Day One
"Okay, campers. Gather your belongings and exit the bus in an orderly line. Find the check-in line with your file and wait for your cabin assignment."
Bucky felt like he was going to throw up. He was here. He was finally here.
His parents had found out that he was attracted to other boys after an unfortunate text mix-up and, instead of accepting him for who he was, they had immediately enrolled Bucky in a summer camp that would "cure" him. Bucky was dreading the moment that he found out how they were going to cure him and now he was here.
As he was shepherded off of the bus, Bucky trembled violently. He looked around and saw the rest of the "campers" looked equally terrified. Only the counselors looked perfectly at ease. It was shocking, really, that these teenaged kids willingly took jobs that were based entirely off of hate. He stumbled over to the "A-D" table, reluctant to speak to the counselor sitting behind it.
"Hi. Name, please." The counselor prompted in a surprising British accent.
"Oh, uh, Bucky. Well, James. Barnes. James Barnes." Bucky stammered. His trembling grew somehow worse.
"Barnes, Barnes, Barnes…" The counselor murmured as she sifted through the crate of files in front of her. "Ah. Here you are. Is there a name that you would prefer to go by?"
"Uh, yeah. I go by Bucky."
"Okay, Bucky." The girl smiled brightly. Bucky did not notice. He was preoccupied with struggling to avoid vomiting. "What - if any - gender do you identify as?"
"Excuse me?" Bucky was sure that he had misheard her.
"Well, we don't want to place you in a cabin that you're uncomfortable with." The counselor explained as though it was perfectly obvious.
"Is this a trick?" Bucky asked suspiciously. The counselor's smile did not falter.
"Not at all. We want to make sure that you're comfortable at all times. I can see that Sam hasn't told you very much about SHIELD on the bus ride. We'll do that later. Gender, please?"
"Male." Bucky stammered.
"Alright," The counselor scribbled down his answer before turning around to look at the counselor that had been on the bus. "Hey, Sam! Do you have room for one more in your cabin?"
The counselor - Sam - nodded. "I've got a few beds left. Is that the guy?"
"Yep. Sending him over!" She called back. She turned to Bucky. "Here's your file. Take it over to Sam - he's going to be your counselor."
Bucky managed to nod before staggering over to Sam stupidly. He had no idea what was going on at the camp anymore. Sam quickly rectified the situation by explaining the true nature of the camp.
SHIELD was advertised as a "correctional" facility but actually served as a safe haven for members of the LGBTQA alliance for the duration of the camp session. The counselors were former campers who had no safe home to return to - they were either kicked out or faced a dangerous home situation - and were there to help the campers in any way possible. By the end of Sam's explanation, Bucky was trembling for a whole new reason.
Relief washed over him and threatened to drown him. It was all he could do to wander over to the cabin that Sam had pointed out. He attempted to unpack with shaking heads and a stupid smile.
"Who's that?" Steve nodded towards the camper standing at Peggy's table.
The camper was clearly terrified - Sam always forgot to assure the campers that they were safe - but even in his current state, he was enough to distract Steve from sorting through misplaced luggage.
"A camper," His friend, Natasha, reminded him. "Off limits."
"Not officially." Steve protested.
"No, but Coulson did say that it was discouraged."
"Peggy is dating Angie."
Nat rolled her eyes. "If you're planning to use a camper to make Peggy jealous, you're even dumber than I thought."
"No, no." Steve murmured, shaking his head and clearing his throat. "It's been months. I've come to terms with it. I just thought...I don't know, he's good-looking."
"'Good-looking'?" Nat echoed, her mouth curling into a smile that Steve knew all too well. She was going to make fun of him. "Talk like that and the poor kid will think you're ninety-five. If you think he's hot, why don't you just go over there and talk to him?"
"I can't just talk to him." Steve protested, shifting on his feet awkwardly.
"Talk to who?" Oh, great. Tony had heard.
Tony Stark came to camp every single year. It wasn't that his father refused to accept who he was or who he did, the kid just liked the place. Since he couldn't become a counselor - that privilege was reserved for those who genuinely needed to leave their homes - he just appeared every single summer.
"Stark. Why am I not surprised that you're here?" Steve sighed.
"Aw, come on. You didn't think that I'd let you spend the whole summer wallowing over Peggy, did you?"
Nat snickered. Steve shot her a severe look.
"Nobody is wallowing." He asserted.
"I can see that now." Tony agreed. "You're already scoping out this year's talent. Who was it that you were looking at? It was a him, if my ears served correctly. Was it…" Tony laid eyes on the tall, dark, and handsome camper that Steve had been unable to avoid staring at. "Oh. He is something, isn't he?"
"Go away, Tony."
"Fine," Tony huffed in that overly dramatic tone that only he could manage. "I can see that I'm not wanted here. I'll just go to my cabin - oh, and look at that. Sam's cabin. Your boyfriend and I are cabin-mates. How quaint. Maybe we'll have a nice slumber party and talk about boys."
"Wait." Steve sighed, regret burning the tip of his tongue. Nat looked at him in surprise.
"Ye-es?" Tony questioned with a sickeningly sweet smile.
"Do you think you could...you know...be cool about this? I don't know him yet, but I don't want you ruining whatever might happen. Could you just introduce us or something?" Steve didn't exactly know what he wanted from the introduction, but it couldn't hurt to know the kid's name.
"Of course. If you do something for me." Tony replied.
"Oh, god." Nat murmured, knowing enough about Tony to expect the worst.
"What?" Steve asked.
"Carry my stuff to the cabin. I've brought a bunch of different prototypes and tools and they can be pretty heavy. That guy'll probably be in the cabin unpacking his own stuff and then you can meet him for yourself." Tony replied, nodding down to the pile of bags lying at his feet.
"And you won't embarrass me?" Steve clarified.
"I think you'll probably do that all by yourself." Tony replied.
Steve scowled before ducking down and picking up the bags. "Let's go."
Tony led the way to Sam's cabin for the summer. Steve followed after him, growing increasingly nervous. It was his first attempt at meeting someone since Peggy had broken up with him the day before Christmas. He had never been very good at flirting and now he had to worry about Tony intervening and ruining everything.
"Right here?" Steve asked uncertainly, asking an obvious question as a way of soothing his nerves. He wanted to be right just one more time before he stepped into an uncharted territory.
"Yeah," Tony replied carelessly as they entered the cabin. "You can just choose any bunk."
"Great," Steve said, his mouth suddenly feeling very dry. He struggled to avoid staring at the dark-haired boy who was unpacking his bags on the other side of the cabin. "And you have everything that you need, right? Clothes, food, water…" He couldn't help but look around the cabin. He locked eyes with the dark-haired boy and suddenly felt as though he was on fire.
"I think that I could use your clothes, if you'd be so kind as to take them off." Tony responded with a smirk. He waggled his eyebrows. Steve wanted nothing more than to kill him.
"Very funny, Tony." He snapped, his fists clenching in his pockets. "These are my clothes, but if you end up needing anything, you can just ask Sam."
"You're no fun." Tony warned Steve.
"I'm not here to be fun." Steve responded, struggling to smile. He needed to appear kind and friendly. He turned and afforded the dark-haired boy a watery smile. The boy stared back at him like he had lost his mind.
Things were not going well.
"Anyway," Steve murmured. "I've got to get the other campers settled. I've got my own cabin to worry about. I'll see you at dinner, guys."
He hadn't even been brave enough to ask the dark-haired boy his name.
"Looking forward to it." Tony called after him as Steve made his retreat.
Once out of the cabin, Steve hung his head and allowed himself to feel spectacularly stupid. He trudged over to the check-in tables to help clean up and was immediately met with a sympathetic smile from Peggy.
"I take it that your introduction did not go well." She said.
"How did you…" Steve turned around and saw Nat smirking at him. "Nat told you. Of course she did."
"We all just want you to be happy, Steve." Peggy reminded him lightly. He forced himself to smile back at her.
"I know."
"Bucky seems very nice. I'm sure that you'll get the chance to talk to him some other time."
"Bucky?" Steve echoed. "Is that his name?"
"You didn't know? Well, what on Earth did you say to him?"
"Nothing." Steve answered, shaking his head and smiling slightly. "I just carried Tony's stuff into the cabin and rambled on about clothes, I think. The kid looked at me like I was a talking packmule."
"Are you sure that look wasn't meant for Tony?" Peggy wondered.
"I'm sure." Steve replied.
"Well, at least he noticed you." Peggy was always so optimistic. "That's certainly worth something. Oh, here. This should take your mind off of him. Would you carry these to Coulson's office? These are all of the campers that haven't signed in. Lucky thing, too. We've never had this many campers."
Steve nodded and picked up the crates that Peggy had pointed out. He walked off in the direction of Coulson's office, unable to risk a look at Sam's cabin in the hopes of catching a glimpse of Bucky.
"Hi." The only other camper in the cabin chimed the moment that Bucky finished unpacking his socks. He cast Bucky a nervous smile. "I'm Bruce."
"Bucky."
"Nice to meet you." Bruce pushed his thick-framed glasses up the bridge of his nose. "I can't believe this place, can you? I thought that I was going to die here, but now…" He shook his head and smiled incredulously.
"Yeah. I thought I was a goner on the bus ride. Sam seems cool, though."
Bruce nodded. "Uh huh. It's really great that -"
"Right here?" Another voice drew Bucky and Bruce's attention to the doorway. In that doorway stood the most obscenely attractive boy that Bucky had ever seen.
Oh, god.
Attractive might have been an understatement. He was perfect. He had sleek blond hair that looked carefully styled, electric blue eyes that shone from every angle, shoulders the width of a damned yardstick, and a waist the width of a damned peanut. He was dressed in a striped t-shirt and a pair of jeans that seemed to cling to his waist for dear life.
"Yeah. Just choose any bunk." A careless voice came from behind him. It was a brunette boy - much shorter than the blond - who could not seem to keep his eyes off of the blond's ass. Bucky could hardly fault him for that.
"Great. Now do you have everything that you need? Clothes...food...water…" The blond asked, looking around the cabin for a moment. His eyes met Bucky's for just the shortest amount of time and Bucky's breath caught in his chest.
"I think that I could use your clothes, if you'd be so kind as to take them off." The brunette remarked, his mouth curving into an impish smile. Bucky wasn't sure what he wanted more - for the blond to strip in the middle of the cabin, or for the blond to express his disinterest in the brunette and to look at him instead.
"Very funny, Tony. These are my clothes, but if you end up needing anything, you can just ask Sam." The blond replied. Bucky couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed.
"You're no fun." Tony pouted.
"I'm not here to be fun." The blond replied with a smile that made Bucky's heart hammer against his chest. The blond then had the audacity to flash a smile in Bucky and Bruce's direction.
God, he was gay.
"Anyway," The blond continued. "I've got to get the other campers settled. I've got my own cabin to worry about. I'll see you at dinner, guys."
"Looking forward to it." Tony remarked as the blond left the cabin. Bucky was fairly certain that they all watched as the blond's narrow waist swayed throughout his exit.
"How hot is he?" Tony commented as he began to unpack. Bruce shrugged in silent agreement. Bucky busied himself with unpacking to avoid talking about the blond.
"What do you think, Bucky?" Bruce asked as more campers began venturing into the cabin. Bucky cringed before turning around to face Bruce and Tony.
"The blond guy? Oh, uh, yeah, he was alright. If you like that type…" He allowed with a small shrug. He didn't want to confess just how attracted to the blond counselor he really was. Not after the first hour of camp.
He shouldn't have felt so surprised when Tony called him out on it.
"Please. Your tongue was hanging out of your mouth the whole time he was here. It's alright. You're among friends, here. I'd go for it if I could."
"And why can't you?"
"He's a family friend." Tony replied with a small smile. "And he's dating Peggy. Or, at least, he was the last time I asked. It's a shame, eh, Buckley?"
"Bucky." Bucky corrected him automatically. "Who's Peggy?"
"The counselor that checked you in, I think. She checked me in, too. She had that British accent." Bruce interjected. "Maybe they'll break up during the summer."
Bucky rolled his eyes and went back to unpacking. He didn't want to continue drooling over the unavailable blond counselor. He just wanted to survive the summer. It seemed like Tony was determined to make that difficult for him.
There were six campers assigned to Bucky's cabin: Bucky, Bruce, Tony, Clint, Peter, and Scott. Sam was their counselor and seemed just as cool as any other guy. He seemed even cooler when he declared that it was time to go to dinner.
"So what's your deal?" Tony asked Scott once they had all retrieved their food and agreed to sit together. Scott looked back at Tony with an uncomprehending gaze.
"My deal?"
"Yeah. You said that you had a girlfriend back home, didn't you? Why are you here? What are your parents trying to "fix"?"
Bruce choked on his drink, sending spit flying into Bucky's drink. Bucky sighed heavily.
"Tony, I don't think that you're supposed to ask people that." Bruce reminded Tony.
"I'm going to get some more water. Does anybody want anything?" Bucky grumbled.
Three of the boys handed Bucky their empty glasses.
Bucky trudged over to the drink station and set to work filling the four glasses with water. Once they were full, he turned around and took a large step forward without really looking. He ran into someone almost immediately. He was horrified to realize that that someone was the handsome blond counselor.
"Oh, shit. I'm sorry, man." Bucky murmured awkwardly.
"Don't worry about it." The counselor shrugged with a knee-watering grin. "I was feeling a little overheated, anyway. You're Bucky, right? From Sam's cabin?"
"Yeah." Bucky was shocked that he remembered.
"I thought so. Sam was just talking about you."
"About me?" Bucky couldn't hide his surprise. "What'd he say?"
The counselor just shrugged and smiled. "Mostly that you aren't very talkative. I, uh, I get it. This is a lot to take in. But hey, I'm always here if you want to talk. Well, not here, but somewhere around. I'm Steve, by the way."
"Nice to meet you." Bucky mumbled. "I, uh, I should get back to my table."
"Oh," Steve seemed a bit put-off by Bucky's lame excuse. Bucky wished that he was able to converse with Steve as well as Tony seemed to be, but he lacked the social skills required for that. He supposed it didn't matter that much, anyway. Social skills or not, he didn't stand a chance with Steve. Steve had a girlfriend and they both looked perfect enough to be the model couple put in for-sale picture frames.
"Alright." Steve was now smiling politely. "I'll leave you to it, then. I'll see you later, Bucky."
Bucky nodded stupidly before stumbling back in the direction of his cabin's table. They immediately began to hoot and howl. Apparently they had seen him attempting to speak to Steve.
"'If you like that type,' eh?" Tony taunted. Bucky scowled.
"That was the counselor? Dude. If you're not going for it, I will." Peter chimed in. Bucky rolled his eyes.
"Why are you assholes singling me out? Tony was the one that kept hitting on him in the cabin." Bucky snapped, his face reddening.
Everyone looked to Tony for some kind of answer. Apparently he was the one perpetuating the rumor that Bucky was into Steve.
"I always hit on Steve. We grew up around each other. Hated him the whole time, but forgave him when he showed up to school after summer break and looked like that. Anyway, I might hit on him, but I don't stare at him like a glass of water in the middle of the desert." Tony stated. Bucky frowned and stabbed at his food with his spork.
"I don't." He grumbled.
"You do." All of the boys asserted. They all snickered.
"Can we change the topic?" Bucky asked irritably.
"Please. Let us discuss something important, like global warming, or the booger that's been hanging out of Tony's nose for hours." Scott agreed.
Tony swiped his nose with the back of his hand, his eyes narrowing. "Fine. Scott - what is wrong with you?"
"Steve. You're staring." Nat reminded Steve as he ignored his food in favor of watching Bucky.
Bucky.
Steve decided that he liked the name a lot. It was just the right combination of classic and edgy.
"Am not." Steve protested, his cheeks turning red.
Natasha cast him a look that seemed to cut right through him. Steve just diverted his attention to his food and sulked.
"I don't understand why you won't just talk to him. If Tony can do it, you can do it." Nat reasoned.
"But I'm not…" Steve shook his head.
"Oh, don't worry about being bad at flirting. He might find it endearing. I did." Peggy chimed in.
"I was going to say that I'm not even sure that I want to start anything with him, but thank you for that extra confidence boost. For the record, you were terrible at flirting, too. You shot me." Steve reminded her sulkily.
"Barely." Peggy argued.
"You shot him?" Angie, Peggy's new girlfriend, asked with a laugh.
"In the leg." Steve nodded.
"You ran in front of the target!"
"I told you to put down the bow and arrow."
"Bow and arrow?" Angie looked between Peggy and Steve curiously.
"I taught her archery." Steve explained.
"He was terrible at it." Peggy added.
"At least I didn't shoot anybody for attention." Steve bit back.
"This isn't going anywhere." Nat sighed, glancing around the staff table in exasperation. "Maybe I should find a new table to sit at. Cabin Six doesn't look so bad. I think the girl on the end over there has a flask. I should join her."
"I'll go with you." Sam agreed.
"No, you've got to stay and manage the mess." Nat shook her head.
"Why do I have to deal with them?" Sam whined.
"Because it's your camper that's reducing Steve to this." Nat replied with a triumphant smile. "As far as I know, my campers are all perfectly safe for Steve to be around."
"Bucky is safe for Steve to be around, too. He barely says anything." Sam reminded her, his mouth full of ham.
"Oh, really?" Nat challenged.
"Really." Sam persisted.
"Fine. Let's find out. Steve, it looks like Bucky is going up to get water. Why don't you go talk to him and see how safe it is?" Nat said.
"I'm not going to be your experiment." Steve objected. "Besides, I still don't even know if I want anything to happen between us. A camper and a counselor...I mean...it's just so complicated."
"So maybe don't ask him to marry you. Just say hi and introduce yourself." Nat said.
"I don't think I should." Steve faltered.
"Either you go talk to him or I'll bring him over here. Your call." Sam stated, folding his arms across his chest.
Steve sighed and hung his head. Without another word to his friends, he forced himself to approach Bucky. The dark-haired boy didn't notice him approach. Evidently, he was too busy pouring the water to notice Steve. Steve was forced to just stand behind him awkwardly.
Bucky suddenly turned around and took a giant step forward. Before Steve could think to jump out of the way, Bucky collided with his chest.
"Oh, shit. I'm sorry, man." Bucky apologized in that careless tone of his. Steve's heart thumped against his chest. His ribs felt like they were on fire.
"Don't worry about it. I was feeling a little overheated anyway." That was a dumb joke. Steve grimaced and continued. "You're Bucky, right? From Sam's cabin?"
Great. Lame jokes and creepy assumptions. Steve was surely making an excellent impression.
"Yeah." Bucky looked rightfully concerned by Steve's knowledge.
"I thought so." Steve swallowed hard and nodded. "Sam was just talking about you."
"About me? What'd he say?" Bucky looked surprised. Everything Steve seemed to say was odd and creepy.
Steve forced himself to smile in an effort to placate Bucky. He also shrugged. "Mostly that you aren't very talkative. I, uh, I get it. This is a lot to take in. But hey, I'm always here if you want to talk. Well, not here, but somewhere around. I'm Steve, by the way."
Shit. He was just now telling Bucky his name. That couldn't be a good thing.
"Nice to meet you." Bucky nodded his head, his dark hair spilling across his forehead. "I, uh, I should get back to my table."
Of course.
Steve had been stupid to think that he was ready to try to connect with anyone new. He had failed miserably and now Bucky was running for the hills. He would probably spend the rest of the summer trying to avoid Steve at all costs.
"Oh." Steve couldn't keep the disappointment out of his voice. He smiled to compensate for it. "Alright. I'll leave you to it, then. I'll see you later, Bucky."
Said the serial killer.
As Bucky fled, Steve closed his eyes and wished that he would disappear from the face of the Earth.
Steve Rogers had never been sure of many things. He wasn't sure how scientist found a way to let man walk on the moon, he wasn't sure whether it was "gray" or "grey", and he wasn't sure who Al Gore was (though at this point he was afraid to ask). There was, however, one thing that he was absolutely certain of: Bucky was never going to want him.
Hi guys! I don't know what this is, exactly, but I couldn't help but get it out of my system. I know that I've got two other fics that I should be working on instead, but I left the outlines for both of them at my apartment at my university, so it'll be another month before I can get them back! Until then, I hope you like whatever it is that this happens to be!