𝔹𝕒𝕔𝕜 𝕋𝕠 𝔹𝕣𝕠𝕠𝕜𝕝𝕪𝕟 | Bucky Barnes⁽¹⁾

01 | Goodnight, Mr Barnes

"Now, kids, what's got James here so pouty, huh?" Joe, the owner of the diner, smiled as he came over to the table and patted Bucky's shoulder.

Joe Porter was a lovely man in his late sixties. He always had a smile on his face, and he wore a dark purple apron that matched the colour of the seats in the diner. He and his wife had owned the diner for as long as the trio could remember. They used to go in pretty much every day after school, and after they graduated, it continued to be their go-to hang out spot. Ella liked it there so much, she even worked there part time. 

"He was being mean about my book," Ella replied.

"Let's see," Joe picked the book off the table, holding it at arm's length as he squinted his eyes at the cover, struggling to see without his glasses. "Wuthering Heights. Again," he chuckled fondly. "You're just like Maggie, you know that? She reads the same thing over and over again too."

"See? Not just me," Ella grinned pointedly at Bucky. "Thank you, Mr Porter."

"Honey, for the hundredth time. Call me Joe," he chuckled. "'Mr Porter' makes me sound like an old man."

"You are an old man," Joe's wife, Maggie, joined them and sat down beside Ella.

Her grey hair was tied into a low bun, loose strands framing her face. The red stud earrings she wore matched the colour of the frame of her glasses, which sat comfortably on the bridge of her nose.

"Oh, I love you too, my dear," Joe kissed the top of his wife's head. "And excuse me, why are you sitting down on the job?"

"Because I'm old too," Maggie shrugged. "Now, Elenora, I think I've found a job opportunity for you."

Ella furrowed her eyebrows nervously. "Really? But I work here. Oh my God, are you firing me?"

"No, honey," Maggie chuckled. "You still have a job here. But this will be perfect for you," she seemed excited. "A friend of mine who works for the local paper mentioned that they were looking for a new column writer. I told her about you, and she wants to meet you."

Ella's eyes widened in surprise. She did a lot of writing for herself and had occasionally shown some of her stuff to others. But the idea of having a piece of work published was merely a pipe dream for her. She wrote some short stories, some poems, and some was just for fun. Just the thought of having hundreds of people seeing something she wrote made her afraid. Afraid of being judged, and afraid that her work wasn't good enough.

"I uh," the girl chuckled nervously. "I don't know, I..."

"Why not?" Bucky cut in with a smile. "You'd be great at that."

"You think?" Ella asked.

"Isn't writing what you wanna do?" Steve questioned pointedly.

"Well, yeah. But-"

"Then it's settled," Maggie clapped her hands together and stood up. "I will tell her to meet you here tomorrow noon."

"Maggie, I really appreciate it," Ella also stood up. "I just-"

Maggie glared with a look that could make grown men cower in fear. "Are you about to tell me I made a mistake telling her about you?"

"No, ma'am," Ella at once shook her head, quickly sitting back down.

"Good," Maggie sang happily. "I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Alrighty then," Ella chuckled sheepishly, holding her smile until Maggie was out of view behind the counter. Her laugh morphed into a whine as she pouted and hid her face in her hands. "I can't do it."