I Don't Need New Friends

Epilogue

Bucky was out for his morning run when his phone rang. "Hey." He panted. "Everything okay?"

"Where are you? The entire Wilson clan will be here in an hour!" Zoe griped. "I'm a little nervous for our big debut and I'd prefer it if you were home and ready when they got here."

"They love you more that they love Sam, stop worrying!" He laughed. "Besides, we're already Uncle Bucky and Auntie Zoe, and it's not like we don't talk to them all the time, now we just live together. What's the big deal?"

"The big deal is that we were auntie and uncle before we met. We've seen them, sure, but separately because of our schedules. Now they're going to see us together, in our shared house, and I don't want them to freak out. Kids can turn on you, Barnes!" Zoe was pacing. "Just get your ass home, please?"

"Okay, be back soon." He smiled and shook his head. As he put one of his favorite of Zoe's 80s playlists on, he headed back to the home he hadn't left since coming back from Argentina. The first real home he'd known since pre-war Brooklyn. He didn't care how fast it was, it felt right. He finally had a place to call home.

In the past year and a half, he had managed to only have to go on a couple of missions, all just to back up Sam. He was able to help with recon remotely most of the time, keeping him and Sam out of the field when they could manage. They only got called in for the "big stuff," and Bucky always reserved the right to refuse these days. He had started volunteering at the VA a few times a week, and had recently begun taking a few general studies classes at USC, still unsure of what he might like to focus on. The happiness and love he felt at the beginning of his time with Zoe only multiplied. Zoe was back to work, teaching and working per diem in the ER. She liked the flexibility it gave her so she could relax and get back to some of her long forgotten artistic pursuits. She even managed to get him in the studio with her a few times, though he really just liked to make a mess. They got a dog named Laika. He made some friends down at the VA, and was also instantly welcomed by all of her friends and family. They collected all of his belongings from storage and found meaningful places for them in their shared home. She insisted that it was their home and had him added to the deed after only six months. He was beyond touched by the gesture. They saw Pepper and Morgan whenever they came to the coast, as they were already so important to Zoe, and Bucky wanted to get to know them better as a way of making some sort of amends to Tony. They had even managed to take a trip to France, where he showed her some of the places he had been during the war.

Overall, things were good. Turns out sleeping beside the person you love lessens the frequency of nightmares. And being loved unconditionally did wonders for healing broken hearts. Neither of them were perfect, but they were so much better together. They were simultaneously ridiculously fucking happy and scared shitless that it could end at any moment...

Which is why she was so nervous to see Sarah and the boys. Even though they knew about her and Bucky, seeing it in person was something else entirely. She knew that they were family to him just as much, if not more than they were to her. It didn't help that he literally had no other family than the Wilsons. No pressure.

"There you are!" She sighed as he walked through the front door, less than half an hour before the crew was arriving. "Get your ass in the shower!"

"Yes ma'am!" He snickered as she swatted at said ass while he ran upstairs. "Wanna join me?"

"Perhaps I haven't made myself clear?" She yelled. "Get. Your. Shit. Together!"

"Okay okay!" He laughed. She followed him into the bathroom to talk to him while he got ready. "I still don't understand what you're so concerned about."

"I just want them to love us together as much as they loved us not together." She sighed. "They're family, and I'm more than a little desperate for their approval."

"Once the boys see the dog, they won't care about anything else." Bucky tried to reassure her. "Talk to me, what's really going on here?"

"They're kind of the only family you have and I don't want things to be weird." She admitted. "Does that make sense?"

"Absolutely." He stepped out of the shower and kissed her head. "Not to state the obvious, though, but we are already pretty weird, Zoe." He smirked when he caught her checking him out as he dried off. "See something you like, Ms. Jacobs?"

"Shut up and put some damn clothes on, you smug asshole." She laughed. "T-minus 18 minutes according to Sam's phone."

"So we've got time then?" He winked and tossed his towel at her.

"Not for what I want to do to you, James..." she growled and bit his ear. "Now get dressed!"

When the Wilsons showed up 20 minutes later, as predicted, the boys ran right past them and went straight for the dog. Sarah was beyond excited seeing her friends together and gave them her blessing. Eventually the boys figured out the situation and made fun of Bucky for having to move to California to find a decent girlfriend.

Things stayed good. As the chosen and not-so-chosen family relaxed in the yard, Bucky found himself doing that old exercise he did to stay grounded. He inhaled deeply, trying to commit the scent of food cooking on the grill and sunscreen to memory. He opened his eyes to take in the sight of his favorite people around him. He listened to the love of his life laughing with his friends and honorary nephews. He let himself feel the warmth of the Southern California sun on his skin. He let himself go. He wasn't the other guy anymore. He wasn't the young man he was before the war. He also wasn't the guy who was completely cut off from his emotions. He wasn't afraid to let people see him anymore. He let people in willingly. And she wasn't a caretaker when she didn't want to be. She wasn't afraid of getting her heart broken again. She wasn't the silent partner consumed by grief and resentment. She had someone who was her best friend and equal, not her obligation. They were navigating the present together, whatever it looked like. They had found a home in each other and had managed to make delicate but lasting peace with their pasts. They were the sum total of their experiences. They were okay. They were safe...