Dating Game ☆ Bucky x Reader

Chapter 3

"My what?" You look at her with confusion.

She laughs while taking the last few bites of her food, "Just trust me, would you? I promise it will at the very least be entertaining. Okay, where should we start?" She stands, brushes her hands on her pants, and goes to unzip the suitcase. She pulls out a few dresses and stacks them neatly on the couch.

"You, uh, went all out, didn't you?" you say wondering where she found them on such short notice.

Natalie scoffs, "These are straight out of my closet. I told you it was his favorite bar, didn't I?" she says while holding up each dress, squinting narrowly at you and then at them and back again. She then carefully places them into two separate piles.

You watch her sorting through the outfits, feeling a little unnerved at her constant sizing you up. One dress after another, one pile ends up larger than the other. Suddenly she folds the large pile back into the suitcase and drapes four of them over her arm.

"We aren't exactly the same size, but I think these will fit and look amazing. What?" she says, looking at the quizzical expression on your face.

"Why does this feel like a trap? What's the actual reason you are in my apartment trying to shove me into vintage dresses? And if you have this many you two have to go all the time, huh? So why me?" you ask, the questions just pouring out of your mouth as she is pushing them into your arms.

Natalie's eyebrow arches dramatically as you finally grab the dresses. "That's a lot of questions. First, yes. We are there at least a couple of times a month. It's a nice place. He's not comfortable in many places, but that is one of them. James has been around no one but me for the last little bit, regardless of me trying to force him to be a little more social. He's been through a lot, seclusion isn't the best thing for him," she started to explain, sitting down and looking suddenly very tired, "You are the warmest person I know. I was sort of hoping he would warm up around you, too. Now shoo! Go try those on."

You stand there a little shell shocked at the sudden wave of information. Seeing you freeze, she starts lightly and playfully shoving you towards the bathroom. You stumble your way through the doorway and shut it behind you.

Laying the dresses on the counter, you look at yourself in the mirror. Not expecting company, you were a bit of a mess. You sigh, pull your tank top over your head, and step out of your sweatpants. The first dress was pretty simple. You shimmy into the black, no frills, a-line dress and run your hands down the satiny fabric. It was sleeveless, had a high neckline, and reached just past your knees.

"You done in there?" you hear her voice drift muffled through the closed door.

"Fine, fine, hold on," you mutter as you step out into the apartment and twirl a little.

"Well that's cute," she says, looking you up and down, "Not cute enough, though. Back to the bathroom with you!"

You blink, mildly offended.

You step back into the small bathroom, pulling the dress over your head. You fold the dress neatly and place it on the other side of your sink. The next one in the pile was a decidedly more casual shirtdress. It was sky blue with a pattern of navy flowers along the hem and navy fabric-covered buttons all the way down the front. You loosen the top few, put your arms in the short capped sleeves, and pull it the rest of the way over your head. You look in the mirror as you button it closed and cringe a little. You definitely aren't comfortable in this one.

You step out of the bathroom door and it takes Natalie two seconds to shout, "Nope! Next!" at you. You guess she didn't like it either.

You unbutton the dress and wiggle out of it. There are only two left, both very different but both the same style of pleated dress. The first one was lively with black on white polka dots and a black tulle underskirt peeking out of the bottom. It was a bit on the busy side for you so you grabbed the other and slid it over your head. The pleated skirt was just a little past knee length. It was teal with a white waistband, white collar that hugged your collarbones, and an almost too large white bow off center to the left on the neckline. It seemed a little over the top and silly. You felt like you were getting dressed for an ice cream social.

You open the bathroom door and awkwardly step out into the room, expecting Natalie to send you back into the bathroom once again to try on that insane wall of fluff and dots. You weren't, however, prepared for her jaw to drop.

"Yes! Perfect! Do you have white heels, maybe?" she says appreciatively. She gets up from the couch and walks a circle around you, making sure everything is sitting where it should. "Curl your hair a bit and he'll love it."

"Pardon me? You mean you brought all of that over here because..." you trail off and rub your temples.

"If I know anything in this world it is how to get that man's attention. I did say we've known each other a long time, didn't I?" she grins while you wonder exactly what you have gotten yourself into.