was only the façade he put up. He was a gentleman at heart and a sucker for astronomy. I had brought up once to him that I was reading the book The Martian and his eyes just lit up like a lightbulb. James talked up a storm, and soon he was delving into nonsense about how it would take decades for us to have several successful manned-missions to Mars. I wasn't that interested in the subject, but the way he talked to me about it made it seem like it was the most interesting thing in the world.

After a while, James had started changing for me. He insisted I call him "Bucky" and was always springing at the option to hang out with me. I was falling for the dorky pretty boy before I knew it, and soon the two of us had shared our first kiss on the hood of his car while we star-gazed. That first kiss was the beginning of one of the greatest relationships I've ever had.

Now, eight months into my hush-hush relationship with Bucky, I was excited at the prospect of having him to myself all weekend. This would be the first time he's ever seen my apartment, so I wanted it to be presentable. I spent all of Friday night tidying up the apartment and had stayed up until four in the morning studying.

My head jerked up at the sound of a knock at my door. My eyes widened and I wiped the slobber off my chin, quickly trying to tidy all the books and papers around me, before I heard another set of knocks.

"Shit, I'm coming!"

I attempted to tame my hair, but it had a mind of its own and I tested if I had horrendous breath. I gagged at the smell, and hoped Bucky wouldn't kiss me anytime soon. Scrambling over the couch, I tugged my pants up my legs, and unlocked the door.

I swung open the door and smiled breathlessly. "Hi."

Bucky took his hands out of his jean pockets and chuckled at the sight of me. He pecked my cheek, before stepping in, and kicking off his shoes. "Well, good afternoon to you too." I rubbed my hands together, hoping he would ignore the mess I made of the couch.

"Excuse the mess, late night study session..." I scoffed, cursing myself for passing out while studying.

Bucky paused in gazing around my apartment and glanced at me, before he pointed to my jeans. "Might want to zip those up, darling." He turned away and walked over to my bookshelf, his fingers running over the spines. I felt heat pool in my cheeks and I fixed my jeans, not wanting to make myself anymore foolish than I already was.

I brushed past him to my papers, and I began to shove everything into folders, having to deal with tidiness later. Bucky came over and closed my textbook for me, and I quickly took it from him. "Y-You don't have to help, Bucky."

Bucky gripped my shoulders and forced me to look him in the eye. A smile played on his plump lips, and I knew he was enjoying seeing me so frazzled.

He chuckled lightly, "Steve, take a minute, go in the bathroom and get yourself ready." I opened my mouth, but he pressed his index finger against my lips. "No ifs, ands, or buts. I'll just finish cleaning up out here, darling." I nodded, and he bent his head to press a gentle kiss to my hairline.