pairings: bucky barnes x reader, mentions of steve rogers and sam wilson
warnings: wi-fi theft?
about: prompt y/n trying to mooch off of bucky's wifi and jokingly putting their own name in as the password, then being shocked that it actually works and they're now connected to bucky's wifi...
a/n: not loving the ending cuz i dont like marriage being the cliched happy endings but i wasn't sure how to imply they realized she was the main reason they got together and so they invited her to something relating to their relationship

"i don't understand why everyone thinks this is so important," bucky insists from his apartment kitchen, a beer on the table and sam and steve standing next to him, nursing their own drinks. "we did just fine without..." bucky trails off, two little dents forming between his eyebrows as he struggles to find the name for whatever it is the workers tony sent are installing inside his apartment. "...this thing in the forties, right steve?"

steve, from his place near the fridge, takes a short breath in, "i... think it's pretty helpful." bucky groans.

"man, it's wi-fi, don't you want to watch movies or update your tinder?" sam asks, arms crossed. bucky stares at him.

"buck, it's the reason you could do all that at the compound, now it'll be in your apartment, too," steve points out. at the look on bucky's face, he raises his hands in surrender, "it's useful! there's a reason people have it, i'm just saying."

bucky just shakes his head, eyeing the workers in his living room.

a few minutes later, one of the girls working comes up to him with a tablet that she hands to him, "i'm just going to need you to make up a password," she informs, blinking as bucky looks down at the keyboard. "it can be whatever, just try to make it secure, a lot of people try to mooch," she adds with a laugh that trails off at bucky's awkward smile. after a few seconds pass by of bucky trying to think of something he'll remember, she ducks her head, "i'll give you a minute."

sam watches as she leaves, turning to bucky again, "it's like you forgot how to communicate." he sighs, coming closer to his friend, "bucky, this is not that hard. i came up with my password in like three seconds."

"probably why it took your neighbor three seconds to hack into it," steve shrugs, ignoring the offended scoff sam gives him. "put your service number," he suggests.

bucky shakes his head, "i could probably just put my name, right? just do that thing shuri said and replace letters with numbers?"

sam groans, "that's not a good password." after thinking for a moment, he grins, shoving bucky a little, "put one of our names."

"no, no, a name that isn't too connected to him," steve says, "who else do you know?" he asks bucky.

bucky thinks for a second, unsurprised to discover he doesn't really know anyone outside the avengers. then, a brief flash to the neighbor he met a couple days ago comes into his mind. he nearly blushes at the memory of your embarrassed smile as you greeted him, apologizing profusely as you picked up the items from the box you dropped when you bumped into him. he had helped you get everything inside again, stammering because you were pretty and he wasn't used to girls that pretty. "y/n," you had said, "my name is y/n, i'm your new neighbor."

"y/n," bucky says, disregarding the fact that the only things he knew about you were that you were beautiful and maybe a bit clumsy and his new neighbor who had a lot of stuffed animals.

"who's y/n?" sam asks suggestively, wiggling his eyebrows. steve, to his credit, tries not to look too interested. he fails like he did in the forties.

"a neighbor. met her a couple days ago." bucky offers no more information, and neither man pushes him on it, silently pledging they'll get more out of him later, when the girl who handed bucky the tablet isn't tapping her foot on the floor, waiting solely for bucky to type down his new password so she can leave.

"how's that spelled?" steve wonders, leaning over bucky's shoulder to peek at the word he was typing.

"'think like this," bucky mumbles, refusing to tell them that he saw your name scrawled on the congratulations, grad! card that fell out of your box.

after he hands the tablet back, she clicks a few buttons, "okay, make sure to write it down so you don't forget it, the wi-fi should be up and working." she smiles tightly at him before turning to leave his apartment, the rest of the crew already out.

the moment the door closes, sam gets a huge, titillating grin on his face, throwing his arm over bucky's neck while steve leans next to him.

"so, tell us more about this 'y/n.'"

-

you glare intensely at your phone, trying to urge the dog video your best friend sent you to replace the little circle symbol. you huff angrily when a white screen reading no internet connection floods the screen instead, frowning at the light of your phone. you stare longingly at the place where the internet people are supposed to put the little wi-fi device in within a few days, wishing they could come sooner.

at another vibration from your phone, and a text message from your friend reading stop. this was too cute, with the post she sent you replaced with a small loading screen, your nose scrunches at your phone, and you throw it on your couch, groaning loudly when another message comes in, no doubt another adorable dog video that you desperately want to watch right now.

suddenly, you get an idea– one you're not too fond of, because you find yourself sneering at the mention of people who steal other people's wi-fi, but then another ding rings on your phone and you notice it's amazon asking for you to confirm an order, and that your friend has sent you yet another message, and you find yourself pressing on the setting button, then the wi-fi one.

you scroll through the jumbled letters and numbers, pausing when you find a name you recognize, JBBarnesHomeNetwork.

your brows furrow, barnes. then, the memory of your very cute neighbor floods your mind, cheeks warming at the simple memory of the way his chest felt under your fingers when you pushed yourself up, and the pull of his cheeks as he promised you that you had caused no harm.

you hum, clicking on the option and watching as it asks for a password. already feeling kind of bad at the thought of stealing wi-fi, you sigh, ready to admit defeat until jokingly, really only meant as a sort of wishful thing, you put in your own name and click submit.

it is all too startling when it lets you in, your phone now connected to the internet, and the videos sent to you coming to life when the wi-fi options screen disappears now that you've connected. you huff out a breathy laugh in disbelief, clicking on a video just to make sure you actually connected and it wasn't just a fluke.

"huh," you whisper when the cute yips of a puppy sound through your speaker, running your tongue over your teeth in thought as you look away from your phone and think about your next-door neighbor.

-

you haven't disconnected two days later, when the internet lady and her entourage come by your house to install whatever it is she needs to so you don't keep mooching off your neighbor. she hands you a tablet once everyone has begun to pack up, asking you to input a password. she walks away to help one of the guys stuff something in a bag, and you smirk down at the screen, deciding to repay the favor.

barnes you type, then add the three numbers you remember from the dog tags that hung off of his neck when you met him.

"okay, you should be connected now..." the woman tells you, eyebrows joining when you tell her your phone isn't. she gently takes it from your hands, clicking buttons to go to your internet setting until her eyebrow raises, "ah," she starts, "you've already connected to a different network. your neighbor, actually."

"oh," you stammer, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear, "that's..." you trail off at the interested look in her eyes, "weird."

she nods, "of course."

you connect to your own wi-fi, embarrassedly waving goodbye at her while she leaves, then covering your face in your hands when the door shuts.

she laughs lightly once the door is closed, shooing away her teammates and promising she'll be out soon. she raps her knuckles on the door next to yours, one she had knocked on just days before.

bucky's surprised self opens the door, "oh. hello. is there something wrong with the wifi?" he asks, and she tries to help her amusement at his mispronunciation of the word.

"um, no, no, i just thought i should inform you that one of your neighbors is mooching off your wi-fi. s'not something i usually do, but i thought..." she stares at him, trying to get the message across, "you," she continues, "might want to know."

bucky raises his eyebrows at her, "really? which one?"

"name's y/n." she responds, "room 194, right next to ya."

the man in front of her freezes, "y/n?" he repeats, blinking slowly, "oh, thank you. appreciate it."

she was invited to your wedding.