(A/N: mild swearing just a warning)
The estate was giant. It was this massive, modern, beachy mansion that had several pools, including an infinity pool and steps that led down to your own private beach area. You saw the same, aqua-clear water that you had seen from above in the plane, and squealed. "Wow..." bucky whispered.
"You guys will be bunking in twos or threes. Check the list for partnering. Make yourselves at home, we're going to go out to a tropical barbecue in an hour then come back for a pool party."
You checked the list and found your name alongside Natasha's and Peter's. A whole week in the same room as your crush...that was bound to be awkward. But thank goodness you had your best friend with you as well.
Your room was giant, with a small terrace overlooking the sea and two queen beds, the furniture all beach themed. It was perfect.
"Beach days always!" you and Natasha squealed, high-fiving each other.
"Who's sharing the bed?" you wondered.
"Oh. That," Peter replied.
"I know how we can settle this. Y/N, go against me. If I win, and you lose, you share with Peter and if you win, you share with whoever you choose."
"That's a weird deal...but okay..." You cocked your head and did a best out of three match. And...you lost.
"Peter it is," Natasha announced. "Which bed are you taking?"
"The one near the window," you both said at the same time, then grinned at one another. "It's a pretty view."
You set your purse down on the bed and took a nice, black and white floral romper with you and some sandals to the bathroom to change. Tying your hair into a neat but messy bun, you came back out.
"You look like you've been living at the beach already," Peter commented. "You have the outfit, the tan,"
"Ha ha. Very funny. Make sure to put on your sunscreen because I don't want a repeat of Galapagos, okay?"
"I'll remember, I promise." He chuckled then pulled his shirt off, changing into a different one. Your jaw practically dropped to the ground and you blushed. Natasha kicked your shin and you winced, getting the message and closing your mouth before he turned around.
-----
The barbecue party was fantastic. There were several performers, like this one guy who swallowed fire. He came up to an amazed-looking Clint, who was still trying to figure out how shoving something burning hot down your throat was possible without screaming in pain.
And the food was so good. All of you took seconds. Then when everyone was finished, you stood up and went to the front where everyone, including other people at the party, could see you. You did a tumbling combo from your regionals competition and stuck it perfectly, and everyone clapped really loudily.
Dusting the sand off your clothes, you took a deep bow and sat back down.
"You can still do gymnastics?" Peter looked confused at how you could remember that and master it without breaking your back.
"Sure do."
And Thor, of course, was stuffing some bread into his mouth because to him, they were the replacement for Pop-Tarts.
In short, the party was a huge success and everyone went back to the beach house, very satisfied. There were too many details for you to explain to MJ, who was dying to know how the Bahamas was going so far and if you did anything with Peter yet.
-----
From upstairs you could hear old rock music blasting at full volume.
"AC/DC," you, Natasha, and Peter said in unison as you looked at each other.
When Peter went to the other bathroom to go change, you pulled out the black bikini and quickly put it on.
"Damn, girl," Natasha whistled, "he can't NOT notice you now."
Truth be told, you actually did look good in her bathing suit. It made you look like some sort of model, bringing out your tan-ish complexion and your deep brown eyes (just go with the eye color even if it isn't what you actually have in real life).
Once Natasha was done changing (a white bikini) you headed downstairs out to the back deck to meet the others. They were either lounging around, laying back on the lounge chairs and drinking martinis (Tony, Clint, Bucky, Pepper) or playing around in the pool. Your towel was wrapped around you because you felt self-consious about having to show this much skin in front of your crush and you didn't know how he'd react.
Natasha noticed you tense up. "Come on, it's not that big of a deal," she reassured you, and you took the towel off and placed it on a lounge chair. "LET'S GO Y/N!" Wanda whooped from the diving board as she gracefully leaped off, doing a flip.
Tony and Steve gave you a thumbs-up and subtly motioned over to Peter, who apparently, had been staring at you.
"Oh crap..." you muttered.
"Wait!" Tony shouted from the lounge chair. "Remember, the volleyball death match? TIME TO FORM TEAMS, GUYS!" He raised his voice to get everyone's attention. "Y/N will pick three other people she wishes to play alongside and I will do the same. I pick Steve, Bucky, and Peter. Rules are, don't let the ball bounce on the sand. And no superpowers because that's not fair."
"I nominate Natasha, Wanda, and Clint." The three of them grinned at you; you knew that they each had their own strengths. Wanda had strong legs, Clint had good aim because he consistently shot with arrows, and Natasha was just strong in general. You were confident because you had been playing volleyball for five years and had won nationals two years in a row with your team.
You flawlessly served the ball over the net and Steve, naturally being really tall and strong, spiked it back over but Natasha saved it, hitting it towards Bucky, who also served it back over perfectly.
It went back and forth like that, and before you knew it, you were at a tiebreaker, 10-10.
"Next point wins!" you shouted, and everyone burst into chatter, coming up with a strategy on the spot. Luckily, you and your team already had a plan.
Clint served the ball over the net, and again, Steve spiked it over. You missed it, but you knew this would happen so Natasha was ready, standing behind you. She hit it over at an angle to Tony, who passed it back over to Wanda, who passed it over to Peter. Peter looked at you, and flashed you a grin.
"Go for it!" Clint yelled, encouraging you. You stood ready as Peter spiked the ball over the net. It was farther away from you than expected but that didn't stop you and so, in a split second, you were at the front of the net. You jumped high up in the air and smashed the ball down. Nobody on the other side was able to reach it in time so it hit the sand.
"YES!" you and your team screamed, high-fiving and hugging each other.
"Whew," Steve panted as he wiped the sweat from his brow. "Tony said you were good, but not this good."
"I did varsity for five years," you stated confidently. "And I never miss a chance to play beach volleyball."
Peter then walked up to you, holding his arms out. "Victory hug?"
He pulled you towards him and gave you a bone-crushing hug. "Peter! You're soaked!"
"Ha! That's my revenge!" He laughed.
"Aww, how sweet," Pepper cooed.
"This is not sweet!" You pointed to yourself, dripping wet even though you hadn't even gotten in the pool yet.
You also did a swimming race and won. Peter almost beat you but then you tied the last round because every time you came up for air, Natasha and Bucky were making heart signs at the two of you so you lost a bit of focus.
Everyone was surprised at how strong you really were. They'd seen you train, yeah, but they never saw you like this. Peter was shocked the most out of all of them. Well, he almost got hit in the face by your spike because he was just gazing at you, before Steve caught him and snapped him out of it.
After some time, you sat at the pool's edge, sipping a icy-cold, strawberry smoothie. Then you tried to shift your arms and you felt something, realizing you'd pulled a muscle in your shoulders. "Crap!" you yelled, nearly spitting out your smoothie and cringing when you attempted to move your arm.
So maybe you spiked the ball a bit too hard that time.
"Are you alright?" a worried-looking Peter looked at you.
"No."
He began to gently massage your shoulders and you sighed in relief. "Oh my god..." you mumbled. "Yeah, right there."
Suddenly, you caught the eyes of Steve, Clint, and Bucky. They gave you the 'look', suspiciously raising their eyebrows up at you and making kissy faces when Peter wasn't looking.
It was close to dinnertime when you went inside. You took a refreshing shower and came back out wearing the romper from earlier. "It's so fricking hot outside!" Peter complained.
You checked your phone. "Yeah...it's like, 90 degrees..."
"Woah."
"Dinner's ready!" Tony shouted from outside. "We're eating out here because the sun's about to set!" He was already dressed like a Caribbean resident: the sunglasses, Hawaiian shirt, and khaki shorts. Well, technically, all the guys were. "Pepper helped me cook so it should taste good. I didn't burn anything, don't worry."
The blazing hot weather had died down a bit, and now there was a gentle, warm breeze in place of it. You could see the clear waters stretch out ahead of you, and the leaves of the palm trees gently moved back and forth, like they were doing some sort of dance. A sweet, floral scent filled the air, and you took a deep breath.
"It smells like flowers," Bucky commented, practically reading your mind. "I could get used to this."
Dinner was again, tropical food, which everyone had already fallen in love with. You took a liking to the pulled pork and of course, when you were finished, ate a bunch of fresh fruit because they tasted so much better here than back home.
-----
A campfire was set up at the beach, and everyone gathered around in a circle, chattering as the embers flew into the sky, lighting up their faces. "What's the horizon again?" Peter pointed to the slowly setting sun.
"It's where the sea meets the sky." You looked up as the sun began sinking lower and lower towards the water. It appeared as if someone had taken a bunch of oil pastels and smeared them across the sky, creating a soft but bold masterpiece. "You don't see sunsets like these back home," Peter said, amazed.
"I want to drink the sky," a partially-drunk Bucky drawled as he halfheartedly stuck his arm in the air, grabbing nothing.
"How about a little game? We can go around and confess a fear of ours that we've never told anyone about," Natasha announced. "I'll go first...I hate cats."
"But didn't you go through a cat phase a few years ago?" Clint questioned.
"Doesn't matter. Your turn now, Barton."
"Okay. Let's see...I'm scared of snakes."
"What?" Tony looked shocked. "But what about that one time at the zoo..."
"That's exactly why I hate them!"
Then Tony went. "Losing loved ones."
"Not being able to eat Pop-Tarts ever again."
"I know I'm Spider-Man, but I actually really really really hate spiders."
Then it was your turn. This wasn't a fear you were exactly proud of talking about, but you had to say something, so you did. "I have philophobia."
"What the hell is that?" Clint questioned again.
"I know," Bruce answered for you. "I think she's...uh...she has the fear of falling in love."
Steve snorted and subtly motioned towards Peter again, and you shot him a death glare. You attempted to defend your answer. "It is scary! Think about it! How would you feel, falling for someone you're really close to and not knowing how they feel so the weight of not telling them that you're in love with them on your shoulders grows heavier with each passing day? And how would you feel if they don't seem to take a hint at all no matter how obvious you make things?"
"Wait wait wait wait WAIT! Is there something else you're not telling us?" Vision interrupted you before you could open your mouth to speak again.
"Like what?" Your voice wavered, scared that they were going to figure out about your crush.
"Your emotions are going wild right now," he realized, taking a quick scan of your face. "According to my systems they say that you currently are facing your biggest fear and that you've fallen in love with someone. Just like you explained to us."
"No! I'm not in love! That's a lie!" You lied.
"My systems don't lie," Vision corrected you politely.
"Shit! Why did I have to tell them..." you muttered under your breath.
"Language!" Steve shouted.
"Just tell us!" Tony urged you. "We really couldn't care less."
"If you don't care then why are you asking?"
"You know what I mean. And over half of us know who it is that you really like."
"You don't!"
"We do."
"You don't!"
"We do."
"You don't!"
"Tony, please don't," Wanda begged.
"YOU LOVE PETER AND YOU'RE SUCH A SCAREDY-CAT! AND PETER LOVES YOU TOO! LOVEBIRDS!" Bucky yelled, and you just couldn't take all the pressure anymore, so you got up, storming back inside and flopping on the couch, crying. You screamed into a pillow and let all your frustration out, wondering why you exactly had to confess that. You could've just lied and said you were afraid of something stupid, but no, you just had to say that.
"Y/N?" a voice called gently. Peter's. "Are you okay? You look like..."
"No shit, Sherlock. What do you think happened?" you snapped as you wiped a tear from your face.
He recoiled from you for a second before taking a careful step forward. "The guys were just a bit drunk...you know that's why they were acting all like that."
"But they...I'm sorry, I shouldn'tve..."
"It's not your fault," he reminded you, sitting down next to you and pulling you close to him. "I know how it feels. I have philophobia too, and when I faced it for the first time it was terrifying. But you have to know that falling in love is nothing to be afraid of. There's nothing wrong with it."
"Bucky exposed me," you sniffed.
"I mean... he exposed me too..." he admitted, cheeks turning slightly pink. Did I just see that right? you wondered.
Then the team came in. "Bucky, Tony," Natasha warned, "what do you have to say to Y/N?"
"Sorry," they apologized at the same time.
"But really. My fear isn't that bad," you reassured them.
Peter looked around and before he could think twice, he stepped closer and closer to you so you were trapped. He placed his hands on your waist, and a fierce sort of look burned in his eyes. It terrified you because you'd never seen him like this. "Um...Peter? What are you doing?"
Everyone else fell silent as he spoke. "Proving my theory."
"What theory?"
"That it scares you to fall in love and that I can get rid of that fear."
"And how exactly will you do that? There's no way you can---"
Before you could finish your sentence, he pressed his lips to yours. You froze for a moment, not knowing what to do, but then you realized exactly what he was doing and kissed him back, a warm feeling flooding your body.
When you broke apart, everyone was still dead silent, just staring at you two in awe. "Finally!" Tony cheered. "A cliche romantic kiss in a Caribbean paradise!"
"You were right..." you whispered, your cheeks bright red.
He grinned at you, making your heart melt. "I'm in love with you, Y/N, you know that, right?"
"I'm in love with you too."
"THIS IS TOO CUTE!" Natasha squealed.