𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐖𝐞 𝐌𝐞𝐭
❣️a blurb based on the HLAYK universe ! read more under this link ❣️
—boxer!bucky barnes x reader
— summary: the night Bucky meets the love of his life.
—word count: 1k (ish)
—tw: swearing, mentions of alcohol, anxiety, underlying hints at abuse
❣️
“You. Are. Not. Staying. Here.”
You groaned and threw yourself backwards onto the bed. The softness of your comforter, the glow of the tv playing Friends for the 50th time, the soft twinkle of your beloved fairly lights and your cat lightly purring beside your ear were all calling out to you and you were more than eager to pick up the phone.
“I’m just tired tonight, Son.” You tried to fake a yawn.
“No way you’re tired. You watch my kids during the day and other than that you do jackshit.”
Sonya was applying her eyeliner, ever so carefully, in the mirror of your vintage vanity.
You’d been staying at the Wilson’s house for almost 5 months now. Which means it’s been almost 5 months since you worked up the courage to walk away from Brock Rumlow once and for all.
Sam and Sonya Wilson had taken you in, despite barely knowing anything about you except for your first name. They gave you a spare bedroom with an en suite bathroom, which was big enough to practically be your own apartment, a job nannying their 4 kids. You tried other jobs but because of the stress from your PTSD and anxiety, you couldn’t hold a job. But most important of all of it, they gave you friend friends. And a family.
A second chance.
You kind of owed them everything.
“Your tab is on me if you come!” Sam’s voice rang through the house, echoing off of the walls.
You raised an eyebrow, slowly sitting up from your bed like a mummy come back to life, shifting your gaze towards Sonya who was already wearing a smirk.
“Don’t tell Natasha you’re coming or she’ll blow up our groupchat.”
Maybe the least you could do was tag along for dinner with their coworkers.
—
You were excited, really. Of course you enjoyed putting on a nice outfit and a pretty pair of shoes, using your fancy hair care product, adorning your skin in pretty jewelry and perfume that you couldn’t pronounce. Sam wiggled his eyebrows and giggled when he told you that Bucky Barnes would be there, and you blushed, putting in a little bit more effort into your appearance than you normally would.
Of course you noticed Bucky Barnes. And of course, Sam Wilson noticed you noticing Bucky Barnes and teased you relentlessly for it.
But now it’s real, and it’s happening. You’re about to meet Bucky Barnes and you cannot stop fucking fidgeting with the rings on your fingers and picking at the skin surrounding your nails. The fabric of your dress was suddenly too itchy and the hair on your neck was suddenly uncomfortable and sticky. But it was too late, the driver was pulling up to the valet at the restaurant and Sonya was grasping your sweaty hand into hers and before you knew it, Sonya’s hand was replaced by Bucky’s and now your sweat was all over him.
You were a sweaty mess and your makeup was probably smudged and you could feel your hair getting frizzy and your fucking palms were sweaty and Bucky thought you were the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.
Bucky had heard your name so many times from Sam and Steve but never really gave you too much thought. He knew you were married to Brock Rumlow and it ended in messy divorce, so you were staying with the Wilson’s. He never asked too many questions, figured it wasn’t his business.
But now, standing in front of you as you shook like a damn chihuahua he wanted to know everything about you. He wanted to ask a million questions and he wanted to pick your brain until he had memorized every detail about you.
And he had the strangest feeling coursing through his veins that he could’ve hunted down Brock Rumlow and killed him right then and there for whatever he did to you that was making you shake so bad.
You were a perfectly pieced together angel from heaven with stars in your eyes and all Bucky could say was, “It’s nice to finally meet you, doll.”
Unbeknownst to him, it turned your legs to jelly.
He reluctantly let go of your hand when you didn’t answer, giving you a tight lipped smile, before making his way to sit on the other side of the table. He sat, never breaking his eyes away from you, sandwiched in between Sonya and Tony. You were only one person away, in between Sonya and Sam. You tended to sit in between them in public places, feeling safer that way. Bucky knit his eyebrows together, wondering why you would sit between the couple. It wasn’t helping his need to ask you a million questions. Your eye caught his.
He had torn through two double whiskeys and a couple appetizers before he finally worked up some courage to ask Sonya to switch seats with him.
“And sit next to Tony? I don’t think so.” She shook her head before taking another sip of her champagne.
This was your first real outing that wasn’t McDonald’s or Chuck E Cheese in 5 months and she wasn’t prepared to leave you alone.
Bucky groaned. “$20.”
Sonya whipped her head in his direction, “Barnes are you bribing me?!”
“I want to sit next to her.”
“I’m sure you do.”
“$50.”
“James Buchanan Barnes-“
“I don’t mind sitting next to him, Son.” Your soft voice rang in her opposite ear.
Bucky felt like his chest had filled with a gigantic ball of light and warmth. You wanted to sit next to him.
Sonya stared you down with her signature piercing eyes, wordlessly asking you if you were absolutely sure.
You nodded, a small smile pulling at your lips.
Sonya put her hands up in surrender, “Alright, but you still owe me $50, Barnes. Holding you to it.”
She pushed herself up out of her chair, and she switched seats with Bucky Barnes.
Bucky landed on the seat with a thud, adjusting the perfectly unbuttoned top buttons on his black shirt, revealing his perfectly tanned chest. You noticed a few tattoos, but you couldn’t make out what they were since you snapped your eyes back up to his immediately as to not get caught.
He looked amused.
“You’re just three peas in a pod huh? You and the Wilson’s?” He gestured towards Sam. You could feel your cheeks heating up as embarrassment took over.
You scratched the back of your neck with whatever you had left of your nails. You were such a sticky sweaty mess and the heat rising in your cheeks was not helping.
“Oh, yeah. Well, just um-“
Bucky could sense your rising anxiety and he felt his heart fall.
“Hey, I’m just messin’ with you. The Wilson’s are good people, you’re lucky to have both of ‘em love you so much. Must be one hell of a girl, huh doll?”
You smiled.
God, Bucky wanted to be the reason for that smile forever.
You hadn’t been so confident lately, maybe it was because your ex husband had torn you to bits and pieces or maybe it was because you were practically a teenager again living with your parents and babysitting for a living.
But you had had 3 lychee martinis and the Bucky Barnes was looking at you like you hung the stars in the sky and you felt a little boost of your old self take over.
“Guess you’ll have to find out, Barnes.”
—
boxer!bucky already wants to kill Brock Rumlow for what he did to his girl can you imagine what’ll happen when he actually finds out 😭