Matchmaker Matchmakers 🎄🎄
Request from @jbuckybarnesfan
"I was just wondering if you're still taking requests, could you do one where Bucky & reader have a crush on each other, neither one will do anything for fear of getting hurt/rejected & it takes Steve, Sam, Natasha, & Wanda to do a WHOLE LOT of match making?!?!?!?! Thanks!! "
Pairing: Avenger Bucky Barnes x Avenger Reader
Summary: You have been in love with Bucky, he loves you right back but neither of you want to make a move, Tony & the gang aren't as willing to wait as long as you two though.
Word Count: 6.5k
Warnings: Fluff, evil masterminding, Bucky with a boner, swearing, angst.
Graphics: @firefly-graphics
A/N: Thank you so much for the request, I loved writing it & always love a fluffy Bucky & at this time of year it had to be Christmas themed. Chapter 4 of Your Love Gets Sweeter Everyday will be up on Saturday FYI.
Anything small & italic is a flashback to the meddling.
Life in the Avengers tower was finally calming down for the Christmas break, it always surprised you that world ending threats typically had a shut down period allowing you some time off, kind of considerate if you think about it. Your fellow team members were your family, you were all each other had so typically your festive period would be spent in New York, surrounded by Tony’s ostentatious decorations, ridiculous parties & most importantly the love of your life Bucky Barnes.
Except he didn’t know he was the love of your life, you had been pining for him for years, he was an absolute flirt with you at times, especially when he had some of Thor’s Asgardian ale, so you forever got your hopes up just to have them dashed each time. It hurt & would inevitably lead to an intervention from Natasha & Wanda, they would beg you to make the move, put yourself out there for him to take but you couldn’t face the idea of rejection & ruining a great friendship you had built.
Your lazy morning lounging around the living area had been rudely interrupted by a far too perky Steve Rogers & Sam Wilson after their 10 mile run in the freezing cold, you had practically become one with Bucky on the sofa trying to steal some of his body heat having refused to put more appropriate clothing on, your cotton pj shorts & hoodie were too comfy to swap so you just attached yourself to him as you watched TV.
Slowly the other team members filtered in to join you, all rolling their eyes seeing their desperately in love friends snuggling on the sofa living in denial that the other felt the same, suffering through the sickeningly sweet way you would treat each other, Tony was constantly on the brink of just shouting it out loud for you both to hear, admit your feelings & stop this charade.
After a vomit inducing tickle fight during the commercial break with you constantly telling him you were too cold Bucky threw you over his shoulder & declared that you could watch the movie together in bed where it was warm, leaving the other Avengers shaking their heads at the pair of you yet again ditching them to be alone.
When the coast was clear Tony let out a big sigh pinching the bridge of his nose, ‘ok I’m just going to say the thing I shouldn’t say.’
‘Tony’ Steve warned, sensing he was about to say something reckless involving his best friend & the girl he was hopelessly in love with.
‘No Capsical, anyone else absolutely sick of them tip toeing around each other?’
‘Absolutely yes, I swear if he flirts with her one more time & wimps out of asking her out I’m going to the press to tell them in detail what a pussy the winter solider is.’ Wanda declared.
‘Well, the bet we had going was only fun for the 1st year & seen as everyone timed out, I think it’s about time we do some meddling to get those idiots together.’
‘They’ll get together when they’re ready Stark.’ Steve was ever the optimist which frustrated Tony no end sometimes, he was sure Bucky would eventually confess how he felt, with what he had been through it was totally understandable to be hesitant & he didn’t want to push his best friend too much.
‘No Rogers, they’re wasting time & they will regret the chances missed if they’re not careful.’
‘So how do we play this?’ Natasha was all in, she was the one that had to deal with you moping around when you got down about being in love with someone who you didn’t think felt the same, so if a bit of matchmaking got you everything you had ever wanted she was ready to meddle.
Tony drummed his fingers on his chin like he didn’t already have a plan in place, ‘I’m betting tin man is the jealous type?’.
Sam nodded, ‘Bingo, he once threatened me once because I helped her get a mug down from a shelf instead of him.’
‘Wow, ok jealously we can do, anything else?’
‘They need to be alone; we disturb them all the time & he hates it, that’s why he just runs off with her.’ Everyone looked at Wanda puzzled as to why Bucky would share that information with her. ‘What? He has very loud thoughts sometimes.’
‘Ok ok, my brain is concocting some things, keep going.’
You felt sick, dread, a tidal wave of unease at the situation you found yourself in, singles night at the tower was apparently a genius idea by the not so single Tony Stark, agents & avengers paddling in the dating pool with each other, that meant you were being forced to socialise with people’s who’s names you definitely forgot & worse still Bucky would be inundated with pretty women throwing themselves at him & you would have to sit & watch.
Tony had declared himself the host, allegedly come up with an indisputable personality algorithm that would match you with people on your frequency & then the compatible pairs have 10 minute dates, all whilst enjoying the finest Christmas cocktails & festive music. The idea that the Avengers sat down & the agents were the ones being herded around gave you a major ick & you tried to get out of it several times from the moment of inception but here you were, sat down waiting for the 1st round hoping it would be over & done with sooner than later.
‘How to get tin man jealous in one simple step, well several & lots of planning by yours truly. Gather round children & listen to a genius at work.’
Nat couldn’t help an eyeroll, ‘So modest.’
‘I know, tis the season of goodwill so how about a little gathering & I host a Love Train speed dating night, I’ll send round some personality tests & match avengers with agents after passing this with HR so we’re not violating anything of course.’
‘How is setting them up with other people going to bring them together Mr Stark?’ Tony clutched his chest & scrunched his face at the naivety of the young Avenger.
‘Oh Peter my dear child, we don’t pair them with their actual matches, we pick the worst ones so they have a miserable time & instead of one guy, Barnes can freak out over the fact he has 10 people to compete with. Whaddya say kids, who’s up for some flirting with a martini for true love?’
‘I told you I’m not getting involved Tony.’ Steve’s blank expression hadn’t changed at the ridiculous suggestion from the so called genius.
‘How about I invite that brunette you ogle at every training exercise Rogers, Lorenza is it?’ His raised eyebrows irritated the Super Solider no end, but he wasn’t about to turn down that invitation.
‘Fine I’ll participate in the dates but that’s it. I don’t want the blame when this all blows up on your face.’
‘It won’t, who knows if she’ll even get to the 2nd date. He’ll probably just throw her over his shoulder & march off with her.’
Steve pondered the thought for a moment crossing his arms over his chest, ‘Well don’t come crying to me when he does & still doesn’t say anything to her.’
Well Phil or was it Paul? No Phil was fine, a bit plain & boring, it made you think that this was your ‘frequency’ the way Tony kept bigging up his personality test bullshit, hold up, were you boring? No, no, it must have been a glitch, was he 6ft, broad, dark haired & blue eyed? No, so therefore wasn’t your type, he didn’t stare once not even a glare, ugh, so once he had left the table you added a cross to his box. Next.
By round 5 you started to believe you must be the worst person in the world, you & Bucky had spent the night exchanging looks, silently communicating the absolute torture of the night, everyone else looked like they were having a blast typically. You quickly downed your drink ready for the next guy, hoping to God this one could hold a conversation, so you didn’t have to do all the work, 10 minutes was a surprisingly long time.
‘That bad darlin’?’
You looked up at the man sat directly in front of you, of course you hadn’t heard him sit down, he moved like a ghost sometimes, your face lit up & for the first time that night you smiled.
‘Bucky, what are you doing?’
‘Looks like I’m number 6 on your list.’ He made a show out of crossing out whoever was on his list & replacing it with your name & gestured you to do the same as you giggled at how silly he was being. Of course that 10 minutes flew by, you were lost in each other talking about the usual nonsense you always did & when the inevitable bell sounded your shoulders hunched & you stuck your lip out in protest, before you knew it a vibranium thumb was releasing your pout & you were stuck in his gaze wanting him to lean in, to just sweep you off your feet & not have to endure anymore of this nonsense.
A not-so-subtle cough from suitor number 7 sounded next to you & you gave him a scowl even the Winter Solider would have been proud of, Bucky released your face & stood up, squaring up to the agent who cowered under the intense scrutiny the solider studied him with.
Bucky leant down to your ear, ‘Say the word Doll & I’ll throw you over my shoulder & we can get out of here.’
You giggled shaking your head whispering back ‘it would be rude, come get me after number 10.’
‘I’ll be counting down the minutes flower.’
He gave you a quick kiss on the cheek & headed back to his table where Becki from the sniper team was sitting, ugh they had things in common, damn algorithm.
The night finally wrapped up when Tony gathered the team, in typical Bucky fashion he had scooped you up on the final bell, you had barely finished the cross next to the absolute misogynist you had just endured 10 minutes with before he picked you up from your chair, he deposited the forms with the smug host & took you for some one-on-one time.
‘Great work team, that was a complete success.’ Tony brushed his hands off like everything was taken care of, Nat, Thor & Sam weren’t seeing things quite in the same light.
‘They were constantly staring at each other, ignoring their dates & then Bucky threatened one of her matches & took his place’, Steve boasted knowing this plan wouldn’t work.
‘Hmm & I so happen to know that they only ticked each other, no one else.’ He wafted the score cards in the air for effect. ‘I swear to god these two are going to give me an aneurism with how sweet they are on each other.’
‘So, it was a complete fail.’ Sam added.
‘Absolutely not, I’m percolating & concocting as I speak.’ He wiggled his eye brows as the next stage of getting you both together came to him, ‘All’s fair & love & war, right?’
The next morning you walked into the kitchen noticing a few of your friends were attempting to soothe a hangover, you felt fresh as a daisy with Bucky cutting your night short, you ended up walking around the grounds of the compound together sharing stories of the evening, particularly getting caught up with Steve’s interest in one of the agents who seemed equally infatuated with him.
‘Hear ye hear ye, the results are in of the Avengers love train singles night, the numbers have been counted & verified & ladies, gentlemen, Super Soldiers & Gods we have a winner.’
You could see Nat wince at how boisterous & loud he was being, you threw him a bone though & took the bait, ‘How is there a winner?’
‘There’s always a winner dear child & you girl are IT. You officially got the most numbers hot stuff, enjoy your gift card to the Olive Garden for being the most prestigious bachelorette in the building.’
‘Eww please don’t call me hot stuff … & seriously, more than Nat?’
Bucky’s jaw felt like it was going to crumble he was clenching his teeth so intensely, Steve tried to offer a sympathetic smile to his old friend, but it didn’t stop Bucky’s pulse from racing, his stomach bile from rising & the potential bottom lip from trembling at the thought of him losing you to some random agent.
‘And don’t think I didn’t see you two getting your 10 minutes in, that one was null & void.’
He threw the envelope of the potential suitors to you along with the gift card, you leant over to your super soldier wiggling the gift card & whispered ‘Fancy dinner on Tony?’
‘I heard that.’
‘I meant you to.’
Without hesitation he threw you over his shoulder & marched you out the room so you could get ready for dinner.
‘Well, that was another utter failure & why is he always carrying her places?’ Scott was now officially Team Iron man in getting you two together, his plan for a love heist had been benched for now after Tony heard his pitch & tried not to laugh at how ridiculous it was. Shrinking yourself down & acting as a devil on the shoulder constantly telling him to ‘kiss the girl’ was not a heist, it was a scene directly out of The Little Mermaid.
‘Did you not see him? An absolute success. That will fester I guarantee it.’ Tony sat drumming his fingers against themselves like some sort of stereotypical evil mastermind. ’On to part two of my plan.’
You couldn’t believe it, a week before Christmas & you were assigned a mission, a mission in the freezing cold tundra, a dead end & a never ending search for a safe house. Thankfully you were paired with Bucky, his survival skills made up for your lack of wilderness exploring experience, you were trying not to moan too much, but you were so fucking cold, your skin stung like it was being repeatedly stabbed with needles & the boredom had kicked in miles ago, you were on the verge of doing a slut drop into the fresh powdery snow for some entertainment.
‘Bucky I’m so booorrrreddd.’ You whined.
‘Not far Doll I promise, then we can get you warm.’
‘How far? & hold up, how did you know I’m cold.’
‘A couple of miles, & I’m cold so I figured Miss ‘I’m freezing’ stood in a desert must be a solid ice block by now.’ He chuckled at the memory & how much he appreciated your cold body pressing against his in the middle of a sand dune.
‘The wind was chillyyyy.’ You wined; they wouldn’t ever let that go.
‘Only to you Darlin’. What can I do to make you unbored?’
‘Dunno, can’t play I spy, hmmm how about we talk. Done all your Christmas shopping?’
‘Almost, one left to get. You?’
‘Yes. I do mine all through the year, I see something & think hmm that’s something Bucky would want & I buy it.’ You seemed to find a lot more things for him though so your backlog of gifts for him sat in your closet, wrapped & waiting for any occasion to give him one. He always laughed when you celebrated even the most miniscule achievement, ‘you didn’t threaten Sam today, here’s a gift.’, ‘Oh you smiled at a pedestrian instead of scowling, here’s a gift.’.
‘But what about the secret Santa?’
‘I prepare in advance & have a list of what I would get everyone, then once I know the name I go get it.’
‘Who’d ya get?’
‘Not telling you.’ You shook your head & crossed your arms defiantly, he may have been a trained assassin, but you could outsmart his interrogation if you needed to.
‘Come onnnn.’
‘No, it’s secret Santa, not tell your bestie Santa.’
‘Hmmm, I’ll get it out of ya before we get back to New York darlin’.’
‘Good luck.’
‘Speaking of which, did you get any luck from the singles night?’
You wondered why he had asked it, you never mentioned dating to each other, you wanted to keep your head buried in the sand regarding his love life & you figured he didn’t really care about yours or lack thereof. Tony had given your number to a select few agents who scored the highest with you & you had been texting them which was a nice distraction from your pining for the 6ft Super Solider currently acting as your windbreaker against the frigid air but there was nothing to it, you wouldn’t ever see them outside of work.
‘Well, as you know I was the champion.’
‘Of course you were.’ He practically sighed out the sentence.
‘Well I’ve been texting a couple of the matches, Toni gave my number to the ones that seemed semi-normal.’
‘Oh.’
He regretted asking the second it left his lips, but he’d been losing sleep since Tony gave you the envelope, wondering if he lost his chance, but when Tony specifically mentioned that his date with you was null & void he had hoped you’d put a tick next to his name. He wanted to throw up because now he got his answer, you weren’t interested, never would be, he knew it, Steve almost convinced him you were into him but why would someone with as much going for them as you choose a 106 year old broken ex-brainwashed assassin.
The cabin was finally within touching distant, Bucky had been pretty silent after he picked up the pace, you tried pulling some kind of conversation out of him, but he wasn’t being very forthcoming, so you decided to conserve your energy & just focus on getting to the safe house.
Your feet were numb, your fingers were hurting from being so cold, you were chilled to the bone & your teeth uncontrollably chattering. Bucky was constantly checking over his shoulder on you, he knew he had to get you some shelter & warmth, he was trying not to get mad at you, he had absolutely no reason to, but it hurt & right now being alone with you would be too much, to have everything he wanted be so close, but always out of reach felt cruel. Why did he have to ask? He was looking forward to having some one-on-one time with you, he always got so annoyed when the others insisting on crashing your movie nights or when you made him dinner after missions away, he would always end up just picking you up & running off with you to have you to himself.
Your limbs felt like lead when you stumbled up the stairs & they quickly gave way underneath you & you braced yourself ready to hit the deck only to be caught by a warm pair of Super Solider arms.
‘Fuck, you’re blue darlin’, why didn’t you tell me you were this cold?’
Bucky was desperate to open the cabin, he stopped short of kicking the door in when the latch finally gave way, he didn’t know how the fuck the technology worked in the place to put the heating on, but he could start a fire. He sat you on the dust covered sofa & quickly stripped off his jacket wrapping it around you, holding your frozen fingers to his mouth & blowing firmly on them to heat you up.
‘You stay here, I’m going to see if there’s any blankets in the bedrooms that I can grab for you.’
You nodded, teeth still chattering as you struggled to speak as Bucky darted in & out behind doors, he finally found the bedroom.
‘You’ve got to be fucking kiddin’ me.’
One bed.
‘Honestly, I should be an evil mastermind, I don’t know how I think these things up I really don’t, quick someone go & get Alpine, so I can pet him & go through part two.’
‘Just get on with it T.’ Bruce pleaded at this point, he had no idea why he was getting involved in all this, like Steve he thought you guys would get together in your own time.
‘So the jealousy is taken care of, that will eat away at Barnes, so how about we sort out some alone time? I’m thinking abandoned hydra base with some critical intel planted in the computer, log cabin safe house, a short trek through a snowy ravine. Oh, maybe when they arrive there’s no heat & they have to warm each other up.’
‘You’re not turning the heating off if there’s snow on the ground Tony.’
‘A bit of mild hypothermia won’t kill them Cap.’
‘Absolutely not Tony, Buck will be fine, she will not.’ Steve very firmly stated resulting nothing but an eye roll from the eccentric billionaire.
‘I swore Bucky took her to burning man once & she wore a coat. Keeping her in the freezing cold intentionally would be like torture.’ Sam warned, yes, he wanted you both together, but Tony’s plans were getting out of control.
‘That’s kinda my point, she’ll be freezing & he’ll be the human hot water bottle needed to warm her up. Oh & guess what, there’s only one bed.’
Nat shook her head grimacing at how Tony’s mind worked, ‘You’ve been reading too many romance novels.’
‘Absolute classic trope & yes, I enjoy fingering through Ms Potts bedtime novels on occasion.’
Sam looked horrified, ‘Eww come on dude.’
‘It’s true, look, what is Bucky an expert in? … apart from scowling? Surviving. I’m pretty sure he spent 50 years in Russia, so he knows how to efficiently heat someone up.’ He wiggled his eyes at Natasha knowing she also obtained these crucial survival skills during her time as a black widow.
‘Oh god Tony, no, she will be mortified.’ As the red head shook her head once more Tony was nodding enthusiastically with a smug grin on his face.
Looking completely lost in what was being implied Scott perked up ‘What, what did I miss?’
Nat sighed, hoping you didn’t have to resort to this if Tony had the gall to set you up, ‘The quickest way to heat someone up safely is skin to skin contact so they’ll have to strip down & cuddle up against each other mostly naked.’
‘Hey presto, there’s a hot rod waiting for entry. Nat, you’re in charge of packing her most scandalous underwear.’
‘That’s it, too far.’ Steve stormed out.
Tony rolled his eyes at the Super Soldier’s dramatics, ‘Such a prude. She’ll thank me when she’s hanging off the grumpy guys arm.’
‘I’m so glad you said arm.’
Bucky had been frantically searching for any kind of heat source to help heat you up, the fire he had started was just beginning to take hold, but you were still ice cold & lethargic.
‘Not long til we get you warm darlin’, Just think of the time I bundled ya in 4 duvets wrapped up like a little burrito & Alpine was ticklin’ ya feet.’ He rubbed his hands up & down your arms trying to generate some friction as you managed a smile at the memory.
‘K.’ You could feel yourself shutting down, everything was numb, but it was like your brain was working in slow motion.
Bucky suddenly appeared in your vision, ‘Sweetheart you’re going to have to get close to me, so my body heat will help regulate your temperature.’
You nodded holding out your arms, ‘k’.
‘No darlin, really close. I mean skin on skin, we’re both going to have to strip down & lay in front of the fire to get you warm as soon as possible.’
Bucky could see you slowly processing what he meant, you were trying to wrap your head around the idea of seeing Bucky practically naked & for him to see you, thank the Gods for Natasha insisting you pack nice underwear just in case anything happened & you needed cutting out your suit. That woman thought of every eventuality known to man.
Your fingers were trembling as you attempted to unzip your coat, he could see you struggling, ‘here let me sweetheart.’ Bucky let out breath, when he imagined stripping you of your clothes it was always under different circumstances, in one swift motion he unzipped you & began to remove your clothes making sure to keep his eyes on your face.
He worked quickly to strip himself & put down some cushions in front of the fire, before removing the last of your layers, he manoeuvred you to the makeshift bed careful to not look, stubbing his toe in the process. You giggled at how respectful he was being, you can’t say you hadn’t had a cheeky glance at him, you couldn’t be blamed with him being all muscle & vibranium stood in his scandalously small black boxers & it certainly helped in increasing your body temperature, ‘Y … You can look Buck.’
You watched as his gaze slowly moved down your body, he gulped trying not to look as desperate as he was feeling & prayed to everything holy that he didn’t get hard, but as he pulled you down on top of him he knew that prayer wasn’t going to be answered. He felt you breathe a sigh of relief as he covered you with the two coats & wrapped his arms around you, tucking yourself into the crook of his neck.
Experiencing Bucky’s surprisingly soft skin against yours was so comforting, it was something you had both done clothed many times before, but this time it felt so different, so intimate & everything you had been imagining when you allowed yourself to dream of waking up in his arms every day.
The feeling was finally coming back in your limbs & with it, a mild tingling which had you wriggling in his arms, trying to rid yourself of the pins & needles plaguing you. You definitely felt it, you knew he had registered the contact when he suddenly took a sharp intake of air, you wanted to read into this; that he wanted you, there were many times you had been in this position & he never showed any signs of anything in that region, but it was there plain as day. It would be so easy to kiss him, to finally have what you’ve been pining for, but you were so fed up of being disappointed you had to rationalise it as the lack of clothes & rubbing, just biology, nothing more.
He whispered under his breath ‘sorry’ mortified that you felt his arousal, he was always so good at deflecting your attention when you made him hard.
‘It’s ok.’ You placed a kiss on his skin landing right on his collarbone.
His eyes fluttered shut at the feeling of his lips on his neck, he wanted to flip you over & cover you in them, ‘Not helping Darlin.’
‘Sorry.’ You giggled wanting to do it again, to see how long he’d have it, you wanted to feel every inch of him pressed against you.
‘I forgot to tell ya sweetheart, I found the bedroom, but we’ll have to share.’
‘Hmm.’
‘Once we’re warm we’ll settle in for the night.’
You tried to keep your smile hidden at the thought of waking up with him, you may have watched movies cuddled up in bed, but you never stopped the night in each other’s rooms, this was definitely a first.
You woke to a smiley content Super Solider looking at you, if you let yourself get carried away you would have thought it was a look of love, but he probably was just glad you made it through the night, with his furnace like body glued to you there wasn’t a chance you’d freeze. He had spent an hour watching you sleep, you looked like an angel in his arms, the heating had somehow turned on by itself & even though he knew you’d be warm he couldn’t bear to let you go, if this was the only time this happened he was determined to memorise every second.
Christmas Eve was always a special night in the tower filled with traditions, you would always have an over the top meal prepared by Tony’s chef accompanied by Wanda’s famously delicious eggnog, once you were all suitably merry you would play pool & darts, which Bucky & Clint naturally excelled in, you did not. Then it would be time for Secret Santa followed by a Christmas movie, you were so excited to get Bucky this year, when you pulled his name out of the hat you almost squealed knowing how many gifts you could give him.
‘Ok, so the speed dating & the Cabin didn’t yield the results as quickly as anticipated.’ Tony declared disappointed, he had fully expected the Super Soldier to be carrying you down the Quinjet’s ramp declaring your love for one another, instead he was greeted by a pissed off Bucky interrogating him as to why the Cabin’s heating was broken & something about you nearly losing a finger.
‘They were a total failure & you almost gave her pneumonia.’
‘You best not be Team Cap now Lang.’
‘Absolutely not Iron Man.’ Scott reassured with a thumbs up.
‘Good thing I already anticipated these two being as stubborn as mules, so my final play is going to be Secret Santa.’
Scott completely misinterpreting his suggestion couldn’t help commenting, ‘She sits on his lap all the time so I don’t think him pretending to be Santa & asking her if she’s been naughty will do the trick.’
Somehow Natasha was seeing the funny side of all these ridiculous ploys, ‘You know she’d say she’s been a bad girl.’
‘No, eww no … but you’re right.’
Nat raised her brow with a smirk.
‘We rig it, she picks him, he picks her & then we swap out the gifts before they open them.’ Tony stated like it was as simple as that.
‘What do we swap them to?’
‘Maybe a note that says I am in love with you?’, not his finest idea but he was running low at this point.
‘They’re not in kindergarten, how about we really set them up, one of us talks to each of them & get them to confess their feelings, we record it & it plays when they open the gift.’
Tony’s eyes were wide at the former Spy, ‘That is an absolute invasion of their privacy … & genius.’
‘I’ll talk to her.’ Nat
‘I’ve got him’ Sam
You had just finished a game of round the clock on the dart board, as per usual you were last even with Bucky helping, you didn’t see the eye rolls from the team when he was pressed up against you whispering in your ears with his hands on you, guiding you into the perfect shot that you fluffed each time being so utterly flustered by him.
You all crammed in the lounge area, every available chair occupied by an Avenger, you opted to sit on the floor between Bucky’s legs as Tony distributed the secret Santa gifts. You wanted to look back at Bucky to see his reaction, so you twisted yourself around, you his gift wasn’t the one you wrapped, but before you could say anything Tony declared ‘3,2,1 OPEN’ & everyone followed the order.
You removed the paper eager to work out who chose your name from whatever you received, you were usually fairly astute in guessing, in a modern sleek frame sat Bucky’s speed dating card, all names crossed out except one tick next to your name that he scribbled down. You smiled, running your fingers across the glass, wondering who gave it you. At the same time Bucky had opened your framed card, all names crossed out except his along with a couple of heart doodles, a warm smile burst on his face, he knew you ticked him from the way Tony said it was null & void. He decided one way or another he was going to put his cards on the table tonight & see how you felt, he had already planned on doing it with another gift, but this cemented it in his head, surely this was a sign but maybe you were just being you, of course you’d tick him over the others the way you described them. He was so torn on what to do.
Before you all settled down for the film you needed a quick bathroom break after all Wanda’s Eggnog, ‘I’m just going to the ladies, be right back.’ You pushed yourself off the floor & headed out the door.
Steve immediately sat at Bucky’s side whilst Tony & ‘Team Iron Man’ gathered in the corner fuming that neither of you pressed the play button on the frame to hear each other’s confession, whisper yelling at each other about making the frames auto play.
‘You need to tell her Buck.’
‘She’s talking to other guys from the speed dating night Steve, I told you she’s not interested.’
‘She isn’t talking to anyone, she was being polite & messaged them back after Tony gave her number out but that’s it.’ He had asked you about it after Bucky destroyed four punching bags when you arrived back from the mission.
‘But what if she says no & I ruin our friendship?’
‘It wont. Look, what if someone comes along & you lose her? Do you really want to spend the rest of your life wondering what she would have said? Just go find her & tell her.’
Steve left him contemplating, he could hear whispering, but it didn’t really pay it attention with the possibility of laying his heart out on a plate for you, his feet were moving before his mind gave him chance to think & he followed in the direction of where you would be.
You found Bucky mid thought pacing outside the bathroom, clearly lost somewhere in his head & you startled him as you spoke.
‘You ok honey?’
This was it, he had to say something.
‘Yeah, sure, erm, can I talk to you?’
‘Sure.’
He gently moved you to one side & you could see how nervous he was looking, your eyes darting around his face trying to find some clue on why he was acting so shifty, so nervous almost & then you spotted it.
Mistletoe, hung right above your head & your breath caught making Bucky’s eyes travel up to see what you were looking at.
This was it.
You turned your cheek & pointed to it ready for him to give you a peck, that was usually what happened when you were both caught under some, you realised after the first disappointment that he was too much of a gentleman to kiss you on the lips.
His hands cupped your face & he gently turned your face to look at him, his eyes darting around your face, focusing on your lips, before pulling you closer & pressing his mouth to yours, you wanted to cry, this was everything you ever wanted but you knew would be ripped away a moment later.
Bucky only pressed further, harder until you mouth parted & he deepened the kiss, one arm moved around your waist so your bodies were joined, you followed his lead wrapping your arms around him holding him as close as you could, fearing he could disappear from your grasp any moment.
When he pulled away for air your lips followed him, but he didn’t waste a single moment staring into your eyes & finally telling you how he felt, ‘I love you.’
With that he took your breath away entirely, you were sure this was a dream, maybe you were still in that cabin, your body & mind shutting down & this was your comforting final moments dreaming of words you had waited so long to hear, they were all you needed to die happy.
He could see you lost, from the way you kissed him he knew his feelings were reciprocated so he just needed you mind to catch up with him, those familiar crystal blue eyes met yours, your sob came next & finally you jumped up in his arms, tears streaming down your face with a smile he wouldn’t ever forget.
‘I love you too Bucky, so so much.’ He held you around him & your lips met again, hungrier than the first, hands exploring each other’s bodies as he pushed you against the nearest wall, trying to control himself as much as he could.
Steve & Tony watched as you & Bucky finally confessed to each other how you felt, once it got a little heated they decided to give you some privacy & headed back to the others.
‘I didn’t even get mistletoe. Pepper said it’s a sexual harassment lawsuit waiting to happen so banned it.’
Steve looked at the puzzled hero somewhat smugly ‘hmm must be some kind of Christmas miracle’
He stopped in his tracks pointing an accusing finger at the blonde Super Solider, ‘Hold on, you did this? You said you weren’t going to meddle.’
‘I didn’t meddle, I just strategically put up some flowers, they stood under them.’
‘It’s mistletoe dude, you have to kiss it’s the law.’
‘Maybe, but I hoped that it would get them to act on their feelings instead of it being a throw away kiss.’
‘You sneaky son of a … they’ll name their first kid after you now instead of me, all the effort I went to as well. Unbelievable.’
You both returned to the lounge hand in hand, having been clearly sharing some intense kisses from swollen red lips you were both sporting so inebriated with each other you didn’t even notice all the eyes glued to you.
‘What the hell guys, we missed it?’
Tony & Steve smugly sat watching the realisation from each of your friends that you were finally on the same page as you both stood smiling like fools in love, Bucky couldn’t resist kissing you in between answering the questions you were being bombarded with how exactly it happened.
Sam was the first one to react, ‘Mistletoe, that’s seriously all it took?’ He was practically beside himself laughing, ‘So all Tony’s matchmaking shit was a waste of time?’
You both turned to him somewhat confused, ‘What do you mean matchmaking?’
A/N: Is everyone (who is celebrating) ready for Christmas, I've bought all the gifts but not in the Christmas spirit at all, watching Christmas with the Kranks to try & make me feel any kind of festive!