"You look exhausted," Wanda says, sipping her mimosa. You, Wanda, and Natasha were currently sitting in a cafe in Paris grabbing brunch after the three of you went dress shopping for Tony's party. "Are you still having trouble sleeping?"

You try and fight down the blush that threatens to envelop your face as your friend's words dredge up the memory of the dream you had woken up from this morning. Which had been nothing, you remind yourself, just a dream. Could have happened to anybody. Could have been about anybody.

You had just finished your morning run when Bucky had walked in, striding purposefully towards you. "Wha-" is all you managed before he had grabbed your hips, pushing you against the wall behind you. His head dipped down, lips nipping at the sensitive skin on your neck before his tongue had traced a path up your neck and his mouth was on yours. A shuddering sigh had escaped your lips and he immediately took advantage of it, pressing hot open mouthed kisses against your parted lips, his tongue dipping in slightly to caress your own. "Bucky," You had whispered against his skin, your fingers tangling in his hair to pull him closer to your body. You remembered how in awe you had felt about how good it felt to finally give into this feeling between the two of you. Bucky had grabbed your waist, lifting you up on the wall, and you had wrapped your legs around his hips, a soft moan escaping your lips as you felt his hardness against you through your clothes, and when he grinded against you you thought you were going to lose your mind.

"(Y/n)," he had whispered against your lips, and the thought that this man wanted you was doing funny things to your stomach, not to mention the way he nipped at the soft skin on your shoulder and dragged his teeth along your collarbone, "(Y/n)..."

"(Y/n)!" Natasha waved her hand in front of your face, her expression somewhere between amused and worried. You look up to see Wanda looking at you with wide eyes, a slight blush on her face, and your own face turns red as you realize she had picked up on your thoughts.

"Sorry," You choke out, "Uh, yeah, no, I'm sleeping okay now." Avoiding eye contact with the two girls, you down the rest of your drink.

"So what are you gonna do for Bucky?" Natasha asks suddenly, making you choke on your drink.

"What?" You sputter out, feeling your face get even redder.

"For Christmas. You did say you were his secret santa right?"

"...Right." Natasha is looking at you like the cat that ate the canary, and you sigh, defeated.

"I. Knew. It." She grins, "(Y/n) wants to melt the Winter Soldiers cold icy heart."

"I think she already has," Wanda says, giving you a look.

"It was a dream," You interject, "Just some weird subconscious thing, it doesn't even mean anything."

"You had a sex dream about Bucky?" Natasha exclaims, bringing another blush to your face.

"Shh," You glance around making sure no one around you was listening to your conversation, "It's nothing okay? Now can we get out of here?"

"She wants to get back home to her Soldier," Wanda smiles, "Let us hurry then." You let out a groan and grab your jacket.

"You guys are the worst." You lead them both away from the busy streets and link arms, mentally preparing yourself for the teleport home. Bringing them to Paris was the first time you had attempted it with two passengers, and you were surprised on how much more difficult it was. Your landing had been sloppy, and a wave of exhaustion had settled over you immediately, something that didn't happen unless you used your powers a lot in very quick succession. You did a little better this time, landing somewhat steadily in the yard in front of the compound.

"Oh!" You gasp as you look around, a thick layer of snow had coated the grass, and continued to slowly cascade down around you, "The first snow."

"Ew." Wanda wrinkled her nose, "I am not a fan of the snow."

"(Y/n) only likes it because it reminds her of her lover," Natasha grinned.

"Natasha!" You scolded, "He is not my lover."

"Sure, sure," she says, brushing past you towards the door with Wanda, "Whatever you say."

You hurry up to your room to put away your dress, eager to spend some time outside just in case the weather cleared up. You had always loved the snow, even if you weren't a big fan of the cold, and it was somewhat of a tradition for you to always take a moment to enjoy the first snow of the season-wherever you were. Teleporting down to the kitchen you put on a kettle of water, searching through the cupboards for a thermos to put cocoa in. Stark had told you about a lake about a quarter mile into the woods behind the compound, and it was with that destination in mind that you teleport with your beverage, landing in the thickening snow within the woods. As you walk forward, the treeline opens up, revealing the lake, and a familiar figure sitting on a fallen log on the other side. You groan internally as you walk around the water, did it really have to be Bucky out here? What were the chances?

"Hi," You say quietly as Bucky brushes some snow off the log so you can sit down. You take a seat, cracking open your thermos and taking a sip, letting the warmth wash over your body. "Want some?" You ask, holding out the cup. His fingers brush yours as he takes the cup and your stomach does a weird flipping thing. What is wrong with you?

"Thanks," he murmurs, passing you back the thermos. He's sitting close enough that his arm is pressed against yours, and despite the cold air you feel almost hot from the heat radiating off his body. You're starting to wonder if he knows what he's doing to you. If he's doing it on purpose. You wonder what would happen if you just reached out and intertwined your fingers with his, I mean they were right there, his hand would feel so big and warm wrapped around yours-

"Did Tony tell you about this place?" You ask abruptly, trying to ignore the weird fluttery thing that your heart has decided to do.

"Nah, Steve did when I first joined up. He thought I would find it peaceful. This is where I was heading that day you stopped me."

"Oh," You look out onto the lake, it's surface gray as it reflects the clouds. It's very quiet, the cold driving the animals into their burrows. "It is peaceful." You close your eyes, breathing in the cold air. When you open them and look back at Bucky he's staring at you with the oddest expression. His hair is slightly damp from the melted snow, his cheeks and nose tinged with pink from the cold air. Your eyes meet his, and you're not sure who leaned in first but suddenly your lips are on his. It's nothing like the forceful hot and heavy kisses of the Bucky in your dream, but instead it's sweet and slow and gently, his hand gently cupping your face. After a few seconds he pulls away, his blue eyes half-lidded as he looks at you, eyes searching yours, and then he leans in again, placing feather soft pecks against your lips.

"Bucky," You murmur softly, brushing your hand once from his cheekbone to his jaw. In that moment, several of your questions had been answered; yes, there was something there, and yes, it went both ways. Now the only question was, what were you going to do about it? You could see Bucky had questions of his own as his confused gaze met yours.

"I'm supposed to meet Steve to spar," Bucky says finally, rising to his feet. He holds out his hand, and you grasp it, his fingers warm in your own while he pulls your feet.

The two of you walk back in silence, it's surprisingly non-awkward considering you two had just kissed each other. You wondered if you were going to talk about it. You decided to just play it cool, you kissed, whatever. In reality, you weren't even 100% sure what you wanted; you had never really had a romantic relationship before, and considering you had been on your own since you were sixteen years old, you hadn't even had a non-romantic relationship in quite some time. Of course over the years there had been one night stands, a brisk romantic weekend with some local boy in Greece, one time you had even spent a very beautiful week on a small island off the coast of Australia with a handsome fisherman-but you had never stayed in one place long enough to form connections. Not like you had now. For the first time since you were a child you had people you cared about; people you would not just consider friends, but family. The way you felt towards Bucky was nowhere near familial. And it was nothing like how you had felt about any of the other men you had been with. It was deep, and achy, and quickly becoming impossible to ignore-and you had a very strong feeling that Bucky felt it too.

You're surprised when you enter the building, too caught up in your thoughts to remember the walk. Bucky was still silent by your side as you stepped into the elevator. As the door closes he suddenly rounds on you, wrapping one arm around you waist and pressing his mouth against yours, his hand coming up to cup the back of your neck and pull you deeper into his embrace. As the elevator comes to a stop he pulls away, leaving you dazed as he exits the elevator and heads towards the training rooms.

Sam is walking by to the lounge as you step out of the elevator, slightly breathless. "You okay (Y/L/N)? You look…" He pauses, a gleam coming into his eye as something clicks, "Dare I say, ravished?-And, dare I note a certain Bucky Barnes leaving this elevator?"

You groan, "No you may not, I swear you and Natasha gossip like housewives." You push past him towards the lounge, and he follow you, a stupid grin on his face. You regret even coming down here when you spot Natasha laying across the loveseat, balancing a glass of wine in one hand. Not that Bucky had really given you a choice in floor number. You fix your hair as you take a seat on the big couch next to Sam and pull a thick blanket over your legs.

Natasha turns around takes one look at you, "Something happened," She says with a grin, turning around fully to look at you, "Spill."

"Absolutely not!"

"She came out of that elevator with Bucky looking all breathless and nervous," Sam teases.

"We kissed okay? Twice." You glance behind you that no one's eavesdropping.

"Twice?" Natasha's leaning closer now, her eyes glowing with excitement.

"Okay, oh my god I can't believe I'm telling you two this of all people, but I guess I could use an outside opinion." You're only telling the two of them because you know you can trust them, they were your best friends, and you had never really gotten to be giddy over a guy in your youth, "So I head out to that lake in the woods back there, and Bucky's already there. We were talking and stuff, and then, well, I'm not 100% sure what happened but we kissed, and it was like the tenderest, sweetest kiss I've ever had. Then we like, literally just pretended it didn't happen, didn't say a word on the way back," Well you had been a little preoccupied with your thoughts, "Then we get in the elevator, and he just like jumps me, and hits me with like the most passionate, panty-dropping kiss ever. And then he just walked out of the elevator without saying a word."

"This is literally the most exciting thing that's happened in the compound ever," Natasha says.

"What should I do?" You fall back on the couch, pulling the blanket up to your chin.

"Well, it sounds like you should jump his bones-wait-no-Secret Santa."

"What?" You ask confused.

"You're his secret santa-wait for the party, tell him the gift is in your room, and boom-"

"Merry Christmas!" Sam grins.

"Absolutely not," A blush spreads across your cheeks, "That is probably the world's worst advice."

"Speaking as a man, I'm gonna say it has a hundred percent chance to work."

"Right," You snort, "Anyways, I mean I just don't know if it's something I should even pursue."

"What are you talking about?"

"I've just never been with someone like that before, and-"

"Are you telling me you're a virgin?" Sam buts in and you shoot him a glare.

"No, shut up Sam-I meant like, I've never really long term dated. It's hard when you're always on the go. Plus, we work together, that's a pretty good reason to not do this."

"Hey, Wanda and Sam seem to be making it work, and Bruce and I," Natasha frowns, "It sounds like you're just making excuses because you're afraid to be tied down."

"Maybe," You admit, a small smile on your lips. "Maybe, I'll take your input into consideration. But probably not."

"That's all I can ask for," Natasha shoots you a wink and you roll your eyes.

"Alright, come on, put on a movie or something. I need to try and forget that I just got romantic advice from Black Widow and the Falcon." You snuggle up onto the couch, curling your knees up to your chest as you lay down. You try and focus on the movie Sam puts on, but by the middle you're a little lost-your brain just keeps replaying your clandestine kisses with Bucky.