a shore thing
bucky barnes x fem reader
i decided to write it hehe
a/n: any and all mistakes are my own! feedback is encouraged & welcomed :) xoxo
Bucky calls your name for the umpteenth time, beyond exasperated as you stumble away, giggling uncontrollably as you evade capture. He's hardly tipsy anymore, having decided to nurse a single beer for the last couple hours when he noticed how heavy you were drinking. Somebody needed to be responsible, he told himself. Even Steve was letting loose more than usual. But, to be fair, they were all on vacation.
“Guys, the taxis are here,” Nat announces, yet again, leaning heavily against one of said vehicles. “Bucky, we gotta go.”
“I’m trying my best here,” he replies. Although, that's not entirely true. “Someone should've cut her off ages ago.”
“Boooooo,” you heckle as you run past him.
Bucky sighs heavily. “Fine. You can stay here by yourself.”
You pause abruptly, almost tripping over your own feet, but you catch yourself before you face-plant into the gravel. “You're leaving me?” you ask in a pitiful tone.
“Yup.” Bucky turns and takes a few steps away, hearing you whine in protest. “Have fun.”
“Noooo, wait!”
Your uneven steps come closer and closer to Bucky and as soon as he gauges you're within arm’s reach he spins around with a smirk. It makes you lurch to a stop, gasping as it dawns on you.
“Betrayal!” you shout, pointing an accusatory finger at him. You try to take off running again, but Bucky is quicker. You're swooped up into a fireman’s carry before you even register your feet leaving the ground. “Ack! Put me down, you absolute caveman!”
Sam sticks his head out of the taxi. “There's room in this one.”
Bucky steers his steps that way, feeling your tiny fists beating his back the whole way, and plops you into the open seat. You let out a cute oof that he ignores as he tries to latch the seatbelt. You're a squirmy little shit though, and he soon finds that the only way he’ll be able to get the group back to the hotel is to enter the taxi himself and pull you into his lap. He quickly shuts the door and finally latches the seatbelt around the both of you, telling the driver to go.
Sam shakes his head in amusement in the seat beside Bucky. “You're seriously the only one who can rally that firecracker of a woman.”
“Hey!” you object with a pout. “I'm drunkies, not deaf. I can still hear you.”
You and Sam begin bickering and Bucky rolls his eyes, but he doesn't do anything to interfere. He's too busy trying to think about literally anything else other than the ginormous mistake he made by placing you on his lap. You, the person he's been in love with for far too long now, who has absolutely no clue of his feelings and sends constant mixed signals.
There are days he's sure you feel the same with the way you look at him, but then the next day you go out of your way to make sure he knows the two of you are just friends. He's losing his fucking mind. He doesn't know if he should tell you how he feels or try to move on.
You're wiggling suddenly, body jostling atop Bucky’s and his mind is forced to return to the present, only to see you and Sam slap-fighting like children.
“I’m so sorry, sir,” he addresses the driver, “I swear they're actually adults when they're not three sheets to the wind.”
The driver waves off the apology with a chuckle. The fight ends with you pinching Sam’s nipple, his cry of pain and outrage making you giggle wildly and throw your head back onto Bucky’s shoulder. After you catch your breath you sit up and wiggle some more until you're sitting sideways and can look at Bucky. Your eyes are glassy and your smile is sly and a touch wonky, and Bucky still thinks you're the cutest, sexiest woman he's ever known.
“Why don't you like me for real?”
The taxi is uncomfortably quiet. Bucky blinks a few times, shifting his gaze to Sam, who’s suddenly very interested in the passing streetlights and palm trees outside the window. Traitor, Bucky thinks. With no help from his supposed friend, Bucky looks back to you.
He clears his throat. “I do like you.”
“No,” you huff, rolling your eyes, “I mean like, like me like me. Like, more.”
Bucky is silent again, his mind whirling with a million questions–the biggest one being what the fuck?
“I'm not sure what you mean,” he says carefully. He hopes playing dumb will work in deterring the conversation, but he should've known better.
“You always just joke about it, but you never mean it. Always get my hopes up.”
“What are you talking about?” he blurts, truly flabbergasted, but he cuts you off before you can reply. “No, don't answer that. You're drunk, okay? You don't know what you're saying.”
You poke his cheek roughly, pouting. “I just want you to like me back, Buck. Wanna kiss you whenever I want.”
Bucky swallows thickly, unable to take his eyes away from yours as you lean in closer.
“Don't you wanna kiss me?” you question, reaching up you play with the hairs at the nape of his neck. “Can I kiss you, Bucky?”
Your lips graze his, a feather-light touch, and he exhales shakily. Of fucking course he wants to kiss you. He's wanted nothing else for the last year. But he doesn't want it like this. He says your name, voice low in warning. You either don't hear him or you don't care.
Bucky’s eyes flutter closed as you continue pressing light kisses to his lips, the corner of his mouth, his chin, along his jaw. He fists his hands where they rest on either side of you, praying for the will to remain strong.
“You're drunk,” he repeats, a last ditch effort in getting you to stop, but even he can hear how weak the protest is.
“I still know what I want, what I feel.” You brush your nose against his. “I want you.”
Sam coughs pointedly beside both of you. “We’re here.”
Bucky is quick to unlatch the seatbelt and help you out of the car. Nat walks over and grabs your hand, Steve walking leisurely behind her.
“Let's go to bed, please,” she begs as she drags you with her.
You begin whining again, reminding Bucky of your inebriated state. He shouldn't have let you kiss him. You're not going to remember any of this tomorrow. Guilt punches him in the gut. He's so fucking weak when it comes to you.
“I wanna sleep with Bucky,” you complain as you resist.
Natasha squawks. “What?!” Her eyes are as wide as saucers, flicking back and forth from you and Bucky. Sam fails to hide his snort.
“His bed is bigger,” you explain, “You take up too much space.”
Natasha gasps. “How dare you!”
You turn to Bucky with pleading eyes. “Bucky, please let me sleep with you.”
“I… I'm not sure that's a good idea,” he replies.
You stomp your foot. “Pleeeease?” Your pout is lethal. “I promise I won't take up too much space.”
Sam puts his hand over Nat’s mouth before she can start yelling, doing his best to frogmarch her into the hotel so they don't cause a disturbance. Steve follows languidly, which is the sign that he's quickly coming down from his drunken high and will likely crash the moment his head hits the pillow.
“You should just sleep in your room with Nat,” Bucky advises.
“I don't wanna sleep with her,” you say, stepping back into Bucky’s space. One of your hands grasps his shirt, the other trailing across his chest. He fights the shiver threatening to run down his spine. “I wanna cuddle you.”
You look up at him through your lashes and Bucky knows he's lost. He sighs. You grin and giggle, grabbing his hand to lead him inside the hotel. He's quiet the whole ride up in the elevator. Your head is resting on his shoulder, humming along to whatever song is playing in your head. You’re still holding his hand.
When you're both standing in front of his room door, Bucky pauses, about to try one last time to get you to go two rooms down to the one you're supposed to be sharing with Nat, but you snatch the key card out of his hand and open the door before a word can leave his mouth. He doesn't trust you to be alone right now, and with Sam babysitting Nat and Steve probably snoring away in his own room, Bucky accepts his fate. He enters the room, closing the door with resignation.
“Ugh, god, these heels are the worst,” you grumble as you trip your way over to sit on the bed. You fight with the small buckle before making a noise of complaint. “Buckyyy…”
“Jesus,” he mutters, huffing as he walks to you.
He kneels in front of you and carefully takes your shoes off. You hum, pleased, once your feet are free, wiggling your toes.
“Why do you wear them if you hate them so much?” he mumbles.
“Because they make my legs and ass look fantastic, duh.”
Well. That's fair, Bucky supposes.
“Can you unzip me now?”
Fuck. Bucky chokes on nothing.
“Unzip you? What are you planning on sleeping in? Your pajamas are in your room,” he points out.
“Can't I borrow one of your shirts?” you ask, blinking innocent eyes up at him.
He doesn't trust it one bit.
“Please, Bucky? My dress won't be comfortable.”
Your pout makes yet another appearance. He doesn't bother pointing out that you wouldn't have this problem if you went to your own room. You'd ignore him anyway.
“Fine,” he grumbles. He rifles through his bag to find a shirt for you, grabbing pajamas for himself while he's at it. “I'll go change in the bathroom.”
He turns to head that way, but you stop him.
“My dress,” you remind him, spinning around and pointing at the zip.
Bucky's pretty sure you could do this by yourself, but he's just ready to go to bed at this point, so he’ll do whatever he has to to get there. He tries not to put too much thought into the action, but his mind can't help but wander, imagining unzipping your dress with different intentions. The more skin that is revealed to him, the more his breathing picks up. He takes note that you didn't wear a bra with this dress, which makes him realize you'll be wearing his shirt with only your underwear beneath it. He curses mentally.
He steps away like he's been burned once the zipper reaches the bottom. “There you go,” he says, voice gruff.
He doesn't wait for your response, quickly escaping into the bathroom before anything else can be asked of him. It doesn't take Bucky long to change his clothes, but he still lingers in the small space to gather his wits, taking his time as he brushes his teeth, and even splashes some cold water on his face. He stares at himself in the mirror for a moment.
“She’ll forget all of this by morning,” he assures himself.
He's not fond of the way that statement makes his stomach twist.
When he leaves the bathroom, he finds your dress pooled on the floor in the same spot you stood as he unzipped it. You're standing next to the bed, fidgeting with the hem of Bucky’s shirt that hangs off your small frame. He raises a quizzical brow.
“I don't know which side you prefer,” you say, unsure.
Bucky feels himself soften at your expression. “I'm good either way.”
You dart for the left side, lifting the comforter and sheets and snuggling underneath them. Bucky's lips twitch, but he resists smiling.
“C’mon, Buck, I want cuddles,” you entice, patting the spot beside you exaggeratedly.
He only hesitates for a split second. It's late and exhaustion is settling in his bones. He’ll worry about consequences in the morning.
You waste no time in invading his space once he's in the bed. You nudge his arm until he lifts it, worming your way under it and placing your head on his chest, your own arm slung over his waist. Bucky goes still, holding his breath until you get comfortable. Slowly, he lets his arm fall across your back, closing his eyes with a heavy sigh.
“Bucky?” you whisper.
“Hm?”
You nuzzle into his pec. “Love you.”
Bucky's eyes snap open then. His heart begins hammering in his chest and he prays that you're close enough to sleep to not notice.
“Goodnight,” he rasps after a minute passes by.
Your only reply is a light snore. Bucky feels his heart crack in his chest.
~
The next morning, Bucky lies awake, staring at the ceiling. He's not sure exactly how much sleep he got, but it wasn't a lot. You only got clingier as you slept, practically wrapping your whole body around him.
Bucky is a weak, weak man.
Sunlight begins peeking through the curtains, eventually finding its way to the bed and across your closed eyes. A frown forms between your brows and he almost smoothes it with his thumb. The only reason he stops himself is because you groan and turn away before he can.
“Turn it off,” you croak.
“The sun?” he retorts with a laugh.
“Yes,” you reply derisively. “Kick its ass for waking me up.”
Bucky smiles to himself. “Whatever you want, my love.”
It feels like the room freezes in time after the endearment escapes him. With a jolt, you sit up and face him. Bucky can't read your expression, but that's mostly because he's doing his best to look anywhere but your face.
“Seriously?” you gripe. “You're still going to poke fun about that kind of shit even after what I said last night?”
That gets his attention pretty easily. He meets your gaze and hates the dejected look on your face.
“What–what are you talking about?” he questions, thrown.
Your chin wobbles slightly before you scoff, whipping the comforter off your body as you attempt to leave the bed, but Bucky sits up and grabs your wrist to stop you.
“Wait–”
“Let go of me,” you demand, refusing to look at him.
“Not until you tell me what the fuck is going on,” he replies firmly.
You turn to him with a glare. “You're still joking about my feelings for you, even though I made it perfectly clear how I felt last night.”
“Felt? You… you don't feel the same anymore?” He's grasping for straws here. “I thought–I mean, I didn't think you were serious. You were drunk, I…”
“It doesn't matter if I still feel the same or not,” you reply, the fight leaving your body.
“Yes, it does!” he exclaims. “God, of course it fucking matters. If you have feelings for me, I need to know.”
“Have I not made it abundantly clear already?!” you retort. “If you're that fucking dense, then here you go: I'm fucking in love with you, you big, stupid, gigantic ass–”
He cuts you off by dragging your body to his and kissing you. You make a sound of shock, but you don't push him away, so he deepens the kiss, tilting his head and flicking his tongue at the seam of your lips. You open for him with a gasp, your tongue meeting his and making you both moan. He pulls away, chest heaving.
“We're both stupid,” he declares. “I'm in love with you too. I thought you were the one not taking it seriously.”
Your dazed expression begins clearing and realization sets in. “Oh my god,” you mumble as you yank him back into a kiss that has him reeling.
“Do you know,” he starts between kisses, “how fucking hard it was—to be a gentleman last night?”
You giggle. “I was hoping you wouldn't be a gentleman.”
Bucky curses, manhandling you until you're flat on your back. “That can be arranged.”
“Promises, promises,” you goad, biting your lip.
“Exactly,” he replies, lips tugging into a smirk.
~
Needless to say, the two of you have to put up with merciless teasing for the rest of the trip… But it's worth it.
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