Do you ever get chills when you listen to music? You get goosebumps and your whole body just feels like it's flying.
It's almost like you're cold, and yet, you never want the feeling to end.
Steve got that feeling a lot, he was an artist after all, and there were many pieces of music that made the hairs on his arms stand up like soldiers standing to attention.
One of those particular pieces was Beethoven's 9th Symphony (Cliche, yes, but it was one of the only records his mom had when he was young and he listened to it constantly on their second-hand record player)
One of the first things Steve did when he discovered the crazy amount of money he had because of his war days was buy the whole Avengers team tickets to go see it live.
Tony, of course, wanted them all to get the best seats in the house so he bought them balcony seats.
"Why are we going to see a symphony again?" Clint asked, tugging uncomfortably at the collar of his dress shirt.
Steve couldn't stop grinning as Natasha answered his question, "Steve loves it, apparently, and he's never actually seen it before, it'll be fun,"
Natasha finished tying the tie around Clint's neck and gave him a 'don't mess this up or you'll regret it' look before turning to Steve.
"Why do you love it so much, Capsicle?" Tony asked, genuinely curious (even though he would never admit it through his sarcasm).
"It was one of the only records my mom had when I was a kid, I couldn't play games as much as the other kids because of my asthma and things so I listened to it when I was bored, then I fell in love with it, there's so much emotion in classical music that so many people don't understand-"
Steve sounded like he was about to start ranting about how much a genius composers are and how much emotion they conveyed but was interrupted by the car they were in pulling up outside Carnegie Hall.
The rest of the Avengers decided that the whole night was worth it, just seeing Steve's face light up as he walking inside.
After the battle of New York, Steve hadn't exactly been the most active team member, he stayed on his floor of Avengers tower most days, only really coming down for weekly movie nights and such.
It was really Natasha's fault that they were here. Yes, Steve had bought the tickets and planned it, but Natasha had been the person to push him to do it, knowing it would cheer him up, at least for a little while.
Steve was bouncing on the balls of his feet as they passed security, giving everyone around him a genuine smile for the first time in weeks.
He was so excited, in fact, that he nearly walked straight into a man wearing a smart tuxedo, his face framed by curtains of thick brunette hair, though Steve could make out his icy blue eyes, so intense that he was worried he was going to freeze.
"I'm so sorry, I didn't even see you there," Steve said once he finally came back to reality.
The man gave him a small smile, "No problem, I wasn't looking where I was going either, I usually come in through the stage entrance but it's closed for maintenance today," Steve noticed the violin case on the man's back and his eyes widened.
"You're playing tonight? You play the violin?" Steve asked both questions rapidly, his eyes full of excitement.
The man smiled and nodded, "Yup, I'm concertmaster which should be fun, you look familiar, have we met?" The man's icy blue eyes widened as his brain made the connection.
"You're Steve Rogers," The man's (Steve really needed to find out what his name was) mouth hung open a little before he closed it quickly.
"Pleasure to meet you, sir, but we need to find out seats before Steve starts gushing about how handsome you are and how much he'd love to see you again," Steve blushed furiously at Natasha's words (and it totally wasn't because that's exactly what he had been thinking).
To Steve's delight, the man blushed a little, it was extremely cute.
Steve was about to walk away, glaring at Natasha before he remembered.
"I never got your name," Steve said, turning around to see the man standing in the same spot.
The man smiled at him, causing Steve's stomach to fill with butterflies, before saying, "My name's James Barnes, but you can call me Bucky,"
Bucky gave Steve a mock salute before wandering off, obviously heading backstage to warm up for the concert.
Steve found the other Avengers in their seats, holding programs.
For some reason, Steve was elected to sit in the middle of them all (probably because they assumed he knew the most about what was going to happen)
"Steve, my friend," Thor was giving Steve a huge grin, "are there any Midgaurdian customs I should know before we embark on the journey of music?"
Steve smiled nostalgically. Once he had fallen in love with the symphony he had started spending hours in the library, researching about concerts and different types of music, not just classical, but almost all types.
"Well," Steve started, "you shouldn't clap between movements - they're like the sections of the piece - and you can't talk at all during the performance," Thor nodded, stroking his beard.
"I see, I will do my best, Steve Rogers, I know this is important to you," Thor clapped Steve on the back and gave him another grin.
Before he knew it, the orchestra had tuned and the lights dimmed as the conductor walked out from the wings, heading towards the podium in the center.
Steve noticed with a jolt that Bucky was, indeed, sitting in the concertmaster chair, strikingly handsome in his smart attire and professional demeanor.
As per custom, Bucky got up and shook the conductor's hand, exchanging a few words before sitting down, lifting up his violin once the conductor raised his baton.
Steve had always gotten goosebumps when he listened to extraordinary pieces of music, Beethoven's 9th was no exception. The contrasting movements constantly kept you on your toes.
Parts of the third movement was full of such agony, Steve had cried when he listened to it the first time.
However, in Steve's opinion, there was nothing better than the triumphant ending of the fourth and final movement.
For the first time in Steve's life, he got to see the concentration of the French Horns, the amazing movements of the Double Basses, the sheer mass of the choir, and the gracefulness of the violinists.
The full sight almost brought tears to his eyes.
Who is he kidding, he cried like a baby (though he kept it completely silent).
As soon as the piece ended and the conductor lowered his baton, the entire concert hall burst into applause, people were whistling and yelling, someone even threw a flower.
Steve found his eyes fixed on Bucky who was standing now, holding his violin and smirking a little, almost as though he knew Steve was watching him.
The audience clapped for about five minutes, the conductor walking back on stage each time he walked off and bowing again.
"Cap, are you crying?" Clint asked, his voice almost drowned by out other people as they exited the concert hall.
Steve hurriedly wiped at his face, "No, I'm just- allergies," Steve tried to say by way of explanation for the red around his eyes.
"Right," Tony said, obviously not believing him.
"Oh no, did we play that badly?" Came a voice behind Steve.
He whipped around to find a grinning Bucky standing behind him, his violin case slung over his shoulder.
"No! No, it's just-"
"I'm teasing, Steve," Bucky laughed at Steve's now blushing face, obviously pleased with himself.
"It was incredible," Steve said, his eyes filling with wonder, "I used to dream of being able to see that performed, it's so much better in person than on a second-hand record player," Steve laughed, making Bucky laugh too.
"Well, you might be able to score yourself a private performance, perhaps we could discuss it over dinner?" Bucky was smirking again, obviously pleased with Steve's now blushing face.
"That- that would be great, yeah, ok," Steve rubbed the back of his neck as Bucky laughed.
Before he knew what was happening, Bucky grabbed the front of Steve's shirt and pulled him into a light kiss.
Steve's mouth fell open once Bucky pulled away.
Bucky grinned before giving Steve a business card from the inside of his coat pocket.
"See you later, Captain," and with that, Bucky was gone, humming the melody of the fourth movement as he went.
"Not a word, Stark,"
"I didn't say anything!"