December 8: i live below you and i was minding my own business watching the snowfall out the window WHEN I SAW A BODY FALL ARE YOU REALLY PUTTING UP CHRISTMAS LIGHTS NOW"
Steve was snuggled in his chair listening to Christmas music and watching the snow fall out side when it happened, almost too fast for Steve to see. A body tumbled past the window down to the ground below. Steve immediately rushed to the window and looked down to see a figure sprawled face first in the snow not moving.
"Shit!" He said as he ran from the window and rushed out the door and then the door of the lobby. When he got outside, he rounded the corner to the alleyway that his apartment overlooked and found the man still sprawled on the ground.
Steve quickly knelt beside him and poked him on the shoulder. "Hey, buddy, are you alive?" He asked shakily. The man groaned and Steve felt most of the panic drain from his body. "Oh, thank God."
The man groaned again and tried to lift himself onto his arms and knees. "What happened?" He asked as he sat up.
Steve could identify the man now as Bucky, the cute guy who lived somewhere above Steve. Bucky and Steve were friends, not the best of friends-they didn't see each other often enough for that-but friends nonetheless and Steve had been trying to work up the courage to ask him out since the first time they had met.
Steve let out a breathy laugh. "I was hoping you could tell me that." He said. "You kind of just fell."
"Crap." Bucky said. "Natasha will never let me live this down."
"So what were you doing?" Steve asked.
Bucky didn't look up from here he was patting himself down looking for injuries. "Well, I was trying to make the outside of my apartment look a little bit more festive, but I didn't realize how icy it was going to be."
Steve looked up to the apartment above his and saw that half of the Christmas lights were neatly hanging from the window and the other half were swinging slightly as they dangled against the side of the building.
"This would have been the dumbest way to die." Bucky said as he tried to get himself to his feet.
Steve immediately shot up and helped Bucky to stand. "Well, I'm glad you are okay." He said.
"Me too." Bucky said. "How are you not freezing out here?"
Steve looked down at himself and realized that in his haste to help, he had forgotten a jacket. "Oh, uh I hadn't even realized." Steve said.
"Let's get you inside." Bucky said, grabbing Steve by the arm and making to walk back into the building. As he took his first step, his right foot promptly gave out under his weight. He would have fallen if he hadn't already been holding Steve's arm. "I knew I got off too easy." He said with a wince.
"Here, I'll help." Steve said. He wrapped his arm around Bucky's waist so he supported his weight. "We can go to my apartment to look at that ankle so we don't have to go up any stairs."
Bucky nodded. "Okay, good. Cool. Let's do that." He said.
They limped to Steve's apartment with Steve supporting most of Bucky's weight and when they got there Steve gently sat him on his couch and knelt down to look at Bucky's foot. He slowly unlaced the shoe and tried to take it off as gently as possible but Bucky still let of an occasional groan. After he got the sock off, he carefully grabbed Bucky's foot by the heel. It had already started to swell, but it didn't look broken.
"Can you move your foot?" Steve asked.
Bucky rotated his foot with only a slight wince. "I think I will just need some ice on this. It only really hurts when I put my weight on it."
Steve got up and headed to his freezer. "Do you think a bag of frozen peas from Thanksgiving will work?" He asked.
"I don't see why not." Bucky said.
Steve walked back over and knelt down again to lay the peas over Bucky's injured ankle. "The only thing left to do would be to kiss it better." Steve said.
Bucky grinned. "I don't give out kisses until after I've been taken to dinner." He said.
"Darn." Steve said as got up and at beside Bucky on the couch. "A cute boy is trapped in my apartment with no way of getting out and he won't even kiss me."
"Well, maybe I'll make and exception for the man who saved my life." Bucky said scooting closer to Steve.
"I think 'saved your life' is taking it a bit far." Steve said leaning in. "But I'll take it."
"Good." Bucky said before closing the distance between them and pressing their lips together softly before pulling back with a smile. "You will get the rest after dinner."
"You know, you sound pretty confident for a man who just fell off of a building while putting up Christmas lights." Steve said.
"If you want any more kisses, you'd better watch it."
Steve held his hands up in surrender. "Okay, I get it." He said standing up and heading to the kitchen. "I should probably get to the kitchen now to start on dinner so I can get that kiss."
"I'll be waiting." Bucky said.
Part of a 25 part Christmas AU series.