Just Roommates

Chapter One

She couch-surfed a bit longer, some with Steve, some with Nat and Wanda, and some with Sam and Clint, but mainly with Bucky. After a few months of saving up as a substitute yoga instructor and part-time art teacher at a senior citizen home, she had enough to rent a crappy 300-square-foot apartment. That's right. 300 square feet.

Bucky had fought with her on it, saying she could move in with him, or he could pay for her rent in a nicer spot until she was ready- the man wasn't short on money. But he would have had better luck with building a time machine. She had always been a stubborn, headstrong lady, but add having to fend for herself for over a year, the woman didn't take charity well.

Two years as of a month ago, though, Bucky 28 and Y/N 26, Y/N's apartment went under due to not meeting city regulations and the landlord being a piece of shit. The building was evacuated and eventually demolished, leaving Y/N on the streets again.

This time, no matter the arguing, Bucky didn't take no for an answer. He took a few bits of her belongings and moved her into his nice, expensive, and large NY flat. It worked in his favor that she was given 24 hours' notice to move out, so she didn't have much of an option.

He never told her the actual amount of how much it cost to live where he was because he knew she would run for the hills, thinking she was taking advantage of his giving nature.

After he bought it out, Y/N said she wanted to at least pay rent so she wouldn't mooch off of him, so he told her what was practically a 64th of what rent would have been. As far as she knew, it was an 8th of the rent from what he led on. He would tell that lie until the end of time if it meant she stayed there with him, though. From his perspective, nothing bad could happen to her as long as he was with her. That's all that mattered in his mind.

It had now been over two years of living together. Y/N finally had a decent clientele of well-off people in Brooklyn for her yoga classes. She was no longer a substitute yoga instructor, but instead, had her own hours and time slots for members of the studio she worked at to apply for. She had kept her part-time gig at the senior citizen home reserved for Fridays, where Steve was a founder/ head department instructor.

It was a facility specifically for veterans who suffered from PTSD or any other trauma from serving in the military that he and Sam had started up. Bucky had been one of the biggest donors, earning a founder chair. The three were passionate about helping those find peace after the effects of war and hardships. They knew all too well themselves.

The three boys had been deployed overseas after high school, making them a little older than the rest of the friend group and also starting them in college a little later.

Bucky's dad wasn't too happy about him going off into the military instead of immediately diving into the family business. Then when Bucky came back saying he wanted to start up the No Soldier Left Behind (NSLB) senior home facility with Sam and Steve, his father threatened to cut him off. Realizing he could help them more if he complied with his dad, he went in that direction. This way, he could still donate with his salary and work with the family business to help veterans somehow.

That decision had been hard and trying for him. He didn't know Y/N then, but when he finally opened up to her about how a part of him wishes he had just followed his heart fully, she was the one to help him realize the path we carve out for ourselves happens for a reason. Even if we feel we took the wrong path in the journey.

The whole time, he had struggled with the idea that he wasn't all in with the facility. But his friend group, Y/N, especially for her wisdom beyond her years, set him straight, gave him the right push, and comforted him when he felt like falling apart. That part of their relationship worked both ways, though.