No-One But You (The Zephyr Endeavor) - Part 2
Chapter 23: MILLION DOLLAR BABY (Part 3)
We all know that five "couples" went into the Church of Human Potential wearing engagement rings. But did you know that three of those "couples" came out of it still wearing them?
Donna Strange and "James Buchanan" were couple number one, followed by Ezekiel Stane and Wade Wilson, then the third couple was Tony Stark and Steve Rogers.
Tony and Steve never removed their rings, and they never said anything about it to anyone either. They simply wore the rings, because the two of them had "eloped" a long time ago. They hijacked Stephen's wedding to Clea, remember?
For those who don't recall the details… Steve and Tony were in a very committed relationship, and Donna Strange was hearing something about it for the first time…
I mean, obviously they were "together" but who really knew what was going on in their apartment? For an outsider like Donna, it all seemed like one giant mess.
The young woman was patiently listening to a series of events that took place long before her relationship with "Bucky Barnes" ever saw the light of day…
Tony was explaining how they all met back in the day, and how they all started intermingling with one another at the X-Mansion.
Bucky Barnes seemed… annoyed. He WAS super annoyed, because going down that portion of memory lane wasn't amusing for him at all. Donna's husband-to-be wanted to divert a train wreck before it happened, and Tony FUCKING Stark wasn't helping the situation at all.
He was explaining every stupid detail, and talking up about a storm about who shared rooms with who. Uhh, who cares? Bucky decided to cut in and interrupt that shit before things got out of hand…
…
"SO, LONG STORY SHORT… We all left the X-Mansion together, and Tony eventually wanted to be with Steve and your damn brother. This was happening while I was on the fence about returning Steve's feelings for me. Steve no longer has romantic feelings for me, and he challenged me to connect with TONY years ago. I took shit way too far and made it awkward, BUT that's all there is to it…"
…
Bucky Barnes was very much in love with Donna Strange, but that was none of Steve or Tony's friggen business. He had a long road on his own to be with her, and it really was something that was just between them.
All that other shit was simply that… other shit. Tony, Steve, and Stephen Strange could spend their days going back and forth, doing whatever it was that they fucking do, but Bucky did his best to keep himself out of it.
He did slip up tho, and he took some things too far. Tony could call it torment all he wanted, that's fine…
Bucky pointed at Tony before he could say another word, and Donna continued listening to all the words as they were uttered. The tension was beyond evident, and interesting… so she simply listened.
…
"I used to mess with this guy and torment him to keep him in check, because he kept flip-flopping around and pulling a bunch of stupid shit on Steve. In my mind he deserved it, but things have changed… so now I just mess with him, for fun. It's amusing…"
…
His best friend didn't have to worry about a fuuuucccchhhkkkkiiinnnggg thing. Bucky would never betray him, and Donna didn't have to question what he was doing or thinking for any reason.
Bucky Barnes was a pretty simple guy. He didn't like anything complicated, so that's why he had to interrupt someone's trip down memory lane.
He planned to continue interrupting that stupid story if Tony kept it going, but the smaller brunette became silent after a while…
Because of his training with the Mystic Arts, Tony could heard Bucky's thoughts. He could hear Donna's thoughts as well, and Steve's. Steve was aiming to hear some sort of confession out of Bucky, or perhaps an apology, but Tony knew that deep down there really wasn't anything left for him to give…
Bucky fucking Barnes was telling the truth. All of it was honest, and everything the man said in that moment was done at his level of being sincere.
Tony only wanted to paint the full picture to help Donna understand that he actually wasn't a "dick tease" at all. He didn't want her soon-to-be husband, he's never cheated on anyone, and he's never played any sort of tricks.
Tony was very loyal to Steve Rogers, and Stephen Strange, when he was with them individually or as a unit, so…
The smaller brunette could hear their criticisms, so he just looked over at the silent blonde. Steve looked very handsome when he wore something blue. Tony wanted to tell him that, but he just shrugged his shoulders instead…
Whatever Bucky…
…
Donna was doing a ton of mental homework as well. She was definitely reading the room, and it became very clear to her that those BOYS had a lot of drama to work out.
Her mind settled on the current behavior of her husband-to-be, and she decided to put the conversation to rest…
They had more important things to do, so Donna told James that she wanted to leave and spend the day with him, then they could talk about all that other stuff some other time.
The taller brunette was beyond grateful for that, so he said his goodbyes to Tony and Steve, and things were left just like that…
Chapter: END
Thanks for reading.