Being a shy black woman and dating Bucky Barnes
Pairing: shy!black!reader x tfaws!Bucky Barnes
Genre: Romance, Slice-of-life
A/N: Special thanks to @sweetkingdomstarlight-blog for being my beta-reader for this headcanon!
Taglist: Thekrazykeke, Jewel2876, Browngirldominion, merceret, bestofbucky, @sweetkingdomstarlight-blog, @whisperlullaby, @wintersoldierslut, kelieah, jasminedayz, angrybirdxx, namjoonswifeyy, @chaoticpete, AWESOMEREXTYPHOON
Plums were Bucky's favorite fruit for two reasons: they were delicious and they brought you two together at the local farmer's market in Brooklyn.
When you both reached out to grab the same plum, your hands touched. Bucky couldn’t look away when you stared at him. You withdrew your hand before breaking eye contact.
"I'm sorry, you go ahead." You insisted, not looking him in the eye.
"No, no. Ladies first." Bucky picked up the plum and placed it in your hand.
You thanked him with a soft smile despite the fact you couldn't meet his gaze for more than a few seconds. If it weren't for the fact that he was criminally attractive and you've had trouble maintaining eye contact since you were a kid.
Lucky for you, Bucky isn't put off by this. To him, it was amusing that he'd meet someone who needed to work on looking people in the eye more and he needed to do the exact opposite.
You dropped your plum in your plastic bag before slinging it over your shoulder, catching Bucky's attention. The gentlemen in him wanted to offer his assistance.
"Need some help with those?" Bucky offered, gesturing to your bag.
You looked up at Bucky before averting your gaze again and shook your head. "No, I'm good. I appreciate it though."
As fate would have it, your plastic bag suddenly tore open and spilled out the contents of all the fruits and vegetables you had purchased earlier. "Goddammit..."
You thank whatever God was out there to have Bucky not only get you a reusable bag but also replace the produce you had dropped earlier and carry them back to your car for you.
"You seriously didn't have to do all this. I appreciate it. What do I owe you?" you asked, rummaging in your purse for your wallet.
"That's not necessary. I couldn't leave you standing there with all your groceries on the ground. It's on me. Seriously." Bucky said.
"Well, do I at least get the name of my knight and shining armor?" you teased.
"Call me James," Bucky chuckled.
"Well, James, are you sure there isn't something I can do to make it up to you?"
Bucky stood there, pretending to think it over before he answered. "How about a cup of coffee?"
And that was what led to your and Bucky's first date together at a local coffee shop. Even though he said you'd owe him a coffee, he insisted on paying for yours and whatever meal you wanted to go with it. You'd spend the afternoon talking about various topics from your interests to your job and family.
Throughout the conversation, you'd struggle to maintain eye contact and talk with your hands as if to compensate for it. Despite this, Bucky remained laser-focused on your conversation, taking the occasional sip of his drink.
One date led to several more where you both could get to know each other and spend more time together. By the fifth date, You had invited Bucky to your place and cooked dinner. Even though Bucky thought it was cute the way you'd shy away from him if he stared a little too long, he suggested a little exercise with you to help with eye contact.
"You want me to what?" You stared at him confused.
"Turn your chair and face me," Bucky grabbed his chair and put it in front of you as you stayed seated.
"We're gonna do a little exercise."
You stared at him warily, earning a laugh from him. "Trust me, it's nothing weird. I promise. I've done it in therapy."
This only confused you further as Bucky had you stand up from your chair and turn it so they were facing each other. "What kind of exercises are you doing in therapy exactly?"
"It's a staring exercise," Bucky revealed. "I've noticed for a while now that you have this habit of looking away from me when I talk to you. And what better person than the guy with a staring problem to help you work on that?"
As embarrassed as you felt Bucky recognizing your bad habit, you decided it wouldn't hurt to give his exercise a try and scoot your chairs in closer together as he instructed until your knees are touching.
"Okay, so, I just stare at you, right? For how long?" You asked.
"How about thirty seconds?" Bucky suggested.
Thirty seconds of eye contact sounded like torture, but you wanted to try getting out of your comfort zone, so you agreed. Unfortunately, it only takes about ten seconds before you break eye contact when you try to have a conversation with him.
"Ah! See, you did it again!" Bucky called you out, making you whine in protest. "I wanna see those pretty eyes of yours."
You felt your face burn hot as Bucky gently grabbed your chin in his hand, forcing you to meet his gaze. "Look at me. I wanna look at you, Doll."
You inhaled sharply at the new nickname, your eyes staring back into his warm blue eyes. Bucky smiled at you, his thumb gently stroking your cheek as you held his gaze. "That's my girl."
