MADELINE
I see Nat eyeing Tony carefully as she walks closer to us on the couch. She elects to stand behind the couch, looking at Tony.
"What's going on, Tony?"
Tony's jaw clenches as he says, "I just saw Madeline kissing Barnes."
Nat and Wanda both sigh behind me and they move next to Steve, who's still standing a little off to the side in front of us, watching Tony carefully.
I see Thor walk up next to Tony with furrowed brows, "What did you just say? She was kissing.." Thor glances to me and Bucky, "She was kissing Barnes?"
Tony nods as he watches me.
Steve puts his hand up in an effort to calm them down, "Alright, everyone, relax. We'll explain."
I can feel Bucky next to me, his entire body is still tense and his jaw is completely clenched.
I take his hand and guides him with me off the couch, walking over to Steve. I stand between the two of them, and Nat and Wanda move a little to the side, standing next to Steve.
"What's going on?" Scott asks as he looks between Steve, Bucky and I.
"I think Madeline is dating Barnes," Tony says calmly, crossing his arms as he looks at us.
I nod, "Yes, I am dating him."
"Why didn't you tell me?" Tony asks and right now, he's only speaking to me.
I meet his eyes, "Because I was scared of your reaction. You freaked out when you found out about Steve, I had no idea how you would react if it was Bucky. And I definitely didn't know how you would react when you found it was the both of them."
Tony's eyes flares in anger as he yells, "THE BOTH OF THEM?!"
I widen my eyes when I realize I hadn't actually made that clear.
"Yes, it's the both of us," Steve calmly says, "She's in love with the both of us and we're both in love with her."
Tony laughs mockingly and snorts, "That's ridiculous. That's absolutely insane. Do you have any idea how crazy you sound right now?!"
"It's not crazy," Bucky mutters, his eyes fixed on the floor, "I loved her first, Steve told her first. We both love her and want to be with her." His eyes turn to me and he smiles softly, "Neither of us could give her up and we made this work. It works. We're happy."
He turns to look at Tony, his eyes apologetic. "We're sorry Tony, but it just happened. And we figured it would be best not to tell you until we were sure about what.. this.. was. I knew it would bother you, I knew you would be angry because it's me. And I'm sorry, I truly am. But I love her, more than anyone I've ever known before. I've never felt this way before. I want to spend the rest of my life with her."
Tony blinks a few times as he watches Bucky speak and I feel my cheeks heating as his words.
Steve clears his throat, "Tony, we didn't want to lie to you, but we felt we had to. And we don't need your permission to do this, either. We were going to tell you all after the party, but it seems fate intervened. I apologize that you found out this way, it wasn't part of the plan, but here we are. And we're not going to stop being together, we don't want to be without each other. If you can't accept that, I understand, but that means we will be leaving. Neither of us will give the others up."
Tony sighs and shakes his head, "This is a fucked up situation. I wasn't expecting this."
"I know," I say softly, "I'm sorry, I really didn't want you to find out this way. But I do love them both, so much. I can't lose either of them. They make me happy."
Tony furrows his brows at me, "Are you sure, Madeline? Rogers is one thing, but Barnes.."
"He's James, or Bucky, to me, Tony," I interrupt, "Nothing else. No-one else. He's not who he was, he was never that person. And he shows me every day how much I mean to him."
I feel Bucky glancing at me as I speak and it makes my stomach flutter. I didn't plan on making a huge declaration of love in front of everyone, but here we go I guess.
"I fell fast and hard for Steve, but Bucky took longer. And trust me, I was just as confused as you are right now. I had no idea what was going on. But the fact is that they are both the loves of my life. I will give up anything to be with them. I will leave, I will give up my spot as an Avenger if that's what you want. If you can't accept it. But I won't give them up, I never will. And I hope you won't make me leave, I really do, but this is more important to me than anything else."
Tony watches me carefully as I speak and I see his face softening as he scans my face. He glances to Nat and Wanda, who's still standing next to Steve, "You two knew about this?"
Wanda nods and Nat says, "Yes, we did. And it's true. This is real. And you should see Barnes when he's with her, he's like a puppy dog."
I hear Steve chuckle softly next to me, his fingers lacing with mine.
Tony shakes his head as he looks down, "I'm not going to tell you to not be together, if that's what you really want. But this is weird," he glances up with furrowed brows, "It was already weird to see you with Capsicle. The both of them..."
He looks sternly at Bucky, "The same rules apply as with Rogers. If you hurt her, I will fight you in the suit. No hesitation."
Bucky smiles softly, "If I ever hurt her, you have permission to kick my ass and I won't even fight back. I'll die before I let that happen."
Tony raises his brows in surprise and smiles, "Okay.. I guess we got that cleared then."
I look hesitantly at Tony, but he gives me a very small, reassuring smile. Then I look at the others in the room, and most of them seem surprised, but no-one is angry.
"Can we hug you now? We missed you," Wanda asks and it makes me chuckle.
I look at Tony, who gives me a small nod, before I reply, "Yes, you can all hug me now."