Steve came over about a half hour later, satchel hanging off his shoulder. "Hey kid!" he greeted brightly, giving me a hug. "Thought I'd come over and help you out."

"With what?" I asked.

He pulled his laptop and drawing tablet out of his satchel. Though he preferred pen and paper, he was quite accomplished at digital art. "Well, most married couples have wedding pictures displayed in their home," he answered. Bucky laughed from behind me, stood up, and came over to hug his best friend.

"Good idea," the ex-assassin remarked. This idea is either getting way better, or way worse, I thought irritably. Steve sat down on my sofa. I sat on one side of him and expected Bucky to be on the other side, but instead he sat next to me and wrapped his metal arm around my shoulders.

Steve scrolled through several different kinds of wedding photos for a few minutes, lips pursed in thought. "Okay. We're going to take a picture of you two," he decided. "Are you wearing a camisole under that shirt?"

"Yeah…" I trailed off.

"Good. Take your shirt off."

"What?!" I demanded.

"Take your shirt off," Steve repeated. "I need to be able to see your body shape and most spring wedding dresses have bare arms. Go stand against that wall, both of you." We did as we were told, me reluctantly pulling my green shirt off to reveal the white camisole I was wearing underneath. "Okay, Cass, stand on Bucky's left and turn in so you're facing him and then turn your head to look back at me," Steve instructed. I did so. "Now put your hand on his chest—your left one to show off the ring. Once we have it I'll add it to the picture." I put my hand more on Bucky's ribcage than his chest. "A little higher. Even higher. Act like you freaking like him, Cassandra! Put your hand higher!" Steve snapped jovially. When my fingers were practically resting on Bucky's collarbone, Steve nodded in satisfaction. "Now Bucky, put your hands on her waist." He paused as I felt flesh and metal through my cami. "On second thought, that's a little too rigid. Relax a bit and rest your hands gently on her hips—like you like her!" Bucky did as instructed. "Okay, now smile like you're hopelessly in love with each other!" the captain exclaimed. I grinned sarcastically for a moment before turning it into a happy smile.

I heard the shutter sound from Steve's phone and the captain smiled.

"Perfect! You guys make good models!"

"Shut up," I muttered. Steve snickered.

He flopped back down onto my sofa and Bucky and I resumed our seats—me putting my shirt back on. Steve pulled up Photoshop and lots of stock photos and set right to work. "Which dress do you like?" he asked, showing me about five dresses in the same position as I'd been in for the picture.

"The se—"

"Fourth one," Bucky interrupted. I scrunched my eyebrows and turned to glare at him.

"It's my wedding dress!" I snapped teasingly.

"Yeah, but that one would look pretty on you!" he protested.

I sighed dramatically. "Do the fourth one, Steve."

"Okay. You two go off somewhere and get to know each other better while I finish this bit. When I need your opinions, I'll give you a call."

"Are you kicking me out of my own apartment?" I asked.

"Not at all. Just suggesting you two go learn how to pretend to be married."

"That won't be too hard given how much I seem to argue with everyone," I muttered under my breath.

"That's the spirit!" Steve said distractedly, digitally removing the straps of my bra and camisole so they wouldn't interfere with putting the dress on over the clothes I was actually wearing. Bucky stood up and offered me his normal hand.

"C'mon. Let's go for a walk around the block."

So we did. Steve called once or twice asking if we preferred the woods or a field or a blurry city skyline for our background and if Bucky preferred a tie or a bowtie. Since Bucky picked the dress, I insisted he be put in a bowtie—which he didn't seem to mind. Finally, after a while, Steve called one last time. "Okay. Your wedding picture is done. Come look," was all he said before hanging up. Bucky and I rushed back to my apartment and slipped in. Bucky jumped over the back of the sofa and landed on one side of Steve while I—more conventionally—went around the other side and sat on the captain's other side.

"Wow," I muttered, looking at it in awe.

"And this, my friends, is why you can't trust any picture you see anymore," Steve remarked.

It looked like a real, professionally done photo—taken outside in actual wedding clothes instead of against a blank wall in my apartment. Bucky was in a formal tuxedo and I was in a grand wedding dress that suited my body shape while making me look a bit slimmer than maybe I actually was. His metal hand was covered by the veil falling from my long hair. "Impressive," Bucky commented, whistling appreciatively.

"I'll print it out, frame it, and bring it by tomorrow," Steve commented, standing up.

"Thanks Steve," I told him, deciding this would be an okay idea after all.

The super soldier gave me a big hug. "No problem. It was my pleasure—Mrs. Barnes."

I whacked him in the chest as I let go. "Shut up."

"You two are going to be teased about this until you actually get married. I hope you know that," Steve whispered in my ear. I rolled my eyes.

"Go away Captain," I snapped.

He strolled over to the door, me tailing closely behind with Bucky still on the sofa. "I ship it!" Steve called before I slammed the door on him and locked it. I knew if he wanted to he could break the whole thing down with like zero effort, but I locked it anyway.

"How does he even know what that means?" I hissed under my breath.

"What does that mean?" Bucky asked.

I sighed. "I'm not even going to tell you."

"Oh. Um… okay. Is it a bad thing?"

"No. But if I told you what it meant, you might get embarrassed or angry."

"Huh. Alright then." He stretched his metal arm over the back of the couch. "Come have a seat. Let's talk."

I sat down and let him drape his arm over my shoulders. He held me closer than I could have preferred, but I knew I'd have to get used to it if my grandma expected me to be deeply in love with this guy. We talked for several hours, well into late afternoon, before we got hungry. Bucky looked out at the dimming light and grinned, hopping to his feet.

"Let me treat you to dinner," he said, offering me his hand.

"No," I retorted.

"Why not?"

"Because I have food here and we don't have to pretend yet. Let's just make a TV dinner and watch a movie." I took his hand, let him help me up, and opened some of my cupboards—and the freezer. I picked a frozen personal pizza. Bucky picked the same.

We sat close to each other while we ate and watched Megamind. Bucky thought it was hilarious.

As the sun went down and I got tired, I leaned my head on his shoulder. He brushed my hair with his metal hand idly as I relaxed.

"Should I stay over tonight? We might as well get used to sharing," he remarked.

I shrugged, too tired to argue. "Okay," I muttered. He helped me up and into the master bedroom. I know it sounds weird, single girl living alone has a king-size bed, but I did have a king-size bed. I slept firmly on one side of it to make it easier to make in the mornings, but I had a big bed. "You can use the bathroom first," I commented.

"I'll shower in the morning."

"Okay then I'll use the bathroom first." I took everything I needed into the bathroom, took a shower, changed into my pajamas, brushed my teeth, pulled my hair back into a braid, and left. Bucky was looking at the picture of me and my family on my bedside table when I went into the bedroom.

He took his turn to brush his teeth and whatever else and came back in. I was already in the covers on my usual side, laying on my left shoulder so my back was to him.

Bucky pulled the covers down on his side before stopping. "Do you mind that I sleep without a shirt on?" he asked.

I was too tired to care. "No."

I heard fabric rustling and then felt him get in. "Good. Thank you." I shrugged.

We fell asleep with our backs to each other, almost as far away as we could be.

So you'll imagine how surprised I was when I woke up the next morning.

End Note: Okay. I wasn't going to post this until finals were over but I had just enough extra time that I could write out a few things. I'm trying a new format out with this by only having notes at the end (assuming I remember to do it like that). I won't be able to respond to reviews every time, but holy freaking cow! The response to this one was stellar in regards to how people usually respond. Like, wow guys! Thanks for being so dang enthusiastic!

To "havarti2": Thank you so much! I'm glad you like it! To "ToxieDoxie": There is definitely more to come! To "Whitelion69": I will absolutely write more when I can! To "callieandjack": I already spoke to you about your review. To "Guest": I'm glad you're excited - I am too! To "AssembleCHB": I didn't see a reason to use her name in the first chapter, but as you can see, she's definitely got one (and I kinda already have a ship name in my head... but feel free to make one yourself)!

Thank you for reading! Leave a comment if you'd like!