A/N: I have no clue how prosthetics or coffee shops work. There's probably going to be a few errors here and there, but don't take anything too seriously. Also, for clarification, this Steve is supposed to be like pre-serum!Steve.
Anyways, hope you enjoy it!
Bucky was too scared to talk to him at first.
Which didn't make that much sense, as the him in question was a stick-thin, short, friendly, blond guy. Not quite the intimidating type.
When he had first entered the coffee shop, his eyes had landed on Bucky and his face had lit up with a smile. He had tugged one of his earbuds out of his ear, and said a cheery "Hi!", before placing his order.
Bucky, the suave and smooth man he was, stammered out an awkward hello and found himself unable to maintain eye contact as he made the guy's coffee and handed it to him.
He had even forgotten to ask the guys name, which wasn't just stupid on his part, it also went against the shop's policy. Always be friendly, always ask their name and write it on the designated spot on the cup, always as how they're doing and recommend something.
And Bucky had forgotten to do all of those. It would have been excusable for anyone else, but Bucky had been working at the coffee shop for over three years now, and had customer interaction down to a science.
Whatever kind of magic that man had, it had definitely put a spell on Bucky.
Some kind of spell where he was completely charmed and yet acted like a bumbling idiot.
Bucky had shrugged it off as a one time thing, the coffee shop received dozens of patrons a day, he doubted he'd ever see him again.
Of course, he showed up the next day.
His first idea was to duck behind the counter, crawl to the back room, and ask Natasha to handle this customer. She owed him a favor anyway, for that time he set her up with a friend of his and they wound up hitting it off (Bucky had been able to get at least a dozen favors through this.)
But the guy took notice of him before he could hide, grinned just like did the day before, and walked up and placed his order, the same as the day before.
"Um, what's your name? So I can... write it... on the cup?" Bucky said, slightly tripping over his words.
The guy chuckled.
"Steve," he said, "I'm Steve."
"Alright," Bucky replied.
That went only marginally smoother than the day before. Bucky counted it as a success that he hadn't tripped over his own feet on the way to get the coffee grounds (like he did the day prior).
Steve, the name suited him.
Steve came back the next day, and the next, and the next and the next.
Each day, Bucky got a little bit better at conversing with him. By the time a few weeks passed, he managed to talk to him like he would any other customer. Except for the flirty smiles. He didn't just give those out to all the other customers.
Natasha had noticed one of their interactions on a busy day when they were both working the counter, and when their shifts had ended she had teased him about it endlessly, which had prompted a fight in the back room (they had both hid behind boxes of coffee and tossed creamer cups and sugar packets at each other until their manager (the appropriately named Mr. Fury) had caught them. They both nearly got fired, but afterwards both had claimed it was totally worth it.)
Every time Nat saw them interacting, she'd give an ear-to-ear smile and make sure to embarrass Bucky in some way, and if she wasn't Bucky's best friend there was no way that he'd let her get away with that.
Then the next Wednesday he was taking stock in the back room, he heard Nat talking to someone.
"So that guy who's usually here, he didn't quit or anything, did he? I'm just asking because he's usually here, and well, he's not today."
Oh god, that was Steve's voice.
"Bucky? Of course not, he loves this place," Nat replied.
"So that's his name? He never told me."
"Funny, I'd thought he would have, considering what a huge-ass crush he has on you. Anyways, what's your order? Bucky's the only one who's got it memorized."
Yep, he was going to kill Natasha. And then kill himself to help with the soul crushing embarrassment.
Natasha had receive quite an earful that night, and if they didn't remember how the manager had made them clean the bathroom with toothbrushes after the last cream-and-sugar fight, another one would have certainly ensued.
The next few days following were completely awkward when it came to interacting with Steve, it was almost enough to send him back to stage one: unable to make eye contact and tripping over his own feet. Luckily, Steve was incredibly polite about the whole thing, and didn't mention what he had heart from Natasha at all, and Bucky couldn't tell if that was a good or bad thing.
A month after he first met Steve, Mr. Coulson (the assistant manager of the shop) had decided to start a whole 'Customer Rewards' program. If you joined and bought ten cups of coffee, you'd get one free.
It was also policy to ask every customer if they wanted to join.
It wasn't that embarrassing to ask for Steve's full name and number, and he was signed up in short order. With how often he came in, he was going to get free coffee in no time.
Later that night when Bucky was cleaning up the shop a little and preparing for the night shift, he had the startling revelation that he had Steve Rodgers' number.
It was literally on a slip of paper in a drawer a few feet away. His number.
On impulse Bucky grabbed the paper out of the drawer and punched the number into his phone, and he replaced the paper like nothing ever happened.
At around eleven P.M., one hour from closing time, Bucky had worked up the nerve to send Steve a text.
Hey, it's Bucky, the guy who works at the coffee shop.
He set the phone down on the counter before him, continued cleaning up a bit, and ran across the room back to it when it buzzed a few minutes later.
Hi! If you don't mind my asking, how did you get my number? -Steve
I got it from that paper you filled out to sign up for the free coffee rewards thing. Hope you don't mind. -Bucky
I don't mind :) But isn't that illegal or something? -Steve
I'm not sure if it's illegal, but I could probably get fired for it. -Bucky
It'll be our secret then ;) -Steve
And that was the point that Bucky nearly died from a winky face.
The two continued to talk into the evening, only stopping when Bucky's shift was over and he had to lock up and go home. He went home smiling though, because he had had his first real conversation with Steve. It didn't matter that it was over text, text conversations still count. He had talked to him.
The next day, Steve showed up a little earlier than usual, took a little more time ordering, and asked for a mug so he can have his coffee in-house. The conversation was a little flirtier, there were a few more smiles exchanged, and when Steve had went to sit down Natasha had walked by and whispered "You guys are so fucking flirty with each other, it makes me want to puke," to Bucky. He had elbowed her in the side and she had laughed, and neither saw it but Steve had heard and saw the whole thing and almost choked on his coffee from laughter.
The day after, however, Steve didn't show up. He typically came around eleven in the morning, ordered a plain black coffee, and left, after chatting with Bucky for a few minutes. It was always eleven. Always. And he hadn't missed a day since he first started coming.
Bucky set down the bottle of window cleaner and the rag he was holding on the windowsill, and pulled out his phone.
Are you coming today? -Bucky
A moment later, he could have sworn he heard a text alert from the other side of the wall.
"Nat, watch the counter for me, I need to go do something," he said, heading to the door.
"Don't be too long," Natasha called back, just as he pushed his way out of the door.
He turned and headed to the alley that was opposite the wall of the coffee shop, and when he turned to look down the alley he saw Steve getting the crap beaten out of him by some douchebag.
"Hey!" Bucky called, prompting both men to turn their attention to him, "Pick on someone your own size, motherfucker."
When he marched up to the man (whose attention was now fully on him), he realized that this guy was fucking huge and at least twice his size. He hesitated for just a moment before catching a glimpse of Steve's face (he was bleeding from his nose and had two black eyes), and then punched the guy with all the strength he had. Of course, the man was barely fazed, so Bucky turned slightly and punched him again, using his prosthetic arm, this time.
His metal fist connected with the mans nose with an extremely satisfying crunch, and blood began to gush almost instantly.
He punched again, this time uppercutting the man's chin.
"Now leave, before I rip this thing off and beat you with it," Buck said, causing the man to scurry away.
"Thanks, but I had him on the ropes," Steve commented as he pushed himself off up the ground. Bucky rushed to his side to help him up.
"Yeah, I can see that," he responded sarcastically, but then turned serious, "Are you alright?"
"I've had worse, this is actually getting off easy for me," Steve responded.
"What happened?"
"I was heading to the coffee shop when I saw him harassing someone, I told him off, he beat me up."
Bucky led the smaller man into the coffee shop, and to the back room, and he handed him something frozen for his eyes (he alternated between eyes every few minutes) and a napkin for his nose. He helped patched Steve up, and they hung out in the back room for an hour before Steve said he had to go.
He smiled, stood on tip-toe, and kissed Bucky's cheek before leaving quickly, and Bucky was too stunned to even say goodbye.
"My god, just propose already," Nat said, as she grabbed a bottle of caramel for the counter, "You are so in love, it's almost hilarious."
"Stop teasing," Bucky replied, adding a fake pout to the end.
"Nope. I'm your bestie, it's my job to make fun of you and your cute little boyfriend."
Natasha was seriously regretting their best friendship when her phone went off at five in the morning, on her day off. As soon as she answered it and put the phone to her ear, he started rambling.
"Oh my god Natasha you'll never believe it oh my god, he is in a band!"
"Slow down, Buck. Who are we talking about?"
"Steve, of course. He's in a fucking band. Their music is freaking amazing, last night he sent me a link to their website and I downloaded all of their stuff and it's just fantastic. He plays bass, and in one of the songs he even sings, and has this amazing solo, I'm gonna have to send you all of their albums, it's just fantastic."
"Excuse me, I'm looking for my best friend, the guy who says a total of ten words a day, on average? I think he's been replaced with a rambling, love-sick idiot."
"Ha ha, you're so funny." He replied sarcastically, "Are we forgetting how 'love-sick' you were when I set you up with Clint?"
"Yeah, but I didn't call you early in the morning, on your off day, to ramble about his job and shit to you."
"You just told me about how you banged, multiple times, like that was easy to endure."
"Fuck you, at least I spared the details. Look, call me when I'm lucid and then you can ramble all about your boyfriend and his band and his beautiful hair or whatever all you want."
"I never said he had beautiful hair."
"With the way you stare at it, I can tell you like it. Now, let me sleep, please."
"Goodnight, Nat."
"Peace out, lover-boy."
She slammed the phone shut and set it on the nightstand, rolled over, and went back to sleep.
The next Friday, Steve invited both Bucky and Natasha to a bar later that night, to see a show he and his band were playing. Bucky had agreed wholeheartedly, and Nat decided to come along just to see if he'd wind up swooning.
Clint wound up coming too, so Natasha did have some backup for whenever Bucky started tossing ice cubes at her when she wouldn't shut up during Steve's solo.
The night was fun, filled with music and beer and flirtatious looks shared between Bucky and Steve, and a good bit of teasing coming from Nat (and a little bit from Clint, although one pointed glare from Bucky was enough to intimidate Clint into being nice for the rest of the night. Natasha wasn't as easily swayed by glares though, and continued to make jokes about how Bucky needed to get laid soon throughout the night).
It was about midnight when the amount of patrons in the bar began to dwindle, and The Avengers (which was the name of the band, which Bucky thought was very cool, and Natasha thought was very cheesy) wrapped up. After the last song ended and the band began putting away their instruments, Bucky stood from their table and went up to the stage.
"That was awesome, you guys are really talented," Bucky said to Steve, who was carefully placing his bass guitar in it's case.
Steve grinned at the compliment. "Thanks, that means a lot. We don't really get a lot of compliments."
"I don't see why not, you guys are fucking amazing."
"We usually only get to play small venues, like this, so we go unnoticed a lot."
A slightly short man with an impressive goatee walked up to Steve. "Me and the others are gonna stay for some drinks, you in?"
Steve glanced from the man to Bucky. "Are you staying?"
Bucky swallowed, suddenly nervous for some reason. "Um, I'll stay if you do."
Steve grinned again, and turned back at the man. "We'll stay, Tony."
For some reason, goatee-guy was smirking.
"You must be Bucky," he said, sounding really amused. Bucky nodded. "So you are the 'perfect' guy that Steve's been talking about forever? He's practically in love with you."
The panicked expression and bright shade of red that crossed Steve's face didn't escape Bucky's noticed.
"Um! Uh, I'm gonna go get something... something to drink that's gonna get me really, really drunk," Steve said, his voice becoming slightly higher pitched with embarrassment, "I'll uh, I'll be right back."
He hopped down from the stage and half-ran to the bar.
Both Bucky and Tony watched him go.
"So, he talks about me?" Bucky said, hesitantly, after a moment.
"All the freaking time. 'Bucky this', or 'Bucky that', or 'I want Bucky to grab me by his metal arm and pin me against the wall and fuck me hard'," Tony replied.
"What?!" Bucky exclaimed, his face on fire.
"I may have made up that last one," Tony said, smirking again.
"Stop embarrassing him, Tony," another voice chimed in. This time it came from a man with messy brown hair and a rather purple button up shirt. He walked over to the two.
"I'm Bruce Banner," he said, extending his hand.
"Bucky Barnes," he replied, and he shook Bruce's hand.
"Yay, alliteration!" Tony exclaimed.
"Don't mind him, he has a bad habit of being an ass."
Tony scoffed, faking like he was offended. "It's not a habit, it's a carefully cultivated personality. But that aside, let's get drunk!"
They all did, in fact, get drunk, even Clint and Natasha, who decided to say once Tony proclaimed that all drinks were on him.
Bucky spent most of the night with Steve, but he did get to know the rest of the band.
There was Tony, who turned out to be the Tony Stark, the incredibly rich, world renowned engineer who had dropped of the face of the earth a few years back. He said it was because he had made too much money and wanted to do something more interesting, i.e. be the lead singer in a band, for a while. He was also a major flirt, as proved when he used several cheesy pick-up lines on Natasha, who was entirely unimpressed.
Bruce was the nicest of them all, he was a rather soft spoken man (although Steve did mention that you really wouldn't want to piss him off, when angry he wasn't a force to be reckoned with) who was a scientist when he wasn't playing guitar. He had absolutely no tolerance for alcohol, and it took only one-and-a-half beers for him to collapse into a chair and barely remain upright, muttering to himself about a new hypothesis he had to test out later.
Thor was the oddest out of them, he was an extremely huge guy who looked like he could smash heads with the best of them, but he was actually all smiles and friendliness. He was a handyman in his spare time, and, unlike Bruce, had an insanely high tolerance, and after downing at least five drinks (without even getting a little buzzed) he said that he better get home before his girlfriend Jane began to worry. (Bruce had then said something to the effect of "Tell Jane I said hello and we'll do some science together soon!", Thor had laughed and then left, and Steve had explained to Bucky that Jane was also a scientist and she occasionally worked with Bruce, and that Bruce really had no alcohol tolerance to speak of, as if that wasn't already obvious).
Tony had been the next one to leave, with a half-passed out Bruce in tow. He teased Bucky and Steve a little bit while waiting for the cab, and had winked at Natasha again right before he and Bruce entered the cab.
Natasha, who was busy sucking face with Clint, was a bit too busy to notice the wink, and it was only when the parted for air (after five minutes, which was impressive) did they notice that almost everyone else had left. She proceded to grab Clint by the front of his shirt and tug him out of the bar, and that was the last that Bucky had seen of them that night. (It wasn't the last he would hear of it though, as Nat still liked to annoy him by bragging about her sex life to him).
Bucky, who hadn't drank that much and was still mostly sober, had a dozing Steve leaning on his arm. They were sitting on an old leather sofa, and Bucky wouldn't admit it out loud but he really enjoyed the feeling of Steve curled up next to him.
However, the bartender (a rather hairy and gruff looking man named Logan), kept on glaring at them, as they were the only people left in the bar, and according to the clock on the wall it was well past two a.m.
"Hey, Steve, wake up," he said as he softly shook the smaller man awake. "We need to go, it's getting late."
Steve's eyes fluttered open and he grinned at the sight of Bucky, and that was nearly enough to make Bucky melt right then and there.
He helped Steve stand, muttered a goodbye to Logan the Bartender (who looked slightly less pissed off now that the bar was empty), and the two exited into the chilly New York night.
"Where do you live?" Bucky asked Steve, hoping he was coherent enough to understand. If he wasn't, the only other option would be to bring Steve back to his own apartment. Bucky wasn't opposed to that idea at all, but he did want Steve to be actually lucid when he came over for the first time.
Steve did manage to mumble out an apartment building address and his room number, and luckily it was only a couple blocks away from the bar.
He managed to get Steve home in one piece, which was a feat considering Steve was having more than a little trouble remaining upright. Luckily the lobby and the elevator of the apartment building were both deserted, so there was no one to see how Bucky had an arm wrapped around Steve's waist (to keep him upright was how he justified it), and how Steve was more than happy to lean back on Bucky's chest as they rode the elevator up to the seventh floor.
He had managed to get Steve's room keys from him, and Bucky unlocked the door and helped Steve into the apartment, while Steve was fumbling to find the light switch while still hanging onto Bucky.
When the lights finally came on, after Bucky shut the door behind them, the first thing he noticed was that the whole apartment was a complete and utter mess.
There was paper scattered everywhere, and books in piles, and it looked as if someone had dropped a giant bucket of all kinds of pens and pencils and they had rolled everywhere. There were various posters on the walls (ranging from old war propaganda to Star Trek), and almost none of the furniture matched. From what he could see of the kitchen, it was mostly clean, except for some scattered groceries and a half-empty pizza box sitting on the stove. The whole place was entirely unlike what Bucky would have expected Steve's home to look like, but it also fit him perfectly.
"The bedroom, it's that way," Steve spoke up, pointing over to a small hallway to the right.
Bucky nodded, and helped him get to the bedroom (which was no more tidier than the rest of the apartment). Steve moved over to the bed and practically collapsed onto it, and before Bucky could even think about saying goodbye and leaving, Steve reached out and grabbed a fistful of Bucky's shirt.
"Stay," he said.
Bucky swallowed nervously, "Um-"
"C'mon, sleep with me."
For the second time of the night, Bucky's face turned red.
"Uh, Steve, you're drunk and I don't know if you're thinking straight," he said, stuttering over the words.
Steve shook his head.
"I don't mean sex. Just, spend the night, please?"
He looked up at Bucky with pouting blue eyes, and that was all it took for Bucky to find himself in bed next to him, snuggled under the covers, Steve pressed up nice and warm against him. He barely remembered to take of his prosthetic arm before falling asleep.
That night, Bucky didn't have any nightmares like usual, and it was the best he had slept in a very long time.
When Bucky woke, the bed was still warm, and Steve was leaning over him, gently shaking his shoulder.
Bucky blinked a few times to get the sleep from his eyes, before smiling up at him.
"Good morning!" Steve said, keeping his voice quiet, "I'm running late for class so I have to go, but you don't have to get up, make yourself at home, okay?"
Bucky sat up, and glanced at the alarm clock sitting on the nightstand next to him.
"Shit, I'm late for work."
"Oh."
"Are you coming by the shop later?" Bucky asked.
Steve smiled. "Of course."
And with that, he left.
Bucky had momentarily considered the possibility of a shower, or running home to change clothes at least, but it was half-past eight, and if he was any later than he was going to be, Mr. Fury would be absolutely pissed.
He nearly forgot his arm, but he did manage to make it to the coffee shop in one piece.
It was still a bit before opening time, and after entering he noticed Nat was the only one there. He let out a sigh of relief. Nat would cover for him, Fury and Coulson would never even know.
Nat glanced up from the sugar packets she was organizing and snickered at him. He frowned at her as he went to grab his apron and name tag from the back room, and as he went back to the counter, Natasha laughed again.
"What?" Bucky said, exasperated.
"You're in the same clothes as last night," she said, practically gleeful.
"So?"
"You slept with him!"
"I-I didn't, I, um, we didn't have sex!"
"But you stayed at his place, at least."
"I did, but-"
"Oh my god!"
"Shut up!"
Nat had continued to tease Bucky for the rest of the day, which Bucky decided to handle by giving her the silent treatment (it didn't work, she continued on regardless). The coffee shop was typically busy that day, given that it was a Saturday in the middle of winter, so it provided a way to keep his hands busy and attempt to not think about how nice sharing a bed with Steve was.
Steve did show up in the evening, and he ordered his usual. Bucky, who had saved his break from earlier and intended to use it then, had made the coffee, and made himself a cup of hot chocolate. He went and sat across from Steve at the small table by the window, and he did notice the glare Natasha was giving him for leaving her alone with the long line of grouchy, caffeine-less customers. She deserved it for the teasing, he decided.
Steve smiled at him as he took a sip of his coffee, and he seemed entirely oblivious to the fact that he had a smear of blue paint under his right eye, and there were a few splashes of red paint on his shirt.
"Did a can of paint explode all over you or something?"
"Hmm?"
Bucky pointed to his own cheek, and Steve felt his, and then grabbed a napkin to get the paint off.
"Sorry, I just got out of class, I've been painting all day."
"You like art?"
"It's basically the love of my life, tied with music. I've been trying to get better at painting lately, although I prefer just pencils and paper. I'm not good at all with chalk, and don't even get me started on photoshop. Those pieces of art are better off dying in an unused file on my computer, and they are never going to see the light of day again."
"So, you've been going to an art class then?"
"Yeah. It's entry level stuff so it's not as challenging as I'd like it to be, but I am picking up a few things here and there."
Bucky sat and listened to Steve ramble on and on, about art, and then music, and back to art. He'd occasionally nod or give his input, but for the most part he was content with just listening. He didn't even notice when his mug was empty, and it was well past the fifteen minutes his break allotted. Natasha hadn't fussed at him to come back yet though, and the customer line had dwindled into nothing, and Steve was so very interesting, and so Bucky didn't have any plans on leaving soon.
"So, yeah. What's yours?" Steve said.
Bucky faltered for a moment, he was a bit too caught up in memorizing Steve's hair to hear the question.
"Hmm?"
"What's your dream? I can't imagine that someone like you would be content to work at a coffee shop their whole life. Not that it's a bad job or anything, but is there anything else you'd want to do?"
Bucky swallowed nervously. Well, that was a complicated question, however innocent it may seem.
"Just... helping people, if that makes sense? There's never really been a job I've always wanted to have, except for one, and that didn't really end well."
"What job?" Steve asked, innocently.
"A soldier," Bucky replied. He swallowed again, "I was in the service for a few years, a mission went on, and I lost my arm and gained some anxiety issues."
"Oh," Steve said, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked."
"No, no, it's okay. You didn't know. And I've accepted the arm thing, and my anxiety has been manageable lately. Haven't had a panic attack in months. I'm doing fine," he said, trying to keep his voice even while dodging memories of war, anxiety attacks, and the first time waking up with a stump instead of a limb.
Steve smiled at him, not a pitying, sympathetic smile that Bucky was used to getting on the rare occasion he opened up, but an actual 'I'm glad you're okay' smile. He reached over and grabbed Bucky's hand, resting them on the table, just holding his hand as easy as anything, although Bucky's hand dwarfed Steve's by quite a bit.
"That's good. I've never had a panic attack about, but from what I've heard they're horrible. You don't deserve something like that."
"Yeah... And, I mean, working here, I am actually helping people. Saving lives everyday from interacting with the horrible monsters that are people without their caffeine fix," Bucky joked, lightening the mood.
Steve laughed, and Bucky grinned.
"Paging the two dorks by the window, Steven Rodgers and James Buchanan Barnes, paging Rodgers and Barnes.
They glanced to the counter, where Natasha was holding the microphone for the speaker system. Once she held their attention, she pushed the button again.
"In case you two lovebirds haven't noticed, the coffee shop is fucking closed, you are the only ones left, and Bucky, you owe me bigtime for letting you get away with talking to your boytoy for hours while I did all the work. Now, get out of here and go be all mushy and in-love someplace else before the overwhelming amount of PDA makes me vomit."
Steve chuckled. "We better get out of here, wouldn't want to give your bestie a stomach ache," he said, standing.
"Too late!" Nat said, over the speakers again.
"Goodbye, Natasha," Steve said.
He was still holding Bucky's hand, and he tugged him out of the shop.
It was nighttime, and Bucky wondered just how that happened without him noticing. Usually he was pretty perceptive.
"So, what say you spend the night at my place again, James?" Steve said, already walking in the direction of his apartment, Bucky right by his side, "And this time, maybe bedroom activities won't be limited to just sleeping."
"Oh, god yes," Bucky replied.
The next day was a Sunday, which worked out very well for Bucky, as he was off work, and he knew if he did have to go to work and showed up in the same clothes again,he would have never heard the end of it from Natasha.
But it was an off day, and when he woke and noticed the clock read nine in the morning, he was perfectly happy to ignore it and go back to sleep.
Sometime during the night him and Steve had lost all of their clothes (during an event which will not soon be forgotten by either of them), and then the two had went to sleep. Also sometime while they were sleeping Steve had half-climbed on top of Bucky and latched onto him like an octopus, and that was what Bucky awoke to.
He couldn't say he minded at all, in fact, he quite enjoyed it. He'd be content with waking up with Steve hugging him in an octopus grip for the rest of his life.
Steve stirred slightly in his sleep, and in a few minutes he woke up too, and they had exchanged morning greetings and a sleepy kiss.
Steve had proceeded to make pancakes that morning, and he had managed to convince Bucky to go out jogging with him after breakfast.
Steve, however, was an asthmatic, and Bucky didn't know that. It was only after they made three laps around the block and Steve was gasping for air did Bucky found out.
He panicked, of course, but Steve was incredibly calm about the whole thing, he simply took his inhaler and said he'd be fine. Bucky still insisted that they go home (home being Steve's apartment), and that they walk the rest of the way.
"I didn't know you had asthma," he had said.
"Yeah, I don't really talk about my disabilities that much. I tend to get a lot of pity if I do, although I don't think I have to worry about that coming from you."
"Is there anything else I should be worrying about?"
"Oh, plenty. Let's just worry about it when it comes up?"
Bucky had continued to pester him, and they spent the rest of the day at Steve's apartment, being lazy and eating pizza, watching movies and Steve explaining some of his more complex ailments to Bucky.
The next few months past swiftly, and soon winter faded into spring.
Tony's birthday was at the end of May, which he announced over the speaker system at the cafe when the band was hanging out after a gig. Natasha had grabbed the nearest can of whipped cream and sprayed him in the face, while snatching away the microphone and proclaiming that no one besides her touched the speaker system.
Tony had scowled and wiped off the whipped cream, and then said that everyone was invited to his 'super awesome birthday party extravaganza'.
"You can even bring Legolas," he had said to Nat (once he had found out that Clint was a professional archer who made his living off of tournaments and contests, Tony had never let that fact go. Legolas was his favorite nickname for Clint, with Robin Hood and Katniss tied for second).
When May 29th rolled around, and Steve and Bucky arrived at the building that proclaimed the address that Tony had gave them, Bucky was pretty sure that they were at the wrong place.
Steve rolled his eyes and said that this was totally in character for Tony, and with that, they had entered the lazer tag building.
"Yeah, so I just bought the whole building, that's why I can have alcohol here and there's no one trying to kick me out, unlike last time," Tony's voice carried down the hall, from the direction that Steve and Bucky were headed.
"Do you even know how to work the controls for the vests and guns?" That was Clint's voice.
"Of course I know-"
"He doesn't, but I do," a female voice said, not one that Bucky recognized.
"Well, I kinda know," Tony countered.
"You'd be lost without me."
They soon found the others, inside a room that appeared to once be a tiny room for kid's birthday parts, that now was still a room meant for parties, but with a bar built into the wall.
Natasha and Clint were there. Thor was also there, standing next to three people Bucky didn't recognize, and of course, Tony was there, by a woman who Bucky also didn't recognize.
"Scrawny man and metal arm have arrived," Tony said, as soon as they walked in the door. The woman next to him frowned at him.
"I just want to issue an apology on behalf of him, that covers the whole night," she said, turning to Steve and Bucky.
"You haven't met each other yet, right? Pepper, this is Bucky, the gay love of Steve's live, and Bucky, this is my personal assistant," Tony said, as he snaked an arm around Pepper's waist and pulled her closer.
"Better known as his fiancee. Pepper Potts," she said.
"I'm Bucky, nice to meet you."
"You haven't met Thor's family, either," Steve said, taking Bucky by the hand and tugging him over to Thor and the others. Grabbing his hand and tugging him places was one of Steve's habits that Bucky quite liked.
"Guys, this is Bucky," Steve said.
"And this is Jane, Thor's girlfriend," he gestured to a short, brunette woman, who smiled at him. "This Darcy," another short brunette woman, this one with glasses and a beanie, who merely nodded. "And this is Loki, Thor's brother, and he's also Darcy's boyfriend." Loki was a tall guy with dark hair and pale skin, who looked completely bored.
"Nice to meet you all," Bucky had said, mentally filing away the new names.
Bruce, and another unknown woman, who was holding his hand, walked in just a few minutes later. From the slightly puzzled looks of the others, Bucky deduced that none of the others recognized her either.
"Um, guys, this is my girlfriend, Betty," Bruce said, hesitantly. He then leaned closer to Betty and began pointing out people in the room, and giving their names. "That's Tony, Pepper, Clint, Natasha, Thor, Jane, Darcy, Loki, Steve, and Bucky."
"Wait," Tony said, "Betty? So, Betty and Bruce? That's so cute! Bucky, you should get in on this, you guys can be a cute polyamorous couple with match-y names!"
Betty had blushed, Bruce had fussed at Tony, and Steve tightened his grip on Bucky's hand, as if even the thought of him being with someone(s) else was horrible.
Introductions aside, Tony had decreed that it was now time for lazer tag, and so the twelve of them all managed to get the vests on and guns in hand, and they entered the suprisingly large area meant for the game. Tony had set up a few smoke machines and dimmed the lights a little, so it was kind of hard to see, but on the whole, it looked really cool.
After giving a brief rundown of the rules (mostly for Bruce, Betty, and Thor's benefit, as none of them had played before), the game began. It was supposed to be every-man-for-himself, but they soon found it turning out to be every-couple-for-themselves.
Tony promptly broke his gun not five minutes into the game, and so Pepper had to cover him for the most part.
Thor was a bit too big to dodge much, but Jane made up for it, because she was small and quick, and rather experienced with lazer tag.
Clint wasn't doing well at first, as his forte was a bow and arrow, not a gun. But once he found a spot on top of the highest point of a plastic structure (no one even knew how he got up there in the first place, and it took him ten minutes and Natasha threatening to break up with him to get down), he found himself getting better. Natasha did well right from the start, and it was almost scary with how well she handled the plastic gun and the joy she got out of shooting others.
Bruce and Betty didn't do so well as it was their first time; they spent most of their time running from shelter to shelter, and running out in the open cost them many points. Loki and Darcy, however, were fucking dominating.
Loki managed to be entirely silent, and he'd appear, shoot and gain a few points, and vanish, as if he was using magic. Darcy did the same, but she was much less subtle about it; she'd creep up behind someone, yell 'SURPRISE MOTHERFUCKER' at the top of her lungs, and shoot.
Steve began wheezing after just a few minutes of running around, and Bucky made it his personal mission to keep him safe, so he quickly formulated a battle plan while Steve fumbled his inhaler out of his pocket and took a dose. The two stayed close through the entire match, and Bucky found that Steve was absolutely brilliant with a gun, and a fantastic partner, at least when he wasn't wheezing or muttering about how his legs were sore.
But in the end Bucky's military knowledge didn't go to waste, as him and Steve came in second place (after Loki and Darcy, those silent, magic wielding bastards.).
They played a few more rounds, devoured a lot of shwarma, and did get more than a little drunk, and afterwards Tony's birthday party was regarded as the best birthday party ever.
Bucky never actually thought that he'd be kidnapped.
Of course, back when he was in the military it was always a possibility, but still, he never thought it'd actually would have happened.
He had been getting off of a late shift at the coffee shop, ready to head home and just sleep, when a bag had been placed over his head and he was shoved into a car, and at some point he fell unconscious somehow, and the very next thing he knew, he had woken up in a dark room sitting in front of a table, with only a lamp on it, and someone standing in the shadows in front of him.
It was all terribly cliché.
"I'm going to fucking kill you," Bucky said, letting anger fill his voice. He knew he could be intimidating, and he deiced to channel that.
His hand was tied to the chair he sat on, and his prosthetic was suspiciously missing. His feet were also bound too it, rather tightly, leaving him immobile.
"No need to get angry," the person said, leaning in closer, so Bucky could make out a few of his features. "I just want to talk."
He was a pretty in-shape guy, with piercing brown eyes and a military style haircut. He had a rather self satisfied smirk on his face.
"About what?" Bucky spat out. He decided he may as well play along. The chair he was on was thin and wooden, maybe if he moved at just the right moment, he could break the chair, get himself free, and smash that motherfuckers face in.
"Steve, of course."
Bucky paled.
If this guy had even laid a finger on Steve, well, Bucky almost shook from rage at the thought.
"See," the guy continued, "I am rather... close to him. And now, you're dating him. I simply want to make sure that you're good enough for him."
"Close to him? You want me to believe that Steve of all people is close to a creepy, kidnapping fuck like you?" Bucky retorted.
"Actually-"
There was the sound of keys jingling, and a door unlocking, and the room was flooded with a bit of light, and then a lot, as the door opened and someone turned on the lights.
"Hey, you home? It's me Steve, I just came by to drop off WHAT THE HOLY FUCKING SHIT IS GOING ON?!"
Steve stared at the scene before him.
Bucky tied to a chair, the guy in front of him, all in the kitchen. A couple black a garbage bag were hung around, to make it look more dark and ominous, an effect that was now lost with the lights on.
"Hey, Steve, I, uh, I didn't know you were coming over," the guy said, sounding only slightly panic-y.
"What the fuck, Sam? What are you doing?" Steve said, as he crossed the room to work on untying Bucky.
"What is going on? Who is this fucker, Steve?" Bucky asked, now more puzzled than angry.
Steve let out a sigh, and he managed to get Bucky's wrist free. "This is my best friend, Sam."
"Best friend? He kidnapped me," Bucky said.
All Steve did was give a tired glance at Sam, who raised his hnads up in defense. "I was just going to interrogate him for a while, and dude, I'm your best friend, it's my job to make sure your boyfriends are alright."
"But kidnapping, seriously?"
Bucky was untied now, and he stood. This guy was Steve's best friend, so smashing his face in would probably not go well by Steve. He settled for giving him a glare.
"It wasn't even my idea, it was Natasha's," Sam said, and there was a audible groan coming from somewhere else in the house, and he turned to Bucky "I swung by the cafe to meet you, and apparently it was your off day or something, but I met her, and she suggested this. It sounded like more fun."
"Is she here?" Bucky asked, his voice low. Sam nodded.
That groan must have come from her then, at Sam's ratting her out.
"Natasha," Bucky said, his voice singsong and sticky-sweet, "I am going to fucking murder you."
She had came out of wherever she was hiding then, and joined the others in the kitchen.
"No you won't," she said, "He was planning on just talking to you, I made it interesting. This is something you can tell your adopted babies all about one day. In fact, future Auntie Nat should be being thanked for this. I make your life interesting."
"You're dead, Romanov. You too, whatever your last name is," Bucky said, directing the last part at Sam. He was slightly smiling as he said it though, so Natasha knew he didn't really mean it, but Sam had his doubts. "Anyways, can I have my arm back so I can go home?"
"It's in the trunk of my car, I can go get it for you," Sam said.
"And you," Natasha said, turning to him with a frown, "I am never doing spy work with you again. What kind of partner just rats out their partner once the mission's been compromised?"
"The kind of partner who doesn't want his best friend's boyfriend murdering him in the middle of the night," he replied, and then began heading to the door, car keys in hand. "Why the hell did I even do this," he muttered under his breath.
After regaining his arm, Bucky and Steve left.
"You okay?" Steve had asked, and Bucky found that Sam and Steve lived in the same apartment building, so the headed to the elevator for Steve's floor.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Bucky replied. He was more tired than anything, with the adrenaline that had amassed during the kidnapping leaving his system.
"You're not feeling... well, are you alright, anxiety wise?" Steve asked, hesitantly, "I don't know what triggers you or anything, I really should have told Sam about it so he wouldn't pull a stunt like this, because he's crazy enough to do something like this, and I don't want you feeling bad or having a panic attack or anything, and-"
"Hey," Bucky said, lightly grabbing Steve's chin and turning him to face him, "I'm absolutely fine."
To add emphasis to his point, he leaned down slightly and planted a soft kiss on Steve's lips. Steve smiled and then returned the kiss eagerly, and they barely managed to make it into his apartment before they began tearing into each other.
He found the perfect opportunity for revenge several months later, on Halloween, when Tony was throwing a party at his rather large mansion. Everyone who attended his birthday party was there, plus a few others.
And Sam. And Natasha.
Perfect.
Bucky planned it down to the last detail, and only two other people beside him were in on it.
The first was Steve, of course, who was actually going to help him 'out in the field'. Bucky was a bit wary of asking Steve's help at first, as Sam was his best friend after all, but it turned out that Steve was a huge lover of pranks, and a huge lover of messing with Sam. Steve was also a little pissed at the kidnapping stunt, so he was fairly eager to help.
The other was Tony, whom Bucky was also reluctant to ask for help. But, revenge would take a little time, and they needed to make sure that neither Sam nor Natasha would leave early. Tony had agreed immediately when he heard about what was going on, and was quite happy about being the distraction.
They even had a briefing and everything, where Bucky had filled them in on exactly who was supposed to be where and when, and what supplies would be needed, and how long Tony would need to keep Sam and Nat occupied.
All that would be needed was some various cans of spray paint, and stickers. Not regular stickers, mind you, but specially ordered and customized stickers that would be stuck on with super-glue.
Steve and Bucky would enter, make sure both targets were there and busy, mingle a bit, fake having a few drinks, get a little handsy, and then inconspicuously leave, all to make it look like they were going to have an impromptu make-out session in a closet somewhere. Actually, they'd be heading to the garage, where all cars of all attenders to the party where parked.
Then the fun would begin.
It all went rather smoothly.
The party started at eight, and it didn't have a end in sight, so they had all the time in the world. It was a Halloween party, so there were costumes, Steve dressed up like Spock, and Bucky dressed up like the Mad Hatter, which made the bag he had look like just a prop, when it actually contained spray paint.
Tony was the one to greet them at the door (with a wink, he was probably the most excited over the prank out of all of them), and the party was actually pretty fun.
There was a wide assortment of costumes, from Bruce who was dressed as Einstein, to Darcy and Loki who were dressed as John Watson and Sherlock Holmes, respectively, to Thor who was dressed as his Norse-god namesake. Even the Logan the Bartender was there, dressed as a lumberjack (he pulled it off quite nicely).
Natasha (who was dressed as Batman) and Clint (who was dressed as Legolas (It took twenty minutes for Tony to stop laughing when he saw that)), were already there when Steve and Bucky arrived, and Sam (dressed as an eagle of all things), showed up just a few minutes later.
Bucky only nodded at Natasha as a greeting, and Steve did give Sam a 'hi', but that was the extend of their interactions for the beginning of the party.
It was pretty easy to fake getting drunk, as vodka looked just like water, and Bucky rather enjoyed the part of the mission when he was supposed to be drunk and handsy with Steve. From the excited flush on Steve's face, he was enjoying it too.
Just twenty minutes in to the party was when Steve had grabbed Bucky's hand and yanked him to a door, which led to a hall, to the bedroom part of the house.
"Think we convinced them?" Steve had asked, his voice quiet, as he led Bucky down a maze of hallways that would eventually end in the garage.
"You had me convinced there," Bucky had replied, causing Steve to grin and make a promise to give Bucky a repeat performance later.
They arrived to the garage shortly, and Steve pointed out the blue car that was Sam's, which was rather conveniently parked a few feet away from Natasha's.
"Hand me the red one," Steve had said once Bucky opened his bag and began digging through the cans of spray paint. Bucky handed him a mask for his mouth and nose, no need to make the fumes make Steve's asthma act up, and then the can of blue spray paint. Steve hopped up on the hood of the car, and began painting the roof, while Bucky pulled out a can of pink and began working on the sides.
Soon Sam's car had a American flag on the roof, and the sides and hood were covered in pink and green flowers and hearts.
For Natasha's car, there were a few My Little Pony stickers stuck on with super glue, and by a few, I mean at least a hundred and fifty. Steve also did a bit of spray painting on her car, adorning the windshield with a bright purple heart, that had 'S + B' inside of it. Bucky smiled at that and high-fived him. Nat always was complaining that he and Steve were too affectionate, that was absolutely perfect.
They had went back to the party and pretended like nothing happened, and gave Tony the signal that they were done, and Tony had exclaimed that he 'suddenly remembered that I totally have to show you two something in the garage'.
Steve had pulled out his phone and videoed the whole thing, and the two-minute video of Sam nearly in tears over his 'poor baby' and Natasha furiously cursing in Russian, and then tackling Bucky, got several thousand hits on YouTube.
It had been about a year since they first met, and as Bucky made Steve's usual coffee, he could practically feel the little box with a ring in it burning a hole in his pocket.
He had no doubt that Steve was the love of his life, and he had the ring in his pocket for two months, wondering when it would be the proper time.
It had been only a year, and that was too soon for most couples, but Bucky and Steve weren't exactly most couples. He wasn't even sure when their relationship had begun, and it didn't escape his notice that neither he nor Steve had referred to the other as 'boyfriend', and no 'I love you's' were exchanged.
But then again, they never really had to be. It always was just understood between the two of them, the 'I love you's' didn't have to be audible.
The 'I love you's' were present when Bucky made Steve a cup of tea each morning, because he knew Steve didn't like coffee's in the morning, only tea, and how he knew just how long to steep it and how much sugar and cream it needed.
They were present when Bucky had his first panic attack in months, and Steve had let him have his space and calm down, and they had laid on the couch for hours after, Bucky's head in his lap, Steve running his fingers through Bucky's hair, and occasionally wiping the tears from his eyes. "I'll always take care of you," he had said, and that was really just an 'I love you' in disguise.
They were present right after their first fight, when Steve had yelled and stormed off and out of the coffee shop, and Bucky had yelled back and accidentally smashed a coffee cup out of pure frustration. Later he had left work early (damn the consequences), and showed up at Steve's door with some flowers. Steve had answered the door with his eyes still watery, and they had both said "I'm sorry!" at the same time, and they had hugged and clung on tightly as if they'd never let go.
The silent 'I love you's' were also present when Steve had collapsed one day and had to be rushed to the hospital, the cause being some technical mash-up of intense breathing issues and muscle weakness, among some other things. Bucky had showed up and all the breath was scared right out of his lungs when he had seen Steve pale and small and unconscious on the hospital bed, and he never left his side even once, despite the nurses telling him that visiting hours were over and he had to go. Bucky had held Steve's hand the entire time, and had woken up at four in the morning to Steve running his thumb over Bucky's knuckles, and had told him to "Get out of that uncomfortable chair and come sleep with me." and they had shared the hospital bed that night. Bucky nearly cried from seeing Steve awake and alright, and had did as ordered, and curled up tight next to the small man.
There were a billion different times that they each knew that the other loved them without saying it, and it was after hours in the cafe, Natasha and the band and him were just hanging out, and Steve was sitting at his usual spot by the window, doodling on a napkin, he reached up and brushed some of the blond hair out of his eyes and smiled at some thought, and then Bucky knew.
He was ready.
He grabbed Steve's coffee, and his hot chocolate, and made the way over to the table by the window. He set the mugs down, Steve glanced up and smiled again, and that was confirmation.
Bucky sat across from him, and was rather grateful that Nat and Tony and Bruce and Thor were sitting and chattering on the sofas around the coffee table on the other side of the room. He needed privacy for this.
"Steve," he said, causing Steve to set down his pencil and look up at him, while he took a sip of coffee.
"Yeah?"
"I love you, you know that?"
Bucky never knew it was possible for someone's eyes to shine, but Steve's did as an uncontrollable grin spread across those perfect lips.
"I love you too, Bucky," and with the way he said those words, there was now no doubt in Bucky's mind.
He didn't get down on one knee, he didn't make a pretty speech, all he did was take the box out of his pocket, slide it across the table to Steve, and said
"Marry me, then?"
Steve didn't answer verbally, but he did launch up from his chair and practically land on top of Bucky, grabbed his face, placing a hot and messy kiss on his lips.
Once they parted for air, Bucky grinned back.
"I'll take that as a yes?"
Steve nodded enthusiastically.
There was a loud "WHOOOO" from across the room, courtesy of Tony, and Natasha shouted out "It's about fucking time!"
Bucky ignored them, and simply focused on Steve, and leaned in for another kiss.