Wow I haven't used this website since like 2012? Ahhaha well rest assured I have improved a lot since then. I'm leaving old stuff on here for posterity but don't read it if you don't want to be horrified by the cringe-worthy writing and plots.

In the meantime, here's a one-shot from 2014's NaNoWriMo, inspired by this tumblr post: puppetamateur dot tumblr dot com/post/93292699757/okay-but-consider-these-oh-my-god-im-so-sorry-my

Cross-posted from AO3.

The two guys in front of him in line were laughing raucously about something as they waited, and Bucky found himself more and more annoyed that he hadn't thought to bring on his carry-on his iPad or a book or literally anything for entertainment except his dumb phone. Angry Birds got boring pretty quickly, and he hadn't lasted much longer playing Temple Run or Spider Solitaire. He'd tried texting Natasha, but she'd just sent him a two-word response of 'Busy. Later." Now he was just listening to the conversation happening in front of him and trying not to look like a stalker while he checked out the incredibly buff blond one. The other, a lean black man in a t-shirt covered in cartoon birds was currently expositing on the wonders of comic books and other nerdery, and Bucky could certainly weigh in on that- he just needed to find an opening in the conversation.

"I don't know," the blond was saying, "I just think that Batman is kind of lame, honestly. Like, even the Flash could kick his ass any day."

"WHAT did you just say?" Screw waiting for openings, Bucky was outraged and jumping in right now. "Batman is amazing, dude. No way the Flash would last ten minutes against him." The other guy grinned and nodded in Bucky's direction.

"See, this guy? This guy knows what he's talking about. I win, you lose." The blond scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"Sam, just because some random guy at the airport agrees with you doesn't make you right."

"The hell it doesn't! Batman guy here makes it two against one. We win. Up top, Batman guy." Raising his eyebrows and smiling, Bucky gave the man a high five – Sam, that's what he called him, right? – and turned to the blond one.

"Sorry man, he's right. Two against one. Plus, the Flash wouldn't stand a chance, are you crazy?" Okay, so generally calling a guy crazy wasn't the best way to start flirting, but in Bucky's defence, insulting Batman was definitely on the list of things deserving incredulous responses.

"It's not about Flash, though. It's about the fact that Batman literally has no powers. He's all gadgets and manpain." Here, he put a hand to his chest and feigned an incredibly low voice. "Oh, my parents are dead, oh, my life is so hard, ohhh," he mocked, leaving Sam practically in stitches and Bucky trying to hold back his own laughter.

They bantered cheerfully all the way to the front of the line, where Bucky learned that the two of them were, incidentally, also on their way to New York.

"Good ol' NY, huh? You guys live there or just visiting?"

"Nah, we're heading to home sweet home," Sam replied. "Can't get better than Manhattan."

"Yeah? I'm on my way back from Moscow, myself. Connecting flight and all that."

"Moscow, like, Russia? Nice, man! What were you-" At this point, Steve cleared his throat and gestured towards the lady at the desk in front of them, who was supposed to be checking their baggage. Bucky only had a small bag, himself, with a few essentials, but they must have been on a big vacation or something, because between the two of them they were lugging around three enormous suitcases and several carry-on bags.

Once finished checking in, Bucky gave them a mock salute, and while Sam replied in kind, to his surprise the blond jogged back to where he was standing.

"Hey, Batman guy, I don't think I ever caught your name."

"James Buchanan Barnes, at your service," he joked, holding out a hand to shake. "But please, call me Bucky."

"Steve Rogers. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Trust me," Bucky replied, his mouth twisting up into a grin, "the pleasure is all mine."

Promisingly as things had been going, Bucky hadn't really expected to see Steve and Sam again. New Yorkwas, of course, huge, and the chances of running into them somewhere were nearly slim enough to be non-existent. So it was to his great surprise when, the next Saturday on a pre-work jog, he heard "BATMAN GUY!" shouted from several meters behind him.

Turning around, he saw the two of them running up towards him, dressed in sports gear. For a moment, Bucky found himself mesmerised by the way-too-tight shirt that Steve was wearing (seriously, that thing looked like it was painted on) and how damn amazing he looked with his short hair sticking up in the front and a huge grin on his face, like Bucky was the best thing he'd ever seen. Then he came to himself and smiled back at them, catching up with long strides to meet them in the middle.

"Bucky!" Steve exclaimed. Sam chimed in with a, "Yo, dude, good to see you!"

"Don't tell me, you guys also like running around Central Park at ridiculous hours of the morning?"

"Don't look at me, it's all this dude," Sam said, jerking a thumb towards Steve. "He insists on getting up at the ass-crack of dawn for this shit, I'm just along for the ride. He makes a ton of noise getting up in the morning, too; I couldn't sleep if I wanted to."

Bucky could swear he saw a blush rising to Steve's cheeks as he protested weakly, but he was more concerned by Sam's last sentence.

"You two live together?" he asked, pointing back and forth at the two of them. "Are you, like…?"

"Sharing an apartment, yeah! It's like a block away," Sam said, raising his hand to fist bump his friend. After a reluctant reciprocation from Steve, Bucky opened his mouth to explain that he was actually going to ask a question slightly more pertinent to the nature of the potential future of his and Steve's relationship, but the blond was definitely blushing now, even his ears turning slightly red, and he figured it was probably best to keep his mouth shut for the moment.

"And you must live nearby, too?" Steve said hastily, breaking the silence.

"Oh, yeah, I'm… well, yeah, I share an apartment with my friend Natasha." Natasha, who would probably use the word 'bodyguard' instead of friend, given how often she saved his ass, and who was also his occasional girlfriend, if the situation required, and no-strings-attached sex partner, if they were both in the mood, but no matter what the nature of their relationship was at the moment, they were inseparable.

After that encounter, the three of them informally set up a weekly rendezvous to run and grab coffee together every Saturday morning. Once, Bucky worked up the courage to ask if they couldn't get together some Sunday, too, but Steve bashfully explained that he still went to church every Sunday, while Bucky brushed it off as if nothing, internally wondering how someone could be so adorably perfect.

As the weeks drew on, Bucky grew incredibly attached to his new friends. Sam was a fun guy, constantly cracking jokes and sharing Bucky's own cynical humour. He and Steve me, Bucky learned, in a VA support meeting, both having served in Iraq. Sam was great, but Steve, he was something special. The guy was packed full with surprises, and every time Bucky thought he had him figured out, he went and did something that belied every trait he seemingly had. For one thing, once they got to know each other, he quickly lost the shyness he had originally presented and actually turned out to be quite an outgoing guy. He was funny, he was interesting, and he seemed genuinely interested in getting to know Bucky, not to mention the fact that he had the body of a god and these blue eyes that Bucky was constantly finding himself getting lost in.

Yet despite all appearances, the second Bucky tried to take things a step further than friends, tried flirting or dropped a line or suggesting they go out for a drink sometime, Steve flushed a bright scarlet and mumbled something under his breath before quickly excusing himself.

It was one of these incidents, sitting outside a Starbucks, that left Bucky cursing loudly and Sam looking at him with an air of amusement.

"You're not gonna have any luck with that, man. Steve hasn't dated for years, not since his old girlfriend Peggy died."

That shut him up. "Shit, I'm… I'm sorry to hear that."

"Nah, it's cool. I mean, it's not cool, really, not at all, but it was so long ago, before the war even. I never knew her, but Steve's told me all about her. She was a real great girl, apparently. A real great girl." The two fell into silence, and it was Sam who left first (something about a meeting to get to), leaving Bucky alone at the table. He sat there for a long time, just thinking and drinking his coffee.

After that, he backed off as much as he could. He still sometimes found himself staring at Steve's lips, and he still couldn't help but feel his heart jump to his throat every time their hands brushed, but the pick-up lines stopped, as did the solicitations. They fell into a comfortable rhythm of friendship, with Bucky quietly pining after him and Steve seeming to be completely oblivious. Sam sympathised, but he couldn't think of anything to do besides shrug and say, "That's life, man." It was months before Steve showed the slightest reciprocity, and that left Bucky so shocked he was lost for words (which was rare, for him).

It happened on a Saturday, just like everything good seemed to now, and at first, all seemed normal, with the three of them going out on a run and then heading towards the nearest coffee shop (by now they'd hit most of the ones on 8th avenue , but there were still a few left to try.) They were chatting happily over their pastries and lattes when Sam cleared his throat loudly, announced that he had to go to the bathroom, and winked very obviously at Steve.

Perplexed, Bucky looked back towards his friend. Steve had turned bright red and was staring fixedly at his cup. There was a long silence, with Bucky growing even more confused and Steve, if possible, even more embarrassed.

"So…" Bucky said, breaking the silence and causing the blond to finally look up at him.

"I was wondering, if, uh," Steve stammered, "ifyouwouldgooutwithmesometime." Bucky blinked and furrowed his brows, trying to eke some sense out of the slurry of words.

"Sorry?"

Now that he'd said it, Steve seemed to be gaining some confidence, and when he repeated his words, it was with much less stuttering and actually looking into Bucky's eyes.

"I was wondering if maybe you and I could go out sometime. To a movie, or dinner, or something. Together. Like, as a date." Bucky's face split into a giant grin, and he could feel his heart beating faster.

"Mr Rogers, it would be my pleasure," he said, adopting a falsely formal tone, which was somewhat ruined by the fact that he couldn't stop smiling.

"Trust me," Steve said, the corner of his mouth quirking up, "the pleasure is all mine."

Disclaimer: None of the characters are mine, etc. etc. Please R&R!