genre: fluff?
era: beefy bucky

it was safe to say that you had a big ass crush on steve's best friend.

you weren't sure exactly when it started.

maybe it developed sometime between him opening doors for you or sending you comforting smiles in not-so comforting situations.

you couldn't exactly pinpoint it.

all you knew is, you were down bad.

you tried to ignore your feelings, because duh...there is no way you could date a 100+ year old super soldier who's been through hell and back. the last thing he probably needs right now is a clingy girlfriend.

so you tried to avoid him, at first it was only the little things. sitting further away from him on the couch during movie night, calling shotgun so you wouldn't be shoved in the backseat with him, or purposely waiting five minutes before training started so that you wouldn't have run into him during breakfast.

it was subtle enough that nobody seemed to notice. well... almost nobody.

of course she did. i mean, how could she not? she was trained precisely for noticing the shifts in behavior of her targets.

"looks like somebody's got their eyes on a prize," she said smugly from over your shoulder where you were staring at bucky from across the room.

if you'd turned your head any faster, your neck would've snapped. "natasha! don't scare me like that."

she arched a brow at you, "maybe it wouldn't be that easy to scare you if you weren't so...distracted." a knowing smirk crossed her lips.

"i have no idea what you're talking about," you responded in an attempt to play dumb.

natasha, not so convinced, just smirked, "mhmm."

you turned the corner and walked off, hoping she'd forget the situation entirely.

but things are not so easily forgotten by the black widow.

she watched every painstaking instance that you'd desperately try to stay away from barnes. it was almost laughable.

eventually, it became a lot more obvious. desperate times call for desperate measures.

despite trying your best to shove your feelings down into a dark hole in your soul where they could never be found, you only grew fonder of the blue eyed boy.

you couldn't even stand to be in the same room as him anymore and bucky started noticing.

natasha was making herself a peanut butter sandwich when he came over and sat down on the stool with a slight pout.

bucky didn't talk to very many people in the compound, but those he did open up to were the ones he trusted the most. natasha happened to be one of those people. given their similar circumstances, it made sense that bucky would be more relaxed in her presence.

"hey, nat?" he asked almost hesitantly.

natasha continued making her sandwich, "what's up?"

"do you think she's avoiding me?"

the knife natasha was using to spread the peanut butter paused ever so slightly. she didn't have to ask which "she" bucky was talking about. they'd spoken about you before, so it was a common topic for discussion.

"uh- no. why do you say that?" she asked.

bucky sighed, "i hardly see her anymore and she seems to get all jumpy whenever i enter a room."

natasha held back a laugh. it sounded just like you.
"i'm sure it's nothing to worry about, barnes." she reassured.

bucky wasn't so sure, "i just- i don't want to make anyone here uncomfortable. i already feel like i'm imposing and i hate to think that i'm making it harder for other people living here."

natasha shook her head, "you're not imposing, bucky. you're one of us now."

"i could never be one of you guys," bucky chuckled sadly.

natasha put down everything she was holding and looked into bucky's eyes. she could see that he really meant that.
"hey," she started.

bucky looked up to meet her stern expression.

"don't think for one second that you are any worse than the rest of us. i think you've forgotten that you're not the only one who's killed people. and you didn't even have free will. barnes, you're a good man. you're kind, you're honest, and you're not so bad to look at either. i guess that's why she likes you so damn much." natasha said matter of factly.

"likes me?" he said hopefully.

shit.

"hm?" she tried to play it off, but it was too late. bucky had put two and two together, "you really think she's doing all of this because she likes me?"

natasha raised her hands in surrender, "i didn't say anything."

bucky thought for a moment before deciding to go look for you.

as soon as he was out of the kitchen, natasha looked the way he'd left and grinned.

what, you didn't think a highly trained operative let a secret like that slip on accident, did you?