The handsome giant of a man had struck up a conversation with two older lady residents as he entered the facility.
"Well, would you look at that? They're bringing all the good-looking men in here tonight, aren't they, Tillie?" Evelyn said, approaching Thor and getting a smile out of him.
"Hello, young ladies. I was wondering if you know where I can find a Miss. Y/N Y/L/N?" Thor asked kindly, with a puppy-like grin.
"Oh, isn't he cute," Tillie giggled, batting away at the gentleman.
"Y/N? You're looking for sweet Y/N?" Evelyn asked. "I hadn't realized she was with someone." The comment was more directed to her friend, but she eyed him nonetheless.
"I had thought she was with Bu-" Tillie started.
"Thor!" The shout made the small group turn to the voice, and Y/N grinned ear to ear as she approached them. "What are you doing here?"
"Wow. You look," he paused, excusing himself for the seniors, walking to her, and giving her a tight hug before pulling back and scanning her. "Breath-taking, but what's new?"
"Thank you, Thor," she chuckled bashfully, straightening her dress. "What happened with your plans with the club?"
"Yo, who's the new guy?" Sam asked Bucky as he walked back to the crew, now with a scowl etched into his features.
"That's Thor," Bucky answered with a frustrated tone.
"Thor? That's the Thor from the bar?" Sam asked, tilting his head slightly. "Oh, wait. I see it. Damn. Lot more lumbering when he doesn't have a bartop covering half of him." Bucky turned his scowl to Sam for a moment.
"I thought he couldn't come tonight," Wanda remarked, coming next to them.
"That makes two of us," Bucky muttered.
"Calm down," Steve overheard the conversation and moved closer to the crew. He placed a hand on Bucky's shoulder as the four stared at where Y/N and Thor were talking. Then the couple turned to start to walk over, and Y/N's arm looped through his own. "They're coming over. Be civil," Steve added just for Bucky, squeezing his grip on him before pulling back.
Y/N practically bounced on her toes as she approached her friend group and looked up at Thor and back at them. "Hey, guys! This is Thor. Thor, this is a small piece of my friend group that I was with that night we visited your club," Y/N gestured.
Thor pulled his gaze from her introduction and smiled back at the group.
"It's a pleasure meeting you all firsthand. I would have come over and visited that night, but things got busy behind the scenes," he gestured.
"It's perfectly fine," Wanda chimed in. "It's nice to finally meet you. Y/N's talked a lot about you."
"Is that so?" Thor said, moving to where they were holding hands and gently bumping his hip with hers.
"I'm James. It's nice to put a face to the name," Bucky interjected, making everyone turn to him as he put his hand out. The motion was in hopes Thor would drop Y/N's, but of course, he just reached with his other hand.
"Oh right, Bucky Barnes, correct?" Thor asked, and Bucky raised an eyebrow, switching hands to accommodate begrudgingly.
"Only friends call me Bucky, but that would be me," Bucky said with a tight, fake smile.
Everyone was very aware of the tension but either ignored it or didn't bring attention to it.
"Y/N talks about you all the time. The two of you are roommates, right?"
"Roommates, best friends, lifelong buddies. You name it." His tone was almost possessive, but before anyone could speak on it, Wanda jumped in to ease the stress before it could build anymore.
"Y/N told us you wouldn't be able to make it tonight. We didn't think we would be seeing you for a bit."
"We ended up having some extra staff come in, so I was no longer needed. I thought it would be a good idea to come and hang out with you here since you were so excited about it, and then maybe after, we can go out. Of course, I'm much later than I expected, but here nonetheless," he smiled down at her.
"Nonetheless," Bucky mumbled just loud enough for Steve next to him to hear, making him get an elbow to the ribs. "Ow!"
"Well, why don't you two go ahead and go out? I think we've hit the end of our party anyway. Most of the seniors are calling it a night," Steve smiled, placing his hands in his pockets with a casual shrug.
"What about takedown and clean up? I promised I would help with that," Y/N defended, giving Steve a confused look.
"I'm sure this crew is more than capable of taking down a few streamers and putting tables up. Don't worry 'bout us," Steve smiled with a nod equivalent to waving it off.
"Steve-"
"No sense of arguing. Captain's orders," Wanda said, placing a hand on Y/N's shoulder and turning her to the exit. "I would say bye to Stan, though. I'm not too sure how happy he'll be when he sees his date leaving with another man."
"Make that two of us," Bucky grumbled again, luckily without having anyone eavesdrop.
"You're sure?" Y/N questioned, feeling bad about leaving.
"Positive. Go on now," Wanda pushed.
"It was nice meeting you all. I'm sorry about stealing her away, but maybe I can come to visit another time," Thor nodded, taking her hand and pulling her arm through his gracefully.
"We would love that. Just let us know when and we'll make sure we have enough punch to go around," Wanda smiled sweetly at the two before they nodded and turned to find Stan.
"I think she and I are thinking of two different punches," Bucky rasped to Sam, hoping he'd be more lenient than Steve in his comments. All he did was roll his eyes and give Bucky a passive look. Bucky shrugged it off unbothered.
Y/N turned back one more time to mouth a thank you to them all, which the whole team either winked or smiled at, except for Bucky. Bucky just frowned. But she didn't seem to notice, having been too entranced by the man she was linked to as they walked away.
"Come on, Buck. Help me start cleaning off some of these tables," Steve nudged his friend before turning to do the action.
Bucky went to follow with a groan, but not without watching Y/N introduce Stan to Thor. The two had a laugh about something and hit it off from what it seemed like on the sidelines. Of course, they were hitting it off. Thor had that effect on everyone, supposedly... Just his luck, right?
___________________________________
Another two weeks went by. Just like the weeks before, Thor had been stealing Y/N from Bucky. She would text him practically every night, saying that she was staying out late with him and not to wait up.
It really started getting to be too much for Bucky when she texted one day that she was actually staying at Thor's. Not out late, not just hanging out together, but actually at Thor's apartment.
Bucky was a player. Bucky was a man who understood the realm of 'staying over.' The message "I'll be at Thor's for the night, so I'll see you tomorrow after work!" practically told him all the activities he knew that came with a 'stay over,' and they were multiplying as he thought about it. It finally took him over the edge.
He had been distracting himself so far with movies, work, working out, and occupying his time with friends to clear his mind of his emotions. But that text? That took him to his old habits.
Going to bars and picking any girl that threw themselves at him. Having a new girl in bed almost every night for the past week now. Sometimes more than one. He was just trying to numb the pain. The hurt of seeing her with someone that wasn't him was killing him. Even though every time that pain hit, he would tell himself that those feelings weren't real. This was just a stage that he would have to wade through before he got over it.
Steve noticed the change in his mood. Even Sam, Wanda, Clint, Nat, and Maria picked up on it when they all hung out, and Y/N wasn't there. They noticed he started ditching the group more often if Y/N said she would be there... with Thor. When she wasn't there, he would drink more and leave earlier with yet another girl on his hip.
His childhood friend was growing concerned now and took action where he saw needed.
He used his spare key to their flat and quietly opened the door. It was hushed, even for a Saturday morning. Bucky had once again texted, saying that he couldn't hang out the night prior with his friends because something else had come up.
He looked over and saw that Buck's keys, jacket, and shoes were lazily thrown by the entrance. Looking around more, he noticed the flat was a mess. It was cluttered, trashed, and not even close to the type of clean it usually was. Clothes, pillows, blankets, and Bucky's shoes were scattered around, showing he hadn't cared where they went.
"Ugh, come on, Buck," Steve said, scrunching his nose at a pile of laundry he wasn't sure was dirty or clean as he headed toward Bucky's room to wake him up.
But before he could get there, someone came out of the hall bathroom and ran right into Steve's chest.
It was a jumble of Y/H/C hair messed up from sleeping, and Steve hadn't comprehended what had happened as he caught her.
"Oh God. Sorry, Y/N/N, I didn't realize you were home-" he started as he held her shoulders to steady her, but he still couldn't see her face.
"Who are you?" she asked, shocked and jumping back.
Right then, Steve realized it was indeed not who he thought it was- Y/N- but a girl in one of her sweatshirts and no pants on. Now that she was a good distance away and he could see her face more, he noticed that even though it wasn't one of his best friends, it looked almost exactly like her. She was almost identical, and it was unnerving.
"I-I'm sorry. I'm Steve. Bucky's friend," Steve answered, looking up at the ceiling, not wanting to stare at the half-dressed girl being the gentleman he was.
"Oh. Who's Y/N/N?" she said with a ruder tone.
"Another friend of ours," Steve answered, still looking up. "Uh, listen. Is Buck here or-?"
"Who's Buck? Is that another friend of yours too?" she said with an attitude, popping her hip and crossing her arms over her chest.
"Ugh," he sighed quietly. "Wade. Where's Wade?" His ridiculous alter ego Steve wishes would have died years ago.
"Oh, he's still in bed."
"Is he decent-"
"Hey, Ruby, where'd you go-," Bucky hummed, peeking out of the room. The only thing covering him was a blanket he had wrapped around his lower half. "Steve? What are you doing here?" His head cocked, and he straightened some when he saw the blond.
"I came to check on you. You weren't answering my calls," Steve answered, looking past the girl.
"I'm a little busy," Bucky said with a nod to the girl.
"I can see that."
"I'm gonna head out," the apparent Ruby said, walking back to Bucky's room to grab her belongings.
"Wait, we'll just be one sec-" Bucky said, trying to convince her to stay.
"Nah, I've got a busy schedule anyway, so..." she dragged out, clearly not invested in Bucky's side life. "Yeah, I'm gonna go," she moved past him, going to his room to change.
"Seriously, dude? You had to come over and ruin my Saturday morning?" Bucky groaned, running a hand through his hair, which had gotten quite a bit longer, in frustration.
"Maybe if you looked at your phone, you would see I called and texted you to check-in. When you didn't answer, like you haven't been lately, I worried."
"Ok, and?"
Steve held back the punch to the gut he wanted to give Bucky and instead blinked repetitively at him. "Jesus. You really don't see the issue here?" Steve motioned to the bedroom door.
"No. I don't know what you're talking about." Bucky expressed with a straight face.
"Serio- God! You are the most stubborn, oblivious asshole I've ever met," he groaned, running a hand down his face.
"Hey, now!"
"See ya around, Wade," Ruby said, coming out with her shoes, phone, and purse in hand. Her outfit from last night was thrown messily on, and Y/N's sweatshirt was thrown over her arm.
"After your performance last night, I sure hope so," Bucky grinned, his personality taking a 180 as he gave her a slight squeeze on the tush and made her jump, smiling back at him.
"See ya, Steve," she waved, not giving him a second glance as she moved to the front door.
"Leave the sweatshirt on your way out," Steve said with his patience, wearing thin and keeping his eyes on Bucky.
She gave him a stink eye, even if he didn't see it, before dramatically throwing it over the couch and walking out the door.
"Quite the dame you found," Steve scoffed with judgy eyes as he looked at the floor and then back at Bucky.
"Oh, shut it. You came here to see if I'm good, and now you see," he waved his hands over his blanket-covered bottom half. "Ruined my morning too, thank you very much," he huffed, returning to his room.
"You really don't see it, do you?" Steve scoffed with a humorless laugh, following him.
"See what? That I'm an asshole?" Bucky mocked his friend's words. "You've made it clear that I'm exhibiting that stature, so maybe I need to look in the mirror."
"Oh, get over yourself, Barnes. There's a multitude of things to see wrong right now, but one undeniable thing in particular."
Bucky turned to pick up discarded boxers and a t-shirt on the ground. He threw the shirt on and looked at Steve like, "You gonna watch me get dressed or?" Steve turned to give him some privacy but continued his rant.
"Ruby, or whoever the hell that girl was, looked just like Y/N," Steve noted, crossing his arms over his wide chest as he watched the door.
"Yeah, and I'm seven feet tall and from Mexico." Bucky rolled his eyes before moving to the other side of the room to find his phone. Steve heard him and turned back to him.
"Buck. She had Y/E/C eyes and Y/H/C hair, and they were the same height and practically the same build."
"Coincidence."
"Coincidence, my ass," Steve groaned. "What the hell have you been doing, Bucky? This isn't healthy."
"Is there a healthy way of going through this situation?" Bucky shrugged passively, typing a few things into his phone and tossing it back on his bed.
"Yes, and you writing the book on what not to do."
"Please, enlighten me then, great all-knowing one." Bucky pushed past him aggressively and walked to the kitchen. Steve followed close behind.
"Allow me to provide a very telling list; you don't go out with us anymore if Y/N says she'll be there. When you do go out, you're drunk off your ass in minutes and grabbing any girl who comes your way. Which apparently, you have a specific type." He paused, waiting for a reaction, but when he didn't get one, he continued. "Your house is a pigsty. You don't check in with me or anyone anymore. I'm pretty sure your work ethic has gone downhill too, thanks to Shuri updating us-"
"I'm fine," Bucky glared as he poured a cup of coffee. He didn't care for the idea that employees, even close ones, were sharing his working style with his friends given the last month.
"That's what someone who is the exact opposite of fine says," Steve deadpanned, staring daggers into Bucky's back. Nothing. No response from the brunette. "Fine. You don't want to come to terms with your clear depression? Great. We've all tried to help. Me especially, but you don't want to listen. Know that this will just dig you into a deeper hole, and getting out of it will be nearly impossible."
Still nothing. Time for the big guns...
"You're going to lose Y/N, too, if you're not careful."
"Don't say that," Bucky grumbled, stopping his action of pouring more stale coffee into his mug and putting the mug down harshly.
"What? Don't say the truth? Cause that's what it is," he continued, seeing some shot of a reaction he needed.
"No, it's not."
"What is then? You and Y/N are doing well? Have you talked or hung out recently? You've seen her around the house 'cause, from the looks of it, she hasn't laid eyes on this place in a while. She wouldn't have let you stay in a mess like this without giving you some form of hell for it. And from what she's said-"
"Stop!" The abrupt anger showed he had hit a nerve. He needed to strike one to see if he was going to make any kind of advance in the healing process here.
"You don't understand, Steve! Clearly, it's hard for me to see her off with another person and making heart eyes up at him every time I see her? I don't remember the last time I saw her without him. He's taking her from me, and there's nothing I can do about it without showing my actual feelings! There's no middle ground here for me to meet. Either I tell her how I feel and ruin everything we've built as a friendship all these years, or I say nothing, and she stays happy. I would rather be miserable than take that happiness away from her, even if it means my own fall into a pit of despair. She deserves more than what I can obviously give her," Bucky motioned to himself like he was a walking red flag to be avoided. "She deserves more, and I don't know if Thor is that or not, but the broken and selfish part of me hates seeing her try and find that with anyone but me."
There was a long silence in the room as he took a breath, and Steve kept a straight face, watching the tension in Bucky's shoulders cling to him.
"Yeah, and you're not in love," Steve added with a raised eyebrow and the slightest winning smirk on his lips.
"I'm head over heels, Steve! Is that what you wanted to hear?" he shouted, surrendering his hands in the air.
Steve's solemn face slowly began to turn to a smile, but before he could add anything to the conversation, the front door opened. Both the men turned to see who was coming in.
"Hello?" Y/N's voice rang as she walked in. She turned to see Bucky and Steve staring at her as if in shock. "You guys would not believe what happened to me not even two minutes ago. I was walking down the street, and this girl who looked just like me bumped into me." She ruffled her hair as she removed the wet hood of her raincoat and placed her purse on the entrance table.
Steve and Bucky shared a quick glance before looking back at her.
"Is that so? That's such a crazy coincidence," Steve said, faking shock as Bucky stood frozen.
"I know! I tried striking up a conversation with her, but I guess we don't share the same personality because she practically snuffed me and then walked off mumbling some words I wouldn't repeat myself." Y/N explained with a tight smile, walking to the bar to see the boys on the other side of the kitchen.
As if just now seeing the place for the first time, she leaned away from the counter, looking down at the mess.
"What, uh, what happened here? It looks like a tornado full of dirty clothes and takeout went through this place."
"Uh," Bucky stuttered, thinking of an excuse.
"You know what? I'm going to take a guess and say the other roommate never being here caused the place to turn into a bachelor pad. Sounds about right," she winked, backing up. "I'm actually only stopping by to get some clean clothes, and then I'm headed back out." As she walked by the couch, she noticed the sweatshirt. "What's this doing out here?" she asked, quizzically picking it up and turning to the boys.
"I, uh, found it while going through laundry and must have thrown it there and forgotten," Bucky was quick to cover.
"I thought this was in my closet," she said, looking down at it, unconvinced of the story. Steve and Bucky shared a nervous look. "Eh, I don't care that much," she shrugged, moving again to her room.
Once she was out of earshot, Bucky panned to Steve. "She's going back to his place again?"
"Come out with us tonight. Instead of trying to find a girl and get completely wasted, just hang out with the crew."
"Steve-"
"You said you didn't know if there is a healthy way of going about this, and there is. You can distract yourself with friends who want to help and listen to your problems. Not alcohol and girls." Bucky sent him an unsure look before looking down toward y/n's room. "Come on. You know it's the better choice."
Y/N came back out with a new bag of clothes, looked down, and went through it. She pulled out one of Bucky's old band shirts as she reorganized things, which greatly wounded his heart. She used to cuddle up with him in that shirt. His shirt. His girl. Both taken.
"Yeah. Ok," Bucky nodded, watching her. "I'll go out."
"Good choice," Steve patted his back before turning to Y/N.
"Sorry, I'm just here for a second. We have a dinner reservation and didn't have anything nice enough for it. I wish I could stay longer, but-"
"You're fine, Y/N/N. We're going out ourselves tonight," Steve smiled, throwing his arm over Bucky's shoulders and squeezing him close.
"Oh yeah? Where are you guys going?"
"Rita's. Just a normal spot, but Maria got a promotion, so we're celebrating some," he answered.
"Damn, I wish I could join, but Thor's going out of town next week, so we're spending a little extra time together beforehand."
"How long is he going to be gone for?" Bucky asked.
"I think he said about a week." He hummed and nodded his head as if the note that she'd be Thor-less for a week wasn't appealing to him. "Well, I guess I'll see you two troublemakers around. Have a good night and be safe, ok?" She turned to the door with a soft smile. Leaving just as fast as she came.
"You too," Bucky waved solemnly.
"See ya, Y/N/N," Steve waved as well.
She sent a wink to the two before disappearing again.
"You sure I can't have a few drinks?" Buck asked, still looking at the door.
"Ok, I'm not the worst friend ever," Steve chuckled, patting his back.