“Harley and I are dating,” Peter announced, looking nervous yet determined. Tony immediately hopped up from the couch and pulled him into a hug. He was grinning widely, clearly overjoyed at the development.
“I knew it!” he exclaimed, squeezing Peter against his chest in excitement.
“Can’t… breathe…” Peter wheezed, and Tony quickly released him. The others congratulated him mildly, though they were all happy for him. Steve and Bucky, however, were frozen in their seats. Finally, the others noticed, turning to look at them as they realized what the issue likely was.
“You’re… dating Harley?” Bucky questioned hesitantly, exchanging an unreadable glance with Steve.
“Yes…” Peter replied, preparing to be lectured, told it was wrong, or even yelled at.
“And it’s legal?” Steve continued, appearing… hopeful? In pain? A mix of the two?
“Yeah,” he responded again, catching on to what might be happening as he offered the two a small smile.
“Got a problem with it?” Tony tried to interject, but Steve burst into tears as he did so.
Tony was now the one frozen in shock, completely confused and trying to figure out what the hell was happening. Bucky pulled him into a tight embrace, holding him close and resting his chin on Steve’s hair as tears slowly began to leak from his own eyes. He subtly pressed comforting kisses to his blonde locks as he murmured sweet, comforting nothings. The entirety of the Avengers were completely confused, except for Peter, who was grinning widely, but they were too focused on the two men to notice or try to figure out what that might mean in regards to the situation.
Finally, Steve pulled away, wiping furiously at his eyes as he looked at Bucky, amazement in his eyes.
“It’s legal…” Bucky repeated softly, still in shock. Steve was having none of this.
“WE’RE LEGAL!” he exclaimed, nearly hysteric as he launched himself back at Bucky, kissing him long and hard.
“What the fuck?!” Tony yelled, his entire world flipped upside-down. They were a team, sure, but apparently they weren’t as close as anyone thought, to not have any idea that they were together. Then again, if they had been together even in the early 1900s, they must have been pretty damn good at pretending to be nothing more than friends.
Bucky finally pushed Steve away, completely wrecked from the combination of shock, joy, and kissing Steve. They returned his attention to the other Avengers, only for their eyes to turn fearful at their less-than-warm, shocked expressions. Luckily, Peter pushed to the front, excitement radiating off of him.
“I knew it!” he yelled, throwing his hands in the air as he echoed Tony’s earlier statement. Steve smiled tentatively, and Bucky relaxed significantly. The others, seeing their reactions, realized what they had been doing, and quickly did a 180, smiling and berating themselves for not seeing it before. After all, it was Steve and Bucky, and always had been, even if they tried to hide it.
Now, they didn’t have to.