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sjsmith56 · 9 months

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Checking In - Part 7, From There to Here - Bucky Barnes One Shots

Summary: Set after FATWS Bucky has been sharing his past with his new girlfriend, June. After telling him about her staff Christmas party June asks him to meet her friends at a movie night at her place. Sam is also invited and brings food for a shrimp boil.

Length: 4.4K

Characters: Bucky, June (his girlfriend), Sam, Ingrid (June’s friend and colleague), several friends of June’s. June and Ingrid are plus sized.

Warnings: Self image issues, feelings of inadequacy, defensive Bucky

Author notes: June is a recurring character in this collection of one shots. This one shot is told from her POV. She still has issues with her size but is working on loving herself. Bucky’s obvious feelings about her have helped. He is still in therapy, having anxiety and intimacy issues.

<<Part 6

🍿🎞️🍿

Present Day

I put the Army report from 1945 down and looked with compassion at Bucky. He was looking at his hands, clasping and unclasping them, displaying some anxiety.

"This is Steve's actual report?" I asked. "When he thought you were dead?"

"Yeah," he replied quietly. "My lawyer got copies of everything made from the Army archives when I had to face charges for being the Winter Soldier."

"He was devastated when he thought you died," I noted. "Do you think that's partly why he took so many chances, trying to make up for not saving you?"

Bucky shrugged. "Who knows? I do know that when he recognized me in 2014, he felt tremendous guilt for not going back and looking for me in 1945. Steve told me a lot that wasn't written down in the official reports before he went back."

"He didn't even stay to make sure you were going to be pardoned?"

That must have come across as opinionated because Bucky frowned.

"He had his reasons to leave."

Bucky's tone was defensive, and I could see his jaw was set in a way that indicated he was displeased. Even though we'd only known each other for a few weeks I was already attuned to his moods. His face softened and he took my hand in his.

"June don't mind me," he said softly. "I know I get defensive about Steve leaving. He never felt comfortable in this future. He did ask me to go back but I had changed so much I just didn't think I could handle the 1940s anymore."

"But you could have been with your parents and your sister," I answered. "Instead he left you here alone. When he did go back, why didn't he try to find you and rescue you then?"

I touched his face with my palm then withdrew it when he smiled shyly at me. In the few weeks since we met we had kissed after dates but really hadn't gone any further. Not that we didn't want to but Bucky wanted to take our time until we became intimate.

"I actually did see them, my mother and sister anyway," he said, then took the report from my hands, cleared the pictures from the table, and filed them all back in the box. "But those stories are for another day. As for the other, maybe he did but just wasn't successful."

He picked the box up and put it in his storage room then returned to the couch and sat next to me, turning to his side so he could touch the ends of my hair. Despite his reticence to get physical with me he had no qualms about the little touches, like playing with my hair, putting his arms around me, or holding hands. It was sweet and quite a change from the presumptuous octopus moves of some previous dates.

"Tell me about this party," he said, all of his attention on me.

"Well, it's our staff Christmas party," I said. "It's at a burlesque cabaret with a 1930s-1940s theme. We get to see the show, then they have a private party room we can use. Music will be jazzy 1930s-1950s and they want us in period costume."

A grin crossed his face. "Burlesque in my day wasn't exactly where a guy took a girl on a date, at least not a decent girl."

"Oh, and you know that how?" I asked, tickling his side a little.

"I went a few times, mostly when I was going through a dry spell." His face blushed as he spoke. "How does current burlesque match up with old burlesque? It could be pretty racy back in the day."

"I don't know," I replied. "I've never been but one of our reference librarians works part time as a dancer at the cabaret. She said it's a little risqué and a lot of fun."

"Wait, librarians can work in burlesque?" He shook his head in amazement. "In my day they were usually old spinsters, although I guess they were young once."

"Hey, I'm a librarian, and technically a spinster," I declared. "I even have a tattoo."

"Really?" He started looking at my exposed skin with a cheeky grin. "Where?"

Now it was my turn to blush. "Inside my left hip, if you must know. I got it on my 21st birthday, a rose, the flower for June."

His smile was something else and I knew he was likely picturing it in his mind. It had been an impulse at the time, something my best friend talked me into. It also hurt so much I never got another.

"Sounds like it might be a fun time," he said. "Do your friends know who you're dating?"

"One or two," I answered. "We're thinking of having a movie night soon if you want to meet more of my friends. I'd like you to meet them."

"Can I think about it? The party that is. Movie night sounds alright. How about tomorrow night for that?"

I kissed him on the cheek, making him smile softly again. He was pretty accommodating. Thinking back to our first date he called an Uber to pick us up, then held the door open and offered me his hand as I entered the vehicle. He was just as solicitous when we arrived at the restaurant, a seafood place. Sam must have recommended it as the manager asked Bucky how Sam was doing since they hadn't seen him for some time. The manager looked with interest at me.

"Who do we have the pleasure of serving tonight?" he asked.

"This is my date June," replied Bucky. "June, this is André, the manager here. Sam and I have been here for lunch but this is the first time I've been here for dinner with a date."

André offered me his hand and shook it. "We'll take good care of you both."

He gave us a few recommendations for food and the wine to go with our choices then made sure we were served promptly. After that he kept a buffer of empty tables around us until it became busy enough for him to start seating people nearby. Bucky didn't say much that first date, letting me babble on about books, movies, music, my family and friends. I realized I was dominating the conversation and stopped. He just looked at me with this sweet expression on his face.

"I'm sorry, I was talking too much," I said. "I do that when I'm nervous."

"I don't think you were talking too much, June," he replied. "I like listening to you. You're a unique woman, with a lot of interests."

"Well, it should be more back and forth," I countered. "What about you? What do you like?"

He took a breath. "Well, I like eating, and dancing," he began. "Not the dancing they do now but close dancing, like they did in the 1940s. Alcohol doesn't affect me any more because of my metabolism but I do like the taste. There are some TV shows I don't mind but a lot of it doesn't make sense to me. Like why would people want to watch other people living in a house and plotting against each other? I don't get that. Some things should be private, you know? Movies, well, some of them I like and some of them I don't."

I couldn't disagree with him on his assessment of some TV shows as I knew what he meant. As for movies, I liked pretty much everything except bloody horror but there were some movies that were an acquired taste. After dinner we went to a lounge that played jazz and old standards. Bucky took me onto the dance floor where I could see first hand why he liked dancing. He was very good and I wondered if he had a lot of girlfriends back in the day. At one point he lowered his face so that his mouth was next to my ear.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked.

I looked up at him. Even though I was 5'9'' he was over 6 feet tall by my estimation and it was kind of nice to look up at a man whose arms were around me, especially a handsome one. His blue eyes gazed into mine and for a moment I wasn't sure I could speak. But his eyes were calm and he seemed genuinely interested in my thoughts.

"Just wondering if your good dancing skills indicated you were popular with the ladies back in the 1940s," I replied.

He blushed a little as he smiled, slightly embarrassed, I think.

"I had quite a few girlfriends," he admitted. "Nothing serious. I was more into having a good time."

"How good a time?" Now I was deliberately being cheeky.

Bucky laughed outright then looked at me. "You really want me to say it? I think the term now is player but in the 1940s I would have been referred to as doll dizzy. Not that I was a bad guy. I never forced a girl into going to bed with me. I had a lot of dates that never went that far, sometimes with the same woman if I enjoyed her company."

I wanted to ask where I fit in, but I held my tongue, and we danced without talking for some time. After one last drink we decided to call it a night and we took an Uber back to the apartment building. We stood outside my apartment door for a moment before Bucky gently put his hands around my waist and bent down to kiss me. It was lovely, and sweet, and I almost asked him in, but he spoke first.

"When I was young I would probably talk myself into your apartment at this point but I'm not that guy anymore," he said quietly. "I'm looking for something special so I would like to take our time getting to know each other better before we take it to another level."

It was unexpected and not entirely unwelcome. That he was being a gentleman was obvious and he continued to be a gentleman since that night. Now, as we sat on the couch watching TV, I must have been too quiet while I reflected on our first date as he stroked my hand to get my attention.

"You were somewhere else," said Bucky. "We don't have to watch TV if it bores you."

"It's not that," I replied. "I was just thinking that we've been dating for a few weeks and haven't ... you know. My friends aren't going to believe that we're not yet physical."

"Do you tell them such things?" he asked.

"Well, not details," I replied. "But it's been a while for me, a couple of years. How long has it been for you?"

He blushed (God, I loved that) then sighed. "I had a date that wanted to go straight to sex before we even finished dinner at her place last year. She wanted me to do things to her that frankly kind of shocked me. I'm no prude but it was a bit much even for me and I left without even kissing her goodnight. Before then was in 2017 when I was in Wakanda. Before then I don't really want to talk about because it happened while I was the Winter Soldier."

"I'm sorry, I didn't want to bring up bad memories," I said, feeling terrible for him.

There was an uncomfortable silence between us and Bucky gently turned my face towards him.

"I was often abused and forced to abuse others," he said softly. "Even the few that weren't abused by the Winter Soldier affected me. It's something that I still see a therapist about and it's also partly why I want to wait to be with you. I don't want to hurt you because I care about you and hope we do have something special."

"Oh, Bucky." I was mortified. "Please forgive me."

"It's alright, really. You should know about them anyways. It doesn't mean I don't want you because I do, very much. You're so beautiful and it takes a lot not to get carried away when we're close."

"Really?" I hadn't expected to hear that, having been told before that I wasn't all that desirable and should feel lucky that someone wanted to even go out with me, never mind taking it further.

"June, sweetheart, you're it for me," he said in a low, very sexy voice.

He threaded his flesh hand into my hair and kissed me in a way that I had never experienced before. It was electric as his soft lips and tongue teased me to where I felt the heat of desire beginning deep inside me. We both broke away at the same time and he looked at me with those blue eyes then kissed my forehead.

"I better go home," I whispered. "That was some kiss."

"My thoughts exactly," he said back. "Let me know about movie night."

He didn't get up from the couch; instead he watched me as I went to his door. I realized he was likely aroused and smiled to myself that I had that effect on him. When I went into my apartment I went to the bathroom and could hear his shower turn on as our bathrooms shared a common wall. Closing the door behind me I went to turn the TV on then I texted my friends about having movie night at my place the following night. Four of my friends agreed to come over, two of them wanted to bring their boyfriends. We would decide what to watch once everyone was over.

I worked the following day and headed to the grocery story after to pick up snacks for everyone. I knew that my friend Ingrid liked Chicago mix popcorn, Sherry liked buttery movie style microwave popcorn, Danielle liked Cheetos, and Irene liked regular potato chips and onion dip. For myself I grabbed a medium cheese and meat platter, figuring Bucky would like that, then some crackers, beer, soda, and coolers. If we wanted to eat between movies we would order in pizza, Chinese food, or Thai food. While I was there I received a text from Bucky.

Bucky: Sam wants to come. Is that alright?

June: What snack food does he like?

He didn't answer for a bit so I gathered he was asking Sam.

Bucky: Said he'll bring his own. Looking forward to meeting your friends.

June: Me too ❤️

I texted him when I parked in my spot and he came out of the security door to help me carry the snacks and drinks back in. He looked at the different snack foods as he unpacked the bags, happy with the meat and cheese platter. Sam texted to say he was at the door and Bucky buzzed him in, telling him to come to my apartment. When he arrived at the door he was bearing a sizeable pot containing fresh shrimp that had been caught that day, and all the ingredients for a shrimp boil.

"You didn't have to do this, Sam," I said to him as he pulled everything out.

"It's my pleasure," he said. "I've been cooking since I was a kid. Wanted your friends to be impressed with your new friends, especially me. This won't take long to prepare and we can sit around the table and eat with our hands between movies. Best way to get to know each other."

"Sam does know what he's doing," affirmed Bucky. "We'll have to open a window as it will get fragrant in here."

My first two friends arrived, Irene and Sherry, with their dates following them in. The two men became very excited when I introduced them to Bucky and Sam, displaying some serious fanboy vibes.

"Ted, Irene, Ben and Sherry, this is Bucky Barnes, and Sam Wilson. Bucky and I are dating."

"Holy shit, June, how did you meet these guys?" asked Ted, stepping forward first to shake hands with Bucky then Sam.

"We're neighbours," said Bucky, in his low key way.

Sam enlisted their help to prepare the shrimp, showing how to devein and peel them, except for the tails. By the time my other two friends arrived he had all the prep work done and grabbed himself a beer.

"Ingrid, Danielle, this is Bucky Barnes and Sam Wilson," I said. "Bucky is my boyfriend."

He beamed when I said that. Danielle was almost dumbstruck. "You know Captain America and Bucky Barnes? Why am I just finding this out now?"

"Maybe because you've been out of town for work for a couple of weeks," said Ingrid. "Bucky, pleased to meet you. Sam, you look much better in person than you do on TV."

"Well, thank you," he replied. "Which one of you is the burlesque dancer?"

All five women broke out in laughter and Ingrid put her hand up. "That would be me and you've probably heard about the staff party. You want to come as my date?"

"You have to come, both of you," said Ben to Sam and Bucky. "It's risqué but fun. Much more entertaining than a pole dancer at a stripper bar, not that I go to those since I started dating Sherry. They even get the drag queens involved sometimes and they are so entertaining."

Bucky leaned towards me and whispered in my ear. "Do you really want me to come?"

I nodded, then put my arm around his waist, feeling nothing but muscle. "I kind of want to show you off."

"We'll go then," he said, kissing me on the side of the head.

The others decided to start movie night with Casablanca, thinking it would be something Bucky would like to see. He shrugged, saying he did see it during the war, and it was okay. That set off a discussion of all the different phrases that came from the movie, then how iconic it was as a cinema masterpiece. We started watching it because it was obvious some people were passionate about it. I sat on the floor below Bucky as he sat in the armchair as there wasn't enough room for everyone on the couch. He offered to switch places, but I didn't want to impose. So, being a man of action, he leaned down and whispered an alternative. I looked at him and he raised his eyebrows as if it were the best solution. Offering me a hand I got up and sat on his lap shifting until he nodded and put his arm around me.

"I'm not too heavy?" I asked, still mindful that I was a bigger woman.

"Perfect," he whispered into my ear.

To be honest, it was great being so close with his arm around me. In a way he was showing my friends how he felt about me. During the more romantic parts of the movie, I leaned my head against him, and he shifted again so that I was more comfortable. Sam got up with about 30 minutes left in the movie and filled up the big pot with water, putting it on the stove to start boiling. He also put the potatoes on to boil. Then he came back to watch the end of the movie. By then the water in the big pot was boiling and he put the corn in. He followed that by the sausages then the shrimp. As Sam watched the colour of the shrimp Bucky organized everyone to lay newspaper down on the tabletop then plates. Sam kept a little bit of the broth that the shrimp was cooking in then poured off the rest and assembled the food on two baking sheets, drizzling the food with the broth, melted butter, lemon, and seasoning. Finally, he brought out a full roll of paper towels, tearing off several sheets for each person.

"This is all meant to be eaten with your hands," he said, with a big smile. "It's going to be messy but great. Dig in."

For the next ten minutes there was only the sound of chewing, groans and moans of satisfaction. It was amazing. Ingrid finished eating a shrimp, wiped her hands and mouth on a paper towel, took a drink of her beer and looked at Sam.

"Do you have a girlfriend or a wife?" she asked point blank. Sam shook his head. "Want one? That was so fucking good, Sam. My God, I've lived in New Orleans for 4 years and I've never, ever had this before."

"You haven't been hanging out with the right people," he said. "If you lived near Delacroix we'd have this every other week, at least. You want to go out sometime?"

"Hell yes," said Ingrid. "Where have you been all my life?"

Bucky smiled at Sam, who smiled back, looking smug. We ate every single morsel of food on those two large cookie sheets. Cleanup was easy, as the plates went into the dishwasher, the cookie sheets and two pots were washed in the sink and the newspaper was bundled up, put into a garbage bag and taken out to the trash chute. After wiping down the table and counters everyone was ready for movie number two. The others were going over the list on the TV, coming up with a shortlist of choices.

"Okay, we have When Harry Met Sally," said Ingrid, "or Crazy, Stupid, Love, or Crazy, Rich Asians, or Princess Bride, or Ocean's Eleven."

"I don't want to watch anything with crazy in the title," said Ted, who was seconded by Ben.

"When Harry Met Sally is so 1980s," said Danielle, shrugging.

We took a vote and with Bucky as the last voter it was tied 4-4 for the remaining two choices. I looked at him.

"I have no idea what each movie is even about," he said.

"Well, Princess Bride is a tongue-in-cheek fairy tale," I explained, "Ocean's Eleven is a heist movie set in Las Vegas. They're both good but you might enjoy the heist movie more."

"Because I'm a guy?" he asked with a slight grin on his face. "Just for that I choose the fairy tale."

He sat down on the arm chair, patted his lap and I settled down on it again. We watched the movie and he seemed to enjoy it but I think he was more amused at all of us who said the lines in tandem with the characters throughout it. When it was over nearly everyone got up to stretch their legs while a few went out to the balcony to have a cigarette. I started to get up off of Bucky's lap and he stopped me, looking at me with those big blue eyes.

"Bucky," I said, as he wrapped his arms around me. "Don't you want to stretch your legs?"

"I can do it later," he said. "Ingrid seems to be having a good time."

I looked at her standing close to Sam, flirting in that easy way she had and Sam flirting right back. It wasn't surprising as she was quite extroverted. Bucky's hand went down my back and I turned back to see a look on his face that I saw briefly the day before when he gave me that amazing kiss.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Just thinking of my therapist saying that I would know when I was ready to be more intimate," he said. "Yesterday, I wasn't. Tonight .... Would you be bothered if I asked if I could stay over?"

"No, I would like it if you did," I replied, suddenly feeling a little warm.

His beautiful smile came out and my heart jumped a little. He was so handsome, with an incredible body and was everything in a man that I never thought would be interested in me. Gently, his right hand went into my hair, and he kissed me like he did the day before. At that moment his phone went off, vibrating against my leg and I jumped a little. Sam's went off as well and both men looked at each other, just knowing it wasn't going to be good. Bucky pulled his phone out, looked at the message then replied to the text. He smiled grimly and looked disappointed.

"We have a mission," he said. "We have to leave within the hour. Guess I'm asking for a rain check."

He kissed me again, tenderly, and stroked my face. As I stood up I looked over at Sam, exchanging his phone with Ingrid for their contact information then he kissed her on the cheek and looked over at Bucky.

"I have my case and go bag in the truck," he said. "I just need to text Sarah." He looked at Ingrid. "My sister. I live with her."

Bucky pulled me by the hand to his place and unlocked the door. While I waited, he quickly checked his go bag then turned out the lights before stopping at the door to the hallway. The kiss he gave me then was like nothing I had ever experienced before. His soft lips felt incredible as his tongue explored mine. When he pulled away all I could think of was how good it felt to be in his arms and to be kissed like it was the last kiss we would ever share.

"I'll call or text you if I can," he said as he bent his forehead to mine. "If you don't hear from me it's because the mission is classified and we're on a communications blackout. We'll pick up where we left off, I promise you."

I got one more kiss to remember as he pressed his body against me, pushing me into the wall. It was erotic and sexy as hell, and left no uncertainty of what I could expect when he returned. Back in my apartment he and Sam made their goodbyes to my friends, promised to come to the staff party, and then they were gone. My friends all told me how lucky I was to be dating such a hot guy then Ingrid put her hand on my arm and gave me a look. She knew that it was now more than dating. Until Bucky returned I wouldn't know how much more it would be.

Part 8>>

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#bucky barnes #bucky barnes fanfiction #buckybarnes original female character #ww2 bucky #fatws bucky #sam wilson #soft bucky #plus sized #movie night #shrimp boil

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