A/N- Stucky ended up being the most asked for ship, so I went with it. As always, inspired by a post by dandeehaan. Link in the Profile.

No Clue How to Order (Caffè Americano)

Bucky woke to the dulcet tone of Hall and Oats blaring from his phone. Man-eater, crap. It was Natasha. He groaned and reached blindly towards his nightstand, fingers closing around the phone, he answered the call and placed the phone by his ear.

"Hello?" he mumbled sleepily

There was an impatient sigh at the other end. That was never good. "You forgot didn't you?"

Shit, they were supposed to meet up today! Damn it, how could he have forgotten?

"I'm on my way Nat, I swear!" He said, trying to sound more awake.

"Sure you are."

"No seriously, I am. Uh… where are we meeting again?"

He was pretty sure he could hear her rolling her eyes.

"The Starbucks on 7th."

"Starbucks Nat, really?" he groaned

"I'll do the ordering Bucky, all you need to do is show up." She sighed and hung up.

Bucky groaned, pushed himself of the mattress, and padded over to the bathroom to freshen up. He stared at his reflection for a bit, and decided shaving would take too long. He debated on just showing up in his pajamas, but then decided that the look on Nat's face would not be worth her wrath. He pulled on a pair of worn jeans and stripped off his pajama top. If he looked down, he could just about make out the dark words inscribed under his ribs.

Welcome to Starbucks, may I take your order?

This is why he tried to avoid going to Starbucks. People like him weren't meant for human interaction. He'd been through too much to ever be enough for his soulmate. He'd much rather just avoid the situation all together. He wasn't an idiot, he knew it was impossible to avoid going to Starbucks, there was one on every street corner, and it seemed to be everyone's favorite hangout. He just made it a point never to approach the counter. Thank fuck for Nat, really, because she understood. She was like him, although she was lucky enough to have a soulmate just as screwed up as she was. She never judged him for his avoidance though, best friends are like that. No, he wasn't going to meet his soulmate, he'd make do like he always had, with alcohol and a string of pretty one-night stands. Nat never judged him for that either.

He shook his head in an effort to clear it, and pulled on a soft grey hoodie. He tied his long hair back into a bun, and took one last look in the mirror. He looked scruffy, but not enough to worry Nat. Good. He grabbed his car keys and headed out.

Natasha grinned at him when he entered the coffee shop. He walked over to her table and pulled her into a hug. She pushed a coffee at him. He sniffed it suspiciously.

"What is it?"

"Something with vanilla, hazelnut, a lot of whipped cream and chocolate."

"Seriously?"

"No dumbass, it's just an Americano."

He stared at her blankly. One downside of never ordering for himself was that he never actually got the hang of the all the crazy names and specifications of the drinks.

"Black coffee. Sort of."

"Ah." He took a sip.

He liked their meet ups, they didn't really get to do it very often anymore, since they both had their own things going on. Nat filled him in on her life, and he filled her in on his job hunt. It was nice.

He never really took in his surroundings on these meetings, especially when the venue was Starbucks, because frankly, if you've seen one, you've seen them all. So really, the only reason he even saw him was because Nat left to go to the bathroom, and he had nothing else to do but look around the joint. As his eyes flitted around the room, it landed on what was probably the most American guy he'd ever seen. Blonde hair, blue eyes, built like a football player with a choir boy's smile. Were those dimples? Ah, they were.

Mr. USA was currently standing behind the counter laughing with his co-worker as the other wiped down the machines. Suddenly, the guy turned and caught his eye. Bucky felt himself blush as he turned away, which is exactly when Nat decided to come back. She looked at him strangely, but didn't say anything, not even when he asked if they could meet here again next time. He did catch her looking towards the baristas speculatively before leaving though.

"Their names are Sam and Steve" She said, shoving his coffee towards him.

"What?"

"The baristas. Sam's the smirky one and Steve's the Prom king one."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Just thought you might want to know."

"Okay?"

She kept looking at him, until he cleared his throat and changed the subject.

It didn't stop him from taking one last look at them before he left. Steve huh? The name suited him.

Three meetings full of sneaky glances later, Nat didn't have his drink ready when he walked in.

"They haven't made them yet" she said in response to his questioning look

They got to talking, but were interrupted by the ringing of her phone. She checked the ID and sighed.

"I gotta take this, if they call our order, go get it okay?" She caught his panicked look "Oh relax, no one's really going to ask you anything, just show them the receipt."

And she was out of her seat before he could say a word. He could hear her as she headed for the door "Hey Tony, what's up? Uh-huh. You do realize I'm not your PA right?"

He sighed. What were the chances of their order getting called anyway?

Pretty freaking high apparently

"Order for Natasha" came a clear voice from the counter. Crap.

He tried to be nonchalant as he walked to the counter. They weren't going to ask him his order, so it was okay, right?

"Natasha?" Asked the smirky one, Sam "That's an interesting name dude."

"She placed the order." He growled.

"Makes sense" he checked the reciept

"So if you're not Natasha, who are you?"

Bucky hesitated, he didn't owe this guy anything. "Bucky"

Sam smirked "That is an interesting name"

Bucky rolled his eyes and grabbed the drinks. He didn't notice Steve sneaking a glance at him, nor did he notice Sam shoot his co-worker a thumbs up.

Of course, Nat made it back almost as soon as he got to their table (That girl's timing is something) muttering something about idiot geniuses with too much time and money on their hands.

Thereafter, he found himself talking more and more to Sam. The guy had apparently become good friends with Natasha, and boy did that seem like a terrible idea. Sam was pretty cool. He seemed set on getting Bucky to talk to Steve though. Something about how the two of them would get along so well. Bucky usually changed the subject though. It wasn't that he didn't want to meet Steve, it was just the opposite. He really, really wanted to talk to the guy. It scared the hell out of him.

One day, he found himself in Starbucks even before Natasha. It was weird. He settled into their usual table, and pulled out his phone. He dialed her number and waited.

"Buggy?"

That didn't sound good.

"Hey Nat I'm at the Starbucks, where are you?"

"Oh man, I'b so sorry, bu I can't make it today. I'b sick."

There was some rustling on the other line, and he could imagine Clint fussing around his soulmate. The guy acted so tough, but he could be a real mother hen sometimes.

"Hey, don't worry about it. Feel better."

He hung up. Shit. Well it would be too awkward to leave, and it's not like they'd let him stay without buying something. Shit. He was going to have to break his rule. He chanced a glance at the counter. Steve was taking the orders. Bucky felt his stomach drop. Fuck.

He took a deep breath and joined the line. He could hear his heart thudding in his ears, and really nothing else. He didn't even realize that he was moving forward until he was faced with that choir boy smile.

"Welcome to Starbucks, may I take your order?"

He tried not to gulp too obviously.

"I- uh- well I'm not really sure how this works… Nat usually orders for me?"

He was not prepared for the sharp intake of breath and intense blue eyes staring into his.

"I- I was hoping it would be you! Ever since I found out that your friend's name was Natasha."

Crap. Shit. Fuck. Damn it. If Bucky felt insecure about meeting his soulmate before, it was nothing compared to the overwhelming feeling of standing in front of him. This guy didn't look like the type of guy who could deal with his shit. He could see Sam staring from over by the machines. He decided to play dumb.

"Huh?"

Steve made an impatient noise and pulled up his sleeve to show his soulmark twisting up his arm I- uh- well I'm not really sure how this works… Nat usually orders for me?

FUCK.

His first instinct was to recoil, there was no way. He couldn't dump his insecurities and general issues on this guy who smiled like the sun and probably spent his spare time rescuing kittens from trees. He was about to back away, but got caught in Steve's gaze again. The mix of emotions in his eyes made him freeze. Happiness, desperation, fear and hope mingled into a fire that danced in those baby blues. Shit, he was screwed. Well, he'd already broken one rule today.

"Yeah. Yeah, I guess we're… ya know."

Sam was texting someone, probably Nat. He knew that friendship was going to get him into trouble one day. The man looked up at him and smirked.

"Yo, Bucky I know your order, we'll let you know when it's ready."

Bucky slunk of to his table gratefully. When his drink was ready, they did let him know, by way of Steve. The other man sat in the seat across from him, and pushed his drink towards him. Bucky shot him a quizzical look.

"Sam's covering for me."

Bucky nodded. He wasn't really sure what to say. He still wasn't sure he had accepted what was happening. Luckily, Steve seemed to have a better idea of what to do.

"Our shitty friends never actually introduced us, did they? I'm Steve, Steve Rogers."

Bucky stifled a laugh, oh he knew his name. He hadn't been able to get it out of his head for months.

"James Barnes, everyone calls me Bucky."

"Nice to meet ya Bucky, I think we're going to get along really well."

Bucky grinned around his coffee cup.

"So I've been told."

There were so many ways he could screw this up, but suddenly he didn't care. He was done dancing around this. He had a feeling Steve Rogers is the best thing that would ever happen to him.

A/N- Okay so a few headcanons I need to share about this fic

* Bucky was a good kid, who got into some serious shit during his high school that proceeded to fuck with his life and self- esteem

* Steve has several complexes of his own, and Bucky is seriously underestimating him, which he finds out on the first date, when he ends up getting in a fight to defend a couple of girls from some creep in a bar.

* Natasha and Sam are good friends, and basically have a deal to keep a constant eye on their idiot best friends. Clint is just amused by the whole thing

* Natasha likes to take credit for getting the two of them together, and Sam thinks he was the one to give them the push they needed. Bucky thinks Nat is full of shit, since she couldn't have planned to be sick on that day. Steve just rolls his eyes when Sam starts, he would have taken the drink over even if Sam hadn't suggested it.

Oh and I was listening to two awesome Stucky playlists for motivation. Links in profile.