"Hey, (Y/n)," Steve picks up his pace to match yours as you head towards your room, "Buck was looking for you earlier."

"Oh, really?" You ask innocently, while Steve's eyes narrow slightly.

"Seemed to think you were avoiding him for some reason."

"Weird," You respond absentmindedly as you juggle your plate of food and your coffee to get the door open. Steve slides you gently out of the way to open the door and follows you in.

"So are you avoiding him?"

"No." Steve crosses his arms and leans against the back of your couch, "Okay, maybe a little," Damn him for being so easy to talk to, "I don't know. Things have been weird lately."

"Weird?" Steve's brow creases with concern.

"Okay, this does not leave this room, deal? Natasha would have way too much fun with this information."

"Of course," He takes a seat on your couch and you sit next to him, setting your plate down on the table. You start with the night you had come home from the bar and then go into the next morning when the two of you were shooting.

"I don't know really how to explain it but being around Bucky feels...different somehow all of a sudden. It has since that night," You take a bite of your sandwich to give yourself a moment to collect your thoughts, "And then the night before last I was in the kitchen and Bucky came down after a nightmare. It seemed bad, and I wasn't sure what to do because he usually goes to you about those things. And then he kissed me."

"Okay." He looks at you like he's waiting for you to continue. "And?"

"That's it." You take another bite while you wait for him to say something.

"(Y/n), how do you feel about Bucky?"

"He's one of my best friends," You say immediately not quite sure where he's going with this, "I'd do anything for Bucky."

"Is that it?"

Oh. That's what he's getting at. You stare at your half eaten lunch for a moment, considering it. You think about the way your heart sped up when he pressed against you at the shooting range, the feeling of his skin beneath your fingertips, the taste of him on your lips. Your face grows wam. "I don't know."

"I think you should just see how things go," Steve says gently, "Who knows, this could be really good for both of you. You don't know what Buck was like before you came, you brought out the best in him. He's like a whole different person. And I overheard you talking to him about how you never wanted to have to hide again. You wouldn't have to with him."

"I assume since you're talking him up that Bucky's said something to you about this," You eye him reproachfully, while Steve rubs the back of his head, embarrassed.

"Maybe, maybe not. You guys are adults though, so that's all I'm going to say on the matter. Now tell me you feel better now and you're going to stop hiding in your room."

"I feel better now and I'm going to stop hiding in my room," You say with a smile, "I swear I wasn't though, I was on my way to Tony's lab post sandwich."

"Hiding in Stark's lab isn't much better than hiding in your room, but I'll accept it. Just talk to Bucky, okay? I don't want things to get weird."

"No weirdness, got it." You pop the last of your sandwich in your mouth and throw him a salute. "Aye aye Captain."

"Finally," Tony says when you walk in, "Thought you weren't going to show up."

"Sorry, I was accosted by Captain Rogers," You tell him while giving him your best I don't want to talk about it look.

"Okay, juicy as that sounds, I'll let it pass. How's your battle wound?"

"Healing," You lift the edge of your t-shirt to show him the gruesome splotch on your skin. The sight of it makes him wince.

"Think you're up to testing the latest prototype?"

"I think I'll manage," You reply dryly, following him to the back of his lab. The suit itself is gorgeous, and as always you find yourself marveling over Tony's talent. The color was a deep maroon that shimmered slightly in the fluorescents.

"Try it out."

You gather a ball of fire in your hand and throw it at the suit where it disappears with no damage. Your eyes widen, "Tony it works!"

"I'm hurt-I'm Tony Stark of course it works," Like this wasn't the hundredth prototype, "I have a few more things to work out and then we'll get you in it for some field tests. Now shoo, I've got work to do."

"Rude."

"Bye."

The smell of popcorn hits you as you leave the lab and you smile. Sam must be having a movie night. It's a common enough event in the compound; Sam was personally offended by the Super Soldier's lack of pop culture knowledge and was determined to correct it one classic movie at a time. Part of you still wants to hide in your room, but Steve's words have hooked themselves into your brain. No weirdness. You could do that.

Wanda and Vision sit on the loveseat, while Sam, Bucky, and Steve take the couch. You smile as you walk around the furniture, "What are we watching?"

"(Y/n)," Steve grins when he sees you, "Here, sit." Sam grumbles as Steve slides over, leaving you a sliver of couch beside Bucky, of course. You smile tentatively at the dark haired man as you stand in front of him, and he returns it easily, eyes crinkling. All of a sudden the whole thing seems silly and you fall into the space next to him.

"We're watching Pulp Fiction," Bucky says quietly in response to your unanswered question.

"Nice choice," You tell Sam, "Haven't seen this one in ages."

"It's a classic," He agrees, pressing play. Around twenty minutes the dull throbbing in your stomach upgrades to sharp pain from your upright posture. You gently lean into Bucky's side a little bit to relieve the ache. He lifts his arm over the back of the couch to give you more room, and you relax into his side.

The movie is one of your favorites, but you only make it about halfway before you're struggling to keep your eyes open. The plot becomes loose, and soon you're only able to discern colors and movement, but mostly your confused thoughts revolve around how warm you feel.

You're not sure how long you were out, but you could hear the boys talking quietly.

"I got her," Bucky murmurs, gently shifting you off of him while the other two shuffle out of the room. You want to tell Bucky to just leave you, but you can't manage to form the words. His arms slip around you and lift you to his chest and then you're moving. Your eyes crack open and you find yourself looking up at Bucky's face and the small smile on his lips. Happy Bucky. You tuck your face against his neck.

It feels like hours before you're being laid across your bed, covers spread over your limp body. Your eyes open again and he looks down at you with an almost wistful expression.

"Hi," He says softly, brushing a strand of hair from your face.

"Hi Bucky," Your voice is thick with sleep, "Thanks for taking me to bed."

"Anytime doll."

"Bucky?"

He smiles, "What?"

"You're my best friend." He smiles and leans down, touching his lips to your forehead.

The next morning you find yourself watching another movie; turns out there's not a lot to do around the compound if you can't train. Natasha and Wanda were curled up together on the love seat so you had the couch to yourself and were currently burritoed in your favorite blanket, a bowl of chips balanced on your chest.

"Another movie?" Bucky snags a handful of chips from your bowl as he leans against the side of the couch.

"Shh!" Natasha shoots him a look and he holds up his hands defensively.

"Sheesh," He says quieter, lifting your legs and sliding underneath them on the couch.

"You won't like this one," You tell him quietly, "It's a girly one." He just smiles and pops a chip into his mouth. You eventually forget he's there and get into the movie; you had seen it several times before and it never failed to make you cry. Today wasn't an exception. A tear slips from beneath your lashes and you glance at Bucky, embarrassed, but he's not looking at you. His eyes are focused on the movie, his expression thoughtful.

"To me you are perfect," You hear Wanda breath the words on the screen, her voice thick, and you glance at Bucky again. His hand absentmindedly rubs at your calf through the blanket as his eyes watch the screen and suddenly you feel...stupid. Whatever dance you and Bucky were in, you were stupid to want to avoid it, stupid to think you could.

"Hey guys, suit up." Steve says coming up beside the couch. He's in his tactical uniform. "We've got a mission. Wanda, you and Nat are with Tony," Natasha groans at that, "Buck, (Y/n), you're with me."

"Steve she can't go on a mission like that," Bucky frowns and gestures in the vague direction of your injury.

"She's just driving," Steve looks at you, "You think you're good to drive?"

"For sure," You sit up gingerly and pull your legs off Bucky, letting the blanket slip to the floor.

Upstairs you change into your tactical suit and shove your mask into one of the pockets and holster one of your guns on your hip. Better over prepared than under prepared.

You run into Steve on your way down to the garage and narrow your eyes.

"You know your little couch trick wasn't sly," You tell him wryly, "I know what you're doing."

"Just trying to make sure there's no weirdness," He falls into step beside you.

"You're the weird one," You retort, rolling your eyes. "And stop trying to play cupid, you're not good at it."

"I'm not playing cupid," Steve replies, "I think the arrow's already been shot, you're just being stubborn."

"How am I being stubborn? It's not like," You glance around confirming no one was around, but still whisper your next word, "Bucky has made his theoretical affection obvious."

Steve looked shocked for a moment, before shaking his head, "I forget sometimes that you haven't been around that long. When Bucky first got back from Wakanda, he was a million times better than the last time I had seen him. More himself, I guess. But the Bucky I've seen since you showed up? It's like all that crap with HYDRA never happened." You were approaching the car now, Sam already inside, and you both slowed your pace, "Do you remember the night Stark threw that party? Right after you got here?"

"How could I forget?" Your head was spinning and you knew whatever Steve was about to tell you was going to knock you on your ass, but you listened eagerly all the same.

"He came to my room later that night, said he couldn't sleep. I thought maybe he had a nightmare, but no, he just lays across my bed and says, 'Stevie, I think she's the one.'"

Something in your chest feels tight but you manage to force the words out, "You're fucking with me." You feel like an elephant is sitting on your lungs.

"You know I'm not," Steve says gently and before you can do more than nod in response you hear Bucky's footsteps behind you.

"Let's go kick some ass," He grins, clapping you and Steve on your shoulders before climbing into the car.

"Hey, how could you not fall for that charm?" Steve laughs softly and you roll your eyes. What a day.

The mission had gone smoothly, you hadn't even needed to get out of the car. You were driving back now, in the backseat Sam and Steve were dozing while Bucky kept you company in the front.

"Do you miss Wakanda?" You ask Bucky softly as the thought occurs to you. He rarely spoke of his time there, but when he did it was always with a certain sense of wistfulness. You had always been curious about his time there and the procedure, but you had never had the guts to ask him about it.

"Things were...simpler there." Bucky responds after a moment of thought, "I guess it was the first time in my adult life I was neither fighting or running. The people there were kind. The king is a good man. I owe both him and his sister a great debt."

"I'm glad you found some sort of peace there," You reach over and change the radio station before bringing you arm over to the arm rest. Bucky's arm is already there, and your fingertips hit his cool metal ones. Your heart speeds up, but you make no attempt to move them. You can feel Bucky's gaze on your face but you keep your eyes on the road. Then you feel his fingers gently intertwine with yours, not quite holding hands, but just your fingertips.

This time there's no nervous adrenaline this time that you would've expected at his touch, instead a warmth; a feeling of rightness flows through you. You peek at Bucky out of the corner of your eye, he's facing the passenger window now, but you can see the smile on his lips and know that he's feeling the same thing.

Your fingers don't separate until you're back at the compound and forced to put the car into park. "Up and at 'em boys," You call, your voice surprisingly nonchalant.

"Wasn't sleeping," Sam says through a yawn, "Superheroes don't need naps."

"Uh huh," You unlock the car and get out, "Guess you're not so super then bird-boy."

"Yeah, what's your power again?" Bucky winks at you.

"Ha ha," Sam rolls his eyes as he shuts the door behind him, "Let's do that rematch soon (Y/l/n), then we'll see what's up."

"Anytime Wilson, any time."

"Hello," You look up as Vision walks into the kitchen. You were flipping through a magazine with a cup of tea, and you smile warmly at him.

"Hey Vis, cooking for Wanda again?"

"Looking for you actually, Sergeant Barnes asked me to pass on a message."

"Oh?" Your heart does something funny at the sound of his name.

"He said he's going up to the roof, and requests that you join him."

"Alright...that's not weird at all," You give the android an odd look, "Anything else?"

"I suggest you make haste."

"Oookay," You stand up, setting your cup in the sink, "Thanks. I think." Vision gives you a smile and you head towards the roof. As you head up the stairs you can hear faint music; you open the door and your heart jumps up to your throat.

Bucky turns around, around him the roof had been decorated with glittering white christmas lights, illuminating the little area he had set up with a bottle of wine. Soft music plays from the outside speakers, you don't recognize the song but the melody is slow and pleasant.

You try for casual, cocking your lips up, "What's all this?"

"I haven't done this in a long time," Bucky's voice is quiet, "Long before you were alive doll, but I figure the basics haven't changed all that much." He takes a few steps forward, his flesh hand reaching towards yours. You take it and he leads you into further onto the roof and pulls you close to him, "I'm taking you dancin'."

He leads you gently, mindful of the tender area above your naval. And you rest your head on his shoulder as he pulls you close. As the last notes of the song play he bends slightly to capture your lips with his. It's slow and sweet, and feels like the first breath of fresh air after you hold your breath for too long. Relief. When he pulls away he leans his forehead against yours, "That should of been our first kiss."

"You remember that?" You narrow your eyes, "You never said anything."

"I figured you avoiding me afterwards was you saying you didn't want to talk about it."

"Sorry about that I...I didn't know I wanted this," You admit.

"But you do?" There's something nervous in his tone; he's honestly unsure of your feelings. Several replies run through your brain, some sarcastic, some sappy, but you shoot them all down. Instead you press your lips against his again as his arms tighten around you. You had never been in love, but this didn't feel like falling. Instead it felt like something had just slipped into its proper place; as natural as breathing.

"I've got a confession to make," Bucky smiles lazily at you as the two of you sit under the lights, enjoying the wine that had most certainly come from Tony's private stash, "Natasha and Steve helped me set all this up."

"I had a feeling Natasha had her fingers in this somehow," You hold up a foil wrapped square, "This was stashed under the bottle of wine." You both laugh before lapsing into a comfortable silence. "So...Steve told me something, and I was wondering if it was true."

"Meddling punk," Bucky shakes his head, "Let me guess. About the night of Stark's party?" You nod. "Of course he told you that. Yeah, it's true."

"Bucky...Why didn't you ever say anything?"

"Guess I thought it over too much," Bucky chuckles, "Didn't want to ruin a good thing. Plus I don't know-I guess I feel like maybe I just have too much baggage."

"You? I'm literally on the run from the United States government," You remind him, "I think I can handle a little baggage."

"Mmm," He hums, his face pressed into your hair, "I guess so."