Series Warnings: Toxic Relationships, Cheating, Physical Abuse, Underage Drinking, Drug Use (marijuana), Motor Vehicle Accident, Smut, Cursing
It all started with a pen. It’s funny how something as small and meaningless as a pen can cause life to become so complicated. But the universe works in funny ways and everything happens for a reason.
Can I write better? Yes. Will I edit this? Maybe. Does any of this shitshow make sense? Who knows, it’s a borrower and an alien. You decide
She could do this. She could do this. She was a borrower, and sure there where aliens and terrified humans, but this wasn’t harder than what she had been doing before.
Ok...maybe it was a little harder with all the chaos surrounding her, but she had survived worse.
Her foot missed an indent in the wood and she panicked.
What was she thinking! This was so much worse than before. At least she had a home, food and a warm bed to sleep in with her only fear being spiders and the human who’s walls she resided in. But they where gone most of the day so it wasn’t too dangerous.
But then aliens had descended from the sky in intricate silver starships (and then some humans had revealed themselves to be undercover aliens pretending to be human) and the world had flipped on its head.
Predators turned to prey faster than she could blink and almost overnight, the once heavily populated city she knew had become a crumbling ghost town. Nothing but towering buildings devoid of life and light aside from the occasional firefight between the beans she had been terrified of and the even more frightening aliens.
The few times she had caught sight of the towering creatures, she had seen it in her nightmares for weeks.
But one of those loosing battles wasn’t the reason she had hurried to scale the ruins of a bookshelf, hook still so far up and the ground so much further down.
No. It was something so much worse.
Clicking around in the next room, a creature that sent chills down her spine stalked.
Hunted was more accurate.
And even more so was what exactly it was hunting.
Her.
She had known the second she hid, somehow it’s glossy, featureless head had enough sense to look in her direction, and whatever hidden eyes it kept, bore into her, setting a raging, ice cold fire that consumed untill all that was left was her instinct.
And it told her to run.
So she did, racing into the next room and beginning the ascent up the bookshelf where she found herself now, struggling to get a foothold. When she had missed the indent, the force had swung her away and out into the open, only to pull her back into the bookshelf’s gravity, but before she could get another hold, she was pulled back again.
Over and over she swayed, always close enough to the shelf that it brushed against her, but always swinging out before she could grab it. Always teasing and never letting her have.
Until something crashed into the wall from the other room, jostling the shelf and unfortunately freeing her hook. Leaving her to plummet to her demise.
Her stomach churned as a cold calm overcame her, the sickening feeling making her go limp as the hard floor rushed closer.
What a lonely life she had lived. Her father had died while she was still young, crushed beneath a mousetrap. Her mother shortly after from a cat. Leaving there only child alone with the bare basic knowledge.
She had never found another Borrower, her closest form of likeness being the very human who had caused her dear fathers demise.
She had never had the strength needed to leave her only home even though every room brought memories of her few happy years. Her mother’s fragrant cooking, her fathers gruff laughter. Every memory like a burning coal.
But she would see them again soon. Her mother’s hugs, her fathers encouragement.
She closed her eyes as the ground grew closer and the seconds ticked down.
The floor never came though, instead, her back met with a burning leather surface that thrummed with the rapid beat of a pulse.
And when she fought against her eyelids, she was met with the very creature that hunted her. It had no eyes visible through the galaxy of shiny blue smoothness that covered its face, the same blue that acted as tight armour plating across majority of its strange body, the rest a carbon black.
From what she could see as it rose to its clawed feet, it had strange legs like the hindquarters of a dog or cat, with a relatively human torso and a long, snaking appendage protruding from the back of its skull.
And then long shadows crawled across the sky above her, and she looked up to be met with three sharp claws and no thumb in sight.
Then a clicking filled the room and the creature spoke and that was all she remembered before the world descended into black.
Some fun facts about this little lady and side character:
Although there is a lot of rivalry between families in Riverclan, Pearlfur enjoys chatting up with various members of the feuding bloodlines without a hassle due to her insignificant linage.
No one knows who’s Zephyrstep and Tidechaser’s father, though many suspect him to be an outside, Pearlfur’s deceased mentor Hailstrike or the exiled leader Goosestar.
Much of Pearlfur’s love life is shrouded in mystery, though some say that there is a connection between her and the unofficial step-parent of her kits, Havenwhisper
An eft is an adolescent Newt. In this case, this is the eft of an Eastern Newt, Notophthalmus viridescens. They are sometimes called "Red Eft" for obvious reasons.
While some species of newts are terrestrial in both their adolescent and adult stages, these guys are only terrestrial as efts. Eastern Newts can live up to 15 years in the wild, though they only stay in the eft stage for a few years. Since this is the easiest time for them to travel, they spend much of their adolescence traveling in search of better and brighter things.
Traveling the world like a student on their gap year...
These guys are incredibly toxic to most predators, which gives them a bit of a devil-may-care attitude. They don't particularly like to be picked up, but are usually down to pose for some photos. They know how beautiful they are.
Look at that pose! The tease!
These guys slowly get darker as they age, and when they metamorphose fully into adults they have an olive green complexion... but they still keep their orange spots as a reminder of how toxic they are!
Not quite olive green yet!
Although the adults do have the slimy skin usually associated with Salamanders, the efts have a much dryer, leathery skin. This helps them retain water better for their years of travel.
On her way to steal your man
That being said, they usually stay out of sight in damp underbrush. They are still susceptible to dehydration! All of these lovely ladies and gentlemen were out because it had just rained, and was nice and warm. So of you want to try to find some efts, wait for some warm rains!
His Majesty, in all His Efting Glory!!
(Spot the bonus eft in that picture, and this next one)
Note:I did not stage this photo. I think that it is rude to man handle a wild animal just to get a better picture. His Majesty just enjoys the finer things in life.
All those photos were taken on the Sheltowee Trace Trail, in Kentucky.
Eft cooking tends to be extremely spicy; other villagers claim that this is because their sense of taste isn’t as discriminating. It’s true that they seem willing to eat things others won’t. Soups and stews are a major part of their diet, usually involving some kind of invertebrates. They are also huge fans of sausage, which they get from the hobs, and black-eyed peas, which they get from the hives.
Nomadic efts eat simpler food, and much of their diet depends on fishing and foraging. The only villagers who know more about edible plants than the eft nomads are the part-plant sprouts.
Settled efts have a more varied diet, including some agriculture. Tomatoes, onions, and corn play a large role in their cooking, but they’re famous for their melon varieties. Some of these melons are rumored to have magical properties.
Swamp efts, on the other hand, base a lot of their diet around rice, which they grow, as well as a wider variety of meat. They are hunters as much as they are fishers, and some folks say that they’ll even eat tadpoles from other villages. Nomadic efts, in particular, warn their children to keep away from the swamp.
A/N: I actually have ideas for this story, so I’m cranking it out! I definitely wasn’t expecting to post today, but here we are! This chapter has a lot of dialogue and some of Reader’s thoughts, but not much action, yet. We’re kind of still getting in the roll of things, it still being the first week of college and all that. We do get to meet Bucky, though! Next chapter we’ll meet mostly everyone else, and there will be more things happening other than classes and work. I kinda feel like I’m rushing these first few chapters, so I’m sorry about that, but it’s mostly introductions and setting up the story and I’m the type of person who likes writing the climax and only the climax. So this is steady growth for me.
I do want to point out the series warnings, just in case! I don’t want anyone feeling uncomfortable or being triggered while reading this so please take those seriously as it will happen later on in the story! Thank you!
Once again, this isn’t beta’d so please excuse any mistakes! Thank you for reading and please enjoy!
Erased From the Stars Masterlist
cjsinkythoughts’ Masterlist
You woke up in a much better mood on Tuesday, having gotten more sleep than the previous night, especially considering how tired you were when you got home past midnight from working at Shield. You crashed as soon as your head hit the pillow.
You took your time getting ready and eating breakfast, saying bye to Christine and the kids, leaving first that time since your Public Speaking class started before Kayla’s preschool did.
Which you were late to.
Of course as soon as you let your guard down, thinking you’d be fine since your first day was fine, you weren’t fine.
Fortunately, you were only a few minutes late and didn’t miss anything, since today would be another day of going over rules and course requirements for the two new classes you had.
Public Speaking was the worst. You’re older - and only - sister, Kimberly, convinced you to take the class after saying it was one of her favorites. Of course, you forgot that you and Kim were very different people. For starting at 9:05, it was too early of a class, especially when the whole point was, you know, public speaking. You hadn’t done anything yet, but one glance at the plans your professor had for the semester and you were dreading it already.
Your next class was a US History lecture, which started fifteen minutes after Public Speaking. You were again late because you severely underestimated how far the buildings were and your professor let you out a bit later than you anticipated.
You practically threw all your stuff into your bag the moment he dismissed you and sprinted out.
Arriving, you tried slipping in as silently as possible, but the door slammed shut, rather loudly, making you cringe. You felt yourself heat up as several pairs of eyes snapped towards you, but luckily the professor, Coulson you remembered, was just gathering papers and hadn’t started yet. Ignoring your peers - none of whom you knew and you weren’t sure if that made it worse or not - you shuffled over to the nearest empty seat a few rows down and to the right. You were surprised and extremely grateful to find it was an aisle seat.
Pulling out your laptop, you huffed when it wouldn’t turn on. You hadn’t used it in your previous class, meaning it was dead before, but you could’ve sworn you plugged it in last night. Whatever. You were fine with pen and paper.
“Aw shit.” You resisted the urge to smack your head on the table as you dug through your bag. Seriously?! You forgot to pack a pen?! That couldn’t have been your only pen, right?!
This is why you were anxious. Next morning, you swore you’d get up early and triple check to make sure you had everything.
You quietly threw your bag to the ground and slumped in your seat, your arms crossed. That meant you couldn’t even doodle! You had to sit there for over an hour and listen to this guy talk about another syllabus. Joy.
Suddenly, something hit you in the back of your head. You rubbed where it hit and looked down at your feet, eyebrows knitting together at the scrunched up ball of paper sitting there. “Psst.” Another hit to the head made you whip around, glaring at the culprit.
“What?” You hissed before faltering. Damn. Now that was one hell of a specimen.
Steel blue eyes crinkled at the corner as pink lips pulled up into an entertained grin, pearly whites on display. Sharp jawline covered with light scruff. Fluffy chestnut hair styled with the perfect amount of gel fell a little past his ears, with a single pesky strand falling in his eyes. The white shirt he was wearing was loose with a low collar, a leather jacket thrown over it. You could see the combat boots from underneath the table. He was a pretty boy, yeah, but you hung out with (*cough cough* dated) enough guys dressed like him in high school to know his game.
“Need a pen?” He offered in a whisper, holding up the said object.
“Uhm…yes?”
He smirked, leaning forwards in his chair, closer to you. “I’ll let you have it on one condition.” You raised an eyebrow, giving him a pointed look. “Just a name, babygirl. Yours, specifically.”
You rolled your eyes, glancing around the room to see if you were disturbing anybody. Not seeing anyone paying attention to you two, you turned back to him. “Y/N.”
“Bucky.” He introduced himself, reaching over to shake your hand. You took it, a bit hesitant, blinking when you felt something fall into your palm once he pulled back. The pen.
“I, uh, thanks.”
He winked at you, leaning back in his chair, hands linked behind his head. “No problem, doll.”
You turned back to the lecture, holding in your scoff at his pet name, hating the fact that it nearly made you smile. He was definitely a fuckboy and you told yourself before college that you wouldn’t play around with them anymore.
So you tuned him out of your mind for the rest of the lecture and, thank God, you had to rush out of class once it ended because you had to work in half an hour, not even letting the blue eyed pretty boy say a word in your direction.
You worked for the rest of the day, Russo’s for lunch, a few hours break to look over school stuff and have dinner with your family, before Shield from 9 to 1. It was fine. Long, but nothing you weren’t used to already. You really enjoyed both your jobs and you got lucky with your bosses.
Joe and Anthony were brothers who took over Russo’s for their parents. The pizzeria had been in their family for generations, and they gladly took on the tradition. They had kids of their own and dealt with their school, so they were very understanding - almost parental - to you.
Phillips had started Shield after retiring from the Army, wanting to settle down with a place to drink, smoke, and play poker with his buddies. He was stern, but that was to be expected. He always told you, “you can take the man out of the Army, but you can’t take the Army out of the man.” Despite him being strict, though, he was reasonable, and had taken a liken to you since the moment you stepped foot in the bar.
And not only did you like your jobs, the money wasn’t too bad either.
But, despite that, you were still human, and having two back-to-back college classes and then working two jobs for over eight hours was draining.
You made sure everything was ready for the next day before you left for Shield, that way you could just get home, change, and sleep. Tuesday might’ve been a rough starting day, but you’d learn for Thursday, and Wednesday’s morning was definitely better.
Peter even texted you his coffee order, telling you he’d probably be late. You chuckled to yourself when you got the text at breakfast. You totally called it.
In his defense, he really was running late, and you could tell just by looking at him. One shoe untied, hair messy like he just rolled out of bed, sweater haphazardly thrown on like it was an afterthought, which it probably was.
“You,” he puffed, sinking into his chair and taking the coffee cup you held out. “Are my savior and I’ll love you until the end of time.”
You chuckled, shaking your head. “And you, my friend, are so much more chaotic than I thought. What’d you do? Stay up until three last night?”
He shrugged, shooting you an innocent smile while his cheeks turned red. “I got caught up binge watching Clone Wars.”
“Of course you did. Here’s the notes you missed so far.”
He gave you an adoring smile. “Did I tell you I love you?”
“Yeah, yeah. Sap. Hurry and copy them down so I don’t miss anything.”
********************
It was when you were checking your things Wednesday night when you realized you had an extra pen. It took you a moment to remember the blue eyed pretty boy from Coulson’s History lecture, but when you did you groaned.
Your dating record in high school was pretty bad. Not that you would really call it dating. But Whitney was right when she said it was you wanting attention. It wasn’t easy being the middle of seven. But you dealt with it and now that you were across the country from your family - who you loved but Jesus Christ did you need a break - you didn’t need to act out to seek attention.
You were an adult. Meaning you wouldn’t goof off with guys like that anymore. Meaning you didn’t even want to talk to guys like that anymore.
Meaning you were severely regretting taking his stupid pen.
Maybe he wouldn’t notice if you didn’t give it back. Yeah. Maybe you could just ignore him and he won’t even remember that he let you borrow it.
Those were your hopes as you walked into your US History lecture, taking the seat you had on Tuesday.
“On time today? Glad to see we’re learning.” And there go your hopes, crashing straight into the floor, shattering into millions of tiny pieces. Going for ‘not interested’, you quirked an eyebrow, twisting your head as a bag landed on the table next to your open laptop, a body falling into the seat beside you. The leather jacket was replaced with a denim one, his black button up tighter around his chest than Tuesday’s white t-shirt. “And you charged your computer! Very nice, doll.”
You shrugged, going back to your doodling. “Time management’s always been a bit of an issue for me.”
“Ah. Gotchu, gotchu. I’ve got a pal like that too. A couple of them, actually.” He chuckled. “Is that why you high-tailed outta here Tuesday?”
“I’ve got work right after this class.” You answered shortly.
He leaned his elbow on the table, his legs spread as he turned fully to, a slight smirk on his face. “I haven’t seen you ‘round campus before. You new here? A freshman? You don’t look like it.”
You hummed. “Maybe. It’s a big campus.”
“Which you don’t live on.”
Frowning at the question that he said more like a statement, you moved your head back to him. “I don’t?”
He shook his head, setting his cheek in his palm. “Nope. I know everyone who lives on campus.”
A bit distracted due to Professor Coulson just walking in and announcing the lesson for the day, you hummed and shut your notebook and set up a page on your laptop for notes. “Everyone, huh?”
He nodded with a click of his tongue. “I get around.”
There it was. “Oh? A party animal?”
“I wouldn’t say that. My friends and I are just outgoing. We enjoy life.”
“Enjoy life or enjoy getting into girl’s pants?”
He hissed, shaking his hand like he burned it. “Ouch, doll. That stung. For your information, quite a few people in my group are goin’ steady. And we’re of mixed genders and sexualities. It’s not always girls’ pants.”
You raised an eyebrow, turning to him while still trying to pay attention. “For you or your group.”
“Does it matter?” He shrugged. “Would it bother you if I did fuck guys? ‘Cause I have experimented and it’s not half bad.”
“Nope.” You popped the ‘p’, shaking your head. “You do you, pal. Or…do whoever you want to. Now if you don’t mind, I’m trying to-”
He nodded. “Right, right. Yeah. Sorry. Just…listen. I think we got off on the wrong foot. I’m not gonna force you to do anything, you know. Yeah, sure, I’ve seen a few beds around campus, but I’ve got female friends who I don’t sleep with. What if I just wanna be friends with you, huh doll?”
“Just friends?”
“Yup.”
“Really?”
“Uh-huh.”
You narrowed your eyes. “Okay. How many of these so-called female friends you don’t sleep with single?”
He chuckled, running a hand through his hair. “The list gets smaller, but yeah.”
“How about single straight female friends?”
He paused at that, eyebrows scrunched up. After a moment you clicked your tongue with a slight smirk, facing your computer and typing the notes Coulson was writing on the projector. “Hold on, hold on. Yes, I’ve got a few of them. Listen, babygirl, you’re making this a lot harder than it needs to be.”
You scoffed. “Don’t call me ‘babygirl’ and we’ll see where that gets you.”
“Okay, okay. That’s fair. What? Don’t you believe that guys and girls can be friends with nothing between ‘em?”
“Yeah, I do. Just not guys like you.”
He frowned, eyes narrowing. “Well that’s not fair. You don’t even know me!”
“Mister Barnes.” Bucky winced at the teacher’s annoyed shout, before throwing Coulson a dashing grin.
“Hey, Phil! How was your summer, man? You still goin’ out with that cellist?”
The professor raised his eyebrows, unamused. “Is there something you’d like to share with the class?”
“Oh yeah! Thanks for the reminder, Phil!” Bucky stood up and cleared his throat. “Yo! First football game of the season is next Friday! It’s gonna be a blast! Watch out for number 41! Handsome devil’s gonna score the winning touchdown! Avengers assemble, am I right?!”
Coulson gave him an unamused look as the room cheered, making you laugh behind your hand. Bucky fell back into his seat, shooting you a wink as Coulson calmed down the room.
“You’re a football player?”
“Fullback, yes ma’am. Co-captain of the team, in fact.” He smugly leaned his seat onto the back two legs, setting his feet up on the desk.
Unbelievable. Why were you always attracted to these idiots? A player in both senses of the word. “There it is.”
He blinked, his chair falling forwards with a ‘thud’ that made Coulson shot him a warning glare. Bucky smiled innocently, before shifting his chair so he was turned towards you again, the smile turning upside down. “There what is?”
“That cocky, conceited air you fill the room with. Attention is what you live for. I should’ve guessed you were a jock too. I’m surprised you’re not wearing a letterman jacket or something just to make sure everyone knows who you are.”
His frown deepened. “Look, doll. I dunno what you think you know about me, or what you’ve heard-”
“I’ve never heard about you before you lent me a pen Tuesday. Which I appreciate and here it is back, by the way. But I know your type. I’ve been down that road. So excuse me for trying not to make the same mistake twice.”
He stared at the pen you set down by his bag, before his gaze flitted back to you, but you wouldn’t meet those pretty eyes of his. “Fine. Sue me for trying to get to know the new girl.”
“This is a mainly freshman class. Half the girls in here are new.”
“Yeah, but they’re chattering away with the posse they’ve already discovered.” He nodded over across the room. Your eyes scanned the lecture hall to find that he was right. Most girls were giggling and whispering to each other, no doubt freshman straight from high school. The others were most likely maturing sophomores. “And, hey, if you want extra reassurance I’m not trying to get you in my bed; I don’t fuck with freshman. Nothing against you or anything, just…straight outta high school and all that? Not really my jam.”
You eyed him, before shrugging and looking down to make sure you got the notes Coulson was starting to talk about. “Yeah, well, too bad I’m not straight out of high school, then.”
He tilted his head, an eyebrow raising in curiosity. “So you’re not a freshman. I didn’t think you were.”
“No, I am. But I took a year break between high school and college. But if you didn’t think I was a freshman, that reassurance doesn’t really work, now does it.” He opened his mouth to defend himself, but you continued, not wanting excuses. “What about you? You’re definitely not a freshman.”
“Nah. I’m a junior. I studied abroad for a semester last year and there were mishaps my freshman year, so I’ve got a few classes to make up. My friend had this class last year, so I just took all his notes. Coulson never changes his lectures. Pretty sure he doesn’t even change the tests.” You hummed, pretending you were barely listening when you really heard every word loud and clear. Bucky huffed, reaching out to grab your wrist gently, making you stop typing and look up to meet his eyes. “Can we start over? Please. I don’t know what type of guys you used to know or whatever and, yeah, I’ll admit I started the conversation like an idiot, but I promise I’m not that bad.”
Pursing your lips, you scanned his features, taking in the pleading eyes and the pouty lips. Clearing your throat, you took your hands off the keyboard, straightened a bit, and turned to him, holding out your hand, your full name falling from your lips.
The beam he gave you had you severely doubting your initial thoughts about him, his larger, calloused hand taking your eagerly. “James Barnes. Everyone calls me Bucky.”
You nodded, before starting to type again. “What are you studying?”
“Mechanical engineering.”
You paused, not expecting that answer. Maybe you were wrong - majorly wrong. “Really?”
“Yeah. I dunno. Technology’s always interested me and I like fixing cars and stuff; I work at an auto shop actually. I dunno what I’m gonna do with it yet, but it feels like a step in the right direction, ya know?”
“I’m afraid not.” You shook your head. “I have no idea what I’m doing.”
He chuckled, drumming his fingers against the table. “That’s alright, doll. I don’t think anyone does. They just think they do.”
“That’s…very true, actually.”
He grinned, running a hand through his hair again, his tongue darting out to wet his lips. “I told you: I’m not an idiot all the time. I swear.” That made you laugh.
Bucky talked to you throughout the rest of the class, never going above a whisper as he babbled about his other classes and how one of his friends, Sam, tripped down the stairs that morning. You were almost annoyed at him, but he was a very good conversationalist and he wasn’t distracting you too badly. There weren’t any awkward pauses while he stumbled around for something to talk about and if he wasn’t talking, it was a comfortable silence filled with Coulson’s voice, pen scribbling on paper, and the clicking of computer keys. He never pushed you for responses, either, only asking a couple questions, like where you worked and what other classes you had.
“Sorry if I’m bothering you.” He said a few minutes before class was over. “I’m just bored.”
“No. You’re fine.” Honestly, besides a few flirty comments and that pet name ‘doll’ popping up here and there, he wasn’t as bad as you were thinking.
He went quiet for a moment before clearing his throat, almost nervously. Your forehead creased as you snuck a glance at him. He licked his lips, a hand combing through his locks, scratching the back of his head. You wondered why he did that so often.
“So, uh, there’s this cabin in the woods by the lake about half an hour away…” His eyes widened at the weird look you shot him. “Oh fuck, that sounds so bad. No, no. It’s not - I’m not a serial killer or anything. My friend owns it. Well, technically his dad does, but it’s his. Anyways, he always throws a party the first weekend of a new semester. On Saturday. Noon to midnight. If you’d wanna come.”
You quirked an eyebrow, packing up your stuff as Coulson dismissed class early. “You’re asking me to go to your friend’s cabin in the woods-?”
He shook his head with a little laugh. “It sounds so sketchy. I promise it’s legit, though. Honest. You can ask anyone. It’s Tony Stark’s party. He holds one every-”
“You’re friends with Tony Stark?”
He nodded, shoving his hands in his pockets. “Yeah. We’re in the same circle. I know how it sounds, but-”
“I’m working.” You cut him off, finding it amusing how he rambled. Who knew a fuckboy could get so nervous about asking a girl to a party. “But if you give me the address I’ll see if I can get some time off.”
“That’d be awesome. Yeah, yeah. Here.” He quickly grabbed the post-it note you handed to him and scribbled the address down. “It’d be really cool if you could make it.”
“I’ll try. Cross my heart.” You smiled, taking the paper from him. “I do have to go, though-”
“Oh right. Yeah. Work. I’ll see you this weekend, then. Maybe.” He grinned.
You bit your lip, nodding. “Maybe.”
As he started walking out, you looked down to grab your bag, the pen left on the table catching your attention. “Hey!” You called after him, making him turn around, walking backwards with that grin still on his lips. You lifted the writing utensil to show him. “Your pen!”
He shook his head. “Keep it! I don’t take notes in this class anyways!” He shot you a wink, before spinning on his heel, his hands in his pockets, whistling some random tune, without a care in the world.
**********************
“There she is! So?! How’s school been?! I wanna know!”
You grinned at Whitney as she bounced in, looking at you excitedly while going to wash her hands. “You’re working early today. It’s only 3.”
She shrugged. “They wanted me in before dinner rush tonight. Don’t dodge the question!”
“It’s been fine. I’ve met a couple people, doodled a few things, ignored syllabus talk - the usual.”
She sniggered, moving her eyebrows. “Any cute guys so far?” You thought back to your History lecture and Bucky, who confused the hell out of you. Whitney’s squeal pulled you out of your thoughts. “That’s a yes! Tell me about him immediately!”
“It’s not a ‘yes’. There’s nothing to tell.”
“But he is hot, right?”
You rolled your eyes, but your lips pulled up at the corners. “He’s…very easy on the eyes.”
Whitney gave an excited squeak, quickly drying her hands and putting on gloves before sliding up to you. “So? Tell me all about him.”
“Nothing to tell.”
“Bull.” She called out. “What’s his name?”
You huffed, focusing on the pizza you were making. “Bucky.”
She tried it out on her tongue before nodding. “Cute, cute. How old is he?”
“He’s a junior, so I’m guessing 20. Maybe 21 if his birthday was in the past week.”
Whitney hounded on you for every detail of your conversation, which you told her with some exception, leaving out the pen and some of the random stuff he told you. “So he’s a fuckboy?”
“Oh yeah. No doubt.”
“But he’s a charming fuckboy?”
“Mhmm.”
“And he’s not a dick?”
“So far.”
“So…he’s your type.”
You scoffed, giving her a look. “I don’t have a ‘type’.”
She gave you a bemused expression back. “Honey, it’s not a secret you like the charismatic guys that every girl swoons over. You just don’t swoon over them and that’s what makes you different.”
You scowled. “I don’t swoon over them because they don’t deserve my effort. And no. I don’t have a thing for them. I just…tend to get their attention more than other guys.”
“Because you don’t swoon over them.”
“Whitney-”
“Okay, okay. What happened next?”
You shrugged. “Nothing. He just sorta…talked the entire class. He did invite me to a party on Saturday though-”
“Oh my God! You have to go! College parties are the best! You’ll have so much fun!” She stopped to give you a serious look, pointing a finger towards you. “You’re going, right?”
“I dunno. Maybe. I’ve got to ask Phillips if I can get time off and I-I dunno if I even want to go.”
Whitney groaned, throwing her hands in the air and letting her head fall back. “This is the first party of your college life! There shouldn’t be any doubt!”
“Apparently Tony Stark is the one throwing it-”
“Are you fucking - you can’t not go!”
You snickered, Whitney’s persistence amusing you. “Again. It depends on Phillips. We’ll see. I promise.”
“At least tell me you got this guy’s number.”
“Nope.”
Whitney glared at you. “You are the absolute worst person to try getting drama out of, you know that? You’re not interested at all in this guy?”
You shrugged, turning to throw the pizza in. “Maybe. I wanna try out this whole friend thing first. Tommy’s the first real guy friend I’ve had since middle school and that’s mostly because he’s gay and we barely even talk outside work. I’ve never just…let myself take a break from dating before.”
A sigh came from the other girl, who reluctantly nodded. “That’s good, actually. Take a mental break. I respect that. But please, for the love of God, please try to have fun.”
You smirked, nodding. “I’ve told you, Whit. I know how to have fun. Don’t worry; if I do go to that party, I’ll have enough for both of us.”
“Yes! I have to live college through you now, so it’s your responsibility!”
You mockingly saluted. “I won’t let you down, babe.”
Here it is! I’ve finally found a name and I’ve started writing! I’ve really enjoyed making the mood boards and creating this AU, and I hope you enjoy what’s coming up soon!
College!AU
Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader
Series Warnings: Toxic Relationships, Cheating, Physical Abuse, Underage Drinking, Drug Use (marijuana), Motor Vehicle Accident, Smut, Cursing
It all started with a pen. It’s funny how something as small and meaningless as a pen can cause life to become so complicated. But the universe works in funny ways and everything happens for a reason.
