THE FADING FALLEN ● Bucky Barnes X OC ● 18+ ● ENGLISH [COMPLETE]

Chapter 55

"Well, if it isn't the long-lost Skipper of the ship."

Just as Emilia was walking back, the young woman came out of the door of the small restaurant.
A little surprised, Bucky looked at her and smiled.

"Leah, hi."

"Oh, I'll be darned. I almost thought you'd forgotten about me."

"Is... everything okay, Barnes?"

Emilia hadn't been able to see her right away, but instantly noticed the warm smile Leah gave him.

"And apparently things did work out with a date or two. Hi, I'm Leah."

In a more than cordial gesture, she held out her hand to Emilia, who took it somewhat reluctantly.

"Hi, I'm Emilia."

"Online? Or did he surprise you with flowers the old-fashioned way, too?"

Although the words sounded like it, there wasn't an ounce of hostility or jealousy from Leah's voice.

"Um... neither... But what do you mean by online? And who's a Skipper here, exactly, please?"

Emilia looked skeptically at Bucky, who was running his right hand over the back of his neck somewhat awkwardly.

"Long story. Not really worth mentioning."

"Very charming. Next time I won't let you win at Battleship."

Playfully miffed, Leah punched him in the ribs, whereupon he slumped forward, laughing briefly.

"Hey... I didn't mean you by that. Besides, I won honestly."

It didn't escape Emilia's notice how his initial discomfort turned into amusement from one second to the next with a suddenly warm smile.

She watched the situation between Bucky and Leah for a few seconds longer until she really became aware of his words.

Like a spark, it ignited inside her. The thought that he had been dating this exceedingly attractive and gorgeous young woman in front of her for the past few months fired a jealousy she had never known before.

To keep herself under control, Emilia crossed her arms in front of her chest. She didn't want either of them to overhear what she was thinking.

Especially not since Leah seemed to be a rather adorable person. A person who brought Bucky's irresistible smile to light, Emilia bitterly noted.

"I should hope so, too! Say, why didn't you call in, anyway? You just disappeared like a ghost without a word."

Grumbling to herself, Emilia turned her head to the other side of the street, rolling her eyes: " A surprise... Nothing new about that..."

Leah couldn't understand her mumbling and just looked at her questioningly in response. Bucky, on the other hand, heard every single word carefully and literally stared her down.

When Emilia looked at the two of them again, she noticed the slightly pissed off expression on his face and exuberantly threw her hands in the air innocently.

"I didn't say a thing."

At Bucky's slight growl, Leah looked from Emilia back to him. Her eyes abruptly caught on something glinting at her in the late afternoon sun.

"What... ?"

As if it were a matter of course, she strode up to him, grabbed his vibranium hand, and inspected it in her own.

"Huh... bad circulation, my ass! So that's what you've been trying to hide all this time."

A bit taken off guard, Bucky just stood there and let it happen to him. Leah's proximity didn't make him nervous, though. That she was so blatantly looking at and examining what he had previously kept hidden, on the other hand, did.