Secret Relationship (Bucky x Reader)
“Hey, Y/N, where are you? I thought you were staying home today,” Tony said on the other side of the phone, “Did one of your friends offer you a kidney, just for a day out?”
“Ha-ha, very funny,” you replied sarcastically, “No, I’m at the hospital. I have some patient files to go over.”
“If only there was someone who could do that for you and summarise it too. What are they called? Oh right, nurses,” he retaliated dryly.
“Well unlike you, I prefer to do my own work, rather than pass it off to someone else, and then go gallivanting around the world,” you responded.
“Ouch. Okay, calm down goody-two-shoes, it was just a suggestion. Don’t stay out too late and don’t forget we have that dinner at Steve’s tomorrow night at seven,” he said, “Bye. I love you.”
You were about to say it back, but he had already dropped the call. You sighed, leaning back into the comfy chair you were sitting in.
“Patient files, huh? I didn’t realize that was my new nickname,” Bucky said, walking in from the kitchen holding two cups of steaming coffee.
You took one of the mugs and placed it on the coffee table in front of you, curling up in Bucky’s embrace on the couch. “You know I’d rather say I’m with my boyfriend, but my brother can be very overprotective. He would literally do a background check, a criminal check, get a warrant to search your house, and somehow find your dental records from ten years ago. I don’t want to put you through that. Not yet, anyway.” You gave a hint of a smile and leaned up to kiss him on his stubbly cheek.
You didn’t like lying to your brother about your relationship with Bucky, but since Tony had scared off all of your boyfriends in the past, you didn’t want to take any chances scaring away your current one. Instead of being at the hospital, drowning in work, you had been at Bucky’s apartment since breakfast, keeping each other distracted from all the problems going on outside of your safe bubble.
“I’ve told you before that I can handle it,” he stroked his right hand through your hair, leaning his cheek against your temple.
“I know, I just like being able to keep you to myself,” you answered.
“Yeah, like that time you pushed me into the haunted mansion ride by myself, when you saw your brother at that fair we went to, and when you threw our large bucket of popcorn over my head at the cinema when you thought you’d seen him, but it was just a lookalike,” he groaned, replaying the memories over in his head.
You couldn’t help it when a chuckle escaped your lips, “I’m sorry about those times, but they weren’t all bad. Remember that time we were at the mall and I made us hide out in the fire escape stairwell? You didn’t seem to mind, then.”
“Yeah, that’s because there was no one around and no cameras, so it was easier to kill time,” he cheekily grinned, both arms now wrapped around your waist, as he snuggled his face in the crook of your neck. “So how do you plan to keep me to yourself tomorrow at Steve’s? You know how his words can just slip out sometimes. What if he accidentally tells Tony about us?”
“Then I’ll deal with it then,” you answered, although you couldn’t help the tinge of panic forming in the back of your mind.
The next evening, you and Tony had arrived at Steve’s house as planned. “Tony!” Steve yelled as he greeted you at the door. “It’s nice of you to show up on time.”
“Well, there’s a first for everything,” he replied, as they embraced in a brotherly hug.
“I’m going to assume you had something to do with it?” Steve smiled.
“I may have kept nagging, but it was really the threat of driving his brand-new Audi that freaked him out,” You laughed, accepting his warm hug and kiss on the cheek.
“Wow, am I early or late?” Bucky said as he walked up to the front door, “You said seven-thirty, right?”
“Haha, yes I did. Good to see you, Buck,” Steve greeted, also embracing him in a tight hug. “Tony, you remember my best friend, right?”
“Ah, yes, Mr. Tinman. You were a lot of fun at Steve’s Fourth of July party last year,” Tony laughed, patting Bucky’s left shoulder, to which Bucky apprehensively smiled in response to.
“Tony,” you hissed, eyes shooting daggers at him.
“Oh, he knows I’m just kidding,” Tony said, giving Bucky one of his signature smirks.
We all stood awkwardly together at the front door, before Steve spoke up, “Oh right, Y/N, this is Bucky, and Bucky, this is Y/N, Tony’s sister.”
“Hi, nice to meet you. Steve’s told me a lot about you,” Bucky smiled.
“Likewise. It’s a shame I wasn’t able to come to his Fourth of July party. It seemed like you had a good time,” you replied, shyly trying to hide your smile.
You looked up to see a tense look on Steve’s face as his eyes flickered at all three of you as if a ticking time bomb would go off at any second.
“So, are we just going to stand around here or get this party started?” Tony clapped, breaking the intense staring going on. He walked past and let himself in with arms wide open. “Your favourite person is here, let the drinking begin!”
The dinner was going well as you all sat around a large dining table making conversation. You had Tony sitting next to you, sitting opposite Bucky, while Steve sat in front of you so it wouldn’t seem too obvious. Steve kept distracted all night trying to play ‘good host’, that he had forgotten about your little secret, and Tony was doing his thing, making people laugh while showing them how amazing he was. Everything was running smoothly when Tony suddenly jolted in his seat.
“Wow, hey now Rogers, I know we’re close, but you’re barking up the wrong tree there,” Tony bitterly laughed, uncomfortably shifting in his seat.
Your phone suddenly lit up with a text from Bucky saying, “Sorry, got the wrong leg.” You were trying to suppress a laugh, when your face dropped, looking back up at your brother’s mean expression.
Bucky must have sent the text to both you and Steve, as Tony’s facial expression wasn’t getting any nicer, seeing the both of you checking your phones.
“Okay, Steve, we’ve been friends for some time now, but my sister, really?” He started to raise his voice, making the whole room turn quiet.
“What on earth are you talking about?” Steve asked in confusion.
“You very well know what I’m talking about, buddy,” Tony retaliated, getting up from his seat, “I let you two be friends because I trusted you to look after her like a sister of your own, but instead you’re telling people about her and now you’re texting each other right in front of me?”
“Whoa, Tony, I think you need to check if all your information is right before you start accusing me of things in my own home,” Steve grumbled lowly, also standing from his seat.
“You don’t think I know what’s going on here? It’s so obvious that YOU ARE DATING MY SISTER!” Tony yelled, grabbing Steve’s collar from across the table.
“Tony, stop! I’m not dating Steve. I’m dating Bucky! This is all just a misunderstanding!” you interfered, trying to pull Tony’s arm back from his tight grip on Steve.
He angrily turned to look at you, but instantly his expression is changed into a smirk. “Finally! I’ve been trying to get you to admit that for the past three months now,” he said, letting go of Steve, “Nice acting skills, Rogers.” They both raised their glasses, proud of their little skit, before collapsing back into their chairs.
“What?” you asked, still standing, looking at your brother in shock, “You knew?”
“Well, yeah! Come on sis, give me a little credit, I do notice when you’re out more than usual and you’re less grumpy than you should be, coming home from work,” he said, putting air quotations up as he said ‘work’.
“How long have you known?” you asked, slowly sinking back into your seat, trying to process all of this information.
“About a year now,” he shrugged, “But Blabbermouth over here, confirmed it when he accidentally let it slip at my birthday party in May.”
You and Bucky both glared at Steve, who was now smiling sheepishly with his hand behind his neck. “Hey, in my defense, you two had been dating a while, so really, you should be happy that I kept your secret for so long.”
“So, when he wanted to hold a dinner tonight, I figured it’d be the perfect time to get you guys to admit, and it worked!” Tony cheered, downing the rest of his drink. “So now that it’s all out in the open, can you please start acting like a normal couple? This whole, trying to avoid each other thing is getting really old. And you, sir,” Tony said, gesturing to Bucky, “try to get the right leg the next time you want to play footsies under the table.”
“I’ll make sure,” Bucky shyly replied, smiling as he lovingly looked at you.