Never Separated

Five

Thursday, and they were sitting on Steve's balcony. It was pretty early in the morning, and the two sat bundled in blankets as they watched the sun begin to rise.

"So tell me," Bucky spoke as he absent-mindedly played with Steve's hair as the latter laid against his chest. "What's the deal with grandma?"

Steve tensed and sighed a little. Bucky frowned a little and waited for an answer.

"She... I said she wasn't horrible," he said slowly. "Right?" Bucky nodded and listened. "Well, we were super close, I could tell her anything. Then mom and her were talking and it slipped that I was gay.

"Well, that didn't go over well. She... said some stuff that kinda ruined our relationship, and I wasn't ready to face that."

Bucky pulled him tighter against him and kissed the top of his head. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I was scared," Steve mumbled, looking up at him finally. Bucky's heart twisted. "I'm sorry, I want to be honest with you, I didn't mean to keep so much from you and -- "

"Well, I'm glad you told me," Bucky finally spoke, smiling a little. "And don't worry about her. I dealt with your mother," he reminded and Steve frowned.

"It's different this time," he protested. "I was way closer to her than I ever as to my mother, and... it really hurt."

"I know, Steve," he said softly. "I'm sorry it's gone down that way. Do you not want me to meet her?"

Steve hesitated, biting his lip. Finally, he nodded against his chest. "She's bound to find out anyway," he murmured.

"It'll all work out," Bucky promised with his signature grin. Steve smiled at that and tucked the blanket around them better.

////

"Evil grandma, huh?" Charlie tossed a kernel of popcorn into the air and caught it in his mouth. Bucky grabbed a handful, shaking his head.

"Apparently. And I'm meeting her tomorrow," he said. Christopher watched them quietly as Teddy and Rebecca laid on the floor, doing a puzzle.

"I'll fight her for you," Christopher volunteered, chewing a mouthful of popcorn.

"If anything happens, you come straight home, right?" Emma warned, glancing up from her book. Bucky nodded.

"I know. It'll be fine though, a little homophobia can't hurt me," he bragged and Rebecca raised her eyebrows.

"Uh huh," she said.

"Besides," he continued, "how much damage can one little old lady do?"

"Just be careful," Emma sighed, turning her attention back to Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Bucky chewed his popcorn and thought.

////

"I think I'm totally ready for tomorrow," Bucky hummed as he bounced over the railing later that day. Steve looked at him as he moved into his room, Bucky in tow.

"You're awfully chipper about this," he mentioned as he smoothed a hand through his messy blond hair, trying to keep it to some degree of neat.

"Why shouldn't I be? I get to have a dinner with my beautiful boyfriend," he hummed and kissed his cheek. Steve blushed and rolled his eyes. "Come on, we should do something, get your mind off of this."

"You're very energetic, huh," Steve commented as he sat on his bed, pulling a sweater over his head and smoothing out the wrinkles. Bucky joined him.

"I want to see you happy," he explained, tilting his head a little. "When you're not happy, I'm not," he added. "I don't like seeing you upset."

Steve absently ran his fingers over the cover of his bed, and inally sighed. "I'm just nervous."

"I know. But nothing's gonna happen, alright?"

Steve finally worked a smile onto his face as he looked at him. Bucky squeezed his hand. "Okay, Buck."

Bucky smiled gently and kissed him, and Steve felt himself relax, the tension fade from his shoulders. He cupped his cheek and warmth flooded through Steve's chest.

When they pulled away, he sighed and smiled at him. "I love you."

Bucky smiled back. "You too, Steve."

////

After baking a pie, Bucky, Steve and the rest of the siblings trekked to the creek. It was a beautifully sunny day and the water wasn't too freezing.

Charlie tackled Bucky into the water, which started a water fight amongst them all. Rebecca and Christopher splashed Steve and Emma grinned as she watched them all.

Bucky smiled as he saw Steve laughing. "Everyone, I did it, I personally made Steven Grant Rogers happy, thank you all for coming -- "

Charlie scoffed and with a wave of his arm sent a wave of water into his face. Steve smiled and waded over to him as Bucky sputtered indignantly and wiped his face. Charlie went on shore to join his sisters, shaking his head. Christopher and Teddy were quick to follow suit.

"Thanks for this," Steve said, his eyes bright. Bucky turned red and shrugged, the corner of his mouth tugging into a smile.

"Of course."

"Hey, lovebirds," Charlie called. "There's pie back home and I'm craving some. You coming?"

With a smile, they raced out of the water and joined the others.

////

They were back in Steve's room, and Bucky was fiddling with his camera while Steve was invested in the comedy movie they were watching. The lights were dim and the balcony door was open, as the air was still warm, even at 6 o'clock at night.

Steve leaned back against the wall and dragged out his sketchbook, and flipped to a new page. As he continued to watch, he sketched out whatever idea came to mind -- mostly doodles, or scenes from the movie itself. Bucky watched for a moment then snapped a photo of him. Seconds later, a small, laminated copy printed out and he pocketed it.

Each doing their own thing, Bucky was calm and happy. And finally, Steve was too.

"Sorry I wasn't... stronger," Steve finally said, breaking the silence. Bucky opened his mouth to interrupt, but Steve rushed to continue. "Really. I know I'm worried about what's going to happen, but I shouldn't burden that on you."

"Steve," he said with a roll of his eyes. "It's kinda my job."

"But you don't have to take everything," he argued. "I just feel like I've been a problem that you've been managing all week."

"Hey," he said sternly, fixing him with a look. "You are not a burden to me, ever. Okay? I like that you can trust me enough to talk to me," he replied, and Steve twiddled his pencil and stayed silent. "If it ever gets to be too much, I'll tell you."

"Yeah?" He looked at him, and Bucky nodded yes, face earnest.

"Thank you, Buck." He tried to put all he wanted to say behind those simple words, and with a look, he knew Bucky understood what he meant.

"'Course, doll." He smiled. "You'd do the same for me."