Hi, guys!
Sooo... Five months, huh? I know I was gone for way too long and I know I promised to come back right after graduating from high school, in May. But here I am, it's July but hey, I have a new chapter! It's messy af but it's long and I kinda enjoy it, idkw.

Anyway, please, read a note under the chapter as well - I would like to say a few more things.
Now, buckle up and get ready for the longest chapter about Bucky and his friends (his cute neighbor Steve is there' too) - it's Bucky's B-day!

"He's not going to come, I'm telling you. Why would he? He probably thinks I'm boring so why would he want to come to my party? God, it's not even a party, I'm so pathe-"

"Pathetic. Yeah, yeah, we know. We've heard it at least fifty times already. Just stop freaking out, you moron." Clint rolled his eyes and finished his beer. He looked around the room before his eyes landed on Bucky again just to see him staring at Clint in disappointment. "What?"

"You don't understand, Clint. Of course, you don't get it." James sighed and looked away with his sad puppy expression. It made Clint feel bad about what he told a minute ago but only a little bit bad. He meant well after all and that's what matters, right? He just wanted his best friend to spend his birthday smiling and having fun, not worrying.

It was on Friday. It was the day of Bucky's little house party and also his birthday. All of his friends came and seemed to be having fun so far. James should be happy and satisfied but instead, he was tense and freaking out. What made him feel this way? The answer was simple. He invited Steve – and told him to bring his friends if he wants to – to his little party and Rogers immediately promised he would come. Obviously, he didn't tell him it's his birthday. He didn't want him to feel obliged to bring him a gift, no. But Steve promised to come and didn't text Bucky or anything to tell him that plans had changed. They met a few times but never had time to talk even for a few minutes. So obviously Bucky was still hoping to see him today. Just looking at the clock was making him feel sad. Yes, his friends had come earlier than Bucky told them to but it was expectable. There was still a little bit of hope left in him that Steve would just be a little bit late. But Bucky was not the person to hold onto his hopes for too long. It was already half past 8 pm and no sign of Steve. Yeah, being ditched by your crush – even if they have no idea about it – on your birthday sucks. And that's why Bucky just couldn't force himself to go and have fun with all his friends.

"Hey, Barnes. Don't think too much or your brain will get overheated." James blinked a few times trying to go back to reality. There was Daisy standing in front of him with this sweet and – at the same time – mischievous smile of hers, holding a bottle of beer in one hand and holding her fiancé's hand in the other. "No, but seriously, are you okay? Cause you seem a little off." Daisy asked and she went from her Mocking Mode to the Caring Mode immediately.

"I'm great, why wouldn't I be?" James even managed to smile but it probably was the least convincing smile in the whole galaxy.

"Bucky, you've been drinking this beer since we got here. That's super weird. It probably doesn't even taste like beer anymore, more like pee or something." Johnson scrunched her nose to show her disgust just from thinking about it.

"Gotta agree on that one. Should I bring you another beer?" Daisy's fiancée, Grant offered kindly and nodded towards the refrigerator.

"Nah, there's no need to. I'm not in a beer-mood anyway. But thanks for offering." Bucky smiled and put down the half-empty bottle on the shelf. That super mischievous smile appeared on Johnson's face again.

"Is that because you're officially getting old, isn't it? You're not in your twenties anymore."

"Who's getting old?" Quill's head popped up all of sudden between Daisy and Grant startling everyone.

"Jesus" Clint murmured under his breath and put his hand on his heart for a dramatic effect.

"I'm not Jesus, just your beloved Peter Quill, thank you very much." Peter bowed down with a grin on his face. "So? Who is getting old, guys?"

"It's James' birthday. Go ahead and take a guess, you moron." His girlfriend and soon-to-be-fiancée called out from the couch where she was sitting comfortably, sipping on her drink. She had the same grim face expression as usually which had some kind of charm to it.

"Aw, love you too, Sweetie." Peter answered in the sweetest voice Bucky had ever heard, probably to annoy her a little bit more. It worked actually and provided him with a death glare from Gamora. He turned to the rest of his friends again and smiled proudly. "Isn't she the loveliest?"

"What did you do to get her so angry so early?" James asked, still looking at Mora as if he was expecting her to kill everybody any moment. Well, he didn't even think about her doing it, actually. He had known her for a few years now and was accustomed to her grim personality. But she was a very lovely person, in fact.

"Asked her to dance before she even finished her first drink." Quill shrugged, an easy-going smile on his face this whole time while nodding his head to the rhythm of the music playing in the background. "Oh, and by the way, you're not getting old, Bucky. I think you're just getting better with age like a fine wine, you know."

"Thank you, Quill. See? That's called being nice. You could all learn a lot from Peter." James said pointing his finger at Clint and Daisy. They rolled their eyes in sync.

"Wouldn't want to burst your bubble but he's nice just because you're always letting him choose the music. And that's called corruption." Said Clint being smartass like always. Bucky was ready to reply him, he had already squinted his eyes at Barton but the sound of the doorbell interrupted their friendly bickering. James' heart stopped for a while and then started to pump his blood so quickly and so loudly that Bucky was always sure everybody in the room could hear it.

"Uh-oh, there he is, our Bucky, looking like a kid on the Christmas morning."

"I hate every single one of you." Barnes snapped back while already going towards the door. He had barely heard a bunch of 'I love you's from his friends in response, he was so focused on the door. James took a really deep breath before opening the door.

Please, don't be Girl Scout selling cookies. Please, don't be Girl Scout. Not that he didn't like these cookies. He loved them but at that moment he was expecting something – or someone, actually – that was far from Girl Scouts and their cookies. Bucky grabbed the handle firmly and opened the door with the brightest smile who could do considered how nervous he was. And... Oh well, his face fell immediately. It was neither Girl Scout nor Steve Rogers.

"You know, you could've at least pretended to be happy to see us, Brahms." Tony Stark said with a completely straight face. Bucky blushed a little ashamed of himself.

"I'm so sorry, I AM happy. I'm just a little surprised, that's all." He said and smiled at Pepper and Tony.

"Don't worry, he was just joking, right Tony?" Pepper looked at her husband as if she was trying to discipline him. Well, it kind of worked cause he smirked a little. "Besides, I bet you were expecting Steve to show up, weren't you? He's gonna be there in a few minutes, I promise. We've just got a text from him."

"That's great, thanks for the info. Come in. It's nothing fancy, just a couple friends, a little bit of alcohol, food, and music but I hope you will have a good time anyway." Bucky opened the door widely so the couple could come in.

"I'm sure we will-"

"Yeah, Brahms. Your birthday party saved us from another boring business party. It's way, way better than this wake we were about to attend." Tony cut in and rolled his eyes. Hold on a sec, did he just said "birthday party"?

"But it's not my birth-" Bucky tried to deny, even if Tony was right, but Stark cut in once more.

"Yes, it is, Bucky. So happy birthday, kid!" The man pulled out a little box from behind his back and handed it to Buck who was so shocked that he took it, still looking at Pepper and Tony with disbelief. How the hell did they know? "Come on, just open it already." The billionaire encouraged him and nodded at the box. It was a simple black box with a red ribbon wrapped around it and a neat bow on the top. Bucky was still speechless but managed to untie the bow and take the lid off. And he almost went breathless after seeing what's inside. It was a silver watch, a fucking silver Rolex!

"I- I can't accept it." James managed to mumble. He quickly put the lid on again and handed it to Tony.

"You don't like it? We can get you another model. Or maybe you prefer golden watches, this could be arranged too." Tony offered as if he was talking about a five-dollars watch, not Rolex.

"No, neither model nor color is the problem. But the price is. It's too expensive and I cannot accept it." Bucky insisted. This watch was probably the most expensive thing he had ever held in his hands. He just couldn't accept it as a gift from a person who's only meeting him for the second time ever. No matter how rich that person was, it was still a no-no.

"Oh, get over it, Barnes! Just take it, it's your big day. It's not like I spent my whole paycheck on it, anyway." Tony basically threw the box at Bucky and patted his shoulder, already walking away. "Hey, Natasha! I figured it out! You're a ballerina and ballet teacher, am I right?" Stark exclaimed. Bucky had no choice but to look at Pepper, hoping she would take that freaking watch back. It costed more than what Bucky would earn in two months working both in the restaurant and as a piano teacher for god's sake!

"Don't worry, that's just the way Tony is. Generous, way too generous from time to time. But he meant well. You're still lucky the invitation was a last-minute. Otherwise Tony would've bought you a yacht or something like that." Pepper joked and laughed quietly. "But please, accept it." She added with an angelic smile on her face. What the hell, how was Bucky supposed to refuse her? He could not.

"Uh, okay, thank you. I'm eternally grateful for it, it's awesome." James finally admitted and peeked inside the box with a little smile. "BUT if you ever need a pianist or a piano teacher, I'm doing this for free for the rest of my life, understood?"

"You got it, James." Pepper agreed with a quiet chuckle and hugged Bucky. "Happy birthday again, James. Now excuse me, I gotta get to Tony before he puts his hands on vodka." She pulled away and went after her husband who was already discussing something with Tasha and Clint. Bucky walked towards his bedroom to put away the gift from Stark. As soon as he walked back into the living room, he was practically attacked by emotionally charged Bruce.

"Why, the hell, didn't you tell me?"

"Told you what exactly?"

"That Mr. Tony Stark is coming to your B-day party! And that you know him and his wife at all!" Bruce was both extremely excited and nervous. Bucky could see his hands shaking a little, his eyes were big and his face was getting a little bit red.

"Actually we've met for the second time today. And I had no idea they would be coming. Steve invited them cause I told him to bring some friends along with him." Bucky shrugged.

"Wha- And who the hell is Steve that he's friends with a freaking Stark?" Bruce's eyes almost popped out. James couldn't help but laugh at his reaction.

"Come on, let me introduce you." Bucky offered and if it wasn't for him pushing Banner just a little bit, he wouldn't have moved at all. "Hey, Pepper, Tony, this is my friend-"

"Doctor Banner, bioscience genius himself! It's a pleasure to meet you, I admire your work." Tony cut in and walked towards Bruce with his hand already held out to introduce himself, although he did not have to cause everyone knows the famous Tony Stark.

"He-knows-my-name" Banner managed to stammer out to Bucky quietly before taking Stark's hand and shaking it. James laughed and walked over to Nat and Clint.

"What exactly did Tony figure out?" He asked, furrowing his brows.

"Oh, my nickname. Took him some time but it finally got to him that I'm a ballerina so from now on, call me Black Swan." Tasha rolled her eyes, obviously amused by this.

"And Natasha, being the best girlfriend in the world – yes, I'm being sarcastic – decided to tell him about my archery thing."

"Let me guess. Legolas?" Bucky laughed as Clint nodded his head. He didn't enjoy his conversation with these two for too long because the doorbell rang once again. "This gotta be Steve." Bucky breathed out and practically ran towards the door.

This time he wasn't wrong. There he was, just standing there and looking as beautiful as ever with that bright smile on his gorgeous face. Just the sight of him made Bucky's smile so wide that it was almost painful.

"Steve, you made it!"

"Of course I did. I've made a promise after all." Rogers shrugged but not in an ignorant way, more like a not-a-big-deal way. "Besides, I could never miss my favorite neighbor's birthday party." The blonde man added and held up a quite big but quite thin rectangular box. Seriously, Steve brought a gift too?

"I've never told it was my birthday party. Have no idea where this came from." Bucky tried to deny it one more time and it didn't work, probably since Steve laughed.

"Such a terrible liar, that's cute." Rogers shook his head, slightly amused and simply hugged James with his free hand. "Happy Birthday, Buck. And don't even try refusing to accept my gift, I warn you." Oh. God. Steve Rogers hugged him just after he told him he was cute. Steve hugged Bucky and held him for at least a few secs. Obviously, James was way too shocked to hug him back immediately. But it felt so nice. It felt safe, it felt almost familiar. Bucky had almost got light-headed but somehow managed to get his shit together and return the hug.

"Thanks, Stevie. Glad you came." Barnes said as they pulled away. Steve smiled at him and flicked his eyes at the box he was holding. It was wrapped in the nice silver wrapping paper and had a deep-blue ribbon on it. Bucky sighed but took it from him. He couldn't take the risk and try to reason with Steve, he wanted him to stay way too damn much. "Come in, join the rest. And thanks for coming once again."

About four hours into the party and something felt... off. Quill was having a blast, dancing with Gamora to his favorites hits from the '80s and '90s. Daisy was having a quite enthusiastic conversation with Bruce and Tony about some new techs and stuff like that. Meanwhile, Pepper and Natasha were talking quietly on the sofa, chuckling from time to time. And Steve was talking with Clint and Grant about... Well, he wasn't exactly talking with them, not even listening, to be honest. He was just standing there, looking around from time to time. That's the thing that felt so wrong – Bucky was nowhere to be seen and it was making Steve a little bit concerned since it was his birthday party and he seemed to be having fun the last time Steve had seen him. He just disappeared so suddenly and was gone for a while.

"Bucky is in his room if you're looking for him. I've seen him going there some time ago." Steve looked at the tall brunette a little confused. Did he say anything subconsciously or was Grant a mind-reader? "I mean, you're looking for him, right? Cause you just keep looking around and since everybody else is in this room, I thought..."

"Yes, he did, Ward. You just caught him off guard, right Steve?" Clint cut in, trying not to laugh and failing miserably. Rogers nodded his head since these two had already known what was going on. "Go on, go to him, then. It's that room, over there." Barton pointed at one of the doors. Steve mumbled quick 'thanks' and was already going towards that door. He knocked and since music was playing quite loudly, he simply came in.

"James? You there?" Steve asked cautiously, looking around. The bedroom was neat, mostly in grey and white with a few colorful accents. Bucky's head popped up from behind the bed with a surprised look on his face. "Sorry if I'm interrupting, Clint told me I could find you here. But I can leave if you need a moment alone." Steve said quickly and was ready to leave when James smiled and shook his head.

"Nah, it's fine. You can join me here if you want to." Bucky offered. Steve took a few steps towards him and noticed that Bucky was sitting on the floor between his bed and the window.

"You sure? Are you okay?" Steve asked but sat down next to Bucky anyway. James chuckled and nodded.

"Yeah, I'm great. Just a little... Overwhelmed." The brunette explained and shrugged.

"By what exactly?"

"All of this. First of all, I did not tell you it's my birthday but you figured it out, anyway. Which makes me wonder, are you obsessed with me, Rogers?" Barnes managed to joke a little with a smirk on his face. Steve laughed and shook his head.

"I have my sources, that's all." The blonde man said, trying to make the most serious face expression he could. He ended up grinning anyway, but at least he tried. Bucky raised his eyebrow and Steve sighed. "Okay, I might have stalked you on Facebook a little bit. And I really like that long hair you used to have." James laughed and blushed, kinda embarrassed. First of all, Steve was stalking him on social media, that's a good sign, right? Unless he's some kind of psycho, then it's not good. But Steve could never be evil, right? And secondly, he saw his old photos, that's not good.

"Please, forget about these photos. I should've deleted them after getting a haircut, my mistake."

"No, I mean it. You looked great. Not that you look bad in your short hair, obviously. But it was different and nice, too." Steve assured him.

"I liked them too if I have to be honest. It was Tasha's idea that I should let my hair grow while we were in Russia just to try something new but I guess I enjoyed it." James confessed and ran his fingers through his way shorter hair.

"Russia, huh? Can I ask what were you doing there?"

"Oh no, Stevie. Stop changing the subject." Bucky shook his head and chuckled. "Back to you stalking me. You should've kept that info for yourself, you know."

"Let me guess. Tony gave you something super fancy, didn't he? Ah, typical Tony Stark. Doesn't know what 'keep it low-key' means and never will. He actually promised me not to overdo but I guess he did, anyway."

"He gave me a fucking Rolex, Steve. That's insane!" James threw his hands up, making sure not to hit Steve. He wouldn't want that, not at all.

"Believe it or not, he did keep it low-key... Kind of, in his own, billionaire way."

"I don't know if this was supposed to make me feel better but it didn't."

"Come on, James. Last year he almost bought my apartment so I wouldn't have to pay for my rent anymore. I refused and he seemed to surrender but ended up paying my rent two years in advanced." Barnes' eyes got wider and wider with every word. And Rogers was acting as if it wasn't a big deal. What if he was secretly a billionaire, too? "That's just the way he is and you gotta let him spoil you if he wants to. He's really generous, I know. Pepper and I try to reason with him a lot but in the end, he always does as he pleases. And when it comes to buying gifts for people he likes and cares about, there's no such a thing as 'too expensive' for him. Tony loves giving gifts, trust me. Which actually reminds me about something."

"What? He bought you a yacht and you forgot about it?" James asked with a smirk. Steve was probably right since Tony was his best friend and he knew him well so what was the point of resisting?

"Very funny, but no. It reminds me I brought you something too. Have you opened it already?" Steve asked and the brunette shook his head in response. "How about you do it now? It's not that fancy as the one from Tony, but it's straight from my heart, I swear. And I, uh, wanted to see if you like it or not." Rogers scratched his neck, a little embarrassed. He didn't have to tell Bucky twice. He immediately got up and went towards the dresser on top of which he put the gift from Steve. The blonde man got up too so he could watch James opening it.

Inside was a frame. Well, of course, Bucky had opened it upside down but just this frame was enough to make Bucky's heart beat faster. Or it was just a fact that it was something from Steve, from the bottom of his heart. James put away all the ribbons and wrapping paper and turned the frame. What was on the other side was nothing he would ever expect it to be. It was a drawing but not just any drawing. It was incredibly detailed, drawn with pencils. And if it wasn't enough, it was that one specific drawing he had already seen. Heck, he had even seen the place depicted on the paper and he knew exactly when was this drawn. The fountain, trees, and benches around it. It was that one drawing, Steve was working on the first time Bucky had seen him in the park. It was that one drawing, Bucky loved so much when looking through Steve's sketchbooks.

"Do you- Is it okay? I know it's not much but I thought... I mean, you seemed to like-" Bucky cut in even though he didn't say anything. He simply smiled because he was so speechless, put down the drawing on his bed cautiously.

And just because he was so speechless, not for any other reasons, James hugged Steve tightly who – unlike Bucky earlier – immediately Steve, unlike James before, hugged him back immediately with a little chuckle.

"So you like it?" The blonde man asked, a little less shy, now that he had seen Bucky smiling widely.

"I love it, Stevie. You're the best, you know this, right?"

"Yeah, I've heard it a few times before." Rogers replied amused. Everything was so great, the gift was great, Steve was great. "Glad you liked it. Happy birthday, Buck." The blonde man said quietly and rubbed James' back. And just as he said it, Bucky became very aware of Steve's closeness. His warm breath hit Buck's neck and it made him shiver. He hardly stopped himself from taking a sharp breath because it would be way too obvious. Instead, he patted Steve's shoulder lightly and slowly started pulling away. Holding him felt so right, yet so wrong. It felt good and safe but at the same time, Bucky knew it would make him fall even harder. He was already way too deep for his own good, he just couldn't let himself do this. So he pulled away, put the smile on and took a step back.

"Seriously, thanks for giving me one of your drawings. You even remember which one I liked the most."

"Bucky, seriously, I'm so happy you enjoyed it. It was the only thing that came up to my mind so-" Steve stopped talking when his phone started ringing. He took out his phone out of his pocket and took a look at the screen. He furrowed his eyebrows and his smile changed into serious face expression. Then he looked back at Bucky apologetically. "I'm sorry, gotta take this."

"Of course, I could even leave you here alone, it's quieter here." James offered. Steve's face expression was telling him it was something serious not just a random phone call.

"No, it's fine. I can take this out there." Steve nodded his head towards the door and started walking this way. The phone stopped ringing for a few seconds and then started once again. "You remember Sharon, right? She would never call me that late, especially if she knew I had plans so it could be serious. Sorry, James." Rogers explained with that sincerely apologetic look on his face. Bucky nodded and smiled a little, even though he didn't feel like doing so. He understood why Steve had to answer this call, he really did. But a huge part of him was still disappointed. And that part of him hated that Steve was leaving him for Sharon. But it could actually be an emergency, he should never blame her for anything. It's not like she knew Bucky had a crush on Steve and was doing it on purpose or anything like that. And even if she did know that — it wouldn't even matter since Rogers didn't feel the same way.

But still, as Steve had walked away and closed the door behind him, Bucky lied down on his bed and closed his eyes, feeling as if part of him had left with Steve.

So now that you're done with reading:
1) FOR THOSE WHO STILL BLAME QUILL FOR THE INFINITY WAR OUTCOME
First of all, why? But it's not what I meant to say. If you don't like him, that's fine. But I love him and I love Gamora and I really wanted these two to be in my story, happy and alive. Personally, I don't think Peter Q did anything wrong in IW, I love him all the same. But if you don't feel the same - that's fine too. Although he will appear in His Masterpiece a few more times, I think but it's not MCU Peter Q, it's Peter Q from His Masterpiece so how about giving him a chance?
(wow, now I feel stupid because I think that maybe no one here dislikes him and I just wrote it for no reason :') )

2) FOR THOSE WHO WATCHED AGENTS OF SHIELD AND KNOW DAISY AND GRANT - SPOILER ALERT
If you've seen AoS - congrats, you have a great taste. But there's the thing: I KNOW that Grant Ward was an antagonist, did many terrible things, almost killed many people, he was a liar and stuff like that. But honestly, hate me if you feel like, I think that somewhere deep inside his soul, he was a good person and he really cared for Daisy. I'm a Skyeward shipper, fight me. No, but seriously, I'm aware of all these bad things. But I'm still hoping that he was just brainwashed by Garrett. Remember season 4, Framework and stuff? Where AIDA deleted everybody's biggest regret? And look, Grant was loyal SHIELD Agent and loved Skye (Daisy) more than anything or anyone else. Okay, I'm not gonna write an essay about Grant Ward but I hope you don't hate me for including him in the story.

3) SORRY for this super messy chapter. I know it's not the best but I tried, I swear.

4) But I would still love to know what you think about it. Let me know in the comments. You hated it - tell me what exactly so I can avoid the same mistake next time. You liked it - tell me why. You hate me after this chapter - I'm sorry, let me know why.

5) And sorry for saying this - I have no clue how long writing next chapter might take me. It won't be dynamic (and I refer to write about dynamics between characters but well)

6) I love y'all! See you next time c: