Distractions (Buck X Reader) Ch. 2

Chapter 2

<><><><>Bucky’s<>POV<><><><>

          Steve and I sat and talked for a few more minutes before he finally convinced me to rejoin the party. Neither of us talked the entire elevator ride back down to the party. I could feel the concerned glances that Steve kept sending me as I stared at my reflection in the elevator doors. I chose to ignore them as I tried to figure out what I was going to say to (Name) next time I saw her. ‘Maybe I should start with an apology. But how? I can't just walk up to the girl of my dreams and say “hey I'm sorry for being a total pervert and staring at your breast.” Yeah because that totally won't make it worse. Shit, I couldn't even talk to her when she thought I was a gentleman. How the hell am I supposed to talk to her now that she thinks I’m a pervert!’ Before I could figure out how I was going to handle this the elevator came to a gentle stop and the doors opened with a light ding. 

           I hesitantly followed Steve out of the elevator and through what used to be Stark’s Valentine's Day party but had since devolved into what could only be described as a giant sleep over crossed with the time Steve and I ‘borrowed’ the monkeys from the Brooklyn zoo. ‘I’ll never forget the look on everyone's face when they enter the gym only to find about a dozen monkeys in sparkly leotards swinging from the rafters on the ceiling and all of the gymnastics equipment (it was totally worth the effort and injuries associated with trying to get a about a dozen monkey into poorly handmade leotards).’ Half of the guests were draped over what I assumed was the closest flat surface to them when they passed out from the alcohol, while the rest of them were either stumbling around trying (and failing) not to spill their drinks or hanging off of anything attached to the ceiling, such as the chandelier, the decorative beams, etc. I heard Steve let out several disappointed sighs as we ventured farther into the chaos. ‘Wow! I had heard that Stark's parties could get pretty crazy but this is a lot crazier than I was expecting. I bet Stark will be getting an earful from Pepper about how neglected safety measures and alcohol poisoning could lead to lawsuits.’ I inwardly smiled as I thought about Stark getting yelled at ‘Heh I bet she even asks (Name) for a play by play of what happened so that he can't spin the story to make it look like it wasn't his fault.’ My smile faded as my thoughts turned to the spunky little firecracker that had stolen my heart ‘where is (Name) anyways?’ I became frantic as I tried to recall if she was one of the many passed out drunks that we had walked by on our way towards… ‘Where exactly ARE we going?’ I grabbed on to Steve's shoulder in an attempt to get his attention.

<><><><>Steve's<>POV<><><><>

         I turned as I felt Bucky harshly grab my shoulder he looked at me with a face full of worry and confusion “what's wrong Buck?” I asked after it became clear that he was waiting for me to say something.

“Where exactly are we going? And do you remember if we passed (name) at any point?” He added the last part as a hesitant whisper.

“I was trying to find Stark. But no I don’t think we passed (name) at any point.” I said but upon seeing the look on his face I added, “I’m sure she is fine. I didn't see Nat around anywhere either and since they came together they probably left together in an effort to get home before excessive drinking lead to murder.” I saw him visibility relax as he thought about my words.

“Okay.” He said after a few minutes “let's go find Stark.”

<><><><>One<>Hour<>Later<><>Bucky's<>POV<><><><>

         When we finally located Stark, I wasn't quite sure how to process the scene in front of me. Apparently, at some point during the night Stark had changed into a very disturbing cupid costume comprised of a diaper, poorly made angel wings, and what looked to be the remains of a toy bow and suction cup arrows that, by the size of them, were originally intended for small children. He had also somehow managed to not only build some kind of elaborate pulley system but also get himself hooked up to it and was attempting to untangle himself while hanging upside down about ten feet off the ground. He seemed to be doing a surprisingly good job considering that he was only using one hand in his attempts to untangle the ropes wrapped around him. His other hand was attempting to not spill what appeared to be his latest glass of scotch (judging by the way he missed the rope he was trying to grab at least twice, it was safe to say that it was at least his tenth glass) and, so far as I could tell, it was succeeding. 

“What the hell!?” The words tumbled out of my mouth before I had a chance to stop them but considering the way Stark nearly jumped out of his skin he hadn't even realized that we were standing below him.

“WHAT THE…Oh! Hey guys” somehow I wasn't surprised by how Stark was acting as if that was a completely normal situation to walk into.

‘Sadly that is most likely because when dealing with Tony Stark this is a completely normal situation.’ My thoughts were cut short when I realized that Stark was still talking

“Do you guys know what happened to Barton I swear he was here a minute ago” Steve opened his mouth to reply, however, before he could speak Stark interrupted as he proceeded to prove just how drunk he was “wait what happened to the sun and how are you able to stand on the ceiling like that?” I heard Steve let out another sigh.

‘I seriously wonder sometimes if Stark even has a liver or if his body has just adapted to survive on alcohol and coffee instead of water and food and now his liver is about as useful as the appendix or the gallbladder’ once again I was pulled out of my thoughts by the sound of someone talking. This time however, it was Steve's hilarious attempts to explain to Stark that

“no we have not seen Barton” and “nothing happened to the sun Stark it's just night time, it was night time when the party started.” Now I maybe a master assassin but even I couldn't keep a straight face after twenty minutes of Steve trying to explain to a drunk Stark that they were not, in fact, standing on the ceiling; gravity was just fine; and there was no need to call the suit and/or Bruce/hulk. I might have missed the rest of the conversation due to laughing so hard I almost pissed myself, but once I finally got done laughing I realized that I had no idea why we were looking for Stark in the first place. 

“Why did you think it would be a good idea to find stark again?” I whispered to Steve when Stark got distracted by the ropes that were still tangled around him and continued his attempts to untie himself from the ceiling. 

“I wanted to be one hundred percent positive that he hadn't set anything on fire or something else that would destroy the tower and/or interrupt my sleep for the rest of the ni…” Steve's sudden pause caused  my muscles to tense, on instinct, in preparation for an attack. I relaxed a second later when Steve sighed and turned his head to face the wall of windows. It was then that I noticed the sun was just starting to peek over the tops of the buildings that formed New York’s horizon “I guess it technically qualifies as morning now, doesn't it?” I was about to respond with a very clever comment when I saw something sparkle out of the corner of my eye. I ignored Steve as I walked over to it, as soon as I picked it up I realized what it was, (Name)’s purse.

‘She must have set it down at some point and forgot about it. I need to return it to her. I should probably wait till a more reasonable time, but now I have a plausible explanation for going to see her other than just wanting to make sure that she got home okay.’ I was shook out of my thoughts by Steve,

“Whatcha got there Buck?” I held up the purse so Steve could see.

“(Name)’s purse” I explained when the only response I got was Steve’s puzzled expression “I should bring it to her.” I only realized that I had said the last part out loud when I looked up and saw Steve giving me a knowing look.

<><><><>Your<>POV<><><><>

       I flopped down onto my bed face first as I went over the end of the night in my head. After twenty exhausting minutes full of cursing, a very unhelpful limo driver, and serious questioning of how this was even my life I managed to get Nat into the Kidnapping Mobile (even without the stupid driver’s help!) and we were on our way home. The ride itself was pretty uneventful except for the short time that Nat regained semi-consciousness and proceeded to yell at the stupid driver in what I assume was supposed to be Russian but the only word that I actually understood was Russian for cabbage so there was really no point trying to decipher the rest of her rant, which was technically only half a rant seeing as she fell asleep about two or three minutes in. However, it was when we made it back to our apartment that things got really interesting. First Nat had tried to tip the stupid driver with three pieces of raw bacon, I still can't figure out where she even got it and I’m pretty sure don’t I want to know. Then while I was actually tipping the stupid driver (because even though he was a meanie stupid head and wouldn't help me lift my unconscious friend into the back of a vehicle that I may or may not have been referring to as the Kidnapping Mobile, I can't say that he didn't do his job. Plus I had to make up for Nat yelling at him about cabbage in Russian) Nat decided that she was sober enough to walk up three flights of stairs in super high stilettos. Long story short, she wasn't. In the end the only good thing that came out of the night was that we now know that our building does in fact have an elevator (however the joy of that discovery was kinda squashed by the fact that we have been living here for over three years and never noticed it before) ‘that's not the only good part of your night’ my mind reminded me as Images of Bucky’s flustered face flashed behind my eyelids. ‘Yeah, yeah, I remember. He’s always so cute when he's flustered’ I smiled and let out a quite giggle before another thought popped into my head ‘what if he's mad at me for calling him out like that?’ It wasn't like I didn't think that he deserved it, but at the end of the day in the privacy of my own head I could address all of the little uncertainties that I pushed down when I was in public in order to remain my confident snarky self. ‘What if I really freaked him out? Crap! Maybe I should tone back how much I tease him. I don’t want him to get the impression that I hate him or something.’ I laughed to myself again as I thought about how there was no way on earth or any other planet that I could have possibly hated Bucky. ‘Of course I couldn't hate him! With an ass like that who could? I should probably get ready for bed.’ With an over dramatic grunt I pushed myself off my bed, unfortunately I pushed a little too hard. I let out a startled shriek as I fell off the side and landed hard on my butt. “Ow! Well that didn't work.” I muttered to myself as I rubbed my butt while walking to my bathroom.

After I had washed off the twenty pounds of makeup that Nat put on me I proceeded to get undressed. I was down to just my bra and panties when there was a knock at the front door. Knowing that Nat was hopelessly passed out in her room I sighed as I pulled on my robe and walked to the door. When I finally made it to the door I did what any smart sensible single women dressed in only a bathrobe would do when someone knocks on their door at five in the morning on a Saturday, fling open the door as wide as it will go without even bothering to look through the peephole. Saying I was shocked by who was on the other side would be an understatement.