Marvel Imagines (x Fem!Reader)

Half a Man (PART TWO): Bucky Barnes x Baker!Reader

YN smiled as the customer rattled around in her purse for the extra few dollars needed for her order. It was getting increasingly obvious that she wasn't going to find it, so YN clenched her teeth in irritation, painting her smile wider, the feeling pulling the skin over her cheeks tighter.

"It's fine, I can cover the five dollars." YN murmured, loud enough for the woman to hear, but not the customers behind her, that YN had barely had a chance to glance at. "The order will be ready around eleven thirty."

"Can you not make it earlier?" YN swallowed an impolite reply, slightly annoyed that the woman was asking more form the baker, even after she had been spared the remainder of her charge.

"There are a lot of orders that have been placed today, so unfortunately-"

"Look, whatever," the woman scoffed, zipping up her purse and taking the invoice from YN's hand. "I'll see you tomorrow at eleven."

Blinking, YN watched the woman leave, her hand coming up to scratch at her scalp in confusion. The next customer stepped forward after YN placed the order out the back, and YN opened her mouth to greet them accordingly, when the words dried up in her throat, the sight before her making the hair on her neck stand on end.

"Hi, YN." YN clenched her teeth at the blonde man, his smile hesitant. "I hope you don't mind me coming in, I'm sure you're busy-"

"You would be correct." YN interrupted him, stepping away from the counter. "I have about fifteen orders that I haven't even started yet-"

"It's about Bucky." Steve blurted, wincing when he saw the color drain from the baker's cheeks.

"It's always about Bucky." YN gritted out, hating the malice in her tone. "But today it can't be." Steve opened his mouth to attempt to sway YN again, but the shorter woman shook her head, taking another step toward the kitchen behind her. "I'm sorry, Steve. It's been three months and he hasn't contacted me, I'm trying my best to move on, I would appreciate if you'd let me do that."

Nodding, Steve sighed, looking to his hands that were clasped in front of him. YN turned her back as he heard Steve retreat toward the exit of her shop, her heart beating erratically in her chest. Fists clenched, YN released a loud sigh, nearly cursing when she called out to the blonde man to wait.

"Is he..." YN swallowed, running a hand through her hair in frustration. "Is he okay?"

Steve pursed his lips, his sad blue eyes making YN's stomach tighten in anticipation of his answer. "No," he whispered, shaking his head. "Far from it actually."

The pair were quiet as they walked side by side toward the apartment. YN's throat had had a permanent lump in it since she'd called a colleague to come in to start her long list of orders. Steve had watched with genuine guilt as YN pleaded with her coworker, promising to pick up some shifts in return the next week, making her work week nearly sixty hours.

"Will he even want to see me?" YN murmured as they got to the front door, Steve's keys clinking in his hand. "He left me, if you can't recall."

"Oh, I can recall," Steve chuckled, not an ounce of humor behind the action. "You're all the hope I have, if I'm being honest."

YN swallowed, the accidental pressure Steve was placing on her putting her on edge, more so than the weight of the steps she took toward her ex-boyfriend's bedroom door. Steve stood down the hall, watching with his arms crossed over his broad chest, watching as YN wrung her hands by her side. She was taking deep breaths to try and calm her thumping heart, the organ threatening to beat right out of her chest.

Lifting her fist, YN laid three timid knocks on the wood, the sound echoing through the otherwise silent apartment. A small grunt of annoyance met YN's ear, and she swallowed thickly, her tongue darting out to wet her dry lips. Footsteps could be heard approaching the door and YN instinctively took a few steps of her own back, allowing Bucky his space as the door was pulled open.