'Till the End of the Line

Mackenzie had gotten off of work about an hour ago. She'd taken a quick shower and changed into some comfy clothes before settling onto her couch with her feline friend, Bynx. Whose name sake totally wasn't Thackery Bynx from Hocus Pocus. Definitely not. Psh. She had a bag of Kit Kat minis on the arm of the couch, and had just put on a random episode of Friends, though her mind was somewhere else entirely. "I know. I just gave him my number a few hours ago, Bynx. He'll call me when he gets around to it, I'm sure." She said, scratching the feline behind his ears.

---

"Mention how you used to stuff newspaper into her shoes. I'm sure she'll love to hear about it!" Bucky called after his friend, a slight chuckle escaping his lips soon after. He enjoyed ragging on Steve as much as he possibly could, and that would likely continue for an extremely long time. He was happy that Steve had managed to find himself a date. Between him and Nat, both in the present and back in the 40's, Steve was constantly getting set up on dates. The only time he hadn't was with Peggy, so he was glad that his friend had found someone he seemed to click well with, though he was still certain he'd end up with Juliette.

@ frank castle.
"I told you this was going to happen, Jules. I knew it from the moment you had started asking about him." Natasha gloated. Juliette rolled her eyes, having just told Nat about her feelings for Bucky, "It doesn't matter, Nat. I ruined it. I punched him in the face while we were working out." Juliette said with a frown, causing Nat to laugh, "Trust me, Jules. You did not ruin anything. I've punched Bucky in the face many times. We're still friends though." Juliette shook her head, "Nat, you don't understand. I don't know him like you and Steve do. It's different." "Jules you're over reacting. I'm sure tomorrow when Steve is on his date, he'll be happy to work out with you. It'll be like you never punched him in the face." "Hopefully." Jules said with a small frown.

---

Steve shook his head at his best friend before he walked to his room and pulled out his phone, finding Mackenzie's name in there and pressing the call button. He wouldn't lie and say that he wasn't nervous, because he was. He didn't want to screw this up because he didn't want Natasha and Juliette to have to go back to setting him up on dates that were doomed from the start. Steve listened to the ringing as he waited for Mackenzie to pick up, hoping that she did.

"I really don't know why I'm acting like this." Mackenzie said, shaking her head. Since when did she care if a guy actually decided to call her or not? "Of course I like him, Bynx, but I've liked other guys before him too...Steve's just really sweet. And we got on really well." Before she could continue, her phone started ringing. "That probably isn't him..." She started as she picked up her phone. It was a number that she didn't have saved into her phone though, so maybe it was? "I'm not going to get my hopes up, Bynx." She said before answering the phone. "Hello?"

---

Bucky decided against leaving his room for the remainder of the evening. It was getting kind of late anyway, and to be honest it would be easier for him to avoid running into Juliette if he stayed in his room. He knew that probably wasn't the way to go about this, but it was the easiest way for him to do so. She was going to end up being Steve's girl at some point, he was certain of it. Even if Steve didn't see it himself yet, Bucky wouldn't be at all surprised when it did end up happening.

@ frank castle.
Juliette laid back on her bed once Natasha had left, and she let out a groan. She ran a hand through her hair before she stood and decided she needed to stop moping around. She needed to do something to take her mind off of everything. Usually in times like those she could go do a workout, but she already did that, so she decided to go see her grandmother. Somehow grandma Peggy always managed to take her mind off of everything crappy going on in her life at the moment.

---

Steve's heartbeat picked up when Mackenzie picked up the phone, "Hey it's Steve." He said happily. He hoped that she hadn't forgotten about him. This was all weird to him. Though his looks might have changed, but his nervousness around women still remained fully in tact always ready to make him sound like an idiot at the worst moments.

Mackenzie couldn't help smiling when her thoughts were confirmed. It was Steve. "Hey!" She said before popping a Kit Kat mini into her mouth. "I see you figured out how to press the call button." Her tone was light as teasing as she recalled their earlier conversation about how bad he could be with technology sometimes. To be honest, she'd rather someone be technologically challenged than constantly be glued to their phone and social media 24/7. That was how most people seemed to be nowadays unfortunately.

---

Bucky knew that avoiding Juliette probably wasn't the answer. If she didn't call him out on it, Steve probably would, but right now avoiding her and really the whole situations was what he thought the best thing he could do right now was. He knew that there were probably better ways of dealing with it, but this was how he was choosing to do so. Maybe it was childish and immature, but so be it. He didn't really know what else to do in that moment, so for now it was going to have to do.

@ frank castle.
When Juliette arrived at her grandmother's room, she was hesitant to go in. Peggy had always had a way of knowing when Juliette was upset, of course it had to be one of her good days though. Taking a deep breath, Juliette knocked on the door before she walked into the room, smiling at her grandmother, "Hey grandma. How are you feeling today?" She asked. Juliette sat next to the bed as Peggy raised her eyebrows slightly, "Better than you look. What's wrong, Juliette?" Peggy replied. It looked like it was a good day for her grandmother with her memories, "Wait. I know that look. It's about a man isn't it?" Juliette laughed in reply and nodded, "Yeah it is." Jules said with a small frown, "Is it Steve?" "No grandma. I may look like you almost exactly. But our taste in men seems to be different. It's actually his best friend. James Barnes." "Oh I remember him. I can see why you're having problems." Juliette nodded at her grandmother's words, "It's just that he is different than you remember him to be grandma. He's been through a lot. Now he's quiet and reserved. I wanted to break him out of his shell a bit and I ended up really starting to like him and then today we were sparring together and I punched him in the face by accident and then he made up a really bad excuse to get out of the room. I think I ruined my chances with him and I don't really know what to do." "Sweetheart, I don't think you ruined your chances. I shot at Steve and he still wanted to give me a chance before he was frozen." Juliette frowned at her grandma's words when they normally would make her smile, this time was different. Bucky wasn't like Steve. He didn't trust many people. She wanted to be one of the ones that he did.

---

Steve smiled at her words and let out a laugh, "It wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be believe it or not. I was actually quite shocked. All I had to do was find your name and press the little telephone button and now here we are." He said with a chuckle. He wasn't sure how to bring up the conversation of the date. This was weird to him. Nat usually just set everything up and all he had to do was show up. Now things are different and he had to actually do things in order to make the date happen, "So about what I had mentioned earlier. About eating together when you weren't working..." He trailed off and wanted to punch himself in the face multiple times. Great start, Rogers. He thought to himself before he let out a breath and spoke once more, "I was wondering if you wanted to go out on Saturday night?" He asked and punched the bridge of his nose. Saturday was only two days away and he knew that with some help from Jules and Nat that he would at least be able to think of a cute date that didn't involve the diner that she happened to work at.

"Well, I'm glad it didn't cause you too much trouble." Mackenzie said, punctuating her words with a quiet laugh. She'd been a bit anxious about him calling her, which she knew was silly seeing as she never got like that about a guy, but she didn't have to worry about that anymore because he'd called. She couldn't help smiling when he brought up how he'd asked her out earlier when she'd still been at work. "Yes?" She asked, waiting for him to continue. The smile widened when he asked if she wanted to go out with him Saturday night. "I might have to check my schedule and get back to you on that...I'm am pretty busy." She teased lightly. "I'm only kidding, I'd love to go out Saturday night, Steve."

---

[I'm just going to hold off on Bucky for now]

@ frank castle.
(Same for Juliette)

--

Steve smiled at her words before she agreed to go out on Saturday night, "That's great!" He said happily. He probably sounded over anxious, but the truth was that he was over anxious. He was really excited that she had agreed, "I'll come pick you up around seven if that's okay with you." He stated with a small smile. He kept getting the feeling that he was going to blow it, but he really hoped that he didn't. This date meant a lot to him. It was a big step for him as well. Steve was finally doing this on his own and he didn't feel like he needed help as much as he did before. Hopefully after this he wouldn't need to have dates set up for him anymore.

"Seven sounds perfect." Mackenzie said, the smile never once leaving her face. "I guess I should probably tell you where I live so you can actually come pick me up on Saturday." She let out a quiet laugh. She was really looking forward to this now. Steve just seemed really sweet, and she felt like they got on really well. She would be shocked if she didn't end up having a great time with him on Saturday. She was pretty confident that she would have a great time actually. She really just had no doubts whatsoever.

@ frank castle.
Steve smiled at her words, "That's great." He said before she spoke once more, causing him to laugh, "Yeah that would be awkward if I was just wandering around the city looking for you." He joked. He was so excited for this date. Steve knew he couldn't see the future, but he could see this being the first date in a while that actually went pretty well for him. He hoped that he would get the chance to make it more than just the one date as well.

Mackenzie let out a quiet laugh. "Extremely awkward." She murmured softly as a small smile graced her lips. She was really looking forward to seeing Steve again on Saturday now. She was glad that he'd called as soon as he had. He seemed like a good guy, not like any of her other previous romantic interests. She hoped that she was right in thinking that. "I live on the Upper West Side." She told him. "My apartment building's not that far from Central Park, only two blocks away actually." She then proceeded to tell him the exact address. "Now you won't be wandering around all five boroughs looking for me." She laughed once more.

@ frank castle.
Steve laughed and nodded even though she couldn't see him, "I will be there. Not wandering around New York looking for you." He joked with a grin. He was so excited for this date. Mackenzie was different than the other girls that Nat and Jules had set him up with. He could just tell that she was different, "I'll see you then?" He questioned, still shocked that she was agreeing to this date with him in the first place. He knew that it was the pre-serum him coming out with insecurities, but he couldn't help it.

"Yep, you'll see me then." Mackenzie said, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. She was really looking forward to seeing him again. She'd liked talking to him tonight, and he was always a pleasure whenever he came into the restaurant any other time that he had as well. He seemed like a good guy. Genuine. Sweet. Polite. The whole shebang. Saturday really couldn't come fast enough.

@ frank castle.
Steve smiled at her words and nodded once more, not caring that she couldn't see him, "I can't wait." He said happily, "Goodnight, Mackenzie." He added with a grin. He honestly didn't want to wait for Saturday, but he didn't want to seem over anxious. That was something that Bucky had taught him back in the day.

"Goodnight, Steve." Mackenzie said, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. When she hung up, the smile was still on her face. Looking down, she saw Bynx staring at her. "What're you looking at, hm? Am I not allowed to be excited about going on a date?" And that was just it. She was really looking forward to Saturday. She couldn't wait to see Steve again.

@ frank castle.
Steve grinned once he hung up and then ran a hand through his hair. He knew that the date was still two days away, but he was really excited. He stood up from his chair and went to go find Nat to see if she could help him figure out a date that would be nice and he wouldn't be able to screw up somehow.

(should we skip?)

@ Second Star
[Yeah, wanna skip to your idea for Bucky and Jules and the date for Steve and Mackenzie?]

@ frank castle.
(yeah sounds good)

Juliette ran a hand through her hair. It was Saturday, which meant she would probably have nothing to do. She wanted to see if she would be able to head out into the city for a couple hours, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to go by herself. Usually she didn't mind, but with everything that was going through her head lately, she wanted someone to be able to rant to about her thoughts. She was on her way to the kitchen to grab herself a snack and water before she would go see if she could bribe Nat into going with her into the city.

---

Steve was nervous. Strike that. He was beyond nervous. He had no idea what he was going to do when the time actually came to pick up Mackenzie. Nat and Jules had helped him pick what they were going to do for the night. He decided to keep it simple and do dinner and a late night walk afterwards. He didn't want to do something out of the ordinary and have him screw it up. He wanted to make sure everything went well before he started breaking out the different stuff.

Mackenzie smoothed down her dress a little bit as she eyed herself up in the mirror. She thought that she looked pretty damn good if she said so herself. "What do you think, Bynx?" She asked, turning to look at the cat who was seated, watching her from the bed as if she was actually going to get a response out of the feline. "He didn't say where he was taking me, so I hope I'm not overdressed or anything." She was sure that she'd be fine, but that didn't mean she wasn't at least a little bit nervous about this whole thing. She wanted it to go really well. She liked Steve. He seemed like a really great guy and she wanted things to work out.

---

Bucky had successfully managed to avoid Juliette for two whole days now. He knew that it wasn't the most mature way to handle things, and avoiding confrontation probably wasn't the best way to go about it either, but he really didn't know what else to do. She was practically Steve's girl already, regardless of the fact that his friend was going out on a date with that waitress tonight. He couldn't do that to Steve, so he had to do the right thing and put his own feelings aside. And the best way he could do that right now was by avoiding her, or so he thought anyway. He'd just finished working out, and after realizing that he'd forgotten to grab a water bottle earlier, decided to grab one from the kitchen before he'd quickly retreat back to his room and continue hiding out.

@ frank castle.
Juliette had her head shoved in the fridge looking for a water bottle when she heard someone approach the kitchen. She grabbed a bottle and shut the door to give the person room to get in the kitchen. Boy was she shocked when she saw Bucky standing on the other side of the door, "Oh. Hey." She said awkwardly as she looked him over. He had clearly just worked out. She could practically see the awkwardness radiating from her. Jules wanted to crawl in a hole and never come out at this point.

---

Steve finished buttoning up his shirt before he grabbed his keys and headed to go pick up Mackenzie. On the way out he briefly saw Juliette and Bucky, but didn't stick around to find out how things were going. He had talked with Juliette after she had gotten back from her visit with Peggy. He knew how she was feeling about the whole situation. Though at that moment, he didn't really care enough to see if he was needed as a tension reliever. Steve's sole focus at the time was his date with Mackenzie and not screwing anything up.