The fact that she knocked with her boot didn't alert him, just the smell wafting under the frame.
"Holy cow." Bucky said, and swung aside. "Where have you been all my life?"
"Upstairs." she said, and tucked her chin over the boxes, teetering in to set them down on the bench. "Steve home?"
"Will be shortly." Bucky said, and peered in a box. "Where the hell did ya get all this food?"
"Can we just wait for Steve? I only wanna explain once." she did, however, open the pasta and meatballs, and lift one to her mouth, chewing on it for a long time with her eyes closed.
"Good?" he said, and picked one up, shoving it in his mouth.
"So good." she replied around the ball, before Bucky put another in his mouth and groaned.
"Seriously." he looked at her with big eyes. "Marry me."
"Not my type." she scoffed, and put her hand over her mouth, chewing slowly.
They picked at bits and pieces for a few minutes, only managing to say: "Here, try this," and "You gotta taste this, have some," before Steve came home to see them sat around platters of food, Darcy up on the counter cross legged, and Bucky taking a long drink out of a wine bottle Stark had tucked under her arm.
"Your girl," Bucky's eyes were glittering. "You gotta marry her."
"Uhm." he looked at the food, at Darcy's clean face and hands. "I didn't know you cooked?"
"I don't," she swallowed whatever was in her mouth and opened her hand at Bucky, who passed the wine. "Better get pickin', dear, 'fore Bucky eats the whole damn lot."
"Already tried," Bucky said. "And she punched me."
Steve blinked at the food, his stomach growling.
"Where did you get this?"
"Take a seat." she swigged from the bottle, then held it out to him by the neck. He took it, took a sip, and shut his eyes.
"Oh, that's real sweet." he said, and took a longer gulp.
"I know. Best wine I ever tasted." Bucky said, but was looking at Darcy, chewing on his chicken.
"So, do I got a story for you two." she said, and wiped her hand over her mouth. "I uh, went home just after I saw you yesterday, Steve, to go hava shower 'n' get dressed. And there was a guy waitin' at my front door, sittin' on his ass, playing with his hat."
"He hurt you?" Steve said, nearly spitting back all the wine in his mouth.
"Nah." she said, with a quick grin. "It was Howard Stark."
There was a shocked pause. Bucky continued to shovel food into his mouth, but Steve just held onto his bottle.
"Why?" he said, brows drawing together.
"He wants me to be his apprentice." she said and put her head back on the wall. Briefly, she explained his proposal, going over the 'secret stuff' and how he'd take her all over the world, ending with mentioning that Steve was welcome to come along too.
Bucky stopped eating, then.
"What for?"
"I was hesitating." she shrugged. "He seemed to think it was because of Steve."
"Was it?" Steve said, and she then noticed that he was down half a bottle of wine.
"Yeah." she trapped him in a prolonged stare.
"Okay." Bucky said slowly. "So when are you leaving?"
"He's given me a few months to consider. He said to sort out my stuff with Steve, see how that works out, and then... He comes around in some sort of show, and I give him my answer."
The was a pause. Steve took a long drag from the bottle.
"I'd take it." Steve said earnestly. "Darcy, you should take it."
"Why?" she said.
"Because Howard Stark has money," he said, eyes wide on her like she was being stupid. She did not like it. "And because he's got power, and lookit all this food. You'd be so much better off, so much healthier, and happier-"
"But Howard Stark doesn't have you." she said, frowning at him.
He flushed, even more than the red blotches already in his cheeks.
"You don't need me." he said, shaking his head, looking at the table.
"Don't I get a say in that?" she said quietly, looking at him from under her lashes. "I like you, Steve. We're-... Well, I don't know what we are, but I like you and I wanna be your girl. And I can't just go off with Howard Stark, because I wanna be with you."
"Oh, I uh - I can't go." he said, still looking determinedly forward. "I gotta stick around for Bucky."
"Well geeze, don't hang around on my account." Bucky said, tearing off a piece of chicken with his fingers, shoving it into his mouth. "I reckon you both go for it. I'll be-"
"Darcy," Steve said, more desperately talking over his old-time friend. "You could be so happy with him."
"So come with me." she said.
Steve blinked at her.
"But Bucky's all I got." he said, and frowned.
Bucky stopped chewing.
"Steve," he said. "You're actually right - you could be put up somewhere nice. Travel. Get fed."
"He said it'd make it easy for you to get work," Darcy piped up, her voice suspiciously high. "He, uhm, said that if you were an artist, it'd make it so easy for you to paint or draw and, uh, work."
"I can't leave." he shook his head, lifted the bottle to his mouth. He took it away, looking at her with a furrowed brow. "You wanna go, Darcy?"
Darcy just looked at the chocolate desert by her leg, mulling it over in her mind.
"Not any more." she said, flatly, loudly, over the mounting tension. They both swiveled to look at her. "I'm not going. We're not going any where. This - what we got? What we got is good." she nodded to herself, and dunked her finger in the mousse, scooping up a bit to shove in her mouth.
"Aw, but hell if that ain't the best food I ever had."
Steve was giving her these eyes, big watery eyes.
"Don't look at me like that." she chided. "I'm not budging on this. I don't wanna put a timer on what I got, Steve. If you aren't comin' I ain't goin', and we can just be happy with what we have, right now. Cuz my daddy taught me that anythin' worth startin', it's worth startin' with your whole heart, and I wanna see where we go." she looked at him, nodding to herself.
"I wanna know we tried our best before either one of us backed out cuz we ain't done this before."
At first, Steve tried to defend himself, but the roaring blush on his face had very little to do with the wine, more because she knew exactly what was going on in his head. He had thought that, of course she'd go. Howard Stark had a near legendary status with women, he was rich and intelligent and the food alone should've made her run for the hills, away from him.
But she wanted to stay. Wanted to be his girl. Steve was sure he swooned.
"You- I - uh..." Steve said slowly. "I still think you'd be better off takin' the job."
"I know." she beamed. "But I still think we're worth it."
Steve looked into her eyes, pale blue, hit just right by the last streaks of sun filtering through the window. She was gorgeous, and she was sticking around for him. And she was looking at him, only him, even with Bucky in the room and all, she was only looking at him with the most precious smile on her face.
"Look, I'm not gonna lie," Bucky shattered the moment. "I should've already left by now, y'know, preserve modesty, or what-have-you, but goddamn the food is too good. Glad you're both sorted out, n'all, it's sweet. Pass those potato, would ya?" Bucky said, lifting a greasy hand to point at a box near Darcy's knee.
"And do us both a favor, and get that bottle away from this little punk before he tips it all over himself. Then we'll be right as rain."
The months seemed to fly by. Not only had Howard fed the three of them for two full days, but he'd been literal, when she said she had rent to pay and he told her he'd cover it.
So she had a lot of extra money that month, and she spent it on both the boys, and maybe squirreled away a little bit for herself.
The watch she bought for Bucky on his birthday, it made him look at her with the kind of warmth she had missed from her brothers. He picked up the silver plate, the thick leather band, rubbing his thumb over the shiny new face.
"Like it?" she said, unsure.
"Like it?" he cocked both brows. "Babydoll, this's gotta be half your rent. I can't-"
"It's not half the rent, and yes you can." when he struggled with it on his wrist, she took it and pushed the pin through the hole in the leather, fitting it to his size. "So, do you like it?"
"I love it, Mox." he said, and his voice dropped a fraction. His hand came up to scrub at his eyes, before he pulled her under his chin for a tight hug. "Thank you."
"Okay, hands offa my girl." Steve said, and she laughed.
The first thing she ever bought Steve was for his art.
It was nearly midnight - Bucky had passed out on the couch and Darcy had stuck around to say a long, non-verbal goodbye. Then she pressed a finger against his lips, muttered: "Wait here, a sec," and ran up the stairs, then back down them, pushing into Steve's room.
When she broke the threshold, she was the first girl to ever step foot in there. She held a wooden box in her hand, a thin red ribbon wound around it.
"Don't say anything to Bucky." she murmured, still grinning.
"What's this about?" he crossed arms over his chest, felt the bite of cold on his toes.
"I got you a little somethin'. Don't tell me you can't accept it, I got a good deal with the guy who sold them to me, okay?" she handed him the box. "I know your birthday ain't anywhere near here, but I saw the way Bucky liked his present and I couldn't wait to give you yours."
He looked at the plain box, curly ribbon, unsure.
"Not that I'm not grateful, but... you shouldn't have. Bucky'll-"
"Forget Bucky. I got it for you." she was smiling so brightly, so warmly, and any resolve he had melted. "Come on, open it."
He turned and sat on his bed, putting his feet up on the edge, sliding the bow off with his thumbs. Without any reservation, she came and sat beside him, her feet tucked up on the mattress under her bum.
He lifted the lid, instantly assaulted with the smell of brand new pencils. It made him sniffle, slightly, but not cough, which was good, because it was one of his favorite scents in the world.
"Look, this lifts up." she pushed the edge up with her forefinger, showing him how the pencils lifted away to hold another row of vibrant colors. "The guy said these were the best of the best, that good art came from having good equipment. And since I know you have already amazing art, I thought I'd maybe kick your muse in the rear. I can't draw for you, but I thought, I can do this." she studied his face.
He ran his fingertips over the grain, the bright pigmented tips. Already, he could see things coming to life before his eyes, images of bright butterflies, of tall towers wrapped in creeping vines.
"Are they the good kind?" she asked.
He realized he hadn't said anything. He didn't know what to say. They were a very expensive set of pencils, were up there with the best of the best. And she'd got them 'just because'?
"Steve?"
When he managed to drag his eyes up from the pencils, she seemed concerned.
"Thank you." he said, and smiled as wide as his mouth would allow. "There are great. You're-... You're too good to me."
"No, I'm not." she said, and bumped him with her shoulder.
"You are." he looked at the box, thumbs running over the shell of the drawing implements. "These are great, Darcy."
"You like them?"
"Yeah, I do." he looked up at her, so close. His eyes dropped to her smile, then down to his hands. "I love them."
"Good." she leaned over, pressing a kiss against his cheekbone. "I'm glad." she popped up off the bed, stopping to turn in his doorway, looking at his curled up toes, the way his shoulders were hunched in cold.
He smiled at her, watching her eyes go over him, then tipped his head.
"What?" he said slowly.
"Nothing." she grinned brightly, looking every inch a devious imp. "I'll fix it. Good night, Steve."
"What're you gonna fix?" he heard her feet thud lightly against the floorboard. "Darcy?"
Then the door clicked shut, and he was left with his new pencils and not a clue what his girl was up to.
Then she got him a heavy woolen vest, thick socks, and blue scarf, things that she had to nearly force him to wear, that she didn't see him take off when he went out on the town. And he took her out as often as possible, or little picnics on her lunch break, for dinner, once he woke her up at the crack of dawn to get her up on the roof to watch the sunrise.
Steve was, in a word, perfect.
And Darcy 'Moxie' Lewis was a lot of things; strong and independent and colorful with her language, able to knock grown men on their asses and have casual discussions with very powerful men about getting her a job, but she wasn't made of stone.
She fell for Steve, and she wasn't very well versed in the ways of men, but she was almost entirely sure he fell for her too.
"Guess what?" he said, looking very much like a puppy. She came in, gave him a swift kiss on the cheek, and removed herself to go and wash the grime off her face.
"Bucky's finally found himself a steady girl and he can finally stop parading his floozies around?" she called into the sink.
"Not even close." he teased. "We're goin' out, you and me. To a picture."
"Really?" she wiped her face on the already stained towel Steve had left there for her. She grinned. "Pullin' my leg!"
"Nope." he beamed. "There was a raffle at my school and I won."
"I ain't never been." she told him.
She leaned over the sink and he kissed her mouth, smiling, easing into a relaxed pose against the door frame so she could scrub the rest of the muck off her person. He usually waited until she was at least a little bit cleaner before he made any moves, but nothing stopped him today, leaning over to kiss her jaw.
"Have I told you lately that you're beautiful?"
Whenever Steve was with the compliments, he was usually drunk. She didn't mind because - well - she was usually drunk too. But when he got like this, sober, it made her squirmy. She could'nt understand why, other than she wasn't used to it.
"Oh, quit." she said, and pressed a kiss on his mouth in the hopes he'd stop before he made her uncomfortable. "When d'you wanna go, you know, to the picture?"
"How's Saturday night?"
"Sounds perfect."
"Like you?"
She shook her head, laughing weakly as she looked into the sink.
"You're pretty charming today. What's up?"
"Nothin'." he shrugged, and beamed, stepping up beside her to sling an arm around her waist. "I just wanted my girl to know she's the best."
"Well, I ain't gonna contest that." she joked, and kissed him again.
His other hand braced her cheek, deepened the kiss, and she inhaled heavily, shutting her eyes. Typically, they didn't do this. They kissed and they held hands and they linked arms, but, they didn't do this. His tongue flicked against the seam of her mouth and she sighed, parting her lips.
Her hands, still damp but clean enough, went to his waist, pulling on his shirt until she could bunch it in her hands. He wrapped his arm around her tighter and pulled her flush against him, so tightly she could feel his breathing, the raise and fall of his chest, the dig of her handy belt between them.
"S'gotta go-" she muttered against his mouth, fumbling with the catch on the belt, before pressing more fully against him.
"Baby-" he said, and the hand holding her face trailed over her shoulder, down to the small of her back. "Can I touch you?"
"Mhm." she hummed, and shoved one of his suspenders to the side, so she could feel his collarbone, the fluttering heartbeat in his throat. "Please do."
"Gonna." he muttered, and put his mouth on her throat, which made her knees buckle, made them fall against the bathroom wall. "Gonna touch you."
His hand slid down and cupped her bum, giving a tentative squeeze. She inhaled sharply, her stance widening of her own accord, leaving Steve to step into it. At the feel of him there between her legs, she gasped, and he lifted his face to study her expression.
"Uh-" he said, eyes blue-black and mouth pink. "Am I-... Do you- like, that?"
She didn't know.
"Do it again." she said, and he squeezed her back pocket, making her heart jolt against her rib cage. "I- think - yeah. Do it again?"
He lowered his mouth to her throat, and she wished she'd worn some perfume. Or had a shower. Or had some soap. His other hand slid between the gap of her overalls and shirt and splayed against her waist, making the shirt ruck up and crease in his hand.
"Can I-?" he muttered, into her shoulder. "Touch you here?"
"Mhm." she was pulling the tails out of his trousers, and her hands were shaking. He was moving but she was moving with him, rhythmically, up and down, joined at the hips. She could feel him - there. It was so strange, to know she was wanted, and when their rhythm stuttered and he rocked forward and she came down she jolted at the very nice thing happening south of her waist.
"Are you okay?" he whispered, leaning back, not blinking as he stared, wide eyed at her face. "Not too fast?"
She shook her head, hands in scrabbling claws at his shirt.
"Come back," she said, whispered, even if they were in the apartment alone. "Come back, come back, do it again."
Her fingers went under his shirt, fleetingly over his prominent hipbones to his back, stroking over the soft skin she found there. He shuddered when she touched the knobbly parts of his spine, so she touched his ribs, dragging the pads of her fingers over them, making him rock more steadily against her.
His hand on her waist had gone under the shirt, and she was breathing quick, puffing against his shoulder - but he wasn't any better, barely mouthing at her neck while his hands searched for something she didn't know how to give up.
"Love you," he was saying, and bought his head up to kiss her mouth. "I love you."
"Love you too." she breathed, and licked his lower lip. "Steve, I- really, really love you."
"I wanna -" he swallowed, shaking slightly. "I wanna touch you."
"So touch me."
"I wanna touch you, uh-" his eyes flicked to her heaving chest, the hand on her bum squeezing so she rocked down as he came up. "Can I - can I touch you...?"
She took the his wrist and slid it up her ribs - probably just as boney, if she was honest - and against the meager padding of her bra. She was staring at him with wide eyes, sure he was maybe squeeze her boobs, and she didn't think it'd feel nice.
But what he did do was let out a breath he'd been holding, and cup his hand, using the heel of his palm to rub in a small circle, and that felt very nice.
"Steve," she said, and pulled him by the neck over, hands fumbling with his buttons. "Don't stop touching me."
"Okay." he said, slightly pitched, and squeezed and rubbed. "Is it - does it feel okay?"
"Good." She said, and nibbled on his ear. "So good."
"Good." he rubbed forward and hissed and she gasped. She undid the last button and had half his shirt shoved off the arm that had no suspender on, putting her mouth on his shoulder, feeling the warmth his naked torso had to offer with a rapt sigh of pleasure. "I- Darcy - do you wanna-?"
"Wanna?" she think the noise she made was a squeak. "Wanna what?"
The door clicked shut, booted feet thudding on the floorboards. They scrambled apart, each braced against opposite sides of the door frame, both equally wide eyed as Bucky glanced over at them, then did a double take.
What he saw was Steve was trying to wrestle his shirt down the front of his trousers and hold it closed at the top, Darcy likewise shoving her shirt at the side, blinking at him like a stunned rabbit.
Steve, he noticed, was significantly more undressed, though Darcy looked like she was about to come undone.
"Aaaaaaand I'm interrupting." he said, nodding once, as if to confirm with himself. When did it become his world that Steve was getting action and he was by himself? "I'll, uh, knock, in future."
In his own apartment, goddammit.
"Guh-!" Darcy said, and shook her hands. "It's not what it looks like?"
"Yeah." Bucky said slowly, edging towards his bedroom. "Looks like you were gettin' a little handsy in the uh, bathroom. You two just... keep it down." he gave them both expressive brows, then opened his door, edged behind it, and finally cracked a grin before he shut it with a small snap.
Darcy wasn't sure what to do with herself. Did they keep going?
Did she even want to?
She looked at Steve, who had a hand covering the lower half of his face. What she could see was bright red. The mortified bug eyes peeking over his fingers made her shout a laugh, and try and cover that, but it broke the dam between them and he laughed too.
"Like you haven't caught him doin' worse." she giggled, and relaxed against the frame.
"I have," Steve promised her, and shook his head. "Not that I wanna think about it. Uh. Ugh, I'm thinkin' about it."
She snorted, shook with more laughter, then looked at him, beaming at her.
"What?" she said, brushing her hair behind her ears.
"Nothin'," he said, goofily smiling at her. "I just realized I told you I loved you."
She might've dopily smiled back.
"Yeah, and I just realized I told you I loved you too."
"Yeah." he said, and reached over to touch her face with his fingertips. "Yeah, I know."
She didn't know what to do. This whole romance, physical passion, thing, that was outta her league. But whatever they had been doing, that was nice. She liked that. The implication of that last: 'Do you wanna?' was what got the smile to fall, the eyes to widen slightly.
"Darcy?" Steve lost his smile too, stepping forward, cupping her cheek. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah." she blurted, but she was suddenly very anxious not to be alone with him. She wasn't ready, not for the... other, bit, of the physical. "I uh - heh, just thought that uhm, Bucky's probably gonna think that we're -" her giggling was very pitchy.
"Oh." he said, and the smile he gave her next was very small. "Well, I'll set him straight. It's okay. You know I ain't gonna spread anything about you or have anyone thinkin' things."
"I know." she said warmly, and gave him a quick kiss on the corner of his mouth. "I- uh - I gotta shower. Been a long day. Saturday night, we're still goin' to the pictures?"
"Sure thing." he said, and she thought she saw him deflating, so she caught his face in both hands and hauled him closer, kissing his mouth again. His shirt was still unbuttoned, and she did love the feel of his skin, so she slid a hand down his front, running over the lump in his chest.
He shivered and wrenched his head away to cough, making her hold his shirt together and rub his back until he stopped.
"Mood killer." he muttered, apologetic.
"I think the mood was a little bit dead since your room mate walked in." she teased, but saw him frown. "Oh, baby, don't worry about it. I'm sure Bucky don't mind too much."
"I do!" came from behind his door.
"Stop eavesdropping!" she shouted, and Steve buttoned up his shirt while she marched into the lounge area. "Swear to god, Barnes, you're just as bad as the old lady that lives down the hall from me, you know that?"
His door swung open, and his raised both brows, leaning one large shoulder against the frame.
"I take it by the sound o' you yellin' at me that your mouth ain't otherwise occupied," he drawled, looking positively devious. "And it's safe for me to come out."
She flushed, but tipped her head at him.
"Aw, quit glarin', babydoll, give yourself wrinkles. What you two get up to behind closed doors is your own business." he shrugged, sauntered into the kitchen, well out of her arm's length. "Until you know, I open the doors and Steve has a bedroom for a reason, geeze."
Darcy didn't have much to say to that, rolling her eyes to her fella, who was pretty wheezy, rubbing his chest. She made to get the afghan off the back of the sofa for him, but he shook his head, waved her away before she could. It was a little bit sharp, a little bit jerky, and she stilled, trying to think of what she'd done wrong.
"I- uh - my shower." she said sheepishly, and shoved her hands deep in her pockets. "And I got errands. And - oh." she saw her handy belt, lying uselessly on the floor like a dead snake, and skipped over to it, buckling it back around her waist.
"I'll see you." Steve said, with a small smile. She kissed his cheek on the way past, strolling to the door.
"I'll swing by tomorrow." she promised, and snorted at Bucky's eye roll. "Bye, Buck."
"Good riddance, harlot!" he said, as the door shut behind her.
The sound of a smack! and Bucky's : "Christ almighty, Steve, I was kiddin'!" was entirely satisfying.
