A/N: Sorry it took me forever to post this; life got a tad hectic. And, I know that the story is fairly... terrible right now, but I swear it will get better haha. Thanks! :)
Chapter Two
Bucky left his room cautiously, making sure that the coast was clear. When he saw that there was no one in sight he made his way swiftly to the elevator. "Where are you going?" Natasha said as she sat up on the couch, a bag of pretzels in her hand.
Shit, she's everywhere. "Nowhere, just out. Why do you care, Natasha?" Bucky tried to keep his annoyance in check.
"Uh-huh. You're going back to the café, aren't you Barnes?" She popped a pretzel in her mouth and smirked at him.
"What? No, I'm going on a… walk. I'm going for a walk, Romanova."
"Okay, well then I guess you won't care that I did a little research on your crush and she's a senior at NYU. She had classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so she works the late shift, at nine."
Bucky shifted. Oh. "No, I didn't care; you're right." He headed back to his room. "Then where are you going? Weren't you going for a walk?"
Ugh. Why did it always seem that Natasha could never let anything go? Just like the time that she almost cut my head off and then proceeded to electrocute me, all because I was trying to kill her. "I forgot my… hat." Bucky finished lamely as he left the room and retreated back to his room and Natasha smirked at his receding form.
He returned a minute later waving his baseball cap violently in Natasha's face. "Found it."
"Uh-huh. Have a nice walk." She rolled her eyes and laid back down on the couch.
"I will." Bucky strode out of the door defiantly. Well, it looks like I'm actually going to have to go on a walk now.
x x x
Rae walked into the café, feeling absolutely rundown and defeated. It's nine o'clock and all I want to do is lie on my bed, shove Doritos in my face and watch television with my cat, but instead I'm working. Great.
Rae tried her best to give herself a pep talk as she cinched the ties of her apron. She failed, miserably. Whatever. I can do this.
"Hey there, what can I – oh! It's you again!" Rae admonished herself as she blurted out her surprise; once she recognized the person in the booth. He did come back; she thought, a little smile crossing her face.
"Where's your blonde friend? Wait, that's not what I meant, I meant 'hello, what can I get you today?'"
The gruff gentleman laughed quietly. "He's not with me today."
"Oh, I guess you wanted to see me again that badly, huh?" She winked at him and he blushed. "Anyway, what can I get you today, sailor?"
"Uh… Coffee?"
She smirked. "Okay." She left to get a pot of decaf from the kitchen and quickly returned to his booth. "Do you actually eat, or do you just sit around and look like a kicked puppy all the time?" Rae asked as she filled his cup.
He smiled softly before he replied, "Sometimes. But looking like a kicked puppy is my specialty."
"You're good at it, I will admit." Rae paused for a beat. Do it, woman! "What's your name, sailor? "
"It's Bucky."
"What? Seriously?"
"Uhm, yes? Well, my first name is James, but people call me Bucky."
"How do you get Bucky from James? Usually nicknames kind of match the name. You know, like Rae or Lynn for Raelynn."
"My middle name is Buchanan."
"Wow, really? Like the president?" He nodded. "Yeah, I'm just gonna call you James." Rae smirked again. "Alright, James, I need to go do my job before I get fired. Let me know if you need anything else, you know like, food."
Even though Rae tried her best to focus on serving other patrons, she wound up sneaking glances at James from time to time, finding that he was already looking at her a few times.
x x x
Bucky was beside himself. I actually talked to her, he thought excitedly. Yes! For a split second, he wasn't stuck on the fact that he was missing an arm, and that he used to kill people for a living. Both before and after Hydra got a hold of him. He sighed. Steve's right, I need to realize that I am not at fault here. I need to move on, and I'm going to start by asking Raelynn out, he had decided.
"More coffee?" Rae asked James as she precariously balanced several cups on top of a stack of plates.
"Yes, please," James answered, looking as if she had pulled him from some deep reverie.
"Alright, I'll be right back." As Rae turned to leave, a cup slid from its perch on the plate and tumbled to the ground before she could make a move. Damn it. She braced herself for the shatter, which never came.
"You dropped this." James held out his left hand, which was clutching the cup. "Here you go."
"Thank you! Nice reflexes, Spider-Man."
He gave her a small smile. "Anytime." Rae began to leave the booth once again, but James cleared his throat to stop her.
"Uh… uhm… when do you get off of your shift? I thought that I could, you know, walk you home. I mean, you don't have to if that makes you feel uncomfortable. God, that didn't sound as creepy in my head, I'm sorry never mind."
Rae snorted as he got flushed and looked away. "I get off in thirty minutes."
Thirty minutes had never seemed more like an eternity to Bucky. Finally, time dragged by and Rae appeared at Bucky's table, coat on, with her bag in hand. She nodded toward the door. "Let's roll, sailor."
Bucky's exuberant mood quickly turned to sheer terror when he realized that he actually had to speak to her. Terror turned to full blown anxiety when he realized that he had absolutely no clue what the hell to say. There was a timid tap on his shoulder.
"What?" Bucky blurted out.
"I asked you what your story was. I've never seen you around the café before. I've seen your friend before, but never you." Rae looked at him expectantly.
"Oh, well, I've only been here for a few months and I don't get out much."
"So, you're from out of town?"
"Well, yes and no. I'm from Indiana originally but I lived in New York for awhile as a kid. I was, um, overseas for… work." He pleaded silently that she wouldn't ask him what type of work.
"Oh, very interesting. I'm from Romania."
Bucky had to practically bite his tongue to keep himself from telling her that he already knew that information, thanks to Natasha.
"When did you get here?"
"When I was thirteen."
Bucky paused. "How old are you now?"
"I just turned twenty-five this past September. How old are you?"
Well, I can't very well tell her that I was alive during the second World War, now can I? "Twenty-six."
She nodded. "Cool. Well, this is my apartment building," she said as she jerked her thumb toward a modest looking walk-up. "Thank you for escorting me home. And they say that chivalry is dead." She giggled and Bucky decided that it was his new favorite sound in the world.
"So, have a good night James."
Bucky paused before he answered trying to find the courage to make his mouth work. Finally, he just gave up and bade her good night. "Good night, Raelynn." She smiled before she vanished into the building.
Ugh, why am I such a coward? She totally gave me an opening and I chickened out.
Bucky made his way from the building, silently reproving himself when the sound of running footsteps caught his attention.
"James, wait!" Rae gasped from behind him as she finally caught up to him, out of breath and flushed. "God, I'm out of shape. Anyway, the reason why I chased you down was because I was going to ask you out. You obviously weren't going to." She winked at him before she continued. "I was gonna ask you if you wanted to come over and I could attempt to cook or whatever, I don't know."
Bucky stared at her. I am pretty sure that I am dreaming.
"Please say something, I just ran a block to ask you out. That's the first time I have ran since high school."
"S-sorry. Yes, of course."
"Really? Yay! Okay, so uhm, how's Saturday? At six o'clock?"
"Definitely." He could barely contain the huge smile that broke out across his face.
"Cool. Good night, again." She gave him a little wave before she headed off in the opposite direction. Bucky watched her walk away, giant grin still plastered on his face. Good job, Barnes, you've got a date.
x x x
Bucky's face was still decorated with a smile when he stepped off of the elevator into the living room of the living quarters in Avengers Tower.
"Bucky!" Steve hopped off from the floor easily, abandoning the game that he, Clint, Natasha and Sam were playing. "Where were you?"
"Out. I went for a walk." He and Natasha shot each other pointed looks at each other. "A really long walk, more of an adventure really." He was about to retreat into his room, but he decided that he wanted to brag a little. "Also, I have a date on Saturday."
"Whaaaaaaat?" Clint, Natasha and Sam said at once and Steve's jaw dropped so far he feared it would fall right off. That surprising, huh?
"The Romanian waitress?" Clint asked, and Natasha looked at him, already knowing his answer.
"Yep." Bucky's smile returned.
"Good job, Barnes," Sam leaned over the back of the couch and held out his hand for a high five. "Thanks, Sam."
Natasha winked at Bucky. "Good luck." She got off the couch and started towards her room. "I'm going to bed, unless you guys still want me to keep kicking your asses at Mario Kart." She threw over her shoulder, with Clint in tow.
Steve followed Bucky into his room. "This is so exciting, Buck! I'm so glad you've finally taken my advice. Finally getting back into the world. See, I told you that it wouldn't be so hard to ask her out."
"Uh. She asked me out."
"Oh."
"Yeah."
"Well, you know, things are different nowadays."
Bucky scoffed at Steve. "Understatement of the year."
"I know. Anyways, congrats." He turned to leave, but paused as a look of remembrance flashed across his face. "Oh, and Fury wants to see us tomorrow morning. Good night Buck."
"Night, Steve." Bucky sat on his bed, still giddy over the fact that he had a date in three days. Now, all I have to do is make sure that she doesn't find out that I am partially made of metal. That shouldn't be too difficult.