Let Me Love You

Plans

Bucky's POV

"So where exactly are we going?" I ask as she drives one of Tony's cars upstate, following the GPS.

"You'll see when we get there." She teases. As she drives, we listen to classic oldies that I remember from my time. We both sing along as best as we can until we eventually pull up to a little farm.

I read the sign and furrow my eyebrows. "Apple picking?"

"Yes!!" She claps. "I've never been able to go since I lived on the west coast."

I smile at her. "Well then what are we waiting for?"

Her and I grab the buckets that are provided for us and walk around the farm hand in hand. I take some cute pictures of her posing as she picks apples and some goofy candids that make both of us laugh.

I carry her around on my shoulders so that she can reach the good apples on top and we ask people nearby to take pictures for us as we try to pose. I carefully let her down onto the ground and we hold hands as we walk back to the entrance to pay for our apples.

Kate's POV

Once we get back to the tower it's already 9 at night. We put the apples away and decide to order pizza so we can relax.

"Look how cute this one is!" I smile as I show Bucky the picture on my phone of me on his back and holding two apples up in my hands.

He smiles at it and kisses the top of my head. The pizza eventually arrives and we make our way to the roof to eat.

"I had fun today." Bucky says, biting into his second slice.

"Me too." I smile at him, biting into my first slice.

After a while, the entire pizza is gone and we're laying on the roof, looking at the stars.

"Hey Bucky?" I ask, turning my head to look at him. "What are we going to do when they all get back?"

Bucky sighs. "I don't know."

"I don't want to hurt either of them." I look back up at the stars. "Especially not Steve, not like this."

"I understand, Shortcake." Bucky grabs my hand. "It was fun while it lasted."

I intertwine our fingers and smile at him. "Yeah, it was."

I'm glad that Bucky is so understanding. I was worried about hurting him too.

"So.. best friends?" I ask, looking into his eyes.

"Best friends." He nods.

Steve's POV

It's finally Sunday morning and we're heading back to the tower. I can't wait to see Kate and ask her how her weekend was. I've missed her so much and it's obvious that Tony did too based on how much he's rushing us to leave.

We say goodbye to the recruits, leaving them with Sam, Wanda, and Vision to continue training as we head back to the tower. Once the quinjet lands, Tony and I run inside.

"Kate?" He yells, not realizing that it's only 6 in the morning.

While he looks downstairs, I head upstairs and knock on her door. A very sleepy Kate slowly opens the door as she rubs her eyes.

"Steve?!" She asks, her eyes widening as she hugs me. "When did you guys get back?!"

"A few minutes ago. Tony's looking for you." I chuckle. "How was your weekend? Hopefully Bucky wasn't too much to handle."

She laughs. "No, he was good. It was good." Her cheeks turn a bit red before she changes the subject. "So how are the recruits?"

"Good, they've got a lot of potential." I smile.

"Kitten!" Tony shouts as he runs to her and embraces her on impact. "I missed you!"

"I missed you too." She giggles, hugging him back.

"The others are talking about going to the beach since it's one of the last nice days of the year." He speaks again and she grins.

"Give me like 10 minutes to get ready. I'll meet the rest of you downstairs." She smiles before disappearing back into her room.

"Who else is going?" I ask Tony about the beach.

"What do you mean? We all are. Go get ready!" He says, walking off to his room.

I knock on Bucky's door on my way to my room and open it to see him sleeping face down on his bed. I chuckle at him before waking him up.

"Steve!" He cheers sleepily. "Welcome back, bud!"

"Thanks." I chuckle. "We're all going to the beach today, get up and get ready." I tell him and he nods before I walk to my room to get ready.

Kate's POV

I go through my closet and eventually decide to wear my little white bikini so that I look a little bit tanner than I actually am. I slide a pair of jean shorts and a T-shirt on before grabbing my sunglasses and my beach bag with a towel and lotions.

As I step out of my room I see Bucky walking towards the elevator and jog to catch up with him.

"Hey." I smile as the elevator doors close with the two of us inside of it.

"Hey." He smiles. "How'd you sleep?"

"Good." I say. "You?"

"Good." He says, gripping his drawstring bag tightly. "I've never actually been to the beach. What's it like?"

"Well there's a lot of sand... And water.." I say, making both of us burst into laughter as the doors open on the 10th floor. Everyone turns to look at us and we do our best to conceal our laughter.

"Alright, to the jet." Tony says, grabbing my bag for me.

"Thanks." I smile at him and he smiles back.

The entire ride on the jet I'm sat between Steve and Tony. The three of us chat here and there until we reach our destination.

"Hey Kate, wanna come in the water?" Steve asks once we set everything up.

"Yeah! Let me just take my clothes off." I say, sliding off my shorts and pulling off my T-shirt to reveal my bikini. I fold them both neatly before putting them in my bag.

Once I stand up to face everyone I notice Tony staring at me with lust in his eyes and turn away from them to follow Steve to the water. He, of course, is wearing a red white and blue striped bathing suit. He walks right into the water and dives into a wave.

I step into the water and feel shock overcome my entire body. "Oh my gosh. It's so cold!" I scream. "How did you just walk right in?"

"It's not that cold." He says, coming out of the water and over to me. "Come on." He holds out a hand for me and I hesitate before taking it. He leads me deeper into the water until I'm fully submerged and can no longer reach the ocean floor.

"Steve.." I say, becoming tired of doggy-paddling the entire time.

"Oh, I forgot." He says, helping me get closer to the shore.

As we jump over the waves, I eventually find myself clinging to Steve with my legs wrapped around his waist while his arms hold me up. I look onto the beach towards where the others are to find Tony watching us intently. Natasha is laying out to get a tan and Bruce is sitting in a chair, reading while Bucky and Clint are playing catch with a football.

"Maybe we should get back to the others. I'm starting to prune." I laugh as I show Steve my wrinkly hand.

"Alright, let's go." He chuckles. We make our way out of the ocean and through the sand until we reach the others.

I grab my towel and dry myself off before starting to apply tanning lotion. "Hey Tony, would you mind getting my back for me?" I ask, realizing that Nat fell asleep and that Steve joined the other two in playing football.

"Of course not, Kitten." He smiles, walking over to me and generously applying the lotion to my back. He's obviously taking his time, probably savoring every touch until he's finally done.

"Thank you." I smile at him before putting the bottle away and laying out beside Nat.