Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Bucky doesn’t like parties, Sam’s invited him to a few of his neighborhood ones but he rejects every single time. However, this time was different, Sam practically begged Bucky to come, he said he wanted him to meet someone. Although he still wasn’t fond of the idea he reluctantly agreed.

So that’s what led to today, the two were approaching Sam’s house now, chatting away as Bucky had his hands in his pockets, his stance rigid. Sam notices his tense demeanor and speaks up.

“What’s up?”

“I’m…just not sure about this Sam, your neighbors are friendly and all but these parties still aren’t my thing.” He says with a shrug, keeping his hands inside his pockets still.

“It’s fine, you don’t have to talk to anyone the whole way through if you just let me introduce you to this one person.” 

Bucky wasn’t exactly scared about the party anymore, his nerves run a little deeper as he wonders why Sam is so adamant on him meeting this mystery person.

“And what exactly makes this person so special?” He asks as they stop right in front of the house.

“You’ll see,” Sam says with a smirk that makes Bucky’s stomach uneasy with curiosity.

As Sam drags Bucky throughout the house a couple people greet him, he responds back with his usual friendly voice. Meanwhile Bucky just gives everyone a nod, he didn’t know a single person here.

“Ah there you are!” Sam says as he lets go of Bucky and approaches a lady who seems to be in her 20’s, probably no older than 29.

“I want you to meet my friend,” though you stop dead in your tracks when you look at Bucky like he’s a familiar face. 

Bucky’s stance goes rigid as he probably knows the reason, not many people recognize him as the winter soldier anymore because of his haircut and gloved hand. However you seem to recognize him right away, Bucky tenses as he anticipates your response.

Then a little girl comes running up, probably no older than 7, and she clings to you as she gleams at Bucky with excitement. Bucky raises an eyebrow at Sam, what is going on?

“Mommy it’s the Winter Soldier!!” The little girl says as she tugs on your arm. Mommy? This woman was a mom? Bucky’s thoughts swirl as he watches you two, just why did Sam want him to meet you?

Sam leans in and whispers into Bucky’s ear. 

“Her daughter is a big fan of yours.” Sam says as he waits for Bucky’s reaction. So you’re her mom, and your daughter….was a fan….of him?

What sort of kid would be a fan of an ex-assassin?

Bucky stands there with his hands on his hips, trying to make sense of the situation.

“I wasn’t aware I had fans…”

The little girl smiles and her eyes sparkle when she looks at him. Then she pulls at her mothers arm.

“Can he sign my backpack?” She looks up at you with pleading eyes and well, how could you say no to that face?

You crouch down, a little hesitant to speak up, you purse your lips in thought.

“Oh- I don’t know the man is very busy,” you try to make up an excuse so as to not overwhelm the super soldier. You look up at him from where you’re crouched and Bucky’s words get caught in his throat at the sight, maybe he was feeling a little under the weather or something. 

He swallows roughly before speaking.

“I could- sign it ... .if you’d like.” 

He says as he scratches the back of his neck, you let out a small sigh of relief.

“Alright, go get it.”

You say as you nod in the direction of where the kid’s bag is. The girl jumps with excitement as she runs off to another room to go retrieve it. You stand up and cross your arms, smiling warmly as you speak.

“Her name's Emma,” you begin to explain.

“She’s been a fan of yours since everyone from the blip came back. She loves your redemption story.” You mention with a little hesitation.

It’s been a couple months since the legend Iron Man sacrificed himself and half the population came back to earth. Also since Steve left…..

Bucky nods with a small smile, he pushes down the thoughts of mourning his old friend.

“I never expected to have a fan, much less someone that young,” he says. Shifting his gaze to where Emma had run off to. You give him a shrug as your eyes follow the direction of his gaze, your hand on your hips.

“Yeah she’s 7 now, she’s always been a- unique kid…but I love her to death.”

“I can tell,” Bucky says quietly, before getting a good look at you now. For a single mom you definitely looked put together, and Bucky felt silly for admitting it but in his head he thought you were attractive. Whatever man was with you was certainly lucky.

You hum in response at Bucky’s remark, then Emma comes back in running. She places her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath for a moment. You bend down to her level again. 

“You didn’t have to run y’know, he’s not going anywhere.” You say with a smirk as you ruffle her hair.

The design of the backpack catches Bucky’s eye, a silver bag with a giant red star in the middle. The same design he had on his old arm. You notice Bucky’s look.

“She saw it online and begged me to buy it for her,” you say as you bite back a smile.

“I didn’t even know they made them like these….” He says with a huff, a surprised look on his face.

“There’s a couple pieces of Winter Soldier merch out there,” Sam says. Bucky gives him a curious look and he explains himself.

“Okay look I was originally looking for merch of myself and I stumbled upon it,” Sam admits as he raises his hands in defense and you snort into your hand.

“Merch?” Bucky questions.

“Short for merchandise,” You answer.

“You people abbreviate everything these days,” he mumbles and you can’t help but find it endearing. Emma speaks up.

“Mom?” She waves her bag around with an impatient look on her face. Bucky chuckles at the kid’s persistence. He takes the bag from her hands, trying to conceal emotions which conflicted inside of him. Emma was adorable and Bucky couldn’t help but feel prideful that she has such admiration for him. He looks back up at you.

“Do you have a- marker or anything?”

Sarah pops in, having overheard the conversation. She grabs a sharpie from the counter and tosses it to you. 

“Could you give that to him then come help me for a moment? The pies are ready.” Sarah says as she tries to hide the amused look on her face.

You click your tongue and hand Bucky the pen, your fingers grazing over his as you do so. You follow Sarah out of the living room and into the kitchen. Bucky tries to shove down the feeling the sudden contact sends through him. This is a married woman for Christ’s sake.

Bucky’s eyes follow you as you exit the room, he mentally shakes his head, snapping out of his thoughts as he looks down at the bag he’s holding. Emma grins excitedly, her eyes wide with anticipation.

Bucky smiles softly before uncapping the sharpie with his mouth, he looks at the design on the bag again for a moment. He smiles before he gently signs the fabric with his autograph.

Emma grabs the bag excitedly thanking him, he bends down to her level and smiles at her. Then without warning she pulls him into a hug, her small arms wrapping around his neck. Her attention quickly disperses as she goes to show Sam’s nephews her autographed bag.

Bucky lets out a quiet huff of surprise, twirling the sharpie in his hand. He wasn’t expecting the hug but it brings a small smile to his face as she leaves. Sam looks down at Bucky with a grin while he’s still crouched.

Bucky raises an eyebrow at his friend’s expression.

“What?” He says, crossing his arms.

“I told you so,” referring to the fact that Bucky would enjoy the meeting with the ‘special person’ Sam’s been talking about. Bucky huffs and grumbles, looking towards the direction Emma went off to, then his eyes trail to the direction you went….

“She’s cute right?” Sam asks as he moves closer to Bucky.

“Sure, but she’s with someone,” Bucky says, trying to keep his voice from changing octaves out of nerves.

“She isn’t,” Sam counters with a smug expression.

“What?” Bucky mutters as he turns to his friend.

“Not the traditional kind of family you’re used to I know, but the dad is long gone out of the picture. I can’t say much cause that’s hers to tell but….” Sam’s eyes land back onto where you were in the other room.

“All you should know is that she’s single,” Sam says with another shit-eating grin, Bucky scoffs at his remark.

But his eyes follow in the same direction, a puzzled expression on his face. You and your daughter were certainly an interesting duo.

Chapter Text

It’s been two weeks since your bizarre meeting with the infamous super soldier, who also happened to share a mutual friend with you. 

You knew at one point Sam would entangle you in his Avenging business, you did meet Steve at one point, that was before he miraculously disappeared off the face of the earth. 

Though Sam did tell you the truth a couple weeks after it all happened, which trampled any theory in your mind. The whole story was rather endearing in a way, although bittersweet. 

A man encased in ice for about 70 years. Then he was thrown into the modern world as an Avenger, and after several years he gave that up just to be with the love of his life.

They truly don’t make men like they used to anymore.

So when you had heard your good friend Sam had taken up his mantle. You knew it wouldn’t be long before stars and stripe’s best friend would come to the limelight, and he did.

But what you didn’t expect is after all the flag smashers stuff was officially over and your best friend is now the Captain America. Was for his new buddy the Winter Solider, a man your daughter recently became a fan of, to be standing in Sam’s living room.

So as you’re working your cafe job, vigorously wiping tables while sweat clings to your forehead. Your mind wanders back to the moment, a small smile unknowingly plasters on your face. 

You felt odd admitting it in your head but the guy was strikingly handsome. Like he should seriously consider modeling, though with his reputation maybe it’s best not to.

Your smile grows as the image of your daughter's face flashes in your mind, she looked so happy meeting him you thought she would combust. A small laugh escapes you as you replay the memory, a warm feeling lingering in your chest.

Then the store bells jingle, announcing a person’s arrival. You give your usual forced customer service voice.

“I’ll be right with you!” 

But as you lift your head up from your activities and see who’s standing at the front you jump a little. Which sends the cleaning solution you had open off the table, a bunch of the contents spilling onto your apron.

You really should have used the spray bottle today.

“Sorry, didn't mean to scare you.” Sam says with a sheepish apologetic look, and beside him is his tall brunette quiet friend you met at the party. He gives you a nod and what resembles a smile, at least by his standards.

You let out a sigh, but you give Sam what you hope is a reassuring look. You shrug off your drenched apron and throw it on the table.

“It’s fine, I was closing up anyway.” You say as you head over and flip the sign to signal that the shop was closed.

Sam gives a fake pout, putting his hands on his hips.

“Awe you mean we can’t try one of your frozen drinks with absurd titles like ‘Unicorn glitter shit?’”

You give a dramatic eyeroll at the name, matching Sam’s stance. You gather your cleaning supplies from one of the tables and walk behind the counter. While fixing up you talk over your shoulder.

“I can whip up something simple, what do you guys want?” 

Sam asks for a medium roast coffee with cream and sugar, you're met with silence from the other man though. After putting everything away you turn to face Bucky from over the counter, waiting for his order.

He stares at you for a moment, keeping quiet. You raise an eyebrow, crossing your arms. Does he always stare like that?

Sam nudges his arm which pulls Bucky out of his weird trance. He clears his throat and looks at the ground.

“A black coffee sounds good…” He mutters.

Black coffee? For some reason that makes perfect sense and you try to hold back laughter. You start making their drinks and Sam speaks up.

“Actually we did come here for something….” And there it is, Sam was probably asking for another favor, and given the fact Bucky is beside him, nerves settle in your stomach as you think over what his next statement could entail. 

He’s asked you before with help on missions, nothing too dangerous. You were a tech wiz in highschool, honestly if Sam had met Steve before he would have probably begged you to join S.H.I.E.L.D. Although considering the result of the company and their downfall, maybe it’s best he didn’t.

So he sometimes asked you for help with getting information, sometimes it wasn’t in the safest way. But you knew he would always protect you.

You remain silent while making their drinks, waiting for Sam to continue. Although your movements stiffen as you feel piercing blue eyes on the back of your head. Sam clears his throat.

“Me and Sarah are throwing a cookout tonight, I was going to invite you sooner but we’ve been…..busy.” Sam rubs the back of his neck, exchanging a quick glance with Bucky as he speaks.

It wasn’t unusual for Sam to invite you to one of his cookouts, he practically did one every week. But it’s been a while since he was caught up in tracking down the flag smashers.

What caught you by surprise is the fact that Bucky is there, so that must mean he’s attending too. Are those two just a package deal now?

You ponder it for a moment while finishing up their drinks. It isn't a school night so Emma doesn’t have to go to bed early, and gosh you could really eat.

You hand the two their drinks, pursing your lips as Sam waits for your response.

“Sure,” you say finally.

Sam fist pumps the air with a smile while Bucky’s expression remains neutral. Your eyes drift to him, you had to ask.

“So I assume you’re coming too?” You ask him directly.

Bucky shifts in his stance, one hand in his pocket as he’s in the middle of sipping his drink. His head lifts up to look at you and his eyes make your confidence waver a little. He nods.

“Uh yeah,” this time he gives you a more discernible smile. It’s small and doesn’t quite reach his eyes, but it’s there. You smirk, leaning against the counter and crossing your arms.

“Guess I’ll have to bring your biggest fan then.” With that his smile grows a little bigger and he nods again. You have a celebratory moment in your mind.

Sam’s eyes dart between you two, watching the exchange with a grin. He clears his throat.

“Anyway….it’s tonight at 6, my nephews will be there so bring Emma.” You snort.

“I don’t think I can go anywhere without that girl these days. It took forever to find a baby sitter and I think her current one is about to quit.” You frown at the ground with your hands on your hips.

“What, is she a trouble maker?” Bucky asks, which shocks you a little. Sam gives him a wide eye glare, you wave him off. 

“No nothing like that, she really is a sweet kid. We’re just barely getting by. With the fees to keep the shop running, and the construction guys from taking it down the moment I pay a bill too late. It’s hard to pay a babysitter's worth ....” 

Ever since your ex left, it’s been hard to pay for everything, to stay comfortable. He used to pay for a lot, which you were grateful for. But he was still a prick nonetheless, so as soon as he left basically everything that belonged to him left with him.

You look back up at Bucky and catch the frown on his face. You heave a great sigh, feeling the atmosphere dim.

“Anyway, I’ll head to my apartment to get ready and pick up Emma then I’ll be there. Thanks for inviting me Sam.” You say with what you hope is a convincing smile as you try straightening your posture.

Sam gives a small smile in return, even he can’t bring the mood back up. 

“No problem.” And with that the two exit the cafe and you finish closing up.

Sam and Bucky walk side by side in an uncomfortable silence. Bucky surprisingly is the first one to break it.

“She seems to be going through a lot,” Bucky says, staring at his coffee as he walks. His lips are pulled in a tight line. Sam nods, trying to work up a response in his mind. 

“She has been through a lot of shit, one of the strongest people I know though. She puts on a smile for her daughter every day, I think without Emma she would have stopped fighting a long time ago.”

Bucky frowns at the thoughts, while your selfless behavior brings admiration within him. He can’t help but feel bad, you have no one to take care of You . No one looks after you like you do for Emma. Sam gives his friend a curious look.

“What’s going on through that head of yours?” He asks. Bucky takes a deep breath, not sure what he should say. No one has really been on his mind this often as of recently as you have, both you and your daughter.

Since meeting he’s been replaying the interaction in his head, the image of you popping in his mind at the most unexpected moments. The way your hair falls around your face, the curve of your lips, the way your hips moved when you walked with insane confidence…

“cky- Bucky?” Sam’s voice slices through Bucky’s wandering thoughts, he blinks a couple of times.

“Yeah?” He finally answers. Sam stares at Bucky with a raised eyebrow, his coffee already finished. Bucky stares down at his half empty cup.

“I was calling your name for a good fifteen seconds..” 

“My bad I was just…thinking.” Bucky tries to shove down the heat of his embarrassment, was he really thinking about you like that right now?

“About a certain single mother I presume?” Sam says with a shit eating grin. Bucky scoffs and glares at him, but the rose color creeps up a little more to his neck.

“You know she’s a good fit for you, you both have that shared trauma thing going on.” Sam continues, waving his hands to gesture all over, the brunette gives him a weird look. Bucky swallows, trying to formulate a response.

“Dating is just…hard, now especially, and for someone like me? I don’t know Sam….”

“Look Buck if you’re about to give me that whole ‘I’m not worthy because of my path speech’ save it. She’s not a stranger to people with a past like yours, in fact she’s lived in a few of her shared broken memories. But as her best friend, she needs someone just as much as you do right now.”

Bucky lets out a noise adjacent to a grumble.

“I don’t need anyone…..” Sam gives him a look, crossing his arms, Bucky huffs.

“I’ll..think on it.” He says with hesitance.

“Damn right you will,” Sam answers back with a smirk.

You take longer than usual getting ready for the cookout, and it most certainly doesn’t have to do anything with a certain super soldier who just so happens to be going.

“Mommy? Are you ready yet? I’m hungrryy.” You hear your daughter whine from the other room  as you sit in front of your mirror, applying generous amounts of mascara to accentuate your eyelashes.

You let out a sigh, closing the mascara tube and doing one final check on your look in the mirror. Good enough.

You walk towards the front of Sam’s house with your daughter holding your hand. Before knocking you take a moment to kneel down with Emma and mention something.

“Just so you know Bucky is going to be there,” you say with a small smile and her eyes light up.

“Winter Soldier!!!” She says with too much enthusiasm for a 7 year old talking about an ex-assassin.

You pull your lips into a tight line.

“Mm maybe call him something else,” you say.

“Mr.Bucky?” You try not to smile at the new name.

“Sure,” you answer, then stand to your full height to knock on the door.

Sam answers the door and as he sees you he puts on a big grin. 

“Hey!!” He pulls you into a hug, then he kneels down a bit for Emma and ruffles her hair.

“Everyone’s outside,” he says and you begin to follow him through the house and out to the backyard.

Immediately the smell of grilled patties hits your nose and your stomach growls in response, so does Emma’s. Sam gives a hearty laugh.

“Looks like you two are hungry, Bucky’s just about finished grilling the burgers.” Bucky? You look around and catch Bucky at the grill flipping burgers.

And tied to his torso is an apron that reads kiss the chef. You give Sam a look and he gives you the biggest grin ever. You walk over to Bucky with Sam to greet him, trying not to smile so much at the sight of him in the apron.

His face looks concentrated as he focuses on flipping the patties, his eyebrows knit together. One hand grips the spatula while the other is on his hip. 

You can’t help but think of how domesticated he looks right now, like a dad. You shake the thought out of your mind immediately and speak up.

“Hey,” you say with a small wave.

Bucky looks over at you and turns off the grill, he looks down and remembers what he’s wearing. Heat creeps up to his neck in embarrassment.

“Uh…Sam made me wear this, said it was necessary, which is utter bullshit.” Bucky explains as he gives Sam a glare. Sam puts his hand on his hips and pouts.

“Bucky there are children around,” he says and Bucky looks down to meet Emma’s eyes as she’s smiling.

“Woops,” he says with a shrug and you can’t help but smirk.

“Anyway, here let me serve you first.” Bucky says as he grabs a paper plate and starts asking what condiments you want. Sam raises an eyebrow.

“She’s like- super late how come she gets it first?” Sam says with a knowing look towards the brunette, he shifts uncomfortably in his stance.

“Cause she isn’t a butthead like you,” Bucky shoots back, but the replacement of his usual potty mouth makes the insult fall short and you snort.

“Whatever man just hurry up, we got a lot of hungry people to feed.”

The night carries on, the sounds of friendly chatter and kids playing around flow through the crisp air. Later as everyone piles out, you, Sam, and Bucky reside on the lounge chairs outside. Beers in hand as Emma and Sam’s nephews play around the backyard.

The kids are playing some sort of tug of war game, Emma on her own side, but she’s managing to win every time.

“Wow she’s kicking their asses,” Bucky mutters and you smile.

“I should really take the kids to the gym,” Sam says with a disappointed look and you and Bucky laugh.

“She’s a good kid,” Bucky says to you in a soft voice and it makes your heart melt. Any praise for your daughter is appreciated but coming from him? Something about it stirs in your chest.

“I tried my best,” you say humbly with a smile.

“Well your best is pretty fucking good,” he counters and you smile big, an awkward giddy laugh coming out at the sudden praise towards you. 

Sam watches your interaction with a grin and a raised eyebrow. He puts his hand on his knees and hoists himself up from the chair.

“I’m gonna go grab another one,” he says and shakes his empty beer bottle. He slides the door open and retreats to the kitchen inside.

A silence falls on the two of you, you’ve never once had a conversation without Sam there. Then a thought crosses your mind.

“Emma turns 8 next week,” you say, trying to keep a casual tone in your voice.

“8 huh? Pretty big number” Bucky says as he takes a swig of his beer, you smile and nod. You seemed to be smiling a lot around him.

“Yeah, I couldn’t be prouder,” you say with genuine fondness in your voice as you look towards your little girl. She wins another game of tug of war. You purse your lips and look down at your lap, mustering up the courage to ask him your question.

“Would you wanna come? It’s gonna be held here in Sam’s backyard…naturally.” 

Bucky’s eyes fall on you, an unreadable expression on his face.

“You want me to come?” He asks.

“She would love it if you were there,” you answer back. I would love it if you were there, but you don’t say that. He looks like he’s thinking it over for a moment, his eyes falling back on where Emma is roughhousing with the boys, he smiles.

“Sure,” he finally answers, you let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding.

“Good….good,” you say as you take a sip of your beer. 

The Winter Soldier and Captain America are coming to your daughter's 8th birthday party, you try not to smile too hard at the thought.

Chapter Text

Bucky’s brows furrow as he trudges down the aisles of a Walmart, Sam had suggested that’s where he should get his gift.

”It’s good for poor people to get affordable birthday presents.” 

He guesses Sam was right because the prices here were decent, but he didn’t have the heart to tell his friend he’s still getting paid military pension and paid by the government. 

He was a little more than comfortable, it just didn’t show in his decor choices, he was a minimalistic man of sorts. Old habits die hard one supposes.

He walks around the toy aisle for a bit, it’s funny really. Here was a grown ass man in the chunkiest boots ever, and a heavy leather jacket, shopping in the toy aisle. His attire completely mismatched with the atmosphere he was in.

Eventually Bucky walks out of the store defeated, he couldn’t find anything he thinks Emma would like. He’s never put much effort into anything that doesn’t involve his work, but this was important to him in a way he was afraid to admit in his own head.

He really did want to get something that would please the girl, he’s grown fond of her and how unique she is. But deep down, there’s an instinctive feeling, he wants to impress you.

The soldier walks down the streets, honestly he just needed some air for a moment. There were  a good couple of moms staring at him in the toy aisle at Walmart, the exact reason for it he wasn’t sure but it uneased him nonetheless.

While walking something catches Bucky’s eye in a store window, it’s pure fucking luck really. It was a silver necklace with a circular pendant.

And engraved in the middle was a red star.

You pace the kitchen and thoughts swirl through your head as to where the hell Bucky could be. The party started 30 minutes ago, and the thought that he would flake shakes you to your core.

This was the first time you’ve let someone in your life for a while, Sam was your best friend, sure. But he also senses the weird tension you and Bucky have going on, he’s different, and you’d be lying to yourself and Sam if you said otherwise.

The basis on which you’ve met was certainly unique, and honestly you’ve grown really fond of him. He encourages your daughter’s unique traits, like the random facts she tells people that are sort of disturbing but she enjoys sharing them nonetheless.

(She knows an odd amount about JFK’s assassination, you had to make an excuse to pull Bucky out of that conversation.)

You’ve seen the two bond more in the past week as Sam’s been hosting a cookout every day. That man seriously never gets tired of mediocre burgers and even more mediocre beer. 

However it does warm your heart to see how much these little cookouts bring the community together. It wouldn’t be the same without Sam’s quirky hospitality either.

Sam watches you as your pacing grows quicker, you’ve been testing Bucky this entire week to see if he’d slip up. You cannot let another absent father figure break Emma’s heart…..

You swallow at the fact you just admitted Bucky could be a father figure to her.

Sam catches your shoulder before you make another turn.

“Alright, would you stop that? It’s making me anxious…” He grumbles. You frown, but complying and nod as you rest against the counter.

Sam sighs, noticing you're still anxious as you chew on your lip over and over again.

“I would love to tell you that he isn’t normally late…but it’s kind of just how he is, nothing personal the dude just has a lot going on.”

You frown, you’re aware of Bucky’s turmoil. You’ve been late to a couple of Emma’s school events due to holding the fort down at your shop or your car breaking down or any other obstacle life decides to throw at you at your inconvenience .

You understand, you truly do, but it still doesn’t unease the feeling in your stomach.

Just when you’re about to call it quits and go to the backyard, the doorbell rings behind you and you take a deep breath. You look to Sam, as if asking for guidance, he gives you a shrug.

“Don’t look at me, you're the party host,” he says with a grin. You groan and head towards the door to open it.

On the other side Bucky stands there with a guilty face, he surprisingly cleans up very nicely. His short hair has gotten a little longer, strands falling in front of his forehead and the whole thing is gelled. He’s wearing a red and black plaid flannel open with a black shirt underneath, along with dark jeans and his usual heavy boots.

Your eyes drift down to the items he’s carrying. Two hands occupy a tray with tinfoil over it, and hanging on his fingers is a small gift bag. 

You look back up at him, he swallows before speaking and you try not to stare directly at his neck as his addam’s apple bobs. He clears his throat.

“I’m really sorry- I’m late….turns out baking cookies is really fucking hard…” He speaks in a low tone, one of guilt and shame. He places the gift bag down so he can grip the tray with one arm and use his free hand to peel back the tin foil. It reveals a batch of cookies, but they’re not the classic like chocolate chip. They’re beige with a crosshatching texture, you give him a confused look.

“Oh uh- Emma mentioned she likes peanut butter cookies one time so I tried my best…” He looks at cookies as he speaks, avoiding eye contact. Your heart swells and your head goes a little fuzzy.

Okay so maybe all of this makes up for his tardiness….. 

“Again I’m really sorry I’m late, once I finished putting these in the tray and got to my motorcycle there was insane traffic.” Motorcycle? Your eyes glance behind him and surly enough along all the cars that parked beside the sideway for the party, there’s a motorcycle scrunched in between Sam’s car and yours.

Naturally your first instinct is to think of how dangerous it is, but it only amps your attraction towards the man. You watch as Bucky wraps the tin foil back over and picks up the gift bag, he stares at you for a moment, you realize you didn’t respond yet.

“Oh uh- it’s fine…it was really nice of you to make these by the way, you didn’t have to…” Your voice is unsure and mumbly, it was really hard to stay mad at him after all this. He gives a smile, small but it makes your heart prick, he shrugs.

“It’s no biggie really, I mean these were a pain in the ass to make and they might taste like shit but I wanted to do it.” 

His eyes meet yours and something in them glistens in sincerity, your cheeks heat up and you try to conjure up a response.

You’re usually so confident and you’re slightly frustrated he’s tearing down your walls. 

You open the door wider, allowing him to come inside. He greets Sam without a hug or masculine handshake because his hands are full. Noticing this you gesture to the island in the middle, arrays of goodie bags for the kids lining the counter.

“You can put the cookies over there.” He nods curtly and lets out a soft noise as he places the tray down. You try hard not to react to the noise but heat rises to your cheeks, you are so helpless.

Cutting you out of your thoughts, Sam speaks up.

“You made these?” He asks, reaching for one but Bucky smacks him away and you snort into your hand.

“Yeah why?” The brunette looks a little guilty to say the least, his hands on his hips and his stance ridged. You wonder what’s going on through his head. Sam shrugs, but there’s a smirk on his face, as if the two of them know something you don’t.

“No reason.”

Bucky squints his eyes at him, then turns to you. You nod towards the backyard, crossing your arms.

“She’s out there if you wanna say hi,” he nods, the sound of his boots against the floor growing fainter as he walks outside.

“You know he’s never baked a damn thing in his life?” Sam says and it catches you off guard.

So that’s why he was so surprised Bucky made something. Not just that, he did it for you, well for Emma. You feel your cheeks grow warm, you hum in response. Sam’s smirk only grows wider at your reaction. 

“Like seriously- the man barely knows how to work modern coffee machines you think he-“

“Yes alright I get it-“ you say as you swallow then sigh. Sam was making a point, that Bucky made a shit ton of effort.

“He’s…okay for now,” you say and your voice wavers a little.

“Just okay?” Sam says with a grin as he crosses his arms. You wave him off with an eye roll.

“Yeah yeah,” your lips curl ever so slightly.

You look to the direction where Bucky’s gone off to and you chew on your lip. He’s been more than okay really, and that scares you.

You don’t think you ever have laughed more than you have since you met him. You’ve probably broken some sort of record already for the most smiles every 5 seconds.

“He’s….yeah he’s okay.”