#THE KIDS KNOWING THAT TONY REAPPLIED HIS

[lavenderbuckyy]

stevie headcanons for his birthday! ❤️

wakes up at 5 am EVERY DAY to go for a run

sometimes he has so much energy in his body he HAS to do something physical, like go running or use an exercise machine. bucky calls it the zoomies 😭

with this excess energy, he fidgets a lot. rubbing his hands together, tapping his foot/jigging his leg, cracking his knuckles/neck

he knows sign language!

he's a total introvert and needs time to recharge. he doesn't like big events or parties and prefers low-key time with friends

irish accents always remind him of his ma. sometimes when he hears one in public, he feels like he's back in his apartment in brooklyn with her

(he's fond of F.R.I.D.A.Y. for this reason)

he's a great listener. the avengers come to him when they have a problem because they know he truly cares and he'll pay full attention

on days off he likes exploring different museum exhibits in brooklyn

burns in the sun sooo easily, he's constantly reapplying suncream. when the avengers have beach days, he always has to sheepishly walk up to someone and ask them to do his back

his favourite colour is blue!

although he's more of a cat person, steve is fond of golden retrievers. no real reason, he just thinks they're neat

awkward around kids, but he tries his best

this man is so well hydrated. he brings his reusable water bottle everywhere and is constantly sipping on it

orders sharing platters just for himself at restaurants bc of his metabolism

he has a lot of respect for natasha; she's one of the first people he truly came to trust in the 21st century. they spar together a lot!

he loves the smell of apples cooking 🍏

his movie night snack of choice is salted popcorn

likes strategy games like chess, battleships, etc. he's an absolute MENACE at monopoly and nobody wants to play with him

he is truly haunted by star spangled man with a plan and rappin' with cap

his hair gets lighter and more golden in the sun. natural highlights 🌤️ plus he gets little freckles across his shoulders and nose!

he is so sappy on the inside fr ❤️

prefers pancakes > waffles (he and bucky fight over this)

he attends a lot of protests (e.g. women's rights march 2017), both because he cares and because he knows it'll bring more media attention to the issue if he attends

he is so touched by the fan letters he gets from little kids. he keeps them all, but he sticks up his absolute favourite artwork on the fridge

pretends to not understand modern technology just to aggravate tony

uses perfect punctuation and caps in his texts — except he leaves out full stops at the end of sentences because he thinks it "makes him sound annoyed" 😭

hates doing dishes. usually he just rinses off his plate/mug and leaves it in the sink for later

bottles up his feelings. usually he exercises as a way to work out his frustration, but he won't talk to someone until he's at breaking point or they make him

absolutely awful at first-person shooter games

he hates lemon desserts and sour candy. bur he loves lemonade... hmm 🤨

[starkerhowlter]

Princess Parker -- Chapter 1

Rating: M Ship: starker (tony stark / peter parker) Tags: Minor Bucky Barnes/Steve Rogers, Alternate Universe - College/University, Fashion Designer Peter Parker, Engineer Student Tony Stark, slow burn, stolen moments Summary: Tony Stark's in love.

But not with the conventional. Instead, his soulmate is known for temper tantrums about pink lemonades that are too sour and scuffs on the toe of his Louboutin shoes. He's materialistic, superficial, and cares way too much about his face.

So why can't Tony stay away? read it on AO3

It's finally time to post this. This fic has been a labor of love and I can't wait for you to fall in love with Princess Parker as much as I have.

Sit back, relax and cozy in and enjoy the world of Princess Peter Parker. ♥

Note: all underlined words are links to Tumblr-hosted images with added information for the fic -- As Always, this fic was beta'd by my favorite human in the world: @cozysafechaotic and I couldn't be more thankful! A special shout out as well to my sprinting goblins in the Super Starkers Discord for their believing in this fic and helping me through writing it and nailing down these crazy kids into their lovely selves. Thanks so much, guys!

Chapter 1: In Walks The Impossible

Tony doesn’t believe Bruce when he describes him. "There is no one on campus that looks like that. I'd have seen them. No one in their right mind dresses like that. Well, not anyone with self-respect." He kicks his leg up on the bench across from him, engineer-style boot blocking in Bucky and Steve. Bruce just shrugs, taking another fry from his plate and eating it.

Steve's arm lies on the back of the booth, fingers tangled in the ends of Bucky's hair. "No way, there's no one that could possibly look like--" Their words are cut off by the stark sound of heels clicking on the wood floor of the food court. Just as the boys look towards the door, in struts the impossible. His keys jingle in his hand, and the sound of his boots echo throughout the space. Behind him walks a girl with long brown hair, holding a tablet, taking notes as he talks.

"No way," Tony whispers to no one in particular, inhaling the sip of Coke he’d taken moments before. . The boy rolls his eyes as someone whistles at him across the food court. He turns to the girl, reapplying another coat of red lipgloss to his perfect mouth as they step in line at one of the counters. Tony can't take his eyes off of the boy's seemingly endless legs as he taps his expensive shoe impatiently.

"Earth to Stark! Come in Stark..." Bucky pokes, pushing the boy's foot off the bench. The sound of the impact causes the scientist to jump and snaps him out of his trance. "What was that about?"

"Sorry, I... I erm.... saw Pepper."

"You still have feelings for her?" Steve asks, sighing, "C’mon, man! I thought you were over her."

"I am." Tony dismisses, running his calloused hand through his hair. "I just.... she was wearing my jacket, that's all."

"Gotcha. Well, if she keeps bugging you, I can trade you spots and you can sit here so you don't have to see her. Or we can go back to my dorm?" Steve offers.

"Thanks, Steve. I'm fine here." Tony sighs deeply, his eyes keep finding the boy but he tries his hardest not to look.

As though a distraction sent from the gods, Sam and Clint walk up to the table. "Hey!" The former smiles, "What’re we talkin’ about?"

“Pepper’s wearing Tony’s old jacket and Steve thinks it’s bothering him, but he says it’s not. No big deal,” Bruce states plainly, “Y’know that that’s got monosodium glutamate right?” Bucky groans, head hitting the table.

“I don’t even know what that means,” Sam replies, shoving a fry in his mouth.

"Aaaaaall right, cuz that makes sense," Clint replies, pulling a chair up to the end of the table and straddling it backwards. The group digs into their lunches, and Tony's crush is forgotten about... for now.

-_–_-_

When he's walking to class two weeks later, the subject of his crush reappears. It's a miracle Tony hadn't noticed the boy before, but there, standing before him is one Peter Parker in an outfit that is so body-conforming it should be illegal. He's in a black ruched cropped shirt with tulle and lace sleeves, skin-tight white jeans, and "No way..." Tony murmurs, catching sight of the iconic red soles of Peter's heeled ankle boots as he's walking into class. In his shock, Tony hardly registers the overwhelming cloud of cologne that always seems to linger in the lecture halls and grabs a seat near the middle. Peter's claimed a desk, front and center, his entourage hanging on his every word as he leaned over the desk. His ass sticks out perfectly as he points to something on the other boy in the group's computer. Tony hears one of the girls squeal softly, which causes him to roll his eyes once again, turning away from their interactions and pulling his laptop out of his backpack. This is going to be a long semester.

"Alright," The professor begins, "Take your seats, please. Welcome to Biochemistry 3, today we're going to be discussing..." Tony checks out, watching the way the designer boy's pen glides across his tablet, taking what he assumes are precise notes of the curriculum's specs, and when all the due dates are. He startles as a folded paper appears on his keyboard, with his name written in curly script lettering. The lettering inside the note looks almost foreign. When he finally picks apart what it says, he reads “Stay away from our Princess.” Tony laughs under his breath, crumpling the paper and shaking his head at the redhead glaring from the front row. She raises her eyebrow as though to say ‘try me'. Peter laughs softly as the girl whispers something in his ear, biting his lip and glancing back at the boy in question. Tony half-smiles and winks at the boy, pretending not to notice the gentle blush that tints his cheeks.

-_–_-_

Thank you so much for reading!! Comments and likes are much appreciated!!

Chapter 2 will be up soon!

[moontours]

Please imagine, like all of Tony’s Tinies arrived into his orbit post CW, yeah? So they are used to Tony being, at the very least, at slight odds with other heroes and all that bullshit. So when Steve and Tony start getting all buddy buddy and “Shellhead&Winghead” again his brood is like (¬_¬) idk about this guy Tony he seems like a cop tbh. Like they respect Steve as a hero and a person well enough, but dating their collective Uncle?

I can see these kids are trying to reverse Parent Trap them out of loyalty to Tony. They know Tony’s day is like ruined if he and Steve aren’t getting along (even tho Tony is like 💯 thinking he’s hiding it perfectly, these kids can tell when someone has reapplied their eyeliner after crying in the bathroom it just rude to point it out thanks) so they are just looking out for him ok????

And then, the shenanigans commence.

IM GOING TO CRY?? oh my god also bc shortly after cwii was also secret empire so their suspicions of steve being a weirdo jus DOUBLE once they find out that it was hydra cap. BUT they also see how much tony loves steve so they try their best for him ... doesnt mean theyre not Watching though

[lixxen]

NO WAY HOME SPOILERS (This is a kinda long fix-it drabble about Peter)

So, just to let y'all know I have been writing Peter & Tony fics for years and that's what I'm known for on AO3. I've written this big fic that had gotten some traction for a bit. I literally live for Tony basically adopting Peter and them having a better relationship.

So when NWH finished, after crying over Matt Murdock and Venom/Eddie, I automatically went to thinking about Peter and Tony (plus Pepper and Happy).

Hear me out though.

Peter finishes his GED and manages to get into MIT because his files still exist. His school records and connections to Tony Stark still exist.

Peter sends his application into MIT and gets a letter back telling him that he got accepted and they don't understand why he was rejected at first; since Tony Stark had set him up with a scholarship specifically for him.

Tony Stark took one look at this kid and how broke him and his aunt were (in the sense that they got by but didn't have enough to send him to school without scholarships. Because they were comfortable in the movie). So he set it up and put up connections.

MIT didn't understand it until Far From Home. They didn't want to risk it, so they denied him and never told him. What would Tony Stark do? He was dead.

Pepper Potts ends up being contacted when Peter reapplies, telling her that the Underoos Scholarship has been put into effect. Happy gets an email saying that a Peter Parker has applied and that he is the sole receiver of Tony's special scholarship.

Happy and Pepper go looking into this scholarship and the files on Peter Parker. The hours upon hours of footage and notes that Tony had on Peter.

They find what actually happened in Europe and during NWH.

They don't remember it, but they have the information to build a narrative and rejog some of the memories.

Pepper contacts MIT and basically tells them that if they do not accept Peter, SI will stop their help. She holds them in a death grip until they finally accept him (which they were going to anyways, but Pepper solidified it).

Peter gets into MIT and then Ned and MJ recognize him and befriend him after him getting coffee for months.

Peter lets their relationship build more until Peter asks them about if they had a memory spell put upon them and that, hypothetically speaking, someone was forgotten because of it. Would they be upset if it took the person long to help them remember because the person simply saw how happy they were and wanted to protect them.

They answered with a "they would be slightly hurt, but they would understand." That in the end, they understand. Nothing is ever cut clean and everyone makes mistakes.

Peter then tells them and they are silent the whole time. He shows them pictures upon pictures. His private social media that he removed them from.

MJ and Ned finally speak, saying that they thought it was odd that they had random pictures of him and that maybe they had known him briefly in high school or from AcaDec. But they had their suspicions. MJ did say she'd figure it out.

They may not remember, but they could rebuild memories. Visit Doctor Strange and ask him about the spell.

When they go see Doctor Strange, he isn't happy with what he hears. He seems like he knows that there was something wrong, but he doesn't voice it. He listens and helps them rebuild their lives.

Magic is very useful and memories aren't hard to access once you have experience.

[avengerscompound]

The Tower: Family - 22

The Tower: Family An Avengers Fanfic

Series Masterlist PREVIOUS //

Pairing:  Avengers x OFC, Bruce Banner x Bucky Barnes x Clint Barton x Wanda Maximoff x Steve Rogers x Natasha Romanoff x Tony Stark x Thor x Sam Wilson x OFC (Elly Cooper)

Word Count: 2411

Warnings:  Pregnancy, smut (MF, Vaginal fingering, vaginal sex)

Synopsis: With new powers, Thor now living on Earth full time, a wedding to plan, and Natasha and Wanda expecting, a lot is changing for Elly and her large and rather unconventional family.  When Elise’s parents try to reestablish connections, Elly questions what being a family actually means.

Chapter 22: The Baby Shower

I decided that I wanted to dress up for the baby shower - all of our friends were coming tonight as there were no major missions and I couldn’t remember the last time that had ever happened.  I wasn’t sure if it had ever happened.  Normally at least one person was missing, usually, it was more.  This time because it was just a couple of hours on the weekend, it would be all of them.  Clarke and Jax, Sam’s siblings and their kids, Phil, May, and the rest of the SHIELD team, Fury and Hill, Rhodey and Happy, Vision, Carol, Scott, Hope, and Cassie, were all coming.  T’Challa was even coming from Wakanda and Loki, Angela, Sif, and the Warriors Three were all coming down from Asgard.

After my shower, I called Clint up and so I could ask him to do my hair, and while I waited for him I fixed my makeup.  He arrived just as I was doing the finishing touches on my lips and I was sitting at the vanity in my bra and panties.

“Didn’t you already get laid today?” Clint asked, coming over to me.

“Yes,” I answered.  He leaned down and ran his hands over my stomach as he kissed my neck.  “I didn’t ask you up here for that.”

“Aww, man,” he whined, though he didn’t pull back.  His hands continued on their journey down and caressed over my hips and up the insides of my thighs as he sucked softly on my throat.  I broke out in goosebumps and shivered a little, instantly responding to his advances.  “But you look so sexy and inviting.”

“I was going to ask you to do my hair,” I said.  “The party is soon.”

“We can do both,” Clint reasoned.  “I can be super quick, and you come so easy when you’re pregnant.”

I snorted.  “I guess I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Clint tilted my head back and looked down into my eyes.  “It was meant as one,” he said and brought his lips to mine.

That was all it took.  There was no fighting it.  I wanted this as much as he did.  He slowly palmed my cunt as we kissed and I moaned softly as my pussy flooded.  I hummed as my panties started to soak up the fluids that were dripping from me and his hand slipped under the elastic and his fingers stroked up my folds.

A warm buzz spread out through me as he started running his finger in circles over my clit.  He countered the pleasant sensation in my cunt by squeezing and massaging my breast with his other hand.  I moaned into his lip and reached back, cradling his jaw, keeping him in place.

I felt warm and soft and fuzzy on the edges as Clint fingered me.  He pulled back with a gasp and took his hand away and patted my thighs.  “Get up,” he said.

I stood and he pushed me forward and pulled my panties down to my knees.   I groaned and braced my hands on the vanity, watching Clint’s reflection in the mirror.  He smirked at me, his blue eyes glittering, and unfastened his pants.  He pulled out his cock and pumped it a few times, resting his other hand on my ass.  “Ready for it, princess?”

“Yes, Clint,” I hummed.  “Give me that dick.”

He chuckled and lined himself up and thrust hard in.  I had to brace myself on the vanity to stop myself from falling forward.

“Fuck, look at you,” Clint hummed, kissing my shoulder and running his hands up my spine.

“What?  You’re the hot one,” I argued.  “All muscles and nice arms.  I’m a beached whale.”

“Guess I have a thing for whales then,” Clint teased.  “‘Cause I think you’re hot.”

“Clint!” I squawked, but my protests were soon cut short as Clint started to thrust.  I kept my eyes on him, watching his face set in concentration as he fucked me.  He looked so good, his muscles tensed, and his jaw set.  He had one hand braced on my shoulder and I could see the tendons and veins standing out as he held me in place.  “Oh, fuck, Clint…” I moaned loudly.

“That’s it, princess,” Clint hummed.  “You see it yet?”

I nodded my head because I did.  Not so much that I found myself attractive now that I was pregnant with my third child, but I could see why he did.  I saw the same thing when I looked at Natasha and Wanda.  I could see it in the way he looked at me now.

He leaned forward, pressing against me.  “Say it, princess.  I wanna hear it.”

“I see it, Clint,” I moaned.

He wrapped his arm around my waist and began to rub my clit.  My legs started to tremble and my hands gripped fruitlessly at the smooth countertop.  “Fuck… fuck, Clint!” I cried out and my orgasm hit, shuddering through me and making my cunt spasm and clench around Clint’s cock.

He groaned and picked up his pace, holding me in place as he fucked me.  “Such a pretty orgasm face,” he growled as his hips pistoned in and out.  I pulsed my cunt around his cock, trying to milk him.  “Fuck,” he grunted, and jerked into me, coming deep into my pussy.

I hummed and leaned back and kissed him as he remained inside me, his cock pulsing.  He ran his hands over my stomach and paused on a spot where Edwin was kicking.  “Feels like Eddie liked that too,” he teased.

“Eddie is as hyper as Tony,” I answered as Clint slipped out of me.  “The kid never gives me a break.”

“Go clean up and I’ll do your hair,” he chuckled, spanking my ass.

I giggled and pulled off my now ruined panties, throwing them in the laundry hamper as I went to the bathroom.  When I came back out again Clint was redressed and laying back on the bed waiting for me.  I grabbed a fresh pair of panties and slipped them on, before taking a seat at the vanity again.

“You know what you’re wearing?” Clint asked, coming up behind me.  He grabbed my brush and began brushing out my hair.

“Yeah, that one,” I said pointing to the lilac cocktail dress hanging on the back of the door.

“Pretty,” Clint said.  I grabbed my lipstick and started to reapply it.  “I did Nat and Wanda’s hair today too.”

“Yeah?  Did you do them as well?”  I teased.

“A gentleman doesn’t kiss and tell,” Clint chuckled.  “But yes.”

“Both of them?  Jesus, Clint, how much jizz do you have?”  I said, laughing.

“Princess, you and I both know, it’s basically an endless supply,” he joked.  “Now, what are we thinking?  Loose updo?  Or something like a halo braid or half braid?”

“Loose updo,” I said.  “Halo braid would be for a more floaty dress than that.”

“You got it,” Clint said and started styling it.

“What did you do with Wanda and Tasha’s?” I asked.

“You’re gonna see them in a minute,” Clint laughed.  “You can’t wait?”

“Nope, tell me,” I said.

“Well,” Clint said, putting some bobby pins in my hair.  “Nat is wearing a sort of forties style dress.  So I did her hair in those really smoothed out finger waves she likes.”

“Oh nice,” I said.  “I like that look on her.”

“Yeah, me too,” he agreed.  “That’s how she wore it when we did our first undercover mission together.”

I smiled and looked back at him through the mirror.  “Aww, did you fall in love with her there?”

He chuckled.  “Maybe.”

“And how did you do Wanda’s?”  I asked.

“She has ramped up that Earth mother thing she’s been doing lately,” he said, smiling to himself.  “Wait ‘til you see her, El.  It’ll blow your mind.  Anyway, she’s got one of those… not a crown... You know those head circle things?”

“A diadem?”  I giggled.

“Yeah, that,” he agreed, adding some more pins  “So I just did it in loose curls around it.”

I smiled.  “She’s so cute.”

“Yeah, she is,” Clint hummed.   “Man, it’s gonna be crazy when all the babies are here, isn’t it?”

“You’re telling me,” I laughed.  “But like everyone kept saying to me before I got knocked up, there are ten of us.  And we’re supposed to be hiring some nannies.”

“What is going on with that?  Wanda’s about due to burst, surely we should have them here by now,” Clint mused.

I shrugged.  “I have no idea, honestly.  I think Tony was supposed to narrow down the people and then Wanda was supposed to … you know…”

“Right, yeah… might need to nudge Tones,” Clint said.  He grabbed some product and added it to my hair then stood back and looked at it, adjusting locks here and there.  It was up in a messy, half-braid/half-bun.  “How’s that?”

“Love it, thanks, Clint,” I said, getting up and kissing his cheek.  “Can you help me with my dress?”

“Yes, mistress,” he teased getting it for me.

“Clint, I’m gonna kick your ass,” I laughed as I stepped into it and he pulled it up.

“After I did so many nice things for you?”  Clint said.  “Mean.”

He zipped me up and I straightened myself up.  “Okay, let’s go.”

We headed downstairs.  The party was already underway but only just.  Hill was talking to Nat by the base of the stairs, and there was a small group of people at the circular seated area.  The room was a criss-cross of threads to the people that we all considered family.  It was a little overwhelming having them all so close.  The threads were always there, but it was just the ones that connected me to my partners and children that glowed brightly all the time. The others were fairly faint until they were close by.  So now the threads were everywhere, all different colors and all leading to the people we loved.

We had hired people to run the party.  There were caterers, wait-staff, and bartenders, and someone was greeting people at the elevator and taking their coats.  Jax and Clarke had just arrived and I could see Clarke was holding a gift box.

“El!”  Clarke called, as I descended the stairs.  “Happy baby shower.”

“You didn’t need to bring gifts,” I said, kissing her cheek and taking the present.

“I know, I know but I had this idea and couldn’t help myself,” she said.

We headed over to where Wanda was sitting, Clint peeling away from the group to go speak to Phil who was getting himself a drink.

Wanda was just as Clint had described.  She looked completely ethereal in her red gown.  The layered tulle skirt was spread out around her, the sheer lace bodice just added to the goddess vibes she gave out.  Her hair had been styled to curl down her back, framing her face and the silver diadem that had a crescent moon and five red gems adorning it sitting in the middle of her forehead.

“Hello, beautiful,” I said, taking a seat next to her.  “You soaking up the attention?”

“Mm-hmm…” Wanda hummed.  “You look very pretty.”

“Compared to you?”  I said, resting my hand on her stomach.  “I look like a background character in an anime.”

She giggled.  “I wouldn’t have understood that reference if you didn’t picture it so clearly.  You do not look like that.”

“Where are my kids?”  Clarke asked, sitting on the couch that ran perpendicular to the one we were sitting in.

Wanda tilted her head. “They’re showing Scott, Hope, and Cassie the cinema.”

“I guess they can wait,” she said.  “Open the present.”

I giggled and started to unwrap it.  Inside were what looked like tiny little grey and red school uniforms.  Complete with blazers with A’s on the breast pocket.  There were six in all and each had a number.  Two larger ones that would fit the twins, and four infant-sized ones.

“Avengers Academy,” she teased.  “Because you seem to be creating your own superhero team from scratch.”

I started laughing.  “You massive dork.”

“Oh come on,” she teased.  “You can’t tell me they won’t look adorable in these.”

“Well, that is true,” I said, putting the box down.  “Come here, you huge dork.”

She hugged me tightly before pulling back looking around.  “Alright.  I’m gonna get a drink.  You ladies want anything?”

“Oh yeah, pineapple juice please,” I said.

“I’m fine.  Tony made me a mocktail,” Wanda said.

When Clarke and Jax made their way over to the bar I curled up against Wanda and put my face against her stomach.

“What are you doing?  It’s a party, you can talk to the twins whenever you like,” Wanda asked, as she rubbed the back of my neck.

“Having this much family nearby is a little overwhelming,” I said.  “The closer they are the more I feel.  How do you deal with that?”

“It took me a long time,” she said.  “And it doesn’t always work, but I can try and teach you.”

One of the twins kicked against my face, it made the thread that connected me to her wiggle in front of my eyes like a sheer rainbow scarf.  “Hey little girl,” I whispered to her stomach.

“Here’s the other mamas,” Rhodey said, coming over with Tony.  “You two look beautiful.  Have you had one of those pregnancy photoshoots yet?”

“No,” I said, sitting up again.  “Aren’t they a little -” I rocked my hand back and forth.

“Oh no, let’s do it.  It will be so nice,” Wanda said, excitedly.  “All three of us in pretty dresses.  We can have the puppies and the kids too.  I would love that.”

“See what you did, Rhodey?” I teased.

Rhodey laughed and took a seat.  “Sorry about that, but I bet old sentimental would like that too.”

“Who me?  I’m not sentimental,” Tony said.

“Who are you trying to fool?”  Rhodey teased.

“Can we?  Please, Elise?  I would really love that,” Wanda begged, tugging on my hand.

“Okay, okay,” I said laughing. “But you’re going to have to convince Nat.”

“Oh, I will.  This is going to be so much fun,” Wanda said, clapping.

I smiled and kissed her cheek.  Feeling how happy she was, I knew that even as overwhelming as it was to have everyone here, there were worse things to be overwhelmed by than love.

// NEXT

[buckybarnesbingo]

3 Prompt Summaries

fantasy creature,  ice cream,  jail - suggested by @liquidlightz

@rebelmeg - so, this is what bucky gets for taking his pet dragon out for ice cream.  jail.  it's really inconsiderate, actually, he didn't even get to finish his ice cream cone.

@wolfnprey - No one said anything about mermaids having a sweet tooth. No one said they get possessive either. After watching Bucky's exploration of the human world end with him cramming a gallon of cotton candy ice cream down his throat, the last thing Steve expected was to wind up paying a bond to get said merman out of jail all because Bucky did not take kindly to the ice cream server offering Steve free samples.

@caiti-creative-corner - Bucky just wanted to pick up some ice cream for his partner.  Now, thanks to a mistaken identity, he's got to get out of jail before sunrise. Or the cops were in for one very big surprise.

@polizwrites - When he ordered a unicorn sundae from the brand new (and extremely sparkly) ice cream parlor down the street, the last thing Bucky actually expected was to have an actual-factual unicorn show up as well.  To be fair, it seemed as surprised as he was, and more than a bit of chaos ensued.  It nearly stabbed the Animal Control officer before Bucky was able to calm it (no, him - DEFINITELY a him) down and now he sat with the magnificent creature  in the largest enclosure at the shelter, wondering what in the hell to do next.

@somesortofitalianroast - Bucky wasn’t really sure why there was a unicorn in the ice cream parlor on the boardwalk. He was even less sure how he ended up arrested for the trafficking in supernatural creatures. All he wanted was a banana split and to sit on a bench and watch the ocean.

@lbibliophile-mcu - Bucky glares at the - unfortunately familiar - wall of the holding cell. It's not his fault that the anti-collision auto-correct on his teleportation periodically deposits him on the wrong side of a security door. But the guards who found him this time are new, so it always takes a little while for the higher-ups to convince them that 'no, he wasn't breaking and entering', 'yes, it was an accident' and 'yes, magic is a thing that happens - specifically to one James "Bucky" Barnes'. Of course, he could just teleport out of this cell. But they know who he is and have started the paperwork, and it is really a whole less hassle all round if he just sits tight for another hour or so and waits for this whole mess to get sorted out. However bored he is. Except... he can't leave, but that doesn't mean he can't bring something in... A few seconds  later, the cameras show him lounging back on the bench, taking a large bite out of a triple-serve ice cream.

@liquidlightz - merge this fumbling magician Bucky with Poliz' one and you get a unicorn appearing in the holding cell :unicorn:  so much more paperwork !

@huntress79 - If Bucky had to choose one thing that the serum, no matter what version, made better, he probably would have named the ability to eat almost obscene amounts of ice cream without any side effects. In the first few months after showing up at the tower, he and Natasha spent many a night tasting almost every ice cream flavor available in the greater New York area. But then, a certain God of Mischief chose Bucky as his latest "victim", taking him from the line at the ice cream parlor two blocks down from the Tower directly on a trip to a realm filled with dragons, and faes, and whatnot else (sure, Bucky had read the Tolkien books, but come on, Smaug had nothing on that magnificent, golden-red giant they encountered on their first day). And of course, Loki had to make it even worse, and go and try to steal some of the dragon's hoard. Everyone knows that it only ends bad! Well, it did, at least for Bucky - who ended up in a dark, smelly cell in the king's underground jail, while Loki was nowhere to be found. Was it too much to ask to get the largest bubble waffle filled with pistachio, vanilla and lemon sorbet without getting interrupted or kidnapped? Jeez...

More under the cut!

Chicken, Tall, Pearl - suggested by @ariasfandom

@rebelmeg - bucky loved going to his grandma's farmhouse as a kid.  it was full of adventures and things to see and animals to play with.  well.  all except for pearl.  pearl was mean.  and pearl, the biggest, tallest, crankiest chicken that bucky had ever seen, seemed to harbor a real and visceral hatred for bucky himself.

@wolfnprey - It was Sam's insistence that led Bucky to visit Clint on his family farm. It was Sam's dare that got Bucky pecked by a bunch of overprotective hens when he tried to help collect eggs. Again, Sam's fault that Bucky wound up stuck in a tall ass tree because the asshole scared Clint's dog and somehow the dog wound up in the tree.  So when Bucky wound up finding a lizard that Clint's daughter called Pearl cuddling up to his face in the morning, he knew it was Sam's fucking fault then, too.

@liquidlightz - Bucky loved to trade pearls with his new found friend.  He'd search the ocean floor and gather a few to bring to Steve, who in turn would bring him what he called chicken.  It tasted so different from fish and Bucky was hooked.  The taller the chicken the more pearls Bucky would give Steve.  In his world these had value, but Steve was planning to give them right back one day, he was just designing the perfect necklace to make out of them for Bucky.  In the meanwhile, he could do with eating veg and potatoes so he could give Bucky all his chicken.

@huntress79 - Like in so many other things, the animals of Wakanda were just as unique as the country itself. The rhinos were scary at first, but once you knew the trick, you could turn them into giant balls of fluff in no time. The goats, though just as stubborn as those Bucky remembered from childhood summers spend with relatives in Indiana, were the biggest source of entertainment in the village, hands down. But truth be told, the biggest surprise were the chicken. Sure enough, they could work up a cacophony of sounds in a heartbeat like any other chicken on this planet, but for some reason, Wakandan chicken were way taller, with legs as long as some supermodel, and the shells of their eggs almost resembled pearls, so sparkly.

@somesortofitalianroast​ - a chicken on a tall dresser with mother of pearl drawer knobs....

@ribbonsflyingoutthewindow​ - There's a whole comedic fic in there somewhere.

@bookdragon13​ Bucky trying to wrangle up a chicken on Clint’s farm and it ends up on the dresser somehow? Somehow I can also see Bucky buying a tall chicken statue made out of pearl kinda like the dog statue Joey bought in Friends

paintball, drive-in, cherry chapstick - suggested by @wolfnprey

@rebelmeg - bucky's first date with the love of his life was... perfect.  it was everything a first date should be.  they played paintball like kids, no-holds-barred and laughing like hyenas.  then the drive-in movie, a double feature while they ate popcorn and blushed while they held hands.  and the kiss at the end of the night... bucky could still taste the cherry chapstick on his lips, and he couldn't stop the smile that spread across his face.

@liquidlightz - Bucky loved and hated paintball in equal measure.  He loved getting to run wild and show off his skills, not just shooting, but agility and camouflage. The darn helmet these venues required you to wear played havoc with his hair though, and the cold wind and dust from crawling around made his lips dry and there was no way he was showing up to his date later this evening with chapped lips.  Steve was taking him to a modern drive-in, reminiscent of the old days, and that was just going to end  in hours of making out, at least.  He paused out of sight behind a tree and pulled out his plum-flavoured chapstick from one of his many pockets, which may have also been housing a comb, mini conditioning spray, and whatnots.  Re-applying every 20mins should hopefully do the trick.  Putting it away again, he checked the charges left in his rifle.

@huntress79 - Tony Stark was, despite his repeated protests, a lot like his father Howard, at least to Bucky. It was most obvious with the things he invented, but apparently, the same brain was also good with coming up with new, crazy ideas for team bonding events. Like taking a whole lot of individuals trained on various weapons to a paintball area. After some discussion, Bucky, Wanda, Clint and Scott ended up on Steve's team, while Nat, Rhodey, Peter and Maria Hill made up Tony's team. And holy moly, everyone, except for Peter, treated it like an actual mission. Within moments after splitting up, Steve was dispersing tactics, Clint was checking the wind, and Scott was trying to get the ants in the floor to cooperate. Wanda was watching the whole shindig with a fond smile, while reapplying her cherry-flavored chapstick. And Bucky? His mind was already on his evening plans - a nice date with Sam, consisting of dinner at a small seafood restaurant near Battery Park, a movie at the summer drive-in and tied off with (hopefully) some adult action in either of their apartments at the Tower. He only hoped he would survive these crazy "war games" first.

@somesortofitalianroast - Bucky wasn’t really sure why they were playing paintball. Well, “play��� paintball. With him, Clint, Nat, and Tony all with exceptional marksmanship skills, it made no sense. It made even less sense for them to have the paintball “game” at an abandoned drive-in movie theatre, which just so happened to be located on a lot that included several acres of woods and lake with a dock. Until Steve mentioned that he had a tube of cherry chapstick and Bucky could taste it. But only if he won.

[bucky-iss-bae]

The Friend-zone (Bucky Barnes x Reader)

A/N: This is probably the worst thing I’ve written, I’ve lost my flow, I just ugh, I tried and I overwrote this all but I hope you don’t hate it. Sorry for how bad it is, I’ll be like me again, one day xoxo 

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader

Fandom: MCU/Marvel

Prompts: “Are you drunk?” - “Not nearly enough.”“I think I may be slightly more drunk than I thought.” “You know I hear you talking, but I still don’t have my coffee.” “I know I kissed you before, but I didn’t do it right. Can I try again?”

Warnings: Gals being drunk - Swearing - Full of grammar and spelling mistakes bc its 3am 

Word count: 3000 ish (Sorry, it probs would’ve been better short) 

Masterlist Fandom list

Working so closely with the Avengers meant being friends with the Avengers. It was a good job, you earned good money, even had your own space at the compound, and had the best mentors. It was great because you loved the company and became a part of their family. You worked hard, a direct contact for the avengers but behind a screen, you never went out in the field, only when you were stuck in a van with everything you needed for your job. It was weird considering how many people would’ve been better for the job, but having Tony as a close mentor, you knew his systems better than anyone did.

It was an intense job to have, especially when working with some very dangerous people, as well as very important people.

And although you were young compared to some, you were mature enough to take on everything that you did. But being young also meant being able to have fun at any formal events and parties that Tony threw, it meant being able to get drunk, let your hair down, and have fun. Which you took pride in doing so.

Two people you classed as some of your closest friends were Bucky Barnes, and Sam Wilson. You don’t know how you became closest to them both, Bucky, you had gotten to know over the last few years because you were someone outside of the violence. You bought him into the 21st century through friendship. But this man along with Sam Wilson were the two you got along with the most. Peter also held a special place in your heart, you and Peter almost had a sibling relationship, but other two constantly fight him with him like older, annoying brothers as well.

The one thing, out of everything that you’ve done to help the Avengers is how gradually, overtime, you caught feelings for none other than James Buchanan Barnes. You don’t know when, or how. You just remember joking around with him and Wilson, and the way Barnes was with you, it made your heart beat that little faster, and his jokes that little bit funnier. You were constantly surrounded by him. The only thing you were greatful for was the fact you have your own apartment in the city, one that you definitely use as an escape.

You had drink after drink at the current gala that Tony had thrown. You donated money, you done a lot of pleasantries, but no one really knows who you are, so you were almost free reigned to do whatever you liked without embarrassing yourself. But of course, that didn’t stop you.

“Are you drunk?” Sam asked standing beside you. He looked very sharp, wearing a suit that you helped him buy, a fresh trim, and a glass of champagne in hand.

“Not nearly enough” you groaned in response, you wanted to be drunk, you wanted to forget about the feelings you had for certain people, but that someone had to look amazing right now. They had to look like a freaking model that belonged on the cover of every fashion magazine out there, they looked like they should be the face of every cologne out there. Instead they were here, quietly socialising by Steves side, looking as good as ever. Your feelings for Bucky Barnes were just getting worse and worse. Sam knew this, Peter knew this and both Wanda and Natasha knew. No one else, and if anyone else did know, they definitely kept it to themselves.

“You know, as much as I find it amusing watching you stand her and yearn for a man who finds it difficult to keep his hair in place, I really think you should talk to him one day”

You gawked at Sam, “I’m sorry what? Talk to him? Yeah I talk to him everyday Wilson.”

“You know what I mean Y/N,” He said nudging your shoulder. “you need to talk about you know, your feelings for once. You’re all about communication, can’t you see the way he is”

You shook your head, “He’s not any certain way. He’s just Bucky, the way he always is, the way he is with us, with Steve, he’s different with each set of people depending on his comfort levels, that’s how everyone is. We don’t need to talk about feelings though, he doesnt know communication with feelings”

“No? I definitely think you should. And I also think you need another drink” A waitress was passing by you both, you swapped your glasses despite the dire need of something stronger.

“You know, I think I do want to get a little more drunk than I am. Because right now, I don’t even feel buzzed”

“You sure as hell look it, lean on my arm kid, we can get you wasted”

You grinned up at Sam, “Dance with me Wilson” You said dragging his hand across the floor, you felt eyes on you both as you danced together and Sam grabbing you more drinks.

After some time you had to go to the toilet, you stumbled your way there, Nat helping you half way until she got dragged into conversation which left you stumbling to the toilet yourself.

You looked at yourself, your hair still in place, lipstick had slightly come off, but it didn’t look smudged, so you reapplied this. You deemed yourself presentable before leaving the bathroom.

You left only to bump into Bucky who was stood there leaning aginst the wall, when your eyes met a small smile fell on his lips, all you could think is how beautiful he looked. Honestly, beautiful.

His hair was a bit loose, a few strands at the front of his face, his piercing blue eyes matched the blue on his bowtie, which had also come undone. His beard was neatly trimmed down, months ago you badgered him, on and on, talking about how much he suited a beard and how he shouldn’t shave. After a few weeks, a beard was nicely growing on his face, and since he’s kept it thick, but trimmed to perfection.

“Hey sweetheart” He murmured once he saw you,

“Bucky” You grinned loudly, trying to hug him, instead tripping over yourself and landing in his arms,

“Looks like I’m fallin’ for ya buck” You had a cheeky look on your face, but only saw an unreadable expression on his, it frustrated you that sometimes you thought you could read Bucky, but you knew deep down you couldn’t. You just wish he saw how you feel about him.

“Y/N” He smiled, “Looks like Sam gave you one too many drinks”

You grinned at that, “Uh huh, you should’ve joined us, instead you were being the mature adult you are”

“Yeah, Y/N?” He smiled down at you, “I mean you seem a little drunk there, sure if I were with you both, you’d only be a little tipsy”

You rolled your eyes and huffed, “Uh huh, an influence like you. Buck you ought to know that you, Mr. James Barnes, are a terrible, terrible, influence. But I’m only a little-ickle bit drunk”

“Uh huh, is that why you’re trippin’ over your own feet?” He had a small amused smirk plastered on that handsome face of his that you just love.

“Buck” He you said grabbing his face in your hands, “I already said, I was just fallin’ for ya, and you caught me like the handsome gent you are”

His breath caught in his throat slightly, as he looked at your face, you hadn’t realised the close proximity between the two of you, his eyes went down to your lips, and yours to his, you don’t know what overcome you, if he leaned forward, or if youre the one who initated it, but the two of you kissed.

It was soft and gentle, almost testing one another, and then again, until the two of you were properly kissing a drunken kiss. Your hands still holding his face in place, you could feel his hands wrapped around your waist, it took a moment for your brain to catch up, you were stood here, kissing Bucky Barnes. The man you were basically in love with. The man you classed as one of your best friends.

You pulled away abruptly, gasping as you did, “I’m so sorry Buck” You whispered before trying to find your way back inside.

You don’t know what happened, you kissed him, he kissed you, why did you do it? What if now he thinks you only kissed him because you’re drunk. What if he kissed you because he’s slightly drunk?

“Sammy” you called, “Sam” You grabbed his arm, “I need to go, help me get a taxi please”

“Y/N, I thought you were with Bucky” He said a worried look on your face, when he mentioned Bucky all you could think is the broken look on his face as you pulled away from him and out of his arms.

“Sam, please. And I just, I fucked it all up” You grumbled, a sad look on your face not knowing what you’ve potentially thrown away.

“What?” he asked pulling me aside and towards the enterence, “I fucked it up, we kissed, and I ran” you cried to him,

You didn’t have a chance to see the shock on Sams face, instead you heard Steve approaching you both,

“Hey, you two good?” He asked,

“Yeah, man, we’re good. Well, she’s a bit wasted. I’ll get her back to her apartment; can you go check on Bucky?”

“Yeah of course, make sure you get home safely Y/N” He said kissing your forehead before going to find his best friend that you kissed and ran from.

**

Waking up the following morning was a mission, the hangover nearly killing you off, you heard the TV on loud and couldn’t remember how you got home, who you were with. All that kept on replaying in your head was the kiss. The kiss that meant everything to you.

You grabbed your robe before brushing your teeth and them going out to see who was invading your space,

“Ahhh, the heartbreaker awakens” Sam announced loudly,

“Wilson. Don’t even start. I can’t talk to anyone hungover without coffee in my system, let alone someone bullying me” You grumbled,

“Awh, c’mon Y/N, you finally had your chance, and you ran. What is with that?”

“You know I hear you talking, but I still don’t have my coffee.”

He shook his head and went to pour you some, “So go on, what happened? You’ve been waiting for that chance for how long, and then you ran? Steve said Buck was really torn at the end of last night, couldn’t figure out what happened. Took me all of a second to know”

You just snatched the mug out of his hand, wondering why he’s in your apartment this early, and why he’s tormenting you with the events of last night.

“What happened is, I bitched out and ran. I had my opportunity, but was too drunk to appreciate it” You grumbled,

“That’s a shame, Good job I called him over here, I said you wanted to talk”

It took you a few sips of scalding hot coffee to understand what just left Sam Wilsons mouth. First, he invites himself to your apartment, your food, and your coffee. Then he invites the man you love, kissed and then ran from whilst drunk over. All while you look like garbage.

“You did what” You screeched, “Sam when is he getting here?”

“No idea... soon?” He shrugged not a care in the world,

“Wilson, this is important information, spit it out. Just because I’m not trained the way you are, does not mean I can’t cause damage”

“Woah chill Y/N, he’ll be here in about half an hour. I told him you’ll order lunch, and I’ll even leave before he gets here. Just be greatful that I’m such a good friend, I bought you home, slept in your guest bedroom, and made sure you didn’t die from alcohol poisoning”

“I wasn’t that bad” You whined, “But thank you, although I still don’t appreciate the bullying”

He grinned at you, “What else would I be good for huh? You’re like my kid sister, of course I’m going to bully you, now if I were you, I’d go look somewhat presentable, Bucky will be here soon”

You groaned at that, shocked that Sam done something like this to you, but then again, you put yourself in this position, and Sam is basically giving you a kick up the ass for it.

When Sam left, you finished your coffee before having a quick shower, you were disgustingly hungover and all you wanted to do was climb into your comfiest pyjamas and sit in front of the TV ignoring the world. On days where the other girls were free, no secret ops, no training, you had a little pamper day, you would even prefer that over the conversation that’s to come. You had no clue what he would say, what you would say, and weather you would be shoved right into the friendzone.

**

Between the time that Sam had left, and Bucky arrived, you managed to dry your hair, get changed into something somewhat presentable. You tidied your apartment as much as you could in the few minutes you had before he knocked on your door.

Your heart dropped to your stomach, too scared to face the man on the other side of the door.

You walked over to look through the peephole. From what you could see, he had on some jeans, a hoodie, layered with a leather jacket. He had a glove on his metal hand, and a cap covering his hair.  

You took a deep breath before opened the door; his body froze up before he turned to see you stood there. Whenever he saw you it took his breath away. Last night when he saw you, all he could think is how he wished you were on his arm. How the two of you should’ve gone together and left together.

Whenever he saw you in the compound, seeing you first thing in the morning made his day that bit better, he wished you were the first thing he saw every morning of everyday.

Staring at your beautiful face now, it made his heart swell, despite his mind constantly going back to last night, he finally had you in his arms, he finally had you, for you to run. It scared him, he might’ve messed it all up forever. Standing here right now gave him hope, all he wanted to do was take you into his arms, apologise for yesterday, and start from scratch. But he didn’t know how or where to start.

“Bucky” You whispered,

He gave you half a smile while takng his hat off, “Hey”

“Hey, um come in. Sorry everything is a mess”

He shook his head and observed the tidy apartment, he had only been here a few times, never just the two of them. And nothing was a mess, it was perfect. He took off his leather jacket and glove, hanging the jacket up and leaving his glove on the side.

He didn’t know what to do with himself but opted to sit on the couch across from the television. Football highlights were on, but he knew for a fact you weren’t watching this.

“Did you want anything, tea or coffee?” You asked nervously,

“I’m good thank you Y/N” He murmured, “You wanted to talk? Although, I’m positive that Sam set this up”

You had a sheepish look on your face and nodded sitting beside him, “Buck, I need to apologise for last night. I had no right to invade your personal space the way I did, I had no right… no right to kiss you. I’m sorry for crossing boundaries, I feel awful for everything, I didn’t mean to run from you the way I did”

He stared at you, unable to read any expression on your face, he was deep in thought because for James Buchanan Barnes, he knew his feelings for you were strong, and right now he’s wondering if you regretted the kiss because of him or not.

“Why did you run?” He asked, he needed to know why you ran.

You scrunched your face up a few times, trying to think of the best way to answer him,

“Because… what if now, a stupid mistake I made, I kissed you, and our friendship is just… it’s not us? I ran because I was scared, I messed up, could’ve messed it all up because of one... stupid mistake”

“What if, I’m glad you made that stupid mistake?” He asked his blue eyes staring into your own, “What if it’s not ruined our friendship? Made it better even?”

You stared at him in shock, how is it that Sam Wilson, the man that bullies you, pushes you into this conversation,

“Made it better?” You asked him, is he being real right now?

“I’ve wanted something like last night for so long, but… I don’t feel like I know what love is. I don’t know how to be that man I once was when it comes to relationships. I panicked, but shit, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want that to happen”

“What?” You whispered, “You wanted to kiss me?”

“I’ll be real, I wanna do a whole lot more than just kiss you”

Your jaw hung slightly, and he just chuckled a little, a small nervous laugh.

His eyes were sqinted slightly, a slight look on relif on his face, “I know I kissed you before, but I didn’t do it right. Can I try again?”

He didn’t even let you answer, instead this time he leaned forward and kissed you.

This kiss was so much different than your last, it wasn’t sloppy and drunk, it held the emotion and passion you didn’t realise you had between the two of you. It meant that you weren’t in the friendzone, instead getting drunk because of feelings was a good way to regret expressing your feelings for it to come back around and have the man you love sitting there kissing you.

You didnt think half an hour ago when you woke up that it would take all of five minutes to talk to Bucky to be sat here in his arms,

“Promise not to run this time” He murmered against your lips,

“I promise” You whispered back, a smile stretched across your face.

[snarkwrites]

03 | gangsta, sweetpea

Notes:

Honestly, I do not know where I got the idea for this chapter beyond just.. Wanting to throw Sweetpea and Alyssa together in situations to see how it worked. I think it was cute? Probably not logical IRL, but this is fanfic. And some people just can’t deal with the smell of formaldehyde or dissections. Facts because I am one.. I think I might have gone a little overdramatic with some areas in how it played out, but I just decided to lean into it because it made things interesting.

Annnyway. another chapter absolutely noone asked for but I totally needed to write, apparently. Lmaooo.

Summary:

Opposites attract. But when they can’t fight that attraction any longer, will there be a comforting warmth, an inferno from the sparks, or a messy explosion?

Pairing:

Sweetpea x Andrews!OFC, Alyssa.

Warnings:

Angst. Slow burn. Eventual filth. Typical teenage drama. Embarassing situations. Boyfriends behaving like oblivious idiots. Pining. Language. Fighting / Violence. Going to go on a limb and say that this is kind of non canon compliant.

As far as this chapter goes.. The class did a dissection. But given the nature, I went as vague as possible in describing it. There’s mention of fainting and the fact that Alyssa wants to puke at one point, but beyond that, there’s really not much.

Other Parts:

[ one - two - soundtrack ] 

Other Stuff:

[ faq - tag list doc ] 

Tagging:

@brithedemonspawn​ 

- if you wanna be tagged in this fic or in my riverdale writing tell me. I’ll happily add you to my tag list thing.

                                         THREE.

I wasn’t expecting Toni to actually spare me a passing glance the next day, let alone look up from reapplying my makeup to find her standing behind me when I turned around after shutting my locker.

Reggie’s throat cleared and I felt him tense up almost immediately. I nudged him in the side, shaking my head “No” at him before he even got a chance to start.

But he went and did it anyway.

“What do you want?” Reggie spoke before I could.

I couldn’t resist the smirk that came when Toni flicked her eyes over him dismissively before deadpanning, “ I came to talk to Cherry. Not you. Pound sand.”

Reggie eyed me.

“I’ll catch up to you, Reg.”

He refused to budge and I felt my jaw clenching.

“I’m not leavin you by yourself. Not after what happened with the Ghoulie in the hall yesterday.” Reggie folded his arms over his chest. Speaking up with a calm smirk. “Whatever you gotta say to princess, you can say to me too.”

Toni studied him, unimpressed. “Where was this energy when a Serpent handled that Ghoulie you speak of, hm? Now you wanna play the protective boyfriend?”

I tensed a little, shooting her a pleading glance. She eyed me a second or two but luckily, she let the issue drop.

We started to walk towards the direction of our classrooms, talking about music and bands we’d seen live, basically continuing our conversation from the afternoon before when we’d been lounging on the bank down by the quarry.

“Hey, we’re gonna go hang out by the quarry this afternoon if you wanna come with again.” Toni slipped it in just as we got to the door of Biology. Reggie tensed even more, his gaze settling on me as if to ask what she meant by again.

I honestly didn’t give it a second thought, smiling and nodding, a lazy shrug. “Yeah. I mean the Vixens aren’t practicing and pretty much done all the stuff around my dad’s. Hey, remind me around lunch and I’ll go by my dad’s after school and grab that mix tape.”

“Definitely. I’ll see you later.” Toni smiled at me and gave Reggie a dismissive eye roll and as she walked away, Reggie spoke up. Calm and firm.

“Absolutely not. Are you out of your mind, babe? They’re in a gang. Is that where you were when you blew off school and practice yesterday afternoon? I thought you were at home. That prick Sweetpea wasn’t with you… Right?”

Reggie looked far less cocky when his eyes met mine. Almost as if he felt threatened by my choice to branch out. Stop losing myself in this person I was becoming. I’d talked to Archie the night before and Archie had basically told me that he’d been able to tell something was bothering me for weeks now, since even before Reggie and I became a thing. He thought I was homesick.

I’d explained to him how I’d been feeling out of place. Like an imposter because everyone in Riverdale either only knew the me I’d been presenting since I moved back, or remembered me as his younger sister only and that it bugged me because I wasn’t the same person they remembered or were expecting.

He basically told me that as long as being myself didn’t mean sneaking off to frat parties and older boyfriends or anything dangerous, if it made me happier, I should try just being myself more. He seemed to think that I might be surprised by how people reacted to it and sadly, from the looks of it, my own boyfriend was not going to be one of those who welcomed any sign of change.

,, because when you’re truly being yourself, you know he’d never be able to control you, let alone begin to be able to keep up with you. The balance of power is off now and he’s insecure.” 

It worried me, more than I cared to admit.

I didn’t want anything to come between us. I didn’t want to fight with him all the time like we’d been doing lately. I just wanted to enjoy being his girlfriend.

“What if I was, huh? They’re normal. You talk like they’re all hardened criminals or something.”

“What’s this like.. A random act of charity?” Reggie eyed me, searching my face for any hint of an answer. 

,, maybe the random act of charity is the time I’ve been spending pretending to be someone I’m clearly not.” the thought came but I stopped myself from giving voice to it. I sighed and shook my head, disappointed that Reggie was having such a hard time grasping the fact that I could be friends with whoever I wanted… Not excluding Toni Topaz.

Because we’d just kind of clicked. And I actually wanted to be friends with her.

“Reggie, if you really care about me, you’ll lay off this.” I said it as patiently as I could.

“It’s because I care about you, princess, that’s exactly what I’m not gonna do. They’re dangerous. Half of ‘em have a rap sheet as long as this hallway! What if they do somethin and you happen to be out with them, huh? How are you gonna explain that you were just there and not taking part?”

“Do you have to die on this hill?” I asked, giving him a pleading look. 

The last thing I wanted right now was yet another argument with him. But the way he kept assuming he knew me like the back of his hand was starting to get exhausting. I wasn’t that same shy sweet little pushover I’d been when we were kids. I mean, I was still the same girl who hid with him in a tunnel on the playground and split a Hostess cupcake when his father came to collect him and happened to see him mess up a pass while just playing a casual game of toss the football with my brother and the other boys and started to yell and cut him down in front of everyone… I was still her, but I was also different... In so many ways.

“I’m willing to, yeah. Why’s this matter so much?” Reggie studied me intently. 

I swallowed hard and took a deep breath or two to calm myself down. “It matters because I’m not the girl you think I am, okay? You’ve had this image of me built up in your head since I moved back and I’m sorry to say it, I’m not her anymore. I’m not the quiet little kid who used to hide behind my brother or tag along with you guys to play in the park like a lost puppy.” 

“You’re not a Serpent, either, princess.” Reggie explained, a coaxing tone as he raised a hand, resting it against my cheek. “That’s one thing I like about you, okay? You were always the one to take in the strays. All I’m saying is there’s a time and a place for that and now is not the time. They don’t like us any more than we like them.”

“Don’t lump me in with the rest of you.” I glared up at him. “ As far as your earlier question as to whether this is a random act of charity, no. It’s actually not. I enjoyed talking to Toni yesterday.”

Reggie’s brows raised. “Why?”

I shrugged. “We have a lot in common.”

“Yeah, not likely.”

I took a deep breath. Trying to stay patient. Trying not to push this conversation even further into argument territory.

Because I knew that despite the way it felt, Reggie was only doing this because he cared. He didn’t really have any ill intent. He was merely being overprotective. Probably to make up for the rough time we’ve had being on the same page for nearly three weeks now.

Because I’d be lying to myself if I tried to pin all our fighting lately on the fact that Sweetpea was my Biology partner and Reggie was jealous because this started before that. I’d put it off to tension then, but maybe it was just me, starting to realize that no matter how hard I tried, things just weren’t working.

Before that thought could rear it’s ugly head again, I shoved it back down.

We walked into class and I sat down in my seat. Drumming my pencil against the desktop.

From beside me, Sweetpea spoke up. I didn’t have to be looking at him to know he was smirking when he made the remark, either. “Trouble in paradise, cherry?”

“Sweetpea, not today.” I muttered quietly, fixing my gaze intently on the open text book between us. The teacher rolled in the specimens we were supposed to dissect and my stomach rolled as the scent of formaldehyde filled the air.

I could feel my breakfast creeping back up my throat slowly. I took a deep breath.

That was probably the first way I fucked up.

As soon as we got our specimen, I grimaced. Gingerly picking up the scalpel. I could feel myself getting paler in the face by the second. Sweetpea grabbed the scalpel from me and eyed me with a brow raised. Pointing away from us. “If you’re gonna hurl, do it towards that side. Not into vomit on my leather.”

“I’m fine.”

Except, oh no. No I was not fine.

And the scent of formaldehyde was so thick in the air that I honestly felt a little dizzy…

XXX

She almost looked green.

Sweetpea shot a glance back towards the back of the classroom where Mandy and Reggie were absorbed in their conversation… More to the point, Reggie was so caught up in Mandy pouring on the dramatics that he hadn’t spared a single glance towards his actual girlfriend. The thought had Sweetpea’s jaw clenching tight. Alyssa’s hands shook as she picked up the scalpel.

“Give me that.” Sweetpea reached out, taking the scalpel. Because shaking hands and a sharp object in their grasp was never a good idea. He’d been around enough to know that if the person with the knife had a shaky hand, more often than not, things tended to get messy.

,, right and this has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that even the thought of her injured kind of makes you physically ill lately. You did move that entire fight between the team and your boys to a vacant lot because you weren’t willing to risk her rushing out to try and stop it and getting hurt by somebody...” his mind taunted him, but he shoved the thought right out of his head. And then more thoughts came.

Like a replay of the argument he’d caught the tail end of between Alyssa and Reggie as he shoved past them to take his own seat. The way she actually didn’t fold under the pressure of Reggie’s argument, but stood her ground instead. Admitting that she enjoyed talking to Toni and she wasn’t going to stop just because it made Reggie Mantle uncomfortable.

Maybe he’d written her off a little too quickly.

He made the first cut in the specimen sitting between them and he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. Luckily he happened to, because he saw her swaying a little right as the color drained from her face completely and she started to slump just a little. He grabbed her up quickly and shoved through the aisle, pushing open the door of the classroom to step out into the hallway, completely ignoring the threat of yet another detention from their Biology teacher.

“Did you not see her about to pass out?” Sweetpea snapped as he peered back in the door of the classroom. Their teacher stepped out into the hallway, giving him a firm warning look as he pointed to the classroom and Sweetpea clenched his fist, grumbling. Lingering for a few seconds before the teacher spoke up in a crisp tone, “Inside now. Unless you enjoy a month of Saturday detention.” before turning attention back to Alyssa, trying to make sure she was alright. 

Alyssa met his gaze over the teacher’s shoulder, flashing him a weak smile, giving him a pleading look as the teacher warned him a third time to go back into class. “Sweetpea just go, I’m fine. I’ll be back inside soon.”

Sweetpea eyed her a second or two and finally stepped into the classroom, shutting the door behind him. Turning to find himself body to body with an angry Reggie Mantle. Glaring at him.

“I know you didn’t touch my girl, Serpent.”

“Would you rather me touch her or have her crack her head on the floor, dog?” Sweetpea stood taller, cracking his knuckles. Nodding to Reggie’s lab partner, who was grumbling and pouting, rolling her eyes because all the attention had been taken off her. Sweetpea stepped closer, smirking at Reggie, “Mad because you weren’t paying attention and another guy picked up your slack, asshole?”

Reggie went to shove him but the teacher’s throat cleared from behind the two, putting an end to the confrontation.

“This isn’t over, Serpent.”

“ I can do this all year, Bulldog. Just gives me the joy of kicking your ass over and over.”

“Enough you two!” the teacher yelled, silencing both males. “You two can settle whatever this is off of school grounds. In your own time. Understood?”

Sweetpea smirked, rolling his shoulders. “Gladly.” he muttered as he stormed over to his seat.

Alyssa made her way back in and over to the seat beside him, not looking at anyone in the room instead, burying herself in the text. Letting Sweetpea make the cuts as she pointed out the parts of their specimen’s anatomy they had to label and show.

XXX

“Are you okay, princess?”

“I’m fine, Reggie. For the thousandth time. I guess the smell of formaldehyde got to me. It happened at my old school once in eighth grade. I’m just embarrassed.” I answered. The scent was still stuck in my nose. It drifted through the entire hallway.

I knew I should’ve gotten my dad to write me a note so I could go and sit with the other students who’d chosen to opt out. It slipped my mind.

From across the table, Mandy spoke up. “ What was worse? That freak putting his hands on you or almost fainting in front of everybody?” with a smirk as she gazed at me.

Reggie tensed and I gave Mandy a dirty look. “Almost fainting in front of everybody. Hands down. Can we not call him a freak? He’s not in a side show. And he’s not any different than the rest of us.”

“He’s  from South Side. Of course he’s different.” Mandy looked at me as if I’d grown two additional heads. I rolled my eyes and went quiet.

Irritated by her remarks.

Irritated by her in general.

Reggie cleared his throat, taking a bite of his burger. Nodding to mine. Coaxing me to eat. I shook my head, glancing at the burger in disgust. “I’m good.”

“You need food, princess.”

“If the drama queen doesn’t want to eat, Reggie, don’t make her. She could stand to lose a few pounds anyway.”

I tensed. Under the table, my fists clenched. Since I moved back to Riverdale, Mandy’s had it in for me. And she doesn’t bother hiding it.

And I was sick of playing nice. Looking stupid when I know what she’s about.

It wouldn’t have flown in my old school, why was I letting it fly here?

Was it really worth it to just come off like a doormat? I was really questioning my logic on that front a lot lately, it seemed.

I smirked at her and bit my lip. The smirk was replaced with a smile as I spoke up. “In that case, maybe you should skip the ice cream. Since we’re talking about losing a few pounds here. Just trying to help.”

Mandy’s jaw dropped and I shrugged, going back to my cell phone to scroll my Snapchat. Checking the stories of my old friends from my school in Chicago. Responding to a few snaps they’d sent me.

“ Mandy you’re so fuckin rude.” Reggie spoke up, surprising me. I kept my gaze fixed on my phone and Mandy shrugged as if his criticism rolled right off her. “I was just trying to be helpful.”

“You were being a bitch.” Reggie grumbled, fixing his eyes on me. He leaned in and asked quietly, “You wanna get outta here?”

I eyed him, biting my lip. Something told me if I hadn’t had my little incident in the lab, Reggie wouldn’t be trying so hard right now.

,, maybe that’s not true, you don’t know that..” my mind argued.

“It’s okay. I don’t like her enough to give a shit if I’m being honest.” I muttered, making Reggie chuckle quietly and smirk at me. “That’s my girl. It’ll be okay. People are totally gonna forget by last period, you’ll see.”

“It is what it is.” I shrugged, eager for the conversation to switch topics.

XXX

Toni caught up to Alyssa in the hallway, tapping her shoulder. Alyssa turned around, smiling. For a second or two, Toni thought she’d beg off. Change her plans under pressure. She rolled her eyes at Reggie when their gazes met. “Ready to go?”

“Yeah! Just give me a second.”

Reggie’s facial expression told the tale. He was not even remotely happy with being stood up.

“Babe, you were gonna watch me practice.. Remember?” Reggie butted in, pouting at her. reaching out to pull her close to him. Alyssa hugged him and gazed up at him, biting her lip, a patient look on her face.

Toni watched their interactions with amusement. The panic was plain to see on Reggie’s face. She found herself scowling at him. The guy was a fuckboy. For the life of her, she hoped for Alyssa’s sake the whole interest in him was just a phase because guys like that only hurt people...

“Reggie, I can watch you tomorrow. It’s just one afternoon.” Alyssa held firm, surprising Toni. Maybe she hadn’t been wrong to trust her gut like Sweetpea and Fangs insisted she was going to be proven to be.

After a whispered exchange of heated words, Alyssa jogged over, grumbling and rolling her eyes at the whole thing. Smiling at her. “Hey, if you want, we can stop by my dad’s together. Oh and the construction site. I usually take him a snack when  I get in.”

“Aww, that’s cute.” Toni gave her a gentle but teasing smile, nodding. “Let’s go.”

They took off, falling back into conversation. Losing track of everything else.

After stopping by Alyssa’s to pick up the food for her dad and the mix tape she’d promised to lend Toni, they found themselves wandering around. Flopping on the grass at the park, watching the clouds roll overhead.

“ What made you join the Vixens anyway?”

“Cheryl strongarmed me into it. They needed a gymnast. I used to hate the cheerleaders at my old school.”

“ You’re the only halfway cool Vixen I’ve met so far.” Toni admitted, shrugging.

Alyssa stood, holding out her hand. Pulling Toni off the grass. “Let’s do something.”

“What?”

“I don’t know. What is there to actually do in Riverdale if we’re being honest?” Alyssa joked, making them share a laugh.

“Oh.. Oh.. no, you’d probably hate that idea.”

“No, what?”

“There’s a Mortal Kombat machine in the Wyrm…”

“Pretty sure Fangs and Sweetpea would be thrilled about me showing up there.” Alyssa mulled it over before smirking a little. “Okay, let’s go. It beats absolutely not shit to do here.”

“Don’t let them get to you. They’ll be assholes until they warm up to you.”

“Sweetpea confuses me? Like.. I know he’s being a jerk over half the time, then he does something like he did in Biology this morning and I don’t know what to think.. Anyway, I need to just not worry about it either way.” Alyssa tried to dismiss it, but Toni smirked to herself.

Determined not to just let her dismiss it.

Because any idiot could see what was going on.

Or she could, at least.

“No, what do you mean?”

“You know what I mean… Sometimes I feel like.. I don’t know… Like he’s trying too hard to be an asshole?”

“Oh no, he’s an asshole. Mega grouch. But you’re right. He does have his moments.” Toni kept things vague enough that she wasn’t putting her best friend Pea in any compromising positions, but she hoped that she said enough to get Alyssa really thinking.

It wasn’t like they were close enough friends just yet that Toni could go and tell her that she just needed to open her eyes. Pick a better boyfriend, because Reggie Mantle only liked the idea of her. Or the her that he’d known years ago from what she’d been hearing around school.

,, not to mention there’s the whole conversation you happened to overhear about there being a bet between Reggie and some Chuck asshole about getting in her pants..” the thought came but Toni shoved it down. Because how did you go about telling someone something like that?

Especially when you really didn’t know them well at all.

She didn’t want to lose a friend she was only just getting to know yet. She just needed to come up with a way to break it to Alyssa so that Alyssa understood. And wasn’t hurt or embarrassed or angry. So that Alyssa believed her.

Because she was disgusted with the fact that the guy had done that in the first place. The fact that she’d had the misfortune of overhearing only made things worse...

[callme-barnes]

Beauty & Brawn (Part 5)

                                                                                                                                 Summary- You are the top scientist in all of New York, the one that no one knows. Going through the science field as a woman is hardly easy, let alone rewarding. You’re bombarded with misogynistic men who only see you as a pretty face, not knowing that you have the mind of a thousand scientists combined. That is until you meet Tony Stark, the genius billionaire who could quite possibly be the answer to your prayers, and your heart.

Pairing: Tony Stark x Reader

It’s been a while. Catch up here!:

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

It was about 6 in the evening and you had officially been staring at the outfit lying on your bed for 40 minutes. This also included the not so healthy talking to yourself that you were having.

Why did you even think you could do this? Do you know how long its been since you’ve gone out? How long since you’ve last worn heels? You’re going to fall flat on your face and he’s going to laugh at you and your evening is going to go exactly like that.

You quickly inhaled and shut your eyes, forcing the negative thoughts to float into the back of your mind before you grabbed the dress and slipped it on over the nice black lingerie you had saved for a special occasion. Not that Tony was going to see your lingerie that evening, but it always felt nice to have something sexy on under your clothes just to give you that extra ounce of encouragement and self esteem.

The dress was long and curve hugging, cinching in at your waist and falling down loose past your hips. The slit going up your right leg was just high enough to show some skin but low enough to leave something to the imagination. It had a nice low U-shape neckline that flaunted your breasts but was also modest. You took in a deep breath and turned around to look in the mirror. It had been such a long time since you’ve seen yourself in anything even remotely fancy that it kind of made you nervous and giddy all the same time. Looking at the clock you saw you still had about an hour and a half to get ready so you walked over to your vanity and began to put on some makeup, turning on your favorite playlist and singing along to help release your nerves.

It was now 7:45 and you were ready to go. Your heels complemented your dress, and your hair fell nicely down your back in large loose waves. You heard the buzzer for your apartment buzz and you quickly took one final breath before quickly walking over and answering it.

“Hello?”

“Hello Ms. Y/L/N. I am here to escort you to dinner”

You smiled and rolled your eyes slightly at his tone and shook your head in amusement

“I’ll be right down”

You quickly walked over to your floor length mirror and checked everything again. You fluffed up your hair, did a couple of quick turn, reapplied some of your lipstick although it was already perfect, and then you grabbed your phone and your small bag and walked out into the elevator.

The ride down was full of anxiety and if anyone else was in the elevator with you you’re sure they would have felt all that energy rolling off of you like heat waves from the sun. The elevator ding sounded and you looked up seeing you were already on the ground floor. You took in one more deep breath in and then walked out when the doors opened. The first thing you saw was Tony’s figure. He was looking down at his watch and twiddling his fingers as though he was just an average man, nervous to to meet a woman for the first time. He never looked up and if anything he probably looked like he was gathering his own thoughts.

You walked over and put on a smile, tapping Tony on the shoulder and he immediately turned his head to take you in. His eyes roamed, from your head right down to the very tip of your feet. The gaze he was giving you made you nervous and you shifted under it before he cleared his throat

“Well if I’ve ever seen a more beautiful woman in my life I couldn’t remember”

You took the time to let out a nervous chuckle and looked down before looking back up at him

“Thank you. I wasn’t sure how fancy or how not fancy to dress so I’d say this is in between”

Tony shook his head and sent you a smile

“You look amazing. Even if we were going out to watch a movie or eat at a fast food restaurant I still wouldn’t even think about telling you since you might change”

His tone was one of playfulness and you smiled brightly at him

“Shall we?”

Tony quickly gathered his wits

“Sorry. Yes, yes we shall”

He stuck out his arm for you to take and you did so without a second thought. Talking to him was so effortless you couldn’t even remember why had you had been so nervous in the first place. You both walked out towards the front of your apartment complex and you saw his very nice black car. He opened the door for you, you sent him a polite thank you and he got into the driver’s side and you were off.

Dinner flew by and now you were both back at the tower going over Tony’s new idea

“I like it. I think it could help a lot of people by giving them access to clean water all the time. How much are we thinking this is going to cost for the countries that want to purchase it?”

“And that’s where you come in. See I want to do this as more of a humanitarian project. I don’t want this to cost a fortune, if those who need it can’t afford to have clean water now I wouldn’t want them to stress out about being able to purchase this mechanism. I want it to be affordable”

You pouted your lips out a bit and felt your thoughts racing before a light bulb went off

“We’d have to make it as biodegradable as possible. If you can locate the pieces we need that are either recycled or if they are pieces that are broke and going to be used for scraps, we could get them cheaper, I can fix them and then we wouldn’t have to charge an arm and a leg for it”

Tony nodded along before smiling

“And that’s why you’re working with me. I’ll start looking for suppliers tomorrow”

You smiled at Tony and fixed your dress. You were seated on top of the lab counter, your legs dangling and your mind racing with all the ideas that you has planned

“So Y/N, tell me more about you. I know the basics, I know you graduated at the top of your university on the Dean’s List. But how is it you’re so good at everything? I know I’m smart, but your brain kind of functions like a little computer and it’s the most, impressive thing I’ve seen in my life”

You looked up at Tony before smiling and wiped your hands on your thighs since they had since gotten sweaty from being alone in the same room with Tony

“Well, that’s because it practically is. When I was a kid, I used to get these horrible migraines in school and the longer I was in school the worst they got. Then in about middle school I had a moment in my chemistry class where we were dissecting an earthworm, and my vision kind of zoomed in a little and I was able to vividly see the entire system of how it worked and what was lying even beneath what the normal eyes could see. I started being able to solve Calculus problems without a piece of paper or a calculator by 7th grade. I just...I don’t know my brain kind of works where, if I’m asked something, I put everything together in my head, sometimes so fast where I don’t even register what I’m doing. I wouldn’t say I can see into the future or something, but my brain goes into overdrive and I’m able to kind of do trials in my head of every possible way something could go and I’m able to accomplish what I can because of that”

Tony was leaned back against the counter in front of you, listening to everything you were saying almost like he was trying to memorize all of it.

“What about family life? Any brothers, sisters? Mom? Dad?”

You furrowed your eyebrows and looked down

“None. Well, technically I do. But I don”t talk to them anymore”

“Why’s that?”

You took in a deep breath and looked up at him

“When I was in 7th grade, my counselor at school spoke to my parents about me. At first it was because there were complaints from my teachers, saying I must be cheating during tests or cheating during spelling bees and science competitions because I never missed anything. But my counselor was a nice older lady and I trusted her with what I was able to do. She believed in me so she told my parents I should be going to school at a math and science academy or a more top tier school. When I was younger we were poor. We were living 5 in a single room apartment, my mom, my dad, me and my two sisters. They signed me up into a great school like my counselor said. But I had to receive financial aid and scholarships because we weren’t able to afford it. Long story short instead of using the money I was receiving to keep me in school, they were keeping it to themselves and not paying my classes. We owed thousands of dollars to the school so I was kicked out and for high school I was back in public school”

Tony furrowed his eyebrows and looked down

“That’s insane. I can’t believe they’d do that”

“Neither could I. And it only continued in high school. I was getting prize money for doing inventions and projects and winning the competitions. But I never saw that money. I always figured it was the least I could do, since I lived under their roof and they were clothing me and feeding me. But one day I was unable to compete because my teacher wanted to give others a chance. My parents found out, they blew their shit, and I kind of became an outcast after that. I stopped enjoying science and just kind of did mediocre work. At 18 I left for college and I just never kept in contact”

Tony looked back up at you before exhaling, moving from his previous position to stand in front of you. You were so close you could feel his thighs brushing against your knees and you looked up at him

“Well it was a nice turn of events in a way. Now what they couldn’t appreciate I can. I...I know this might be inappropriate, and please, stop me at anytime, but you are the most gorgeous, smartest woman I’ve ever met. And I want to know more about you, and I want to help you reach any goal you want to conquer. I just, the short time you’ve been here has been so great”

You bit your lower lip

“Tony what....”

But before you were able to get your thoughts out, his lips came to yours and his hands moved to cup your cheeks to pull you closer. You were surprised and your heart was racing, but you felt your body instantly react and you kissed him back. Your hands moved to rest on his waist and he took that as an opportunity to pull himself closer to you. You could feel his heart beating against his chest and you melted deeper into the kiss. He pulled away and opened his eyes to look at you. You looked back but before he was able to say anything JARVIS spoke

“Mr. Stark, Fury is here. He’s called an emergency meeting and would like to meet in conference room 3″

You furrowed your eyebrows unable to decide if you should say something but Tony beat you to it

“He’s always had such amazing timing”

[whostheblondegirlwriting]

Christmas Company

The compound was a ghost town. Christmas Eve was upon you and most everyone had gone to spend the holiday with loved ones or to some festive event. Throughout the day, the building had gotten quieter and quieter, as people left early to make merry. Staffing at the facility was down to bare minimum, figuring FRIDAY could oversee security for the headquarters with some of Tony’s suits laying around, if need be. Kitchen, custodial, secretarial, R&D, and damn near everyone else- all long gone.

It was the perfect time to put the finishing touches on a couple projects you had going on, to get ahead of the workload you anticipated after the New Year. Walking out through the adjoining lab, you’re attention was drawn down to the funny Santa meme Barton just sent to your phone, absentmindedly telling FRIDAY to turn off the lights, while you replied with a laughing emoji.

“Hey. Someone’s in here.”

You jumped out of your skin, spinning around to see the source of the gruff complaint. Hand clutched to your chest, your eyes closed in a long blink as you let out an exasperated sigh. You shook your head, frowning for having been so startled, and told FRIDAY to put the lights back on.

You cleared your throat, before apologizing, “Sgt. Barnes. I didn’t know anyone else was still here. Sorry.”

He smirked, seemingly amused by your frightful reaction. “It’s okay. Didn’t know anyone else was here, either.” He eyed you over on your way across the lab, adding, “Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you like that.”

“It’s okay,” you parroted, your gaze finding the small pan of solvent he was resting part of his metal arm in the closer you got. “Is something wrong?”

He glanced down at his arm. “No. It’s fine.” He shrugged. “Just some extra grease the kid missed is all. You can’t wipe that stuff off. It just smears.”

You hummed your understanding, leaning over to take a look around him to see the label on the bottle beside the pan. Nodding your approval, you noted, “That’s the one. Give it about 10 minutes. Should come right off.”

“Yeah. I know,” he grinned. “You showed me this.”

���I did?” you wondered, a faint wrinkle of curiosity in your brow, searching your memories.

“Yeah,” he snorted. “When Stark gave me this new arm.” It was coming back to you now. “When you guys started using the new lubricant on the joints, after he had to-“

“Oh, yeah,” you recalled, pulling on a pair of latex gloves. “Can’t beat the stuff in really cold weather,” you noted, and he hummed his agreement.

“That is,” he considered, “when it doesn’t run out from under the panel.”

You snuffled a laugh. Dipping your fingers into the liquid to turn his hand over for inspection, you told him, “But after this bath, it needs to be reapplied.”

“I know,” he grumbled, watching you flip open a few small panels on the back of his hand and wrist for a look. “Was gonna come in after the holidays and try to see you. The new guy’s alright, but he’s not as...”

“OCD as me?” you quipped, with a crooked grin.

“I was gonna say, detail oriented,” he chuckled.

“Looks clean again to me,” you decided, letting go of his hand and putting a shop rag on the table, pointing for him to set his hand there. Walking over to one of the cabinets along the wall, you told him, “We’ll have you ready for action in a jiff.”

“Oh, no, I didn’t mean for you t-“

“It’s no trouble,” you promised, looking over the items on the shelf. “Can’t have you lock up like the Tin Man, if the world needs saving.”

“I didn’t want to make you work on Christmas Eve,” he frowned, as you turned around to see him again.

You showed him the small bottle with the fine point applicator in your hand, announcing, “Got it.”

“It’s not your job anymore,” he reminded you, his eyes following you as you got a clean towel to pat his hand and wrist dry. “Shouldn’t you be on your way to see family or friends for the holiday?”

“You want me to call Greg and have him come in and do it again?” you teased, pulling over a lighted magnifying glass stand within arm's reach.

While you positioned the magnifier over his hand, he quickly answered, “No, thank you.”

“Aw, he’s not so bad,” you grinned, adjusting the angle of the glass again as you perched on a stool. You grabbed the compressor hose hanging nearby to give the mechanics of his arm a shot of air to make sure they were completely dry. “He’s just new. You’ll get used to him, Sergeant.”

“I liked it better when you were helping Tony with this,” he muttered. “And it’s Bucky.”

You flashed a flattered smile. “Well, I, uh...got a little too busy to be able to keep up with everything Mr. Stark has me doing,” you excused, feeling an unexplained, soft heat in your cheeks. You carefully uncapped the bottle of specialized oil you’d helped Stark create for use around the servos of the Soldier’s arm and put it aside. Opening another panel at his wrist, you assured Barnes, “Greg is very talented, though.”

“He’s not as neat about things as you were,” he said, sounding halfway to a complaint.

You picked up the bottle, lining up to the first application spot and saying, “He just needs a little practice.”

“He doesn’t talk as much as you,” Barnes mentioned.

Adding a minuscule dot of oil to a hinge point in his wrist, you frowned. “Sorry,” you offered quietly.

You actually didn’t think that you ever spoke very much to the Sergeant, when you were doing repairs or modifications on his arm. As you recalled it, you were always incredibly focused on your work, mindful of how intricate some of the features of the prosthetic were. If anything, you thought you’d been quite boring, letting him know exactly what you were doing and giving little summaries of the purpose of the work as you went along, so he had a better understanding of the functionality of his arm. Who could enjoy that?

“I didn’t mean it like that,” he apologetically said. “I meant- He doesn-“ You looked up, a little confused by the uncharacteristic fumbling, as he cocked his head to one side. “He's not as good at it as you. The conversation, I mean.”

You gave him a humble grin. “Psh,” you swept your head, putting your attention back on your work. “Jargon and analytics. Stark’s the guy for entertainment. You wanna be bored to tears, I’m your girl.”

“Well,” he conceded, “there’s that stuff, but, I mean, this.” He gestured back and forth with his free hand. “You just talk to me.”

“Hold still,” you reminded him, pulling your hand back to avoid making an errant application with the movement that traveled into his shoulder and through his metal arm from his small wave he’d made between you.

“M’sorry,” he quietly said.

“It’s alright,” you told him, with a kind grin at the earnest downturn in his voice. “You moving around is probably how this mess got started,” you jokingly figured. “He probably doesn’t have the nerve to tell you to sit still, yet.”

Barnes chuckled softly. “Probably not.”

It was quiet for a minute. The Soldier sat perfectly still, watching patiently while you dotted the oil to several specific areas, eyeing each spot to make sure it was greased well enough but hadn’t been overdone. You left the panels open, letting the lubricant settle itself, as you capped the bottle and went to return it to the shelf.

“Let that sit for a minute,” you reminded him.

“I know,” he nodded. While you closed the cabinet door and peeled off your gloves, he offered a sincere, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” you smiled, dropping your gloves in the garbage. “Glad I was still here to help.”

“You’re, uh, probably gonna be late for your Christmas party, or whatever,” he figured, his eyes set down on his arm still lying on the rag on the table.

“No,” you shook your head, coming over to turn off and put the magnifier away. “No plans. Had to cancel my ticket home. The snow’s got the airports closed in the city, and the roads aren’t much better to be on. I’m gonna try and go in a day or two.”

“That’s probably smart,” he nodded once, his eyes following you back around the end of the table. You bent down, giving your work a study, as he added, “Still...too bad your plans fell through.”

“It’s not all bad,” you smiled. “Had some work around here that needed me, anyway.” You carefully closed the open panels on his wrist and hand. Straightening up again, you pointed to his hand, watching as you instructed him, “Give it the old 1, 2, 3…” You studied the short series of practiced and purposeful movements he went through, checking the flexion of his wrist. When he finished, he looked to you for your approval, and you beamed, “Perfect.” You snatched the shop rag off the table to throw back in the bin nearby, telling him, “You’re all set.”

“Thanks, (y/n),” he grinned kindly.

“Anytime,” you happily assured him, starting for the door.

“Hey,” he began, then seemed to lose momentum. Your brow rose, signaling you were listening, as you turned back to see him get to his feet. “Since you’re stuck here- I mean, if you really don’t have any plans for Christmas… Every Christmas Eve I watch ’It’s A Wonderful Life’,” he shrugged, maybe a bit shy. “I always liked Frank Capra.” He rubbed his warm hand across the back of his neck. “Maybe you’d wanna come watch it...with me.”

You considered him, and the offer, for a moment. His smile disarming and a little unsure, you’d never heard him speak so hesitantly. It put a flutter in your belly and you couldn’t stop yourself from double checking, “You want to watch a movie...with me?”

“Well, yeah,” he softly snorted. “Why not?”

“I just- Well, I mean-“ you stammered. “Aren’t you and Agent Romanoff...ya know…”

“No,” he chuckled, with a short sweep of his head. “No. We have some things from our past in common. That’s all.”

“Right,” you nodded, awkwardly drawing the line for yourself. “You an’ HYDRA and her and- Well…” You trailed off, swallowing the lump in your throat. “I guess that makes sense.”

“You don’t want to...is that it?” he suggested, his arms coming up to cross over himself.

“Oh. No, of course I do,” you blurted out, stopping yourself just as quickly, before you could sound any more overeager.

It was a situation you’d never thought you’d find yourself in- Bucky Barnes asking you out. At least, that’s what it sounded like. There was a wince in your chest, at the idea of you reading the situation wrong, and you hoped the disappointment of the horrible thought didn’t show in your face. But your heart was still racing.

You’d been so timid around him, when Mr. Stark first invited you to assist him in developing the new arm for the Soldier. Barnes was always kind, but you had found the whole scenario more than a little intimidating, at first. After all, he was a living legend, and strikingly handsome, as well.

When you eventually got comfortable with the work, and him, you came to know him as quite charming and funny. Occasionally, maybe even a bit flirty, if you hadn’t always been so sure your imagination was getting the better of you. He had this one smile that you found irresistible, and it was a blessing to have to be so precise in your work that your focus kept you from blushing like an idiot whenever you saw it.

“I mean…” You cleared your throat, trying to recover. “If you don’t mind the company.”

“I’d love the company,” he assured you, a hint of hopefulness in the corner of his smile.

“Besides,” you tittered with a shrug, “no one should be alone for Christmas, right?”

“Right,” he smiled, coming over to stand in front of you.

There was a pause, as neither of you said anything but you both wore awkward grins. Pointing over your shoulder for the lab door, you bashfully said, “Well, should we...uh…”

“Yeah,” he nodded, but didn’t move.

His eyes ticked down, from above that thoroughly enamoring smile, and your gaze followed his subtle lead. Your eyes widened, surprised to see his upturned palm, seemingly waiting for you to put your hand in his. Completely dumbfounded, all you could do was blink. Your parted lips turned one side up into a shy smile, when he took your hand in his.

“We gotta leave the lab,” he pointed out, still smiling, “if we want to see the movie.”

You put up a finger, a discerning wrinkle creasing your brow and closing your eyes. “Right. Just...one question.”

“Shoot,” he invited, with a quiet chuckle.

“The hand..?” you wondered, looking down at your hands together and completely perplexed as to why they were.

“You don’t like that,” he worried, his expression falling, along with his hand from yours. “Sorry. I- When you said you’d-“ An embarrassed laugh coughed out of him and he reached up to rub at his neck again. “I thought you knew I meant that I wanted to watch the movie with you...like-“

“A date?” you skeptically finished for him.

“Yeah,” he gave a small nod. It was silent for a beat, before he added, “It’s just, all those times you and me were here, and you were flirting w-“

“Me?” you gaped, doubting you had heard him right. “Flirting?”

“Well, yeah,” he shrugged, as if it were obvious. “You’re always asking me what I’d been doing-” You’d thought it was pretty clear your questions helped you figure out how to fix or help with something with his arm. “...making those little engineering jokes, making me laugh.”

Was that what he thought flirting was? He was either easy to amuse or a little dense. You couldn’t decide which. Until it occurred to you- Oh, god. Is that me flirting? Did you not know you’d been flirting...because you’re terrible at it?

“The little smile you always give me,” he added, “before I leave… That- That’s not anything?”

You heard the disappointment in the question and your heart sank. “No, I…” You stalled, pressing your lips tightly together, not quite sure how to salvage this. “I’m not...maybe, so good with people,” you supposed, “like you think.” There was a subtle tilt to his head, like he was waiting for more, and you admitted, “I wasn’t flirting. Well, that is, I didn’t actually mean to do that.” He frowned and a crease came to his brow, and you hurriedly tried to explain, “I mean, I thought-” You put a hand to your chest. “if anything, you were flirting with me.”

“I was,” he matter of factly nodded once.

“Oh,” was all you could manage to say.

“I thought it was obvious,” he told you.

“Apparently not,” you sheepishly conceded.

“Well,” he shrugged, “cat’s out of the bag now.” He put a grin back on. “How ‘bout it? We’ll pop some popcorn, watch the movie. See if we could possibly be any worse at flirting with each other… Maybe tomorrow we could watch another one.”

You giggled, hiding your grin behind your hand and nodding along, thrilled at the idea of spending time outside of the lab with him. “Yeah. I’d like that.”

[elisaphoenix13]

Sugar Rush

Tony had no idea what he was walking into when the elevator doors opened at the family floor. Chaos was the first word that came to mind but it was a good kind of chaos. All of the kids were sitting around the table decorating cookies, some of the avengers were as well, and the rest were roaming the kitchen helping make the cookies. The engineer wanders over to Stephen who was adding ingredients to the mixing bowl, and kisses his cheek before wiping away a smear of flour on the sorcerer's opposite cheek.

"Honey, you have-"

"You're wasting your time. They'll just put some back." Stephen interrupts and Tony raises an eyebrow after he wipes the flour away.

"Who will?"

Quill swipes his fingers through the flour on the counter and spreads it on Stephen's cheek as he passes by to grab more cookies. He whistles as he takes the baked goods over to the decorating table and Stephen gives Tony a look that clearly said 'I told you'.

"Clint started it and I gave up after the third attempt to get my face clean." He elaborates as he adds sugar to the mixer.

Tony chuckles. "Who are your flour attackers?"

"Clint, Nat, Harley, and now Quill."

"What's the occasion?" The engineer asks as he adds another swipe of flour to his wife's face who sighs in feigned annoyance.

"Diana wanted to make cookies that she could decorate and it turned into this."

Tony looks back around the kitchen and dining area at their friends and family and smiles softly as he watches Peter smear some frosting onto Cassie's cheek, Nat and Steve eating a finished cookie while laughing about something, Quill...well it was really no surprise to find him periodically smear icing onto Scott's face before licking it off as he helped bring cookies yet to be decorated to the table, Laura and Wanda helping to keep the dining table clear of the decorated cookies, and so on and so forth. Clint and Sam were tossing candy into each other's mouths, and Bucky helping Stephen with the baking bit.

The rest of the team, like Natasha and Steve, we're enjoying the cookies and having conversations. Stephen did at one point subconsciously wipe the flour off of his face, and immediately, Sam stopped throwing candy at Clint to do what Quill did not two minutes before. Stephen didn't even bother making any kind of verbal complaint.

"You were looking too clean there Mama Bear." The Falcon says with a smirk and Stephen rolls his eyes.

"We can't have that." He says as he takes the dough out of the mixer and sets it on the floured counter in front of Vision who starts using cookie cutters on it.

While he did that, Stephen put the bowl in the sink and gathered the dirty dishes that were no longer being used so he could wash them. Tony grabs the ingredients and helps put those away, purposely keeping the flour out, and wipes down the counters, avoiding Vision's workspace of course. When that was done, he took over washing the dishes when he noticed Stephen's hands trembling more than usual and kisses the man's cleaner cheek.

"Go eat a cookie. I'll put some water on the stove so you can have tea." Tony says softly and Stephen nods before walking over and taking the empty seat next to Nathaniel.

At the mention of tea, Wanda switched over to the duty of making Stephen his tea as she was one of the very few who could make it correctly, and Cooper offered up a decorated cookie to Stephen. The sorcerer takes it with gratitude and a smile, and watches the kids and a couple of the Avengers decorate some cookies. Happy surprisingly was roped into the shenanigans as well, Diana sitting in his lap decorating a cookie with purple icing as the bodyguard conversed with Rhodey, and then Pepper arrived. She walks over to Tony with a manila envelope and then looks around once the engineer stacks the last of the dishes and dries his hands to take the envelope.

"Fun day?" She asks and Tony shrugs.

"It was all the princess's idea. Sit down and have a cookie."

Pepper smiles. "I have a few minutes to spare."

She walks over to the table, greeting Diana with a kiss on the top of her head before reaching over to Stephen to wipe away the flour on his cheek.

"Stephen, you had-" The flour was barely cleaned off when Steve stepped in to reapply the flour.

Stephen props his chin in his hand and raises his eyebrows at Pepper's appalled expression. "I am well aware of the flour. Thank you though."

"I can see that now." Pepper says with a giggle. "Make sure Tony gets that paperwork done by Wednesday please?"

"Of course."

"Here Auntie Pepper!" Diana holds up the cookie she just finished, thankfully not drowning in frosting.

"Thank you sweetie." Pepper takes the cookie and looks back at Stephen before reaching out toward his clean cheek. "They got you here too."

Stephen furrows his brows. "They didn't-"

The sorcerer freezes when Pepper pulls away with a smirk, and Peter looks over at him before howling with laughter. Everyone looks to see what has the teen in hysterics and they burst into laughter when they find a dark blue smear of icing on Stephen's cheek. Pepper grabs a second cookie as she says goodbye, and disappears onto the elevator as the sorcerer wipes the icing off. Scott only attacked with green frosting to replace it.

"I hate you all." Stephen grumbles and gladly accepts the tea Wanda brings over for him.

"Green is fitting." She says and the doctor ignores her.

The next couple of hours pass with the same usual attempts to slyly clean his face, only to have someone jump in and replace whatever had been cleaned, and he gave up again until later. All the cookies were decorated, things were put away, and the kitchen cleaned as everyone retired into the living room to continue their day with some movies. That was when Stephen could finally clean his face and stay clean and settled onto one of the couches next to Tony. Or more like laid across Tony's lap with his head on the armrest and his feet across Rhodey's lap. He purred when his husband gently ran his fingers through his hair, and they waited as everyone settled onto the floor or the couches.

Halfway through the first movie, Tony noticed some of them started to doze off and he soon figured out it was because of Quill. The celestial actually had a sugar crash and had fallen asleep, and his snoring started up, but it of course came out sounding like an overgrown cat purring. Scott, of course, was one of the first to pass out as he was sitting back against Quill, but it wasn't just soothing to Scott and Cassie, it was soothing to pretty much everyone. So not only did they have Stephen with his calming scent of tea leaves and incense, but now they had Quill's soothing purrs.

This family was insane.

Tony grabs Clint's empty beer can and chucks it at the pirate's head, who jolts into awareness. "Wake up Porcupine! You're putting everyone to sleep!"

"Sorry." Quill responds drowsily and everyone that had been dozing off shakes their heads and returns their attention to the movie.

"Tony." Stephen whispers, and the engineer grabs the sorcerer's trembling hands when he holds them up in a silent plea, gently working them over.

The lull over everyone soon breaks when movies turn into games, and everyone was pretty competitive. Stephen and Tony were content to watch at first, especially when the first game ended up being Uno. At the moment, Peter was looking terrified, and Quill was looking smug.

"Dude, please don't! You still haven't made up for sticking a gun to my head!"

"Are you still on that?"

"It was extremely traumatizing to hear the stupid things come out of your mouth too."

Quill narrows his eyes and immediately places a plus four in the discard pile. "Just for that I'm definitely doing it. Draw four, punk."

Peter grumbles and draws four cards, and the many people playing quickly make their turn until it gets back to Quill, who gives Peter another smug grin. Another plus four is placed on the table and Peter gawks. "OH COME ON!"

Quill laughs as the teen draws four cards yet again, and a reverse war temporarily breaks out between Cassie and Sam.

"You know, I liked that move so much, I'm gonna let you go again." Sam says as he puts down a red reverse.

"That's nice, but you can go." Cassie puts down a blue one.

"Seriously, I insist." Sam puts down another red one and Harley screeches after the third repeat.

"How many of those do you have?!"

After the two hour game of Uno, a game that Lila won, they moved on to Twister. The coffee table and couches pushed aside, the mat laid out, and those not currently participating surrounding it. They could only go four people at a time and right now the four were Natasha, Scott, Harley, and Wanda.

They were all really good at it and Quill actually had to excuse himself to the balcony when he saw how flexible Scott really was. Under normal circumstances he would have just dragged the man away, but it was a day of team bonding and there were innocent eyes. Tony mercilessly teased the god of course. Harley was the first to fall, and Wanda followed shortly after, but the game kept going for another ten minutes until Scott finally caved and returned to his wheezing husband's side. Quill was being a little overdramatic, but Tony teasing him certainly wasn't helping.

"It's a little unnerving to see how flexible some of our friends are." Stephen says and Tony looks over at him with a wicked grin.

"It's too bad you can't play. Everyone would see how Mama Bear can bend."

Stephen blushes hotly. "Tony! There are children!"

Twister was played for a couple more hours until the kids retired to bed and the adults could bring out the alcohol and the adult games. The adult game being the usual Never Have I Ever, and both Stephen and Scott were convinced they were being ganged up on.

"Never have I ever...given a handjob under a table." Natasha says and not only did Scott and Stephen take a drink, but so did Tony, Quill, and Laura.

"Never have I ever done it in a secluded corner where anyone could walk in and see me." Sam says and everyone stares at Scott and Quill when they take a drink.

Tony holds up his hand. "Hang on...when and where was this?"

Scott covers his face and Quill shrugs. "The last gala."

"Wait...was that power outage your fault?" Clint asks and Quill answers with a grin, causing Tony to burst into laughter.

"Just to make Quill drink again, never have I ever lost control of my powers." Wanda says with a smirk.

Quill wasn't the only one to take a drink.

So did Stephen.

Scott stares. "Wait...what did you do?"

Stephen looks away with a blush. "I may have broken the light bulbs in our lamps and set our curtains on fire."

Rhodey was actually the one to laugh. "Damn Mama Bear."

"Don't forget the part that you somehow managed to blow out the power to the tower." Tony says and Quill raises his hand.

"Actually, that was me."

[prettyboy-parker]

good boys, bad boys

chapter 2: splish splash

words: 1.4k

warnings: none :)

AO3 | masterlist

author’s note: thank you sm for 100 followers! it makes me so so happy

In their small town of Fairley, there’s really not much to do. It’s too far upstate to take a quick trip to the city and too far from any of the main neighboring towns.

So, one of the highlights of the summer months are trips to the town pool.

Peter likes to bike down, it’s not too far from his house, and sit in the sun and do his homework. He doesn’t mind going alone, it’s nice to be outside and have his thoughts to himself.

Today, the pool is pretty packed, since it is a Saturday and school is soon coming to a close. He’s relaxing in the sun, making sure to reapply sunscreen every hour or so to avoid a wicked sunburn.

“Whatcha reading there, doll?”

Peter peers over the top of his book, tilting his Ray-Bans downwards, squinting at the blazing sun.

Peter feels his mouth go dry.

“D-Diary of Anne Frank.” He stammers, closing the book and placing it on his lap.

He genuinely had no idea Bucky was a lifeguard, the red whistle and red bottoms with a white plus sign showing his occupation. His long hair is pulled back into a bun and Peter will admit it’s a good look for him. He didn’t know he was so fit, the lack of shirt exposing his abs and large muscles.

“Damn good choice. I don’t think we’ve properly met. Bucky Barnes.” He smiles, sticking out his large hand.

Peter takes it, replying, “Peter Parker.”

He can’t seem to calm his nerves.

Bucky takes a seat in the plastic white chair next to him.

“I didn’t know you were a lifeguard here,” Peter says, attempting to start a conversation.

“I just got done my certification. My first shift just ended.” Bucky tells him, pushing his sunglasses on top of his head.

Fuck, his eyes are pretty.

“Good for you! I bet you’re bringing in the big money.” Peter jokes, swinging his legs over the side of the chair to face Bucky.

He lets out a deep chuckle that literally melts hearts.

“Depends on your definition of big money.” Bucky laughs.

“I sure like the uniform,” Peter says before he can stop himself, his usual flirty demeanor returning.

Bucky raises an eyebrow.

“Really? Tony said the suit does nothing for my ass.”

Peter hesitates at the mention of Stark but purses his lips in thought.

“Well tell him I beg to differ.”

Bucky smirks.

“I’ll be sure to relay the message.”

Peter laughs loudly and Bucky does the same.

“Say, would you like to stop at the snack bar and get some ice cream? I’ve got a worker’s discount.” He offers.

“Taking advantage of that discount right away, huh?”

“Sure am.”

Bucky’s hand is outstretched in a silent offering. Peter takes it and watches as his muscle’s flex as he lifts Peter out of his seat.

“Thank you, Mister Barnes,” Peter says, quite sad when Bucky drops his hand.

“Mama raised me to be a gentleman.” He quips back.

“She did a good job, then,” Peter says softly as they start their trip to the Snack Bar.

Bucky tells him to grab a seat at a nearby picnic table while he runs to get their ice cream. Peter picks one that’s still a little damp from children sitting after swimming. A mom and her 2 toddlers are sitting at the table next to him, the young boy complaining about wanting to jump into the pool. They’re eating lunch and the mother is clearly exhausted.

“Here you go darlin’, fresh from the back of the freezer.”

Bucky’s voice startles him a bit, but he turns to take the red, white, and blue ice pop from his hands. He sits down across from Peter, back turned to the small family.

“Luxury,” Peter says before taking a lick.

Bucky does the same, tongue immediately turning red. Peter can’t help but giggle, covering his stained lips.

“What’s so funny?” Bucky asks innocently, taking a large bite of the popsicle.

“You’re tongue is red!” Peter chokes out through a fit of giggles.

Bucky lets out an obviously fake sigh.

“Your’s is too!” He exclaims loudly.

Peter catches a glimpse of the woman at the table shooting daggers at them, quickly ushering her kids away.

“Somethin’ wrong?” Bucky asks immediately.

Good at reading people.

Peter shakes his head.

“Ah, nothing.”

Bucky gives him a look that reads ‘that’s a total lie’ but brushes it off.

“You’re a Senior, right? What’re you doing after school?” Peter asks after licking the tip of his ice pop.

“I’m set to head over to Woodworth Community College to study orthotics and prosthetics. I’m going to design prostheses and shit.” Bucky tells him nonchalantly, most likely getting this question way too often.

“That’s really cool!” Peter squeaks.

Bucky smiles softly.

“Thanks. My parents wanted me to join the military, but this is really what I want to do instead.”

“Damn, Buck. They’ll be proud of you, though. I guarantee it.” Peter tells him, the nickname slipping out easily like he’s been using it for years.

He gives Peter a look that’s impossible to read.

They sit there for a while until the only thing that’s left is two wooden sticks and sticky hands.

“You wanna go swim?”

“Race you.”

The two attempt to fast walk back to the pool, swerving between trashcans and small children. They both make it back at the same time, scouting out for an unoccupied spot in the pool.

“There! I see a spot over there.” Bucky tells him through his deep laughter.

“Where? I don’t-“

Suddenly strong arms are wrapped around his torso and he’s plunging into the cool water.

“Bucky!” He shouts in mock anger when he catches his breath, rubbing his eyes to rid them of water.

Bucky just laughs and dives in after him.

“You’re a child.” Peter scolds when Bucky pops up from under the water, long hair soaked and chest dripping with water.

“Oh please. Like you didn’t just race me to the pool.” Bucky flicks a bit of water at Peter.

“That’s foul play.”

“Is it, though?”

This turns into a full on war, both of them trying to splash the biggest amount of water at each other. They’re quickly stopped by one of the lifeguards, though, and they decide to hop out and sit on the edge.

Subconsciously, Peter starts to take handfuls of water and gently pour them over Bucky’s thighs. He watches in interest before asking,

“Whatcha doin’?”

“My Aunt May always did this to me when I was little. Guess it’s an inherited habit.” Peter hums.

Wait.

Aunt May.

“Shit! I promised my Aunt I’d be home for dinner. I have to go Bucky, I’ll pay you back later!” He exclaims, standing up quickly.

“No need. My treat. I’ll see you around, doll.”

“See you around.”

tag list: @starker-flame @lurafita @sam-christo @337-years-old @thebadthingshappen @twink-peter @the-dark-obsidian-princess @spideravocados

[snarkystarkybby]

:sweet like honey: Peter Parker x oc /one/

Hey lovelies,

here’s chapter one, i hope you all fall in love with this story as much as i have. i honestly really love Honey and she is so different to all my other OC’s.

let me know what you think and send me requests, xo

isabella

Honey smiled as she sat at the vanity getting ready for the day, Morgan sat by her side copying her every motion. The seven-yr. old girl had been shadowing Honey’s every move since the second she arrived in the city year since they’d seen each other, and Morgan loved the older girl.

Morgan only had two blood-related cousins Honey and Bea, the little Stark idolised both of the girls since birth. Every birthday, Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving Morgan would follow the girls until pepper would force her to leave them alone for even just 5 minutes. So, when she found out Honey was going to be living with them for the summer she almost exploded with excitement.

Honey had offered to look after her younger cousin for the summer, of course, Pepper and Tony assured her it wasn’t necessary. They could see the longing for distraction in Honey’s eye as she begged and agreed on the premise that she took at least a few days a week for herself which seemed to be a fair compromise. So, Honey spent her days playing dress up and spending every dollar she owned on Morgan’s new complete family set of build-a-bear’s.

One her days alone Honey scoured the city in secret for apartments and jobs. Which was becoming increasingly difficult, seeing as she couldn’t let her Aunt find out what she was doing? Honey was determined to do this alone. Her entire life she had never done anything herself, every moment of her was planned for or by Bea and her parents by not this.

College was her fresh start. Not a single person at college knew about Bea or how her parents had become after she was gone. Nobody would send her pitying glances and mutter insincere “I’m so sorry” when really, she just wanted to forget.

The day she received her letter from Columbia with a full academic scholarship was the best day of her life in the worst year possible. Pepper had been so excited when she called and found out her niece was moving to the city, and out of the tiny town which Pepper knew was destroying the girl from the outside in.

The entire town was painted with memories of Bea. Honey had spent seventeen years living as a half, and then in the blink of an eye, she was alone. Sometimes the fragility of life had a way of sneaking up on you. It was barely three weeks into the summer before senior year when Bea was rushed into the ER. Stage 4 Leukemia, treatment was possible but almost undeniably inconclusive. She remembers lying in the creaky hospital bed arms wrapped around her sleeping sister and listening to the soft sobs of her mom in the hall on the phone to Aunt Pepper. It felt wrong. This kind of thing didn’t happen to people like her. The warm air and sounds of cicadas were suddenly eerily unnerving.

On the last day in the hospital Bea made Honey promise to help her escape, and so with a not so carefully executed plan they sisters escaped the hospital and made it to the small lake outside of town by sunset. Later that night just after 7 Honey tried to stay strong as she held Bea’s hand and watched her parents sniffle silently as her sister took one last trembling breath.

Pepper hated seeing the effects of Bea’s death on Honey. The blonde girl sat in the spare room- refusing to even enter her once shared bedroom, in such a catatonic state that it took Pepper hours to even get her to eat a few spoons of soup and shower.

Honey didn’t move for the remainder of the summer, her mother barely dragged her out the house for the funeral. Getting out of the town was the best possible thing she could have done.

Currently, Honey and Morgan were walking hand in hand both holding an ice-cream in their empty hands around central park. Honey had learnt from when Morgan was very young that surprisingly Central Park was one of her favourite places. Tony and Pepper had a busy day of meetings and such before tonight Honey would finally be meeting the famous Peter Parker.

Tony’s all-but-actually-adopted-son who worked for him in the labs. Pepper had promised that Honey and Peter would get along great considering they were the same age. Although Honey was worried, she had never been good at meeting new people. Although due to peters absence for the first three weeks of summer Morgan seemed excited to see him.

From what Honey was able to find out about him, Peter had gone backpacking around Europe with his long-term girlfriend MJ as soon as they had graduated. It seemed exciting, Honey had always wanted to travel but she could never go alone- the thought alone terrified her.

Morgan spent all day telling Honey about Peter, to the point where she almost didn’t want to meet the guy.

“Ooh, one-time peter and I went to the movies and he dropped all the popcorn on the floor and when he was trying to clean it up, he slipped and fell over”

“Dad and peter tricked mommy and she got so mad that peter fainted”

“dad keeps a playlist of all the times peters done dumb stuff and FRIDAY filmed it”

Peter this peter that.

From what Honey could gather Peter was a clumsy, nerd type who she could image probably wore sweater vests and broken glasses. Something told her they weren’t going to get along. As much as Honey was playfully teased that she was a nerd by Bea, she had never gotten along with the above-average intelligence types.

In high school honey still had really good grades but she was also a cheerleader and typically stayed in the more popular crowd, thanks to Bea. So forgive her for being a little presumptuous, nerdy type just thought they knew everything as usually attributed her blonde hair and pom-poms to her being nothing but an airhead infatuated with lip gloss and boys.

So when tony had announced peter was coming for dinner she was less than impressed, but of course, put on a happy face for him. It’s the least she could do.

Tony was kind of the dream uncle every kid wanted. He always showed up to family events late, with extravagant gifts in hand and a super cool excuse. Honey couldn’t remember the last birthday or Christmas when she hadn’t gotten the latest and greatest toy or anything else, she could imagine. Her favourite memory as a kid was the three weeks, she and Bea would spend with Aunt Pepper every summer, but eventually, once Pepper moved in with Tony he would be there too.

By mid-afternoon, the girls were back at the tower and were currently tiding up Morgan’s room by order of Pepper and the oh-so-scary-early-bedtime-threat. They cleaned up and whilst Morgan was watching TV, honey went upstairs to grab the small shoebox from underneath the bed and place the small memorabilia from the day inside.

Each summer, since she was child Honey, kept her summer box. She kept everything in there- photos, receipts, movie tickets, dried flowers, friendship bracelets, notes she had passed at camp- essentially anything. Today it was a receipt for the ice-cream in the park and a small polaroid the girls had taken under a tree where they had lunch.

Morgan was complaining he was bored and since they still had almost two hours until anyone would be home Honey suggested they baked some cupcakes to have as dessert.

When pepper arrived home to see Honey and Morgan dancing to Disney music in the kitchen, the icing on both their faces and sprinkles lining the floor she couldn’t help but smile and run her finger through the neon pink icing before plopping it in her mouth.

“mmm this is really good, what’s the occasion why the cupcakes and kitchen parties” by now Morgan and jumped into peppers arms to welcome her home and tell her all about the day and Honey took the chance to finish icing the cakes before tidying up.

“Hey, where’s Tony?” Pepper who was listening to Morgan’s story about the crazy duck lady at the park to answer,

“oh he’s gone to pick peter up they should be here soon- maybe ten minutes or so” Honey was frantic, ten minutes??? She was covered in icing.

“oh my god I have to get changed, I have icing in my hair” Pepper laughed and called after her that it was okay-Peter wasn’t going to care. She refused to meet the boy for the first time with neon pink icing in her hair and workout leggings on.

So she frantically washed out the icing before drying just that one section of hair, quickly reapplying her makeup and chucking on her favourite jeans and a floral crop top that was nice but still casual enough. She ran a brush through her hair before pulling it back into a loose half-up style, then bouncing out into the hallway.

She was tense, Honey hated meeting new people and meeting new people in the presence of adults- that you knew- was even worse. So, when she walked into the open style living/dining/ kitchen area and saw the curly-haired figure whose back was to her was almost sure she would faint. Its been known to happen.

“ah here she is, Underoos… Meet Mine and Pepper’s niece- Honey”

“uh hey I’m Peter, Peter Parker” her mouth went dry and her throat felt like it closed completely but somehow, she managed to choke out,

“its nice to finally meet you, Morgan’s told me plenty” he smiled at the mention of the girl who Honey only just noticed was practically standing on his feet. If his dorky smile and smooth caramel-like voice weren’t enough to make her freeze the tight light wash jean cut-off’s and well-tailored and perfectly well unbuttoned navy-blue shirt sent her mind into a frenzy. She was screwed. He was gorgeous- and taken.

This was just her luck.

[dream-a-little-bigger-x]

Greaser Serpents | Part 4

Pairing: Sweet Pea x OC (Luna Simmons) 

Words: 2408

Warnings: crying, language

Part one Part two Part three Part four Part five

“I have to talk to you,” Luna says before even greeting her best friend, and drags her into an empty classroom. A small flashback goes through her mind as she does that, thinking about what she and Sweet Pea had been doing the other day in empty classroom. 

“Good morning to you too,” Betty mutters while Luna shuts the door behind her. The girl seems agitated and stressed about something, causing worry to rise within Betty. She can’t stand watching her best friend be so upset about something. “Hey, what’s wrong?” she asks, placing a comforting hand on Luna’s shoulder. The girl licks her lips, her eyes darting away from her best friend as she tries her hardest not to cry. She raises her arms shortly in defeat whilst shaking her head as tears begin to run down her cheeks. 

“I’m in love with a Serpent, Betty,” she confesses, “But I can’t be with him because there’d be a target on my back. Other gangs will pick up on it and use me to spite him or the Serpents will annoy Sweet Pea for dating a Northsider. My father hates him and practically will ruin his life with this stupid plan of his and Hiram’s. But I can’t stop thinking about him, Bets. He’s just constantly on my mind and I can’t seem to forget about him. No matter what I do,” she explains, unloading her bucket of emotions with her best friend. “I don’t know what to do anymore,” she sniffles as Betty takes her in for a tight, comforting hug. “There’s one thing you can do,” the blondie says after a moment of pure sobs and crying from Luna. They pull away from each other, and while Luna wipes away her tears, Betty strokes a strand of her best friend’s hair behind her ear. “Please, tell me, I’ll pretty much do anything right now,” she mumbles, chuckling a little at how desperate she sounds. Toni, who happened to be passing the classroom where the two Northsiders were talking in, has heard everything and it makes her blood boil. That stupid Serpent friend of hers has made the Northsider girl cry. One of the few Northsiders she cares about. He will hear of this. And without listening to what else Betty has to say, she storms up to her two best friends in the student lounge.

“How dare you play with a girl’s feelings like that!” she yells at the tall guy, not even caring about who else could hear it. Jughead, Archie, Kevin and Veronica are sitting on the sofa, startled at the pink-haired lady’s anger. “Toni, keep it down, please,” Sweet Pea mutters, knowing she’s talking about Luna. “What the hell are you on about?” his voice is low, but that doesn’t stop Toni from yelling more. “I’m talking about how you hurt Luna’s feelings by doing God-knows-what when you know you can’t date her because it would put her in danger!” she hits him on the shoulder. Her yelling has attracted more of the students, including Cheryl, Josie and Reggie. Sweet Pea’s wide eyes dart around the room, finding everyone already staring at them. “Toni, she knew what she’d pulled herself into. She knew it would be strictly fooling around, no strings attached,” he explains, suddenly very self-conscious. Toni and Veronica both roll their eyes at how lame that excuse is. “Oh, so because she knows it’s no strings attached, it’s okay that you broke her heart?” she asks. The audience doesn’t make her shy away from saying what’s really on her mind. “She’s crying to Betty right now about how she doesn’t know what to do because of the feelings she has for you. She’s so lost, Sweet Pea. And you’re oblivious to that because you think you’re good because you warned her for it,” the girl doesn’t give off. “You’re such a dick, Sweet Pea, do you know that?!” she hits him on the back of his head. “Toni, please, stop,” a tearful, cold voice retracts the people’s attention from Sweet Pea and Toni to Luna. Her eyes are red and puffy, and her lipstick’s gone from biting and licking her lips nervously. “It’s none of their business. Neither is it yours, FYI,” she tells her Southside friend. Toni glances to the floor, ashamed of her outburst all of a sudden. Luna’s eyes glance over to Sweet Pea. He looks broken and lost. Almost as lost as she is. “Show’s over, kids. Get to class,” she orders all of them before turning around and leaving the student lounge. The Serpent boy who had broken her heart in a thousand pieces launches forward to run after her, but both Betty and Toni stop him. “It’s better if you leave her alone for now, Sweet Pea,” Betty tells him with a little smile, “She’ll come to you when she’s ready to talk about it,” the boy lets out a frustrated breath before grabbing his backpack and getting out of the lounge to get to class. “I don’t know what you heard, Toni,” Betty begins when everyone has left the class, “But we have to help her. We only need to convince her that it’s the only way to be with him,” Toni nods her head. She didn’t hear what the two talked about, but she knows what Betty is on about now. If Luna really wants it, the two of them can pull a few strings and make it happen. Luna looks in the mirror in the restrooms as she fixes her makeup and hair. When she woke up this morning, she didn’t expect to burst out into tears the way she did. She felt sad, but it wasn’t to the point of crying. It’s only when she really came face-to-face with her own feelings and really said them out loud to Betty, that’s when the waterworks really began. “Look at me, there has to be,” she sings the reprise softly as she stares at her reflection. “Something more than what they see Wholesome and pure Oh so scared and unsure A poor man’s Sandra Dee,” she sighs before reapplying her lipstick and then leaving the bathroom at once. The idea of Betty haunts her mind. The entire day, she can’t think of anything else but that. It might actually be the only way to be with Sweet Pea. Even if it means getting disowned and kicked out by her parents. “Are you okay?” Josie asks when she sits down next to Luna at lunch. That’s all Luna has been hearing today. That’s all everyone’s asking her. The others look at her, awaiting her answer, even though they’ve all asked her at one point that day. She angrily throws her burger on her plate, suddenly not hungry anymore. “Can everyone stop asking me that? I’m fine, okay? Just peachy,” the last bit comes out in a whisper as she realizes she’s lying to her friends and herself. “Sorry,” she then mutters while shaking her head and getting off the bench. Her friends watch her run out of the cafeteria, knowing she just needs some time. It’s still a touchy subject. They’re not even sure when it’s not going to be a touchy subject anymore. “No, Sweets, don’t!” Toni yells at Sweet Pea as he gets up from his seat and runs after Luna, completely ignoring his friend’s orders. He finds her in the student lounge on the sofa, trying to calm herself down a little. It breaks his heart seeing her like that, especially considering he’s the one who put her in that situation. “Hey, Luna,” he says softly as he walks in and comes into her view, cautiously. She looks up at him for a moment and wipes her tears as she offers him a small smile. “Can I sit?” he questions, pointing at the sofa. The girl simply shrugs, knowing that if she’d talk, fresh tears would run out. “I’m sorry, Luna,” he then says after a moment of complete silence. “You’ve got nothing to be sorry about, Sweets,” she tells him, glancing down at her wrists whilst playing with the bracelet she got from her father for her birthday last year. “I do though. I’m sorry I led you on and I’m sorry we can’t be together, but I thought you were okay with the no-strings-attached kind of thing,” he stares at the floor. Neither of them is sure what to do. They’d rather be kissing each other right now instead of talking. “I was,” she replies as fresh tears roll over her cheeks, “Sorry,” she whispers and gets up to get away from him again. She doesn’t want him to see her crying. Sweet Pea groans and runs after her again, grabbing her wrist to pull her back to him. “Stop running away from me, Luna. Please, let’s talk about this. I hate to see you hurt when I know I can do something about it.” Her tears abruptly stop at his words and she looks up at him. Her hand rises, her fingers softly stroking his jaw. “Oh, but you can’t do anything about it, Sweet Pea,” she whispers, “You can’t help it that I fell in love with you when I knew I shouldn’t. Hell, I can’t even help it. But it is what it is. And I know we can’t be together. My mother warned me about it and you did too,” her voice is soft, as if she’s telling him her biggest secret. “Your mother warned you?” he asks, confused about that part of the explanation. “She warned me about putting a target on my back if I ever dated a Serpent. Other gangs would use me to spite you and all that jazz,” she explains quickly, rolling her eyes at how silly that sounds. “But that’s not the point now, Sweets,” she shakes her head. “I can’t date a Northsider, Luna,” he tells her again, sounding defeated. “You don’t have to,” a smile tugs at her lips, “We’re kind of like Sandy and Danny in real life, aren’t we? I’m going to have to change for you to be able to be with you,” she says softly. Sweet Pea’s eyes widen at her insinuation. “You’re not joining the Serpents, Luna. I can’t let you join the Serpents,” he orders sternly, towering over her makes her more intimidated by him than she ever was. “Don’t flatter yourself, Sweets. I told you, I’m not like Sandy. I’m not going to join the Serpents just so we can be together. I’m not built that way,” she explains to him with a chuckle and a shake of her head. “I’ll figure out a way to get you out of my head. It’s going to be fine,” she reassures him. He grabs her by the waist at that, pulling her closer to him. “But Luna—” he begins, but her singing voice cuts him off. “Guess mine’s not the first heart broken My eyes are not the first to cry,” Her fingers push away the curl on his forehead as she sings to him. The song that sums up her feelings right about now. “I’m not the first to know there’s just no getting over you,” She turns around and walks away from him. Away from the safe place in his arms. Away from his beautiful bright eyes. She has to forget about him. Preferably now. “You know I'm just a fool who's willing To sit around and wait for you But baby can't you see there's nothing else for me to do I'm hopelessly devoted to you,” she walks down the hallway and back to the cafeteria where she halts at the door to watch her friends talk amongst each other. She even makes eye contact with Toni who gives her a small, sympathetic smile. “But now there's no way to hide Since you pushed my love aside I'm outta my head hopelessly devoted to you Hopelessly devoted to you Hopelessly devoted to you,” She walks back into the hallway where she finds Sweet Pea still standing at the lockers. His fist punches the metal, making it clang loudly and boom off the walls. This just isn’t how it’s supposed to go. This isn’t how either of them had imagined falling in love for the first time. It hurts harder than they thought it would. During the rest of the day, the two of them had tried to avoid one another. And if they did lock eyes, they’d give each other a sympathetic, acknowledging smile. Nothing more, nothing less. The only time they didn’t ignore one another is at rehearsals that night. “My head is saying, "Fool, forget him." My heart is saying, "Don't let go. Hold on till the end." And that's what I intend to do I'm hopelessly devoted to you” She sings her heart out on the stage this time, standing all by herself in the middle of the spotlight. The other cast members watch her tentatively, a little bit tensed as well. They know she means what she’s singing, and she’s singing it for Sweet Pea, who’s sitting at the end of the line. He’s watching her with an aching heart. “But now there's nowhere to hide Since you pushed my love aside I'm out of my head Hopelessly devoted to you Hopelessly devoted to you Hopelessly devoted to you” A single tear rolls down her face as a silence falls over the entire auditorium. Sweet Pea shakes his head and leaves. He can’t keep watching this. He can’t keep looking at Luna being hurt because of him. He’d rather run up that stage and hold her. There has to be another way. There has to be a way they can be together without her getting hurt. “Jughead,” Luna says from the stage, capturing the Serpent’s attention, “Could you pull a few strings with your dad for me, please?” she asks kindly. The boy looks at his girlfriend and his pink-haired friend. They had talked about this during lunch. He simply nods, giving the girl a smile and a new will to live. She normally would never change herself for someone else. But if her happiness depends on it, she might as well try something. It might even save Sweet Pea’s life. Just maybe she could convince her dad not to go through with his plans for Riverdale. Maybe, just maybe everything could be okay. 

Taglist: @iamaunicorn4704, @cvvlxx

[queenssunshine]

Making a Living off of Death (2/?)

[butcanijustnot]

Dating Natasha Romanoff would include:

Tagging @idontgiveaflyinggrayson69

(If you have a character you want to see written, or you want to be tagged, PM me and I’ll add it/you to the list.)

You met her when she first joined S.H.I.E.L.D, tasked with helping her become accustomed to her new life on the right side of the law.

You ended up spending a lot of time together, helping each other with work and casually hanging out afterward.

Natasha didn’t usually trust anyone, especially having just come out of her assassin career, but she just got a good vibe off of you. You were calm and caring, but strong and brutally honest when you had to be. You did your job well and didn’t take any unnecessary shit from anyone. She just felt like you were worth her time and trust.

You had a flirty friendship, and over time you developed feelings for her, real feelings, but you never acted on them

“She’s straight.” You’d tell yourself. “And even if she wasn’t, she’d never be interested in someone like me.”

She continued to flirt, but now each long touch and strung out word burned a hole in your heart. She was something you didn’t think you could ever have, but little did you know she had the same feelings for you.

Both of you stayed in this nebulous limbo for a long time, flirting but never going anywhere, until one day you were out for drinks.  

You were both a little tipsy and in the bathroom in the club reapplying makeup. You were giggling to yourself and Natasha looked at you confused.

“What is it?”

“Nothing. I love that lipstick on you.” You cooed to change the subject and shoot her a compliment. You loved the bright red lipsticks that she wore and was secretly jealous of how well she could pull them off. If only you had that confidence.

“You wanna try it?” She asked, a devilish smirk on her face.

Eh, you probably weren’t going to spend that much longer at the club anyway, you could jazz it up for the remainder of your time. “Sure!” You agreed.

Her lips crashed onto yours before you could register it and time seemed to slow right down to a standstill.

She tasted like everything you dreamt of, Scotch and lipstick and something you hadn’t tasted anywhere else that was uniquely Natasha.

She pulled away for a second and you suppressed the urge to whine at the sudden loss of contact. “Are you alright with this? I’ll stop if you’re not comfortable.” She asked.

“Please don’t stop.” You reconnected your lips with hers, full on making out this time.

Needless to say, you two hooked up that night. You promised yourself that it wouldn’t let it change the friendship you had with her, and Natasha seemed to make the same promise because your friendship remained the same after this.

Except you would sleep together every once in a blue moon. Just one major difference. Everything else was the same.

You two had this relationship for a while, friends with benefits until one-night things changed.

“Have you thought about us?” Natasha asked you as you lay in bed next to her. “About us actually…”

“Dating?” You finished for her.

“Yeah.”

“Yes. I think about it a lot actually. Why do you ask?” You questioned.

“I don’t know. I guess I’ve just been watching the other avenger pair off. Tony and Pepper are on their three-year anniversary, Steve and Sharon are a ‘thing’ now, and Clint’s just had his fourth kid. Hell, even the resident robot’s got a girlfriend!”

“Vision and Wanda are finally together!?!” You squealed. Last you heard they were relentlessly pining for one another. You didn’t know the Avengers personally but Natasha told you all the good gossip.

“Yeah, they're pretty adorable.” She took a deep breath and continued. “I want to be happy like they all are, and when I think hard about who could really make me happy…” She paused and looked over at you. “I can only ever think of you.”

Your heart almost exploded right then and there. You enveloped her in a soft hug. “Natasha Romanoff, that is the most romantic thing I’ve ever heard. I’m so glad I can make you as happy as you make me, and if you’ll have me, I’d be honoured to be your girlfriend.”

To be honest, your relationship didn’t change too much after you got together. You went out more together, either for coffee before work or dinner and drinks after. It was simple but you liked it.

Your relationship was never truly monogamous until you both stopped working for S.H.I.E.L.D. Both of you had jobs that involved seducing people for information and assassination, so you both had to be comfortable with the other doing so. Luckily, Natasha trusted you and you trusted her, and you were both very open and honest about what happened on missions. There were no secrets between you, why would you need to have them?

Natasha didn’t tell the other Avengers she was dating anyone until a couple of months down the track. In fact, she didn’t tell anyone for about three months. You were a little confused but didn’t question it. Then, when she finally did tell them, you immediately found out why.

“They want to meet you. All of them.” Natasha said, flopping down on the bed with a groan. “They asked me about a thousand stupid questions.”

“I’m happy to meet them, but all at once sounds pretty daunting. Plus, the questioning will make me super nervous.” You mumbled, petting her hair as she lay face down in the mattress.

“I know. I told them to wait and I’d introduce you in due time when you’re ready.” She got up and nodded.

“Thanks, babe.” You whispered, pressing a soft kiss to her lips.

Of course, it didn’t work out that way.

First, Steve and Sam ‘run into you two’ out on a morning jog. Sam maintains that it was a total accident.

It wasn’t.

They ask you some questions and you answer politely. Natasha’s a little ticked off that they’re here but doesn’t say anything, just shoots them glares when you aren’t looking. Eventually, you split up and head home, you waving goodbye and Natasha grumbling under her breath.

“I like them.” You say, catching her off-guard. “If all your friends are like that then I can’t wait to meet them.”

Next day your home and hear a knock at the door. When you open it, a short brunette kid is staring up at you. He looked at you and his eyes widened. He almost seemed shocked you had opened the door.

“Hello there. I’m Peter and I’m here to…. Check the…. Check for…. Gas! I want to check on your gas pipes! I’m in the area surveying gas pipes!!” He said, clearly lying. You recognized the name but it took you a second to place it.

“Peter? As in…. Peter Parker? The Arachnid kid?”

“It’s… It’s Spiderman. How’d you know? Did Natasha tell you? She promised not to!”

You raised your hands in surrender. “No, I put it together myself. A kid gets a Stark internship and starts hanging out with Tony Stark, and at the same time, Iron Man gets a new, smaller, younger-looking sidekick? Doesn’t take a genius, man.”

“…. I’m not his sidekick…”

“Whatever… Did Tony Stark send you here?”

“…No.”

“You’re an awful liar. Come in, I’ll teach you. I just made Hot Chocolate.”

Later that day Natasha comes home to see Peter curled up on the couch watching movies with you. He purposefully avoids her glance. She knows.

You look up at her, one arm slung around Peters' shoulders. “Nat, I better meet your friends or they’re never going to stop turning up in our life.”

So, you do, at the next huge Stark party. Despite it being a Stark party, all the attention was on you, which was a strange new experience. They seem to really like you. They approve of your influence on Natasha and firmly believe you love her, which you do.

You patch her up after fights, no matter how much she complains.

“Y/N, I’m a grown woman, I can patch my own bullet wounds.”

“I know you can but you shouldn’t have too. You’ve got a girlfriend for that.”

She lies back and grumbles. You know she’s really feeling angry at herself for getting hurt and making you worry and you’re trying to help her.

You guys have spoken about adopting a child, a little girl most likely, but have made the decision to wait until you’re both out of the dangerous jobs you’re in and can fully cater too, support and protect a child in your care.

Until then, it’s just the two of you, which is absolutely perfect.