Once they arrived back at the compound, and spent a few days decompressing, Tony had agreed that you all needed a night off. Or at least a few hours off. So of course, he decided on a party. Well, as much of a party you could have with just the team on locked down floors. Either way, it was the first party you didn't have to sneak into, so you were excited.

You got ready in your room, with Tony popping in every five minutes to check you were still there, that you hadn't been kidnapped again. You acted like it bothered you. But it didn't, not anymore.

Sitting in those restraints for almost a week was horrible. You'd had a few nightmares about it since, but hadn't told anyone. The feeling of being so helpless, so vulnerable, so , it angered you. That feeling always angered you. It's what made you so sarcastic, so petty all the time. It made you lash out at Bucky when you first met. It made you push people away because you couldn't be vulnerable when it was just you. But when you were stuck in those cuffs, stuck in that room, you didn't want to push anyone away. You were hoping they would come and get you. Exactly like Bucky did.

Bucky hadn't addressed your little truth spiel from the other day. You weren't sure if you wanted him to. You quite liked the whole 'not really talking but fucking each other senseless' routine you had at the moment. You really liked it.

Tony finally came in when the others were heading to the lounge to escort you, hovering in the doorway until you finished playing with your hair. Which you did for way longer than necessary, just to see how long it would take him to get annoyed. It was a mere 5 minutes.

You walked into the lounge with Tony, seeing Clint, Sam and Wanda on the chairs, drinks in hand, Steve and Bucky by the windows, talking, and Vision, Bruce and Nat by the bar. You immediately left Tony and headed to the bar, slipping in between Bruce and Nat and reaching over to grab a bottle of gin.

Being in lockdown, the bar was self-serve tonight. Which might end up being a terrible idea.

"She knows what she wants." Nat smiled at you as you filled up a glass, then grabbed a bottle of lemonade.

"If you say so." You huffed, pouring out the lemonade and immediately gulping down half of your drink, unwillingly catching Bucky's eye from across the room. You filled it back up with more gin and lemonade.

"Thought you were all sorted with that?" You heard Nat whisper in your ear, and you glanced at her.

"Dunno what you mean."

"Alright." She said, her expression changing to boredom, and grabbing your elbow and pulling you away from Bruce and Vision. She jerked her head to the door as you passed Wanda, who instantly seemed to understand that she was supposed to follow you both. Nat cornered you by the door, not actually leaving the lounge, and you looked between her and Wanda expectedly.

"Are one of you going to say something?" You asked after a few seconds of silence.

"You like Barnes. Why are you being weird about it?" Nat queried with narrowed eyes.

"I never said-"

"He likes you too." Wanda added.

"It's not like that, we've just been-"

"Banging like bunnies?" Nat suggested, and you frowned at her.

"What...that's such a weird phrase that I never thought would come out of your mouth." You shook your head before continuing. "Look, since I told you all the truth, he hasn't spoken to me."

"And you haven't spoken to him." Wanda countered. You held a finger up as if you were going to debate the point, but realised she was right.

"True. But now it's been too long."

"It's been a few days."

"Which is too long. I don't know what to say to him anymore."

"Maybe don't say anything." Nat smirked. You tried to scoff out of disdain, but you ended up laughing.

"Or maybe not!" Wanda giggled. "He half knew it all didn't he?"

"I guess." You replied.

"Then I doubt he's bothered by any of it." Wanda reassured you, putting her hands on your shoulders. "I mean, all he's thinking about is why we're in the corner and whether he should come over."

You frowned, then looked over her shoulder, indeed seeing Bucky staring at your little crowd. You look back to the girls.

"I'm just not sure what's going on between us now. He rescued me from that room-"

"We did, we rescued you." Nat said with a raised eyebrow.

"Right, you all rescued me. Me and Bucky weren't exactly on...friendly terms before so, I don't really-"

"I wanna slap you right now." Nat scoffed, pushing Wanda's hands off your shoulders, replacing them with her own and turning you round to push you into the room. "You want him, go get him. The sexual tension is annoying."

"Okay! Okay!" You hissed as you shrugged her off. "God you're mean."

Nat just smiled sarcastically at you, while Wanda offered you a genuine smile. You turned around to look at Bucky, who'd apparently been watching the whole thing from the other side of the room. You kept his gaze for a few seconds. You turned back to Nat and Wanda.

"You know what, maybe later." You muttered, ignoring the crestfallen look on their faces. "I need another drink first."

A couple hours later, you'd gotten sufficiently tipsy after polishing off the whole bottle of gin. You'd spent the time talking to most of the team except Bucky, and were now dragging Wanda up onto the table to dance to music. She had let herself loose tonight as well, so you were both dancing to the beat, singing loudly, while the team cheered you on and joined in from below.

You caught Bucky's eye, again, just like you'd been doing all night, and with a surge of confidence, you gave him a wink, feeling incredibly proud of yourself as you watched him run his hand over his mouth and shake his head at you. You immersed yourself back into dancing with Wanda.

Steve was looking between you and Bucky from beside him, and couldn't contain his laughter.

"She's trouble." He commented to Bucky, who just sighed and nodded.

"She really is." Bucky replied, having another drink, continuing to stare up at you.

"Have you even spoken to her since the safehouse?"

"Nope." Bucky sighed. Steve chuckled again. "I'm fucked aren't I?"

Steve clapped a hand on his friend's shoulder and sucked in a breath.

"Yeah, yeah I think you are."

The two laughed together, their eyes wandering back to you spinning on the table, when your foot slipped and you fell off.

You squeaked as you were suddenly caught in strong arms, and looked up to see Bucky holding you bridal style. You giggled.

"Hi."

"Hey." He laughed, lowering your legs down until you could stand on your own.

You saw Clint take your place on the table out of the corner of your eye, but kept your gaze on Bucky. He had a little smile playing on his lips, the corners quirked up slightly, his eyes looking down at you in interest.

"What?" You asked.

"I think you're drunk."

"Nope," You said, popping the 'p' a little too loudly. "Maybe a little tipsy, but it clears out faster than I can put it in." You pouted dramatically.

"You can't get drunk either, can you?" He asked, watching you intensely.

"I can. Just takes me five times as much, and I sober up five times as quick."

He nodded, but continued staring at you.

"Why haven't you spoken to me?" You said suddenly, and his eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"Since when?"

"Since...since I told everyone...everything."

You saw him run his tongue over his teeth, looking around the room, and then he looked back at you. He took your hand, and pulled you over to the side of the room, by the wall, and leaned a hand on it as he looked down at you.

"I was waiting." He whispered.

"For what?"

"You." He retorted. You were confused. "Every time things get a bit too real, you tend to close yourself off, run away."

"I don't-"

"Yes you do." He chuckled. His other hand moved and he started running his fingers down your forearm. "So, I was giving you the space I thought you needed."

"Right. Well..." You paused, not knowing what to say. "Okay."

"Okay?"

"Yeah, okay." You stared at each other. "What?"

"Why didn't you speak to me?" He questioned with a tilt of his head.

"Didn't know I had to."

He laughed again, the sound rumbling through your bones and making you feel warm. You tensed, not sure if you wanted to feel these kinds of things right now. You wrapped your arms around yourself, rubbing your arm and shifting awkwardly on your feet.

"Thought you'd be pissed off." You muttered.

"Why would it piss me off?"

"You get pissed off a lot."

"I think it's actually you that gets pissed off the most, princess." He smiled, but he could see you were still bothered by this. "I had the chance to ask questions before. I didn't ask them all."

You nodded, but kept looking at the floor.

"Is there something you want to say to me?" He asked.

"Nope."

"You sure?" He raised an eyebrow at you. "Cos I can see the thoughts in your head." He tapped your temple gently. "So come on, what's on your mind?"

"I..." You paused. "I think I'm going to go to bed." His eyes widened. "No! No." You pointed at him. "I'm going to bed and I will become a hermit for a few days. That's it. That's all." You said in a hurry. He just let his eyes roam over your face, and then he chuckled again, and pushed off the wall.

"Come on then," He guided you to start walking to the door and put his hand on your lower back. "Let's get you to bed."