Avengers Imagines and Preferences

Touch // Bucky Barnes

All he wanted was a touch, an embrace, even a tap on the shoulder to get his attention. The one thing he wanted since the moment he arrived at the tower was human touch, but no one was willing to go near him. Ever since the Avengers realized he was the Winter Soldier, they've kept their distance, all except for one. You.

Other than Steve, you're the only one who's talked to him about anything outside of missions. You two would stay up late into the night when neither of you could get any sleep. Sometimes you would even share your food with him, only under oath that he would never tell anyone you did so. He loved your sense of humor. He noticed that the people of the twenty-first century had more vulgar jokes, but you were a classic girl. You made him feel like he was home, no matter how far away from home he actually was. The only thing he wished he could change was the distance you kept from him. Not emotionally, of course, but physically. You wanted him to feel comfortable, knowing that he had trust issues, so you didn't want to invade his personal space. Oh, the irony.

Tonight, after lying awake and staring at the ceiling for what felt like hours, you heard light footsteps outside your door. Suddenly the soft taps stopped, and there was a visible shadow from under the door. Only a few seconds passed before three knocks resounded through your room.

"Come in," you answered quietly, but loud enough for the visitor to hear. The door creaked open slowly, allowing a shadowed Bucky to emerge.

"Hey Y/N," he greeted lowly. You smiled as he approached you with a mug of tea. "I made your favorite."

"Thank you, James," you grinned as you absorbed the warmth from the mug. You never seemed to notice the way Bucky's breath caught in his throat every time you called him that, or the way he instantly relaxed when he heard the word slip softly from your lips. He pulled up a chair and sat about two feet away from your bedside.

"What's got you up tonight?" you asked, taking a sip of the hot liquid.

"I couldn't sleep, so I started looking on that 'Google' thing. And Y/N..." he hesitated.

"Yeah Buck?" you nudged.

"Who is Beyoncé and what is the Illuminati?" he asked with a worried look on his face. You were glad you had swallowed your tea a second earlier, because you started laughing with such force that you might have accidentally drenched the super soldier. You continued to cackle with your face buried in a pillow because you didn't want to wake the others. As you continued to giggle uncontrollably, you looked up at him and grabbed his knee for support. You immediately saw something flash in his eyes and his whole body tensed up. Instantly your laughter ceased and you removed your hand.

"I-I'm sorry James. I wasn't thinking. I promised myself I would never invade your personal space because I didn't want to upset you and-"

"Y/N," he stopped you. You forced yourself to look him in the eye. "It's fine."

"Clearly it's not. I understand if you're upset. I won't be offended if you want to leave now," you admitted, staring at the floor. Upon seeing you upset, Bucky sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"Y/N, I'm not upset. I'm surprised. Ever since I came here everyone has been to afraid to come near me. You're the only one besides Steve who talks to me, and he's always working. Other than combat, I haven't felt the touch of another person in... I don't even know how long. It's not something I felt like I could ask for either."

It took you a second to take all of his words in, but you acted quickly.

"Stand up."

"What?" he asked.

"Stand up, James," you repeated. He complied, standing there staring at you. "I'm going to hug you. Is that ok?"

"Um, uh, yeah," he stuttered in surprise. Without any hesitation you stepped forward and wrapped your arms around his solid torso, placing your hands on his back. For a second he stood straight up in confusion, but he slowly wrapped his arms around your smaller frame and his muscles relaxed, a sigh escaping his lips.

"You can hug me anytime you want James Buchanan Barnes," you smiled.

He never replied. He simply squeezed you tighter, every second filling him with more contentment. 

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A/N

I'm sorry if that wasn't good, I wrote it really late at night XD