It was finally the day of Natasha and Steve's wedding.
"Romanogers wedding day." Yelena said, nodding her head as if she was proud of what she had just spoken.
"Romanogers?" Nat asked with her eyebrow raised.
"Yes, I have decided that is your ship name?"
"You didn't buy me a boat, did you?" Nat said, expecting the worse.
"Of course not... I bought myself a boat." Yelena grinned, "But anyways, a ship name is when you like combine two peoples names who are in or who you think should be in a relationship."
"That's stupid." Nat argued.
"Your stupid."
"Shut up and help me put on this damn dress."
—
"Nat you look beautiful." You smiled at your best friend as she stood in the mirror admiring her finished look. Her dress was white silk and a simple flowing design that fitted her form perfectly.
"I still think that me and Y/N should have worn seagull costumes, you know like the really annoying guy in the third alvin and the chipmunks movie." Yelena said.
"Sometimes I can't tell if you're joking or not." Nat replied.
You and Yelenas dress however, were amazing. You had worn many ugly bridesmaid dresses before for you're cousins and other family members you weren't too sure of the connection for, so you made sure that you went shopping with her snd approved of the dress. You also didn't want to wear something too revealing, you knew what Nat was like- she has a lot more confidence than you did.
"I'm shaking." Nat laughed, holding out her hand to show it shaking uncontrollably.
"Aw you're going to be absolutely fine, Nat!" You smiled, pulling your best friend into a tight hug.
"It's time to go, sis." Yelena said as she spotted the car Nat had hired to pick the three of you up and drop you off at the hotel the wedding was to be held at.
—
The ceremony went great, Steve's vows were the loveliest and most romantic things you had heard in a long time, and Natasha somehow managed to make fun of her now-husband the whole time. When the marriage officiant asked if there was any objections, an old woman named Peggy stood up, she was around 87 years old with dementia.
She claimed to be in love with Steve which made everyone chuckle, the 'Steve' she was talking about was in fact another man called Steve who just happened to look similar and also happened to be her late husband who had passed a few years prior.
"Well Steve, pal, you've left here with a good wife. You've got pretty lucky. I'll probably never say this again but Romanoff- sorry Natasha, I guess I can't call you Romanoff anymore, anyways Natasha is lovely, pretty and an amazing person." Bucky said as he stood up in front of everyone Steve and Nat had invited to their wedding to say his best man speech,
"And Natasha, well, you got pretty lucky too you're husband is funny, charming and... Sorry Stevie I'm having some trouble reading your handwriting, how about you tell me the rest later, eh?"
Bucky looked exceptionally proud of himself when he had earned a laugh from the wedding guests, Steve however was laughing as he shook his head.
"Okay, but in all honesty Nat, you really are amazing, you deserve an amazing husband to match. But unfortunately we don't all get what we deserve"
You smiled as you watched Nat lean over to give her extremely embarrassed husband a quick kiss on the cheek.
"That concludes my speech, and I've been told to remind you by the hotel staff that when you give me my well deserved standing ovation to not stand on the chairs or tables and make a mess, thank you and best of luck to the bride and groom."
Bucky did in fact, get a standing ovation but no one stood on tables. You had to admit though, it would
have been pretty funny if they did.
"So how does it feel to be married?" You asked your friends with a grin on your face.
"Amazing." Nat answered, clutching onto Steve's arm and resting her head on his shoulder.
"Best day of my life." Steve replied.
"You guys are so cute." You smiled, "you better make your first child Y/N, though."
"Mhm, no promises." Nat laughed.
"Maybe a middle name." Steve whispered as he and Nat walked to talk to another few of their friends.
—
"Your speech was better than mine." You said as you sat next to the all familiar chestnut coloured hair man.
"I think I have to agree." He replied, turning to you with a grin.
You laughed and shook your head, eying the beer bottle sitting in front of him. You grabbed it and took a sip of your own out of it.
"Hey! That's mine." He exclaimed, snatching it off of you.
"Sharing is caring."
"If you wanted to make out with me so badly you could have just asked." He said with a sly smirk.
"I'd rather stick pins in my eyes, Barnes." You said standing up and patting him on the back.
—
"Mom!"
"Hey honey! You look beautiful." Your mother smiled as you bent down to hug her from her wheelchair again.
"Thanks mom." You grinned, "You look amazing too, both of you."
"Your mom wouldn't let me wear one of my signature pineapple shirts today, said I should make myself presentable with a suit and tie." Your dad chuckled, showing off his outfit.
Your mom looked so happy to be here, you hadn't seen her this happy in a while. And as cringe as it sounds, seeing her happy made you happy.
"Hey, Y/N Steve needs-"
Of course he had to ruin your family moment.
"Oh, hello sir, I don't think we've met yet." Your mom said reaching out for Buckys hand to shake it.
"Lovely to meet you. ma'am. I'm Bucky- Y/Ns boyfriend."
Bucky turned to you and flashed a smirk of pure evil.
Yes, evil.
Your face dropped and you squeezed your eyes shut in an attempt to not slap him on the face right there and then. The only thing stopping you was the way your moms face lit up when she heard you had a boyfriend. She knew if you were dating then you were happy and she just wanted you to be happy.
And the happiness you had seen on her face... She looked so proud, you couldn't take that away from her just yet.
"Uh, yeah. Bucky is my boyfriend." You forced a fake smile as those words came out of your mouth.
Bucky placed his hand on your back and pulled you closer to him, obviously enjoying this infuriating game he had started.
To your utter relief, a new song began to play and couples entered the dance floor. Before your mom and dad could ask any questions, you grabbed Buckys hand.
"Bucky, come dance with me. I love this song." You said as you plastered yet another fake smile on your face.
Bucky looked confused to why you were dragging him to the dance floor, but he would never turn down a pretty girl asking him to dance.
Yes, he thought you were pretty. He would probably never admit it because he still held a grudge against you for turning him down when he asked you out. But he wouldn't have asked you out in the first place if the initial attraction wasn't there.
Although that attraction has been pushed to the back of his brain and he focused on hopefully befriending you, or at least help you tolerate him.
... For Steve and Natashas sake of course.
They were married for gods sake, they couldn't have each of their best friends at each other's throats all the time.
"I wasn't expecting you to play along." He grinned as he placed his hands on your waist as you reached the dance floor.
You spun around so that your mom wouldn't see the upset on your face.
"W-why did you do that." You asked, trying to avoid from your voice breaking.
"Oh come on, it was just a joke to one of Steve's old lady friends."
You swallowed a lump in your throat and he noticed you were visibly upset.
"You all good, Y/N/N?"
What the hell did he expect you to answer for that? Oh yeah I'm great actually always wanted my terminally ill mother to believe I'm in a happy and healthy relationship.
"What?" You asked in frustration, the amount of anger causing the word to come out in barley just a whisper.
"... Do you need me to get someone? Is everything okay?"
The tears forming in your eyes filled Bucky with genuine concern.
"Y/N..."
"That's my mom. The one you... The one we just lied to."
"Oh-" Bucky frowned, "I'm sorry, I'll go and apologise and tell her it was a joke if you want, it's not really a huge deal-"
"No, Barnes. You wouldn't understand."
"Then explain to me."
"You want me to explain? To you? You can't expect me to explain to you about why I'm upset about you telling my terminally ill mother that your my boyfriend."
And that was it, he had broken down your guard. He was the one person you swore you would never open up to. Your hand slammed over your mouth, you hadn't meant to tell him about your mom. You kept as much personal information away from him as possible, he didn't need to know anything about you and you didn't want him to know anything about you either.
"What? Y/N-"
He reached a hand out and placed it on your shoulder for comfort.
"Y/N I'm so sorry."
"I... It's... It's okay, you didn't know."
"Let me go and explain to her, please-"
"No, please don't." You asked, it came out of more of a beg than you anticipated for it to be, and it made Bucky look slightly taken aback.
"What? You want us to lie to her? Don't you think-"
"Yes, it's stupid and ridiculous and totally unnecessary but... Just for a few weeks... Please. Her and my dad go home in two days, and she probably might not even want to talk to you in thay time. And then once her and my dad are back in California I'll just phone them and say we broke up or something..."
"I-" Bucky stuttered.
"Please, Bucky. I know you don't particularly like me and that I'm not what you thought I was going to be like when you first asked me out... When we first met... And after this you don't have to have anything to do with me- I swear."
"Your sure that's what you want?"
"Positive."
Bucky stayed silent for a minute, silently thanking the world for this song they were dancing to for being so long, and swayed with you as you danced.
When you rested your head on his shoulder Bucky felt a feeling inside his stomach he couldn't explain, it was comforting and unknown, but it made him feel warm inside and he... liked it.
"I feel so guilty." Bucky finally spoke up after the short time of calm you had just shared together.
"Please don't feel guilty, Bucky." You pleaded, "If I was in your shoes and had the option to pretend to be your girlfriend to piss you off, I would have 110% have taken that opportunity. I do admit I was mad at first because I was taken aback, but now... Now I think it's a good thing."
Bucky raised his eyebrow. "A good thing?"
"A good thing for my mom, idiot." You grinned.
Under instinct, Bucky pulled you closer to him and held you in a tight hug, he wasn't sure why he done it but it felt right, and the way you moulded into his chest just felt right.
"On one condition..." Bucky said.
You pulled away from his hug and looked up at him, this time you were the one with the raised eyebrows.
"I know it's selfish but-" He began... "Can we... Pretend... For my father too? I don't know, he wants me to settle down and if he thinks I'm at least trying it might get him off my back for a while."
"Uh-"
"You won't have to meet him or any shit like that, god I wouldn't want you to meet my father, we can just send him a picture of us pretending we are in love."
"I'm the only one that has to pretend." You smirked, "Everyone already knows you're in love with me."
"So that's a yes?" He asked.
"Well if you're doing it for me then it's only fair I do it for you. We both have some pleasing our parents to do and if we can help each other then why the fuck not?"
Bucky smiled and pulled you into him to dance for the remaining of the slow song, he wasn't expecting that answer at all, but he thought it was worth a try asking. He owed you one, big time. And he knew eventually that you would see that. He just didn't understand why you didn't see that right now.