December 14: "we've never met but we keep ending up under the mistletoe and after the sixth time it just started getting ridiculous"
Every year, Tony and Pepper threw a gigantic Christmas party at their house, and every year, Bucky was dragged along by Natasha. This year wasn't any different, Bucky was forced into his best suit and dragged to the large Stark-Potts household. This year was different in the fact that this year, Natasha had also dragged Clint along, which seemed like a good idea up until they had picked him up and he realized that he, not Clint, was the third wheel. So he sulked and whined, but he was forced to go anyway.
Once there, Bucky immediately ditched Clint and Natasha and their "we aren't flirting" and headed straight for the best thing about these dumb Christmas parties: open bar. He got himself a drink and then made his way to the other side of the room to watch a pool game that was going on. When he got there, he was relieved to see someone familiar.
"Sam!" He shouted.
Sam's head popped up from where he was lining up a shot and a grin made its way across his face. He handed his pool stick to the man standing beside him and engulfed Bucky in a huge hug. "I wasn't sure you'd come now that Natasha found herself more arm candy." He said as he pulled away. "It's good to see you, Buck."
"Good to see you too." Bucky said.
"Now you can watch me kick this poor guy's ass at pool if you feel up to seeing a beatdown." Sam said, grabbing his pool stick back.
"We will see, Samuel!" Said a tall muscular blonde with hair longer than Bucky's and biceps the site of Bucky's thigh.
"I guess we will, Thor. But you better watch your back." Sam said, lining up a shot again.
Bucky leaned against the entryway to watch the game and was soon joined by the man who had held Sam's pool stick. The man was about the same height as Bucky with broad shoulders and kind blue eyes; it also didn't hurt that he was built like a tank. He was just the kind of guy Bucky would fall for fast and so just the kind of guy Bucky avoided.
The man offered his hand to Bucky. "I'm Steve." He said.
Bucky shook his hand. "Bucky." He said, trying to stay as uninterested as possible.
"So how do you know Sam?" he asked after they had both turned back to the game.
"Um we actually met at the VA." Bucky said. "What about you?" Bucky glanced at Steve's face and watch a smirk quirk up the corner of his mouth. 'Oh no, he's adorable.' he thought.
"We run together." He said.
There was a lull in the conversion, broken by Thor pointing above Steve and Bucky's heads and bellowing, "I do believe there is a tradition!" All conversation ceased in the near vicinity and everyone turned their eyes first to Thor and then at what he was pointing at: mistletoe.
'So much for keeping my distance.' Bucky thought as he turned to face Steve. "Look, I understand if you don't want to do this." He said. "I mean, we barely know each other."
Steve turned to face him and took a half step closer. "I'm game if you are." ha said before a soft smile appeared on his face. "Besides, like Thor said, it is tradition." Steve followed his words with a soft peck on Bucky's lips before pulling back and turning his attention back to the pool game.
Bucky quickly turned and made his way through the crowd with a burning face. He found Natasha and Clint standing by the bar talking to Pepper and Tony-who he knew would tease him for being embarrassed over this-and so he tried to turn around before Tony could see him. Pepper saw him before he could make his escape and called him over and so Bucky sulked back to the group.
There was a fast-paced conversation going on while Bucky waited on Tony and Pepper to leave so he could whine to Natasha.
"Bucky, tell me why you are pouting." Natasha said, breaking the stream of conversation. "And don't even try to say that you are not."
Bucky pursed his lips and glared at Natasha. "A cute boy kissed me." He said quietly.
The entire group erupted into laughter and Bucky just sulked harder. They laughed for longer than they should have-in Bucky's opinion-and when they started to quiet down, Bucky raised his eyebrow in Natasha's direction.
Natasha was wiping tears from her eyes. "Go ahead and tell me the whole story." She said and so he did. After he had finished, Natasha nodded and then looked at Bucky like he was an idiot. "I understand why you are freaking out a little, but I think you should get over your aversion to relationships and give Steve a chance. He's not like other guys you have dated, he is a great person."
"Wait." Bucky said. "You know Steve?"
Before Natasha could respond, Steve ducked into their group to give Natasha a hug. "Natasha, I haven't seen you in forever." He said before releasing her and turning to hug Clint. "You too, buddy." After he released Clint and turned to Pepper and Tony and gave Pepper a swift peck on her cheek and then clapped Tony on his shoulder. "It's great to see you guys." He said.
Bucky knew he was staring, but he couldn't help it. "Does everyone but me know Steve?" He asked.
"Steve, I heard that you met James." Natasha said with a smirk.
"Oh, so this is James." Steve said. He told me his name was Bucky." Steve said.
Bucky crossed his arms and glared at Steve. "Only she calls me James, everyone else calls me Bucky." He said.
Steve came to stand beside Bucky. "So how do you know everyone?" He asked.
Bucky opened his mouth to respond, but before he could, a small flying helicopter toy came to haver above their heads. This would not have been a problem if someone hadn't attached a mistletoe to the bottom of said helicopter.
Bucky shot a glare to Tony, who held his hands up in a surrender position, before he turned back to Steve. Steve gave a blinding smile that made Bucky's heart jump before they both leaned in to a kiss. This one lasted longer than the last, but was still short and chaste. When they pulled apart, Bucky realized that he had closed his eyes and so he shot them open before turning pointedly back to the group and trying not to pay any attention to Steve.
After that, Bucky kept meeting Steve under mistletoes in the weirdest places: hung from the light above the bar, in another doorway between rooms, and, in one awkward occasion, in the doorway to the bathroom. Also, every kiss became longer and softer and sweeter and Bucky didn't want them to stop.
As the evening drew to a close, he saw Natasha and Steve in deep conversation and so he made his way closer.
"I thought it would work." Natasha said. "Sorry, Steve. You'll probably just have to approach James like a normal person and ask him out." Bucky's heart jumped at the mention of his name.
Steve threw his hands up in exasperation. "I thought you said that he didn't do relationships, that's why I had to come at it from such a weird and creepy angle."
Natasha gave him look. "Whatever. You need to do something, though. Who knows, he might even say yes." She said.
Bucky then walked up and joined them with his heart racing. He had no idea what he was doing. The only thing he knew was that he wanted to give Steve a chance. "I agree with Natasha, you should just go ahead and ask me out." He said. "Who knows, I might even say yes." He said as Steve's cheeks colored red.
Natasha took that as he queue to leave so that Steve and Bucky were standing there alone.
Steve rubbed at the back of his neck nervously. "So, Bucky, would you like to have dinner with me sometime?" He asked.
Bucky gave a soft, if nervous, smile. "I'd love to." He said. There was a brief pause before Bucky looked into Steve's eyes and let out a breathy laugh. "I know there is no mistletoe, but I would like to kiss you."
A shy grin made its way across Steve's face as he leaned in. Bucky cupped Steve's face in his hands and closed the rest of the distance between them, sealing their lips together. Steve sighed into the kiss and wrapped his arms around Bucky's waist, pulling them in close.
When they parted, they pressed their foreheads together and smile at each other. "So you and Natasha arranged the mistletoe?" Bucky asked.
Steve gave a nervous chuckle. "It seems stupid now." He said.
"I think it is kind of romantic. "Bucky said before pressing their lips together again.
Part of a 25 part Christmas AU series.