Trying Your Luck - Bucky BarnesxOC

Part 3: Third Date

"We're not friends. Help me move this couch."

"Tell me and I'll help you move this couch."

"...No. I haven't gotten laid yet — there's an art to courtship, Sam. I haven't even given her my phone number yet. We text on this thing."

He holds out the Tinder phone and Sam laughs, shaking his head.

"Have you kissed her yet?"

Bucky looks at the floor and sighs. He doesn't want to screw this up. Shannon makes him laugh. She's nice to him. Much nicer than he deserves. She figured out pretty quickly that most of his Tinder profile was bullshit and set up by someone else. Mostly because he couldn't name a single Rihanna song and told her that his favorite movie was Gone With the Wind — not Godzilla. If Sam ever found out about that, he would never let Bucky live it down. He cried when he saw it in the theater when it came out in 1939. And then he walked right out of the movie and bought a ticket for the next showing.

Sam chuckles and stands up, lifting one end of the couch while Bucky lifts the other. They walk backward into the living room effortlessly and set it down in front of the television. Sam kicks Bucky's blankets and sad pillow out of the way before he flops down onto the sofa.

"Are you seeing her tonight?"

"Yeah. At seven. I'm going to her place. She's cooking dinner."

"Oh-ho-ho-ho!" Sam laughs, clapping and rubbing his hands together.

"What?"

"A woman cooking for you? You'd better give her something in return for doing all of that hard work."

He doesn't want to rush into this. It might just be too much for him. For Bucky, the only times he's touching someone is when he's beating them into a pulp. He knows what he's capable of, what he's done. He knows he has the capacity to cause intense pain and destruction. The last time he was really with a woman was at Stark Expo. It's been so long since he felt warmth like that. His stomach bubbles and works itself into a series of knots. Sam looks up at him.

"You okay?"

Bucky nods, trying not to be sick on himself. Is that what she's expecting? He knows how relationships are supposed to go. It's not like he lost any of those desires over the years. It's just that... it's a lot of pressure. Sam reaches over and claps him on the shoulder.

"Hey, look, man. I gotta jet. But good luck with Shannon tonight, okay? And try to have fun. Let go a little. Maybe kiss her, or at least tell her that you like her. Women appreciate affection."

Bucky nods as Sam drifts out of the living room. He pulls out his phone and opens Tinder.

What kind of wine do you like?

~~~

Bucky approaches Shannon's building with a bottle of Pinot Noir clutched in his hand. The apartment building is much nicer than his. The lobby has marble floors and a plush red carpet. There are pillars. How does she afford this? What kind of restaurant does she work at? Bucky suddenly feels underdressed and takes a deep breath as he approaches the buzzer. There are so many buttons and there's no directory. He sighs.

"Not again with the buttons and shit," he mumbles to himself. The directory is all by last name. He sighs and hears the door open behind him.

"James?"

Shannon appears, as if by magic. Her strawberry blonde hair is curled and she's wearing a black turtleneck and black jeans. There's a shopping bag clutched in her hand. Bucky tries not to stammer.