stalker! beefy! bucky barnes when he realizes he had competition
stalker! beefy! bucky barnes had been on your tail for the better part of the day by now.
it was friday. sometimes you got off work early on friday and that’s when bucky especially liked to follow you around. mostly to keep an eye on you, but also just cause he was interested in what you do during your early days off.
he’d never approach, no. he’d always keep his distance. a few feet back. across the street. or sitting at an outside table when he knew you’d be in the area. and always dressed in a jacket, gloves, and a baseball cap. though never the same two days in a row. he doesn’t want you to catch him in the act after all..
but you’d been acting.. weird lately. always double checking your surroundings when you came outside from somewhere, changing up little things in your routine, holding your keys in your hands, triple checking your door and windows at night, and just being way too observant of your surrounds for bucky’s liking. it’s gotten to the point where he thought you might’ve caught wind of him. and that’s only solidified when he hears you talking with a friend of yours outside a little corner-side restaurant at your outdoor seated table.
“I think I have a stalker,” you say.
bucky’s blood runs cold when he hears that.
he’s only a few tables away from you. far enough away to be considered a patron at this establishment but close enough where he could still hear your hushed conversation. he’s sat so he could watch you too.
your back isn’t to bucky, but you’re friend’s is, so bucky has the perfect angle to see your face and emotions.
your friend gasps and asks who.
“my ex,” you say, eyes darting around for a moment before you lean towards your friend.
bucky barely hears your answer through the panicked ringing in his ears, but when the words register he’s snapped back to reality. he’s a little confused.
your ex? bucky wasn’t aware you’d been dating someone. you hadn’t been dating anyone when he first started all this, he thinks…
but then his blood runs cold for an entirely different reason as he hears you continue speaking. it’s the kind of cold you might experience in the middle of a raging blizzard. a dangerous cold. something that risks even freezing hell over.
bucky listens as you tell your friend that you’ve been seeing your ex around a lot more than you have in the past. over by your work, outside that one bakery by your apartment building, sometimes in the park if you happen to take a stroll. sometimes he’s in his car too, that one ruby red dodger charger with that license plate frame that says where he got the car. somewhere that starts with a ‘w’. you’ve even spotted him at your favorite breakfast place that you frequent.
bucky’s fists clench where they rest on the edge of the table as he picks at the meal he ordered even though he wasn’t hungry. the leather gloves squeaks between his fingers and he can just barely picked up the subtle whir of his metal arm as it adjusts.
bucky’s mad. furious, even. more so at himself for not noticing the danger just lurking in his peripheral. he can’t believe himself, and he feels that heavy guilt start stirring in his gut. he’d been so blind by the sight of you that it had become tunnel vision. he got sloppy. almost put you in danger, probably. but he won’t let that happen. he can’t let that happen. you’re too important to him, even if he doesn’t realize it.
he’s still listening to you talk about your loser of an ex, that boy who can’t seem to leave you alone and puts that untimely fear in your veins. possessiveness surges in his veins and rears its head. that urge to wedge himself into your life sooner grows. it’d be for your own safety at this point. to get your ex away and show him that you belong to bucky.
bucky knows he’ll have to keep an eye out now. and once he figured out exactly what this ex of yours looks like, he’ll have to take care of that guy himself.
