#mervel high school au

[language-rxgers]

Grease Lightning (Bucky x Reader High School!AU)- Part 3

Summary: It’s opening night of the production, meaning you’ll be seeing Bucky for the second time. You talk some more and get to know more about the kind of guy Bucky’s like.

Pairing: Bucky x Reader

Characters: Bucky Barnes, Reader, Natasha Romanoff, Maria Hill, Bruce Banner (mentioned), Steve Rogers (mentioned)

Warnings: none, well a lil’ bit of inner teen turmoil

Word Count: 1914

masterlist

part 1 / part 2 / part 4 / part 5

You tapped your toes in anticipation for Bucky to arrive. It was opening night and you couldn’t clear your mind of the looming pressure to make Bucky look great- well, more so than he usually did. He was the lead in the play, so you had no room to mess anything up. You were also nervous and excited to see him again. While you felt you had done fairly well during the dress rehearsal, you really hoped you wouldn’t make a fool of yourself in front of Bucky tonight. After really meeting him and getting a small glimpse of the kind of person he was, you felt even more anxious about seeing him this time, now that you knew he was far from the pretentious jock you’d tried to make him out to be in your mind.

You imagined possible conversations you might have with him tonight as you did his makeup, if he was even in the mood to talk. Maybe he really didn’t want to talk with you. Your mind flashed to the conversation the two of you’d shared during the dress rehearsal, and you felt a swell of regret at all of the imposing questions you’d asked him. Sure, he’d been easy and pleasant to talk to- much more so than you’d expected- but maybe he was just being polite and you’d actually made him uncomfortable. Okay, maybe you’ll just do his makeup and hair and nothing else. Just stay outta the way and let him prepare for his performance.

You wiped your palms on your jeans restlessly, suddenly feeling very thirsty. You grabbed your water bottle, chugging it until it was empty. You tossed the bottle in the recycling, then turned around to see a head of shaggy dark hair lounging in the chair at your station. Your stomach flipped and you took a breath to calm your racing heart. “Bucky, hey,” you managed out, pleased with how steady your voice had been. Bucky’s soft eyes met yours, and his face split into a wide grin.

“Hey, (Y/N), how’s it been?”

“Not bad. You? Excited for tonight?” Bucky chuckled shyly, shrugging.

“I’m nervous,” he admitted. You let out a soft breath.

“I know you’ll do great,” you reassured him. You swallowed thickly at the grateful smile he gave you. You cleared your throat, quickly looking away. You tried to put on your professional face, suddenly becoming very interested in the makeup supplies you’d already gathered at our station. “Alrighty, well let’s get started.” You handed him the paper towel to put over his costume, avoiding his gaze as you busied yourself with applying facial cleanser to a cotton pad. “You mind?” You asked quietly as you held up the pad. He shook his head no, and you began wiping it over his skin.

“So what’s new with you?” He asked. You shrugged.

“Um, not very much, I guess. How about you?” You threw away the pad and began applying the foundation.

“Same for me. Hey, I realized I never really asked you anything about yourself last time. I just talked about myself the whole time. What do you like to do outside of hair and makeup?” Your hand’s movements jerked in surprise at his question. Stupid Bucky, can’t even pretend to be a jerk for a second?

“U-uh, I don’t really know. I’m not very interesting,” you said lamely.

“Oh, come on. I’ve seen your art in the yearbook. You’re really, really good. Do you like doing that kinda stuff?” God, the son of a bitch won’t stop. You felt yourself getting annoyed at the fact that he was being so nice and… interested in you. I mean, the formalities could have stopped at ‘how are you’, but now he’s making a genuine effort. You’d never had someone work so hard to talk to you. You didn’t know how to react.

“Um, yeah, I like it. It’s not like I could make a career out of it or anything, but it’s a nice hobby…”

“Steve’s tried teaching a few times, but I can’t draw for shit. I wish I could, but I guess it’s something you either have or you don’t, huh?” He let out a chuckle. “And I was serious, you’re really good. I mean, I only know what I’ve seen in the yearbook and what Steve’s told me, but you’re really talented.”

You felt the heat radiating from your cheeks in waves. “Oh, uh- thanks. That’s really nice of you to say. Although, I never knew Steve talked about me to his other friends.” Bucky’s eyes widened slightly before casting down to his lap.

“Oh, yeah, uh, I think it must’ve come up in a conversation or something…” Was it you, or were his ears a little red? Probably just you. You put away the foundation and grabbed the eyeliner pencil. You held it up, giving him a slight grimace.

“Sorry to have to do this again.” Bucky laughed.

“You know, it wasn’t actually that bad with you doing it.” He leaned back and closed his eyes in preparation. "Can we do the three count thing again, though? That was good.” You said yes and bent forward. You rested the heel of your hand on his cheek, eyeliner hovering over his eye.

“Okay, when you’re ready.” Bucky opened his eye, looking up at the ceiling. You brought the pencil to his eye gently. “One,” you began to trace. “Two,” you were just about finished, working swiftly. “Three.” You pulled away, letting Bucky blink a few times.

He grabbed a mirror from the table to look. “That was really good. Do you need to go again?” You shook your head.

“No, looks great. We can do the other one.” You repeated the process on his other eye, once again finishing in one go.

“Wow, that was really smooth. Go team!” Bucky held up a fist, which you bumped with your own. You laughed at his antics. You applied a little bit of blush and neutral lipstick before switching to his hair.

As you combed through the soft locks, you could see Bucky’s head leaning into your touch. You tried not to make anything of it as you worked out the knots as gently as you could, then grabbed the bottle of gel. “So what shows do you like to watch?” Bucky asked as you squeezed some gel into your palm. You hesitated.

“Uh, I dunno. A little bit of everything. I like stuff like Brooklyn 99 and FRIENDS, and my friend and I have been watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I don’t know. There’s a lot of other ones I can’t think of right now,” you laughed awkwardly.

“Oh, man, I love those shows! Well, I haven’t seen Buffy, but my ma loves it. But the other ones are my jam!” You smiled affectionately at Bucky’s animated response. “Do you watch The Office?”

“I love The Office!” You expressed. The two of you continued a lively discussion of favourite shows, characters and movies as you continued to style Bucky’s hair. You couldn’t believe how easy it was to talk to him. Once you had both been coaxed out of your shells, it was like you’d known him forever. You got to see a side of Bucky that you never expected. He was funny and personable, but could also be shy in some aspects, like when he confessed his guilty pleasure movie was Pretty in Pink. It was weird to think you’d only really spoken to each other on two occasions- the dress rehearsal and now- but you really liked it. You didn’t want to stop. You knew you’ never get the chance to talk to him like this again after all the shows were done, so you were going to revel in the next two days, having him to yourself. You knew it was selfish, but when it was just you and him, you didn’t feel nervous like you would if he was standing with his friends. You didn’t feel intimidated or like you didn’t belong there, talking to him. You knew that would change when all this was over. Sure he was a nice guy, but realistically, he was talking to you because there was nothing else to do while he was sitting in that chair getting his hair done. As soon as he wasn’t obligated to, he’d go back to his friends, and you to yours. You couldn’t expect the two of you to suddenly be besties; it would be foolish and pathetic to do so. You two weren’t actually friends of anything more than that. It was no one’s fault; that was just the way it was.

“… eventually I just crumpled up the whole page and tossed it. I mean, I’d already erased and redrawn the damn hand so many times I’d worn through the paper, so I figured I might as well just give up. Meanwhile, Steve’s there, finishing up this masterpiece, like freaking Leonardo DiCaprio or something.” Bucky threw his hands up in exasperation. “Wait, that’s not right.” You bit your lip to keep from laughing. “Shit, I meant Leonardo DaVinci. That’s embarrassing…” You chuckled.

“I do that all the time,” you reassured him. You fixed his ducktail one last time before walking around to face him. Like before, you pulled a lock of hair from the style and curled it around your finger before letting it fall against his forehead. “All done.”

“Already?” Bucky’s shoulders seemed to slump slightly. You nodded.

“Barnes, you ready? We need to fit you for the mic!” Ms. Hill called into the room. Bucky rubbed his hands on his *distracting* denim-clad thighs before pushing himself up and out of his chair.

Bucky licked his lips as he faced you. “Thanks again, everything looks great. Like always,” he added. You nodded again, rubbing the back of your neck to try to calm the heat in your cheeks.

“No problem. Uh, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow night for the next performance?”

Bucky shoved his hands in his pockets. “Yeah, definitely.”

“Barnes!” Ms. Hill called again. “Can you please hurry up, we’ve got a show to get started with.”

“Sorry, I’m keeping you. Um, break a leg,” you gave him a lame half-wave before turning around to start cleaning up your station.

Nat was once again cleaning her own station next to you, though she was now leaning against the table, looking behind you. “Still looking at you,” she sang. “Looking, looking, and…”

“Bucky, come on! What the hell are you staring at?” Ms. Hill’s exasperated tone rang through the room again. Your entire body was radiating heat.

“Oh look, now he’s in trouble. He turning around. He’s leaving. Oh! He just looked back for like a second. He’s smiling- oh, shit, he sees me watching him.” Nat lifted a hand and waved. “He’s red, and- oh, now he’s gone.”

“Thanks for your little made up commentary,” you said flatly. You could only see the tip of your nose, but it was glowing with heat. You threw out your garbage and put away the makeup. “Very entertaining.”

“You think I was making that shit up?” Nat scoffed. You gave her a look.

“Come on, Nat, it’s not like that. When in the history of reality has something ever turned into anything from a girl doing a cute guy’s hair and makeup for a play?” Nat clicked her tongue.

“I’ll answer that after my date with Bruce on Saturday night.”

part 1 / part 2 / part 4 /  part 5

Tags- please send me a message if you’d like to be added to any of my tags!

Grease Lightning:

@pietrotheavenger @hero-ically @marvel-fanfiction @finallybreathee @falling-stars-never-cry @orange-jps3497 @or-worse-expelled7 @lonleyredballoon @timemngmtoptimisationproblems

Bucky:

@sawdustandsugar

All Works:

@the-instrumental-mortal @crazy4thewinbros @palaiasaurus64 @milkywaybarnes @thefridgeismybestie @becauseifuckingcan @libbyjune24 @erisan @pitubea1910 @lilmissperfectlyimperfect @friendlyneighborhoodnazgul @sixweekcure4dreams @alemer88 @im-an-angel-of-the-lord-you-ass @moderapoppins @fandomsstolemylife00