thanks to the people that reviewed! i love you!
enjoy part two of five!
It was Friday night.
It was girl's night.
Getting to spend time with her friend's had become something of a rarity. They were always somewhere, probably halfway across the world kicking ass. But this weekend they were home and- come hell or high water- they were going out; they were going to get totally drunk, eat a crazy amount of greasy food, watch terrible movies. The usual.
Her friends were sharing the mirror in the bathroom that connected to her bedroom. Natasha was perfecting her cat-eye, and Wanda was curling her already perfect hair. She looked at them, smiling as they tried shoving each other out of the mirror. She was still trying to pick out a dress and had become hung up on a simple, strapless black one, or a very red number that she had never worn before. Natasha liked the black one, and Wanda obviously wanted her to go with the red one.
"Just wear the red one," Natasha sighed as she stepped into the room. "You haven't stopped staring at it since you pulled it out of your closet."
"I'm afraid it won't fit anymore." She replied. "I bought it a year ago and I've never worn it."
Her friend helped her try the dress on, pulling up the zipper when it became stuck in the middle of her back. It was definitely tighter than the first time she tried it on, but the look on Natasha's face said it all. When she looked in the mirror, she hardly recognized herself. Ever since the break up, she had become accustomed to sweats and giant, baggy shirts; most of which were Steve's.
"What ex-boyfriend?" Wanda asked with a smirk. Her Sokovian accent was thick as ever. She and Natasha shared a sly smile as their friend admired herself in the mirror.
Across the hall, Bucky was getting ready for his own night out. It was common for him, Steve- and unfortunately- Sam, to go out after they came back from a mission. For Bucky, however, it wasn't as much about his friend getting a win than it was about getting hammered and flirting with random women who could possibly fill the void that he felt day in and day out. It wasn't a surprise to anyone when an unknown, young woman would be spotted leaving Bucky's room early in the mornings, never to be seen again.
There was only one that he really wanted, however.
And she was currently sliding into the front seat of Natasha's car.
With the music up as loud as it could possibly go, the three women lip-sung Christina Aguilera all the way to the club. It was completely packed, but they managed to squeeze into three seats at the bar after Natasha had charmed one man into sliding down a seat closer to a couple who was furiously trying to swallow each other's tongues. The man asked for the red head's number, but she turned him down, insisting that he might want to try her newly single friend instead.
"The man next to me said you're really cute and asked for your number." Nat quirked her eyebrow at her friend, her full lips twitched into a smirk.
The younger woman rolled her eyes at her friend; sharing a look with Wanda as they clinked their shot glasses together before downing the burning liquid. She leaned her head to glance around Natasha and get a good glimpse of the man. Her eyes widened when she saw him. "Absolutely not." She replied, taking a sip of her chaser.
Natasha pouted. "Aw, come on! He's kind of handsome if you squint your eyes really hard and tilt your head to the left, or are you too hooked up on Barnes to notice anyone else?"
The girl almost choked on her drink and coughed and sputtered as she felt it trickle down the wrong pipe. "Hooked up? On Barnes? You're absolutely delusional." She downed her next shot as soon as the bartender sat it down in front of her. "While you two crazies are over here daydreaming, I'm going to go dance."
The girl stood up from her barstool and grabbed the man that Natasha was talking about by the hand, leading him out to the crowded dance floor while the bass pounded in her veins. He wasted no time, his hands quickly becoming familiar with her body. He was suddenly much more attractive under the lasers and colorful, changing lights. It was hot. The thick humidity of body heat began to make her sweat as she grinded her hips into his crotch.
She tried to forget about what Natasha had said.
But that only made her think about him more.
Bucky hated the idea of a nightclub. He hated the idea of blaring music, crowded spaces, and overly priced drinks. He hated the sight of intoxicated college kids rubbing all over each other. He hated the stench of sweaty bodies and cheap cologne. He already had a headache, and he hadn't even stepped foot in the place yet. In fact, they hadn't even gotten out of the car.
Steve said something about Natasha and Wanda, but Bucky wasn't paying attention- not until Steve mentioned her. But by then, he had missed the point of the conversation, and he didn't want to ask about it because he was afraid it would give him away. He was already so transparent, treating her like a six year old boy on the playground. Everyone had figured it out, and he knew it.
Everyone except her.
What was she doing? Where was she? Was she having fun? Who was she with?
He climbed out of the backseat and followed Steve and Sam through the busy streets of downtown New York City. His mouth turned into a deep frown as he saw the ridiculously long line of people who were waiting to get in. His friends continued walking right past them, straight to the bouncer. Bucky stayed a few feet behind them as they talked to the giant security guard at the head of the line. He met eyes with a beautiful, young blonde. She smiled at him; her tan skin glimmered under the street lights.
"Buck," Steve called back to him. "You coming?"
He was pulled back to reality; forced to quit eye-fucking that girl who he probably had absolutely nothing in common with, that probably wanted nothing from him but a good time. Which was all he really would have wanted from her, too. With one more look and a wink, Bucky joined his friends, bypassing the line into the club.
The club was dark; lights low, flashing in a thousand different colors. The music was loud. It rattled his brain and he could feel the bass throbbing in his ears. He noticed a familiar head of red hair sitting at the bar, sipping on a martini. Wanda was sat next to her, a vodka cranberry in her hand. Steve had a smile on his face, and Sam was already dancing with a pretty stranger.
"Aren't there supposed to be three of you?" Steve asked, having to yell over the music. Bucky's head snapped up in their direction. She was here, somewhere, and fuck if he didn't become as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.
Natasha's eyes flickered to the dance floor and Bucky's eyes followed her gaze. His mouth dropped open when he saw her. She was moving to the beat; her hips swinging back and forth. That cherry, red dress accentuated every curve that he longed to touch. However, she was hanging around the neck of some guy that he had never seen before, and his metal hand turned into a fist as the man spun her around.
"Looks like someone's a little jealous." He heard from behind him.
Bucky turned to Nat and smiled, trying to throw his teammates off. "I'm not jealous," he replied to his friend. "I could have any girl in this place, easy." His fake confidence wasn't fooling anyone.
"Any girl except that one." Wanda replied as she pointed her finger to the girl on the dance floor.
She had begun to feel dizzy. The lights blurred above her as she spun around with her partner. His face had become just a jumbled mess of a nose, and mouth, and eyes. He looked like a Picasso painting and she had never been more turned off in her life. 'Kind of handsome' had turned into 'not at all handsome' in the blink of an eye and all she wanted to do was get away from him.
And that was when she saw it.
Looking back towards her friends, she saw him. Bucky. And his mouth was devouring the face of some, tiny blonde that was just his type. She had seen at least a dozen girls leaving his room in the middle of the night that looked exactly like that one; scantily clad, excessively tan, and as thin as a rail. If that didn't make her want to vomit, she didn't know what did. She felt herself having to swallow it down, reminding herself that she was in the middle of a sea of people who probably wouldn't take too lightly to being puked on.
"I have to go!" She hollered over to her friends, obviously annoyed that her night had been ruined by her nemesis. Just the mere sight of him was enough to send her high-tailing out of there. And watching him play tonsil hockey with some slut was absolutely disgusting.
His lips pulled away from the girl whose name he had already forgotten. Was it Claire? Or was it Angela? Andrea? She continued to place slobbery kisses along his jawline, trying her hardest to bring his attention back to her. But Bucky noticed that familiar, form-fitting red dress stalking towards the exit, and the blonde in front of him was no longer interesting. With the promise that he would call her, he left What's-Her-Face pouting at the bar.
Natasha, Steve, Sam and Wanda all watched as Bucky exited the club with smiles on their faces. They each had a bet going as to how long it would be before their friends finally banged it out. Steve and Sam claimed it would never happen, and Natasha swore up and down that it would happen by the end of the week. Wanda hoped it would happen by the end of tonight.
When he stepped into the humid, July night, Bucky realized that he was too late. She was climbing into the backseat of a cab right as his feet hit the sidewalk. He wanted to call out her name, but he highly doubted that she'd actually be excited to see him, in fact she'd probably scream at the cab driver to drive away as fast as possible.
It wasn't like he was never going to see her again.
She just wanted to get out of that dress. It was too tight, her heels made her feet feel like they were going to fall off, and her legs were chafing where they had been rubbing together for too long. So much for her perfect night. So much for not letting anyone ruin girls night. What even happened to girls night? Girls night seemed more like "everyone's invited night".
Everyone including Bucky.
It wasn't a coincidence that the guys just so happened to show up at the same night club. This was obviously another one of Natasha and Wanda's devious plans. This wasn't the first time they had pulled something like this since she had become single, and she knew damn well that this wouldn't be the last.
The room spun as she plopped down to her bed. She draped her leg over the edge so that her foot touched the floor, giving her a kind of anchor. Once the walls didn't seem like they were moving, she closed her eyes and was finally able to sleep.
Bucky paced outside of her room for a good hour, trying to decide whether or not he should knock or not. He thought of a thousand and one things to say to her, all of them starting with 'I'm sorry I'm such an asshole'. But he couldn't figure out how to finish those sentences without reverting to his asshole ways.
"Just wait, man." Steve commented as he walked by his friend on the way to his room. "It's almost three in the morning. If you wake her up now, it'll be World War III."
"You're right." Bucky replied. "I'll wait until the morning."
part three coming at you soon! i'm so excited!