FORTUITY ☆ B.BARNES ✔️

8; Avoid

"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA AS TO WHY SHE'S IGNORING ME?", Bucky asked Sam. He twirled his sharp knife in his hands. Sam took another bit at his ham sandwich, "She is?" He asked him back, absentmindedly and not really listening to Bucky. Bucky rolled his eyes and stabbed the knife onto the wooden island table.

"Jesus man, stop doing that! I get it you're cool, stop carving up the damn tower!" Sam scolded, grabbing the knife from him and tossing it aside. Bucky slapped himself and with one bang on the table, he was grumbling. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I just want to know why Maeve is ignoring me so fucking much." Bucky complained. Sam finished his sandwich and licked his fingers, then he wiped his hand on his pants. "Maybe she's mad at you or something, dumbass. Go talk to her, go make out with her, go out with her- listen just stop bothering me I have a really bad hangover." Sam ranted, massaging his temples. Bucky pushed himself off the barstool. "Fine! Hey, thanks for all of the help!" Bucky sarcastically remarked and slapped Sam on the back, making the poor guy jump.

"Love you too, Bucky," Sam called out in a high-pitched voice.

"Screw you, Sam!"

-

"FRIDAY?" Bucky called out to the AI.

"How can I be of service, Mr. Barnes?" The AI replied after a couple of seconds. Bucky wandered around the big hallway.

"Is Maeve in her room?" He asked, tracing his metal hand on the wall as he walked further and further. The hallway was cold and quiet, which was unusual.

"No, Mr. Barnes. Ms. Conner is in the training area. She's with Mrs. Stark and her daughter. Would you like for me to summon her outside?" FRIDAY answered.

"No! No-it's fine. I'll get to her" Bucky cut the AI off.

The training room? What was Maeve doing in the training room? Bucky knew she had a sensitive nose, so the smell of sweat was not going to do any good for her. Not to mention she couldn't stand the sight of blood. Or at least he thought. Bucky hurried down to the elevator and rammed the button so hard it almost fell out. Bruce was nearby working in the lab on some new alien technology and when he saw the state of the metal-armed soldier, he shook his head and chuckled. The calming elevator music did nothing but make him even more anxious. Bucky didn't know why but he really, really wanted to talk to Maeve.

When the training door slid open, he was surprised to find Maeve in a sports bra and yoga pants, sparring with Pepper Stark, while little Morgan cheered on with a popsicle in her had. "Go, Mommy! Go, Maeve!" The girl yelled.

Bucky had never seen Maeve so focused on something. Her eyes darted to his surprised face, "Bucky?" She said out loud. Maeve didn't have time to react as she was knocked off her feet by Pepper. "And that's why you don't let men distract you." Pepper laughed, offering a hand to Maeve. "Thank you." Maeve chuckled.

Maeve stretched out her legs and slowly jogged to a bench. She picked up a half-empty bottle of water and emptied the contents into her mouth and wiped her sweaty face with a towel. Bucky looked on, he had never seen her look so...hot before. He was digging it. She sauntered over to him, giving him a sideways glare, "What's up, man?" Bucky swallowed a lump in his throat before answering, "Oh, I was actually going to come train." He nonchalantly lied. She nodded slowly, refusing to believe any of it, "Uh huh.." Sam walked with his wings and Cap's shield, or his shield now, "Woo! The Falcon is here, ready to train the hangover away!" He declared proudly. His wings were spread wide, and it almost hit Bucky in the face. It almost hit Bucky, but it hit Maeve square in the jaw. Maeve fell to the floor and Sam took off his wings and rushed to her aid, as well as Bucky and Pepper. "Ouch, ouch, ouch!" Maeve yelled. "Jesus! Are you okay, Maeve?" Pepper asked. Maeve stood up by herself and waved it off. No matter how many times she reassured Sam she was okay and it was just an accident, he refused to listen and kept on apologizing profusely. "I don't need a hundred more apologies, Sam. What I need is just some ice I'll be fine!" Maeve laughed, but she winced in pain as her jaw moved.

She left her towel on the bench and made her way towards the infirmary in search of a cooling pad. Bucky scurried behind her, trying to be subtle. "You don't have to follow me, Buck. I've got it covered." She told him as they walked side-by-side." Bucky held her arm and made them walk faster. "I know, hurry up you're going to bruise if you don't, idiot." He replied. Maeve didn't want to say anything but the small amount of contact they had was making her a blush a little bit, even if it was under weird circumstances.

-

"Ow! It stings." Maeve whined. Bucky shushed her and continued dabbing the alcohol solution on her jaw and cheek area. He held her chin with his two metal fingers and relaxed his thumb beside her lip. "You're really red, Maeve. You sure you don't have a fever or something, doll?" Bucky asked, genuine concern flooding his face. She yanked herself away from him. Obviously, Bucky was oblivious as to what was happening to her face because of the close proximity they were in. It also didn't help that Maeve couldn't stop focusing on the fact that he called her 'doll'. "I-I got it, Bucky." She nervously assured, taking the alcohol solution and cotton balls away from him.

"Why are you avoiding me?" Bucky asked, completely out of the blue.

Maeve didn't realize he had felt this way. She was avoiding him but she tried to be as discreet as she could. "I'm not avoiding you. What are you talking about?" Maeve asked, trying to sound shocked. "Don't lie to me, Maeve. I know when you lie, your eyebrow raises a bit when you do!" Bucky scolded. "That's n-not true!" She denied although the tilting of her eyebrow said something entirely different. "Why do you care anyway? It's not like we're even that close or anything." She grumbled. Maeve didn't mean to hurt him when she said that, but somehow she did. Maybe it was because he really thought that they were becoming close now, he was sad to know their relationship hadn't evolved any time soon.

"Maybe it's because I like you?"

Bucky didn't even realize he said that sentence out loud until she stopped moving and her widen her eyes in disbelief. 'Oh shit.' he screamed in his head. "You...like me?" she asked, not really wanting to believe it. Sure, Maeve liked him too. But she never expected him to reciprocate those feelings. To her, she thought it was just a little schoolgirl crush, nothing more. Now that it was happening, she didn't know what to make of it. "Umm yeah, I-" Bucky tried to recover from the awkward conversation, but a raised hand from Maeve shut him up.

"We can't talk about this right now, I'm sorry." Maeve told him, she stood up and grabbed an ice pack from the freezer. Then, she left the room without another word, leaving Bucky alone with his thoughts.