Be ready for soft, soft sweetness, and heartache from all the feelings.

Bucky finished lining the camera up with the bed so that this one got a good lower angle shot to compliment the other's nice above angle, and looked up to see Ellie paused in the doorway.

"You ok, doll?" He asked.

"Yeah," she answered, stepping into the room.

Bucky's eyes trailed over her, taking in the sexy black dress she was wearing. It had a low cut neckline, flirty straps on her shoulders, only went to mid thigh, and, God, it hugged her curves in all the right ways.

"Think it's ok?" She asked softly as she noticed him looking.

Bucky tried to speak but had to clear his throat when he choked. "Yeah," he told her, trying to sound nonchalant.

"'Cause I could change it if I-"

"No," he said too quickly. "No," he repeated, succeeding at sounding a lot calmer. "I'm sure it's fine…" He straightened from the floor and stepped close to her, his fingers going to her chin, tilting it up so she looked at him. "You sure you're ok with this, Ellie?" He asked softly, his eyes searching her face.

"Yeah," she tried to laugh it off, rolling her eyes. "Just nervous- you know, pre performance jitters, or whatever…"

Bucky gave her a soft smile, unable to keep himself from staring at her. "You'll do fine," he murmured.

Ellie smiled back at him, her hand going to his shoulder. "Thanks… I'd say you, too, but I'm pretty sure that you're going to do fine without even trying. I'm the one with the sexual defect here," she joked, trying to hide her disappointment in herself with humor.

Bucky's smile immediately fell, his expression darkening. "And what's that?" He demanded, a little roughly. His fingers were still on her chin, stopping her from being able to look away.

"The- the whole not enjoying sex, thing… look- I'm not an ass, I'm not going to make you look bad-"

"Ellie, nothing is wrong with you," he told her firmly.

"But, I-"she sputtered.

"I don't know who told you that bullshit, but it's not true. I know it's not true."

She looked up at him in confusion. "N-no one told me-" she murmured, but he continued on.

"Unless you've been faking it all this time. Have you?" He asked.

"Huh?" She asked.

"Have you been faking it?"

"N-no!" Ellie assured in surprise, shaking her head. "I haven't been faking it-" her cheeks heated as she stumbled for words, "I just- haven't ever really enjoyed it as much as other people… I mean, sometimes it felt good, but not… not for long enough to… enjoy…"

Bucky felt like he'd been stabbed in the chest.

How could she have kept this feeling from him? They were best friends, they talked about everything.

They talked about sex!

But she'd never even once told him that she was afraid that something was wrong, that she wasn't enjoying herself, that it didn't feel good…

How could he have been her friend and let her go through life for so long like that; not enjoying the beauty that was good sex?

How could anyone let her think she was the cause? He would have set her straight if she had said anything, told her how she needed a partner that would care for her, do the things she wanted, how to talk about it, not to just let it go…

But she hadn't.

She hadn't said anything. It hurt her so bad she didn't want even him to know…

Bucky felt another pain in his chest.

It must have hurt her so badly that she never wanted to think about it. How long had she been living with this feeling of being ashamed of her body, herself?

"Ellie… did you ever… talk to any of them about it?" He asked.

"No- I mean, they were having a good time- why ruin everyone's fun?" She shrugged evasively.

Bucky pulled her against his chest, wrapping his arms around her and holding her tight against him. "I should have hit some of those guys harder…" he muttered near her ear.

"Bucky! You did not hit any of my boyfriends!" She gasped.

Bucky pulled back and let out a sad laugh through a half smirk. "Sure I did, doll, why do you think they're your exes?"

She looked at him in shock.

"You have such bad taste in men. You always fall for assholes. Someone's gotta make sure they treat ya right," he told her, pulling her close again.

"Bucky," she mumbled, her hands clenching around fistfuls of his shirt.

"Shh, doll, it's ok," he told her softly, laying a kiss on her forehead. "C'mon, let me see that beautiful smile of yours," he told her, turning her chin up to him. "Come ooon," he teased with a grin, his fingers going to her mouth and squishing her lips so they puckered out like she was imitating a fish.

"Bucky, stop, we have a show to do!" She told him, trying not to laugh.

"Not doing it until you smile, Ellie," he teased, squeezing her lips again.

"No!" She refused, pushing at him fruitlessly, but she was laughing.

"There it is, there's my pretty girl's pretty smile," he told her, smiling at her as he released her lips to admire her smile.

The moment felt far too close, far too intimate… far too much like emotions that weren't real.

Ellie pushed him back, still laughing. "C'mon, Buck, stop it… I think I need a drink before we start."

"Well, I got water over here, but nothing stronger, so, we're going to have to go in sober… Sorry," he teased.

Ellie just shook her head. "Water is fine. You know I get motion sick when I drink. I wouldn't want to get drunk and puke all over you while we're-" she stopped, realizing that the next words in that sentence were going to be something about them doing something sexual, and just shook her head. "That would definitely ruin the show."

Bucky handed her one of his many work out bottes and she lifted it to her lips, but hesitated.

"This is fresh, right? It's not your gym water from like, a month ago, or something?" She asked, playfully suspicious.

"Yes, it's fresh," he laughed.

"Good. I don't want to get some kind of poisoning from your gross water," she teased.

Bucky took the bottle when she handed it back to him and took a drink. "You know, Ellie…" he started slowly, screwing the cap back on the bottle and watching as it went on. "Things are going to happen, tonight…" She nodded, feeling her cheeks warm. "And they'll be a lot better if we communicate… so Ellie, if there's something that I'm doing that you don't like- tell me, ok?" He asked as he looked up at her.

She looked to the side as her cheeks heated more.

"Ellie," he said as he took her chin in his fingers again. "Ellie. Promise me. Promise that you'll say something if I'm doing something that you don't like."

"Ok," she agreed softly.

"Promise you'll tell me if you want me to do something else."

"Ok," she told him trying to resist the urge to roll her eyes to hide her feelings of vulnerability.

"Ellie." Bucky's hand cupped her jaw, and he was silent for a moment as he stared into her eyes seriously. "Promise me that you'll tell me if you want me to stop."

"Bucky," she murmured softly. "Ok…"

"Promise me, Ellie… that you won't try to fake it." The look on his face was dead serious, and concerned. "I only want you, the real you, out there with me."

They were back in that moment, that close, intimate moment full of false feelings.

God she wanted Bucky to kiss her…

"I promise, Bucky," she told him softly, to placate him, pushing away after a moment. "Do you think we should stretch or something?"

"Huh? Why?" He asked in confusion.

"Well, if we're going to do anything acrobatic or crazy, we should probably warm up and stretch out," she told him as she stepped toward the door. "Don't want to get another injury, or anything. I'm going to go do that, I'll be back in a minute…"

Bucky watched her go, his heart throbbing uncomfortably.