These Arms of Mine (Bucky Barnes x Reader)

Chapter 6

After the "talk" with Bucky, you couldn't stay put. Your first idea was to go back to your room to be alone but suddenly, your room didn't feel so alone anymore with him right next door. And you didn't want to be that close to him.

You called Natasha to go out for a while, you needed to talk anyway.

"I don't know what's going on... but there's definitely something going on," you said, staring right at her.

"I gotta be honest," she said, "I don't know how to handle you when you're not cheery like normal." She gave you a warm smile. "But I'll listen as long as you want me to."

"Thanks, Nat. Right now, I just want to be away from that building."

"To be away from them? - or to figure out how you feel?" she asked.

"I have no idea," you said.

"Well, did your feelings change?" she asked.

"Not you too," you sighed. "I haven't been thinking about Steve as much, I will say that."

"So you like Bucky now?" she said, raising an eyebrow.

"I didn't say that," you said. "He's a big flirt, he doesn't like me like that."

"That wasn't what I asked," she said.

"Maybe... maybe a little. But how awkward is that? - I mean, he knows how I feel about Steve," you said.

The two of you stayed away from the Avengers tower until late that night, until you were both tired and you had no choice but to go back.

***

On your way to your room, you felt your phone vibrate and saw a message from Natasha. "You're good, all the guys are in the lounge right now."

That was a relief as you walked into your room, setting your things down. You resisted the urge to turn on any music. If anyone did walk by, you hoped they would think you were still out.

You changed into pajamas and sat down on the bed, finding yourself staring at the wall. When you heard a knock at your door, you really thought it was Natasha.

"Come in," you called out.

You were surprised to see Bucky open the door and even more surprised to see he had a look on his face like he was extremely upset. He was relieved to see you sitting there. "I've been looking for you for hours, I didn't even think you were here... I didn't hear any music," he said, walking towards the foot of your bed and stopping to look at you.

You didn't say anything, you weren't sure what to say so you waited and watched.

He knelt down on the floor in front of you. "(Y/N), I am so, so sorry... I should have never said that to you." You couldn't have prepared yourself for the emotion on his face, you started to feel a little ache in your chest. "I stole that light from your eyes and now there's no music... and that's on me."

"You weren't wrong though," you said quietly.

"I don't want to be right," he sighed and looked down. "I feel like a shitty friend."

"You're not, Buck. Not at all. You showed me something maybe I didn't want to see and I'm determined to put it behind me now."

"So I'm still your friend?" he asked, his blue eyes piercing your heart.

"Absolutely," you smiled. "Can't imagine life around here without you now. I feel like I've gotten to know you really well since you moved in."

"Thank God, I thought I really screwed things up..." he trailed off. "So you're... you're going to ...uh... move past the thing with ...Steve?"

"Yeah," you nodded. "It's time."

He looked away for a second, "Does that mean you're giving someone else a shot?"

You looked at him questioningly.

He slowly stood and walked to your record player, dropping the needle back on old, trusty Otis Redding. As the crackle started, he held out his hand to you. "I may only have one good arm but it's all yours... if you want it."

Your chest started to pound and you couldn't find words. You reached up to put your hand in his and rise from the bed. Every nerve in your body was raw and you felt shaky as he pulled you close to him with his hand on your back and started to dance with you. It wasn't just that there was nobody else around, it was like there was nobody else in the whole city at that moment.

"Will you give me a chance?" he whispered in your ear. "I miss you playing this song, every time I heard you play it, I wanted to be over here holding you."

You let out a little gasp, not believing your ears. He sounded so sweet, you just didn't see it coming. "I thought you were just flirting with me," you said with a little laugh.

"I couldn't help myself, you're so cute when your cheeks get pink," he laughed. "What do you say? I can't stop thinking about you."

"Bucky..." you smiled into his shoulder. The warmth coming from him and his scent had you feeling giddy.

He squeezed you tighter, "I promise I won't screw up."

You pulled back to look at him in amazement. He turned his face towards you, leaning down, getting incredibly close. His nose brushed yours and his lips came closer as his eyes darted around your face, looking between your eyes and your lips. His lips crashed slowly into yours and the pit of your stomach dropped. He moved his hands all around your back.

"I've wanted to do that for a while," he smiled.

"I had no idea," you said, in a breathy voice. "But if there's more of that, then I'm in."

"I want to take you out," he said, now sounding more confident and brushing your hair away from your face.

"I'd like that," you smiled.

"Okay," he grinned at you, " how about tomorrow night?"

"That would be great except Tony will be back from LA in the morning... he's having a party tomorrow night," you said.

"Oh... okay," he said. "Well... how are we going to handle that?"

"You mean telling people?" you asked.

"Do you want people to know?" he said, looking unsure again.

"I'm not ashamed of you, if that's what you mean," you smiled.

He smiled, "That's nice to know... but I was thinking it would be nice if I could take you out on a date before anyone else knows.... I just... I just thought that would be a nice way to start off with you."

"No problem!" you said, "...So we just have our date now." Even you weren't sure what had come over you at that moment.

He stared at you, trying to figure out if you were serious. A slow smile started on his face, "Yeah... okay."

"Let me get changed," you said.

"But, isn't it a little late? What's going to be open?" he asked.

"Leave that to me," you said with a grin, "give me half an hour, okay?"