Bucky woke up to the sound of Gianna Cruz's soft breathing beside him. A sentence that, only a few short months ago, he would have thought only existed in some kind of Mad Libs game. He laid in the plush bed, feeling the warmth from her small body against his right side. Careful not to move, he took a deep breath, trying to comprehend what this meant for their relationship.

There's no relationship. She was scared, she didn't want to be alone, and you're assigned to protect her. Simple as that. This changes nothing.

Bucky reprimanded himself for the thoughts running through his head and the electricity running through his right arm as Gianna slept soundly draped across it. He shifted on his pillow and looked at her, her blonde hair splayed across the pillow with it's natural wave present from sleeping with it wet. He wished Kate would let her natural hair show sometime. Every day she had a show, press, a shoot, or even a fitting - her glam team would leave her hair with big, blown out curls and a face full of makeup. Not that Bucky minded, he loved her concert looks. They reminded him of some kind of princess from a children's movie, with her gorgeous long locks and outfits so ornate that they glittered wherever she walked. But now, looking at her sleeping, he couldn't help but think it was a crime that the world never saw this side of her.

Her light complexion was dewy from sleep, her face completely relaxed. Her lips rested in a pout just above where the comforter was curled beneath her chin. The little blonde ringlets framed her face and made her look almost angelic. Taking a sharp breath, Bucky suddenly needed to move. Lying next to her was testing a part of him that he wasn't sure was strong enough to withstand it.

As he sat up to stretch, Gianna stirred beside him. "G'morning," she said, a sleepy smile on her face. Her eyes were still closed, and she yawned, burrowing her face into the pillow.

Bucky smiled back, feeling the sense of warmth in his chest double with her awake. "Good morning sunshine. How did you sleep?" he asked, his voice coming out as a grumble.

Gianna sat up and stretched, yawning again. "Like a baby. No, like a rock. Thanks for staying with me last night," she said, raising her eyes to meet his..

Bucky shrugged, trying to play it cool. "Ah, it's my job, remember?" he said, a hint of teasing in his low voice.

Gianna rolled her eyes, laughing. "Yeah, yeah. Something tells me that sleepovers weren't in your contract."

"If they had been, maybe I wouldn't have been so hesitant to sign it." As the words left his mouth, Bucky's stomach flipped. He was only teasing, but wasn't sure how she'd handle the overt flirtation.

Gianna didn't miss a beat. "At least make sure they give you overtime pay for all this extra work." She winked and gave him a light push, her hand lingering on his chest for just a moment longer than usual.

He loved how physical she was. She hugged, didn't shake hands. If she was ever excited about something, anything, she would clutch his forearm as she spoke, eyes wide. When she thanked him at the end of every night when he walked her back to her hotel room, she would squeeze his hand before disappearing behind the door. Her little teasing shoves barely moved him, but on the inside, they knocked him on his ass every time.

Let's go get coffee," she said, getting up from the bed. Sometime during the night, she had slipped out of her robe and ended up in an oversized t-shirt. She turned to walk into the bathroom and Bucky caught a glimpse of the front of it.

Smirking, he called after her. "Nice shirt."

It was one of the shirts being sold at the merch tables for her tour. Four variations of her photo were etched onto the front, while all the tour dates and cities were listed on the back.

"Don't make fun of me," She whined, poking her head out the bathroom door as she tucked her hair into a baseball cap. "I actually brought this up here to give to you, and then last night was such a blur and I just grabbed it…" She trailed off, blushing when she saw his amused smile.

"I don't wear my own merch, okay." She put her hands on her hips and raised her eyebrows, looking defensive but smiling all at once.

"Hey, no judgment from me, if I had my face on a shirt then I'd never take it off." Bucky held his hands up, feigning innocence. "Unfortunately, that's more of Cap's thing."

"There you go again!" Gianna laughed. "Name dropping all your famous friends! Oooh, I'm Bucky, I'm besties with Captain America and Black Widow. Ooh, I live with the Avengers, Ooh ooh, Tony Stark is my boss!"

Bucky rolled his eyes, chuckling at her theatrics. "Okay, first of all, Stark isn't my boss. Second of all, I definitely name drop you when I talk to all of them. So at least it goes both ways."

Gianna paused, halfway through slipping her jeans up under her big shirt. Bucky tried not to look, and tried harder not to make it obvious how hard it was not to look.

"Don't tell me the Avengers, the Avengers, know who I am." She stayed in her crouched position, jeans around her knees and eyes locked on Bucky.

"G, everyone knows who you are. That's kinda why I'm here."

She straightened up, tugging her jeans the rest of the way and buttoning them. A self-satisfied smile spread across her face as she reached into the closet for her sneakers.

"Do they listen to my music on secret missions?"

Bucky chuckled again, relieved that she'd finished getting dressed before he really had to put his self control to the test. "We don't really listen to music on, uh, secret missions."

"But if we did, it would definitely be yours."

She scrunched her nose at Bucky, and he could tell she was trying to play it cool. It was a feeling he was all too familiar with these days.

"So you name drop me to your friends?" She had finished getting dressed and strode towards where he sat on the edge of the bed. Her eyebrow was cocked mischievously.

"Ah, maybe once or twice. When I think it makes me sound cool."

She stepped closer, standing nearly between his knees. Even though Bucky was sitting down, they were eye level, their height difference less apparent like this.

"How cool will you sound when you tell them you slept over with me?" Her voice had a hint of joke in it, but her voice was lower, almost alluring.

"Oh, they'd see right through me." Bucky diffused with a joke. "They know I don't have much game, they'd think I'm lying."

Gianna eyed him, as if trying to decide if he was joking or not. "Maybe we should prove it to them."

Before he could respond, she had turned and picked up Bucky's phone from the nightstand.

"Take your shirt off." She instructed as she slid the camera function open.

"Wh-" Gianna cut him off. "Just do it, trust me."

Reluctantly, Bucky grabbed at the back of his shirt and tugged it over his head. He worried for a moment about how Gianna would react to his scars, the ridge where his metal arm fused to his shoulder, but she didn't bat an eye. On the contrary, he thought he saw her blush, her eyes running down his chest.

"Get under the covers." She pointed behind him, clearly amused at his confusion.

Bucky eyed her as he slipped his shoes off and slid his legs back into the unmade bed. Gianna tossed her hat to the side, stepped over his shoes on the ground and into bed next to him. She wriggled underneath his right arm and tugged the covers up around her shoulder.

"Here, take our photo." Gianna thrust Bucky's phone into his hand.

She laid her head down on his chest and closed her eyes, burrowing close to his neck. Bucky felt like his skin was on fire where her cheek laid on his bare chest. He swallowed hard and prayed to God and Thor and anyone who would listen that she couldn't hear his pounding heartbeat.

He looked up at the phone and realized what she was doing. He took all the confidence he could muster and winked at the camera, snapping the photo.

"Let me see!" Gianna sat right up, snatching the phone back from him. She laughed out loud. "This is PERFECT. Art, really." She hit the message button and started typing.

"What's the name of your group chat? Do the Avengers have a group chat? Do you all even text, or is there some kind of super secret telepathy you use?"

Bucky gave a resigned laugh. "We have a group message, yeah." He reached for his phone and typed in "roommates" then clicked the top result.

"Wanda named it. She thought it was funny." Bucky said, answering Gianna's amused look. In two taps, she had sent the photo.

"Now we'll see how cool they think you are." She winked and hopped out from underneath the covers, slipping her shoes on. Sighing, Bucky reached for his shirt.

"Wait-" Gianna grabbed his wrist. "I have another idea." She grabbed his shirt and disappeared around the corner into the bathroom. He wondered why the sudden discretion after she'd paused, pants down, right in front of him only a few minutes prior, but was interrupted by a white shirt being tossed at his face.

Gianna had emerged from the bathroom wearing Bucky's Stark Enterprises shirt from the night before. He was holding the t-shirt with her face on it, still warm from her body. He opened his mouth to protest, but the ornery glint in her eye made him think better of it. Slipping it over his head, he wondered what he was getting himself into.

"This may be your best look yet." Gianna teased, slipping her room key into her back pocket. As Bucky finished putting lacing up his boots, he stood.

"I hope you're enjoying this."

"Oh I am, and you can't say no, I had a bad night." She joked, slipping under Bucky's arm as he held the door open for her.

They made their way to the lobby, both with baseball caps on, a half-hearted attempt to be discreet. As they walked towards the sliding glass doors of the lobby, Bucky saw a small crowd of photographers waiting for them. He straightened, quickening his pace to be ahead of Gianna. The switch from their lighthearted morning to his protective nature was immediate. Out of habit, Gianna fell into step behind him, staying close.

The sliding doors opened with a whoosh and they were bombarded with flashes and questions.

"Gianna, are you going to press charges after last night?"

"Gianna, what happened at the tour?"

"Ms. Cruz, will you be increasing security after the incident?"

"Gianna, over here!"

"Gianna, that new song was an instant hit, did you expect it to go viral so quickly?"

After years in the spotlight, Gianna could easily tune out the constant barrage of paparazzi questions, but the last one caught her attention. Wide-eyed, she looked straight at Bucky. He glanced down at her, a hint of a reaction behind his ever present poker face.

Thanks to Bucky's metal arm, they made it to the coffee shop across the street quickly and easily. Once they'd placed their usual orders, Gianna pulled out her phone.

"Oh my gosh," She exclaimed. "They were right, our song is everywhere." She flipped her phone towards Bucky, showing him the trending page on Twitter with her name occupying the top three spots. The first two had to do with her attempted 'fan' attack, but the third was #GoingUnder - the name of their song.

He watched as she scrolled, soaking in all the love for their song after less than 24 hours. Truth be told, he didn't feel as much excitement about the song being so popular, but the way her eyes lit up as she took it all in made his heart nearly burst at the seams. He wanted to see her overflow with joy every day.

Bucky found himself feeling grateful that he had been assigned to this case. He had never expected to become so close to Gianna, but he couldn't deny the connection that had formed between them. Over the past few months, they'd gotten closer, but the past 24 hours had taken them to a whole new level. Now, he stood in the middle of a coffee shop, wearing a shirt with her face on it and looking at her proudly wearing his.

For the second time that morning, he wondered how this was all real.

As they made their way back to the hotel, they managed to avoid Tom's manic search for them and slipped back into Gianna's room just in time for her to get queued that the bus was ready to leave for sound check.

As she grabbed her bag, Gianna turned to Bucky with a smile. "Thanks for this morning. It was nice to just be normal for a little while," she said. "I feel like I haven't laughed like that in a while."

Bucky nodded, feeling that familiar warmth rise up in him. "Not the worst morning I've had," he smirked, reaching for her bag and hoisting it over his shoulder.

As they made their way to sound check, Bucky glanced down at his phone.

"No fucking way." - Steve

"OMGGGGGG, yes! So here for this!" - Wanda

"Grandpa's got game. Who knew." - Tony

"Groupie isn't a bad look for you, Buck." - Natasha

He chuckled and tucked it back into his pocket.