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𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐄𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧: 𝐏𝐢𝐳𝐳𝐚 𝐢𝐧 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞?

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The very next day, Allie rushed off to find Peggy. She was completely ecstatic because today was the day that she will be going on her very first date with Bucky. Luckily for her, she hadn't been called into any meetings so she had all day to get ready. She had absolutely no clue on how to prepare for a date so she went an enlisted Peggy to help her.

When she spotted Peggy walking around their camp in France, she could barely speak a coherent sentence because she was that excited and nervous. When Allie finally found the ability to speak properly, she told Peggy who was immediately delighted for the girl and promptly ushered Allie into her apartment to help her get ready for the date.

"What do you think of this dress?" Peggy asks as she holds up a pretty blue dress. Allie looks across the room from where she is sitting on the edge of Peggy's bed and gives her a brief shake of the head.

"I'm not sure Peg, you're the expert," Allie responds as she turns her gaze from the dress to Peggy's bemused face. Allie has no clue what is appropriate to wear on a date and unfortunately, Bucky was no help as he left her completely in the dark about where they are going.

Underneath all of Allie's excitement, she was extremely apprehensive. Taking this step forward with Bucky would change her life completely. She is nervous about the very thing that Bucky said yesterday. When she lets people into her life, they are more often than not are ripped away from her. And she doesn't want that to be Bucky. She doesn't want to go through that pain again.

Moreover, as happy as she is about having someone that cares for her as deeply as Bucky does, she can't see why. Why does he find himself so infatuated with a girl like her? She is broken in every way possible but somehow he is willing to help put her back together.

Even though she doesn't get why, deep down she is happy to know that she isn't too far gone that she no longer deserves love.

"Well, I'm certain that Bucky wouldn't care if you wore a handwoven sack as a dress. He would still say that you are the most beautiful girl that he has ever laid eyes on." Peggy grins as she rifles through her closet looking for another suitable dress.

"I guess you're right, Peg, as always," Allie replies as she looks down at her thin fingers that are woven together in her lap.

"Of course I am," Peggy smirks as she pulls out a stunning black dress that she thinks would suit Allie perfectly. She turns around and frowns as she sees Allie's depressed look, "Allie, I can see the worry on your face. There's no need to be concerned." She reassures her as she walks over and takes a seat beside her on the bed.

"You know better than to lie to me so don't even try to give me that 'It's nothing' reply," She continues when she sees Allie open her mouth to say something. Allie shakes her head and lets out a sigh as she knows that she can't get anything past Peggy.

"It's just that everything's so foreign to me. I didn't even know that going on dates was a traditional thing until I came here!" Allie groans and throws up her head in annoyance. "As happy as I am about Bucky liking me, I don't get why he would settle for broken goods when he could have someone else. Someone that isn't as damaged as I am." She sighs before she turns to look at Peggy who is giving her the 'you better get your shit together' look.

"Allie, Bucky wants you. He doesn't want anyone else or someone better." She starts pointedly. "And you may be broken inside Allie, but broken people blossom into brave warriors. And you darling, are the bravest, most brilliant person that I have ever had the opportunity to come across." She finishes with a warm smile.

"Wait 'til Howard hears you say that I'm the most brilliant person that you have met!" Allie chuckles softly and is rewarded with an annoyed look from Peggy and a very obvious eye roll. "I'm sorry! But thank you so much, Peggy, for everything." Allie says seriously as she gives her a warm smile.

"It's alright love, us girls have to look after each other," Peggy answers to which Allie responds with a nod. "We do." She agrees and then decides to quickly change the topic to save both of them from any more depressing conversations.

"And onto the next subject, when are you going to ask Steve out? We all know that he won't have the guts to do it himself." Allie jokes but looks at Peggy with an expectant look.

"He doesn't see me that way, and even if he did it would be highly inappropriate." Peggy disagrees and Allie scoffs at her remark.

"I beg to differ, and how is that any more inappropriate than Bucky and I?" She challenges, raising an eyebrow and crossing her arms over her chest.

"Bucky isn't your commanding officer, he's your fellow soldier," Peggy argues with a defiant look on her face. "Now go change into this dress." She orders Allie as she hands her the black dress that was draped across her lap.

"I don't think that the Colonel will reprimand you for taking your commanding officer out on a date, Peg." Allie insists as she takes the dress from Peggy's hands and walks over to change in the small bathroom.

"I would love it if you just changed into the dress, Allie," Peggy shouts back, annoyed and is greeted with a short laugh.

"Instead of pointing out flaws in your logic?" Allie jokes as she quickly strips herself of her usual military attire. She drops her clothes on the tiled floor and goes to change into the dress that Peggy gave her.

"Yes, hurry up!" Peggy yells as Allie does an awkward shimmy to get the dress on. "I am hurrying!" She shouts which sounds more like a strangled cry as she accidentally falls and bangs her hip on the edge of the sink.

"Shit!" She mumbles as she rubs the now sore area of skin. With a sigh, she goes back to pulling this nightmare of a dress on. When she finally has the dress on properly, she goes back out and looks at Peggy expectantly.

"Alright, what do you think?"She questions as she holds her hand to her hips. The dress is made from a light silk material and it clings to the few curves that she regained from eating proper foods in the army. The sweetheart neckline shows the slightly tan skin of her collarbones and it doesn't dip too far down for her liking. The dress has short sleeves and a beautiful white belt that contrasts with the obsidian colored material. She looks down at the skirt part of the dress that flares out and ends right at her knees.

"You look absolutely radiant, Allie. Bucky will be fending men away from you all night." Peggy says as she walks over to Allie and fixes the small creases that protruded slightly on her shoulder.

"I highly doubt that." Allie chuckles as she turns to look into the small mirror on the wall. At first, she was shocked. She couldn't quite recognize the reflection that stared back at her. This dress is much fancier than any other clothes she has ever worn and it made her look entirely different. It made her look beautiful.

"Didn't you just say that I'm always right?" Peggy mocks as she goes back to her closet and pulls out a pair of black heels. "Here, these should match." She says as she hands the shoes over to Allie who sits back down onto the bed to put them on.

"I regretted it the second that it came from my mouth." Allie chuckles as she slips her feet into the shoes and quickly goes to fasten them up.

"So, do you know what Bucky has planned for tonight?" Peggy asks as she quickly dashes into the bathroom and then comes back out with a whole lot of hair products that Allie has never seen before.

"No, not really. He just told me to dress nice?" Allie responds quizzically as she watches Peggy in the mirror, who is trying to fix up her mess of so-called hair.

"Well, I'm absolutely certain that he will take you somewhere beautiful. You are in France after all so you don't have to go far to find somewhere nice." She replies as she sprays Allie's hair with something that causes her to start coughing and gagging. "Oh yes, probably should have told you to hold your breath." She mumbles as she stops spraying the aerosol and starts brushing her dark hair through with a comb.

"Peggy, why does my hair feel sticky?" Allie questions as she starts touching the top of her scalp which earns her a painful a slap on the hand.

"Don't touch it! It's just hairspray, it'll keep your hair in place." Peggy answers as she fiddles around with strands of her hair.

"Oh..." Allie mumbles as she watches Peggy intently in the mirror. She has never had some play with her hair, it was a foreign feeling but she enjoyed it. To her, it seemed like something sisters or best friends would do.

"There you go, what do you think?" Peggy asks a few seconds later after she finishes spritzing her hair with hairspray. Allie opens her eyes again and sees that her hair looks like it is almost as dark as her dress. It didn't look like its usual dark brown self that closely resembled a birds nest. Instead, it is fixed into silky smooth waves that shine in even the slightest ray of light. It looks a lot better than her typically bland straight hair.

She looks like a proper 'dame', as Bucky would say.

"It's beautiful Peggy, I don't know how many times I can thank you for helping me." She says with gratitude and turns around to envelop the lean woman into a hug.

"That's what friends are for," Peggy whispers into her ear as she holds the girl tight in her arms.

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After getting ready at Peggy's, Allie quickly headed back to her own place where she is now pacing anxiously in front of her front door as she waits for Bucky to come. She pulls at the ends of her hair nervously as she waits. And then when she realizes what she is doing, she quickly darts back into the bathroom for the fifth time this evening to ensure that she hasn't wreaked Peggy's masterpiece. Then when she returns back to her bedroom she glances over at the large clock on her wall which seems to confirm that time is indeed slowing down, or at least for her, it feels like it is.

"What the hell are you doing Alexandra?" She mumbles to herself and collapses onto the end of her bed. She has been trained to show no emotion when somebody has a gun to her head and yet, she can't even quell her nerves for going on a date. She is becoming a pile of mush all because of one man, James Buchanan Barnes.

Nobody that she has ever met before has made her feel so different. No one has ever made her feel as human as she is now. And by Christ, she is thankful for it.

Then the bittersweet sound of knuckles rapping against her front door breaks her from her thoughts. She quickly jumps off the bed and rushes to the door, flinging it open without any hesitation.

"Hey, doll," Bucky says warmly as he flashes her his award-winning smile. Unlike their friendly date in London, he isn't wearing his typical military uniform. Instead, he is wearing black pants, a plain white shirt with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows and a navy blue tie that is hanging tightly from his neck. His hair is slicked back off his face and his beautiful blue eyes shine with happiness.

"You look absolutely beautiful, doll. I couldn't possibly ask for a prettier date." He flirts smoothly which causes a rosy blush to overcome Allie's cheeks. And he couldn't have spoken more truer words. He is always completely entranced by her beauty, and tonight she looks no different. He thought that she looked absolutely stunning, almost as if she was an angel on earth.

However, before she has the chance to say thank you, Bucky pulls a single rose out from behind his back and offers it to her."You seemed like a single rose type of gal'." He grins as Allie takes the thin green stem between her fingers and gazes down at the red petals of the rose. She didn't know that giving flowers was a standard romantic gesture, but she can see why it is.

"Thank you Bucky, it's beautiful. And you do look quite handsome yourself." She responds as she lifts her eyes up from the rose and into his, giving him a warm smile.

"I have to look my best if I am taking a 'gal like you out on my arm." He laughs, flashing his pearly white teeth as Allie quickly slips the rose on top of the small table that sits inside, right next to the door. "Well doll, are you ready to go?' He asks with a smirk and Allie gives him a nod in response.

"Where are we going?" Allie questions as she takes a step outside of the apartment and turns around to lock the door.

"Somewhere quiet and thankfully, not far from here." Bucky hints as he holds out his hand for Allie to take when she turns back around. She quickly slips her nimble fingers through his and gives him a nervous smile.

"That's a bit secretive." She replies as they begin to make their way out of the base.

"I want it to be a surprise," Bucky grins as he looks down into her chocolate eyes.

"Why? You're not planning on murdering me in the woods are you?" She chuckles and grins at Bucky who shakes his head vigorously.

"Of course not, we both know that I wouldn't stand a chance against you." He laughs as they exit the gates of the base and he gently pulls Allie towards a busy street on her right. Thankfully where they are stationed in Southern France is really close to the town center which means that he didn't have to get a car to drive them to the restaurant that he chose.

"You just deserve the perfect first date, doll, and I'm doing everything that I can to give it to you." He continues with a smile which causes Allie to once again blush.

"Bucky, you do realize that I will have nothing to compare this date too, so I can't possibly tell if it's horrible or not." She chuckles and swings her hand that is entwined with his as they walk along the chipped concrete walkway.

"That still doesn't mean you don't deserve the best." He counters as he looks around the quiet main street. There are very few people out tonight, which is good because he knows that Allie feels much more comfortable when there isn't a crowd of people around her.

"I think that any date with you would be the best. It wouldn't matter where you take me or what we eat, nothing could possibly make me happier." She beams brightly as she looks up at his smiling face. And as the stars twinkle in the night, she can't help but think that Bucky's eyes shine brighter.

"Aw doll, you're making me blush!" Bucky jokes as they pass a few houses and shops that all seem rather small and cozy. Lining the streets are a few trees that have all shed their winter snow and now showcase their beautiful spring coloring. Lightposts illuminate their path, shining against the evergrowing darkness with a faint golden glow.

"It's nice to finally reverse the roles, isn't it," Allie responds with a grin.

"I much prefer the feeling of seeing you blush though, it warms my heart." He chuckles and holds a hand over his heart. Allie can feel her cheeks becoming warm so she tries to hide her face by looking down at the ground in embarrassment."Ah, there it is." He smirks cheekily.

"Bucky!" She groans as she throws her head up in defeat and slaps him lightly across the chest.

"What?" He laughs as they suddenly stop outside of a quaint Italian restaurant. "Here we are, I hope you like Italian?" He continues as he opens the doors and lets Allie walk in.

"Bucky, a few weeks ago I never had had chicken before so do you really expect me to have tried spaghetti?" She retorts as she steps into the restaurant. There are a few dark tables set up around the room with flowers and candles on each one, and large windows that show the park that is across the street. Melodious piano music floats throughout the room which is a happy change from the sound of soldiers chanting at the base.

"Well, at least you know what spaghetti is so that's a start!" Bucky jokes as an older man approaches the two of them.

"Ciao, Bucky." The man greets Bucky in Italian which causes Allie's ear to perk up. "Ciao bella, benvenuti nel ristorante di Giuseppe / Hello beautiful, welcome to Giuseppe's restaurant." He says as he turns to face her. The man had a slight fringe of greying hair and despite his weary face, he wears a warm smile as he welcomes the two.

"Grazie, sei Giuseppe? / Thank you, are you Giuseppe?" Allie asks in Italian which causes Bucky to whirl his head around to hers in shock.

"Sono! Tu parli Italiano? / I am! You speak Italian?" He gasps as he begins to lead the two to their table.

"Sì. / Yes." She nods as he guides them towards a table in the back corner of the restaurant. It was set up with a beautiful arrangement of flowers and a few candles that illuminate the dim corner of the room. On the ruby red cloth that covers the table, is a jug of water and two glasses.

"Here's your table, just like you asked for Bucky." The man gestures to the table and Bucky claps him on the back happily."Grazie!" He says thickly in his Brooklyn accent which causes Allie to shake her head slightly with a smile pulling at her lips.

Allie goes to take her seat at the table but before she can sit down, Bucky almost sprints to her chair and gives her a charming smile. "Here, let me." He beams as he holds the top of the chair but the action causes Allie to furrow her eyebrows in confusion.

"What are you doing?" She asks quizzically, which makes him chuckle as he forgot that she was new to all of this.

"Being a gentleman, c'mon Allie just sit down." He urges and Allie gives him a doubtful look as she does what he says. He rolls his eyes at her suspicious glance and carefully tucks the chair in under her as she sits down at the table.

"See, wasn't that hard." He smirks as he walks around the table to take a seat in his own chair. "But I completely forget that you also speak Italian too!" He says somewhat shocked as he sits in his chair and props his head into his hands, watching Allie intently.

"It's alright, I speak five other languages too." She tells him and his eyes go wide at the new information.

"Five languages!" He repeats as his jaw falls open."That's cool! But I am truly disappointed that you speak Italian yet you have never had pizza!" He chuckles and Allie rolls her eyes.

"HYDRA didn't quite believe in their soldiers being culturally educated." She retorts as she knits her hands together and places them in her lap.

"You have to get Pizza! Aside from Brooklyn, the best place to get Pizza is either Italy or at Giuseppe's! Steve and I were here earlier this week and he said it tasted amazing." Bucky tells her and she nods her head along as he speaks.

"So that's why we are at an Italian restaurant in France?" She smiles which in return makes Bucky roll his eyes.

"Well, would you rather have frogs legs?" He quips with a smirk.

"They have more food than that, don't they?" She asks and furrows her eyebrows slightly which makes Bucky shake his head at her lack of knowledge about food.

"They do, but Giuseppe here is the best pizza maker in all of France." He boasts with a wide grin.

"I think that you are more excited about this pizza than the date itself." Allie jokes as she nudges her foot against his.

"I could never!" He says appalled and throws his hand over his heart in mock hurt. Allie just shakes her head at his theatrics and pours herself some water. "So, how did you meet Steve?" She asks before she takes a quick sip from her glass.

"I would have been 8 or 9 when Steve got into a fight with a group of lads who were asking for money to cross tenth avenue." He starts and Allie can almost see his bright blue eyes light up at the mention of his best friend. Just by asking about Steve, she can see how much he means to him.

"They were asking for money to cross the street!" She reiterates in confusion.

"They were getting some good cash from boys like Steve. Obviously, Steve being Steve refused to pay and I turned up just in the nick of time to stop them from breaking Steve in half. From then on, we became inseparable." He continues with a slight smile pulling at his lips from the nostalgic memory.

"That sounds like something that the both of you would do." She replies as she tries to imagine what a young Bucky and Steve would look like.

"I thought that Steve was more attracted to fights then he was to women!" Bucky laughs cheekily. "Now I think he is equally attracted to fights and a certain woman." He winks at Allie which makes her let out an amused chuckle.

"Yes he is, and you always came to save him didn't you. When you were younger I mean." She states as she lifts her hands up from her lap and rests them on the red cloth on the table.

"Well, I wouldn't be a good best friend if I let Steve get himself killed." He scoffs lightly, with a small smile pulling at his lips.

"Maybe what stirred him on was that he never actually won himself. You were always there to win the fights for him which could have been why he kept on fighting." Allie replies with a shrug of her shoulders.

"That sounds 'bout right." He mutters and he opens his mouth to say something but is cut off by the waiter, Giuseppe, returning.

"Allora, che cosa volete voi due? / So, what do you two want?" He asks politely in Italian which causes Allie to widen her eyes because she completely forgot to look through the menu which was sitting in front of her this whole time.

"Ahh..." Bucky mumbles as he looks to Allie for translation.

"He's saying what would you like." She responds which makes Bucky nod his head in understanding.

"Right! I'll have whatever pizza you recommend Giuseppe, and you doll?" He asks and gathers the two menus that neither of them bothered to look through, mumbling that it'll be out soon.

"I'll have the same, please." She answers with a shy smile and Giuseppe quickly scribbles down what they order before he hurries off to go cook.

"Do you think he understood what we said?" Bucky murmurs as he watches Giuseppe return to the kitchen.

"Would we know if he didn't?" She counters with a smirk.

"Touché." He replies with a smile as he focuses his attention back on the beautiful woman in front of him.

"So what was young Bucky like? Did he take all the girls on dates like this?" Allie teases as she gestures to the restaurant that they are in.

"Young Bucky never took dames on dates in France, so consider yourself lucky! I would take the girls to this small milkshake shop in Brooklyn because I always got discounts for bringing new customers." He laughs which causes Allie to pout.

"Wow, I feel really special." She mumbles with a roll of her eyes. Bucky just laughs at her reaction and reaches over to take her soft hand into his.

"You are much more special than any of the other dame's that I took out." He replies lovingly as he strokes the top of her hand with his thumb gently. Allie gives him a warm smile in return as she looks up from their laced hands and into his striking cobalt eyes.

"Young me was very headstrong and protective of Steve. He was always getting himself into some sort of trouble so I couldn't leave him alone for very long. We used to go to Coney Island a lot and blow all our money on rides and trying to win prizes, mostly for girls." He smiles fondly as he remembers the memories vividly in his head.

"I think it's my turn to ask the questions now, so tell me about yourself, Allie." He questions as he shakes his head, focusing back on the conversation.

"I'm not that interesting, Bucky." She whines which causes Bucky to smirk as he continues to hold her hand across the table. "I beg to differ." He responds with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, what would you like to know?" She sighs as she gives into Bucky's request which causes him to grin gleefully.

"I don't know... What's your favorite color?" He asks innocently as he leans back slightly in his chair and watches Allie keenly.

"Um, yellow." She answers with furrowed eyebrows, almost as if she isn't quite certain that yellow is her favorite color. "Why yellow?" Bucky quickly replies.

"It's the feeling of happiness, the color of the sun. It's the feeling of joy and it's the warmth of the summer sun dancing across your skin." She says strongly, deciding that yellow is indeed her favorite color.

"So your favorite color is yellow now, not blue. Why is that?" Bucky asks with a smirk which causes Allie's eyes to widen in shock.

"You remember that?" She gasps, recalling the conversation that they had when they were both locked up at HYDRA.

"I try to remember every little thing about you, doll." He beams which causes Allie lips to curve up into a smile of her own.

"It's not blue anymore because I finally have happiness and joy, whereas then I didn't. I know what the sun feels like against my skin now but back there I only ever had winter." She answers honestly, shrugging her shoulder.

"That's quite poetic, doll." Bucky grins, happy with her answer.

"I can be poetic sometimes." She mutters shyly which causes Bucky to let out a small chuckle.

"Tell me a story about yourself, doll." He asks again which makes Allie tense up. She doesn't have many shareable stories because most of the parts of her childhood that she can remember, aren't memorable for a good reason.

However, she does remember one story. A story that she tries extremely hard not to remember. A story that reminds her of painful memories that she'd rather forget about. But it's time for her to start opening up to people and if she wants this relationship with Bucky to grow, she is going to have to start sharing her past.

"I had just turned 10 and obviously, HYDRA didn't throw me a party or give me a birthday cake so I just went to my classes like normal." She starts, swallowing down the hesitation that threatens to close up her throat.

"My best friend, Mikael, took it upon himself to give me a present. There was no way for him to give me an actual present so he did the next best thing. We snuck out once we finished our dinner that night and he took me to this nearby mountain range. It had an absolutely stunning view over our base in Austria. The summer season had just started and everything was so much greener and full of life compared to the bleak winter. We sat and talked until the sky became a beautiful mosaic of colors, filled with reds, oranges, pinks, and yellows. I sat there and gawked as I saw my first sunset. It was the most beautiful thing that I had ever seen." She retells, smiling faintly as she thinks of young Mikael's happy face.

Just as Bucky goes to open his mouth, Giuseppe comes over to the two, holding two pizzas in his hand. "Ecco la tua pizza, Buon appetito! / Here's your pizza, Bon appetit!" He announces as he places the food on the table while Bucky and Allie quickly disconnect their hands.

They immediately dig into their food and thankfully, her story isn't brought back up again. Bucky saw the pained look in her rich chocolate brown eyes and he knew that it was a topic to bring up another time. So instead, they revert back to their light, cheerful chatter as they continue on with their date.

Time seems to flow swiftly as they enjoy each other company. Their smiles light up the room and their laughter never seems to cease. Even when they left the restaurant after Bucky insisted to pay, which worked out for Allie considering she barely has any money, it felt like they were in a world of their own. The entire city could have been falling apart as they made their way back to camp but they wouldn' have noticed. They were both too happy being in each other's company which made nothing else around them matter.

Neither of them were in a rush to go to sleep that night, they would have preferred to savor each and every moment until they collapsed from complete exhaustion. But unfortunately, the night had to come to an end.

Their goodbye was so bittersweet that she wished she could have put it off and relived it all over again at the same time. They sadly uttered their goodbyes to each other as they stood at Allie's doorstep, both on a tremendous high from how happy they were. But before Bucky turned back around and left, he pressed a tender kiss on Allie's lips that made her go weak at the knees. The kiss was so enticing that it left her completely speechless when Bucky departed from her apartment, waving at her happily. And when she went to bed that night, the kiss was playing on her mind repeatedly.

And that night she had no nightmares. Instead, she had dreams of a certain blue-eyed angel that she wished she could spend the rest of her life with.

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A/N - Hey guys!!!

It's taken me almost 2 weeks just to write this one chapter so creds to AlwaysARunner for giving me the idea to do a candlelight dinner (ur a real babe x)

BUT OMG GUYS! I just found out that my sister has a wattpad account and she reads Bucky fics too so I'm super nervous that she is going to come across my story!! I'm going to die if she finds out...

Anyway, on to the questions!

1. What did you think of the chapter?

2. Do you have any questions about me or the book?

3. Are you apart of any other fandoms?

- Grace xx