A/N: I got bored at work so I decided to post the third chapter (this is where it starts to get slightly less terrible! yay lol!). Thanks to everyone that followed/favourited this! :) Reviews are always welcomed!

Chapter Three

Rae was frantically rushing around her house, trying to make sure that everything was neat and in its place, as Boots stared at her lazily from her perch on the couch.

"Thanks a lot for your help. There's going to be a man in our apartment—a very cute man by the way, and I don't want him to know how unorganized I am. Well, not yet at least." Boots continued staring and Rae rolled her eyes.

Rae was in the midst of moving a bunch of textbooks and discarded papers from the living room to her bedroom when it dawned on her that she had neglected to decide what to make for dinner.

"Shit!"

x x x

Bucky paced, nervously yanking his hand through his hair while Tony and Steve watched.

"I think he's going to self destruct," Tony whispered to Steve and Steve muffled a laugh.

"I don't think I can do this. What am I going to talk about? 'Hey, Raelynn guess what? I'm a veteran of World War II? My best friend is a ninety year old super soldier? Wanna see me detach my metal arm!?'" Bucky sat on the couch and hid his face in his hands.

"Don't worry. You should just show her your arm and if she doesn't run away screaming, then she's a keeper." Tony said, and Bucky shot him a murderous look. Tony threw up his hands defensively. "Joke. I was joking. I do that sometimes." He moved closer to Bucky. "Stop being so melodramatic, it's going to be fine, alright? She's the one that asked you out, right?" Bucky gave a slight nod. "See? You have nothing to worry about, obviously she has low standards and isn't expecting much. Seriously man, haircut. Get one."

Bucky leapt off the couch with a frustrated groan. "Natasha!" He yelled as he roamed the hall in search of her.

"In the gym," came her voice, slightly out of breath. "Clint, stop moving the damn bag!" Bucky entered the gym to find Nat kicking the crap out of a punching bag that Clint held in position for her.

"Sorry, Tasha, but it's a little unnerving when your legs are so close to my body." Clint winced as a roundhouse kick Natasha executed landed squarely on the bag near his torso.

"What is it Barnes?" she asked, her focus solely on beating up the inanimate object.

"Oh, well… Tonight's my date with Rae and I'm a little nervous and—"

"Awwwww," Natasha said as she delivered a series of rapid fire punches to the bag, Clint looking slightly terrified.

"…Yeah. So, I was wondering if you had any tips or whatever." Bucky scratched his head casually, refusing to look at Natasha. After delivering a final knee to the bag, Natasha began to unravel her gloves, and Clint look relieved. "I could totally pull some files on her, if you want me to?"

"What? No… well… no, no. Just…" Bucky sighed. "It's been awhile for me, alright? I've seemed to have lost my touch with the ladies."

Natasha snorted. "It's really not that hard, Barnes, so stop over thinking it. Listen to her, ask questions, just be interested in who she is and her life. Also, remember to complement her. Tell her that her hair is nice or what's she's wearing is nice."

"Ooh! You should buy her flowers." Clint added, looking proud of himself and Natasha beamed up at him.

"Thanks you guys," Bucky was starting to feel less anxious about his date.

"And comb your hair back; you look like a sad hobo." Clint added as Bucky left the two of them in the gym. Bucky heard a slapping sound and Clint uttering "ow!" as Natasha admonished him in Russian. Well, he's not completely wrong, he thought.

His next mission was to find the appropriate clothes to wear.

x x x

Rae stared happily at her labor—she had managed, with the help of her neighbor, to create the best looking beef stir fry that she had ever seen. I'm so fucking proud of myself, she thought as she bobbed her way into the bathroom to figure out how to wrangle her hair and make it somewhat suitable. In the midst of dragging her a brush through her tangled curls, she heard a timid knock on the door. Oh my god, it's happening. What do I do!? Don't panic, don't panic.

She took a deep breath and held it before she opened the door. James was standing behind it, and odd mixture of terror and relief on his face.

"Hey you!"

"Hey. Hello. I brought you flowers." He thrust a bouquet of red roses into her hands.

"Aw, thanks James," she replied, although she wasn't a big fan of flowers. It's the thought that counts, right? "Stop standing there so awkwardly," she waved him in.

James laughed nervously as he walked into the apartment. "Sorry." Boots immediately leapt off of the couch and made her way over to him, winding through his legs with a pleased mew.

"She likes you," Rae said as she placed the bouquet into a vase of water. James laughed again as the tiny kitten pawed at his calf.

Rae returned, vase in her hand and saw that James had bent at the waist and was gently scratching the kitten behind the ears. "I'm glad to see that you've made a friend." She put the vase in the center of the dining room table. "I really hope that you like beef stir fry, 'cause if you don't your shit out of luck."

x x x

"Can I ask you something?" Rae nodded and Bucky continued. "Why did your parents decide to come to America?"

"Well, my mother wanted to start her own practice; she was a psychologist. And my father came to America once when he was a child and he always wanted to come back, so... here I am."

They'd finished dinner and wound up on the couch, the other occupying the opposite end of the couch respectively.

Bucky hadn't failed to miss the past tense. "What do you mean that your mother was a psychologist?"

"Oh. My parents died when I was in sixteen. Car accident." Bucky winced as his mind replayed images of the Winter Soldier; the time that he killed a husband and wife, loving parents, staging it so that it looked like a car accident… it just so happened that those people just so happened to be the loving parents of Tony Stark.

"Oh, god… I'm really sorry."

Rae waved her hand. "No, it's totally fine, I mean, you didn't know, right? It's okay."

"Still, I'm very sorry."

"James, really, it's okay. It's not like it was your fault or anything." She laughed, and he copied the sound, although his mind was still on his misdeeds.

"I'm going to change the subject, okay? You're a student at NYU, right? What do you study?"

She brightened immediately, and James felt a twinge of pride. "Psychology. I'm following in my mother's footsteps. I'm thinking about going into criminal psychology, or maybe counseling. I love— wait. How did you know that I'm a student as NYU?"

Oh god. Shit! Bucky looked around frantically hoping to find a savior planted somewhere in the room. Thankfully, his eyes found solace. "Your student id." He picked up the laminated card and waved it. "Cute picture, by the way."

Rae snatched the card away from his hand. "Shut up! I hadn't slept the night before and I was too out of it to put on makeup."

"No, I'm serious. It's a good look for you; the whole sleepy drug addict look."

"Just like the whole sad puppy dog eyes look works for you."

"Thanks."

"Mhm. Anytime."

Bucky noticed that he was sitting closer to Raelynn than he had been before. Well, that's interesting.

"So, I told you something about my life, I wanna know something about you."

"Like what?"

"Well, you mentioned that you were out of the country right? Why?"

"I was in the military." Decades ago, Bucky thought. Still, it was true.

"Oh, so that explains the sad puppy dog eyes, gotcha."

Bucky nodded, staring down at his hands. "Yeah, when I was over there fighting for my country and everything that it stands for, I never noticed how much of a puppet I was; just a weapon of destruction, perpetrating violence in the essence of a greater good, when in reality you're just a glorified hitman. They tell you things like it wasn't your fault, that you had orders to follow, yet…" Bucky had lost sight of whether he was talking about his military service or The Winter Soldier. His mind was far away, decades in the past. Once he finally returned to the present, Rae's hand had found Bucky's face, gently wiping away a tear that he hadn't even realized had fallen.

"James, I am sorry. I'm really sorry."

He nodded. "It's fine, really. Thank you, though."

"Yeah, of course." She started to slip her hand away, but Bucky set his hand on top of hers. Now would be the perfect time to kiss her, you know, he thought. His brain tried to tell his lips to move, but he sat there frozen. Unexpectedly, Rae's lips brushed across his. Well, that works, too.

Rae gripped the front of his shirt tightly, and he so badly wanted to entwine his hands into her hair, but he thought better of it.

"That was my first kiss in awhile," he blurted out stupidly as they broke apart from one another. Dumbass. He had to restrain from punching himself in the face.

"Yeah, same here don't worry." She laughed and Bucky was captivated with the way her face lit up. She began to add something when she was cut off by a lengthy yawn that she tried to unsuccessfully stifle. "Oh, god, I am so sorry! I promise that you're not boring me, I've just had a really long day of smiling, papers and beef stir fry." She chuckled.

"I understand. I should go anyway; I don't want to overstay my welcome." He rose off the couch and slipped on his jacket as he headed toward the door. "But I had fun. A lot of fun, actually."

"So did I."

Bucky opened the door, but closed it and turned back to Raelynn. "I want to see you again." He looked at her intently and she smirked as she flushed slightly. There we go, that's the vintage Bucky that I remember.

"Yes, I'd like that." She looked away shyly, an errant lock of her hair slipping onto her forehead. "I'm pretty busy with midterms and such, but I want to see you again as well."

"Good. I'll see you later. Good night."

As soon as James walked out the door, Rae burst into an excited little happy dance, giggling her way to the dining room to clear the table, while Boots cocked her head to the side in curiosity. "Don't judge me; I'm swooning."

x x x

Bucky was beyond ecstatic when he walked back into the Avengers Tower and found Steve waiting for him on the couch.

"Dad, you really didn't have to wait up for me." He plopped onto the couch next to Steve. "I know you want to ask me, so just do it."

"How'd it go?"

Bucky shrugged, trying to seem casual, but Steve just stared at him. "Amazing. So amazing." He stared at the ceiling dreamily. "She smells amazing. Her lips are amazing. Everything about her is amazing. When I was with her I felt… normal. Myself again."

Steve watched his friend with a serene smile. "I'm really glad, Buck."

"Yeah, but the thing is, how do I tell her about…" he made a sweeping motion to his arm and Steve sighed. "I don't know, that's something that you need to figure out. But you need to tell her the truth."

Bucky groaned and sunk deeper into the couch. Steve patted his arm before he slid off the couch and made his way down the hall. "It'll be okay. Good night, Buck."

Bucky groaned again. I really hope that you're right about this, Steve.