An Act of... Love? [An Avengers Polyamorous Fanfic]

Chapter 37

I did exactly what I had offered and began to make the super soldiers tea while urging them to sit down at the counter.

"It's nice to see you," Steve said, taking a seat like I'd instructed. Bucky stayed standing, and I watched him gently drape an arm around Bucky's shoulders which brought a smile to my face. Those two were the cutest, even if they weren't great at showing public affection.

I turned the electric kettle on and grabbed my box of teas that Sam had gotten me, putting it in front of the boys.

"It's nice to see you, too, Stevie. I have a large assortment of teas, so pick which one you guys want," I said, turning back to get honey and sugar out. The conversation between the boys and I was kept incredibly superficial as I finished preparing all of our tea.

"You guys want to go to the couch? We could drink our tea there," I suggested.

"Good idea, doll," Bucky said with a forced smile. I could feel that both of them were conflicted and worried, but I didn't know what to do about it so I tried to push the feelings aside, even though that had obviously gotten me into dangerous positions before.

We all sat down on the couch and I pulled my legs up under me and faced Steve and Bucky. Steve was directly next to me, facing me, and Bucky was behind him with his head rested on Steve's shoulder so he could also look at me.

"So you've been talking to Angie?" Bucky threw out, trying to make some form of conversation and move us away from the awkward tension that had settled over the room.

"I have, yes! We've made a deal that we're going to reinstate our weekly movie nights that take place on Wednesday's so don't you guys worry about it conflicting with the tower's movie nights. And obviously you overheard my conversation this morning with Ange," I motioned to Bucky. "But she's going to try to get in touch with our friend Mishka and get him to call me sometime soon. He might be coming back to the states soon, so we also discussed that if COVID calms down a bit, going to visit Mish's family for a bit," I said. Talking about Mishka made me feel lighter, dimmed a bit by the information about Ally.

"Well I'm glad you've gotten back into a routine of talking to her, and are making plans to hang out with friends when things are a bit better," Steve said. "We... have been worried about you. I'm glad you're not completely isolated."

I smiled sadly at Steve. "I'm sorry about all of that. The past month has been... a lot. And your guy's feelings are so loud, it's barely given me a chance to sort through my own," I admitted.

"Scott told us that he doesn't think you can... shut that off?" Steve questioned.

"I can't, no. Not reliably and safely, anyway. And any time someone even passes the floor on the elevator, I can feel it. Whenever you guys are around, I can feel that too. It's just been a lot," I responded with a forced chuckle.

"... Have you talked to Wanda... or even Strange about this?" Bucky questioned, grimacing at his mention of Stephen.

I giggled, for real, at his reaction to mentioning Stephen. "No, I haven't. I haven't even seen Stephen since the house warming party. He even forgot to give me his number, so I couldn't call or text him."

"I have his number," Steve offered, causing me to smile.

"Want to put it in my phone?" I asked, handing it over to him. I watched him open the screen and realized that the last thing I had open, apart from Angie's call, was Jame's text message. Steve hesitated, looking at the message intensely for a moment, before clearing the screen and adding Stephen's contact.

"There you go... all added," he said, handing my phone back to me.

"... Thank you, Steve."