Some Quarantine Lovin’ Chapter 4: Hopelessly Devoted
Warnings: Obscene amounts of fluff, kissing, swearing, kinda a lot of angst
Description: Bucky Barnes is absolutely, no doubt about it, in love with Y/N L/N. He’s loved her since the day he laid eyes on her in the third grade. He loved her when he had his own girlfriend, and when he was barely friends with her for a whole summer. And of course, in his freshman year, they are now stuck together. In a house. During a worldwide quarantine. This should be fun.
A/N: I’m so sorry I haven’t updated this story in a month! I was working on some other things, and I had to take a little break because I was still exhausted from school. This chapter is mostly fluffy, and I’ve been so, so excited to share it with you guys. Thank you to my girl @transparentfestivaltiger for being my favorite beta, and always feel free to leave requests in my asks. I hope you enjoy <3
Waking up the next morning, Y/N reached her hands out to find the usual warm body of her best friend next to her, but the bedsheets were cold. She sat up looking around, and remembered why she was sleeping in her mom and dad’s room.
The night before had been a mess. Memories of Bucky’s confession and her running out of the room like a coward came flooding back in her mind. He thinks I’m beautiful. The weight of that sentence had hit Y/N like a freight train the night before, but she processed it slowly now. “I mean,” she murmured, “he did call me beautiful. But is that supposed to mean something? Nat and Wanda are beautiful, but he never tells them that.” To be frankly honest, she was terrified. Maybe running out wasn’t her best idea, but she had no other response to what he said.
Bucky’s quiet footsteps padded in the hallway outside the bedroom and stopped at her door. Y/N could hear his soft breathing, but then his footsteps retreated. Taking a deep breath, she heaved herself up from the bed and straightened the sheets. Her parents would be back at around six that night, so she had about nine more hours of tiptoeing around Bucky.
Once she was dressed, she slipped out into the hallway and walked to the kitchen. She checked her phone, seeing it was nine o’clock and grumbled after realizing she had her first class in thirty minutes. The smell of coffee filled the room as she started up the machine. Closing her eyes, she leaned back against the counter and breathed in the morning air. She had left the window in the kitchen open the night before, so the slight breeze they had in Brooklyn came into her house. Her nerves were still a little frazzled from the events that had taken place, but her ultimate decision was to talk to him and get it sorted out.
Soon enough, the machine beeped and Bucky came into the room. “Mornin’ Y/N,” he said nervously, “how’d you sleep?”
She eyed him with an anxious gaze. “I slept… well, if I’m gonna be honest, not fine.”
He sighed heavily and came over to hug her. At first her body tensed, but soon enough she wrapped her arms around him too. Affection wasn’t new for them, but after the previous night she felt it to be a bit awkward. As they held each other, he spoke. “I’m sorry if I came off as a bit, uh, strange last night. I didn’t mean what I said.”
She took a step back. “I’m not beautiful?”
His eyes widened quickly. “No, no, well, no, you are beautiful, that wasn’t a lie, but like I say that about all of you guys. Nat, Wanda, heck, I said that about my little sister! Wait, that’s weird, you’re not like my sister, but you are beautiful-”
Sighing, Y/N cut him off before her heart broke even more. “Bucky, it’s fine, I get it.” Turning around, she held her tears at bay, and accepted the fact that Bucky had let his words slip from his mouth too quick the night before. It was just a slip of the tongue. “You want some coffee?”
He murmured, “yeah, sure.” Once again, the room was shrouded in silence, as Bucky leaned against the counter and Y/N contained brewing the coffee.
Y/N was growing restless over the strange quiet. As much as she was hurt over what Bucky had said, she didn’t like not talking to him either. “Did you know that caffeine can increase athletic ability by three percent?”
Though she wasn’t staring directly at him, she could tell that his eyes were widened slightly by her random outburst. “Um, no, I didn’t know that, doll.”
Meeting his eyes, she bit her lip. God, the silence was deafening. “Well, yeah, um… it’s true.” Real smooth, L/N, real smooth.
Sighing, he walked over and grabbed her hand. “Doll, I can tell that both of us are still a little shaken up about last night, so I’m gonna go set up for class, ‘cuz I’ve got Ms. Willard first for Algebra 2, and she hates it when we’re late. I’ll talk to you later, Y/N.”
He started to walk away, but not before dropping a lingering kiss to her forehead. Y/N’s eyes followed him out of the kitchen, and she shut them and let out the breath she didn’t even know she had been holding. When her coffee was finally brewed, she grabbed two of the blue ceramic mugs her mom loved so much and filled them up with coffee. Two tablespoons of milk and one of sugar, just how Bucky liked it.
After she fixed her drink, she carefully tread into her dad’s small office where Bucky did his classes. “Hey, Bucky, I know you’re setting up now, but I left some coffee for you on the counter, and feel free to grab some fruit, too.”
Smiling, he nodded and said, “Thanks, Y/N.” Heart racing from that small encounter, Y/N ran into her room, grabbed her phone off of her nightstand, and threw herself on the bed, ready to talk to Nat and Wanda in the little time you had before class. Opening the group chat with the girls, she saw that they had already started a FaceTime call on the chat. Clicking the “join” button, she prepared to tell the whole story of events that had taken place.
“Hey, girly! We didn’t hear much from you last night,” Wanda chirped. Y/N always teased her friend about how chipper she was in the morning. “Are you okay?”
Nat grinned at the camera. “How are things with you and lover boy?”
“Ooh, I wanna hear about this.” Wanda laughed and wiggled her eyebrows.
“Lucky for you two, I have a whole story for you.” Y/N proceeded to tell them about everything, from the whisper of a kiss, to the awkward morning she had just been a part of. “I feel like I’m stepping on eggshells around him, and I wish we would acknowledge it, instead of having a huge goddamn elephant in the room!”
“Well, his feelings are very clear, my dearest Y/N, and if you didn’t notice that when you two almost kissed, you're more of an idiot than I thought you were.” Nat responded. “That boy has been head over heels for you ever since the third grade, so you running out on Bucky probably gave him the idea that you didn’t like him back.”
Bucky heard his best friend’s voice from the kitchen. While Y/N was well known for her loud voice within their friend group, he always did his best to respect her privacy with the girls and what they talked about. However, once Natasha said his name, he ran over to her door as quietly as he could to hear the rest of the conversation.
“But I fucking love Bucky!” Her exclamation made the girls giggle as her face heated up. She did love him in a romantic way, but the girls didn’t know that so she continued to lie through her teeth. “Okay, I don’t love him, love him, but yes, I like him a lot. And him almost kissing me really could have messed our relationship up. I mean, imagine if we broke up? That would tear the group in two. And that’s only if he even likes me back.” Y/N chuckled mirthlessly. “I mean, he’s been my best friend for years, I can’t exactly tell him that I have a hugeass crush on him and he’s the center of my universe and every waking thought I have.”
Sighing, she looked back to the screen. The only thing heard over the FaceTime call was Natasha’s washing machine thumping through the walls. Finally, Wanda spoke up. “We should probably get going, I’ve got Sam’s mom for history first, and as much as she loves me, she’ll kick my ass if I’m not ready. I’ll talk to you guys later?”
Natasha smirked. “Oh, definitely. And Y/N?” She looked to Nat on her phone screen. “I think you should talk with Bucky still. Knowing you, you’re both very dense, but if you talk it out soon, you’ll be making out and showing gross amounts of PDA in no time. Stay safe, Wanda.”
On that note, the three girls ended the call. Little did Y/N know that Bucky was leaned up against her doors, trying his damn hardest not to yell with glee, a huge dopey smile on his face. She liked him back. He had been so certain after almost kissing the night before that she found the thought of being with him repulsive, so he had tried to play it off cool and pretended that he didn’t care about it. After hearing Y/N’s little speech, Bucky was absolutely amazed that his best friend and dream girl also liked him back.
Still smiling, he walked back down the hallway, giggling randomly. Now all he had to do was say it. He returned to the small office and took his phone off the charger. His heart was beating rapidly, and he contacted Sam and Steve as fast as he could. When their faces popped up on the screen, the latter immediately called him out on the dopey grin he adorned.
“What’s got you smiling this early, Buck? It’s only nine twenty,” Steve asked.
Sam joined in, adding onto Steve’s statement. “Yeah, especially you, Mr. Heckles. You’re an absolute menace in the mornings.”
Bucky rolled his eyes, but kept grinning. “Y/N likes me.” Both of his friends scoffed at that, which made him frown. “What?”
“That’s what we’ve been telling you all throughout middle school, you douche, but what made you realize it?” Steve inquired.
“I overheard her talking to the girls about it,” Bucky said with a sheepish smile on his face, but he continued before the other two could scold him about invading Y/N’s privacy. “But she said that she was scared of messing our friendship up when we almost kissed last night. And she called me the center of her universe.”
Both of the boys went silent, and Bucky started to worry. “Guys? You there?”
“Good god, Bucky, she likes you!”
Sam and Steve both yelled at the same time. He just laughed at their reactions. Nothing could bring his mood down today. “I know! I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy in my entire life.”
Sam, though exasperated with Bucky’s previous obliviousness, smiled at his lovestruck expression. “You know, you two make me absolutely sick with how much you like each other. It physically makes me want to throw up and cry.”
“Yeah, it’s sweet and all, but how are you gonna tell her?” Steve asked. As happy as he was for his best friend, he knew that Y/N would be upset to hear that Bucky invaded her privacy and listened in on her conversation with the girls.
“I’ve been wondering about that too. I was just thinking of dropping hints, and waiting until she gets the idea to tell me, but I can think of some other things too.”
“Or maybe you can just not be stupid and tell Y/N straight up.” Sam suggested.
Bucky frowned. “But I want her to tell me first.”
“Jesus, Barnes, you're a child. It’s not that hard, just tell her you like her, nothing else needs to be explained. She’s so far gone for you, and you know it too! Why do you need more from her?”
But Bucky needed that confirmation. Verbal corroboration that she liked him just as he was, and reassured him that he was enough. She had told the girls, and he had overheard, but what if he had been wrong? Negative thoughts plagued his mind, and he couldn’t get them to leave.
“I just want to make sure that she was talking about me, because it’d be mortifying if I told her and she wasn’t.” Bucky replied.
Through the screen, Steve nodded. “That makes sense, Buck, just make sure you tell her soon, okay? We’ve all been waiting for this moment since sixth grade, don’t screw it up.”
The brown-haired boy chuckled at his friend's father-like speech. “I got it, Steve. Hey, I’ll talk to you guys soon, class starts in like, five minutes.” Sam and him were in the same Algebra 2 class, advanced for their grade, but the other four in their friend group were still in Geometry. “See you in class, Sam.”
The boys all hung up on the call, and Bucky went to log into the Zoom class. Usually, he would be excited to learn, as he wanted to be a college professor when he grew up, but now he just waited until it was over so he could start dropping hints to Y/N that he liked her too.
Across the house, Y/N sat in her chair in her bedroom, nearly passing out in her history class and barely paying attention to anything Mrs. Wilson was saying. Her thoughts, once again, drifted off to thoughts of the night before, and how good it would feel to have Bucky kiss her. His lips had always looked so soft, and ever since she had realized she had a crush on him way back in sixth grade, she wondered what they would feel like on hers.
Apparently Mrs. Wilson also noticed Y/N’s absentminded state, as she didn’t respond to her after calling her name several times. “Y/N! Are you still awake?”
The girl quickly snapped out of her daydream. “Yes, ma’am, I mean, uh, Mrs. Wilson,” she said in a small voice. Her face felt warm and she could see Wanda laughing at her through the screen. “Sorry, I was just a little distracted.”
“That much was clear, Y/N. You have your farming versus foraging essay draft due in two classes, so you have the rest of the period to work on it. If you want you can leave the class, but you can stay if you have questions,” Mrs. Wilson coolly responded. She knew Y/N was a good student, as she kept up with her grades and was a great friend to Sam.
“I think I’m okay, Mrs. Wilson. I’ll see you next class!” With a wave, she ended her part of the call, and took a deep sigh. Class was absolutely exhausting for her. Checking the time on her phone, she saw it was only ten-fifteen and headed to the kitchen to get more coffee. Her finger swiped through her Spotify playlists, when she finally landed on the one containing her favorite songs from musicals. As the notes to “Opening Up” came on, she twirled around the room, despite barely knowing ballet, and hummed along. Y/N didn’t hear the quiet footsteps of Bucky, who had also managed to get out of class early. As he approached the kitchen, he heard his friend’s soft voice carrying out the lyrics of the song. From Waitress, if he remembered correctly.
He leaned against the doorway of the room, watching her turn about and skip around with a smile on his face. Her carefree and happy demeanor was one of his favorite things about her, and it made her smile absolutely infectious. As she turned back around again, her eyes met Bucky’s and her face heated up. “Hey, Buck, I didn’t see you there.” She couldn’t help but stare at him, eyes wide and mouth hanging slightly open. “Um, not to sound rude, but where’s your shirt?” Y/N squeaked out.
While he did promise Steve he would tell her soon, he also wanted to tease her, which resulted in his idea of walking around with no shirt. His well-sculpted abs from baseball workouts were on display, and though she knew she was looking, she didn't look away. He smirked at her flustered state, and walked towards her, forcing her gaze back up to his eyes. “It was getting hot in the room,” he replied simply.
“W-we have a fan in there, you know?” She stammered out. He grinned wider and hummed in response.
“I heard you talking to the girls earlier. Anything interesting come up?” He asked in a nonchalant tone. She looked into his eyes, but saw the mischievous glint in them. Oh god, did he hear? Heart beating erratically in her chest, she quickly shook her head.
“Nope! Nothin’ at all. Tasha was just talking about how she’s been passing out watching reruns of Project Runway, so nothing unusual,” she lied. Well, technically it wasn’t a lie, as Natasha really had an unhealthy habit of bingeing her fashion reality tv shows, but Y/N was well aware that she wasn’t telling Bucky the whole truth. “Why, did you hear something?”
Bucky shook his head with a fake frown. “Nope.” Y/N could tell something was up, but she didn’t dare say it out loud, for fear of getting in an argument with him. The tension wasn’t so much awkward as it was hot, but nonetheless Y/N still didn’t want to upset Bucky, and went to grab her mug to put her now-ready coffee into. Bucky walked up right behind her, brushing up to her back, placing his right hand on her hip with a firm grip. She noticeably stiffened against him, and he had to use all his will to not laugh at her reaction. He reached up to grab a glass with his left arm, and squeezed her hip before walking away to get water at the sink. Y/N yelped, as it was an intimate gesture, and her face heated up even more, if that was possible.
Fed up with Bucky’s strange behavior, she turned around and faced him. “What is it, Buck?” Her tone had a definite edge to it, and it was not what he was expecting. “You’ve been acting weird this whole morning, and I want to know what it is! If it’s because of what happened last night, then I don’t wanna hear it, because you’re the one who said-”
“I heard you on the phone with Nat and Wanda, doll.” Bucky had to tell her. He could sense her rising agitation, and he knew that she would be upset, but he felt that if he didn’t tell her soon, he would combust. “I heard what you said.”
Y/N could have sworn that her heart stopped. He had heard her. God, he must’ve thought she was so creepy for talking about how much she liked him. Though his face showed unwavering kindness, she knew what lay beneath it. Absolute disgust. There was no way he liked her like that.
“You heard that?” She was certain that he could hear her heartbeat slowly picking up from the other side of the kitchen. “Hey, Buck, I’m so, so sorry you heard that…” Y/N’s hurried apology stopped when he held up his hand.
“Did you mean it? What you said?” His blue eyes were staring right into hers, and she had a feeling that was the last time she would get to see them clearly for a long time as she nodded languidly. He would never be comfortable around her again, after this weird confession.
Silence followed, until Bucky stalked towards her and tilted her chin up with his thumb. “I need you to say it, Y/N.”
Confused and embarrassed, Y/N nodded again and gently whispered. “What you heard was true. I like you, James. A whole damn lot.”
His eyes searched her teary ones for a lie, and when he didn’t find one, he surged forward to connect their lips. Immediately, Y/N pulled away, eyes wide with surprise, but he took her face in his hands and brought them together again. She was startled, but closed her eyes, and let herself fall into it. All her worried thoughts fell silent, and all she could think was Bucky, Bucky, Bucky, and closer, closer, closer. She wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing him towards her, and let his tongue swipe across her bottom lip.
After nearly running out of breath, they both let their foreheads rest against each other, panting heavily. Bucky opened his eyes first, smiling wide at her swollen lips and closed eyes. When Y/N opened them, she smiled, but then wondered what the actual fuck had just happened. “Wait, what does this mean?” She asked in a breathy whisper.
“It means I like you a damn lot too, doll.” A huge smile spread across her face, making Bucky’s heart beat just a bit faster. He brought his hand down to her waist and pulled her flush against his bare chest, bringing their lips together again. After a few more passionate moments sharing breath, she pulled away, once again out of breath.
“Damn, James, you’re fucking good at that.” Her soft hands cupped his cheeks, and his smile quickly turned into the infamous smirk she loved.
“Well, I do have a lot of experience from when I was with Do-”
Placing her hand over his mouth, which truly only turned him on more, Y/N said, “Don’t you dare utter that girl’s name in my presence, Buck.”
“You jealous, sweetheart?”
She rolled her eyes at his expression, and placed her head in the crook of his neck. He got shivers as she mumbled into his neck, “‘M not jealous, I just don’t like people touching my baby.”
He looked down at her snuggled into his neck. “Am I your baby now, doll?” She nodded against his skin, making him grin again. “I like being your baby.”
Looking back up at him, Y/N smiled. “Good,” she said, and brought her lips to his again, giggling throughout the kiss.
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