After they both slept soundly through the night without any interruptions, Steve and Bucky arrived with the rest of the Avengers at the Avengers Tower.
Steve and Bucky politely asked if they could stay around for the holidays, and everyone eagerly said yes. Many of them were interested in getting to know Bucky a little bit better, which made him somewhat shy, but feel welcomed. On Christmas, Clint went home to be with his family and Scott left to be with his daughter. It wasn't the same without them, but it was still great. Dinner on Christmas Eve, presents on Christmas!!!
Dinner was amazing; it was so lovely getting to laugh with everyone and eat delicious food. Tony decided to tease Vision since he couldn't eat anything, so he put some batteries on a plate for him. Bucky sat next to Steve and Natasha, of course. Natasha had become one of the few people in the Avengers he felt comfortable around. Clint was very welcoming and he liked him, so was Vision, but he kinda creeped him out with the whole synthetic person thing. Wanda was also nice, Tony tried his best to be friendly and welcoming, which he was, but Bucky always had the looming thought in his head saying, "Don't forget what you did, Soldier." Everyone was pretty neutral, except for Sam. Sam was still butthurt about him tearing off a wing on his OG suit, but he was slowly warming up to him. He knew how much Steve loved him.
Steve was enjoying himself thoroughly, yet Natasha was visibly upset. He couldn't really tell if she looked upset, or he could just tell. He had always been good at reading people, which was ironic since he was the person who had to remain completely emotionless for the last 75 years.
"Hey," he said as he gently laid a hand on her. "You alright?" She looked up from her lap.
"Yeah, I'm fine," she gently replied. He knew she was lying, but he didn't want to pry at the dinner table in front of everyone. She could fool anyone in that room, except for him. He could read her like a book. He nodded as a reply to her. Bucky remained mostly quiet at the table while Steve went ahead and told stories and stuff along those lines. He loved hearing him get so excited when he spoke about things that made him happy. Seeing Steve happy made Bucky happy as well. After everyone was done eating, they headed off to their rooms and went their separate ways. Steve and Bucky got ready for bed together and quickly went to bed. Steve loved sleeping with his head on Bucky's right arm and having his own right hand on Bucky's warm chest. He liked it best when he slept shirtless so he could feel his skin. It was odd, but it made him feel closer and more comfortable.
Around a half an hour after Steve fell asleep, Bucky slid out of his grasp and squeezed out of bed, being careful to not wake him out. He walked out of their room and down the hallway, and up a flight of stairs to the living area. As he walked up he final stair and turned the corner, he saw Natasha sitting in a sofa chair in front of one of the huge glass windows that faced out toward the city. She sat with a mug filled with tea in her hands.
"Hey, Barnes," she quietly said. He lifted one eyebrow and walked over and sat down on a chair diagonal from her.
"How could you tell it was me?" She chuckled.
"You realize that you walk funny because one arm is heavier than the other, right? I can hear you walking." He smiled.
"Haha, I guess so." He looked over at her and noticed she smiled for a moment, but it quickly began to dissipate. He looked at her and tilted his head.
"Come on, Natasha. I can clearly tell something is wrong." She maintained her zoning out at the snow that was falling outside. Then suddenly, she looked at Bucky.
"Bruce... do you know who he is?" Bucky had recalled hearing his names on a few occasions. Also, when he was doing some research on Steve while he was hiding out, he found out about the Avengers and studied the members to find out more about what was going on. He read a little bit about Bruce, he didn't know much other than that he was a scientist with a ton of PhDs and went in some Gamma rays, which made him turn green and stuff like that.
"Yeah, a little. What about him?" She began to tear up a bit, which thoroughly surprised him. Natasha was not the type of woman who is very prone to crying
"I miss him." She made a slight bittersweet smirk to cover the feelings. "I guess it's just not the same around here without him. It was like this last year, too. It just feels off when he's not around."
"I know how it feels." She looked up at him.
"You do?"
"Yeah, of course. It feels like, like you have a part of you that's missing, and it's away with them. Like, you don't know where they are, or even if they're okay, but you keep hope that you'll be with them again. When I finally figured out who I was, I started feeling that desire to be with Steve again, but... I just wasn't able to be with him. If I left hiding to find him, I'd most likely be killed, or not even be able to get near him... So yes, I do know how you're feeling. It's hard." She stared him down.
"Exactly." They sat in peace for a while as they both looked out the window. He just wanted to be a friend for her so she didn't feel alone in this, since he knew exactly how it felt to be alone. Natasha stood up and waved for him to get up as well. When he stood up, she walked over and wrapped her arms around him to give him a hug.
"Thank you," he heard her whisper.
"It's gonna be alright."
"I can see why Steve always admired you... you're a good friend, Barnes." They both let go and he walked back to his bedroom where Steve was, and he saw him sprawled out on the bed. He slowly slipped back into bed and went into the position that they were in before he left.
"Ughhhh... Bucky???" Steve groaned.
"Yup I'm here."
"Okay." Steve placed his hand back onto Bucky's chest and fell asleep. A few moments later, Bucky followed his lead.
-
-
-
Bucky groggily woke up and opened his eyes. He could feel the blanket be pushed off of the top of his body as Steve said, "Bucky, wake up..." in a loving tone. He covered his eyes and face from the sunlight that seeped in through the window.
(This is what it looked like)
"Nngh..." he groaned. "Whyyyy?"
"Because everyone is already up! I can hear them." "Fine," he whined back. He sat upwards and lifted the blanket with him. He leaned his head up against the wall and yawned. Steve leaned forward and placed a kiss on his cheek.
"Merry Christmas, Buck." Bucky looked to the side and faced Steve. He closed his eyes and smiled.
"Merry Christmas." Steve got up to brush his teeth, which Bucky followed after he was done. They got some clothes on as well, and then walked out to greet everyone. Everyone was already upstairs, just waiting for Steve and Bucky to get up.
"Look who finally decided to get up." Tony said sarcastically, as always.
They all gathered around the enormous Christmas tree that was exposed to the whole city from the window.
"Decided to go all out this year, didn't you Tony?" Steve said jokingly.
"When do I not?" The room was filled with laughs. Tony got presents for everyone, which he always loved doing. He made it a rule that he didn't want to get any presents since he pretty much could afford anything at this point. Steve always got him something anyways. This year as a joke, him and Bucky got Tony a Iron Man coffee mug. He liked messing with him. When it was Steve and Bucky's turn to open their presents, Bucky felt extremely uncomfortable. He decided to open it anyways to be polite. They both opened theirs at the same time. After ripping off the wrapping, two boxes were revealed. They slowly opened the top, and Bucky looked up at Tony with confusion.
"How?..."
"I went back to the old Hydra facility in Siberia to see if I could find anything of yours." Bucky lifted up an two old photos and a leather women's watch. Steve held up some Captain America socks.
"Wow thanks, buddy." Steve said sarcastically. Bucky just stared intrigued with the pictures. He brushed his thumb against one to try to see it clearer. One of them was a picture of him and Steve, and another was of him and his siblings. They looked both to be from around 1930, it was hard to tell. He brought both of them with him to keep him in mind of what he was fighting for while he was deployed. The watch was his mother's. He looked up at Tony.
"Thank you," he said softly. Tony nodded and winked with a smirk.
"Alright, I'm starving." Tony clapped his hands together. "Let's eat." As everyone got up and walked off to go eat in the dining area, Bucky remained in his chair, fiddling with the watch. The leather was still smooth, the glass clean. He could tell Tony had it cleaned before he gave it to him. He breathed out and sighed before getting up. He felt a little less intimidated to be around Tony now.
-
-
-
They all had breakfast together, except for Vision and Wanda. They stayed sitting out to talk to each other. Bucky was pretty sure it was because Vision couldn't eat and Wanda didn't want him to feel left out. That's understandable. He thought. They all had fun and laughed some more together. Steve, of course, did most of the talking. Ever since, well, everything, Bucky hadn't been very talkative. He was still a pretty smooth talker to Steve, and if he actually put forth an effort, he could entertain others. He just didn't want to. Too much work. Plus, he didn't really have anything in common with these people, nor have any battle bonds. He had only really talked to Natasha, but that was because they had gone through similar experiences.
After everyone was done with their food, they relaxed and lounged around in the tower. Steve and Bucky both sat in the living area with Natasha and just talked. It wasn't about work or anything, it was more so just about stuff from their childhood and fun times.
-
-
-
They lounged around for another week or so, and left a couple days after New Years. New Years Eve was spectacular. Everyone gathered around the window that faced the city excitedly like little children as they watched the ball drop in the distance. They counted down as the ball slowly fell.
3! 2! 1! They could hear cheering outside in the city as they also celebrated. Steve held his arm around Bucky's body, as Bucky did in return to Steve. They looked at each other as everyone cheered and laughed together.
"I'm happy you're with me again," Steve said softly.
"I am, too." Bucky laid a gentle kiss on Steve's lips as they stood in front of the immense windows that created a huge scope to the city. He rested his head on Steve's shoulder as they continued to watch people cheer in an uproar outside.
Another year.
"We made it, Steve."
So I know it's been like 3 weeks since Christmas, but I explain in a note why I was gone so long and I couldn't work on this. I hope this is an ok start back into writing. ★~(◡‿◡✿)