Tangled Paths | Bucky Barnes

Chapter 18: Avengers!...

"Okay, enough talk of the 40s, Spill," Darla tells Steve with a small smirk before taking a sip from her whisky and coke. Steve averted his eyes and looked down at his tankard as his smile wavered slightly.
"You first." He said to her. Darla's face dropped and she swung back what was left in her glass.
"I'm gonna get another drink, do you want another drink?" Darla said as she pushed her chair back to get up. Steve rolled his eyes and then landed his gaze on her.
"Don't avoid the question." He instructed.
"what question?" Darla feigned dumb.
"How was the trip, and why were you crying when I called.. also what was that outside the tower?" He asked.
"That's more than one question, Cap," Darla said with a small smirk. Steve gave her a serious look and she sighed and looked away.
"I inherited a house, I can touch Bucky if he's in a fragile state, fought one of the first people I met after waking up, visited my dad's grave and then Bucky told me he killed my dad," Darla said quickly as she reached across the table. She grabbed Steve's tankard and took a swig then handed it back. Steve watched her take his beer as he furrowed his eyebrows. 

"Bucky killed your father?" Steve asked, now feeling slightly buzzed.
"The winter soldier killed my father." Darla corrected Steve and herself before grabbing the beer again and taking another drink. "Oh, and the slushy thing was because he told me and then he left town." Darla continued plainly as she pushed the beer back across the table once more and put her hands under the table so she wouldn't reach for it again.
"What?" Steve asked as he brought his beer to his lips to drink keeping eye contact with her.
"Yeah, he said 'it's better this way for now', kissed me on the forehead and disappeared into the darkness" She explained. 

"He kissed you?" Steve asked, pausing from taking a sip of his beer as he gave her a confused and shocked face. He spoke with a tone she didn't recognize.
"...yeah. He's been .. kinda sweet to me all week. If I'm being honest." Darla answered him looking away. 
"...Interesting," Steve replied before finally swigging his beer.
"Why is that interesting?" Darla asked him. She was forced to wait while he slammed the rest of the tankard. Steve placed it down on the table and cleared his throat. He stared at his glass mug for a second to think about the way he wanted to say what he was about to.

"He's not the same person he used to be Darla." Steve started carefully. 
"No shit Steve." Darla retorted "in case you haven't noticed, none of us are. We're 70 years from the time we left, our families are dead. We missed everything." Darla paused to stop herself from getting worked up and having another breakdown. "Sure I can put on the cute dresses and doll up my hair and step back in time when I walk into my dad's house but nothing is the same." She finished.
"That's... not what I mean Darla," Steve said, he went to continue his point when the waitress came by.

"Hey Cap, you need another drink?" She asked as she batted her eyelashes at him.
"Sure, two more tankards and another whisky and coke," Steve replied formally with a kind smile. The waitress bit her lip for a second.
"Straight away, sir." She said. Steve gave her a genuine smile before she walked off. Darla watched her walk away as she crossed her arms and then laughed with a light shake of the head.
"What's so funny?" Steve asked confused.
"You are so oblivious, she was flirting with you," Darla said with an amused smile.
"What? No, she wasn't." Steve replied slightly embarrassed.
"She totally was! She bit her lip at you and was batting her eyelashes! That's called flirting Steve!" Darla whisper yelled at him.
"She was just being nice!" Steve assured.
"Oh my god, you have literally no clue about women. I'm so glad you have me and Sam." She teased.
"You know what, Grant?" Steve said as he leaned forward with a smirk.
"Hm?" Darla asked as she leaned forward on the table too with a cheeky grin. Steve opened his mouth to finish his point when the waitress came back with their drinks which caused Darla and Steve both to fall silent and lean back. Darla cleared her throat as the waitress handed her her drink and let out a quiet thank you without looking at her. Darla knew if she did she'd just laugh. Instead, she looked at Steve which was an even bigger mistake.
He took both tankards from her as he looked her in the eye and said thank you genuinely before bringing one to his lips to drink.
"No problem at all, let me know if you need anything else, my number maybe?" The girl asked. Steve almost choked on his beer and put the tankard down coughing a few times. It took everything Darla had in her not to die of laughter. She covered her mouth to hide her grin.
"Oh, thank you, I'm flattered really, I'm sure you're a lovely girl but there's just so much going on right now I don't have time to date and I wouldn't want to waste your time." He said to her honestly.
"Well, how about I give it to you anyway.. and if your ever bored and looking for something to do one night. You can give me a call and maybe come over." She said as she pulled her notepad out of her apron and scribbled her number and name down on it then handed it to Steve.