Day 13 – Friendship
Bucky's heart was breaking. When he came home from working at the garage, he found a note from Clint. The dreaded "we need to talk" note. Did that mean he was going to get the let's be friends spiel? Bucky was just beginning to realize his true feelings for Clint. One day, the two of them had gone to the local animal shelter, where Clint immediately fell on the ground and was swarmed by several golden retriever puppies. Bucky had made his way to the cat section and found himself drawn to a little white kitten. When the two men left, there were two new additions to their household, a little one-eyed puppy Clint named Lucky and the kitten Bucky had decided to call Alpine that he couldn't get to leave the pocket of his jacket. They'd stopped at the pet store and picked up enough supplies to start their own shelter. After getting the animals fed and watered, Clint and Bucky relaxed on the couch. Clint had his head in Bucky's lap. Lucky had climbed onto the couch and snuggled up into the bend of Clint's legs. Alpine had made herself comfortable curled up in the hood of Bucky's hoodie. As Bucky looked around, he realized this was who he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, Clint Barton and their fur babies.
Fast forward several months to the present, and now Clint was about to dump him. Bucky did his best to prepare for when Clint got home from the gym where he taught classes, but how do you prepare for the love of your life not to have the same feelings? He heard the jingling of Clint's keys as he unlocked the front door. "Hey, babe," Clint said, dropping his keys in the bowl, then taking off his jacket. After hanging it on the coat tree, he turned and saw the look on Bucky's face. "What's wrong?"
Bucky held up the note. "Please tell me we can still be friends."
Clint rushed over to the couch and plopped next to Bucky. "Of course, why wouldn't we?"
"The note, you want to talk."
"Oh, I've screwed this up, Bucky. I've screwed up so bad." Clint slid off the couch and onto his knees. "James, look at me." Bucky knew it had to be bad if he called him by his actual name. Clint put a hand on Bucky's knee, reached into his pants pocket, and pulled out a small box. "James Buchanan Barnes, my best friend, the love of my life, would you do me the honor of becoming my lifetime best friend and making an honest man out of me?"