I Walk The Line (A Bucky Barnes Fanfiction)

Chapter 28

I was dragged into Nat's room after lunch. Wanda was already there, with half a dozen dresses floating in the air and a wide smile on her lips.

"What the hell?" I asked as I entered the room, laughing a bit. Nat closed the door firmly behind and pushed me further in. "I heard you're going on a date tonight and I wanted to help", Wanda said innocently. I rolled my eyes and plopped on Nat's bed. I hadn't been able to contain my excitement the entire day.

"It's really not a big deal", I tried to tell them, but my smile gave me away. Wanda smirked knowingly. "We know you're in love with him and all, but you need to start playing it cool", Nat said and Wanda nodded in agreement. The smile disappeared from my face. "I'm not in love with him!" I almost yelled. "It's just a crush, nothing more", I added, lowering my voice. I watched them exchange glances, then roll their eyes in sync and look back at me.

"Whatever", Nat said as she got up and picked up a dress from the floor. It looked more like a shirt, to be honest, but both Wanda and Natasha said it was a dress and I was forced into it. Natasha wolf-whistled as soon as I put it on. I walked to the mirror to look at myself. The 'dress' was red, small and tight, making my waist look tiny and everything else even bigger. I could even see the bandage (that I so stubbornly refused to take off even though Banner had said I could) around my torso. I hated it. "Nope", I said, unzipping the dress quickly and letting it fall to the floor.

Nat and Wanda continued to show me more dresses, and I hated how all of them looked on me. I wasn't used to dressing up and I usually avoided going to Tony's parties. I went to the first one or two just as a "thank you" for kinda saving my life, and that was it. But tonight's party was important - Tony had announced it at least two weeks before. It was supposed to be a fundraiser or something. I didn't actually listen to him when he told me about it, but I knew it was important to him, so I would've gone even if Bucky didn't ask me to go with him. But, since he did ask me out, I wanted to get even more dressed up than I would have. I was excited for a social event for the first time in my life. I couldn't even stay still. I kept pacing around the room, occasionally jumping up for no apparent reason, while my friends tried to help me pick an outfit.

About two hours and dozens of outfits later, I finally settled for the only one I liked. It was a plain black dress, tight in just the right places. It reached down to just above my knees. I actually felt pretty in it, to the point where I could not stop staring at myself in the mirror. Natasha also gave me a pair of black stilettos, because all I had were sneakers and combat boots. "Thank you so much", I said as I hugged her for the millionth time. She pulled away and winked. "He'll be left speechless."

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The party officially started at 8, which was when Bucky knocked on my door to get me. I took one last look at myself in the mirror. Wanda did her magic - literally - and my hair and make up looked absolutely stunning. I liked everything about my appearance that night, which was such a rare occasion. I bit my lip to contain the smile and opened the door.

Bucky was wearing black pants, a black button up shirt and a black blazer, and his hair was up in a tight bun. He looked really good, and I could smell his cologne from where I was standing. When he saw me, his eyebrows shot upwards and his jaw fell open. I felt myself blush a bit. His stunned face soon turned into a wide grin. He looked me up and down for a second, then his eyes met mine. "You look amazing."

I smiled even wider. "I could say the same for you", I replied smoothly, surprising both him and myself. Who was this flirty goddess taking over me and will she please stay forever?

Bucky held out his elbow and I hooked my arm with his. "Shall we?" He said in a strong British accent, making me laugh. We made small talk in the elevator. I was telling him about something Wanda had said, when he suddenly interrupted me. "I'm sorry, what were you saying? I keep getting lost in your eyes", he said in a deep voice. I rolled my eyes and laughed. "The way you flirt is shameful, James", I told him. "You love it, though", he replied. I didn't say anything, but I knew he was right.