A one shot on Stucky (Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes) that no one asked for, but I would've written it anyway :-)
The evening sun melted into a ocean of orange waves.
Two people were standing on the deck of the ship.
It sailed through endless hearts of the ripples like a proud ruthless swan.
The boy held her waist gently as he made her stand on the railing.
The lady gasped softly and swayed a little before she found herself leaning against him.
He had pulled himself up behind her and she could feel his breath fanning her cheek softly.
He took her arms and slowly pulled them away from the railing. Their fingers tangled as he spread her arms like the wings of the seagulls flying close to the setting sun.
"Oh, I am flying" she whispered. Her face lit up with the dreamiest smile he's ever seen on her.
A hauntingly beautiful melody filled the air as their lips met in a languidly sweet kiss.
"Steve, do we really have to do this every time?" Sharon pressed her lips together and exhaled wearily.
"You mean watching Titanic on Valentine's day?"Steve frowned a little "Isn't that what people are supposed to do today? Watching mushy movies and getting drunk!"
"Why does everything have to be like an idea to you?" Sharon pressed the pause button of the remote with extra harshness, freezing the couple mid-kiss "Like you have already created a mental image of how to spend Valentine's day with your wife and you are simply carrying out the strategy!
So much for a f*cking dinner date with Steven 'Cap' Rogers." Peggy's blonde hair bounced as she shook her head in dismay.
Steve bit his tongue to stop himself from saying 'Ex-wife...dinner date with an ex-wife who still makes my heart skip a bit every time she drops the f-bomb'.
"You know using a swear word doesn't really add anything to validate an argument. Not to forget in our times, the dames didn't think..."
"Oh Steve, not again! Stop saying 'in our times' in every f*cking sentence, like I need a reminder I am married to a hundred year old dude." Sharon pinned him with a cold glare.
'were married to' Steve mentally corrected her but refrained from saying anything. Instead he poured her another glass of red wine.
Sharon drank heartily from the glass, gulping down almost half of it in a manner so unlike her normal elegant (bordering on snobbish) self.
When she finally managed to look up at him, the edginess in her eyes had mellowed, giving way to a soft, shimmering light.
"You are not going to get drunk with your wife on 14th Feb? It's also a custom, you know!" the corner of her lips twitched a little as she visibly checked him out from head to toe.
She seemed to approve of his rust coloured sweater and casual denims, which eased the tightening knot in Steve's stomach a bit.
She had often been vocal about Steve's sense of style in the past and God! Did she have a sharp tongue!
"Ah, you know I can't get drunk." Steve shrugged.
"And you know I hate the fluffy stuff you make me watch on every Valentine's day." Sharon pouted.
Steve really wanted to point out that the past three Februarys might not count much in the grand scheme of things, but he was anyway too polite to say it out aloud.
After downing another two glasses of the fine red wine, she stood up unsteadily on her feet.
Steve held out his hand but she dismissed it with an impatient huff.
"Sorry, no time for the chivalrous knight act. There's just this one 'custom' left for tonight and I gotta meet my bunch of loonies at the Stark tower before midnight." She tip-toed on her high heels with ridiculous amount of caution before unavoidably tripping and landing in Steve's arms
"Hey, careful." Steve murmured. His eyes caressed her unnaturally long lashes and slick pink lips. He decided to ignore the soft pangs of desire rising in his heart.
"You know Stevie, I f*cking hate your sex-face every time I say 'f*ck" Sharon giggled, before planting a sloppy kiss on his lips.
Steve held his breath for a few moments, before letting himself go and responded with what he hoped was a display of genuine passion.
Sharon pulled herself away after a while and studied Steve's face with an unreadable expression.
"You aren't thinking about Peggy Carter, are you?" her eyes narrowed.
Steve didn't want to dignify that with a response; hence he chose to remain silent.
"You are doing that thing again, Steve." Sharon pressed her hands on her mouth, like she was going to be sick.
"What thing?" Steve bit his lip, "are you okay, Shar?" he tried to touch her face but she slapped his hand off.
"That bloody thing when every time I kiss you, I can almost hear your heart beating with someone else's name! and DON'T you dare tell me I am wrong, cause I have spend three goddamn year, almost a thousand f*cking nights with you to know how it feels!" she yelled and simultaneously took several steps back from him.
"Shar, please listen to me" Steve pleaded, but it was too late.
She was gone before he could stop him. He could hear her little hiccuping sobs echoing in the empty corridor.
"Pepper" he dialed the first number he could think of.
"Hello Steve, is everything alright?" Steve almost felt guilty sensing the genuine concern in her voice.
"Yeah…I mean no. I mean…Sharon is going to meet you tonight, right? Could you please make sure she is…alright." Steve knew he sounded ridiculous, probably a bit silly, but he had to make sure she was fine.
"I will surely keep that in mind. If you don't mind me asking, Steve, is there any reason I should be worried about her well-being?" Pepper still sounded cautious.
"No, nothing serious. It's just that we had a bit of…disagreement." Steve swallowed.
"On a Valentine's day? That's, well…unfortunate." Pepper sighed, but she was too polite to press things further.
"She, uh, kind of thinks that I wasn't…being earnest in expressing my feelings towards her." Steve's voice shook a little.
"Is there any truth behind her thoughts though? You don't have to answer that if you don't want to, Steve. I, by no means, want to intrude your privacy." Pepper was the only lady Steve knew who wasn't afraid to speak her mind but always managed to do so in a classy way.
Steve was a few seconds too late in answering that. Eventually he just gave up and waited for Pepper to somehow save the day with her elegant ways.
"Steve?"
"Yes, Pepper."
"Am I thinking what I think you are thinking right now?"
"I have no idea what it is that you are thinking!" Steve lied. He was bracing himself for her next move though.
"Oh Steve! Perhaps it is time for you to understand that it is best when you say it yourself." There was a long silence at the other end of the phone.
Steve really had nothing to say after that.
He stood there with the phone in his hand, long after the dial tone stopped buzzing in his ear.
It was raining softly outside. The blurred, muted glow of the streetlight reflected on the wet windowpane.
Steve leaned his forehead against the cold glass and closed his eyes.
Out of seven billion people in the world right now, his heart missed the one who put three bullets through his body.
One narrowly missing his heart by mere inches
Steve bit his lips so hard for stopping the tears that threatened to overcome him, he tasted blood on the tip of his tongue.
"Buck"
The moment his lips formed the word in an almost imperceptible whisper, his inside twisted with a violent surge of pain.
At that moment, Steve Rogers so wished that the winter soldier hadn't miss his target the last time they met.