It's Wednesday afternoon when Tony gets the chance to confront Bucky. He's hanging out in the student center in between classes when Bucky comes strolling in. He wasn't planning on confronting him, but the opportunity is just too good to pass up. Tony saves the assignment he's working on and closes his laptop.

"Yo, number one fan, over here!"

Bucky stops walking and looks over at him. Tony performs the 'come here' hand gesture. Bucky awkwardly looks around, appearing hesitant, before walking over to him. The genius smirks to himself. This is going to be fun.

"I'm a fan of your dad, not you, just so you know," he says lowly.

Tony shrugs. "Whatever. You got a minute?"

"Not really."

"You do now. Take a seat, and chill with me."

Bucky sighs and sits across from him, his posture tense. "What's this about?"

"I'm pretty sure you already know."

"You wanna talk about Steve."

"Yes, I'd love to talk about my boyfriend." He puts intentional emphasis on the word.

Bucky blinks in surprise. "I'm surprised you even know what that word means, considering you cheated on him."

"Pretty sure he cheated on me too because you took advantage of him."

"He kissed me first! I didn't initiate anything."

"He was emotionally distressed. You could've stopped him."

"Yeah, and you could've said no to drinking," Bucky mutters.

Tony huffs. "This isn't about me. I already know what I did, and I admit I fucked up. You were in your right mind. You could've left him alone."

Bucky diverts his gaze. "I wanted to help him. If kissing made him feel better, I was gonna do it."

Tony hums. "Sounds to me like you still have feelings for him."

"I'd love to have Steve back. He's an awesome guy."

Bruce called that one. "Who is capable of cheating now, don't forget."

"It was a one-time thing. We haven't done anything since. I've wanted to go further, but he doesn't seem interested."

Tony rolls his eyes. "Wonder why. He knows who he's with."

"He's with a rich, egotistical asshole with loose morals."

"Yeah, Steve can do, like, a million times better than me, but my morals are tightening up, thank-you-very-much."

"Are they? I told him about your record." He smirks. "You know, the one you're keeping secret?"

Tony leans back in his chair, studying him. He's almost rendered speechless. Almost. "It's minor stuff," he says casually after a moment. "Steve doesn't need to know about it."

"Doing time for theft and vandalism is minor to you?" He scoffs. "I'd hate to know what you think is major."

"Oh, there's more serious things I've done, but I wasn't caught. Steve knows about those ones."

Bucky blinks. "Well, he still looked upset when I told him. He has a right to know."

Tony waves his hand. "Don't worry about it. I'm making things right."

"Are you? Are you really?"

Tony nods. "Yup. I have a plan to make it up to him, and he's down with it."

"So you actually care about him?" he asks snidely.

"I know it's unheard of, but yes, I actually care about my boyfriend. My boyfriend."

Bucky scoffs. "I have no fucking clue what he sees in you. I mean, you're not even acting bothered by anything."

"Oh, I'm bothered. I'm really bothered. It just takes years of practice to not show it." He grins.

Bucky gets up and grabs his backpack. "We're done here."

"And Steve's done with you. He's been done with you for, what, five years? Get over it."

Bucky flips him off before stalking away. Tony glares at his back until his disappears into the bookstore. Although he's irritated, Tony feels satisfied. The conversation went as well as it could have. Consider that conversation warning number one. If Bucky fails to heed the warning, Tony will remind him that he has a lot of money. With a lot of money comes a lot of power, which means anything can happen. And Tony definitely wouldn't be responsible.

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"Clint and Tasha were here?"

Steve nods at Jane with a mouthful of pasta primavera. It's been nice spending their breaks eating home-cooked food (his mom would be so proud) and watching TV at her house. Beats hanging around the campus and spending money. Jane walks back into the room with her own bowl of food, plopping down on the couch next to him.

"I didn't get a call from them." She frowns.

"They've been pretty busy lately."

"Doing what? I called Tasha over the summer, but she never called back."

"Getting engaged, for one."

Jane's eyes widen. "Really?"

"Yep. Tasha showed me the ring."

Jane huffs. "Wow, I can't believe they didn't tell us."

"They probably couldn't," he says. "They might have strict regulations on who they can contact and when."

"Why?"

"Their job is classified. They couldn't tell me anything about it."

Jane quirks a brow. "That's weird." She glances at the TV while curling noodles around her fork. "I'm still mad at them."

"Hopefully they'll visit again soon. Then you can yell at them."

Jane chuckles. They eat silently while watching America's Funniest Home Videos. Only a handful of the videos are actually funny; the others are downright cringe-worthy. Steve is flinching more than laughing.

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The flinching continues into the afternoon while he's out with Mommy Dearest. She tore him away from his homework (again) and led him to the grocery store for some "delicious and nutritious shopping."

"No, no, I told you it can't contain sodium nitrate. Didn't you check the label?"

Steve sighs. "Whoops, guess I forgot." He checks the back of the lunch meat container. Sure enough, there's good 'ol sodium nitrate inside. Whoopie.

She huffs. "I raised you better than this, Stevie. Go put it back, and find another one."

Yes, drill sergeant. He obediently turns around and walks back over to the lunch meat aisle. This is why he loathes shopping with his mom. It's the same story with clothes shopping as well. She's concerned about certain fabrics and materials in the clothing. It's absolutely insane.

Steve glances over the wide selection of packaged meats. He spends a good five minutes shifting through the selection, unable to come up with anything. He's about to give up when a voice sounds behind him.

"Having trouble?"

Steve turns around, seeing a smiling Rhodey. Great. "What are you doing here?" he asks, although it's a stupid question. The guy is shopping, obviously.

Rhodey motions at his cart. "It's my turn to do the shopping this week."

At least you have the freedom to buy whatever you want. Steve nods, holding up the pack of ham he was examining. "Uh, same."

Awkward silence. Steve turns back around and continues with his browsing. He really doesn't have anything more to say to him. Rhodey is part of the reason his relationship is in a bind.

"I'm sorry about what happened with Tony." Steve stills his hands, listening. "That whole thing got waaaay out of control."

"You can say that again," he mumbles.

"I didn't…I didn't think things would go that far, ya know? I've gotten drunk before without that happening."

"Maybe you should stop getting drunk, then." He turns to face him. "And, if it happens again, keep Tony out of it. He's already on the edge. One little push will send him off."

"Yeah, I get that." Rhodey sighs. "He hasn't taken the whole "time apart" thing well. It's made him all mopey."

That statement warms Steve's heart. "Really?"

Rhodey nods. "He won't say it, but I can tell he really misses you. He told me the other day that he's gonna "kick ass and take back what's his." Those are his exact words, by the way."

Steve chuckles. "Sounds like him." He suddenly feels a bit better. "Apology accepted, Rhodey."

Rhodey smiles. "I hope things work out for you guys. You are closer than my own parents."

Steve blinks, taking that as a compliment. He'd rather not think about what a less-stable relationship looks like. Rhodey continues with his own shopping, and Steve decides on a low-sodium ham.

He returns to his mom. "This was all they had."

"Took you long enough." She grabs the pack, examining it closely. "Hm, it doesn't have my five-star approval, but it's better than the other ones." She tosses it into the cart.

Steve breathes a silent sigh of relief. That's one thing down, God knows how many more left.

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It takes another hour to satisfy Sarah's pickiness. Steve returns to his dorm with four bags. Yes, they did two hours of shopping for just four bags of groceries. Absurd. He gets to work putting everything away, making a face at nearly every product. Although he's used to eating strange foods, he's not looking forward to trying most of this stuff. I mean, what the hell is quinoa? It looks like bird food.

Bucky must hear him because he appears in the kitchen shortly thereafter. "What is that?"

Steve glances at the package. "Tofu noodles." He sticks it in the fridge.

Bucky wrinkles his nose. "I'm not eating those."

Steve shrugs. "You don't have to."

Bucky peers into one of the bags and pulls out a bundle of kale. "You actually eat this stuff?"

"No, but I will because I don't want it to go to waste."

Bucky puts the bundle down and leans against the counter. "I ran into your boyfriend today."

Steve tenses. "You did?"

"Oh, yeah. He's a real piece of work."

Steve glances at him while unloading another bag. "What happened?"

"We got talking, and…I dunno, he's just an ass. The vibe I get from him is super annoying."

"That's Tony Stark for ya. He's loud and cocky, but, deep down, he's pretty sensitive."

"Sensitive? That guy?" He snorts. "You know he totally disregarded your feelings, right?"

"Well, I kinda did the same thing. You were part of it, remember?" He gives him a look.

"Psh, of course I do. I won't deny it." Bucky watches him put the remaining groceries away. "I just don't understand what you see in him. We had something awesome, Steve. And I'm a better guy than he will ever be."

Steve sighs. "What's done is done, Buck. What we had was awesome, yeah, but it'll never happen again." Bucky's eyes widen, and Steve continues, "I shouldn't have kissed you that night. It was a mistake, and I'm sorry if you think I'm into you again. I'm not. I have a boyfriend."

Bucky's blue eyes flash red in quiet anger before mellowing into pools of hurt. "But, Steve, I'm honest, dependable and sympathetic. I-I listened to your problems. I hugged you whenever you were upset. We wanted to join the military together, remember?" He smiles. "We both love the World War II era. I haven't found another person I have so much in common with."

"I know, but it's been five years. Time made us grow up and change. I'm not the same Steve I was back then. You shouldn't be the same Bucky, either."

"But I am!" He motions at himself frantically. "That's what I'm trying to tell you! I'm stable. You need that in a man."

Steve looks directly at him. "Actually, I need excitement and spontaneity. That's what Tony has. If you haven't changed in five years, then you're boring and predictable."

Bucky sneers. He reaches out and grabs Steve's arm, squeezing with surprising force. Steve flinches and tries getting away. Working out would work out for him right now.

"You know what you're missing, but you won't let yourself have it," Bucky murmurs. "Give yourself to me, Steve." He crushes their lips together.

Steve grunts, struggling against the kiss. It feels nothing like the gentle kissing on the night of the dance, or the awkward kissing they did when they were younger. No, something is very wrong with this. Bucky pins him to the fridge, making escape more difficult. He nibbles on Steve's bottom lip before biting hard, drawing blood. Steve yelps and squeezes his eyes shut.

Bucky starts groping Steve's crotch roughly with his free hand when the front door distracts them. The warmth and pressure from Bucky's body disappears in a flash. Steve reopens his eyes when Sam walks in. The timing couldn't be more perfect.

"Hey, guys," he greets. "Everything okay?"

They both nod. Steve peels himself away from the fridge, his back almost numb. Bucky runs a hand through his hair and smiles. "Yeah, everything's fine," he answers casually.

Sam doesn't ask anymore questions. He simply nods before walking into his room. Steve licks his stinging lip and shudders at the coppery taste. Dammit all.

Bucky looks at him. There's something in his eyes Steve doesn't recognize - something cold and domineering. Bucky then smirks and exits the kitchen. Steve stares after him in shock. He didn't know Bucky was capable of harming him. Looks like something changed after all. And it's not for the better.

Wow, Bucky's aggression totally caught me by surprise. I wasn't anticipating that for him. O.o Anyways, the final chapter will be up soon! *bittersweet tears*