Therapy // Stucky [AU] - Completed

Chapter 8

"Hey I have an idea. You can say no if you don't feel comfortable but I think it might help you." Steve spoke up, breaking Buck's train of thought.

"What's that?"

"You've been having nightmares right?"

Bucky nodded.

"Well you could stay at my place; I have a guest room and I woke you up from your nightmare last night so I mean, it could do you some good." Steve smiled, looking proud of himself for the suggestion.

"I don't know Steve.. I nearly hit you last night."

"Yep, nearly. Didn't get to though. Plus have you seen all this muscle?" The blonde flexed jokingly and burst into laughter. "I'll be fine."

Buck had noticed the muscles. In fact, he couldn't stop noticing the muscles. He thought about the proposal for a minute and ended up grinning and agreeing.

"Only if it's not too much trouble for you though." Buck said, making sure he didn't interfere with Steve's life.

The pair looked at each other before Steve chuckled softly and briefly to himself, looking down at his lap. Buck however, considered inching his hand closer again but before his mind could be made up, the blonde told him to follow to the car so they could pick up his stuff from his apartment.

**********

Buck quickly packed the few clothes he had into a gym bag. Steve was waiting outside for him. The brunette went into his bathroom and turned on the light, revealing the still half-broken mirror on the wall. He opened the tap and refreshed his face with cool water, dragging his hands down his face as if they were stuck there. Everything that was rushing through his head was to do with Steve. He thought about how he never felt this connected to someone and he asked himself if it was normal to be thinking the way he had for the past days. He thought about how desperately he wanted to hold Steve's hand only to have him smile affectionately back.

Indistinct shouting started outside - it sounded like an argument. Steve walked to get his bag and looked out of the window to find that a man was standing in front of Steve, his face red and his tone mean and aggressive. Buck walked out of his apartment with his bag and looked at the strange man in confusion.

"What's going on here Steve?"

Steve pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head while looking at the ground.

"Oh, so is this your new little interest Steve?" The stranger sounded outraged but he laughed in between words maniacally.

"Knock it off, Mike. I've told you to leave me alone." Steve told Mike. He was clearly uncomfortable with the situation.

Buck placed his bag in the back of Steve's car and returned to be face to face with Mike again. He was grinning widely.

"What are you laughing at, punk?" Mike barked.

"At how you think you behaving this way is going to get Steve to somehow go back home with you and make your tiny, miserable, pathetic excuse of a life better again. Terrorising someone isn't going to makeup for your mistake, buddy."

Mike clenched his fist and Steve's eyes widened. He yelled out Buck's name in hope that it would make him react.

"Listen here, 'buddy' -" He threw a punch in Buck's direction but Buck raised his metal arm and stopped him, holding Mike's arm mid-air.

"No, you listen here." Buck moved his grasp from the man's arm to the man's throat, pushing him against the wall. "You're going to stop harassing Steve for good. That includes reaching out to him in any shape or form. You want to cry and be sad over how you're no longer with him because you're a dumb bitch? Do it on your own. I swear, if I find out you bother him again, next time I might not be as nice to let you go." He hissed while remaining eye contact during every second of him talking. He proceeded to let Mike go, pushing him away from himself and Steve, who by now was shocked but his face had turned red.

Mike managed a simple 'sorry' before running away without looking back. Steve scratched the back of his head and mumbled, loud enough for Buck to hear.

"That was quite the show you put on."

"Sorry, I wasn't just going to stand there while he made you feel uneasy."

"No, no! I don't mean it as a bad thing. I just wasn't expecting it." Steve's complexion remained red but he allowed his eyesight to travel and to meet Buck's eyes.

Bucky got closer and placed his normal arm onto Steve's.

"I promise you though, this side of me, the one you know, will never be like that towards you. Ever." The man shot the blonde a reassuring smile and walked away to get into the car. "But by the way, it looks like you could use some fresh air." He laughed but Steve furrowed his brows, only a few seconds later noticing Buck was joking about how red he had gone.

The man laughed to himself and ran his hand over his face, his back turned to the brunette. He bit his lip and shook his head, wondering how a person could make him feel so many delightful emotions all at once. Finally, after battling with his own thoughts, he got in the car next to Buck and started the engine. The pair made their way to Steve's house. For the first time while around Buck, Steve decided to put some music on.

"Bet you haven't listened to music for a long time either then?"

"No, I did go dancing quite a lot though but as you can probably guess, my moves must be rusty." The pair laughed at the thought and Steve reached into his pocket.

He connected his phone to his car's bluetooth and began playing 'Sweet Child O' Mine' by Guns N Roses. The guitar intro started filling the car and Buck looked out of the window. He listened and thought of how different this was to music back when he was first living his ordinary life. Suddenly, Steve broke out into the song along with the track.

"She's got a smile it seems to me, reminds me of childhood memories where everything was as fresh as the bright blue sky." He sang, mimicking Axl Rose's voice.

Steve beamed as he drove and sang along to one of his favourite songs. He even made sure to do all the guitar bits with his voice, making Buck grab his stomach in laughter. When the song finished, Buck asked to hear another one by the same people who had sung just then. Steve put on Paradise City; he did the same thing as before, singing at the top of his lungs. Towards the end of the song, he had put the front windows down and Buck picked up on and joined in with the chorus. The men sang the lyrics loudly and smiled at each other while doing so. Joy spread across their faces as they amused themselves with their off-tune voices. Before long, they had arrived at Steve's and they were walking inside, side by side, enjoying each other's company and laughing at the journey they just had.