7 Days

Three

"How'd you sleep last night?" Steve asked.

"Good," Bucky nodded, stuffing a fork full of scrambled eggs into his mouth. "Bed's nice."

"I bet!" Clint snickered and Bucky shot him a look. He wondered if Ava had said anything.

After Clint's unnecessary comment, Pepper asked Bucky how he was doing. She had grown close with Bucky after an incident he had with Tony where Tony had blown everything out of proportion. After talking to both men, being the mediator as always, she grew a soft spot for Bucky. She almost viewed him as a brother.

Too many mimosas later, they all left the buffet and went their ways. Sam wanted to go and sightsee, Natasha and Clint were going to go lounge by the pool, Pepper and Tony would be going to their room to take a nap while Peggy and Steve went to go check on more wedding details. Leaving Ava and Bucky alone, they stood around with an awkward silence hanging above them.

"I—" Bucky and Ava both started but they broke into a soft laugh.

"You go first," Ava nodded towards Bucky.

"Did you say something to Clint about us..." He trailed off, eyes averting to the children screaming in the lobby.

Ava felt taken aback, upset that he would even think that she would say anything about them. What was there to say? Who did he think she was? And even if there was something to say, she wasn't going to go around and tell everyone.

"You're fucking with me, aren't you?" She scoffed, her eyes squinting.

"It's just that Clint said—"

"And when has Clint not said shit to rile us up?" She was trying not to raise her voice but she was losing that control very quickly.

Bucky was flustered now. Angry Ava was not a pretty sight. If anything she was quite terrifying. He tried stuttering out an apology but she stormed off before he could. Muttering a string of curse words, he headed off to the beach to clear his mind.

He ended up sitting on the warm sand for a while, soaking up the sun and taking in the smell of the ocean. Being in such a beautiful place seemed to make time stop. He didn't know how long he'd been out but decided to go back to the hotel when his stomach grumbled.

Bumping into Sam in the lobby, who was heading back to his room as well, he lamented what had happened. Even if they were constantly bickering Bucky saw him as a best friend, too. Sam offered a sympathetic smile once Bucky finished his small rant. He wasn't a bad guy, Sam knew that much, but sometimes people say stupid shit. They were human. No one is perfect.

"What do I do?" Bucky sighed. "We're sharing a damn bed for crying out loud."

"Apologize," Sam replied sincerely. "Apologize for assuming she would have said anything to anyone."

"That'll work?" Bucky held a hopeful breath. The last thing he wanted was for Ava to be upset with him for the rest of the trip.

"I think so," Sam said. "Ava is understanding and I'm sure it's blown over a bit. Just go and talk to her."

Bucky nodded thanking Sam for the advice and heading back to the room. After knocking on the door and hearing a soft 'come in' he let out a breath, walking into the room and finding Ava sitting out on the balcony with the sliding door open.

He walked out to the balcony sitting in the chair next to her, resting his elbows on his knees. Taking a glance at Ava, he noticed the large sunglasses on her face.

"Hey..." Bucky's voice was low yet soft. "I'm sorry."

Ava didn't answer as she was still slightly hurt over Bucky's question earlier that day. And even if she knew that she shouldn't care so much about what he thought it still brought her down.

"I'm sorry for assuming you said anything about us." Bucky clarified his apology.

Ava turned to him, sliding her sunglasses to the top of her head. Her brows furrowed and her bottom lip was tugged in between her row of teeth. She knew Bucky wasn't a bad guy and sometimes their brains were their own worst enemy.

"It's okay," she said. "I shouldn't have reacted that way either."


"No, no. You had every reason to be upset. I know I would have been if I were in your shoes. That was such an asshole move." He sat back in the chair and ran a hand down his face. "I know Clint likes to start shit so I should have known better."


Ava hummed with a slight nod. She wished she could have brought up the fact that they were cuddled together when she woke up that morning but she didn't want to make it more awkward than it already was. Maybe it was better if she just forgot about it. It wasn't that big of a deal in the end. People sometimes ended up cuddling with the other person in bed, right?