In your arms (I think I might survive)

1

A/N: Howdy Readers. Here be a little Clegan love for ya. Enjoy!

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The first time it happens is the first heavy snowfall of the year. It's the second week in November and several of the other men — especially the ones who have been there longer, whose clothes fall off of them from the weight they've lost in their months in the camp —have already started sharing bunks weeks ago when the first of the chill settled in. Tonight is unbearably cold. John can see the way Gale is curled in on himself, an echo of his own position. Their bunks are so close Bucky could reach out and touch the blond, but instead, he hesitates for nearly an hour. Gale is in a fitful sleep, barely holding onto a thread of unconsciousness from the cold. Bucky wants to climb in beside him, steal the other man's warmth, give him his own warmth.

Create warmth between them.

And therein lies the danger. Therein lies Bucky's hesitation.

Because as much as he wants this to be an innocent act of helping to warm himself and his friend in the cold of winter, even the thought of pulling Gale flush against his body makes his heart race and his blood boil.

Oh, the things he's imagined doing to his friend.

The things he would do if he knew Buck would let him.

The things he's not sure he could stop himself from doing if he climbed into that bunk and slotted himself against the firm lines of the object of his hidden affections.

So instead of going to Gale's bunk instantly on the coldest night to date, Bucky stays in his own and suffers, shivering until his teeth start to clatter. But after an hour of agonizing with himself between the frigid air and the consequences of being so close to Gale, Bucky can't take it anymore. He's lost feeling in his right hand and half of his toes. Gale can't be faring any better than he is if the way Bucky can see the other man's shoulders shake from time to time is any indication. This is more than just a desire.

This is a need.

Bucky climbs out of his bunk and takes the single step to bridge the gap between his and Gale's bunks. Bucky brings his blanket with him, but the cold jumps up to meet him, colder than any Wisconsin night he can remember. The distance is the shortest he has ever crossed in the night — it takes less than a breath, but his heart is racing — so many beats pass before Bucky launches his thread-bare blanket over Buck and places a hand down on the sorry excuse the Germans call a mattress. Then, as easily as falling into his own bed at night, as if this wasn't something John has been agonizing about for the past hour, wanted to do for days, weeks — maybe since he met the other man — Bucky is wedging his body into the bunk beside Gale.

Buck is facing the wall, away from the room, and curled in on himself to preserve as much heat as possible.  It's the most effortless thing John has done in his life to wrap his arms around the man and press his chest along the length of his back. He molds their bodies to each other from chest to knee, needing the warmth as much as relishing in the touch.

"Damn, Buck, you're freezing," Bucky whispers, gruff and low, into Buck's ear, his tone having absolutely nothing to do with the fact that he's suddenly flooded with warmth at his abrupt closeness to Gale. He's also lying, really, that Gale is freezing. As far as Bucky can tell the man he's wrapped himself around is a human heater.

Buck instantly leans back into his touch, letting out a relieved breath, as if the cold he's been holding in for the past several hours is released on that single exhale. Bucky feels ankles hitting his shins and he recognizes that Buck is uncurling from his fetal position as he relaxes into Bucky behind him.

Bucky lets out a breath in response and relaxes further into Gale in turn, the stress of the last hour's debating easing from his shoulders in a moment. Bucky is drawn in instantly to the open skin of Buck's neck. He can't help himself in his cold-addled state as he presses his face into the exposed skin there. Despite the extreme cold, the skin is warmer than his own face and Bucky is instantly warmed.