Chapter 45
"Hey bud, what's up?" Natasha asked as Harry entered the living room.
"Not much. What're you watching?" He asked, walking over and taking a seat on the couch next to Nat. Clint was up in the rafters, watching the movie from his perch.
"Bird Brain up there has never seen Brave," Natasha replied, throwing a pillow up to where Clint was sitting.
"She's an princess who is an archer, and he's never seen it?" Harry teased, raising his eyebrows as he looked at Clint.
"Leave me alone!" Clint whined, throwing the pillow back down in an attempt to nail Natasha in the head. Instead, the spy caught it with ease and placed it behind her.
"We just started it, if you'd like to join us," she offered, and Harry nodded. Peter had made it his personal mission to make sure that Harry had seen all Disney and Pixar movies, and now they were working their way through different DreamWorks films.
"I'd love to- but only if there's popcorn involved," Harry waggled his eyebrows at Nat, who just chuckled.
"I think we could arrange something," she replied, standing up and disappearing into the kitchen. A few minutes later, she reappeared with several bowls of popcorn. Handing Harry one, she reassumed her place on the couch.
"Hey! What about mine?" Clint cried from up in his 'nest'.
"You have legs, come get your own!" Nat shrugged, tossing a piece of popcorn up in the air and catching it in her mouth skillfully.
A muffled groan came from above, but seconds later, Clint had- much to Harry's amazement and confusion- stealthily landed on the floor behind them, and was snatching his bag of popcorn. With a sigh, he gazed longingly back up at his nest, but rounded the couch and plopped down on the opposite side of the sectional.
"Friday, play," Natasha spoke, and the AI resumed the movie and dimmed the lights to a level that Tony had deemed 'movie theatre mode.'
"That's such an impressive shot, what the fu- oh no her mom's going to be mad," Clint gasped, pulling the blanket that had seemingly come out of nowhere, tighter around himself.
Harry and Natasha looked at one another with amused expressions. Clint was simultaneously the best and worst person to watch movies with. Best if you had already seen the movie and he hadn't, because then his reactions were as equally entertaining. However, if you hadn't already seen the movie, he easily distracted you from the actual happenings on screen.
The movie continued on, and Harry felt himself slowly nodding off. The living room was dark, and he was bundled up tightly in blankets that made him feel warm and safe.
The last thing he remembered before falling asleep was Clint's shocked gasp as Merida's mother was transformed into a bear....
*
Meanwhile
*
"Are you sure you know where you're going?" Steve yelled, arms gripped tightly around Bucky's midsection as they hurdled down the deserted road on the motorcycle.
"Would you relax and just enjoy the ride? I know where I'm at!" Bucky hollered in response, the wind catching his words and throwing them back into Steve's face.
Steve scooted closer to Bucky, arms that were encircling his boyfriend's waist, tightening. They had been on the bike for close to an hour now, and still hadn't arrived at their destination. Bucky had said that the location was somewhere upstate in the countryside area of New York, but he hadn't said where.
Steve closed his eyes and let the early October winds bite at his face briskly, and the strong breeze created by the high speeds of the bike whipping through his hair. It was possible that the temperature could be considered cold if he hadn't been so close to Bucky, who was, and always had been, radiating heat.
He wouldn't trade the feeling for the world.
Steve didn't realize how long he had had his eyes closed for, just enjoying the ride, until he felt them begin to slow down. Opening his eyes, he blinked a few times to allow his eyes to readjust to the lighting that the setting sun was giving off.
"We're here," Bucky declared as they rolled to a halt. Turning the bike off, both men swung their legs over and dismounted the motorcycle's leather seats.
"Wow, Buck, this is... incredible," Steve breathed, taking in the sights of the lookout point. "How did you know about this place?"
"That's my little secret," he replied, smirking when Steve rolled his eyes a bit. "Alright, alright, fine. I found it by complete accident one day while riding. I took a wrong turn and it lead me down this road. I thought, based on how much you enjoyed even sitting on the fire escape back in Brooklyn, looking out over the city, that you would like this."
"You can barely see the city," Steve shook his head in disbelief. The trip had only been about an hour, but the bright city lights were barely visible along the horizon.
"I know. Isn't it beautiful?" Bucky followed Steve to where he walked to the edge of the drop-off, giving the metal fence a tentative shake before leaning his forearms against it and looking out at the miles and miles of land that they could see.
Steve hadn't realized how long he had been taking in the sights until he turned around to face Bucky, who had set up an entire picnic. A blanket was laid out on the ground, the cooler that had served a dual purpose as a backrest for Steve on the trip over, was open and Bucky had removed several things from it.
Fresh fruit and sandwiches were laid out on plates, and a container that held what looked suspiciously like Harry's homemade angel food cake, was sitting next to the cooler.
Bucky himself held a bottle of wine up, along with two wine glasses. In the other hand, however, he held up two beers, as if questioning which one Steve wanted at the moment.
"Let's do the beer with dinner, and we'll do the wine with dessert," Steve replied, smiling fondly at his boyfriend who was adorably sitting 'criss cross applesauce' on the blanket.
"Deal," Bucky returned the smile. With his vibranium hand, he took his thumb and flicked the bottle cap off of a beer and handed it to Steve, before repeating the process with his own.
"This is amazing, Buck," Steve sighed, as he leaned back and supported himself with one hand, taking a swig of beer using his other.
Bucky smiled and moved a bit closer to Steve, leaning his head against the captain's heavily muscled chest. He tilted his head and looked up at the blonde's big, baby blue eyes.
"You're amazing."
Steve chuckled, "I was not expecting you to say something that cheesy."
Bucky couldn't help but join in on Steve's laughter, running a hand through his hair.
"I didn't realize how bad it would sound until I had said it," he snorted with a head shake.
The two chatted and enjoyed the view for the rest of their meal, before the golden glow of the sun signified that the sunset was nearing.
"Come here, I want to show you something else," Bucky stood and held out his hand to Steve, who accepted it and stood up with ease.
Bucky lead Steve to the edge of the lookout, where along the horizon to the west, the fiery red sun was setting.
"Wow," Steve murmured, the sight absolutely breathtaking.
Bucky disappeared for a moment, leaving Steve to stand in awe, staring out over the valley and all the land surrounding them. From a nearby pond, a stork took off and flew across a nearby field, and Steve pointed at it.
"Bucky, look at this!" Steve exclaimed with a small laugh of delight. Sights like that weren't common for a kid like him who had grown up in Brooklyn and ended up in the heart of New York City.
When Bucky didn't respond, Steve turned around to look for the man, only to feel his heart begin racing.
Behind him, Bucky had dropped to one knee, and his face wore an expression of both hope and slight worry.
"Bucky..." Steve breathed, a smile tugging at his lips.
"Steven Grant Rogers, you've been my best friend for... well, a really long time," Bucky began, his voice taking on an unfamiliar tone that sounded choked up.
"We've been through so much together, and even more apart. But that time apart taught me, even when I couldn't remember exactly who you were, that I couldn't live without you. My life wasn't right, without you. You brought me back from a point way past breaking, and you showed me love. Even after seventy years, you loved me the same as you had back in our tiny, rundown apartment in Brooklyn.
"I've had been so used to taking care of you, and saving your ass, my entire life. Until the war, when I needed you to save me. I think, when you saved me, before the train, is when the realization solidified. The realization that, no matter how long or short our time together was, or what our relationship officially was, I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you."
Bucky removed a small velvet box out of his pocket, and popped it open, holding it out with a shaking hand.
"Steve, would you do me the honor, of letting me take care of you for the rest of you life, and marry me?"
Steve's face broke out into the widest grin as he laughed.
"Of course, goofball. Of course I will," he reached his hand out and pulled Bucky to his feet, before pulling him tightly into a passionate kiss.
Bucky broke of the kiss, blushing as he smile and removed the silver band from the ring box, and slid it on to Steve's ring finger. In the middle of the ring, was a small, yet tasteful, strip of red, white and blue diamonds.
"Buck, it's beautiful," Steve breathed, looking down at the ring.
"You deserved something that..." Bucky started, but trailed off as Steve raised his eyebrows.
"You're just on a roll with corny sayings tonight, aren't you?" He teased.
"I was going to say shone as brightly as you, but you're being a punk right now," Bucky wrinkled his nose at his... fiancé? but even he was smiling.
"No, you know who's a punk?" Steve asked, and Bucky leaned back slightly, an amused and confused expression on his face.
"You," Steve finished.
"Me? How?" Bucky's mouth dropped open into a look of surprise.
Steve reached into his pocket, and pulled out his own velvet box, popping it open to reveal a solid gold band.
"Because you beat me to this."
This time, Steve knelt down on one knee, and held the ring out to Bucky.
"James Buchanan Barnes, you may have beat me to the initial proposal, but I want to make it clear that I had intentions of proposing tonight as well. You have taken care of me since I was a sick little kid who couldn't stay away from a fight. You patched me up so many times, and would always chastise me for taking on people bigger than me. But most of the time, it was because I was defending you. I never told you that, but the main reason I picked fights with people bigger than me, was because I was defending you.
"Buck, I never want to stop defending your honor. I never want to stop fighting for you. I always want to have you in my life, and I always want to be able to say that you're my best friend, and my proud husband. So, despite the fact that I already know the answer to this question, will you marry me?"
"Hmm, I might have to think about it..." Bucky teased, pulling Steve to his feet, and tapping a finger against his chin in mock-thought.
With a chuckle at Steve's eye roll, Bucky pulled him into a deep kiss.
"Of course I will."
"I love you knucklehead," Steve kissed him.
"I love you too, punk."