Sunday Morning Part 2- Bucky
“Did you just say you watched a 45-minute video about my brother’s butt?” Sarah asked Bucky, still laughing as Sam left the room.
Bucky turned red, “Did I really say that out loud? I don’t know what’s wrong with me lately. Did I … do you think Sam’s upset?”
“That you like his butt?” Sarah laughed.
“What? No – I – I didn’t say that. I just said that … I mean the internet is…there’s a lot of stuff,” he ran his right hand over his hair, shrugging. “Would that make him mad though…I mean…if he thought that I…”
“Oh sweetie,” Sarah said sympathetically, “you have it bad.”
“Am I that obvious?”
“No,” she reassured. “if I’m being completely honest when you first rolled into town I thought you cute – guess I realized quickly that I had no chance because every time I looked at you, you were looking at my brother.”
“And that’s…okay right? I mean…I know some people still feel…but its not…you don’t think there’s something wrong with me?”
“For liking my brother…a little…” she said smiling softly, “but for liking men in general, no.”
Bucky felt a weight lift off his chest. The only feeling even remotely similar to what he was experiencing is when he was finally free from the code words. He’d been free in this century for some time and he knew that people, generally, were more accepting but he’d never spoken the words outloud he was about to say. “I like…both. Men and women. I … I’m bisexual.” He felt tears welling up in his eyes. He was so immensely grateful to Sarah, who responded with a smile and kept her hand on his.
“Thank you so much for telling me.”
Bucky wiped the tears that had started falling from his eyes. “Sam…is he…?”
“Honestly, I don’t know,” Sarah responded. “He’s always kept his private life very private. I know he had two girlfriends but only because I already knew them from town. But its not like he’s ever sat me down and said, in a deep voice, ‘Sarah, I have something to tell you---I’m a heterosexual.’” Bucky laughed at her impersonation. “If it makes any difference though, I know he cares about you. I can count on one hand how many friends he’s introduced to me since graduating high school. He never invited any of the Avengers over to the house, that’s for sure—no matter how much I told him Thor was always welcome here.”
“So Thor over Steve then?” Bucky asked.
“Oh of course,” she laughed. Her phone vibrated, pulling her attention. “Oh crap – they weren’t supposed to come until next week. I just got a notification that the new cooling units I ordered for the restaurant are arriving tomorrow we didn’t take out the old ones yet.”
“If only you had two superheroes just hanging around with no plans for the day to help you do that.”
“I can’t ask you to do that,” Sarah said.
“It’s cool – I’ll go grab Sam.”
***
Sam was still acting strange. They decided to take two cars because Sarah was not going to stay long. The boys did not want to stick around all day so she was going to let them in and give them some instructions and leave them to do the heavy lifting. Sam asked Bucky who he wanted to ride with, which was weird to begin with, and Bucky could not help but feel like he wanted him to ride with Sarah. He was already reaching for Sam’s passenger door when Sam asked. Then, Sam was oddly quiet on the way over. Bucky tried to bother him by changing the radio station very few seconds but when Sam did not take the bait, he grew concerned. When he asked Sam what was bothering him, Sam said he was just tired and overexerted himself during his run. It seemed like he wasn’t being fully honest, but Bucky didn’t want to push him. Bucky was also buzzing with nervous energy after his conversation with Sarah and wasn’t really sure how to act.
Luckily, the car ride was not long, and they were quickly at the docks. While they were walking toward the family’s seafood restaurant from where they parked, Bucky noticed a man a few yards away who clearly recognized Sarah and picked up speed a little. He was a little shorter than Bucky, maybe around 5’10. He worked out but had the look of someone who worked inside – those were weightlifting muscles, not really functional. Bucky observed no threat, so he took a moment to look toward Sarah. Bucky knew that look. She was already tucking her hair behind her ear and smiling as he approached and yeah Bucky could see why. He had dark skin, lighter than Sam’s, and salt and pepper hair with a slight curl. Well dressed in a pair of tan pants and a light button down, with the sleeves rolled up and first few buttons open for a casual appearance. His clothes looked expensive. So did his boating shoes. Trotting behind him was a young girl about Cass’s age.
“Sarah Wilson! Well, I’d say its funny to run into you hear but we are right in front of Wilson’sSeafood,” the man said smiling, “I’m guessing this is your place?”
“It is. I’d offer you a meal on the house but we’re not open – just coming in to get some work done.”
He laughed. This guy liked Sarah. A lot. Good taste. “Well, I appreciate that – I’ll have to stop by when you are open." After a few moments of the two of them trading moon-eyes, an awkward silence developed. “Sorry – where are my manners,” the man held his hand out to Sam, “Mark Stiller. Recently moved this way and I had the pleasure of meeting Sarah at the local chamber of commerce meeting last week - I was telling her a lot of my clients in the restaurant industry have places around here. You must be her brother Sam.”
Sam nodded, “Yeah – nice to meet you.”
“And you are…Bucky right?” Mark asked turning toward him. Bucky looked confused. Mark pointed to his arm, “Kind of a give-away. Besides, I saw you in the news trying to keep out of the spotlight behind this guy a few times.” The girl that was with him poked out from behind him to take a look at Bucky’s arm. “And this is my daughter Paige. She’s a bit shy.”
“Hi Paige,” Sarah said, “Boys Paige is going to be going to school with you in the fall. She’s in … third grade…right?”
“That’s right,” Mark answered, “and that makes you…fourth grader Cass and second grader AJ?”
Okay these two are definitely into each other. They are beaming smiles at one another that could blind a fellow.