TWENTY-FOUR—GROCERIES
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IT WAS NEARLY comical, the way Bucky practically jumped out of bed and followed me downstairs, staying well within a few feet behind me at all times. Bombarding me with questions and words of doubt, I had a hard time keeping a straight face.

"Do you have any idea how stupid that is? Going outside when I'm the most wanted man in the entire world? One step outside this house and we'll have every gun trained on us like fugitives!" He paused to take a deep breath and continued. "Oh, wait. We are."

I rolled my eyes with a smirk, waving him away. "Careful where you throw around that word, my friend. Let's not forget who asked whom for help in this situation." Turning around to wink smugly at him, I grinned. "You're so very welcome on that front."

Bucky just huffed, barely flinching at the fugitive talk. He hardly ever got embarrassed by it anymore; it was a harmless label to him now, like one might call a child a troublemaker. Of course, that didn't automatically mean that he was ready to have "the talk." His past, the metal arm(or lack thereof, as it was for the past few months now), it was all still a mystery to me. I knew that after telling him about Cade and revealing my demons wouldn't make him overly ready to spill the beans on his issues. But, as usual, I found myself hoping something would overturn. I was getting curious, and it was hard not to just call Sam and ask him myself. 

Where are your manners, El? A voice scolded inside my head. 

I smirked back at Bucky, who was still wide-eyed and paranoid. "Bucky," I said, exasperated. "It's going to be fine. We're just gonna go to Walmart and grab some food to last us for a few more weeks and then we'll get in the car and drive home. It'll probably take us no more than an hour or two." When he still looked nervous, I tentatively reached out and brushed my fingertips on his rough knuckles to calm him down. His fingers twitched at the contact, and if anything, it got him more riled up. 

Cocking an eyebrow, he stared at me. "This may be the most idiotic idea I've ever heard." He shook his head and closed his eyes in disbelief. "I can't believe I'm doing this."

"All that life experience and this is the dumbest idea you've ever heard?" I countered, grabbing my keys off the counter where I'd last placed them and winking at him. 

Bucky shrugged and tucked a strand of hair behind his ear as he replied, "Yeah, I guess not. Steve's had some pretty grand ideas in the past," he reminisced, a wistful smile growing on his face. 

"Like what?" I asked, ushering him toward the door. "I wanna hear some dirt on Captain America."

"Sorry, doll, that's not my story to tell," he answered smugly, and added quietly, "uh, it's just Steve now."

Turning off the living room lights and putting on some shoes, I inquired, "Oh yeah, why is that again?"

Bucky didn't say anything to that and I knew it wouldn't be that easy to get an answer out of him. "You'll have to ask him."

I rolled my eyes. "You three are all so dramatic." I was about to open the door when Bucky's breath hitched.

"Don't," he rasped, his voice low. "I can't do it."

I turned around and nearly melted at the fearful expression on his face. I'd expected this to happen the second I suggested going shopping in the first place. "Look, I know it seems impossibly dangerous right now, but I need you with me. If we don't get out here sometimes, we're never going to want to leave at all."

He peered at me. "I don't want to leave."

Closing my eyes, I sighed. "Buck, we're going to be okay. I promise. Just stay with me and...keep an eye out for any bad guys on the loose." I had to bite my lip to keep from smiling. 

He didn't miss it. "You're hilarious," he drawled, his eyes drifting down to my mouth, where my teeth were still holding onto my bottom lip. Did his pupils just blow wide, or am I imagining things? 

"Come on, let's go," I remarked, clearing my head by shaking it a few times. He followed close behind, refusing to leave my side as we walked the thirty feet from the front door to my car. 

Throughout the whole shopping trip, I rarely had a second where Bucky wasn't so close behind me that I could sense his presence there. Oh yeah, he also couldn't keep himself from looking around worriedly, no doubt wondering how long it would take for people to recognize him. He had covered his arm with a leather jacket, but it was obvious that he was still uncomfortable being out in public like this. 

I got everything I needed and was going to the self-checkout when a certain song began to bounce through the crappy speakers at Walmart. "No way," I practically moaned at hearing the beginning of the hit song from the 1960's. "Oh my god, I love this song!"

When I turned around to look at him, though, he was staring back at me in confusion. "Don't we have somewhere to be?" He hissed. "We've already been here an hour and a half."

Sighing, I nodded. "Fine, we'll get going. But we're playing that song when we get home."

[press play]

True to my word, I immediately found the song I was looking for and began turning up the volume until I thought it would blast my eardrums to hell. Swaying my hips, I hummed as Solomon Burke began singing "Cry to Me." I knew Bucky didn't know what song this was, but I still ushered him to dance with me. When he shook his head and just sat back and stared, I felt a blush rise to my cheeks.

"I have to say, Buck...I'm really disappointed that you didn't get to hear any of the best music while you were..."

Bucky cocked an eyebrow, stuffing his hand in his pocket.

I waved a dismissive hand. "You know...doing your thing." I really wasn't in the mood to handle that conversation. Maybe some other day I'd be able to get him to spill.

The music oozed into the charged air between us, and I felt a grin begin to curl my lips upward. My fingers tapped out the beat on my hip and I closed my eyes, swaying and gliding around the room with the same lazy grin on my face. 

For a moment, I forgot that Bucky was standing there, too. But when I opened my eyes and saw him smirking at my dancing, I let out a breathless chuckle and beckoned him closer. "Don't just stand there, come dance," I said smoothly, reaching out for his hand. 

He shook his head. "I think I'll just..." his eyes slipped from my eyes down to my lips, and I reached up to trace my bottom lip, heat flushing my cheeks again.

Shaking my head, I began to loudly belt out the song, doing my best to serenade the handsome man in front of me. God, what have you done to me? I thought, the fleeting words in and out of my mind within a beat of a moment.

Little did I know, Buck was thinking the same thing. 

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hellooooooo. i'm back. it's been nearly two months. again. this is getting to be a serious problem. i published this chapter. it's been in my head for months. here it is. hope it fulfilled your wildest dreams, yada yada yada. anyway, i found this banner i made awhile ago on my computer and decided to put it here. just cause. 

also, i have a plan to finish this story up by the end of january 2019 and hopefully start posting the sequel by april 2019. the reason you'll be waiting a little bit is because i'll finish my dramione fic, guilty, and post a story that you need to read in order to understand the sequel to this book. don't worry, elda will come back to you soon enough!

published on: dec. 16, 2018