#(puts a fruit bowl on the rusty table with traps on)

[plaidconvers]

Saturday Plums- B.Barnes

-Bucky Barnes x gender neutral!reader

Summary: Bucky loves the farmers' market for the plums, but that's not the only reason he goes once a week.

Rating: SFW

Word count: 1.9k

Warnings: None just fluff :)

A/N: this is my first fic and any type of feedback is more than welcomed! All mistakes are my own :) I hope you enjoy

Bucky loved the farmer’s market. He may not have been a fan of the crowds of people milling about, but that didn’t seem to matter when he reached a certain someone’s produce cart. He had been eyeing the vendor for weeks now at the new fruit stand but wasn’t confident enough to act on anything. 

“The usual?” The person behind the stand asked as they started to get a produce bag to fill with bucky’s weekly fruit haul. 

“Extra plums please,” Bucky responded. Today was particularly hot and Bucky’s shirt was already clinging to his back. He squinted up at the sun in thought before the voice of the fruit vendor cut him out of them. 

“Alright, your total today is $20 even,” The vendor said with a smile. Bucky handed them a $20 and grabbed his bag. 

“Have a great day! Thank you!” The vendor handed him his receipt and went off to help another customer. Bucky went to go put the receipt in his pocket but noticed a familiar scribble on the bottom of the paper. 

“You should call sometime :)” read the short note below their number. Bucky’s heart screamed in his chest. This was the opening he was looking for. Bucky finished his rounds at the market and made his way home. 

“Hey” backspace. “Hi, it’s bucky” backspace. “Hello :)” backspace. To say he was struggling was an understatement. He wanted so badly to text them but every fiber in his body screamed to not message them. Bucky typed out one last attempt at a message, went to delete it, but he ended up hitting send instead. 

“It’s bucky from the market :)” read his accidentally sent message. Bucky kicked himself for the way the text sounded. Did he text them too early? Did the text sound friendly? Or was it creepy? Bucky’s racing mind pulled itself out of its spiral at the chime of his phone. 

“Hi!! It’s Y/N from the stand :)” they replied in the same mannerism as Bucky’s previous text. His heart was racing a million miles a minute. His phone chimed again with another message. 

“How do you like this week’s surprise fruit?” they messaged. Every week Y/N would throw in one piece of fruit for free for Bucky to try. If he liked it enough he’d add it to his weekly list of fruit to buy. 

“Haven’t tried it yet, but looks...odd” Bucky gazed over to the table where the fruit bowl sat. On top of the gently stacked fruits was a brown and fuzzy ball that he supposed had to qualify for a fruit. If he had it his way he’d buy nothing but plums and peaches and call it a day. Y/N insisted Bucky needed to try more fruits and thus a friendship was kindled. 

Y/N smiled at their phone. Bucky was a gentle person despite what he had convinced himself of otherwise. They never talked more than 5 minutes when Bucky came to the market on Saturdays. In those weekly 5 minutes, Y/N had learned a bit about Bucky and vise versa. Y/N would be lying if they said they didn’t have a thing Bucky. He always was making jokes and would compliment them under his breath when he thought they weren’t paying attention. 

“Well when you get around to it, slice it open and eat it with a spoon, like an avocado” Y/N explained to Bucky. He would eventually go google a list of fruit names and text each one to Y/N until he got the name of the one he was eating. 

They continued to talk the rest of the week and eventually, it was Saturday again. Bucky made his way around the vendor booths until he ended up at Y/N’s. He gave them a sweet smile that made Y/N’s stomach flutter and heart beat faster in their chest. 

“Usual?” Y/N said with a smile gracing their lips while they grabbed the produce bag from Bucky’s hands. Bucky faltered for a second before nodding his head. Had he always been this breathless around them? Bucky was shaken from his thoughts when Y/N asked him a question. 

“What?” Bucky asked, not catching their question. 

“Any plans for the weekend?” they repeated. Bucky took a second to gather the courage to say his response, “now or never” he thought to himself. 

“If you’d be up for it, I’d actually like to take you out to dinner some time.” Bucky held his breath as the words danced out his mouth ungracefully. His mind swirled with what-ifs and he could feel himself going red in embarrassment. Bucky barely missed Y/N’s soft smile as they replied. 

“I thought you would never ask” All the air trapped inside Buckys lungs left in one graceful breath. 

“When are you free doll?” Bucky was feeling a little more confident in his playboy skills, but he was still rusty as ever. 

“I close the stand around 5, so 7” Y/N replied. Their heart was beating out of their chest in the anticipation of dinner with Bucky. They were already filling their mind with thoughts of that evening when Bucky reeled them back to their fruit stand. 

“So would 8 work for you?” Bucky is practically vibrating in his shoes with anticipation and excitement. Weeks of flirting (okay maybe not flirting but he’s trying) and contemplating had boiled down to this moment. 

“Works for me!” Y/N replied with a smile spreading across her lips. Y/N scribbled their address on his receipt and bid them goodbye as he raced home. 

Contentment. 

That’s what Bucky felt as he waited on his couch watching the clock tick down the time till he could leave to pick up Y/N. Bucky had taken out plenty of people way back when, but things were different now. He was different now. Bucky felt his phone ding with a text. 

“Hey pretty boy, I’m almost done if you wanna head over now?” Bucky blushed at the name Y/n called him. He shot them a quick “on my way” and went to grab his keys and wallet. 

The drive over to Y/N’s apartment was short and before Bucky was done hyping himself up, he was pulling over to park. 

Y/N had been ready since 6:30 and they finally gave into texting Bucky to just come over. They were itching to see him. They just knew he would look stunning. A knock rang through their apartment making them jump up from their spot on the couch. 

Swinging the door open, Y/N was greeted by the dashing image that was Bucky. 

“You ready to go?” Bucky asks them, trying his best to not let his nerves seep into his voice. 

“Ya, I just need to grab my keys and wallet!” Y/N said turning back into their apartment. Bucky peered into their apartment seeing the cozy little place Y/N called home. Books were settled on side tables and on the floor. They liked to read. Bucky noted that for future reference. He was about to make more observations, but Y/Ns voice wafted into his ears, coaxing him back to his spot in from of their door. 

“Just come in I’m gonna be a sec looking for my damn wallet.” They mumbled something after but Bucky didn’t catch it. 

Heart racing, he entered. He closed the door behind him letting out a sigh. His eyes dart around the room taking everything in. Plants were hanging from hooks secured on the ceiling and miscellaneous paintings littered the walls. Y/N’s apartment was a stark contrast to his. A colorful couch was set up against the wall by the front door and an abstract shag carpet was placed under the coffee table. He’d have to furnish his apartment before he ever invited them over if they went past the first date that is. 

“Found it!” Bucky heard Y/N yell happily as they made their back into the living room. Bucky took a second to finally take their appearance in. They looked lovely. Bucky smiled to himself getting lost in the person in front of him. 

“See something you like?” Y/N’s flirty tone danced in Bucky’s head. His ears went red at that comment and his eyes found their way to the floor. Bucky heard them laugh at his embarrassed state. 

“I didn’t mean to embarrass you,” Y/N said, putting a hand on Bucky’s broad shoulder. Bucky brought his gaze from the floor to their eyes, seeing the kindness that danced behind their pupils. 

“We should head out so we don’t miss dinner.” Bucky took their hand in his and smiled at them. 

“Lead the way.” 

Y/N was on their 3rd glass of wine and very very flirty. 

“I think we should cut you off doll,” Bucky said, laughter bubbling into his words as a frown starts to form on Y/N’s lips. 

“You’re probably right,” Y/N said feeling slightly embarrassed at their current state. They pulled out their phone and noticed it was already 11.

Bucky checked his watch and noticed the time as well. They had been done an hour ago with their meal but they just kept talking and relaxed into each other’s presence.

“I didn’t think it was that late,” Bucky said with a chuckle. He’d been so lost in their conversation and Y/N’s presence that time seemed to freeze. 

“I think we should go, I’ve seen the same busboy eye this table at least 5 times in the past 30 seconds,” They said with a laugh, eyes twinkling in the light, not like Bucky noticed or anything. 

The two gathered up their things and Y/N left a tip while taking Bucky’s arm, the wine sneaking up to them. Bucky let out a soft chuckle and adjusted his arm around their shoulders for more support. 

The drive back to Y/N’s apartment was filled with them making comments to make Bucky blush. 

“Okay okay enough, let me help you out of the car.” Bucky laughed as he got out of the car. Tipsy Y/N was definitely fun but good god did they make Bucky crazy. 

The pair walked up the stairs to Y/N’s floor as they fumbled with their keys. They got the door opened and turned to Bucky. 

“Um, Thanks for tonight Bucky,” Y/N said in a soft voice, their nerves finally settling in. They felt their face get hot under Bucky’s soft gaze and wanted to just squirm away. 

“I should be thanking you, this was probably the best date I’d been on since the ’40s,” He said in a light tone, gaze never leaving the features of Y/N’s face. He wished for nothing more than for them to just kiss him. 

As if reading his mind, Y/N reached to cup his face in their soft, warm hands, thumbs brushing over his cheeks. 

“Is this okay,” Y/N said barely above a whisper, ask if speaking louder would shatter the soft moment. 

“Yeah,” Bucky breathed out, leaning in to bring Y/N’s lips to his. The kiss was soft and gentle but oh so passionate. Never wanting the kiss to end but needing air, Y/N was the first to pull away. A content sigh left Y/N’s lips as Bucky rested his forehead against theirs.

“I should probably go inside, it’s late,” Y/N said softly. Bucky didn’t want to let them go but he knew he had to. 

“Okay, text you tomorrow?” Bucky said with a slight hint of worry lacing his words.

“Only if you text me you got home safe,” Y/N said in a playful tone. 

Bucky watched as they retreated into their apartment. There was so going to be a second date.