okay, soldier
pairing: bucky barnes x reader warnings: none description: ladies’ man bucky barnes never failed to appear suave and at ease with the beautiful women of the 1940′s. that is, until he met you.
Sophisticated war weaponry, modernized machinery, floating cars from Robert Stark. Technology of the highest standard surrounded Bucky Barnes, flooding his senses with a desire for the future, should he be lucky enough to make it through the war he’d just been pulled into.
Two girls flanked his sides, one arm wrapped around the shoulders of each one. Their laughter echoed in his ears, responses to his many coy flirtations of the night. One was supposed to be enjoying the pleasure of Steve’s company, though it seemed as though the lanky gentleman was once again dejected at his dismissal from the army despite his many attempts at becoming a soldier.
Though Bucky spared more than a few attempts at lifting his best friend’s spirits, Steve couldn’t find it in himself to put aside his woes and departed from the group soon after Howard Stark’s presentation.
With two girls to entertain and the promise of dancing still unfulfilled, the newest soldier for the US Army brought his dates to the nightclub just two blocks from their location.
“I’m feeling a little thirsty, you mind getting me a drink, Bucky?” One of the ladies asked from their place amidst the many people gathered on the dance floor. The lively music filled the room around them, notes of a lively song reverberating loudly.
Bucky flashed a grin. “Of course, I’ll be right back.” Turning away, he cheekily called over his shoulder, “Don’t miss me too much, girls.”
He strode away from the animated dancing and towards the bar, ordering three cocktails from the bartender. Leaning an arm against the counter, he dragged his gaze across the room to drink in the sights of the things he feared he would miss during the war he was about to be shipped off to.
When would he get to go dancing again? Listen to his favorite songs? When was the next time he’d feel like he had nothing to worry about? A million thoughts of dread and apprehension drifted through his mind as he waited for the drinks he’d ordered.
Until suddenly, his eyes landed on your figure across the room and all of the worries filling his head were silenced.
You sat perched at one of the tables close to the bar while lightly sipping on what looked to be a Sidecar. A silk red dress adorned your body, your hair spilling across your shoulders. Bucky stood frozen as he couldn’t help but be captured by your beauty.
He found himself moving towards you before his brain could catch up with his feet. Bucky was so entranced with you that he didn’t hear the bartender behind him calling out to him for the drinks that were now prepared. All he was focused on was introducing himself to you.
“Excuse me, I-”
And as your eyes shifted from studying the animated scene on the dance floor to the stranger unexpectedly standing before you, Bucky felt as though his heart was now seized by the ethereal beauty held in your gaze.
Completely enraptured, Bucky’s words died in his throat, leaving him awkwardly gaping at you with an open mouth. You held back a giggle as you turned to face him. “Something I can help you with, soldier?”
He shook his head, desperate to come to his senses and make an impression on you. “I-I’m sorry, I just..” He helplessly trailed off, still lost in your eyes and how strongly he felt them pierce his heart, though you’d only been looking in his direction for a mere minute.
God, what was wrong with him? Say something!
Taking a deep breath, he stepped closer and gestured towards the unoccupied seat across from you. With your nod of permission, he sat down to face you. “I think the best way for me to do this is to be straightforward. You are by far the most incredible, beautiful woman I’ve ever seen and it makes me incredibly nervous.”
His bluntness caused you to raise an eyebrow. Letting out a chuckle, you smirked. “Am I to apologize for your weaknesses?”
Your confidence only deepened Bucky’s infatuation with you. He laughed, feeling some of his anxiety fade at realizing you were willing to humor him rather than turn him away. “You can make it up to me with a dance, if you’d like.”
The boldness that had suddenly returned to him took you by surprise. You couldn’t help the smile that took over your features (and Bucky couldn’t help the skip in his heartbeat at the sight of it) as you gave him a nod. “Okay, soldier. One dance.”
Bucky’s smile widened further than he ever thought it could as you stood and allowed him to take your hand and guide you to the dance floor. His arm found a home wrapped around your waist while his other reached to connect his hand with yours, beginning to sway the pair of you to the slow song being crooned out by the band.
“May I be blunt and ask when you’re shipping out?” You asked. Though your dancing partner did seem intriguing, you were apprehensive to indulge your interest in him if there was a chance of losing him so quickly.
He chuckled, nodding. “I leave first thing tomorrow morning.” Noticing the slight furrow of your brow, he quickly scrambled for something to ease your mind and keep you dancing long enough to get to know you. “But we still have the rest of tonight, don’t we, sweetheart?”
“Sweetheart?” You quirked a brow up at his ever-growing confidence, seemingly transformed from the stuttering gentleman who’d first approached you.
“I can call you something else if you’d like.” A smirk drew up a corner of his lips, revealing a charming dimple that nearly drew every ounce of stability from your knees.
“I didn’t say I didn’t like it, soldier.” You laughed before giving his hand a gentle squeeze as you both continued to leisurely move along with the music playing.
As the night went on, you found yourself dancing with him to song after song, conversing about nearly every subject imaginable. You were in disbelief that a stranger could seem to know you so intimately, and you the same for him. Laughing and telling jokes with him, trading stories about your lives, everything felt so natural with the soldier holding you close.
You wondered if this was the same type of budding romance you’d read about in novels, seen in movies. The way your heart was racing every time his thumb traced a circle against your hip, how his eyes seemed to shine whenever he smiled at something you said, the feeling of your legs weakening at the sight of his smile. So many signals seemed to be telling you that this was more than just a chance meeting, should you listen to them and-
“Bucky!” Came a high shriek from across the dance floor. You turned your head towards it, sighting two girls stumbling in your direction. “There you are,” one breathed in relief.
Was that his name? Bucky?
His hands suddenly tensed against your hips, his body stiffening and face paling as the beautiful smile gracing his lips, the one you’d spent the evening developing a deep enchantment for, dropped altogether. “Oh, no,” he muttered almost too softly for you to catch.
The interruption to your dance in the form of those women finally reached you, one of them wrapping an arm around Bucky’s bicep to curtly pull him away from you while the other squinted through narrow eyes at you, running her eyes up and down your body as if to question why he’d been spending time with you.
The woman with her hands running down the length of his arm, causing a hot wave of jealousy to blast through your body, giggled into his ear before asking, “We’ve been waiting around and looking for you for almost two hours, why’d you run off?”
You felt your stomach nosedive all the way down into your toes, pooling into a pathetic puddle on the floor beneath you. “You asked me to dance when you already came here with a date? Two, in fact?”
He felt his face discolor even more than it already had thus far at the sight of your expression, a painful indication of the magnitude of your broken heart.
Not wanting to spend any more time in the same vicinity as Bucky, you turned quickly and bolted from the dance floor. Your feet carried you past the crowds of people mingling and dancing, past the bar, past the bouncer and finally out into the street.
Tears burning behind your eyes, you began walking along the sidewalk in search of an empty cab to take you home.
You couldn’t believe how easily you’d fallen into his hands, fallen into a pit of giddy, romantic feelings for a complete stranger who clearly could never cherish only one woman at a time. Of all the men to meet during tonight’s outing, you just had to find the one who turned out to be a complete pig instead of a true gentleman like you’d always dreamed for yourself.
How could you have let yourself be so stupid? So careless?
Footsteps echoed rapidly against the pavement behind you until you felt a firm grip on your wrist, spinning you to face the man who’d just ripped your heart to shreds.
He opened his mouth to begin a desperate explanation, only to be cut off by your bubbling fury. “Don’t you dare even try to explain yourself out of this.”
You stubbornly ripped your arm from his grasp and continued on your way. Bucky nonetheless persevered, still running after you and attempting to walk alongside you. “Please, I never meant for that to happen, I-”
A stubborn scoff escaped your lips as you tried to quicken your pace and lose him. “Right, so you accidentally asked out three women on the same night?”
Again he reached out for your hand, his eyes silently pleading for you to hear him out as he stopped you at the corner of a street. As hurt and angry as you were, something in you broke at the sight, convincing you to nod and allow him to speak.
“I know what happened in there was inexcusable and I’m a complete jerk, but I swear I would never do that on purpose,” Bucky breathed, still panting from catching up with you. He took hold of your other hand, thumbs again brushing circles into your skin as he did before whilst you were dancing.
“So what made you do it, then?” You asked in a whisper, mentally cursing yourself for still allowing his touch to affect you so much despite your anger.
“I left to get them drinks and when I was at the bar, I saw you. I saw you and I just,” he trailed off, searching for words worthy enough to describe the moment he first saw you. Coming to the conclusion that there were none that could properly sum it up, he settled for a simple explanation.
“I just got distracted by how beautiful you are and how easy it was to talk to you, and I forgot about them. I know that makes me sound like even more of a jerk, but that’s the honest truth. They don’t even compare to how you make me feel, no one can.”
You felt your resolve crumbling as your heart melted at his nervous rambling. Wait, screamed your common sense. You shook your head, separating your joined hands and taking a step back. “Bucky this is crazy, we just met hours ago. Do you realize before those girls even showed up I hadn’t even known your name? God, you still don’t even know mine!” You let out a shaky breath, having not registered that until you’d said it.
Still not willing to give up on the woman who’d so effortlessly captured his heart, he closed the distance you’d created, though still maintaining his respect for you by keeping his hands to himself this time. “So tell me. What’s your name, sweetheart?”
The boyish, sly smile that curved his lips coupled with that nickname of his seemed like a deadly combination to you. “Y/N,” you relented.
His beaming expression only surged as he breathlessly and repeatedly let your name roll off his tongue. “Y/N,” he whispered, finally touching you again to brush a loose strand of hair behind your ear, then bringing his hand forward to cup your cheek. “Y/N, listen. I have never felt this way for anyone in my life, and I know you have to feel something for me too. Please just come with me to my place, we’ll talk this out, we’ll get to know each other more. We can-”
Your sense of rationality was still at war with your desire for the soldier in front of you. “Bucky, I don’t know, you’re shipping off to war tomorrow. We wouldn’t even have time to-”
“No, please, say you will. If you feel anything for me, please come with me.” His lips ghosted across your forehead, whispering desperate pleas for you to not end your night here, not yet.
Your mind wrestled violently with itself, tossing between the sensible choice to not chase after a man you’d not even know a day and wouldn’t even get enough time to know or the reckless yet passionate choice to pursue the feelings brewing in the depths of your heart.
Oh god, what do I say?
that’s the end for now! should there be a positive response, i’ll write and post a second part soon! i hate to sound like a youtuber, but please like and reblog so i can get myself out there since this is my first work! thanks so much!!
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