Since you and Wanda had patched things up, situating yourself in the compound was a lot smoother of a transition. Like Sam promised you, the team loved you. And your bright personality won them over fairly quickly- even Clint.

And then they started noticing.

Noticing what had taken Sam months to notice- they noticed a couple weeks in.

It didn't make sense to them- the ever stoic Bucky, former Winter Soldier. Notably grumpy and intimidating.

And you, absolutely none of those things. Yet you talked to Bucky in a way certain SHIELD agents were still scared to after almost a year of working on the compound. You two laughed together. Teased each other. Had secret inside jokes that not even Sam truly understood.

And as if the friendship wasn't strange enough to them- there was so much more.

It was weird, there was no other word for it.

For example, the silent conversations you and Bucky had that few others noticed. Like today, you two were sitting in the conference room with Sam, Steve, and Tony discussing tomorrow's mission. Bucky's eyes flickered to the right over at Steve who was going through a very detailed plan for your mission. Your eyes narrowed the slightest bit, slightly scrunching your nose. Bucky's lip twitched upward. And silently he would be telling you about how overkill Steve's planning was, that he always did this. You shook your head the tiniest bit, not even noticeable enough for the other people in the room.

Sometimes he'd be silently making fun of Sam.

It was weird, how you could just look at each other and have these silent conversations with no one none the wiser. He looked over at Steve, who was still talking, this time slightly raising his eyebrow, silently asking you 'who does he think is listening to him?'.

That was what did you in. You audibly chuckled, clapping a hand over your mouth at Bucky's silent teasing. Steve and Sam both snapped their heads to the two of you.

"Sorry," you mumble, trying to regain composure.

"As I was saying..." Steve continued, his eyes flickering to Bucky who looked much too smug to not have been involved in that little outburst.

Bucky looked incredibly triumphant at making you break, so now it was your turn to kick it up a notch. Your eyes flickered to Steve and ever so slightly you lolled your head back and forth, slightly rolling your eyes to joke about how endless Steve's plan and lecture seemed to be.

Bucky broke immediately, trying unsuccessfully to cover his sudden laugh with a cough.

"Can you two quit it?" Sam scolded.

"What?" you asked, playing dumb.

"You know what. Now stop it and pay attention."

"Okay..."

Then Bucky's eyes flickered to Sam, furrowing his eyebrows, rolling his eyes at Sam eliciting another audible laugh from you.

"Can you two just kiss already?" Tony groused. The both of you simultaneously averted your eyes from each other, your jaw practically dropping at Tony's comment as a faint blush appears on your face.

"Well that got them to stop," Steve smugly remarked. "Should've tried that earlier."

"Or maybe they should just kiss already," Tony quipped again.

You open your mouth to defend yourself, but close it immediately after realizing you have no defense. You cross your arms with a huff, your eyes still downcast.

"Moving on..." Steve continued once more.

This time when you looked over at Bucky, his eyes were planted on Steve, who was still going through your plan of action. You sighed, begrudgingly turning your attention back to Steve. Little did you know that as soon as your attention was on Steve, Bucky was looking back at you.

As you all exited the room, you lightly tapped Bucky on the shoulder. "So...what are we doing?"

But it didn't stop there. No, the more the team watched you two interact, the more they had to say about it. Particularly Steve and Tony.

"You and Sam lived together," Tony commented matter-of-factly. This time it was just the four of you: you, Sam, Steve, and Tony. You were all just hanging around the common room while you tried to get to know them better.

"And?" you question, not quite following Tony's insinuation.

"Nothing ever- between the two of you?" Tony suggestively asks.

"Ew..." you reflexively cringe. "No offense, Sam."

"None taken, and for the record, I feel the same way," Sam assures you, now fully glaring at Tony.

"You're a little old for me, that's all."

"So you're only into 100 year old super soldiers?" Tony quips. Steve immediately starts choking on his water in shock at Tony's brazen remark, though he's not sure why it still surprises him at this point.

"Tony," Sam curtly scolds.

"What?" Tony casually dismisses. "We're not going to talk about their endless flirting? Because I never agreed to not talk about that."

You can practically feel the heat creeping up on your cheeks as you stammer, "I don't know what you're talking about. James and I- we're just friends."

"It's interesting that you bring him up," Tony knowingly points out. "Because I just said super soldier. Never mentioned anyone specifically."

Seeing the absolute lack of a defense on your part, Sam once again steps in, "Tony, cut it out."

"I'm just saying," Tony shrugs. "There's two super soldiers that live in the compound. Could've been talking about either one of them."

"Please leave me out of this," Steve pleads.

"Can I be left out of this too?" you second.

At first, it was easy to miss, or rather ignore, their little remarks and comments, but they were relentless. Anytime you were in the same room, someone had something to say. And it got really hard to ignore. There was also the fact that Sam had confirmed you were crushing hard on your friend, while you were pretty sure he didn't feel the same way- it was safe to say that your friendship was becoming strained.

It didn't help that after your talk with Sam paired with your own realization about your massive crush, you were hyper-aware of Bucky. Every time he walked into a room, you two exchanging silent words through lingering glances, when he'd wink at you. You weren't quite sure what to do with yourself. It was different and everyone could see it except the man himself.

"Is everything alright?" Bucky asks, finding you pacing through the halls while you thought way too much about how you and Bucky could go about being effortless friends again.

"Yeah. Everything's fine. Great. Perfect," you anxiously ramble, feeling particularly aware of yourself and Bucky. He watches you for half a second and the entire time you're tucking your hair behind your ears, picking at the little buckle at the front of your dress, twisting and untwisting your fingers, and just generally antsy.

"Really? Because you haven't stopped fidgeting since I started talking to you and I kinda feel like you're avoiding me."

"Avoiding you?" you over-dramatically exclaim. "Pfft...I'm not. Nope. Nope. No way. Just busy."

He looks at you again, it was one thing you being antsy. But it's strange, he can hear your heart pound. "Did you drink espresso instead of coffee again? Because I told you they aren't the same thing."

"No," you scoff. "And it was one time- it's not my fault that they look the exact same."

"Then why are you so antsy?" he asks again.

"Heh..." you chuckle again, folding under Bucky's knowing look. "Okay, if I tell you, you can't make things weird alright?"

"Me? You're the one that can't stand still."

"Promise?"

"Promise," he sighs, slightly rolling his eyes.

"Did you know that everyone thinks we're flirting with each other?" you blurt, unsure of how else to word the conundrum you two found yourselves in.

Bucky winces. He'd hoped that you had somehow managed to stay oblivious to the compound's sudden interest in your friendship. "I'm going to kill Tony."

"So you know."

"Regrettably."

"But it's okay, right? Because you don't see me like that. Because we're friends, and friends are allowed to play with each other and make each other laugh without thinking about each other like that, right?" you stiltedly ramble.

"Right. Of course. You're right. It's no big deal," he assures you, hoping he's convinced you more than he's convinced himself.

You'd never understood anything except pure honesty, but the idea of telling Bucky about what you were feeling and suddenly you understood the concept of white lies. And maybe he knew that, sometimes you swore that he knew. Like when he flashed one of his rare smiles, you could only look for a few seconds without turning into a complete idiot. Or when he put his hand on the small of your back. 

According to your therapist, touch was a vital part of child development- it was the reason you were so affectionate after being alone for so many years. But there was something about Bucky's touch that made your heart race just a little more, something that was just a little more fulfilling than anyone else's.

Did he know that when he was talking all you could focus on was the soothing timbre of his gruff voice? Or that sometimes you'd stare at his lips instead of focusing on what he was actually saying? That you found yourself staring at him when he was across the room. Or that your heart swelled with pride when you managed to coax a smile or laugh out of him? Did he know that everything had changed?