I would like to dedicate this story to Maria - my writing buddy, friend, who gave me the courage to write this story - and Anna - I have no idea if I ever show this story to you, but thank you for showing me how amazing MCU and Stucky are.
This is my first time writing in English. I'm not a native speaker and I'm not a pro so please, try to be lenient.
His Masterpiece is Stucky AU, none of the things from MCU actually happened here.
James Barnes was never interested in art. Okay, maybe it wasn't entirely true. He was the pianist, he enjoyed classical music and it was art. But he didn't know a shit about paintings, monuments, poems. Of course, he wasn't blind. He thought some of the paintings were really nice, especially these depicting landscapes, but if anyone ever asked him about who painted it or what title was, he wouldn't know the answer. Hell, he almost failed art classes in high school. If he wasn't such a charming young gentleman, Ms. Abbott probably wouldn't hesitate and he would become this kid that failed art class. It would be such a humiliation. But he was lucky that his teachers adored him. He always was kind, helpful, charming and he didn't even have to fake it. His parents did a really good job raising him.
Even if he wasn't a fan of paintings, he enjoyed talking about them with Ms. Abbott. She was really passionate about it and that's why James liked their discussions so much. He never thought that after about ten years he would remember them so well, every single word. But somehow he did, especially that one time when Bucky asked his teacher how was he supposed to know if something was a masterpiece or not. Harriet Abbott had smiled at him before answering.
"You will know, James. It will be breathtaking, you won't be able to stop looking at it or listening. You will discover something new about it every time. You have to feel it, understand it your way. You can't follow someone else's opinion. Everyone considers something else a masterpiece. For me, it's Mona Lisa by Da Vinci, for my friend it's The Scream by Munch. And I'm pretty sure it's something else for you. Everybody has their own."
What was his masterpiece? He didn't know the answer back then. But he knew that Ms. Abbott was right, she always was. And ten years later as he remembered this conversation he couldn't help but thought 'she was right' again.
It was really nice Monday. It was sunny and really warm outside so it would be a sin to waste time lying on the couch. James grabbed a book his best friend Natasha bought him some time ago and left his apartment. He put his sunglasses on because the sun was shining way too bright and he wasn't prepared for this at 7 am. He was in a really good mood and nothing could change it. Bucky was strolling through the park alleys and tried to find nice the best place to sit and read. There wasn't a lot of people there yet, it was still early. James was lucky enough to find unoccupied bench close to the big fountain in the central part of the park. He sat, opened his book and started reading.
He was enjoying being outside. He really liked the way the warm wind was gently brushing his face and messed with his dark hair. It wasn't strong enough to mess it up completely. But some strands were falling on his face so he had to push them back from time to time. Luckily he was sitting in a shadow of the trees so the temperature wasn't too high for him. Sun didn't bother him so much anymore so he could take off his glasses. James put them on his head to hold his unruly hair. He looked around just to let his eyes rest for a moment.
And then it happened.
He felt as if something hit him in the head. Maybe it actually happened, Bucky wasn't sure. What he did know was that he found his masterpiece. And Ms. Abbott was right, it was breathtaking.
Few meters from where James was, there was the man. He was sitting on the grass, his back leaning against the tree. His shoulders were very broad – how was that even humanly possible to be so muscular? – that his navy blue button-up shirt looked way too tight. Actually, no. It wasn't too tight, Bucky didn't mind that it was clinging to his body. James kept staring at the man shamelessly because he couldn't look away. Thank God that Mr. Tight Shirt was too focused on the piece of paper he was holding in front of him. Barnes was watching the way the man's hand was moving. His moves were full of grace – yeah, this muscled man whose chest looks like Superman's was moving so gracefully it was almost surreal – and it didn't take Bucky a lot of time to figure out what he was doing. He was drawing. It was almost funny, he was creating art and was the work of art himself. But Bucky didn't even think about laughing, he just kept staring. The dark haired man noticed that Mr. Masterpiece had really long legs – his legs were probably muscled too – which meant that he was tall. Damn, of course, he was! James started wondering if he's taller than him. Maybe it was just an illusion caused by these muscles. Bucky was fit, yes, that's for sure. He was muscled too, his arms and his chest didn't look bad and his thighs – oh man, he had amazing thighs, but that's not the point. Barnes was smaller than this man. Were they the same height? No, probably not. James looked a little bit higher and he wasn't disappointed. The warm wind was playing with nicely styled blonde hair but didn't mess them up. Blonde? No, not blonde. His hair was golden. He had such a beautiful face. His beard made him look hotter, more masculine and softer at the same time. Bucky was in the art gallery few times but never saw anything – anyone – that could compare to him. Fuck, he was way too beautiful to be real! But he was and James Barnes couldn't get over it.
Bucky would probably keep staring for hours if the book he was holding didn't slip out of his hand. Oh God… James ran his fingers through dark hair. Obviously, he forgot about sunglasses on his head and he accidentally threw them on the ground behind the bench. His movements were chaotic when he quickly turned around to pick them up. He put his glasses on because he could feel his face burning. It would be a miracle if he wasn't already bright red. It was… Intense. He was overwhelmed by the beauty of this man. Wasn't it illegal to look so good? Barnes knew that he wouldn't be able to focus – not with this masterpiece being so close yet so far away – so he just closed his book and decided to go back to his place. But he was just a human and couldn't stop himself from looking at Mr. Golden Hair once again. Rays of sunshine were dancing on his skin making him look like he's glowing. Artist looked up for a moment, squinted his eyes a little and then he has focused on his drawing again. There were pure passion and concentration on his face – oh God, did he just bite his lip? – and James smiled subconsciously.
'Ms. Abbott was right' he thought 'I finally found my masterpiece.' Then he left but there was a boyish smile on his face for a really long time.
When James woke up the following morning there was a little smirk on his face. He felt the excitement in his body but didn't understand why. Or maybe he was aware of the reason he was so joyful at 8 am. He pulled his hair back, put on some dark clothes, his leather jacket, grabbed a book and left his apartment. He went to the park. Was he reading? Of course, he wasn't. He spent half an hour looking – he put his sunglasses on – at the beautiful man in front of him. Then Mr. Golden Hair stood up and left.
So Bucky came back the following day… And again…
He kept doing it for four days. He was acting like such a creep, he was fully aware of that. But he couldn't help it. Something about this man drew James towards him. But Bucky wasn't brave enough to just come closer and start a conversation. He wanted to – God, he wanted to know his name, he wanted to get closer and know what color his eyes were – but he was way too nervous to even try.
James Barnes came out as gay when he was sixteen so it wasn't a problem for him. He was proud of who he was and never questioned himself. All of his friends knew he was homosexual, his family did too and they were okay with that. But maybe this man wouldn't be? What if he was heterosexual or – even worse – homophobic douchebag? No, Bucky couldn't take the risk. It was safer to just keep watching him. James will get over him, right? He will, that's for sure. Hot Stranger will finish his drawing and Bucky will never see him again. Or Barnes will simply get bored.
So what's the point of trying to talk to this guy? There were plenty of men as beautiful as him… Right?
Yes, the chapter was really short but it's the first one, I have to somehow start this story.
Let me know if you found some huge mistakes and tell me what you think!
See you next time!
