Everything kind of unfolded all at once from that day forward. It started with Bucky inviting Darcy over for breakfast, as promised, and the two of them sharing (flirtatious?) glances over mugs of steaming coffee. Bucky did everything in his power to squash the feelings riling up in the pit of his stomach, but it wasn't working. And then, when Darcy caught his gaze and didn't immediately drop it, he thought maybe he was right and things had changed between them.

The next week Darcy invites herself over to Bucky's, and she brings his favorite beer and pizza. She and Yulia clamber onto the couch and they all tuck in to the pizza while watching reruns of Law & Order. Bucky wipes the pizza grease off his hands and leans back on the couch, and without even thinking about it, his arm drapes over Darcy's shoulders. She doesn't shirk away, so Bucky, hesitantly, leaves it there.

When movie night turns into a regular occurrence, Bucky finds himself wishing Darcy would just stay over instead of exchanging an awkward goodbye and taking an Uber home. It starts off innocent, he simply doesn't want her trusting some stranger to take her home in the middle of the night. But that feeling drifts into desire, and soon Bucky's tongue is longing to ask her, "Please, stay…"

"I only live one block over," Darcy says after Bucky tells her she's welcome to sleep in the guest room, "I could just walk, but Jarvis always calls an Uber."

"Why don't you just live in Stark Tower?" with me Bucky asks, handing her the leftover pizza to take home.

"Never felt right," Darcy shrugged, "I'm not an Avenger, I'm not on Stark's payroll…"

"I think Tony would have worked something out for you. I mean, he worked something out for me, when I first got back."

"You're Captain America's best friend, of course Stark made it work-" Darcy's eyes went wide, "I didn't mean… I didn't mean it like that."

Bucky felt his lips curl into a smirk, "I knew what you meant, Lewis."

Darcy's eyes were apologetic as she said goodbye and wandered out into the hallway. Bucky stuck his head outside the door and called after her, "Hey Darc, next time bring your pajamas?"

Darcy rolled her eyes at him and kept walking, leaving Bucky to wonder if that was a yes or a no…

The next time Darcy showed up Bucky noted that she had a tote bag looped over one arm and the takeout bag of Chinese food in the other. He smiled, but didn't say anything, just offered to take the food from her. When they were both full and the credits were rolling on Guardians of the Galaxy, Bucky yawned and looked over at Darcy, expecting her to say she was going to head out.

Instead, she got up off the couch and headed toward the bathroom. Bucky didn't think anything of it until she came back in her pajamas and plunked back down on the couch next to him.

"You staying?" He meant for it to come out more like a statement, not a question.

Her face went quizzical, "You basically asked me to, is that still ok or…?"

"No, no, it's fine, of course you can stay."

Darcy rolled her eyes at him again and moved so his arm was around her shoulders and her head was tucked up against his chest. "You confuse the crap out of me, gramps."

Bucky just chuckled and tried to think about anything other than the tattoo he barely had a glimpse of on her lower back…

Movie night sleepovers turned into waking up tangled together on the couch, or one time, tangled up on Bucky's bed. Neither of them address how they got there. They're both still wearing all their clothes, so Bucky just chalks it up to being too comfortable after one too many beers, and they go on with their day.

It started off that Darcy would drop by on a Tuesday night and head home Wednesday morning. But Christmas came along, and Darcy got him a bread machine, and he gifted her a collectors edition box set of The West Wing, and next thing Bucky knew it was January, and Darcy was staying from Tuesday night until Friday. Tuesday to Friday turned into Tuesday to Saturday, and Darcy's toothbrush joining his on the counter. They'd given up doing the separate bed routine at some point, opting to take their midnight snuggles from the couch to the bed. It was all a fluid motion, wordlessly going along without any effort on either of their part. And Bucky loved it. He loved how it felt rolling over to see Darcy smiling in her sleep, with Yulia wormed between them, and the covers all hogged to one side of the bed. He loved the simplicity of having someone who didn't even ask, they just pitched in to help with his physical therapy. He loved a shared pot of coffee, a post it note on the kitchen counter that read 'Greek tonight?'. He loved that she never shied away when his metal hand cupped the side of her face, even though he was sure it was cold against her skin.

Darcy, I love Darcy. His brain screamed it, he longed to shout it out loud, but the fear of ruining whatever it was they had kept him from opening his mouth. But his solo vow of silence didn't last long, because sometime toward the end of February, the levee broke…

Current Threat Level: negligible