We got some more MCU characters, and some lovely Civil War/real world parallels in here. Plus some other stuff I think y'all'll like. Also, I'd like to apologize for my atrocious editing skills. I promise that I proofread everything before posting, but I'm so awful at catching my own mistakes.
"In My Arms Instead" by Randy Rogers Band
The night air wasn't too cold quite yet, and the walk to Hanover Mansion was kind of refreshing. Sharon used the temperature as an excuse, though, to snuggle up to Steve. Sage and Bucky fell into step next to each other, watching from behind as Steve and Sharon wrapped an arm around each other.
Once they turned the corner onto Hanover Street, they could hear music in the distance. The street was lined with cars, and the closer they got to the house, the more people they had to navigate past on the sidewalk.
There was a $5 cover at the front gate of the house, and everyone got a neon pink wristband to prove that they paid, presumably to cover the cost of the kegs littered throughout the house and both front and back yards. Bucky and Sage followed Steve and Sharon's lead, ignoring the house and going around the side, straight for the backyard. The yard was large and full of mismatched lawn furniture. There was a large covered patio, and a monstrous bricked-off fire pit that could in no way be legal.
The loud, jangly cover of a Cream song coming from the band playing inside could be just as easily heard outside. Sharon attempted to call Natasha to figure out where her and Clint were, while Sage drug Bucky away to get drinks for everyone. While there were several available kegs in the yard, there were no cups, forcing them to go inside to look.
The music was way louder than Sage anticipated it being, and the thick crowds of people were almost impenetrable. The house was warm from all the bodies, and Sage had to latch onto Bucky's hand to keep track of him as they maneuvered through the house. They had to go through the main living area to reach the kitchen, if it could even be called that anymore. The entire first floor of the house was devoid of furniture or any decoration, and the band was set up in the corner of the large living room. Based on the assembled audience, a lot of people were actually there for the band.
Bucky was good at pushing through the crowds. He hated being so close to so many people, but he was taller and broader than most, so he carved a good path. He kept a tight grip on Sage, sometimes having to stop when they stretched to far apart for her to catch up. They were almost to the kitchen when a girl backed into their clasped hands, breaking them apart. Bucky turned to reconnect, but Sage had been pushed back. She shouted something that he couldn't really make out, and she motioned for him to keep going. He assumed she would catch up, but when he finally reached the kitchen and found the massive stash of red solo cups, she never followed.
When the girl ran into her and Bucky, separating them, Sage caught sight of Wanda across the room. She figured Bucky could handle drinks himself, and that she'd catch up with him quickly after talking to Wanda quickly.
"Hey!" Sage yelled once she was only a few feet from Wanda. Sage took the time to admire her outfit. The girl had a signature style, and she rocked it. Sage couldn't think of anyone else who could pull off over the knee boots and a blood red leather jacket. "Sick jacket!"
"I didn't know you would be here!" Wanda reached out and pulled Sage closer so that she could hear.
"I came with my roommate and our friends," Sage replied in Wanda's ear.
"This your first time in the Mansion?" Wanda asked. Sage nodded and smiled. "If you have to pee, sneak upstairs," she suggested, making Sage laugh.
"Who are you with?" Sage asked, looking around them but realizing that Wanda seemed to be alone.
"I'm here for my brother! He's drumming," Wanda pointed to the band going nuts across the room. Sage never would have guessed that the bleach blonde guy playing drums was Wanda's twin brother. She knew Wanda had a twin, but had never seen or met him before. Obviously they were fraternal.
"He's good!" Sage grinned. Wanda's twin, Pietro, played fast, loud, and enthusiastically. It was entertaining just to watch his white-blonde head of hair thrash around.
"I gotta go catch up with my friend! We're outside when you're done!" Sage told Wanda before throwing herself back into the crowd to catch up with Bucky. By the time she made it to the kitchen, though, he was gone.
Scanning the room, and making absolutely certain that he wasn't there, she wondered if maybe he either got lost and never made it, or did make it and already left.
"You look lost!" one of the guys hanging out in the kitchen chuckled warmly. Sage turned at his voice and smiled sheepishly.
"I lost my friend," she replied.
"Do you need help looking?" he offered, smiling very nicely. He was charming already. Something about him seemed familiar.
"Do I know you?" she asked. "I've seen you somewhere before."
"I'm sure you have," he laughed, "I'm the student body president."
"Oh! You spoke at my transfer student orientation," all of the pieces clicked together and Sage smiled in recognition.
"T'Challa," he introduced himself, holding out his hand. Sage shook it and smiled. She repeated his name to make sure she got it, and he smiled at the effort.
"I'm Sage," she offered.
"What a lovely name," he complimented, for some reason making Sage blush a bit. He was just so damn charming. And handsome. And had an attractive accent.
"Would you like to take a shot with us, Sage?" T'Challa offered. The girl that he had been talking to handed her a shot glass before she could answer, and they all clinked their glasses together before taking them.
"Oh shit," Sage laughed as the vodka shot burned it's way down. T'Challa laughed.
"Thanks for the shot, but I need to find my friend," Sage finally said. It had been a while since she last saw Bucky.
"Let me help. What does she look like?" T'Challa asked, assuming Sage was looking for a girlfriend.
"About six foot, broad, hairy, resting bitch face," Sage described Bucky in a nutshell. T'Challa immediately realized his mistake but hid his surprise well.
"Ah, well, you only just missed him," he told her. So he probably went back outside.
"Oh shit, thanks! I'll see you around!" Sage waved and sped out of the room, feeling bad for losing track of Bucky. She slipped through gaps in the crowd and made it through the house quicker than it took her and Bucky to get in. Once outside, she found her group of friends, only expanded. Clint and Natasha were now standing with the group, sipping from their own cups.
"I was worried I'd have to come back in and look for you," Bucky teased as Sage rejoined everyone.
"I saw my friend Wanda and you abandoned me," Sage explained, smirking up at Bucky. "Oh, and I took a shot with the student body president," she added.
"I didn't know T'Challa would be here tonight," Steve said, looking around the crowd.
"He's in the kitchen," Sage told him. She then noticed that everyone had their own drinks, except for her. "Shit, I forgot to get a cup," she swore. Bucky adjusted the grip on his cup, holding it from around the rim so that he could pull off the second cup that his was nesting in. He handed it to Sage.
"I got you one," Bucky handed her the red cup, and she beamed at him. "C'mon," he turned from the group to walk her over to the nearest keg. He picked up the tap, Sage held out her cup, and he filled it for her.
"Such a gentleman," she giggled. He winked at her and followed her back to their friends.
It didn't take long for Sage and Clint to fall into an argument about work. Natasha pretended to care for a little while, until she gave up and joined the others' conversation about a piece of gossip that Sharon heard from Maria. The more time they spent outside, the colder they got. Pretty soon, they were standing right next to the fire pit to keep warm. The free-flowing beer helped with that, too.
Clint left around midnight to go meet up with Laura. Sharon and Steve disappeared to go talk to T'Challa, or make out in some dark corner, whichever they found first. Natasha, Bucky, and Sage were the left by the fire.
"Did you know that T'Challa's dad is some kind of diplomat?" Natasha told them, then took a sip of her beer.
"Yeah, and he's loaded," Bucky added.
"He seemed really nice," Sage said, shrugging.
"He and Bucky got into a fist fight the beginning of last year," Natasha revealed, smirking into her cup. Sage stared up at Bucky with wide eyes and an open mouth. She grinned, eager for the story.
"No way! What happened?" she begged for the story.
"He thought I was someone else," Bucky shrugged. "We're cool now."
"They got arrested," Natasha added. Bucky groaned and rolled his eyes. He hated this story. Sage's mouth dropped open again and she laughed loudly.
"Oh my god!" Sage cried.
"Actually, only I got arrested. He didn't get arrested because of his dad," Bucky corrected. Sage couldn't wipe the incredulous look off of her face. She had no idea about this, and the whole story had her on the proverbial edge of her seat. She needed to know more.
"T'Challa dropped the charges," Natasha told Sage. "They're friends now."
"This is the best story I've ever heard," Sage gushed. "I had no idea you were such a bad boy!" Bucky and Natasha laughed at that.
Sage continued to grill Bucky for details, which thoroughly amused Natasha. Eventually Steve and Sharon returned.
"Why did nobody tell me that Bucky got arrested for fighting the president?" Sage demanded when they walked back up to the group. Sharon laughed and Steve clapped Bucky on the shoulder.
"It's not one of his shining moments," Steve said, smiling at his friend. He knew Bucky didn't like the story, and probably especially didn't like Sage knowing about it. But she seemed to be really amused by it and taking it pretty well.
"Are you kidding? It's awesome!" Sage corrected Steve, making him laugh.
"God, that was an awful night," Sharon muttered so that only Natasha could hear, who definitely returned the sentiment. Looking back, everything turned out all right, but at the time it was pretty difficult. Bucky had been in a much worse place, and the incident actually had a pretty big fallout.
"Out of all the fights we've been in, you picked that one to talk about?" Steve teased. Sage's eyes widened again at the very suggestion that Bucky and Steve had been in any fight, ever. She still could hardly believe the first story.
"Natasha brought it up," Bucky shrugged, taking a drink. "I would have at least picked a story where we won." They laughed together, both running through memories.
"So Steve and I were thinking about heading out soon," Sharon told everyone, which Sage interpreted to mean that they were going to go home and defile each other. It was almost one in the morning, so Sage couldn't fault them for wanting to leave.
Steve and Sharon said the goodbyes, and Sharon pulled Sage into a hug.
"I'm probably not coming home tonight," she whispered in Sage's ear. They smiled knowingly at each other.
"Atta girl," Sage teased. Over Sharon's shoulder, she could see Steve say something to Bucky, and she assumed it was probably pretty similar to what Sharon just told her.
Once the couple was one, the three left started discussing leaving the party. Natasha left to go take another lap around the party, but said goodbye to Sage and Bucky beforehand, knowing that she probably wouldn't catch back up with them.
"So did Steve kick you out of the house for the night?" Sage asked Bucky, downing the last of her drink. He chuckled.
"He's too nice to kick me out, but I'll probably wait a while to go home," he told her. Part of him thought about asking if he could crash at her place, but he didn't want to freak her out, and the thought honestly freaked him out a little bit, too.
"We could just do a roommate swap," Sage suggested. At his confused look, she explained. "Steve can have Sharon and I can have you for the night."
Bucky choked on air at Sage's wording. She immediately backtracked.
"Oh god, I didn't mean it like that! I just meant that you can crash at my place, you pervert!" she hit him in the arm while he laughed loudly. "Ya dick!" she added.
"I feel like you're taking advantage of me," he teased. Sage rolled her eyes.
"Fine, sleep in your car, see if I care," she threatened jokingly.
"I'm sorry. It's a very nice offer," he apologized, though struggled not to laugh the whole time.
"Shut up," she said, but couldn't keep the smile off of her face.
"You ready to go?" he asked. She nodded and followed him through the yard. She immediately missed the warmth of the fire. Bucky took her empty cup from her and threw it on top of an overflowing trashcan near the front gate as they passed through it.
As they walked down the sidewalk, Sage walked very closely next to Bucky, practically shoved up against him with her hands shoved deep into her pockets. It was OK until she accidentally shoved him into a shrub. She laughed at him, and once he was back on the sidewalk with her, she looped her arm through his, shoving her hands back into her pockets.
The cold air had both of their faces red by the time they got back to Sage's apartment, which was so deliciously warm.
"Fuck, it's so fucking cold!" Sage swore once they were inside. She let Bucky lock the door and flip on the lights, moving into the apartment to sit on the arm of her plaid chair to pull off her boots. Once both boots were off and on the ground, Sage abandoned her spot and disappeared into her dark bedroom. Bucky took off his jacket and draped it over the back of the plaid chair. By the time he sat down on the couch, Sage came out of her room, having changed into yoga pants and a large sweatshirt with the hood up, holding a wadded up blanket. She threw the blanket at Bucky and walked into the kitchen.
"I'm making popcorn," she announced, heading straight for the pantry cabinet and pulling out a bag of popcorn. "Find something to watch," she instructed Bucky.
"What are we in the mood for?" he asked. The popcorn started popping and Sage pulled out a large bowl. Bucky found the TV remote on the coffee table. As he flipped through the channels, Bucky was surprised to see that Sharon and Sage seemed to have every single channel available. He and Steve only got about eight channels, and three of them were in Spanish. He didn't think any college kid actually paid for a full cable package.
"Something funny," Sage shrugged, rummaging through the refrigerator but paying careful attention to the sound of the popping. "You want a drink?"
"Sure," Bucky answered absentmindedly, mostly paying attention to the TV.
"You want sweatpants or something? I actually have a pair of men's pants that will probably fit you," Sage offered, which was true.
"I don't wanna know why you have them," Bucky chuckled. It was common knowledge that girls stole articles of clothing from their boyfriends, so he figured it was safe to assume that the pants Sage was offering used to belong to someone else. He didn't particularly want to wear another guy's pants.
"They're mine, if that's what you're worried about," Sage smirked, coming over to the couch to hand a beer to Bucky.
"I- no, I was… I'll take them if you're sure," he stuttered, trying not to make a misstep. Sage smirked down at him, but her face fell immediately once she realized that she forgot about the popcorn. She sprang across the room and all but punched the microwave off, but she was too late. When she opened the door, a bit of smoke poured out and the room instantly smelled like burned popcorn.
"Mother fucker," Sage swore. Bucky laughed as she stalked over to the opposite end of the room, and yanked open long floor length curtains to reveal the glass door leading to the extremely tiny balcony. She yanked the door open, dropped the bag of popcorn, and slammed it shut immediately. She then lit a candle on the side table next to Bucky.
"Come on, I'll get you pants," Sage sighed. Bucky stood from the couch and followed her into her room. She had switched on the overhead light, and was rummaging through the bottom drawer of her dresser. She finally pulled out a pair of dark green sweatpants.
"Is it really OK if I stay here?" he asked, making absolutely certain that it was cool. He thought it would probably be OK if he just hung out for a while and snuck back into the house, but by then it would practically be morning. And the idea of sneaking into his own house, where Steve was probably curled up in bed with his girlfriend, while he crawled into bed alone, just seemed… pathetic seemed like too harsh a word. Depressing wasn't quite right, either. He just knew that he could do better.
"Duh," Sage smiled, completely erasing any doubts. She turned to leave the room, closing the door part of the way behind her to leave Bucky to change out of his jeans in private. He made sure to take his wallet, phone, and keys out of his pockets, and left them on Sage's desk, before changing. The pants she gave him were a decent enough fit, though they were a bit short, but they'd be infinitely better than sleeping in his jeans.
Bucky came out of Sage's room, turning the light off behind him, to see Sage dumping a bag of tortilla chips onto a cookie sheet. "I'm making nachos," she announced proudly.
"Just don't put any spicy shit on them," Bucky warned jokingly. Sage had an unbelievable spice tolerance, but she was well aware of what Bucky could tolerate, which wasn't very much.
The TV was now making noise, and Bucky turned to see that Sage had turned on the beginning of Big Daddy. Sage started dumping shredded cheese onto the chips when Bucky walked into the kitchen to watch. The oven was already on, and instead of waiting for it to preheat, Sage put the sheet of nachos in anyway. Once the oven door was closed, Sage reached for her opened can of Dr. Pepper and took a long sip. She was definitely buzzed from the party, and she could have continued drinking, but decided against it. She was feeling good, she was feeling that warm, bubbly buzzed feeling that came from just the right amount of beer. She felt light and, well, buzzed was a pretty adequate word.
"What do you think Sharon and Steve are doing?" Sage asked, playing with the tab on the soda can until it broke off.
"I don't even want to think about that," he answered, scrunching his face in disgust.
"Oh, sick," Sage mirrored his face. "I just meant like, do you think they're at least watching a movie first?"
"What, like what we're doing?" he chuckled.
"Yeah, but, like, with sex," Sage stumbled through the thought, not sounding particularly eloquent.
"I doubt they ran home and immediately jumped into bed, if that's what you're asking," Bucky said, trying to divine some meaning. Sage nodded, seemingly satisfied with the answer.
"I know Sharon has liked Steve for a while, and I'm glad that it's working out for her," Sage started. "Like, it's so scary and hard to start something, I just hope it goes well," she continued, trying to make sense of her own thoughts.
"I know what you mean," Bucky said thoughtfully. They smiled at each other and fell into silence, though it wasn't particularly comfortable. The air between them was awkward. Sage felt the anxious feeling of anticipation rolling around in her stomach as she and Bucky smiled at each other, waiting for the other to say or do something.
Eager to ease the weird tension, Sage peaked into the oven to check on the nachos. The cheese was melted well enough, so she grabbed an oven mitt from the drawer to pull them out. On the way out of the oven, Sage accidentally bumped her arm into the oven rack, though she didn't feel the pain of the burn until she had set the sheet of nachos down on the stovetop.
Having seen the whole thing, Bucky immediately went into the freezer and plucked an ice cube from the icemaker. He stepped to Sage's side, pulled her arm close with one hand, and pressed the ice cube into the small line-shaped burn with his other hand.
"You take such good care of me," Sage laughed, looking up at Bucky. He smiled, but kept his eyes on his hands. He didn't think that he had the courage or will power to be that close and look her in the eyes, and not say or do anything stupid. Sage, however, felt a surge of courage as she stared at him.
"Bucky," Sage started. Bucky glanced up, locking eyes with her. "Would it be weird if we kissed?" It took Bucky all of one second to formulate an answer.
"No," he said confidently. As soon as the syllable left his mouth, Sage turned to fully face him, he dropped the ice cube and her arm, and had her hips in his hands and his mouth on hers.
Sage wanted to laugh and smile, but kept it inside. Why the hell had she waited so long, she wondered as she gripped his bicep with one hand and slid the other to the back of his neck, pulling him closer. They both struggled to keep their smiles to themselves, though.
"Stop smiling," Sage mumbled against Bucky's lips, making him grin.
"I'm not exactly sad about this," he chuckled, schooling his expression to kiss her again. He was almost overwhelmed with a warm, happy feeling, and a great sense of relief, which he did not expect. Of course, he'd thought about kissing Sage a lot since meeting her, but now that it was happening, he wondered why he didn't do it much sooner.
Sage spread her fingers out into Bucky's hair as she pushed herself into him, deepening the kiss. Their mouths moved together slowly, and then Sage took Bucky's bottom lip gently between her teeth and he almost came undone. He sucked in a deep breath through his nose and his hands left her hips to explore her ribs and back.
Sage pulled back first, breaking the kiss to breath deeply. Bucky couldn't keep the smile off of his face.
"Your nachos are getting cold," he pointed out, but made no move to break their position.
"Fuck the nachos," Sage replied coolly, returning his smile. Bucky laughed loudly, not expecting that answer. The hand that Sage had on his bicep slid down his arm until it reached his hand that was firmly affixed to her side. She wrapped her fingers around his hand and pulled it away. She untangled her fingers from his hair and stepped back, pulling him with her out of the kitchen.
Bucky fell into the couch, and pulled Sage down next to him, where she settled into his arms. They missed the beginning of the movie, but Sage practically knew the screenplay by heart, plus she had a pretty good excuse.
Sage sat on the couch with her side flush against Bucky's, and her legs curled up beneath her, her knees resting against Bucky's lap. He draped a tight arm across her shoulders and rested the other hand atop one of her knees.
They made out during the movie off and on. When she heard a favorite scene begin, Sage pushed Bucky back so that she could watch it, but eventually Bucky was more interesting than the movie.
As awesome as making out in general was, this was a million times better. They could take breaks to catch their breath, or laugh at a funny joke in the movie, but the best part was that it wasn't awkward. They both took turns making jokes and teasing the other. It wasn't desperate, clothes grabbing, take-me-now kissing. It was exploratory and experimental, and fun.
When the last scene of the movie began, Sage pushed Bucky away again to watch.
"I don't know how I feel about competing with Adam Sandler," Bucky joked.
"Who said anything about Adam Sandler? I'm here for Jon Stewart," Sage grinned and winked at him, then turned her attention back to the TV. She yawned deeply, the credits started to roll, and then Bucky yawned. It was now past three in the morning.
"As much as I would love to stay up," Bucky started.
"You're ready to go the fuck to sleep?" Sage guessed, grinning. Bucky returned the smile.
"Nailed it," he confirmed. Sage reached for the remote to turn off the TV and stretched her arms out, rolling her shoulders. She then stood up and stretched her back. She stepped around the coffee table to head to her room, then realized that Bucky was still sitting down.
"You coming?" she asked. Bucky look surprised by the question.
"You don't mind?" he asked, trying not to sound either sheepish or presumptuous. It wasn't like they'd never slept together before. At Sharon's lake house, she practically slept right on top of him on the couch, and right next to him in his bed the next night, and that was fine. But now that they'd spent a fair, amazing, amount of time making out in her living room, it was different.
"Shut up," she rolled her eyes and smiled. "and turn the light off," she went into her room, not waiting for him to follow. Bucky did as he was told and followed after Sage, closing the bedroom door behind him. She was already in bed, the swan shaped lamp next to her switched on, and her sweatshirt abandoned on the floor. Bucky pulled off his hoodie and draped it over the desk chair, then climbed into her bed.
Bucky glanced over to Sage, watching her scroll through her phone from the corner of his eye as he settled down under the covers. She startled him when she quickly turned to face him.
"I just realized that I didn't take off my makeup and I refuse to get out of this bed, so don't be scared when you wake up next to the Joker in the morning," Sage explained to him quickly, making Bucky laugh. Just the very idea of waking up next to someone made him feel, he hated to say warm and fuzzy, but it made him feel warm and fuzzy. Sage smiled, put her phone on the nightstand, and turned off the swan lamp.
Bucky liked his bedroom completely dark, with thick blackout curtains completely covering the window. Eyelet lace was the only thing covering Sage's window, and the filtered light from the street lamp outside the window made a delicate pattern of light across the bed. He was in a foreign room, in bed with someone else for the first time in forever, barring that one night. Bucky wanted to reach out, but he felt frozen in place. He felt a tremendous amount of pressure to do the right thing; he just didn't know what that was.
He tried to convince himself that this was just like last time. They were friends. Good friends. He cared about her, he'd thought about this happening, about kissing her and being close like this. Bucky's muscles were tense. Sage rolled onto her side, and Bucky held his breath. When he finally let it go, he realized that he was grinding his teeth and clenching his jaw. Now was probably the worst time to fall into an anxious shame spiral.
"I can go into Sharon's room," Sage whispered, startling Bucky again. Great, she could tell he was freaking out.
"Don't," Bucky choked out. He was surprised that he could even make a noise. Sage reached out and dropped her hand on his arm, patting it gently. She couldn't help but notice that since he climbed into the bed, he was ram-rod straight, and her room was light enough that she could see that his eyes were wide open the entire time the light had been out.
Sage scooted closer to Bucky, bringing her pillow with her until her forehead was pressed against his shoulder. She curled up against him and moved her hand to slip between his arm and his torso, hugging his arm against her. The small smile that came to Bucky's lips surprised him, and suddenly he didn't feel so tense anymore. It felt like his muscles were melting into the mattress. The hand of the trapped arm found Sage's thigh. He gently squeezed it once, then stroked his thumb slowly across the fabric of her sweatpants.
Sage eventually released Bucky's arm, but she stayed in the middle of the bed for the rest of the night, right up next to him. She didn't reach out for him, and thankfully didn't kick or punch in her sleep. Bucky didn't sleep quite as well. He didn't do well in strange places. But he was actually delighted by that fact, since it meant he got to hear Sage talk in her sleep. She muttered quietly about soup and not know how to drive stick-shift for a few minutes, and then she was quiet for the rest of the night.
Bucky was genuinely surprised when he woke up, meaning that he actually slept. The room was bright from sunlight, but chilly. Sage had her back turned to Bucky, wrapped up in the warm white quilt, leaving Bucky literally out in the cold. He gripped the nearest edge of the quilt and tugged on it gently, testing how tightly Sage was gripping it. The quilt came easily and Bucky slowly pulled it until he was fully covered again.
"Goddamn blanket hog," Sage mumbled, making Bucky smile. The last time she had called him that, they were hung over. This time was better.
Sage tried to pull the quilt closer around her. She was cold, half asleep, and grumpy. Bucky chuckled, and with a swell of courage, he closed the gap between them, pressing his chest against her back, and draping an arm over he side and across her stomach to pull her closer, effectively spooning. Sage didn't move to get away. She only reached up to push her hair out of her face, and closed her eyes to go back to sleep, glad for the extra warmth.
Bucky didn't know what time it was, but he woke up a little while later, or maybe even a few hours later, to the sound of the front door opening and closing, meaning that Sharon was home. He didn't care, and readjusted his position around Sage and closed his eyes again.