Rating: PG-13
Word Count: ~1,700
Characters: Bucky/Wanda
Prompt: "times he doesn't talk with Wanda and one time he does"
For: seductiveturnip
A/N: I hope you don't mind that I dropped this in my Waitress Wanda/Officer Bucky 'verse from a little while ago instead of canon, but it just fit! Also, it got wordy. Oops?
the most wonderful time of the year - day twenty-one
She's sitting on top of the counter when he walks in, gently kicking her feet back and forth as she pours sugar into the shakers, and Bucky can't really explain why he this makes him smile so much, but it does. She's got big, bright eyes and pink lips and hair that's dark and wavy and tied back into this messy ponytail that looks really sexy right now, and that just seems inappropriate for him to think about a perfect stranger, but still. He can't help it. He knows she's new – he's been coming to this diner for his morning cup of coffee ever since he'd started at this precinct – and maybe that's why she stands out to him. She's gorgeous, too, and he can hear her humming along to the music in the diner. Her voice is beautiful.
"Wanda, darling," Lorraine, one of the regular morning waitresses, says. Wanda glances up at her and Lorraine grins, nodding at Bucky. "You have a customer."
The girl (Wanda; it's just as pretty as her) turns to meet his gaze, and he feels like some kind of schoolboy when his heart jumps in his chest. "Sorry! Sorry," she says quickly as she swings her legs over the counter and hops behind it, hair sort of falling in her face. She's really, really gorgeous.
"Be easy on her. She's off in her own world half the time, but she's a sweetheart," Lorraine tells him with a wink as she heads for the kitchen again. Wanda blushes.
He grasps onto the belt of his uniform, which he does sometimes, when he doesn't really know what to do with his hands. She glances up at him from under her long eyelashes and they sort of just stare at each other for a moment, and fuck. He feels like an idiot. He's a police officer. It shouldn't be this damn hard for him to talk to a pretty girl. "Large coffee and a bagel with cream cheese," he orders, then tries not to wince. Fuck. He didn't mean to sound demanding. But she just gives him this polite smile and calls to the kitchen for his bagel.
She splashes a little cream and sugar into his cup without asking, which he doesn't mind – he actually takes his coffee a little sweet – but he didn't want to make it complicated for her. He doesn't know if it's her first day or anything, or if this is first time serving, but still. He just… He can't quite find his words around her. She seems to read him just fine, though.
"You're new, huh?"
He sounds like an idiot, but whatever. She gets this little grin on her face that he doesn't hate at all.
"Yeah, I just started a few days ago." There's a ring from the kitchen and she spins on her heels, curls bouncing with the motion. He gets distracted by this.
He hands her a $5 when she rings him up and almost, almost stumbles on his words when he tells her to keep the change. Fuck, he's so out of it.
But then she sort of blinks her eyelashes all slowly at him as she smiles, glancing at where his name is stitched onto his uniform. "Thank you, Officer Barnes," she tells him, and he turns around before she can catch him grinning way too widely.
... ...
She's there the next morning, too, sort of dancing around to the music as she's sweeping up behind the counter, and he sort of feels like a creep for just watching her as long as he does. He doesn't even realize that he's smiling until he catches the eye of this elderly man sitting at one end of the counter. The guy's got this look on his face that makes Bucky feel like he knows something that Bucky doesn't, but it mostly makes him feel like even more of a creep for getting caught, so he clears his throat and makes his way over to the counter.
Her hair flies around her face when she does this little spin, and then she catches his gaze and pauses, cheeks coloring as she lets out this little laugh. She doesn't sound embarrassed – she wouldn't be dancing around in public at work if it would embarrass her to be watched – so he just gives her a bit of a grin.
"Hi," she says.
He wants to laugh. "Hi," he echoes.
She sets the broom aside, reaches up and tightens her ponytail as she asks, "Do you want the same as yesterday?"
He grins as he nods. He likes that she remembers this, remembers him, even if it was just yesterday. Still, she must've seen dozens of customers during her shift and she remembers him. It's not a big deal, but it feels a little like it could be. "Thank you, ma'am."
He accidently slips a couple of singles with his $5 when he pays this time and tells her to keep the change, and her eyes are sparkling as she laughs. She sounds amused, maybe even a little charmed, and he can't say that he hates being the one to make her laugh, even if it's at him. "Have a nice day, Officer Barnes."
"You, too, Wanda," he tells her, and her smile widens a little, like she likes that he remembers her, too.
... ...
"You scowl any harder and your face will stick that way."
"I'm not scowling," Bucky grumbles.
Rhodes just laughs, unconvinced, and takes another gulp of coffee. Whatever.
He and Rhodes don't usually meet up before heading to the precinct, because they come from opposite directions, but Rhodes offered to come get Bucky because he said he'd be in the area anyway and Bucky didn't question it all that much. They've hung out outside of work and everything before, so it's not like it's weird. And apparently he's not the only one with some kind of visitor this early in the morning, because Wanda's behind the counter and talking to some guy sitting on a barstool in front of her. Bucky hasn't gotten a good look at him since the guy's been paying attention to Wanda this whole time, and she was too distracted with laughing at something the guy must've said to notice when he and Rhodes walked in.
Not that this bothers him or anything. It doesn't.
"They're cute, aren't they?" Lorraine asks as she's getting his and Rhodes's coffees ready. "He's been here since her shift started at five in the morning."
Bucky tries not to frown. "That's nice," Rhodes says. Bucky gives him a look and Rhodes just grins a little wider.
"Yeah, her brother adores her," Lorraine adds. Bucky glances back to find her looking at him, one eyebrow raised, and fuck. When did he become so damn transparent?
"Must be nice," Bucky says, and okay, maybe the bitter taste in his mouth goes away. Lorraine laughs, winking as she hands them their coffees and bagels.
He catches Wanda's gaze as he and Rhodes turn to leave, and he smiles, lifts the hand holding his coffee in a sort of wave. The guy turns to follow her gaze, and the resemblance is uncanny between them. It makes Bucky feel like more of an ass, especially since he doesn't have the right to be jealous, anyway, if she really was flirting with some other guy.
"Good morning, Officer Barnes," she says, and he doesn't miss the way her brother's lips twitch when she says Bucky's name. Like she must've mentioned him before.
"Good morning, Wanda," he greets. He should probably introduce Rhodes, but whatever. The guy was being a jerk, anyway.
... ...
He's only ever seen her in the morning that it surprises him a little when he comes in close to midnight and she's there. He thinks about leaving – he doesn't want her to see him tonight, not like this – but she catches his eyes as soon as he's through the door. Her smile fades ever so slightly, concern touching her expression when she sees his face, and he doesn't know why this makes some of the tightness in his chest ease, but it does. He walks over to the counter and slides onto a barstool, but he can't bring himself to say a word.
"Officer Barnes?" she asks, tilting her head a little to try and get him to look at her.
"James," he says.
She blinks, surprised, but then nods. "James," she says, and he closes his eyes, breathes out slowly. He likes how his name sounds coming from her voice. Then his eyes fly open when he feels her hands grasp his atop the counter, soft and gentle and warm as she gives them a little squeeze. He didn't even realize they'd been shaking. "What's wrong?"
"I shot someone," he says, almost too soft for his own ears to catch. She breathes his name and he grips onto her hands a little tighter. She doesn't seem to mind. She strokes her thumb over his knuckles and he brings himself to continue with, "Wasn't the first time, and I didn't kill him, but – I've done it before. Just brings you back, you know?"
He's not even sure if he's making sense. She seems to understand just fine, though.
"Come here," she says softly, reaching for him, and he leans forward and sort of buries his face into his arms. He feels her one of her hands come up to comb gently through his hair. He leans into her touch a little, lets out another breath. "It was the right thing to do," she says. It wasn't want he was expecting at all, and he's not even sure if he deserves to be told that, but it still feels really damn nice to hear. He feels her hair sort of fall all around him as her lops press gently against the top of his head. "Thank you for telling me," she whispers.
He reaches up to grasp the hand she has tangled in his hair. If he squeezes a little too tightly, she doesn't say anything.
She just shushes him softly, gently, brushing her lips against his temple. "It's okay," she tells him, and the funny thing? He actually believes her. "It'll be okay, James. I'm right here."
... ...
(His hands are sort of shaking again when he asks if she wants to go out with him, and she's got that sparkle in her eyes as she reaches for him again, squeezes his hands gently.
"I'd love to, James," she says, and he smiles like an idiot.)