AUGUST || Bucky Barnes x OC

26

"Heeeey Bitch!" Nat yelled on the other side of the phone.

"Hey Biatch!" Valerie laughed, holding up the facetime call to the rest of the group. "Everyone say hey to Nat!"

"Hey Nat!" They all waved excitedly. MJ ran up to the phone and pushed her head in frame. "Nat! When are you gonna get here? We miss you!" She rested her head on Valerie's shoulder, doing her best pout.

"You know I can't resist those puppy eyes!" Nat teased. "I'll be there a couple of days before the wedding. You guys gonna be okay without me for that long?"

"I guess we'll live!" Wanda yelled from the bathroom.

They all shared a laugh. "How's LA?" Valerie asked casually.

"Hot! And...boring. I miss you guys. But, enough about me, how are you doing Val? You look fucking amazing." Nat wiggled her eyebrows. Even though Nat hadn't been physically present, she was no short of properly filled in on the recent events. Which of course, included every minor detail on Valerie and Bucky.

"I feel fucking amazing, that's why!" Valerie teased back.

"Glad to hear it, Val. I wanna talk to you about everything, but I gotta go. Tell Sophie I said Hi. Love you girls!" She blew a kiss to the phone before ending the call.

Sophie was on the phone with Bruce in the other room, as she had been for the past 30 minutes, filling him in on everything they had been doing so far. Valerie knocked softly on the door and peeked her head through.

Sophie signaled for her to come into the room, and she ran over and jumped onto the bed, poking her head into frame.

"Hey Val" Bruce sounded somewhat annoyed.

"Hey Bruzer. You guys having fun?" She smiled and waved.

"Uh, Yeah. I trust you're taking care of my wife." He teased half amused.

"Uhm, you mean taking care of my sister-in-law? Absolutely. I might just keep her here in the city. She likes it here as much as I do, you know" Valerie's eyes wandered around for anybody else in the frame.

Bruce just gave her an unamused chuckle and directed his next question back at Sophie. Weird. She left them alone to finish their conversation and decided she would try not to give too much thought to his bland reactions.

The rest of the day went by swiftly. Brunch was followed by more tourist attractions, lots of laughter and a much needed nap. Valerie had hoped that she would be able to get a quick visit to the gallery before dinner, but soon enough the girls started waking up one after the other; and she wasn't sure she was ready to tell everyone about an opportunity that was still in the works. So she decided she would put it off for later.

Meanwhile, the boys were making arrangements for dinner. Scarlett's was the only somewhat exciting place in town and doubled as a restaurant and nightclub.

Getting a reservation during the summer time was easy, and they made their way through the restaurant drawing everyone's attention. Bladesville was small. Actually, it was tiny. Which meant that everyone had heard the news of Bruce's wedding, along with Bucky's return. They were seated in the middle of the restaurant, as if they weren't already being acknowledged more than they would like.

"Man, I feel like I'm a damn celebrity," Sam laughed.

"That's Bladesville for ya" Steve chuckled, holding up his glass to give a toast.

"Bucky..your 3 o'clock" Sam nodded casually.

"Huh?" Bucky seemed awfully confused.

"Blonde. Checking you out" Sam wiggled his eyebrows.

Bucky rolled his eyes, not even bothering to turn around. "I'm good on that, bud." He sipped his glass of Whisky.

The instant rejection caught Bruce's attention. "Are you? Why is that?" He narrowed his eyes at Bucky.

"What?" Bucky was caught by surprise.

"You heard me" Bruce laughed, presenting the question more playfully than Bucky suspected it actually was.

"I mean..I'm not interested" Bucky shrugged his shoulders. "Why does that matter?" He tried to get the attention off himself.

"Just curious" Bruce shrugged his shoulders and gave Bucky a clap on the back. The subject shifted quickly. Bucky gazed over at Steve, who seemed to be the only other person who caught the undertone of the brief exchange. 

"I think Bruce knows" Bucky whispered on the phone. He had snuck out to the dock as the kickback had grown louder in his house. Finding the perfect opportunity to get some time in with Valerie.

"What? Oh my god, is that why he was acting so fucking weird today on the phone? I knew something was up!" She whispered back, having retreated out to the balcony to get some privacy.

"What did he say?" Bucky asked surprised.

"Well..it wasn't so much what he said, just the fact that he didn't really say anything" she continued to walk back and forth.

"Should I just tell him?" Bucky asked.

"No..I'll talk to him. I just need some more time. I would like to tell him to his face, not over the phone. And I won't be back for another day or so." She sounded stressed.

"Why? Is everything okay?" Bucky's concern bled through his voice

"Yeah, everything's fine. I just wanna check on the gallery thing, but didn't wanna take time out of the girls trip to do that. They're driving home tonight after dinner."

"Okay..It'll go great. I know it" He tried his best to sound reassuring.

"Thanks..." She whispered.

"I miss you, you know?" He smiled, the warm phone pressed against the side of his face.

"I miss you too...like crazy actually." She giggled.

"I have an idea.." He presented carefully.

"what's that?" She sounded eager.

"How about..I come out to you?" Bucky's suggestive tone was coated with nervousness, slightly concerned that she would decline his offer.

"You wanna come to the city?" Valerie sounded surprised.

"I was thinking, this might be the last week that we have completely to ourselves. Especially if we're gonna tell Bruce and it'll all be out in the open. It could be nice to just spend a day or so away from everyone." Bucky held his breath.

"...I would love that, actually." She caught herself smiling so widely, almost relieved that he couldn't see her stupid expression through the phone.

"...me too" He smiled back. Gripping the phone tighter. "So...tomorrow?" He asked casually.

"Tomorrow. I'll send you my address".