Steve and Bucky pulled up to park in front of the cafeteria on campus, ready for their first day back.

As juniors, they finally have a place of their own, off campus, so they don't have to deal with all the insanity that comes with living on campus. Particularly the madness that is the first two weeks of every semester and the last two weeks of every semester.

Moving in and out of dorms just had no appeal. They had both been stuck with some shitty roommates in their first two years with their respective programs keeping them from living with each other.

Steve is taking courses for art therapy. The arts programs got the newer section of campus, where the accommodations weren't just your average dorm room. It was set up a bit more like an apartment, a (very) small communal living area, with two bathrooms, one in each corner, and four separate (but still shockingly cramped) rooms.

Bucky, a culinary student, always had the main dorms that go way back to when the campus was first opened, along with the rest of the Bachelor of Science programs. Culinary kids are in the building the closest to the cafeteria (which makes sense to everyone, even though Bucky is still sour about the whole thing), and are set up like regular dorms. One large open room with two beds with one bathroom at each end of the hall.

They weren't bad as far as dorms go, but they were still dorms.

And no kitchen, of course, in either set up. Because how else do they expect anyone to actually pay for a meal plan at the cafeteria? (The food isn't that bad Steve always reminds him, because Bucky himself is one of the students in charge of helping to prepare the food on certain days of the week, but Bucky has always been a bit bitter about not having access to his own cooking space.)

So Steve had three roommates plus himself living in his little suite, and Bucky had one. Between the two years, Steve had had nine different roommates (the original three with one trading out for a new one second semester of the first year, and the second original three, with only one staying and being replaced for two new kids in his second year), while Bucky had been through four (he insists that is not a reflection on his character, simply his roommates being ill equipped for college life. Steve doesn't touch that conversation. He knows better by now).

Throughout their four semesters, they had been through a combined total of thirteen different roommates. And only one of them, the kid who Steve lived with second year, first semester and then actually stayed for second semester, had actually become a friend of theirs.

They had tried to get him to move into a place with them as the school year had drawn to a close, but he was there on a scholarship.

"Sorry guys, I need the scholarship to be able to even think about getting my degree," Clint had insisted. Terms of his scholarship dictated he had to remain on campus all four years. He was a freshman during Steve and Bucky's sophomore year. "Although, I wouldn't say no to a really comfy couch with my name on it."

Which, of course. That was Clint to a T. He had never been shy about coming into Steve's room, like his actual room, and pulling up a seat on the desk chair or the corner of his bed.

He was a lot like Bucky in that aspect, no second guessing himself, once he made friends with you, you had him for life and vice versa.

So, yes, of course, they had assured him. He even came with them to pick out the couch. And proceeded to live on it every weekend for the whole summer because he couldn't stand being home for too long. His family...was difficult. That was all either of them had ever gotten out of the younger man.

And it suited them just fine. They all coexisted extremely peacefully, despite how strong willed they all were.

At least according to Steve's mother. He had a feeling she might've been censoring herself a bit.

But the summer was finally over and they were now ready for the first day of their junior year.

Clint had asked to meet at the cafeteria since he had to do the whole moving-in thing again. They were a few minutes early (a miracle for anyone who knew the two of them, always late despite the best of intentions).

They stepped out of the car and scouted the scene, looking for the familiar spiky blonde head of hair. They found him sitting at on of the outdoor tables around the building with a small red-haired girl.

"Hey, Hawkeye!" Bucky yelled over the masses. Clint was part of the archery team at the school, and he had most definitely earned a name for himself. Hawkeye: best archer the team had ever seen.

Clint looked up and spotted them instantly. The redhead turned and looked as well.

Steve felt his heart slow before skipping a beat entirely. She was stunning. Pale skin, but not unhealthy looking, red hair that looked more natural on her than Clint looked with a bow or Bucky looked with a knife, and piercing blue-green eyes that he knew instinctually could tear the darkest secrets from his soul with a single look.

Wow. Just...wow…

She turned back to Clint and stood, half hugged him before grabbing her bag and walking away with a wave.

"...dude."

Steve was pulled back to the present by Bucky, his judgemental tone obvious even though Steve knew he would never be judged by his best friend. Not after everything they'd been through together.

Turning back to Bucky and Clint as he jogged up to join them, he felt his face just a little warmer than it had been a moment ago.

Clint looked between Steve and the departing redhead and back again. "You good, man?"

The smirk on his face said things Steve did NOT like.

"Ya- yeah, course. Just- I dunno, forgot all the craziness, you know?" After his voice failed the first try, Steve felt he made a decent recovery.

The smirk on both their faces now said otherwise.

"You know what, let's just get to the offices to get our official schedules, alright?" Steve started heading to the administration building without waiting to see if they would follow. Either they would or they wouldn't.

Which meant either they would continue the path they had been heading down and begin pestering him, or they would drop it like he clearly wanted.

"So, already, huh?" Bucky kept up with his long strides easily. He should've known it wouldn't be that easy.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Steve responded without looking at either of them.

"Oh come on, Buck, leave him alone." Clint defended him? What- "After last year's vow of solitude, it's only to be expected." Nope, there it was.

"Monkhood not suiting you, Rogers?" Damn if he didn't need new friends. Who keeps them as long as he's had Bucky anyway.

"Haha, really funny guys. Drop it okay? Maybe I thought I recognized her, it caught me off guard, I don't know. Just move on, will ya?" Defensiveness rarely got them to ease up but then suddenly some dude on a scooter went flying by them, clearly not in control before promptly being flung over the handlebars and face planting into the grass not ten feet in front of them.

Ah, the beauty of college.

His moment of shame forgotten, they made their way into the office building to take care of their business before going about their days.

They made plans to meet up at the coffee place on campus after Bucky got released (as a culinary kid, his classes released the latest, since they were required to assist with meal prep once they got into the swing of things) and figure out how the semester was going to play out (meaning who was gonna get stuck waiting for who and when, since they tried to only bring in one car and since Clint lived on campus he wasn't allowed to park anywhere but in his resident's lot).

They went their separate ways and Steve had all but forgotten about the redhead from this morning.

Or so he liked to think.