Take It Back - Bucky x Reader

In My Veins

Present time

New York City, New York

You feel your stomach drop instantly and Bucky's nostrils flare up in anger. Your stomach is in tight knots and your heart is beating so fast you felt like you were going to pass out. Your head immediately snaps over to Ashlyn who's looking at you with an unreadable face. You swallow nervously. Your palms were sweating and you wanted to run out of there.

This couldn't happen, not now.

Ashlyn says bye to Steve and then walks back to the table. She pulls out her chair slowly, ant agonizingly slow and she sits down just as slow, her left arm on the table. She bites her lip as she takes her napkin off the table and then diligently places it over her lap. She smooths it down and then pulls herself back close to her plate.

She clears her throat and then looks at Bucky and then at you.

You were terrified and Bucky looked pissed. You were waiting for it - for the blow-up.

But it never came.

Instead, Ashlyn clears her throat and picks up her fork. You watch her like a hawk, like waiting for an atomic bomb to go off.

"Okay, so who thinks I put too much salt in this?"

You feel your left hand tighten next to you as only one thought crossed your mind:

Steve Rogers, what did you say.

It was an intense sadness in the pit of your heart.

You hadn't felt the way you were currently feeling since the moment you saw your sister in her wedding dress the night after you slept with Bucky.

You were no longer the martyr you had tried convincing yourself that you were. You feel the heavy air between the three of you and it's hot and tense. It's practically palpable.

You didn't know how much Steve had told Ashlyn, and the last time you spoke to Bucky, he had told you that no man would ever be capable of loving you.

You still feel his intense gaze on you as you manage to your best ability to pick up the fork off your plate. You aim for the little roasted potato bud, missing horribly and catching the edge of the plate.

It bothered you; that heavy gaze. You didn't know why he was looking at you.

Unless he and Ashlyn had spoken to Steve before you walked out and he now knew the real reason you were here.

You didn't want to be on the end receiving on requited love again, not yet anyway.

You were terrified.

The next thirty minutes continue on quietly. Failing miserably, you try to eat as much as you can with your appetite now gone, barely making a dent in the mashed potatoes.

Bucky is the exact opposite, he seems to be in his own little world as he tried to chow down as much as he could, eventually going in for seconds. You avoid his eye, and you avoid the gentle air that blows your way each time he walks past you.

It smells like vanilla.

Ashlyn shoots you occasional glances over her plate that you keep feeling on the side of your face.

You hated this.

You didn't know exactly what it was that Steve told her, and the anticipation of not knowing made your insides burn like a low fire.

You knew that you were sent here with the intention of finally telling your sister and Bucky the truth. But the second you walked in through their door, you felt like you couldn't do it anymore.