You Give Love a Bad Name

by Team Damon

When Summer faces one of the most dreaded events of her adult life - her ten year high school reunion - she's left with no choice but to ask one of her closest friends to be her date for the event and pretend to be her boyfriend. She's pretty sure it's one of the worst ideas in the history of the world, but desperate times call for desperate measures. AU, Bucky/OC

4. Chapter 4

A/N: okay, giant chapter time! :D one more chapter plus an epilogue left after this, so we're almost done :D I'm excited about this chapter, and I hope SO MUCH that you guys like it, because it took me forever to write and I was beyond relieved when it was over lol.

Two notes - first, the lyrics used in this chapter are original and were written by the glorious midnightwings96, whom I thank SO MUCH for lending her help and being amazing as always. I added like one line to the lyrics but I'm giving her all the credit because she's awesome and she wrote more that didn't make it here, and I just adore her and GAH. But of course, you guys already knew that :D

SECOND note - this chapter contains a lengthy flashback of the femslash variety. That's right, I said femslash lol. So if it's not your cup of tea, just skip over the italicized portion of the chapter :) for those who don't skip it, I hope you, er, enjoy it. Lol. It was new territory for me to wade into, but I had fun with it. Hopefully it turned out all right :D In any case, I love you all and once again, thank you SO MUCH for all the follows and feedback, my gosh I just am incredibly grateful. And without further ado, let us step into the "main event" of the story - the dang high school reunion :D

On their way inside the hotel, Aemilia glanced over her shoulder and grinned to herself when she saw Bucky and Summer zooming down the street on his motorcycle. Even from afar they looked incredible together, and Aemilia noted as she cast her eyes forward again, "Our plan is working perfectly."

His hand in hers and a small grin on his face, Loki chuckled, "You make it sound as if we're villains hatching evil plans together."

"Well," Aemilia smiled up at him, "if the shoe fits, why not?"

Loki gave her an amused, affectionate smile in reply as they then sashayed into the hotel together. All eyes were on them, they could easily tell, and it was for good reason. Aemilia was in a killer deep red dress that clung to her like it had been made for her, low cut and sleeveless and backless, cut off just above the knee and accentuating her curves and leaving no room for doubt how truly all grown up she was. Loki, meanwhile, was in a well-fitted black and gray suit, black tie and white shirt with his slightly long black hair combed back and curled lightly at the ends behind his ears. It was difficult to tell which of them was supposed to be the arm candy, considering they both looked good enough to eat.

Once inside, they were greeted by a smiling young blonde behind a little welcome desk that had been set up for the event. She smiled up at them brightly as they approached, and Aemilia immediately recognized her as Maddie, one of her and Summer's former tormentors. The name tag on her dress reading Madison confirmed as much.

"Hello!" she chirped cheerfully, eyes darting back and forth between the two of them in a clear attempt to figure out which of them was one of her former classmates. But Aemilia didn't even have time to say hello back before Maddie's eyes suddenly widened on her and she gasped, "I know you!"

Aemilia glanced at Loki and hid a slight cringe, some of her own nerves starting to kick back in for a moment.

"... You're that girl who sings that song! I've seen the video like a million times and I love it! Holy crap, and I bought your album the day it came out!"

Aemilia laughed lightly, her brows raising in surprise. Clearly Maddie had no idea that the lead singer of one of her favorite new bands was also a girl whom she had helped torture in high school.

Then she turned her starstruck eyes on Loki next. "I'm sorry, I'm being rude. Can I get you a name tag?"

"You may," Loki replied politely, sneaking an amused grin to Aemilia. "But this is her reunion, not mine."

Maddie blinked. "Oh!" She blinked again and paused. "Really?"

"Yes," Aemilia smiled sweetly, taking the blank name tag that was offered to her. She then grabbed a pen that was sitting on the desk, wrote her name on the sticky part and held it it up so Maddie could see.

The way that Maddie's eyes widened in shock, disbelief, and then slight humiliation was one of the most satisfying things that Aemilia had ever seen in her life.

"Wait... you're..."

"Yes I am," Aemilia smiled.

Maddie looked her over as if she still just couldn't quite believe it. "You look... different."

"Thank you," Aemilia said with a slightly exaggerated sweetness. "You look exactly as I remember you."

Maddie looked up at her blankly, clearly not sure as to whether or not she meant that in a good way or a bad way. But Aemilia simply smiled and said, "Thank you for the warm welcome," then turned and walked away with Loki's hand in hers. Maddie stared after them both the entire time, looking at Aemilia in sheer bewilderment and at Loki like he was possibly the single most attractive man she had ever seen in her life.

"Enjoy that?" Loki asked her with a knowing grin a moment later.

"Immensely," Aemilia grinned back. This was going to be a fantastic night, she was sure of it.

Meanwhile, Bucky and Summer were now on their way inside as well, also hand in hand and looking rather ravishing themselves. Summer noticed a few girls staring at Bucky the way that girls always did whenever he went anywhere, only this time they looked at her with a clear hint of slight jealousy before looking away entirely. She had to try not to smile too broadly.

It might all be pretend, but damn if she wasn't gonna enjoy every last bit of showing Bucky off and striking jealousy into the hearts of all the straight girls present.

For once, Summer felt genuinely felt like she truly looked good. Her dress was gorgeous, a short halter-style black number embellished with beading and achieving an appropriately sexy flair thanks to the curve-hugging fit and sheer materal along the neckline that showed off just enough cleavage underneath to be sexy and still tasteful. The dress was short but not tackily so, and the equally dark high heels she wore placed her just about at eye level with Bucky himself. She rather liked looked over at him and finding them to be the same height.

And Bucky, meanwhile, was to Summer the embodiment of sex itself. Wearing his signature all-black minus the white button down he wore under his leather jacket, he dressed the look up with a black tie and shiny black dress shoes, his long hair down and perfectly windswept thanks to the ride there. He was, quite literally, everything she had ever wanted, and now she got to rub it in everybody's faces.

Not that she was petty or anything.

They walked inside and found the welcome desk, and all it took was one glance for Summer to recognize Maddie as the apparent welcome committee. She looked a bit sour, sort of like she was sucking on a lemon in one of her cheeks, and the look only grew more pronounced once Bucky and Summer approached the desk.

Maddie looked up and this time had no problem recognizing the woman standing in front of her. She plastered on a fake smile and said with clearly false enthusiasm, "Summer!"

Summer smiled right back, glancing at her name tag. "Maddie... or Madison I guess it is now."

Maddie smiled as pleasantly as she could manage. "So good to see you! I like your dress."

"Oh, thanks," Summer replied, noticing the way that Maddie's eyes had flickered to Bucky in the middle of her last sentence and were now stuck on him as if glued there. Heart suddenly speeding up a little out of pure anxiety, Summer then blurted out, "He's my boyfriend." Maddie's eyes flicked over to her, and she flushed with slight embarrassment. "He's... his name is Bucky. And he's my boyfriend."

She could almost feel Bucky mentally shaking his head at her and quite possibly also facepalming.

"... Oh. How sweet," Maddie smiled, handing over two name tags. "Nice motorcycle, by the way. I saw you guys pull up. Didn't know who you were at first."

Summer would have to thank Bucky later for the whole dramatic entrance idea. Maddie then looked Summer over and said, "I'm surprised you came."

Summer's eyes flashed up to hers. "Why wouldn't I?"

Maddie shrugged. "Nothing. I just think you're brave, is all."

Bucky, having been carefully observing the exchange, slid his arm around Summer's waist and said with his eyes on her, "She's always brave. She's even brave enough to come here and show all the assholes who bullied her how badass she turned out." He then glanced at Maddie and asked completely innocently, "Are any of those assholes here?"

Maddie gaped like a fish, stunned into state between stammering and silence. "I... I'm not sure."

Bucky nodded and then smiled, turning back to Summer and giving her a gentle tug. "Well, let's go see if we can find some."

"Okay," Summer giggled faintly, glancing back at Maddie's bewildered face one more time as Bucky steered them away.

"That was kinda fun," she whispered with a giddy little smile as they followed the signs towards the correct room where the rest of the night would take place.

"Thought you'd like that," he grinned back, and after turning a corner, they reached a pair of open double doors and Summer found herself at last arrived to the damn reunion.

That was when a thought that had been bothering her all day resurfaced in Summer's mind, and she brought them to a halt and pulled him back a few steps. "Wait."

He stopped and looked at her with nothing but concern written on his face. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I just..." she sighed, wrestling with herself to figure out the best way to voice this particular thought of hers. "Look, don't take this the wrong way, because I don't mean it like that at all. It's just... okay." She took a breath and looked him in the eye. "You're kind of a flirt, you know?"

He furrowed his brows. "... Yeah?"

"I mean, you flirt with everybody. Even me, and I know you don't mean anything by it, but -"

He grew almost a bit pained looking at that comment, frowning slightly. "What are you asking me to do?"

"Just... please don't flirt with anyone," she pled quietly. "Some of the girls I went to school with are really pretty and outgoing and... it just comes so naturally to you, you might not even know that you're doing it."

He sighed and looked her in the eyes. "Summer, I promise you, I'm not gonna flirt with anyone. I wouldn't do that to you."

"I know you wouldn't mean to, but -"

"Summer," he said more seriously, almost darkly as he continued to maintain that almost unsettlingly direct eye contact. "I'm here for you. You're all I care about, all right? I'm here to help you feel better and feel more confident and get you through this. And I'm not gonna fuck that up."

His sincerity was so breathtaking that Summer suddenly felt bad for doubting him for even a minute. "Okay. I'm sorry."

He shrugged her off, blinking a few times and taking her hand back in his. "It's all right. I get why you'd be worried."

They started walking again. "Still. I'm sorry. I feel like a jerk now."

Before she knew it, he had led her inside the room, and they were now standing in front of a crowd full of her old classmates. He smirked at her and said, "S'okay, baby." Then he brought her hand up to his lips and brushed a kiss on her knuckles, a hint of mischief back in his eyes, and she had to force herself not to gulp.

No turning back now. It was time to put on a show and finally get this damn reunion over with.

---

The reunion officially began with a "cocktail hour" that sounded more fancy than it actually was. Summer, despite the tiny bottle of whiskey that she had downed not half an hour before, was more than ready to drink away her fluttering nerves, so she found Aemilia while Bucky briefly left her to get drinks.

It appeared that Loki was up to the same thing as Bucky, as Summer found Aemilia by herself just outside of the main crowd of people.

"Well, this is more crowded than I thought it would be," Summer remarked, standing next to Aemilia and fiddling with the name tag that she still hadn't put on.

"I know," Aemilia sighed. "It's a remarkably high turnout."

From where Summer was standing, it looked like everybody had changed in some way. Of those that she recognized, most of them were either bigger or smaller, some in startlingly noticeable ways, and she didn't quite feel like she was standing in a room full of old classmates. It felt mostly like standing in a room full of strangers, at least until one of the men in the crowd glanced their way and then tapped the arm of the man standing next to him.

Summer's eyes widened with recognition. "Is that..."

"Oh no," Aemilia muttered under her breath. "They're coming this way."

"Frick me," Summer groaned, looking over her shoulder towards Bucky, but he was still waiting for her drink and was of no help or salvation to her.

"Oh my gosh," Caleb said as he walked up to the girls, dressed in a nice suit with a good haircut and looking nothing like the idiot they remembered. He smiled at them and said, "Holy crap, it's you guys!"

"It's us," Aemilia smiled, feeling a bit uneasy herself as she watched Joey join the other man at his side. Both she and Summer stood there awaiting the men calling them by their old humiliating nicknames, wondering which ones they'd remember. Probably the worst and most demeaning ones.

"Wow, you guys look great," Joey said, looking genuinely impressed.

"Yeah, you do," Caleb agreed. "I was hoping you two would show up."

"I can only imagine why," Aemilia sighed, prepared to tell them off and stomp away at the first sign of disrespect.

"No, no, it's not what you think," Caleb replied. "We were actually just talking about you two the other day."

"And how we used to call you all kinds of stuff," Joey added.

"If you plan on resurrecting those demeaning and ridiculous old nicknames, save your breath because I won't stand here and listen to it," Aemilia replied quite bluntly.

"Oh God no," Caleb replied, aghast. "We wanted to apologize."

Summer and Aemilia both stood there and stared at the men in shock. "Really?" Summer asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, we were idiots," Joey replied.

"We really were. We both had older brothers for role models and we copied everything they did, the good and the bad," Caleb explained. "We didn't really think about how what we said and did would affect anyone else. We just wanted people to think we were tough and... cool, I guess."

Summer blinked, briefly sharing a look with Aemilia who appeared as stunned as she was.

"Yeah, so... we're very sorry," Joey told them both. "When I think back on how we treated the two of you especially, it makes me feel like the world's biggest loser."

"Well," Aemilia said, "you two weren't actually the worst that we had to deal with, believe it or not."

"Still," Caleb shrugged.

Summer stared at them and muttered, "... How did you guys... like..."

"... Stop being giant dickheads?" Caleb guessed with a smile. "Well, we went to college together in California. First girl we tried to tease punched me in the face."

"His nose is still slightly crooked from it," Joey added.

"Yeah. That was kind of a wake up call. We kind of just realized how stupid we had been and... well, we grew up. Learned how to treat people better and have respect. Then we graduated, got married, got jobs..."

It was then that Loki and Bucky rejoined their women, putting drinks in their hands and standing at their sides. "Oh, where are your wives?" Aemilia asked curiously, raising her glass of red wine to her lips as Summer did the same with her white wine.

"Oh, no," Caleb chuckled, patting Joey on the shoulder. "We married each other."

Both girls then promptly choked on their drinks, and Loki grinned at the two strangers and chirped, "Congratulations!"

"Mazel tov," Bucky raised his glass to the men, having no clue who they were.

"You're both gay?" Summer nearly exclaimed, coughing a little and staring at the men wide-eyed. "Four years of calling me Funbags and acting like you were banging all the girls in school and you're both gay?!"

"Well, we didn't realize it at the time," Joey shrugged. "Or... well, maybe we kind of did, which might have been why we overcompensated so much, but..."

"Wait," Loki said, "these are the men who tormented you both?"

"Yes," Aemilia said before introducing them to Loki and Loki to them, doing the same for Bucky when Summer appeared too shocked still to do it herself.

"We're very sorry," Caleb reiterated for the sake of the men. "We were just explaining to them why we were such losers before. There's no excuse for it, but... we were just... very confused and very stupid teenaged boys."

"We forgive you," Aemilia told them, smiling understandingly. "We were all kids and high school isn't easy for anyone. It takes courage to apologize as you just did, so... thank you. And congratulations."

They both grinned, taking each other's hands lovingly as Joey remarked, "Hey, you too! We're huge fans. We bought your album last week."

"The deluxe online edition," Caleb added. He then glanced up at Loki and said, "Wow, you're even hotter in person."

"Indeed I am," Loki grinned, incorrigible as ever.

"Thank you," Aemilia chuckled. "I wasn't sure very many people would recognize us."

"We've watched the video for Ruin like a hundred times, so," Caleb shrugged with a sheepish smile.

"Yeah, and he's got a big crush on the trumpet player," Joey added.

"Clint?" Aemilia chuckled. "That's fantastic!"

"His face is so squishy," Caleb grinned, looking slightly embarrassed. Then he glanced at Summer, who was watching the whole exchange with rapt attention, still hardly believing any of it, and he also glanced at Bucky before saying, "Looks like you did pretty well for yourself, too."

Summer blinked in confusion for a moment before remembering the whole fake boyfriend thing. "Oh! Yeah, yeah I have," she smiled, glancing at Bucky. "My... super hot boyfriend."

Bucky merely scoffed quietly and casually wrapped his arm around her. "Nah, I'm the lucky one."

"Aw," Joey smiled, and Summer still couldn't get over how these guys were now apparently respectful, sensitive, decent men now. "How long have you two been together?"

"Six months," Summer smiled, the lie now sounding almost natural rolling off her tongue.

"How'd you two meet?" Caleb asked, and as soon as the words left his mouth, Summer panicked.

She suddenly couldn't remember her own made up story. It was as if under all the stress and confusion and mild distress of the last day or two, her brain simply decided to utterly fail her. Her mind went blank and she looked at Bucky and stuttered, "Uh... well, we..."

He stared back at her with equal panic for half a second, just long enough for her to realize that he couldn't remember either, but then he schooled his features and opened his mouth to save them both from humiliation.

"We met during an interview," he replied, eyes on the two men as Summer watched him. "She was writing a piece for the Times about PTSD in military vets. And since I'm both a vet and a psychologist, she thought I was worth interviewing."

Summer's eyes widened fractionally, but not enough for anyone around them to notice. He was telling the real story of how they met.

"Oh wow," Caleb said. "You're ex-military?"

Bucky nodded. "Army paid for my degrees and I served two tours in Afghanistan. Wasn't easy, but... got me to where I am today. Wouldn't have met her otherwise," Bucky grinned, hand resting comfortably but firmly on her waist.

"So it all started with an interview," Joey said, smiling at them both.

"That's right," Bucky grinned. "See I was running a little late that day, 'cause I actually forgot about the interview. My memory's not the best ever since Afghanistan. I got this head injury when an IED hit my convoy, literally left part of my skull over there -"

Caleb and Joey's eyes widened. "Dude," the former said, "I'm sorry, man."

"Thanks," Bucky shrugged. "I'm used to it now, but it does make things inconvenient when I forget appointments and other things. But that's why I was late, so I jumped on my bike and hurried down to the VA. She was already there waiting, of course, 'cause she showed up fifteen minutes early."

Summer smiled nervously. "Better early than late, right?"

Bucky grinned and continued with the story. "So I finally get there, apologize about five times, and then we sat down and she started asking her questions. She was wearing this pretty little blue dress and her hair was up, looked professional and everything, but there was this one little piece of hair that kept falling in her face. And the way that she kept pushing it back behind her ear over and over was just... I thought it was adorable."

Even Loki was smiling now, and Summer was watching Bucky recount the story in disbelief. Here was a man who could never remember what he'd had for breakfast and left sticky notes around his house to remind him of tasks and appointments that he would otherwise forget, and yet he remembered the color of her dress and the style of her hair from when they had first met over two years ago. And that was when he'd been engaged to someone else.

"Anyway, she ran her article within the week and it was brilliant," Bucky smiled. "She's got a real talent for what she does, it's incredible. And it we kept in touch after that. Took me awhile to get my act together and ask her out, but... I finally did."

He turned and smiled at her after those last few words, and Summer had to admit that she'd never heard a more beautiful lie in her life. But something in his eyes was so soft and real in that moment that she could almost believe that he had meant every word that he'd said and that he remembered those little details from their first meeting because deep down, he really did love her the same way that she loved him.

But the moment came to an end, like all moments did, and after a bit more small talk between the small group, Summer started nursing her wine a bit more determinedly. Bucky was always touching her in some way, if not holding her hand then having his arm around her waist or fixing a stray lock of hair for her. He was incredibly attentive and so entirely focused upon her, and she loved it so much that she absolutely hated it at the same time.

Eventually the bullies-turned-good guys had to move on and catch up with a few others, and Aemilia convinced Summer to go and "mingle" with her a bit more. They chatted with a few former classmates who hadn't hated or tormented them, one of whom was now married with a whopping five kids and insisted on showed them more baby pictures than they could count.

It wasn't so bad, Summer began to think after some time had passed. The wine was decent and nobody had been mean to her yet (aside from Maddie), and she had even made peace with two of the people who had helped make her high school career so awful. It was fun watching everybody walk by and eye Loki with a mixture of slight fear and awe, because that was the natural reaction to his presence everywhere he went, and Aemilia seemed to be quite enjoying herself as well. Plus there was Bucky and his constant touching, and that was a rather huge benefit.

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all. Maybe she had been silly to have been so worried the whole time. Maybe -

"Oh dear God," Aemilia muttered near Summer's ear just when she had been on the verge of enjoying herself. "Look who's coming over here."

Summer looked up and had to suppress a groan. It was Tracey, the meanest of the mean girls, one of the single worst human beings she had ever had the displeasure of knowing. And she was smiling as if they were old friends and heading straight for them.

"Who's that?" Bucky asked quietly.

"Satan," Summer muttered back.

"Hi!" Tracey chirped, smiling happily at them and coming to a halt a polite distance away. "I had no idea you two were coming!"

Aemilia flashed her a fake smile right back and said, "Well, we were invited, just like everyone else."

"Yeah, but I had no clue you'd actually show up," Tracey smiled, looking from Aemilia to Summer and then to their men. "Hi."

Aemilia was about to begrudgingly introduce Loki when he saved her the trouble and held out his hand to Tracey and said, "I'm Loki, you may have heard of me."

"Oh, I've definitely heard of you," Tracey smiled, just on the borderline of inappropriately flirtatious as she shook his hand. Then she eyed Aemilia and said, "You two are quite the big deal now. I saw your picture in an Us Magazine last week."

"Comes with the territory of having a number one single," Aemilia shrugged, thoroughly enjoying herself.

Tracey smiled somewhat bitterly and then turned to Summer next. "So I heard you're an intern at the Times now?"

"I got an internship after college," Summer corrected her. "Now I'm a staff writer." She then gestured to Bucky and said, "And this is Bucky. Bucky, this is Tracey, my old... classmate."

Tracey didn't bother for a handshake, so Bucky didn't either. But he did throw on his best charming smile and say, "Pleasure to meet you."

She smiled back and then turned back to Aemilia and said, "You know, I came close to signing a record deal of my own a few years ago."

"Did you?" Aemilia asked, genuinely surprised. Tracey may have won the school talent show ages ago, but her depth of talent wasn't much to speak of.

"Yep. And I would have signed it and had my own top ten hit by now, but the head of the label wanted to sleep with me first, so... I walked away from that."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Aemilia replied, meaning it that time. No matter how much she despised Tracey, no woman deserved such despicable treatment.

Tracey shrugged, eyed Loki pointedly and said, "Well, not everybody shares my unwillingness to sleep their way to the top, obviously."

Summer, who had been lifting her wine glass to her lips, slowly began to pull it back down as she stared at Tracey with outrage. Aemilia blinked, wondering why she was surprised that Tracey was still obviously as vile as she had always been, but Loki was the one to open his mouth first and answer Tracey's statement in a way that she would never forget.

"I'm afraid that you are mistaken, dear," Loki said calmly and casually, always preferring to attack in ways that left the victim unaware that they were even being attacked until after it was over. "While we all know that such things are not rare in the music industry and quite a few other industries, when I found Aemilia I warned her of powerful men who would try to take advantage of her as you nearly were yourself. I told her that even if they didn't try to force favors from her in return for work, they would try to exploit her beauty and control everything from the sound of her music to the color of her hair and what she wore. I offered her the chance to be herself and be in control of her own brand, with my expertise as guidance. She was wary of me at first, as she should have been, but in time she agreed. And her success has spoken for itself, don't you think?"

Tracey listened to him with slightly wide eyes, that same mixture of awe and slight fear on her face that Loki seemed to cause with everyone, but she still managed to reply, "Do you think anyone actually believes that?"

"I don't particularly care what people choose to believe," Loki replied. "It's human nature to believe what one wants to believe. But the truth is that I took this little artist under my wing and nurtured her, mentored her and gave her the tools that she needed to succeed, and nothing else. I showed her the utmost of respect even when she was unknowingly driving me absolutely mad and making her desire her in ways I had never desired anyone before. And when our relationship finally did become more than strictly professional, it was by her own choice and it influenced nothing else. I can promise you that. Others can be as petty and accuse us of whatever they like. I don't need to defend Aemilia's honor against those who have none, because she is more than capable of doing so herself and frankly... you are beneath us."

Aemilia smiled at Loki, adoring the way that he could sing her praises and so elegantly shut another person down all in the same breath. Summer was nearly swooning herself and Bucky was watching Tracey and waiting for her to either explode or huff and stomp away. She did neither.

"Well, nobody would believe you," Tracey replied, though she suddenly found it impossible to look either Aemilia or Loki in the eye.

"I believe him," Summer grinned. "Trust me, it's all true."

Tracey then gave her a look of sheer distaste and all but spat, "Oh, please. You still follow her around like a lovesick puppy," she gestured to Aemilia. "It's actually kind of pathetic. Neither of you have changed at all."

"Actually, we have," Aemilia replied calmly. "But you clearly haven't."

"I never needed to," Tracey replied. Then, just because she hadn't been enough of a witch, she then looked at Summer and asked, "Still write disgusting porn with your little lover right here?"

She wasn't referring to Bucky, of course. She was referring to Aemilia, and Summer took a deep breath to try to calm herself as she formulated a response. Bucky gave her hand a tug, trying to get her to just walk away and not give Tracey the satisfaction of a reaction, but Summer hadn't come all this way to not get the last word.

"Did you guys know that they were the token lesbians in our school?" Tracey asked, clearly quite desperate and embarrassing herself at that point. "Neither of them ever dated any boys. Summer dressed like a guy half the time, and they were joined at the hip 24/7. Hardly ever even denied it when I'd tease them about it."

Tracey then stared at Summer, just daring her to say something back. But Summer stayed silent until Tracey glanced at Bucky, then back to her and asked, "Do you even know what to do with a man?"

And just like that, all of the torment and torture and days that she had gone home from school crying and feeling like a worthless loser all swirling around in her head and making her feel like she was right back in the middle of that hell, Summer snapped. She was sick of it, sick of Tracey and people like her, and sick of feeling like that nervous, insecure teenager that she had never fully grown out of.

"You know what?" Summer began, throwing caution to the wind. "Yes, I do know what to do with a man. Shocking, I know. And I also know what to do with a woman, and you know why? Back in college, me and Aemilia got drunk one time and we hooked up. That's right. And we did everything. Everything."

Tracey's eyes nearly bugged out of her skull with shock. Aemilia turned and stared at Summer with enormous but amused eyes, quite shocked that she had actually just said that out loud at all, let alone in the middle of their high school reunion. Loki wore an almost identical expression on his face, and Bucky... well, he was staring open-mouthed at Summer in the best kind of shock possible.

"So... yeah," Summer said, looking around and face flushing as it began to sink in that she had actually just said that. "We're not lesbians. We prefer men, obviously," she waved a hand in Loki and Bucky's directions, "but yes, we did.. um... we..."

"... Had an incredibly long and satisfying night of extremely hot sex," Aemilia finished for her, grinning and delighting at the utterly lost and defeated look on Tracey's face. "So please, do keep trying to tease us about something that doesn't embarrass or bother either of us in the slightest."

Tracey looked back and forth between the girls for a moment and finally made a noise of complete frustration as she turned on her heel and stomped off, at last fully silenced. Summer and Aemilia watched her walk away and then looked at each other before bursting into giggles, the latter telling the former, "I can't believe you said that!"

"It just came out," Summer laughed, her face beet red. "Holy crap, I just actually said that."

"Wait a minute," Bucky said, holding up a hand and looking at the girls as if the matter at hand was of the single most utmost importance in the entire world. "You two... in college...?"

"Well, I wasn't lying," Summer admitted, her blush intensifying.

His jaw hung open. "You two actually had sex."

"Yes," Aemilia confirmed, watching Bucky in clear amusement.

His eyes flickered to and from each girl before settling on Summer as he groaned, "Why am I only just now hearing about this?"

Summer sighed. "Because I knew you'd react like this, honestly."

He paused before declaring solemnly, "... I need details."

"And I need more wine," Summer smiled at him overly brightly, handing him her empty glass. "Get me more?"

"But-"

"Oh, come along, darling," Loki said, walking around the girls and nudging Bucky's shoulder. "Our ladies deserve a drink after that."

Loki then all but dragged Bucky away, and Summer and Aemilia both laughed at his forlorn expression as he went. "I'm guessing you told Loki," Summer said, "since he doesn't seem to be surprised at all."

"Oh yes, I told him," Aemilia smirked. "I definitely told him."

"... There's a story behind that, isn't there?"

Meanwhile, as Loki sidled up to the open bar, Bucky stared at him at his side and accused him, "You already knew, didn't you?"

Loki signaled the bartender and then eyed Bucky with amusement. "Of course I did. There's no secrets between Aemilia and myself."

Bucky groaned. "You gotta give me something, man. I'm dying here."

"Well, suffice it to say that Summer wasn't jesting when she used the word everything," Loki replied.

"Everything as in... everything?"

"It would seem," Loki said quietly, leaning in closer so Bucky would hear, "that both ladies possess rather talented tongues, according to Aemilia."

Bucky's breath caught in his throat. "Holy fuck."

Loki grinned. "Oh and also, Summer is apparently rather fond of dirty talk."

Bucky's eyebrows shot into his hairline. "She talks dirty?!"

"No, she enjoys hearing it," Loki clarified with a chuckle. "Perhaps you ought to keep that in mind in case a particular opportunity presents itself."

Bucky dragged a hand over his face, wanting nothing more than an opportunity like the one Loki spoke of, but... he was trying to stay focused and not think about such things. "How long have you known?"

"Well, I had to take a trip out of the country earlier this year. I was gone for a few weeks, so naturally phone sex became a necessity."

"Naturally," Bucky remarked dryly.

"One night she decided to tell me the entire story from start to finish. Every last detail of what occurred between them that night, from the first kiss to... well, I'll let Summer tell you tell you how it ended, since it's their story to tell, after all. Not mine."

Bucky made a faint noise of pure and utter misery.

"Anyway. Aemilia has a rather filthy way with words when she wants to, and coupled with the very vivid images that she filled my mind with..." He grinned in recollection and shook his head slightly. "I've never come so hard by my own hand until that night."

"... You're killing me here."

Loki chuckled, giving Bucky a friendly pat on the shoulder. "Just ask Summer for the full story later, once you're back in your cozy bed that you're sharing."

"She won't tell me," Bucky muttered, leaning on the bar and watching the bartender flit about, getting their drinks ready. "Getting that out of her would be like pulling teeth."

Loki hummed in contemplation. "Then perhaps you should ask her nicely. Get her in the right sort of mood to tell such a story. Am I being too vague? Perhaps I should spell out what I'm suggesting."

"I know what you're suggesting," Bucky muttered.

"Well, you ought to listen for once. Because you're playing a rather dangerous game that you will lose if you continue to do nothing." When Bucky looked at him in confusion, Loki waved a hand in Summer's direction. "Look at her. How much longer do you think you can string her along before someone else catches her eye and gives her what you won't?"

"I'm not stringing her along."

Loki gave Bucky a knowing, unimpressed look. "She's waiting for you. You know that. But she won't wait forever. You also know that. I honestly don't understand why you won't put an end to this ridiculous dance that you two insist on suffering through and just claim her."

"Because I don't..." Bucky began and then immediately stopped, clenching his jaw and looking away. "I don't know. I just..."

"You're afraid to fail," Loki stated simply, as if he could read Bucky's mind. "You're afraid that if you make a move and your relationship with her changes, you'll screw it up and lose her entirely."

Bucky glanced at Loki and raised an eyebrow. "Hey, who's the shrink here, you or me?"

Loki chuckled. "I'm merely perceptive. And you are as easy to read as an open book when it comes to her."

Bucky smiled a little sadly. "She doesn't seem to notice."

"She does," Loki replied. "She just doesn't believe it."

That made Bucky's expression grow even sadder. But then their drinks arrived, and the impromptu heart to heart was over. Loki gave him an encouraging nod, and Bucky took a deep breath and mentally slipped back into the role of loving and devoted boyfriend as he took Summer's drink to her.

---

As Tracey sullenly hung out with her fellow mean girls and glared the occasional dagger or two at Summer and Aemilia, cocktail hour drew to a close and the party officially began. A live band took the small stage and provided lively covers of older and current hits as most of the former classmates began to get a little drunker and therefore quite a bit happier.

In Summer's mind, she had already looked her doom in the eyes and emerged victorious. She had already faced the worst of her old bullies and had come out the other side unscathed, and she was actually grateful that Aemilia had talked her into coming. She was having actual, real fun, and once the music started playing and Aemilia convinced her to dance with her, she even stopped mentally counting the minutes until she could leave.

Against all the odds, her high school reunion had actually turned out to be kind of awesome. She danced with Aemiilia and giggled up a storm, ignoring the snickers and looks of Tracey and the other girls who undoubtedly had been informed of Summer's impromptu confession. She simply didn't care what anyone thought of her anymore, especially people like that.

Bucky came along and stole her for a dance next, and dancing with him was always quite the experience. He was an enthusiastic and energetic dancer, always smiling and picking her up and tossing her around, making her laugh until her sides hurt, and this time was no exception. Between them and Loki and Aemilia, each couple was getting equal amounts of jealous glares from the haters and fond smiles from those who didn't despise them.

In the middle of all the fun, Maddie took to the stage to announce that soon it would be time to vote for "Reunion King and Queen". Summer had no idea that was even a thing, but the very minute that the words hit her ears, she looked at Aemilia with a rather evil grin on her face.

"I am totally voting for you guys," Summer immediately declared.

"I know who I'm voting for, too," Aemilia replied with an equally mischievous grin.

Summer rolled her eyes and dragged Bucky off to the ballot box. It was obvious who the winners would be, since there was only one legitimate and disgustingly attractive celebrity couple there. Loki and Aemilia deserved the title, that much was for sure.

Caleb had been designated as the official vote counter, and he stood by the box to watch and make sure nobody cheated. Summer and Aemilia cast their votes together, laughing at the absurdity of it all and then heading back to rejoin their men once their votes were cast. It was simply by chance that as they weaved their way through the crowd, Summer tripped over someone else's feet and proceeded to slam into the back of some guy who had been walking by in front of her.

"Oh God, I'm sorry!" Summer exclaimed, immediately righting herself and getting back on her feet, grasping Aemilia's hand for balance. As the man turned around, she continued to babble, "I wasn't watching where I was going and -"

She fell silent as soon as he turned around and their eyes locked. It was Jake, her high school crush and the great unrequited infatuation of her teen years. And he looked pretty damn good ten years later. "Summer?"

"Jake," she muttered, wide-eyed and suddenly feeling like she was fifteen all over again. "Hi!"

"Hi," he smiled, looking at her like he had never truly seen her before that moment. "Wow! You look... amazing."

Summer grinned like an idiot. "So do you!"

Next to her, Aemilia watched them carefully and greeted Jake politely when he turned to her next. But his eyes kept flitting back to Summer, who was now blushing and feeling sort of like she was suffocating and also high on about five cans of Red Bull.

Facing one's old crush was never easy, but when they looked even better than you remembered and were looking at you like they suddenly just realized that you were actually quite hot, it was definitely not a bad thing.

"How've you been?" Jake asked, not being particularly subtle in how his eyes were drawn to the partially sheer material of her dress near her bust.

"Good!" Summer giggled. "Really good, actually. What about you?"

"And what about your wife?" Aemilia asked sweetly, and the brief pleasant daze that Summer had been enjoying burst like a popped balloon. "How is she?"

Jake faltered for a moment. "... She's fine. Had to stay home, because she wasn't feeling well."

"... You're married," Summer noted, smiling through her teeth.

"Yes," Aemilia smiled. "I'm friends with his wife on Facebook. She's pregnant with baby number three, yes?"

"... Yeah," Jake smiled tightly, apparently not having wanted this particular information mentioned at the present time. "Yeah, third little bundle of joy on the way."

Summer didn't know why, but she deflated even more. It just figured that he was happily married with a million babies by now, while she was too busy pining over one of her closest friends to even date anyone.

As if that very thought had summoned him, Bucky reappeared at Summer's side just then, a possessive arm sliding around her waist before she barely had a chance to breathe. He nodded at Jake, smiling politely while also glaring at him, and Summer realized she was caught in a very awkward place - between the past and the present of two men whom she had pined over in vain and had wasted more time and energy on than she cared to think about.

It was a depressing thought.

After she politely introduced her "boyfriend" to her old crush, Jake very quickly found an excuse to turn around and flee somewhere else. Summer let out a deep breath she hadn't known she was holding and listened to Aemilia rant about how much of a loser Jake must be to ogle Summer while his pregnant wife languished at home, but Summer barely registered any of it. Jake's sudden appearance had been more than enough to knock the wind out of her and turn her previously happy, triumphant mood rather sour.

Ten years later and she was still stuck in the same place she'd always been. She still wanted someone who didn't want her, and she still had no clue what to do about it other than suffer in silence.

Bucky could tell that something was off. A new drink in Summer's hand, he watched her gulp down a healthy amount and then asked, "You okay?"

"Yeah," she shrugged one shoulder, shaking her head. "I'm fine. I just..."

"That was the guy you liked, right?"

Summer nodded and blew out a breath. "Yep."

"He was an idiot to ignore you back then."

Summer laughed humorlessly and took another drink. Bucky looked at her strangely, but she ignored him and then muttered, "Well, the world's full of idiots." Then she looked at him and muttered, "Sorry. Seeing him just kinda... I don't know. Giant buzzkill, I guess."

"I get it," he assured her. "It's all right. Don't gotta apologize to me." He gave her a soft smile that managed to make her feel a little better and a little worse at the same time, and then he said, "We could leave, if you want. Head back to the hotel a little early."

She chuckled. "And do what all night?"

He shrugged, looking away and licking his lips as he thought. "We could watch a movie. Drink some more. Play a game. Paint each other's nails, braid each other's hair..."

Summer laughed. "Yeah, right. Last time I tried to braid your hair you whined like a baby until I gave up just so you'd shut up."

"Okay, fine," Bucky conceded, shooting her a grin. "Then I'll let you pick. Anything you want. Name it and it's yours. You deserve it after the week you've had."

Heart aching at those words, Summer stared at the sincerity and affection in his eyes and wondered if maybe this time she could be brave and tell him the truth for once. She could feel it in her bones, the desperate need to open her mouth and finally tell him what she really wanted, the words that she had been holding back for longer than she even knew. She owed them both the truth, and there was no better time than the present to remedy that.

Once she said it, there would be no turning back. But maybe she could hint, say something to test the waters, something innocent enough that she could laugh it off in the next breath if his reaction wasn't what she hoped for.

She drew a deep breath. "Well..."

"... What?" he grinned, bumping her shoulder sweetly. "Tell me."

She looked up at him and smiled, pausing before opening her mouth and...

... Squinting her eyes shut thanks to the giant spotlight that had just landed directly on her face.

"What the fricking - ow," she groaned, covering her eyes with her hand as Bucky did the same thing.

"Sorry," Maddie smiled from the stage, microphone in hand as the spotlight moved, blinded someone else, and then finally turned off. "Little bit of... technical difficulties there. Blame Nikki, she's in charge of lights." She laughed uneasily, failing to make anyone else in the crowd laugh, and then sighed and went on, "Anyway, it's time to crown our Reunion King and Queen."

And just like that, the moment was ruined. Summer took it as a sign from heaven and clamped her mouth shut, ignoring the way that Bucky was still looking at her as she pretended to be completely engrossed in the proceedings.

There were two crowns sitting onstage, and Summer could remember Tracey always been crowned queen of everything back in high school. Things would probably go the same this time around, but she still had her money on Loki and Aemilia.

Aemilia reappeared next to Summer as the results were announced. Loki was with her, grinning at Summer like he knew something that she didn't. She eyed him suspiciously and then turned her eyes back on the stage, where Maddie was excitedly opening an envelope that contained the names of the winners.

When Loki continued to grin madly and Summer caught it from the corner of her eye, Summer leaned closer to Aemilia and asked, "Why is he smiling like a villain who's about to finally kill their archenemy?"

"Let's just say that in addition to all of his many other talents," Aemilia whispered back, "Loki apparently has quite the knack for campaigning."

Summer blinked. "Campaigning for what?"

Onstage, Maddie smiled as she began to flip open the envelope. "And the Reunion Queen and King crowns go to..." Her eyes flickered across the names and her smile fell off of her face. "Summer McAdams and... Bucky... Barnes?"

The damn spotlight fell right back on Summer and Bucky just in time to capture their reactions. Bucky's eyes grew hilariously wide and confused and Summer's jaw unceremoniously dropped. She turned and looked at Loki and Aemilia in shock, and they were both clapping along with the crowd, looking quite satisfied with themselves.

"What did you do?!" Summer gaped, even as Bucky took her hand and started tugging her to the stage.

Aemilia shrugged innocently and gave Summer a push. "Nothing! Go get your crown!"

Having no choice but to do exactly that, Summer let Bucky lead her towards the stage and help her walk up the small amount of stairs leading to it. Her face was bright red and she was kind of petrified, never really one for being the center of attention, but apparently there was no way out of this. The people had spoken, and by some odd miracle, she had actually been elected Queen of something for the first time in her life.

She looked out at the crowd with wide eyes, smiling nervously and feeling the slight urge to vomit, but Bucky was as smooth as ever as he grinned and strutted at her side. His hand in hers kept her grounded as she then turned her eyes on Maddie, who was obviously rather disgruntled with having to crown them of all people King and Queen.

With a sigh, Maddie picked up Bucky's crown first. "Here you go," she said without ceremony, moving to put it on his head for him, but he reached out and snatched the crown to put it on himself with a quiet word of thanks. Maddie was fine with that, as evidenced by the way that she then put Summer's crown directly in her hands.

"Here," she fake-smiled. "Congratulations. Not bad for a porn-writing dyke."

Summer smiled right back, saccharine-sweet as she put the crown on her own head. In that moment, she found a bit of bravery underneath the stage fright and general anxiety that was wreaking havoc on her brain, and for one glorious moment, Summer found the inner will and strength to finally properly curse for once in her frick-filled life. "You know what, Maddie, why don't you do everyone in this room a favor and go outside and play hide and go fuck yourself?"

Maddie smiled at her so tightly it appeared as if she pulled a muscle. Then she turned and walked off the stage, hopefully feeling some of the humiliation she was used to heaping on others, and Summer glanced to her side and found Bucky staring at her in awe. "... What?" she asked, face starting to burn with an uncomfortably deep blush.

"... You said fuck. I've never heard you say that before. That was hot," he grinned just before taking her hand again and turning them to smile out at the crowd as they got another round of obligatory but seemingly heartfelt applause. Summer laughed, embarrassed by what she had said and embarrassed to be on that stage to begin with, but when she looked down and saw Aemilia snapping pictures of her and Bucky on her phone with a huge smile on her face and Loki looking rather pleased himself at her side, Summer couldn't feel anything but happy. For once, she decided to allow herself just to feel good and stop being so embarrassed over every little thing, and enjoy this unexpected little moment for what it was.

Bucky's arm sliding around her helped her feel even better. He kissed the side of her head and then pulled her into a full hug, strong arms wrapping around her and holding her close, and she smiled stupidly as she embraced him back. She could feel how proud he was of her, affection practically radiating off of his skin, and then his lips brushed against her ear and the words that followed shocked her to her core.

"I'm gonna kiss you."

Her eyes popped open wide, wider than they had ever possibly open before. "What?"

He pulled away from her without answering or repeating himself. She looked up into his eyes as they bored into hers, a small smile on his lips as his hand slid into her hair and cupped the back of her head. Then he was leaning in, and there was nowhere for her to run this time, no room to squirm away so that he'd catch her cheek, nothing to do but close her eyes and let him kiss her for the very first time.

The very second that his lips touched hers, she didn't hear Aemilia's laughter or the way that Loki gave a low whistle, and definitely not the way that their kiss was being applauded. The entire world ceased to exist and all that remained was him and the gentle but firm press of his lips against hers. It was no tiny peck of a kiss, but exactly the kind that he would have given her had their pretend romance been as real as she wished it was.

It wasn't even a short kiss. It lingered, his lips moving softly and sweetly against hers, making her chest tighten and feel like she was going to explode. It was perfect and he felt just like she had always imagined he would, warm and gentle and everything she had ever wanted. And just when she had regained enough of her mind to start to wonder if the kiss was completely fake and for the sake of the show or maybe just a little bit real, his lips were leaving hers and the moment was over.

But his eyes didn't leave hers. She looked up at him with wide eyes and flushed cheeks, feeling like lightning had struck her where she had stood. He said nothing, looking down at her lips and then back to her eyes, and then he seemed to remember where they were. He smiled at her and then smiled at the crowd, and she did the same despite her shaky knees and ever-growing confusion. Everything was a bit of a blur as he then led her off the stage, his hand in hers and fingers twined with her own as the "King and Queen" returned to the crowd.

Holy frick that actually just happened.

Before she knew it Aemilia had grabbed her and pulled her into a big hug, mostly for the purpose of hissing in her ear, "Oh my God!"

"I know," Summer hissed back, blushing up a storm and smiling like she'd just been kissed by the love of her life for the very first time.

Then Loki was there too, right next to Aemilia as always. He reached out and tapped Summer's sparkly plastic crown and said, "This suits you rather well, don't you think?"

On an emotional high that was just the latest stop on what had been a ridiculous rollercoaster all night long, Summer smiled and then hugged Loki next. "I have no clue what you did to convince people to actually vote for me, but... thank you."

"There was no foul play, I assure you," he chuckled, patting her back after she pulled away. "Actually, according to the conversations I had with a few of the voters, it was your conversation with Tracey that made you the natural frontrunner."

Summer furrowed her brows. "... How?"

"Well, it seems that she quickly spread word of yours and Aemilia's... fling, and the rather sassy manner in which you delivered the confession provided quite the boost to your popularity."

Summer blinked and glanced at Aemilia, who merely shrugged wearily as if to mutter people - what are you gonna do? "Oh. Well, uh... alrighty then."

"And by the way," Loki said casually, briefly waving a hand for emphasis, "while we're on that particular topic, I think it's worth mentioning to both of you that should either of you ever feel the need or the urge to further explore that side of your sexualities, I would be incredibly supportive of this. In fact, I would do everything I could to facilitate this, including participating in the... hypothetical event."

Summer blinked, pretty sure that it was impossible to propose a threesome any more eloquently and almost professionally than he just had. Face burning, she stuttered, "Uh..."

"I would even venture a guess that James here would be willing to lend a hand to the cause as well," Loki grinned, glancing at Bucky. "Wouldn't you?"

Bucky floundered for a moment and tried to maintain a straight face as he replied, "I... yeah. Definitely."

Scratch that, Summer thought. Loki was proposing a foursome.

Good God.

"You know," Bucky added, gesturing vaguely, "just in case you needed a... extra pair of hands, or... just... anything you need."

"Very thoughtful of you," Aemilia replied, as amused as Summer was dying.

Following that rather interesting exchange, Caleb and Joey came by to congratulate the new King and Queen. Summer was still trying to get used to them not being terrible people anymore, and then when a few others approached her and mentioned that they voted for her after hearing of how she had stood up to Tracey, she simply couldn't believe the turn of events. Suddenly it was like she was the popular one - her whole little group of four as well - and it was the absolute last thing that she had ever expected to happen.

Well, next to being passionately and sweetly kissed onstage by her fake boyfriend.

Her lips still tingling with the memory long after the kiss had ended, Summer didn't notice amid all the commotion when Loki stepped away to have a word with the band. Bucky stayed at her side, smiling and injecting a word here and there, playing his part so flawlessly that even she had a hard time believing that it wasn't real.

Then, eventually, she heard Aemilia protesting softly as Loki tried to persuade her to do something. Summer shifted her attention to them and asked Aemilia what was going on, at which point her friend replied, "He's trying to convince me to sing."

Summer broke out into a huge grin and exclaimed, "Do it! That's perfect! Ooh," she clapped her hands as a brilliant idea struck her. "You should sing Ruin, and then do the song you sang at the talent show when we were kids!"

"Alone? Oh dear God," Aemilia smiled, hesitant to agree to the idea. She glanced at Loki and said, "I just... it's a million times more nerve wracking to sing in front of peers instead of strangers, and I don't want to appear as if I'm trying to shove my success down everyone's throats."

"You're not!" Summer replied, aghast. "Look at me - I've got a fricking crown on my head and suddenly I'm popular for the first time ever. You deserve your moment, too. Go up there and give them hell."

Aemilia sighed and tried to suppress a little smirk. "Well..."

Loki grasped her hand and gave it an encouraging little tug. "Come along, Little One. Listen to the wisdom of your friend. And me."

Shaking her head at both Loki and Summer for talking her into this, Aemilia nevertheless grinned and let Loki guide her up to the stage. The band gave up the spotlight to the couple, and Loki took a seat at the piano while Aemilia went about adjusting the microphone stand to her smaller height.

Summer was overjoyed to see her friend take the stage, feeling giddy with excitement and hoping that wherever Tracey was in the room, she was even more miserable now. And when the lights shifted, darkening a little and casting a softer light on the room and highlighting the couple onstage, the first few notes of Aemilia's hit rang out courtesy of Loki's long fingers on the piano keys.

Before Aemilia had sang the first line, Summer felt a hand brush over the middle of her back. She turned her head to find Bucky as the culprit, his hand lowering to rest on her lower back as he asked softly, "Does the Queen wanna dance with her King?"

He said those cheesy words in obvious jest, of course, but something about them made her heart flip. She nodded with a smile and let him take her hand and guide her some steps away, to an open pocket of space amid the crowd where they could dance unimpeded.

Aemilia, meanwhile, braved her last-minute nerves from singing in front of her old peers the best way she knew how. She took a deep breath and looked at Loki, who gave her a sweet, encouraging smile. She smiled back at him, few things able to bring her as much peace as him and his unshakeable confidence in her. Then she turned back to the crowd and opened her mouth and sang.

As Aemilia sang the first lyric in a song all about longing and hunger and the kind of love that could truly ruin a person, Summer found herself being held and gently led in a slow dance. Though she felt like her skin was on fire from the proximity and the feeling of his arm around her and her hand gently cradled in his, Bucky seemed to have grown more than comfortable with being so close to her. His shoulders were relaxed, everything about him reeking of comfort while she just tried not to step on his toes or break down and word-vomit out all the questions swirling through her head following their kiss.

Their kiss. Her stomach performed medal-winning gymnastics simply at the mere thought of it.

"You okay?"

Summer blinked, realizing that she'd had slight zombie-face prior to Bucky's gentle verbal nudge. She looked up at him and smiled, again struck by their proximity, and she did her very best not to look at his lips. "Yeah, yeah. I'm okay."

"Sure about that? You looked pretty far away there for a minute."

She shrugged and gave another smile. "No, I'm fine. Just kind of... overwhelmed."

"I understand," he nodded, pulling her a little closer. She was now spared the eye contact, but she felt his lips brush her ear and tried not to shiver as he asked her with what might have been slight fear in his tone, "Was the kiss... should I not have done that?"

She closed her eyes and swallowed, her heart leaping again. "No, it... it was okay."

"You sure?" The uncertainty in his voice made her chest ache.

"Yeah. Just wasn't expecting it," she chuckled lightly, trying to play it off like it was no big deal.

"Yeah, I know I kinda sprung it on you," he admitted, his breath fluttering warmly against her neck with each word he spoke. "I just... I wanted these people to look at you the way you deserve. I wanted them to look up there and see this beautiful, brilliant woman and make them regret ever overlooking you."

She smiled, melting a little at those words. "So you kissed me?"

"Yeah," he replied, and she could hear the little smile on his face, probably a sheepish one. "No harm in making them a little jealous. Besides," he murmured a little more lowly near her ear, "real couples kiss each other."

Then he pressed a soft, sweet kiss just under her ear. Her eyes fluttered shut and she forgot how to breathe, and she was grateful that he couldn't see her face because it was betraying her in every possible way.

Aemilia's song provided an almost cruelly fitting soundtrack to their dance, a few of the lyrics hitting Summer hard and amplifying everything she was feeling.

Your every thought entertains me

Your every word overwhelms me

Your every sweet kiss breaks me

Then Bucky had to go and make it all even worse. "And any man who's lucky enough to have you should be kissing you all the time, so..."

He was either trying to kill her or he was simply the most oblivious man to have ever walked the Earth, she was sure of it. She sighed and laid her head down on his shoulder, closing her eyes and praying that he wouldn't say or do anything else to make her feel even more overwhelmed. A part of her wanted to lift her head up and ask him to kiss her again under the guise of the show they were putting on, to really stick it to everyone watching, but she couldn't do it. She simply couldn't.

How did we live before each other?

How could I ever again love another?

She wanted it to be real. The thought that it might not be, that the kiss they'd shared onstage and even the innocent little one he'd placed on her neck could all be fake and probably was fake... it was such sweet, horrible torture, and she wanted more of it as much as she hated it.

Onstage, Aemilia sang beautifully and flawlessly through the end of the song that had made her famous. All of the confidence that she had gained over the years and that Loki had personally nurtured shone through in everything from her voice to her posture to the smile on her face, and she decided that she was glad that Summer and Loki had persuaded her to do it. Thoroughly enjoying herself and keeping an eye on Bucky and Summer as they danced, Aemilia finished her first song and then transitioned into a jazzy, simple version of Heart's Alone. Not only was it the same song that she had sang at the school talent show 12 years earlier, but the song held a rather fitting meaning for her two dancing friends.

It also gave Aemilia a sense of satisfaction to see Tracey, who had won that talent show years ago, watch her perform that song again knowing just who had come out on top in the end.

But while Tracey stewed in unhappiness and envy, Summer silently wished for the courage to finally make an effort to take what she truly wanted. She had come so far and the reunion had proven that in ways that she could have never foreseen, but she was still too cowardly to admit to the man dancing with her and holding her close that she wanted him to be the one who got to kiss her all the time.

It would have been the perfect time for her to speak up, to say something, do something - anything - but she didn't. She kept her mouth shut and controlled herself, and when Aemilia finished the song on a flawless high note... it was over. The dance was over, and not too much longer after that, so was the reunion itself.

The audience - minus Tracey and her fellow bitter friends - gave Aemilia a warm and highly satisfying round of applause following her performance. She gave a humble bow with Loki at her side, smiling when he gave her a sweet little kiss before leading her off the stage.

After a little bit more mingling, small talk and a few hugs as well as promises to stay in touch that would likely never be kept, Summer and Aemilia headed to the ladies' room together for a quick bathroom break before they would head back to the hotel. They giggled amongst themselves the whole way, Aemilia recalling the now-infamous onstage kiss with wide eyes and Summer nearly crying with how truly perfect it had been, and Summer was so caught up in her own head that she didn't notice when she opened the door to a storage closet instead of the ladies' room next to it.

And that was when Summer and Aemilia both glanced inside said storage closet and gasped with stunned horror. Within the tiny space was Tracey and Jake, clothes askew and in a hilariously disturbing compromising position, sandwiched between a mop bucket and a row of brooms. The ex-sweethearts looked up and immediately ceased their efforts while the girls stated in a combination of disgust and surprise.

"Wow," Summer blinked. "Seriously?"

"Shut the door!" Tracey screeched.

"You do realize he's married?" Aemilia asked her, though she knew the answer was obvious.

"You're both disgusting," Summer declared, shaking her head at them both. Then she glanced at Jake, the man she had spent high school obsessed with, and said, "Thank God you never liked me back."

Then she swung the door shut, and after a few seconds spent absorbing what they had just seen, Summer and Aemilia looked at each other.

"... You said you're friends with his wife on Facebook, right?" Summer asked.

Aemilia nodded. "I will send her a very gently worded message tomorrow morning. Poor woman."

"Could have been me," Summer blinked as they turned in search of the actual ladies' room this time. "Three babies and a cheating scumbag husband."

"I think we're exactly where we're meant to be," Aemilia smiled, pushing open the door to the bathroom. "Don't you?"

Summer smiled and answered with the utmost honesty, "You, for sure. Me... almost."

Aemilia winked knowingly, ever full of faith that Summer would always admire. "You'll get there."

---

An hour later, both couples had arrived back at the hotel and back to their rooms. Bucky had graciously ceded the bathroom to Summer first so that she could get changed out of her dress into something more comfortable. She let her hair down, took off her makeup, and then had to decide what to wear to bed. It was a harder decision than one would expect, considering her options were shapeless sweatpants and a baggy old t-shirt she'd gotten from a concert 7 years earlier, or a much more attractive combination of small, comfortable shorts and a camisole.

After the day that she'd had and everything she had experienced, she decided to take a chance on the latter option. If there was the slightest, smallest chance that maybe this would be the night that something real happened between herself and Bucky, she figured it would be best to not look like a slob in old clothes.

She knew it wouldn't happen, but there was no harm in giving hope one last shot, right?

Ugh.

After changing and giving herself a once over in the mirror, Summer rolled her eyes at her own actions and then turned and opened the bathroom door. She stepped into the room and found Bucky already changed into a t-shirt and sweatpants himself, lounging on his side of the bed and looking at his phone. He glanced up at her as she tossed him a brief smile and went to go hang her dress in the closet. She would have noticed his double take and the way that he trailed his eyes over every inch of her had she not felt the sudden need to stare at the floor and avoid looking at him at all costs.

After hanging her dress and cursing her cowardice, she then made a beeline for the bed. By then, Bucky was forcing himself to keep his eyes on his phone, and after Summer crawled into the bed and pulled the comforter over herself, she asked, "Whatcha doing?"

"I sent Steve a few pictures from tonight," Bucky replied, turning his phone so she could see what he'd sent. Summer smiled at the sight of a selfie of just her and Bucky with their crowns on, smiling happily for the camera, and then at a similar picture also including Loki and Aemilia.

"What'd he say?" Summer asked with a smile after Bucky turned the phone back towards his own eyes.

"Well, first he asked how the hell I managed to get voted King when I never even went to your school," Bucky chuckled. "Then he said we looked pretty good together with our cheap dollar store crowns on."

Summer's smile grew, and rather than acknowledge that comment, she replied, "Hey, those crowns aren't that bad. Walmart, maybe. Not the dollar store."

"Oh, my bad," Bucky rolled his eyes with his own grin. Then he locked his phone and tossed it on the table next to the bed, afterwards turning his eyes back on her and asking, "So, you glad you came?"

She smiled, leaning her head back and nodding. "I really am. It turned out so much better than I thought it would. I mean, I thought it would be a horrible repeat of high school, but... it was actually pretty awesome." Her eyes then softened as they met his, and she added a little more quietly, "Thank you for everything you've done for me. You didn't have to come and do all of this, so... thank you. It means a lot to me."

His smile was full of affection as he replied, "I was happy to do it. I'm always here for whatever you need. And hey," he grinned with a faint shrug, "it was fun."

"Yeah, it kinda was," she chuckled, shaking her head. "I can't believe it."

He chuckled with her, then grew quiet and, to her surprise, reached out and put his hand over hers. "And I mean it. Anything you ever need, you know I'm here."

She smiled back, the warmth of his hand and the sincerity in his eyes making her feel both warm and fuzzy and nervous. "Yeah, I know."

He licked his lips and glanced down at their hands, thumb swiping over the back of her hand as he appeared to be trying to form words in his head. Then he looked up at her, smiled a little and opened his mouth, and Summer suddenly felt like she couldn't breathe because she could almost feel that what he was about to say was going to be... important.

But then there was a loud, startling crashing sound in the room just on the other side of theirs - the room that Loki and Aemilia were in - and Bucky's hand shot off of hers so fast it almost made her dizzy. He also almost jumped out of his skin, looking around a bit wildly before asking, "The hell was that?"

Summer opened her mouth to make her best guess, but then a distinctly feminine moan answered his question. Summer blinked and then groaned, and Bucky's startled-cat expression calmed into something much more knowing and... weary.

He cleared his throat. "They're..."

"Yep," Summer nodded, unable to look him in the eye.

He sighed. "Fantastic."

Then there was another crashing sound, and this time, a rather masculine sounding moan. Bucky shook his head and Summer bit her lip, trying not to think about what was happening next door.

But as it turned out, it was all either of them could think about. Loki and Aemilia were never ones to be quiet or hold back, unintended audience or no, so Bucky and Summer really couldn't be blamed for sitting there and listening and, in all honesty, not really minding the show very much.

From the sounds of it, they were utterly tearing up the hotel room. Summer also had a pretty good idea of what was going on once the crashing sounds stopped for a bit and Aemilia moaned with increasing loudness while Loki was suspiciously silent.

Aemilia had mentioned to Summer before that Loki had the most talented tongue she'd ever encountered. Judging by what she was hearing, Summer definitely didn't doubt it.

"So," Bucky cleared his throat. "Um..."

Summer glanced at him shyly. "... Yeah?"

"So you and... Aemilia... back in college..."

Summer groaned and looked away. "Do we really have to talk about it?"

"No, but I was just... curious..."

She shot him a side-eyed look. "I can't imagine why."

"Well," he smiled, actually flushing a little, "if I told you that back in the day me and Loki got drunk and hooked up, wouldn't you want to hear all about it?"

Her eyes widened slightly just at the implication of that. "Of course I would."

"See? And I'd tell you about it," he said, gesturing to her.

She sighed and stared down at her hands. "There's not really that much to tell."

He raised an eyebrow. "Really? 'Cause you said you and her did everything." He paused for effect. "Everything."

Her attempt to play down her own words were cut off when Aemilia's moans suddenly reached the breaking point, and she... well... it was fairly obvious what was happening to Aemilia.

Summer gulped again, feeling like the room was suddenly uncomfortably hot. Bucky shifted a little, grabbing at the comforter and pulling it closer to his lap while Summer was distracted.

Eventually she found her voice again. "It was just... you know... it was college. We were drunk and... curious, and..." She cringed. "Horny. Like bad."

He crossed his arms and nodded. "Go on."

She groaned and looked away again. "I don't know! It just... happened."

"... But how?" He asked, clearly going out of his mind with curiosity. "Did you and her always find each other attractive? Was it like... did she seduce you, or..."

"Nobody seduced anyone," she rolled her eyes. "It wasn't porn, Bucky. I wasn't dressed up like a schoolgirl and she wasn't wearing a teacher's outfit, and she didn't spank me with a ruler."

Bucky narrowed his eyes playfully. "So that's the kind of porn you watch."

"No I don't!" she squeaked, reaching over and smacking him when he started laughing. "I don't watch porn!"

"Everybody watches it," he retorted. "You might not watch it often, but -"

"I don't watch it," she repeated, glaring at him in a way that only made him smile more. "Stop smiling!"

"Fine, fine," he chuckled, holding his hands up in surrender. "You don't watch porn, ever. That's fine. I accept that. I just... honestly would really like to know how you and Aemilia ended up fucking each other."

She couldn't help the way that her eyes flew open wider at that. "Bucky!"

"What? Is that not what you did?" he asked, his face a perfect mask of innocence.

She paused and then muttered, "Well... yeah."

Bucky bit his lip, watching Summer fidget and desperately wanting to know the story. She realized that he was never going to let this go, and the best course of action was to simply just get it over with.

"Fine. I'll tell you."

His eyes lit up like he was a little kid and she'd just told him that he was getting all of his birthday presents early. "You will?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yes. Only if you promise to shut up about it."

"Absolutely," he nodded solemnly. "You have my word."

She sighed and glanced at him a bit nervously, having no idea how she was supposed to actually tell him the damn story. It wasn't because she didn't vividly remember every second of it - because she did - but because she was Summer and he was him and she really wasn't all that comfortable talking about sex anyway. Or at least not details about sex she'd had in the past. Especially with her best friend.

But she had gotten herself into this mess, and there was only one way out. She took a deep breath and began, "So like I said, we were really really drunk, and -"

Another crashing sound followed by both Loki and Aemilia moaning together interrupted her. Then there was a smack against the wall followed by more blissful noises, ones that were even clearer and closer sounding now, and Summer and Bucky both stared blankly into space as their ears were mercilessly assaulted.

Bucky pulled a pillow over his lap, just for extra safety purposes. Summer cleared her throat.

"So yeah. We were drunk. Nether of us were virgins anymore but we hadn't dated anyone in awhile, so... yeah. Super horny."

---

"You know," Summer said as she winced slightly and handed the bottle of cheap vodka in her hand off to her best friend, "it really does get better the more you drink."

"It does," Aemilia agreed, taking the liquor and downing a healthy swig. Barely grimacing at all, she lowered the bottle from her lips and smiled, "The two glasses of wine helped, too."

"It was so stale and yet it was still good," Summer sighed, sitting back against the headboard of her bed that they were both lounging on and closing her eyes. She then giggled, "Everything's spinning."

Swallowing down another healthy gulp, Aemilia giggled back and said, "I think I'm drunk. Not just tipsy. I really think I'm drunk this time."

They both then broke into a series of drunken giggles, Summer reaching out and stealing the bottle back. "Me too! I'm afraid to stand up."

"My hands and feet feel tingly," Aemilia smiled, holding out her hands and wiggling her fingers.

"My everything's tingly," Summer giggled behind the bottle. "Everything. If you know what I mean."

"Oh, I know what you mean," Aemilia smiled, even blushing a little. "I'm so warm and..."

"Horny?"

"Yes! Oh my goodness," Aemilia laughed, covering her face with her hands. "I think I'm a horny drunk!"

"Me too!" Summer squeaked, blushing far more brightly than usual thanks to the generous amount of alcohol in her veins. "I mean, literally, I can feel it just... like... pulsing."

Aemilia let her head fall back as she groaned, "We need men."

"But we have no men," Summed lamented, taking another drink. "Not a single dick to do anything with."

Aemilia sighed and grabbed the vodka back. "If only we were like Elida. She doesn't have that problem, being an equal opportunity lover."

"Her new lady friend is hot," Summer remarked with wide eyes.

"She's not just a lady friend," Aemilia replied. "They're getting quite serious. And she says it's the best sex she's ever had."

Summer's eyes grew huge. "Really? Oh man. I am so jealous."

"She told me the other day that they went at it one night for hours," Aemilia sighed.

"Dude. I haven't even ever gone at it for a full hour," Summer groaned. "I've never even really... enjoyed it that much, technically. But I'm still ragingly horny all the time. Like right now," she added, sinking back into the pillows.

Aemilia crawled up the bed and laid down beside her, both girls on their backs staring up at the ceiling fan. "Remember back in high school, when the girls thought we were lovers?"

Summer snorted. "They used to debate on who would be the man in the relationship."

"Why would either of us be the man? Wouldn't that defeat the purpose of being with a lady?" Aemilia mused.

"You would think, but I don't know," Summer shrugged. Then she paused and said, "I wonder what it's like."

"Being a man?"

"No," Summer giggled. "Sex. With... y'know... a lady."

"I wonder what just kissing one would feel like," Aemilia said. "I've always wondered that."

"Me too," Summer said, not fully realizing that she had never said that out loud before. "I bet it's hot. And I can totally understand why the sex would be awesome. I mean, a girl's gonna know what feels good on another girl, right?"

"That's exactly what Elida says," Aemilia sighed. "And she still loves men too, but she says that women are just... different. Softer and..."

"... Wetter?"

Aemilia snorted. "Much wetter."

"Plus... boobs."

Aemilia sighed. "Boobs."

Both girls then started cracking up, the air of their dorm filled with the happy giggles of two very drunk, very horny friends who hadn't seen any decent action in longer than they cared to think about.

Once the giggles died down, Aemilia - who was known to be even more affectionate than usual with alcohol in her system - turned towards Summer on her side and snuggled up to her, her head on Summer's shoulder and her arm tossed over her middle. "Cuddle me. I need cuddles."

Summer giggled and obliged, wrapping her arms around Aemilia. "I need sex."

"Me too. I need at least... three orgasms."

Summer giggled. "In one night? Is that even possible?"

Aemilia's smile suddenly fell off her face, and she lifted up her head to stare at Summer with sudden grave concern. "You're joking, right?"

Summer furrowed her brows. "... No?"

"You've never had more than one at once... even by yourself?"

Summer stammered for a moment before muttering, "I, uh... well... not... really?"

Aemilia's eyes widened to comical proportions. "How?"

"I... don't know? Is it normal to be able to do it more than once?"

"Well, it's normal for me," Aemilia shrugged.

"Oh. Well... maybe I'm just defective then."

"Or you just need the right touch."

Summer tilted her head, considering that theory in her hazy mind. Then she blinked and realized how close Aemilia was to her, all but draped over her body currently and her face only inches from hers. She smiled goofily and asked, "Are you about to kiss me or something?"

"I don't know," Aemilia giggled back. "Do you want me to?"

"... Do you want me to want you to?"

"Do you want me to want you to want me to?"

They both started laughing again, unable to help themselves. It just so happened that during the giggle-fest, their lower halves shifted enough to where Aemilia's legs ended up parting over one of Summer's thighs, and as the laughter died down, she sighed and involuntarily ground herself just the tiniest bit on her. Summer barely noticed, but that was when Aemilia suddenly realized how desperately aroused she truly was.

She made a low, needy noise and laid her head back down, this time nuzzling Summer's neck and murmuring, "You smell nice."

"You feel nice," Summer replied before she could think better of it.

"Do I?" Aemilia smiled, brushing her lips across Summer's skin, unsure if she meant to do it or not. "So do you."

"That tickles," Summer giggled, squirming away a little. She shifted her leg a bit in the process, accidentally pushing up against Aemilia in the process. It felt much better than Aemilia thought it should have, and she couldn't help but squeeze her thighs around Summer's just tightly enough for Summer to finally notice.

Summer looked up at her in surprise, not saying a word and not having the presence of mind to wonder why her heart was suddenly beating a little faster. Aemilia smiled at her, a few stray auburn curls in her eyes that had escaped her haphazard bun, and with a sudden devious little glint in her eye she said, "I have an idea."

Summer's heart leapt in her chest. "What?"

"I could kiss you."

At just the mere suggestion, Summer's blood was pumping faster and the pulsing she had mentioned before became almost unbearable. "I... really?"

"Mhm," Aemilia hummed. "Unless you don't want me to."

"No, I do," Summer blurted out entirely too quickly. She turned a shade of red to rival the hair on Aemilia's head, then squeezed her eyes shut and laughed nervously. "I mean - I didn't mean -"

Aemilia chuckled. "It's alright, don't be embarrassed. The way I see it," she reached out and touched a piece of Summer's straight black hair that had escaped her ponytail, "we're both drunk, we're both incredibly horny, and we're both rather curious. Aren't we?"

"Y... yeah," Summer stuttered, feeling like she might combust any minute.

"So then why not?"

... She made an excellent point. Summer smiled, her cheeks utterly on fire as she squeaked, "Okay."

Aemilia then smiled and, to Summer's surprise, pushed up and off of her, sitting up. Then she grabbed Summer's hands and pulled her up next, and then they were both giggling quietly and blushing as they looked at each other, both alight with excitement and a little bit of nervousness but mostly sheer, undeniable want.

"I don't know if I'm the best kisser, so... don't expect much," Summer babbled, heart racing and body aching for something, anything, to happen.

"Oh hush," Aemilia scoffed, leaning in and bringing her hand to Summer's face. She traced the line of her jaw with her thumb, then briefly and softly touched her lower lip. "No negativity from this mouth of yours tonight. I won't have it."

Summer almost shivered from those words, staring at Aemilia's lips as they inched closer to hers. "... Okay."

"Good," Aemilia murmured before closing the last bit of distance and, almost feather softly, pressing her lips to Summer's and gently kissing her for the first time. Summer forgot how to breathe and Aemilia slid her hand into Summer's messy ponytail, holding her close and savoring that first little experimental kiss as much as she could. When they drew apart, they both opened their eyes and looked at each other for a brief few little seconds before leaning back in and meeting in another kiss, a longer and less cautious kiss this time.

If Summer had harbored any doubts before as to whether she would enjoy this sort of thing or not, they were gone within an instant. Aemilia's lips were soft and sweet against hers, plump and not the least bit shy, and Summer's head was spinning in ways that had nothing to do with how drunk she was. They were both breathless by the time they pulled apart, but they only took a second to quickly breathe in before kissing again, Summer parting her lips this time and welcoming Aemilia's tongue into her mouth. She moaned the minute their tongues touched, and that was when things truly began to get more heated.

They inched closer to each other, lost in their kiss and getting more courageous with their hands. Summer's went to Aemilia's shoulders, feeling the bare skin exposed by her thin tank top before sliding up into Aemilia's hair, and Aemilia let her hand drift down to Summer's waist and then her hip, her tongue playing games with Summer's that had them both panting by the time they broke apart. Aemilia looked heatedly at Summer's flushed cheeks and parted lips before tilting her head and kissing her neck, making Summer moan a little more loudly than before.

"You're... God," Summer breathed, hand clutching at Aemilia's hair as she gasped softly. "You're really not helping with the whole... ugh... drunk and horny problem."

Aemilia chuckled against Summer's skin, peppering increasingly open-mouthed kisses along her neck until she found a spot that made Summer tense and gasp. Aemilia then utterly tortured that spot until Summer was nearly shaking with need, and then she pulled away and looked up at her as she murmured, "What if I didn't mind helping in a different way?"

Summer's jaw dropped and she was about to start babbling until she was blue in the face, but Aemilia saved her the trouble and kissed her again before she could say another word. Summer whimpered into the kiss and then happily climbed on to Aemilia's lap when her hands grasped her hips and pulled her closer.

Straddling Aemilia's hips, Summer broke their kiss long enough for them to share a smile and a breathless little laugh before their lips met again. The surprise of it all was wearing off a little and giving way to something much better, and they were both far too needy to stop just yet. Summer kissed Aemilia back with everything she had, taking Aemilia's hair down from its bun so she could bury her fingers in it, and Aemilia followed suit and took down Summer's hair from its mostly wrecked ponytail.

"This is fun," Summer giggled against Aemilia's lips. Aemilia grinned back, running her hands up Summer's bare thighs until she reached the hem of her shorts. Summer bit her lip when Aemilia then pulled her down, grinding them together and placing a hot kiss on the front of her throat.

"I think we can make it more fun," Aemilia breathed, kissing down to her collarbone. Summer held her head close and rocked on her lap, eyes closed and body craving more, aching for it, and quite possibly willing to do anything to get it.

One of Aemilia's hands reached up and slowly, sensually dragged over Summer's breast through her tank top, and Summer hissed and arched into the touch. Aemilia smirked and continued to toy with her through the thin material, leaning up and kissing her lips for a moment before trailing her kisses to Summer's ear. "Is this too much?"

"No," Summer immediately replied, aghast at the very thought. "More," she whined, too drunk and too horny to care about being embarrassed. "I want more."

Aemilia nipped Summer's earlobe and exhaled shakily at her confession, lifting her head and bringing her hands to the hem of Summer's tank. She started to lift it up and Summer brought up her arms without hesitation, letting Aemilia strip it off and toss it off the bed, leaving her upper body completely bare. It wasn't the first time that Aemilia had seen her best friend's breasts, but it was the first time that she had seen them and looked at them in the way that she was in that moment.

One arm wrapped around Summer's waist and the other hand reaching up to cup a full, perfect breast, Aemilia first gave it a firm, sweet squeeze and dragged her thumb over her nipple and teased it until Summer had to bite her lip and roll her hips to try to relieve some of the tension. That was when Aemilia leaned forward and replaced her hand with her mouth, the first hot touch of her tongue making Summer whine and tighten her hand in Aemilia's hair. It only got worse from there, and if she hadn't been drunk, Summer would have been horridly embarrassed with how needy and desperate she acted as Aemilia's hot mouth wreaked havoc on both of her breasts, switching back and forth until Summer was sure that Aemilia could feel how wet she was through her clothes.

Aemilia eventually pulled off with a low little groan, looking up at Summer with pure heat in her hazel eyes before Summer literally grabbed her and kissed the hell out of her. Then Summer was pulling clumsily on her own tank top, yanking until Aemilia was forced to break away and let Summer pull it off. Then they were both topless, Summer's eyes glued to Aemilia's breasts and hands soon following. They weren't quite as large as Summer's were, but they were full and perfect and unbelievably perky. She dragged them both up and down each one, Aemilia arching into the touch and needing more, biting her lip and hissing when Summer gently flicked at both nipples at the same time. She was aching and she needed so much more, both of them loving every minute of what they were doing but starting to lose patience.

"Off," Aemilia said, the single word a dual command that Summer understood instantly. Summer eased off of her lap and shed her little shorts, Aemilia doing the same, and when they were left only in their panties, they returned to each other on their knees and collided in another deep, hungry kiss.

Breasts pressed together and hands wandering everywhere, it was all heat and open-mouthed, deep kisses and needs that could no longer be ignored. Aemilia was the first to let her fingers wander where Summer ached the most, drifting from her hips to her inner thighs and slowly dragging up until they brushed across utterly soaked material.

"You're so wet," Aemilia noted with delight, Summer's forehead against hers and body trembling at just that little touch. "Did I do this to you?"

Summer whimpered, nodding and rocking her hips down, trying to chase her teasing fingers.

Aemilia rubbed softly, too softly, through the fabric and watched as Summer whined and then kissed her, sliding her tongue deep into Aemilia's mouth. Then, to Aemilia's surprise, Summer snuck a hand between her legs and started teasing her right back. She was just as wet as Summer was, maybe even a little more, and Summer broke their kiss and all but gasped, "God, this is the hottest thing I've ever done."

Aemilia giggled, the feeling mutual. Then she finally slid her fingers into the front of Summer's panties and touched her fully as she replied, "We're only getting started, darling."

Summer moaned and could barely hold herself up, wound so tightly and so close so soon that it made her nearly reel in shock. But she didn't lose her head completely, following suit with her own hand and burying it between her best friend's legs, their lips meeting in a frantic kiss and fingers moving quickly but softly on one another. They kissed though every touch, Summer breaking away only to moan and throw her head back or let it fall forward so she could take a nipple in her mouth and feel Aemilia jolt and clench around her fingers at the combined sensations. Then Aemilia yanked Summer back by her hair, the slight roughness feeling like heaven and making Summer moan shakily just before Aemilia kissed her again, hard and deep and fast, tongue mimicking what her fingers were doing further down.

Summer had never been particularly loud before, but she found that she simply couldn't shut up. She could feel the coil tightening in her belly, ready to spring at any moment, and Aemilia was right behind her. She was wet and hot and pulsing around her fingers, riding them and rocking herself until her breasts bounced and her mouth fell open in sheer bliss. Realizing that she was making Aemilia come and feeling the telltale gush around her fingers, Summer whimpered and then came right with her, the force of her release making her gasp and moan more loudly than she ever had before in her life.

It was, in a word, exquisite. Both girls stroked each other gently through the last little aftershock, free arms holding on to each other and mouths open as they panted into the space between them.

In time, they removed their hands and looked up at each other, both smiling and blushing as they let out breathless little laughs.

"Fuck," Aemilia sighed, wrapping both arms around Summer and holding her close.

Summer giggled, pushing Aemilia's curls behind her ears. "That was amazing."

"It was," Aemilia agreed, gently kissing her lips. Then she smirked and said, "I want more."

Summer bit her lip. "Already?"

Aemilia simply grinned and then sent Summer down to her back with a firm push to her chest. Summer hit the pillows with a surprised laugh, watching Aemilia drop down to her hands and knees to crawl over her. She stopped near Summer's thighs, hooking a finger into each side of her panties and then pulling, throwing the soaked things carelessly off the bed and then admiring the sight of Summer fully naked underneath her.

"You are absolutely gorgeous, Summer," Aemilia told her, eyes taking in every curve and every little imperfection on her body. "Look at you," she said, inching up higher and grasping at one of her heavy breasts. "So soft... and sensitive. Aren't you?"

Summer responded by crying out softly when Aemilia's lips wrapped around her nipple, beginning her torture anew. The pulsing was back, the throbbing of desire that Summer would do anything to sate, and the sounds leaving her mouth were beyond her control.

Aemilia all but worshipped at her breasts, teasing and licking and sucking until Summer's hands were frantic in her hair and her hips jerked of her own accord. When Aemilia finally broke away, she grinned down at her mess of a friend and kissed her until neither one of them could breathe or even think.

Her fingers found Summer again as they kissed, Summer gasping into her mouth at the touch and clenching gratefully around her. But the touch was fleeting, Aemilia drawing her fingers away and breaking their kiss. Then she maintained eye contact with Summer as she brought her fingers to her mouth, curiously licking at her friend's wetness. After that first experimental taste, her eyes darkened and she slid her lips over her fingers, licking all of it up, and Summer nearly came untouched right then.

"Can I try something?" Aemilia asked. Summer merely blinked at her, hardly able to speak, and Aemilia added, "I know how good it feels to have a mouth on me. I want to put mine on you so you can know too."

Summer bit back a moan. This was what she really wanted, and Aemilia knew it. Aemilia's old boyfriend had been particularly adept at this act, but Summer had yet to date a man with that kind of skill. She desperately wanted to know what it felt like, and now all she had to do was say yes and she would.

"Can I?" Aemilia asked again, briefly giving her a sweet kiss. "You taste so sweet. I think I'll enjoy it. And I know what feels good." She kissed her again, then said against her lips, "I bet I can make you come over and over again, until you beg me to stop."

That did it. "Oh God, please," Summer gasped. "Please."

Aemilia smirked almost cruelly. "I like you begging for me."

"Just... please, I'll do anything," Summer babbled.

"I know you will," Aemilia purred, giving her one last deep kiss before trailing her lips elsewhere, starting a slow and sensual journey down Summer's body. Summer was suddenly very, very glad that she was drunk, because if she hadn't been, she would have been freaking out and possibly chickening out at this point but not because she didn't want it. She wanted it badly, and thanks to the alcohol, the insecurities that she normally harbored were little more than mere whispers in the back of her mind. Plus, Aemilia was her very best friend in the world, and Summer trusted her more than she trusted anybody else in her life.

Aemilia moved slowly without being torturous, taking her sweet time in getting Summer desperate all over again. Every kiss and every touch took her higher and made her squirm and writhe with anticipation, especially when she had her lips pressed to Summer's inner thigh and was kissing an open-mouthed trail upwards. Summer watched in rapt anticipation as Aemilia slung her leg over her shoulder, and then Aemilia opened her eyes and looked at her just as she bit down harshly and perfectly enough to make Summer gasp and her entire body jerk. Aemilia grinned and then closed her eyes again, kissing closer and closer to her ultimate destination as Summer watched and unknowingly grasped the bedsheets as her heart threatened to pound out of her chest.

She didn't know what to expect. Would it live up to all the hype? Would Aemilia not like doing it for her? She had the very best of intentions but maybe she would simply dislike it, maybe she wouldn't even be able to finish it, and maybe -

Summer gasped and once again her entire body jerked, much harder than before, at the very first direct - hot, wet - contact. She kept her eyes opened and watched what she could see of it, Aemilia's red hair spilling over her shoulders and tickling Summer's legs, her eyes closed and fingers digging in to Summer's thigh and -

"Oh, God," Summer moaned, closing her eyes and letting her head roll back into the pillows beneath her. Aemilia was going slow, getting a feel for the act, taking her time and languidly tasting her and teasing the right spot, and it felt... even better than what Summer had always imagined.

Her fears of Aemilia disliking it were blessedly baseless, and they evaporated after the first few moments. It felt so good that a part of Summer wished that it wouldn't end, and at some point one of her hands ended up in Aemilia's curls, around the same time that Aemilia's free hand slid up over Summer's belly and grasped one of her breasts. Summer covered Aemilia's hand with her own - her breast too ample to fully fit either one of their hands, really - and then her grip tightened and then she gasped and moaned in sheer surprise because she had thought she had a handle on this but now Aemilia was sucking and -

Her hips started moving beyond her control, thrusting rhythmically up and against her friend's face, everything suddenly moving so fast and so quickly that she could barely comprehend any of it. She was a loud, writhing mess and oblivious to all of it, still clutching Aemilia's hair and hand and her back arching and body simply convulsing as she reached her peak and cried out so loudly that she might have woke the whole building.

After about eight or so years of her only pleasures coming by her own hand and very few other means, Summer finally felt as if she had experienced the sort of earth-shaking, life-changing orgasms that one simply could never ever forget. It lasted for what felt like minutes even though she knew it was only seconds, but they were some of the best and most intense damn seconds of her entire life. And through it all, Aemilia never stopped or pulled away. Instead she gently eased her through it, watching Summer lose her mind and trying not to grin too widely after her entire body fell limp with satisfaction.

Aemilia could have stopped there and Summer wouldn't have dreamed of protesting. But she didn't want to stop, so she didn't. In fact, as Summer breathed hard and laid there deliriously sated, Aemilia simply kept going, so feather-softly and gently that it felt almost comforting.

Summer didn't even fully register that Aemilia had never stopped until she felt the soft press of two fingers into the pool of wetness that Aemilia was entirely to blame for. Her breath caught and her body gave another jolt, those two fingers slipping easily within her and Aemilia playing lightly with her tongue, the combined sensations making her crave more until she was no longer sated and perhaps even more hungry for it than she had been before.

She had no idea it could even be like this, that she could feel so much and feel so incredibly good. Aemilia, on the other hand, did know, and she was aching and occasionally rolling her hips against the mattress in a mostly vain attempt to relieve some of her own need. But she focused on Summer rather than herself, and she made it her mission to give her the most mind-blowing sexual experience of her life thus far.

And she succeeded beautifully. Her fingers and mouth gradually working faster and in impressive sync with each other, Summer lost all sense of shame and inhibition and gave herself over to the almost otherworldly pleasure, greedily taking it all and only wanting more. Aemilia gave her more, bringing her to powerful and overwhelming ends twice more, until her fingers ached and her mouth needed a break.

The last two times having hit her nearly back to back, Summer felt like she had ascended to some other plane of existence as she laid there utterly wrecked. She whined when Aemilia withdrew her fingers, panting from her own need and sheer physical exertion. She tossed her hair back over her shoulders and looked down at the mess that she had reduced her friend to, smirking and wiping her hand over her mouth after setting her leg back down. She soothed her hand over Summer's hip and crawled back up the bed, laying down next to her and smiling rather filthily and self-satisfied when Summer opened her eyes and stared at her in a somewhat shellshocked daze.

"... Enjoy that?" Aemilia asked cheekily, brushing aside a lock of sweat-dampened hair from Summer's face.

"I... I don't think there's words for... that," Summer gulped. She managed to shift her highly sensitive and satisfied body towards Aemilia, both girls now on their sides with very little space between them. "I mean... I thought it would feel good but... not that good." She paused and then flushed a little, asking in a smaller voice, "Did you... like doing it, or..."

"Darling," Aemilia replied softly, trailing her hand down Summer's back, fingers tickling along her spine, "if you really doubt if I enjoyed myself, you can touch me and feel the effect that it had on me." She watched Summer blush at the implication and then added, "Trust me, I enjoyed making you come and gush all over my tongue."

Summer's eyes widened fractionally and she stuttered, "I've... never heard you talk like this before."

Aemilia smirked again. "That's because you've never had sex with me before tonight."

Hearing what they were doing put in such a way briefly shocked Summer for a moment, mainly thanks to the fact that she hadn't been doing a lot of thinking and thus hadn't really assigned the word sex to this drunken, curious, ridiculously hot... thing they were doing.

"Oh man," Summer blinked, blush deepening. "This isn't gonna make anything... weird... tomorrow, is it?"

"We've been best friends for ages," Aemilia shrugged, clearly not worried. "We've known each other inside out for so long." She paused. "And now we really know each other inside and out."

That made both girls burst into a new fit of quiet giggles, and somewhere in the midst of the girlish sounds and the laughter, they gravitated closer to each other and neither of them were sure who kissed who first. Regardless of how it happened, their lips were locked again and Aemilia's hand was wandering from Summer's back to her hips and down her outer thigh and back again, and Summer found that she could easily get caught up in the softness and warmth of her friend all over again. But even more importantly, Aemilia very much needed to be touched again, and after the way that she had blown Summer's mind only moments earlier, Summer was more than willing to shift all of her focus to her.

For the first time that night, Summer maneuvered on top of Aemilia and smiled down at her for a second before capturing her lips again, their kisses starting to take on a more heated, needy edge again. Summer relished the feel of the other woman underneath her, leaning one arm on the bed and using the other to touch her where she pleased, and she was starting to understand why this whole experimenting thing was so big with others of her age. It was fun, and this also counted as her first sexual experience with someone that she truly trusted with every fiber of her being and not a trace of doubt anywhere to be found.

Trailing her lips down to Aemilia's neck, she cupped one perfectly shaped, full breast and touched her how she liked to be touched herself, all the while getting slightly carried away and sucking a light mark beneath her ear. Aemilia mewled with need and her hands traveled down Summer's back to her hips and grasped them tightly, pulling her down and grinding them together. They both released quiet little sounds against each other's lips, Summer's eyes opening to find Aemilia's closed and her lower lip caught between her teeth.

Wanting nothing more than to make her see stars again, Summer slipped her hand further down into the now-familiar heat between Aemilia's legs, the very first brush of her fingers making Aemilia sigh and sink back into the mattress a bit. Summer's entire body heated back up simply at the feel of how incredibly wet Aemilia was, making the gentle massage of her fingers come effortlessly easy. She leaned down and kissed down the swell of one breast, taking her time before taking a nipple in her mouth and letting her tongue do her work for her. She felt Aemilia clench around her in response, and she decided that she would do everything she could to make her do that as much as she could.

Aemilia was rolling against Summer's hand in what seemed like hardly any time at all, one hand in Summer's hair and the other running up and down her back and her side, as restless as the rest of her. Summer alternated between torturing her breasts and kissing her hard and deeply, and she knew that it was working beautifully when Aemilia started moaning into her mouth and clenching again.

But it wasn't quite enough for Summer this time around. Feeling brave and ready to take things a step further, Summer removed her fingers right at the last minute, smiled and blushed at the way that Aemilia's eyes first flew open in confusion, then darkened with anticipation once Summer started making her way down.

"Are you sure?" Aemilia asked breathlessly, shamelessly opening her legs for Summer and watching with bated breath as she scraped her teeth gently over one of her hipbones. It felt better than she expected it to, and the way that she trembled slightly gave it away.

"Oh, I'm totally sure," Summer assured her, smoothing her hands up Aemilia's inner thighs and settling down between them.

"I just..." Aemilia faltered when Summer unexpectedly licked a hot line up her inner thigh. "I don't want you to feel... obligated because I -"

"I don't," Summer told her, genuinely meaning it. "I wanna do this to you."

That was good enough for Aemilia. She grinned and laid her arms up over her head, laying back and all but presenting herself as a feast ready to be had. She had a stubborn little smile on her face, and while Summer felt a few last minute nerves and had to ignore a few panicky thoughts over whether she could do this half as well as Aemilia had, she definitely wasn't gonna back out now.

Just as Aemilia had, Summer gently and slowly kissed her way to the other woman's center. She ignored the nerves and acted on instinct, and once she got started... she was pleasantly surprised by how easily it came.

What Summer lacked in experience she made up for in sheer determination. Aemilia, having been so close before, was desperate within only minutes and didn't hold back or try to restrain the sounds coming from her mouth. She tangled one hand in Summer's hair and grasped her own breast with the other, teasing herself and gasping when Summer began beautifully mimicking what Aemilia had done to her. It was perfect because Aemilia had touched her the way that she liked to be touched herself, and Summer had clearly paid attention rather well.

As she grew closer, her fingers tightened in Summer's hair and she moaned with anticipation, throwing her other leg also over Summer's shoulder and holding her in place as she rolled her hips beyond her control. She was nearly there, calling Summer's name without shame and so very close to what she needed, but then Summer stopped. She stopped and looked up at Aemilia, blushing and smiling a bit mischievously, only setting her mouth back to Aemilia to build her back up and suddenly pull away at the last minute... two more times.

Aemilia was wrecked with frustration, cursing and whining and panting hard every time that she was left hanging, but her torment wasn't without a purpose. Summer had a plan, and when she knew that Aemilia had reached the end of her rope, she laid one arm flat across her belly to hold her down, used her other hand to slip her fingers within her and then lowered her mouth to her one last time, this time holding nothing back and seeing her through to the end. And once Aemilia finally reached her peak, she gasped and shook and arched and nearly screamed in pure bliss.

For all that Summer had enjoyed that night herself, by the time that she was done and Aemilia had fallen limp with exquisite satisfaction against the bed, Summer was aching all over again. The sounds that Aemilia had made, the way that her body had trembled and rocked and melted for Summer, her taste and raw, shameless sexual energy, all of it had sparked the flame low in Summer's belly once more. She didn't think that Aemilia could take much more, not after that, but an idea occurred to her after she moved back up and had claimed Aemilia's lips in a soft kiss.

Aemilia's eyes were watery, a leftover telltale sign of her previous welcomed torture, and she gazed up at her friend with a dazed little smile as she murmured, "You have a talented tongue."

Summer grinned, sliding one thigh between Aemilia's. "Really? Even though it was my first time?"

Aemilia nodded, running her hands lazily down Summer's back. "Perhaps we both have a... natural knack for this sort of thing."

Summer giggled and kissed her again, rocking gently down on her thigh and squeezing around her just enough to alleviate some of the stubborn ache. She couldn't believe that she was still going, but she needed more - just a little more - and she had no shame left in her to think twice about starting to ride her best friend's thigh.

Aemilia didn't mind. She grinned in encouragement and held on to her hips as they moved, and when Summer leaned up on her elbows to shift her angle a little, Aemilia leaned up and let her tongue flick out to play with a nipple. Summer huffed and held her head close, groaning softly when the touch intensified the slow-burn of pleasure between her legs. She almost didn't notice when Aemilia started rocking with her, lips closed around her nipple and hand wrapping behind her thigh to pull it closer to her sensitive flesh.

They moved like that for awhile, nothing rushed or hurried, quiet groans and the soft sound of skin sliding against skin the only sounds to be heard in the room. Summer covered Aemilia's lips with hers when she pulled away from her breasts, and in between kisses Aemilia murmured, "You feel so good." She tugged Summer's hips closer and then whined, "Faster."

Summer obliged with a quiet moan, biting her lip and closing her eyes as she obeyed and rocked a little faster and harder. Aemilia answered with a moan of her own, fully rolling against Summer now and admiring the way that her breasts bounced with each new circle of her hips. She reached up and grasped them both, Summer's head falling back as she arched into the touch, and that was when Aemilia decided that she simply had to seize the control back.

She rolled them over easily, surprising Summer and making her laugh as her head hit the pillow. Aemilia grinned back in a way that was more predatory than anything, then parted Summer's legs open wide with her hands on her knees and settled between them.

Summer brought her legs around Aemilia's waist immediately and squeezed, her hands going to Aemilia's now-wild curls and burying themselves within them. Aemilia placed an almost sloppy kiss to Summer's lips, grinding them together in an experimental way as she stroked her cheek and said, "You've been so good, darling."

Summer smiled, her inner submissive nature floating to the surface. "I have?"

"So fucking good," Aemilia replied, loving the way that Summer's cheeks heated up in response to those words. Shifting her hips a little, trying to find the perfect spot, she went on, "So eager and giving... and so desperate to be fucked."

Summer's breath caught in her throat, and then her eyes widened and she gasped when Aemilia found just the angle that she was looking for. Pressing down gently and rubbing them together in the most intimate of ways, Aemilia exhaled a shaky breath and said, "That's what you want, isn't it? For me to fuck you, ride you into this bed until we both come all over each other?"

Summer nearly expired on the spot, mind reeling at Aemilia's words. "Oh my God -"

"Answer me, Summer," Aemilia all but demanded, hand sliding under Summer's head and taking a fistful of her hair in a tight grip. "Answer me and I won't stop until you scream."

"Yes," Summer gasped, restless hands moving up and down Aemilia's steadily grinding hips. "God, yes, please..."

Aemilia grinned at her begging and then kissed her, hot and open mouthed and needy as she picked up the pace. She rather liked what they were doing, reminding her of grinding on a pillow except instead of a soft flimsy thing, she was riding warm and slippery wet flesh. And Summer was already almost out of her mind with pleasure all over again.

Moving together in a steadily building rhythm and both of them amazed at how unexpectedly good it felt, it wasn't long until Summer was moaning incoherently and Aemilia was riding her harder, eventually taking her wrists and pinning them to the bed over her head as the heat and her instincts took over. She laid her forehead against Summer's and groaned, "I can feel you shaking."

Summer whimpered and let Aemilia restrain her, barely able to move her own hips at all at this point and at Aemilia's mercy. She was close and Aemilia knew it, but she wanted them to come together, so she warned her, "Not yet."

"But I -"

"I said not yet," Aemilia repeated. "You will come when I tell you to, understand?" When Summer whined but nodded shakily, Aemilia tightened her grip on her wrists and added, "And when you come, you will say my name."

Summer moaned her wordless assent and then they were kissing again, hard and fast and increasingly frantic as Aemilia moved faster. The small mattress creaked beneath them in protest as it all began to come to a head, Summer out of her mind and making noises she didn't know she was capable of and Aemilia feeling like she was on the cusp of the most intense release of her life. Her stomach clenching and entire body tensing, she gasped against Summer's lips, "Fuck, Summer, now - come for me now, oh fuck -"

Just as Aemilia had ordered her to, Summer came with a careless, half-gasped cry of her name. The sound reached Aemilia's ears and heightened her pleasure even more, crashing over her and making her nearly black out from the sheer intensity. They stayed pressed together through it all, moaning and trembling through every last aftershock while clinging to each other, bringing the unexpected and very enlightening night to an end.

Aemilia half-collapsed on top of Summer, both of them breathing hard and finally, finally spent. Aemilia's head was on Summer's chest, her body still nestled between her legs, and Summer had all the strength of a single wet noodle left in her.

Suddenly, they were both ready to sleep for a week.

Aemilia eventually found the will to roll off of Summer, letting out a deep breath and laying next to her, their shoulders and legs touching. Both exhaling deeply, they turned their head and looked at each other, then smiled and let a few exhausted laughs.

"Oh my God," Summer said with wide eyes, looking like she might have just had a life changing epiphany. "That was..."

"I know," Aemilia blinked. She had expected it to be good and ridiculously fun, but every last bit of it had exceeded each one of her expectations.

"Like..."

"Just..."

Neither of them able to find the words, they looked at each other and giggled again.

"I think we might be a little gayer than we thought we were," Summer mused, gratefully taking the blanket that Aemilia pulled up to drape over them both.

Snuggling back up to Summer like they had done countless times before - only naked and very satisfied this time - Aemilia laid down and sighed, "Well, who isn't at least a little gay every once in awhile?"

Summer chuckled and closed her eyes, more than ready for sleep to overtake her. "True."

---

"... So yeah. Then we fell asleep, and that's... that's what happened. That's the story."

Face aflame in the most uncontrollable blush of her life, Summer tried to calm herself down and work up the nerve to look up and chance a look at Bucky. It took her a moment or two, but she finally succeeded.

Bucky now had not one but three pillows on his lap, and he was leaning on the top one with his arms crossed over it. His hand covered his mouth and he had a sort of dazed look about him. Summer watched him for a moment, debating whether to ask if he'd gone catatonic or not, but she remained silent when he finally showed signs of life.

Dropping his hand and then dragging his fingers through his hair, Bucky closed his eyes and muttered, "Fuck."

Summer smiled nervously. "Did the story... live up to your expectations, or..."

He let out a sudden, harsh laugh. "Yeah, yeah. It... it, uh..."

Before he could get the rest of the words out, the distinct sound of a headboard rattling rhythmically against the wall made both Summer and Bucky pause and then groan with despair. Loki and Aemilia were still going at it, and had been going at it throughout the whole story. There had been breaks in the noise now and again, but now they were fully back at it. And neither of them kept their voices down, either.

Summer was equal parts embarrassed and hopelessly turned on. Recalling that particular story would have been enough to get her all worked up, but then there was all the noises and the obvious things happening next door, Aemilia's moans and Loki's filthy mouth - and Aemilia's filthy mouth, too. The walls were seemingly paper thin, and they could hear all of it.

"I'm just... kinda speechless," Bucky admitted, not quite meeting her gaze. Then he paused, listened to the sounds coming one room over, and then noted, "She's got a hell of a vocabulary."

"Yeah. Always has," Summer chuckled nervously. "Loki too."

Bucky's eyebrows shot up. "Yeah. Him too. Fuck."

Then another minute or two of silence - well, of not talking, anyway - passed, and Summer was at a bit of a loss for what to do. It appeared that they were going to sit there and just keep listening in the aftermath of her little storytelling adventure, and while it wasn't as awkward as it could have been, it wasn't exactly comfortable.

Especially for Bucky. In more ways than one.

"Well, I think I'm gonna go take a shower," Bucky announced.

"Okay."

But Bucky didn't seem to be in any rush to get up. He stared down at his lap in despair, then snapped his head up when all the ruckus next door finally all came to a head and, with a few last smacks of the bed against the wall and both Aemilia and Loki crying out in rather enviable states of euphoria, the "show" finally came to an end.

A rather spectacular end, by the sounds of it.

Everything now deafeningly silent, Bucky cleared his throat. "Yeah, so... I'm gonna go... take a shower," he repeated, this time getting up and out of the bed. Summer furrowed her brows when she glanced up and saw him taking two of the pillows with him.

"Why are you taking pillows with you?"

"Because I have to," he snapped more harshly than he'd intended to, expression and tone more than a little frazzled.

"... Okay, whatever. Calm down."

He laughed humorlessly. "That's what I'm trying to do."

Suddenly, Summer understood. "... Oh."

"Yeah, oh," he mumbled before hurrying off to the bathroom and all but throwing himself into it, closing the door behind him as fast as he could.

Summer watched him and then giggled to herself when he disappeared from view. She was in the same boat as him, but lucky for her, she had a much easier way of hiding it.

Meanwhile, behind the closed bathroom door and under a steady spray of ice cold water, Bucky decided that he had reached the end of his rope. Everything was ridiculous, and he no longer had the will or the cowardice to keep it going. He was sick of dancing around the truth and losing his nerve to tell it, sick of letting Summer slip through his fingers because he was afraid of the future and all of the ways in which he could screw up what they had between them. Those fears had held him back long enough, and come what would, he was finally going to speak up.

Once the frigid, miserable shower had done its job, he flipped off the water and stepped out, dripping on the tile floor and full of inner courage to finally lay his cards on the table. He dried off as fast as he could and dressed quickly as well, not wanting to leave any room for error or chickening out. This was happening, come hell or high water.

After tossing his wet hair into a loose bun at the back of his head, he gave himself one last long, threatening look in the mirror. Don't you fuck this up this time, you idiot, he mentally scolded himself before turning and flipping off the light and opening the door. He walked out and took one look at the bed, then felt all of that courage and resolve leave him in one long, inevitable rush.

She was asleep. While he had been in the shower, forcibly calming himself down, she had curled up on her side and passed out. And he couldn't even hold it against her, because she looked so sweet and peaceful that he found her impossible to annoyed with.

Yet again, his plans were foiled. Just like every time in the past that he had come close to finally confessing the truth of how he felt about her, something always happened to stop it. And now he would have to wait for another opportunity.

It wouldn't have been so bad, he thought, if he hadn't kissed her earlier that day for the first time and now craved her lips in a way that he never had before. Stealing a taste had only made him all the more desperate for her, just like he had known it would. But he still wouldn't have changed what he did for anything.

Quietly, he turned off the lights and then crawled into his side of the bed. He watched her sleep for a moment, wondering if he would ever stop being an idiot and finally listen to Loki's advice. Maybe, if he was lucky, he would get another chance in the morning to do just that.

Or maybe it would be weeks, or months. Maybe he'd never do it, and she would never be his.

He rolled his eyes at his morose thoughts and tossed a pillow over his face. Sometimes, he thought to himself as he laid there wide awake for the next hour, he really was his own worst enemy.