They stayed out on the balcony for a couple of hours, Bucky ordering room service for lunch. They talked about everything and anything. Ava made Bucky laugh more times than she could count on both of her hands while he made her feel warm all over just from the smiles he would give her.
At around 5 PM they headed back down to go eat dinner per Peggy's request. Clint apologized to Ava when he arrived, Natasha giving him the much-needed nudge. Ava accepted the apology, jokingly threatening him that she would hurt him next time. He rolled his eyes, stating that she wouldn't even hurt a fly.
They were quickly seated for dinner, Tony at the end of the table with Wanda at the other end. Pepper was to Tony's right while Natasha was at his left. Clint sat next to Natasha, Sam on Clint's right side and Bucky next to Sam at Wanda's right. Ava sat on Wanda's left next to Peggy who sat next to Steve who was bumping elbows with Pepper.
Tony ordered glasses of wine for everyone (as always) and gave a short toast before digging into the hot food that was brought out minutes before. The conversation was light and sweet, mostly stories being shared by Tony and Sam about Steve and Peggy. Bucky decided to keep to himself. Although he had known Steve the longest out of everyone at the table he didn't want to share too much. Besides, he had a best man speech to give at the end of the week.
After dessert, they all groaned as their stomachs felt like they would explode any minute from all the food they had eaten. Knowing that the fullness would equal a wonderful nights sleep, they all said their goodbyes and headed to their respective rooms.
Bucky and Ava dragged themselves back to the room, their eyes heavy-lidded with a soft yawn escaping Ava's mouth. Bucky unlocked the door holding it open for her to walk in first. She slipped off her sandals by the bathroom, padding over to the bed and jumping on it not even caring to change into her pajamas.
He did the same. The sun, the food, and the alcohol made him way too tired to care about anything else than sleep. Bucky jumped into bed after her, sighing as his body molded into the soft mattress.
"I can't believe I'm this tired." Ava laughed sleepily. "It's barely—" Looking over at the alarm clock on the bedside table she pouted. "—9PM. Am I really this old?"
Bucky turned to lay on his side tucking his arm underneath his head. "Not at all."
Ava did the same, her eyes locking with his gorgeous blue ones. She couldn't lie, Bucky was very attractive and somehow in her sleepy trance and lack of light he was almost angelic looking. Shutting her eyes quickly Bucky pressed his lips into a tight line.
"You okay?"
"Yeah," Ava lied as butterflies began to slowly flutter in her stomach. This wasn't good. "Just-I'm tired. I think I'm going to go to sleep now."
"Okay. Goodnight." Bucky whispered, wanting to reach out and brush the strand of hair that had fallen in front of her face behind her ear.
Ava didn't reply. Instead, she turned on her right side to have her back facing him. She opened her eyes seeing the moon reflect on the dark water outside. Trying to convince herself that she was just tired and that the butterflies didn't mean anything she finally drifted off to sleep hoping that her feelings would be straightened out by morning.
—
Ava woke up the next morning to an empty bed. Slightly frowning, she stretched comfortably with a long, loud yawn before getting out of bed and opening the sliding door to let in the ocean breeze. She walked over to the bathroom passing the small mirrored closet and taking a look at herself, wincing at the state she was in.
Her clothes from the day before were wrinkled and hair a tangled mess. Deciding to take a much-needed shower, she walked into the bathroom and turned on the water. Gradually undressing she realized she had forgotten to grab her clothes to change into. But she shrugged it off, telling herself that she was alone in the room and it would be more than okay to step out and grab her clothes after getting out of the shower.
About 15 minutes later, she stepped out of the tub wrapping a white, fluffy towel around her body. She opened the door slightly, sticking her head out and calling out Bucky's name just to make sure she was alone. Not receiving an answer, she decided to step out of the warm bathroom and tiptoe over to her suitcase.
She crouched down to search through her bag for her clothes, making a mess during the search. The second she grabbed her underwear from her suitcase the door clicked causing Ava to jump up and hold the towel that was already securely wrapped around her body extra tight.
Bucky stepped in with food in his hand and a cup holder balanced on his forearm. He stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of Ava standing in just a pure white towel, her hair dripping wet. They both looked like deer caught in headlights.
"I—oh, God—I just..." Bucky couldn't look away and definitely couldn't create a proper sentence.
Ava was in the same boat. Her feet decided to stop working and her mouth felt like it was bolted shut. The soft breeze that came in from the open door snapped her out of her trance.
"Turn around!" Ava finally yelped as she came to her senses.
Bucky did as he was told swiftly turning on his heel to face the door. He shut his eyes tightly as Ava grabbed random items of clothes from her bag and raced into the bathroom. As soon as he heard the heavy door slam shut he turned around with a sigh of relief. Slowly walking over to the small table in the corner of the room he set down the food and coffee beginning to pace the room with his mind running a hundred miles per hour.
Ava was also freaking out as she rapidly changed into her clothes, shirt sticking to her damp body and finding that the jean shorts were being a bit difficult to put on as well. The sweating didn't help much either.
Before stepping back out into the room Ava towel-dried her hair rapidly. Throwing the used towel on the floor as she opened the door. She almost ran straight into Bucky. His hands grabbed her upper arms to hold her in place as she shrieked loudly.
"I'm sorry!" Bucky apologized for bumping into her and almost knocking her over. "And I'm also sorry for walking in without knocking. I thought you would still be asleep."
Ava's face and ears turned warm as her brain began to imagine what would have happened if she decided to actually change in the room or run out into the room without a towel.
"It's o-okay," she stuttered pulling away from him and clearing her throat. "I should have..."
Bucky laughed. "Should have what? I don't blame you. You had the room to yourself. I would've done the same thing."
Her hand came up to her forehead, an embarrassed whimper escaping her lips. Bucky wanted to hug her but decided that wasn't such a good idea due to what had happened mere minutes before.
Instead, he offered the coffee and food he brought up for her to eat. With a soft "thank you" she trudged over to the table in the corner of the room and took a seat on the chair across from her. Ava ate quietly, savoring the food mostly not trying to make small talk with Bucky.
He realized this instantly and took out his phone, reading up on American news. Ava stared down at her plate and then coffee cup until everything was gone. Bucky cleared his throat, placing his phone face down on the table.
"Peggy wants us all to go to the beach today."
"Oh," Ava piped up. "Are you going to go?"
"I don't think I have much of a choice," he sputtered a laugh, "You know that Peggy always gets what she wants."
She nodded with a grin. Bucky was right. It wasn't because Peggy was a brat. She was just charming as hell and her beauty was a plus. Men and women were always saying yes to her.
Ava threw away her trash in the small garbage can that was in the room, excusing herself and heading down to the lobby. She bumped into Sam who was more than happy to see her, throwing an arm over her shoulders to squeeze her tightly.
"What's up, pretty mama?" He winked flirtatiously. "Comin' out to the beach later?"
"Oh, I don't know..." Ava's voice trailed off at the same time her eyes averted to the beautiful couple walking into the lobby.
"Why not?" Sam let go of her, stepping in front of Ava to give her a wild look.
"I just don't think I should," Ava chuckled nervously as she brought a hand to the back of her neck.
Sam furrowed his brows at the same time his hand landed on his hip. "What's going on?"
"Nothing."
She wasn't just going to tell Sam what had happened back in the room. Besides, it wasn't that big of a deal. Or so she kept telling herself but it only made her freak out more internally.
He eyed her suspiciously but decided to not push it. If she wanted to tell him she would do it on her own accord.
Ava bid her goodbye's to him and went her own way. Where she was going, she had no idea but she needed to clear her mind.