Chapter 3 - June 7, 1941

*A short chapter this time. This scene is derived from the flashback in Winter Soldier, where Bucky offers Steve a job and a place to stay. In this universe, Bucky offers Stevie...something else.

It should be raining. Stevie thought. A bitter, freezing rain.

That would have been the right weather for a funeral, but instead it was a perfect June day: sunny, breezy, and not yet too hot to hang around outside in the afternoon. The graveside sermon had been accompanied by inconsiderately tweeting birds, the walk home interrupted by bands of laughing, scampering children. Now, Stevie and Bucky stood in front of her apartment, her hand on the doorknob. She couldn't bring herself to open the door, to see the home she had shared with her father quiet and empty.

Bucky shifted and cleared his throat. "So..I thought the ceremony was...nice."

Stevie nodded. "He's next to mom now. It's what he wanted."

"And what about you?" He asked. "How are you doing?"

"The fellas from the shop scraped up a collection, so I should have enough for a few months rent, enough to cover me until I find a job."

Hopefully find a job. A job where the boss is alright with me calling off sick every other week. I'm doomed.

"That's not what I meant, exactly," Bucky smoothed his dark hair back from his face. "But since we're on the subject, I thought...I thought you might consider...moving in...with me."

Stevie let go of the doorknob and turned around. Bucky kept talking, more quickly now.

"I mean, I have my own place now, and the pay at the garage is good, good enough to support a wi..." He cut himself off, cast about for something else to say. "It'll be fun! We could make forts in the living room, like when we were kids." Bucky winced at the words, as if he knew how ridiculous they sounded.

"Are you asking me to...to...marry you?" Stevie asked, incredulous. "On the landing? On the day of my father's funeral?" She started to giggle. "And I thought you had the Barnes charm."

"Hey, it's not a terrible idea," Bucky said defensively. "We like each other. We've been friends for ages."

"Not a terrible idea?" Stevie laughed at that, a laugh without humor. "Marriage isn't...pillow forts in the living room. It'd be like a pigeon marrying a peacock!"

"Well, Miss Pigeon," Bucky said through gritted teeth, "thanks for making it clear that homelessness is preferable to marrying me. What was your plan, huh? Find a job where the boss doesn't mind that you're sick all the time?"

That was so close to what Stevie was thinking that it hurt. And what lay under the words - the assumption that she was too weak to take care of herself. That she was useless. That hurt, too.

"Not used to girls saying no to you, are you?" She replied. "You're so handsome and so charming, you can have anyone you want. I suppose I should have fallen at your feet with gratitude that you noticed me at all!" Stevie was breathing hard now, almost vibrating with rage. "Well, I don't need your pity! I'd rather make it a...alone..."

Suddenly she was crying, and Bucky was there with his arms around her. "Shh," he murmured, "I'm with you." She grabbed his shirt with both hands and sobbed into his chest. Bucky held her until the crying was done and she just stood there, leaning on him. He smelled like soap and cigarettes.

"I can't go in there," Stevie said.

"Hm?"

She pulled back and looked up at Bucky. "I can't face it, the apartment without Dad. What'll I do, Bucky?"

"That's easy," Bucky said. He gently removed Stevie's glasses - smeared and crooked from being crushed against his chest - and cleaned them on the edge of his shirt before handing them back. "Ma told me you can stay with her. I'll take care of whatever you need from the apartment. Come on."

"Thanks," Stevie said softly, putting her glasses back on. The lenses were streaky and smudged, as they always were when Bucky cleaned them for her.

"Don't mention it," he said, wearing a little half-smile, completely at ease, as if the whole embarrassing proposal had never happened. "We're friends. Till the end of the line."

Bucky's mother was happy to have Stevie stay, in fact, she was happy to let Stevie stay indefinitely. "It'll be nice having another woman around after so long living with this hooligan," she said, and swatted Bucky's arm with a dish towel.

Stevie wondered why Bucky hadn't suggested that first, instead of his awkward proposal on the landing. The funeral must have gotten to him, she thought, and put it out of her mind.

Notes: Thanks to all of you who have been reading and following so far! Next week, we jump into movie continuity, so chapters will get longer and we'll meet some of our old friends - or at least, my versions of them. Stay tuned!

More Notes: If you saw this earlier in the day, I apologize - some really bizarre format glitch happened and made it virtually unreadable. If anyone has suggestions about keeping that from happening, let me know.