Captain America and Bucky Barnes Imagines

20. BUCKY: Taco Bell Love

Words: 1.3K

Warnings: None

(A/N: When Bucky's cheesy smile is mentioned, this is the Seb I picture ^^ I'm dead, guys.)

"So, are you banned from all Taco Bells? Or just that Taco Bell?"

From his side of the living room Clint sighs. "All."

A frown forms on your lips. "Damn, man. That sucks."

The two of you hang off the backs of the couches and look at the world upside down. Your hair's all fallen over—brushing the ground. Your t-shirt's lifted so anyone can see your bare belly. Clint's shirt is muffled up under his chin: his man boobs fully exposed. He's one of your best friends, mainly because he does ridiculous things like this with you. Yesterday you had a nerf gun battle that lasted four hours. The day before, he taught you how to do a backhand spring.

"I know. It fucking sucks. All I want is a crunchy Dorito taco." Clint's frown makes you laugh. "Not funny, Y/N. You get to have a crunchy Dorito taco whenever you damn well please. You'll never understand my pain."

"Yeah, cuz I didn't stuff a body bag with 10,000 packages of mild sauce." You see him roll his eyes and await his sassy retort with a smirk.

"The manager was an ass, okay? He deserved it."

"And he probably thinks you deserve that lifetime ban."

"He should be grateful! I saved at least five Taco Bells during the last alien invasion."

From your upside down position you see two super soldiers walk into the room. "Hey: I hear the fangirls call Steve a Dorito. Why don't you just eat him?" You giggle stupidly at your own dumb joke.

Steve, who's just trying to make it to the kitchen, looks over at you with a raised brow. "Uh... what?"

You shake your head. "Don't worry about it, bro."

Steve glances back to Bucky with a bemused expression. "Your girlfriend makes no sense sometimes."

"Just because you don't understand 21st century jokes doesn't mean I'm not funny," you comment back.

From your upside down place you see Bucky walking closer. You smile at him, and he does it back in reply. Then his fingers start teasingly inching towards your bare midriff—making tickle motions that already have you screaming surrender. Before he can reach you, you've slipped off the couch. Thankfully Bucky's reflexes are good. He catches you before you can crack your head open on the hardwood floor.

"You alright, sunshine?" Bucky speaks gently to you as he helps you to the floor.

You sway in place, very dizzy from your trip on the flipside, and hold onto his metal arm to steady yourself. "Yep—all good here, Buck."

"I told you I could last longer upside down," Clint boasts as does a backflip to land square on his feet.

You roll your eyes, still holding onto Bucky. "I only fell because Bucky was going to tickle me. I would've kicked your ass otherwise."

Bucky taps your side. You turn your face up to regard him. "Yeah, babe?"

"I actually came down here to talk to you about something." While he's always very quiet, he's certainly more somber now than you've seen him in a long while. Suddenly you become very nervous. "Can we...?"

You nod. "Yeah. Yeah, we can." You're immeasurably grateful when he grabs your hand—meaning he probably won't break up with you today. No, his thumb is doing that adorable sweeping thing across your wrist. He wouldn't do that if he was breaking up with you... would he? But he might if he was gonna die, or go back into the freezer—OH MY GOD! If that's it, you swear to god you'll kill him.

Out in the hall Bucky still doesn't let go of your hand. You don't bother waiting for him to speak. You have questions, dammit.

"Is this when you break up with me? Or are you going back under? Bucky I've already told you that I'm extremely happy with where we are, and I thought we both agreed your progress was above amazing so far. You're only going to get better, and I promise I'll help you..."

Bucky stops your blabbering with a finger to your lips. "Y/N, hush please. I'm not breaking up with you, and I'm not going under again."

You relax. "Oh, good." You're not relaxed very long. "But what is it?" Your head tilts slightly to one side.

Bucky takes a dramatically long swallow. You're worried still. You occupy yourself by brushing away some of the long strands of dark hair away from his face. He's still got a bruise on his jaw from where Nat knocked him last week during a spar. You'd laughed your ass off really hard at that.

"Babe, you can tell me anything," you whisper after he's been quiet for so long. Your touch trails down his face to his shoulder before resting an open palm on his chest. You like feeling his steady heartbeat. "You know that, right?"

Bucky nods. "I know." He takes a deep breath. His chest puckers with the movement. "Okay, here it goes," he says—mainly to himself. His denim colored eyes find yours in the low lighting. "You know how I just got back from Houston yesterday?" You nod and then he goes on. "Well, I was there, and—and I thought I saw you." Bucky's story is confusing you slightly, but you gesture for him to go on. "It's not the first time it's happened either. I always think I see you; sometimes smell you when someone has your perfume really near." Your head tilts a bit to the side, smiling softly—still worried about what his point will be. He seems very... odd. "And today, I was working out with Steve, and all I could think about was how much I'd rather be with you." His eyes squint a little as he focuses really hard on all the distinct features of your face. "Actually, any time that I'm not with you, I'm wishing that I was." You feel his airy touch on your cheek and your eyes flutter shut. "I guess what I'm trying to say is, well, I've been thinking a lot about this lately. And while I know this isn't the most romantic way to tell you, I've just got to tell you now." Bucky takes one final deep breath. "I'm in love with you, sunshine."

Your eyes open wide. Bucky's holding all the air in his lungs captive until he's heard your response.

"I love you too, Bucky."

And then, by the miracle that is crunchy Dorito tacos, Bucky Barnes—former Winter Soldier and trained assassin—gives you the biggest, brightest, cheesiest smile the world has ever seen. "You... you do? I wasn't really expecting to hear you say it back; I just had to get it off of my chest..."

Your giggling silences him. He's blushing. "Bucky, I'm not just saying it. I really do love you." You wink at him. "I kinda have for a while now."

Bucky's eyes go wide. "Wait—really? Like, like how long?"

You shrug and take him by the hand. "Since Berlin."

"BERLIN?!" Bucky gasps in utter shock. He almost trips as he follows you down the hall. "Y/N! That was three months ago!"

"Yeah, and you almost died. I knew I loved you then, and I still know it now." You take him to the elevator and wait patiently for FRIDAY to bring it down. Rocking up on your toes, you kiss Bucky's stubbly cheek. "I was just waiting for you to be ready to hear it."

Bucky's warm hand squeezes yours. You smile. You've always adored how small and safe your hand feels in his large one. "Well, I'm definitely ready now." He gives you another one of those world-changing grins before becoming confused as to where you're taking him. "Uh, where we goin', sunshine?"

"Taco Bell," you answer proudly. "We've got to celebrate somehow, and I'd love to send mockery eating selfie Snapchats to Clint."

Bucky's laughter is swept up into the hall just as the elevator doors close. "God, I really love you."