“Come on, Uncle Sam. It’s gonna be fun!”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, please, Uncle Sam! Everyone will think we’re the coolest if you come with us.”
AJ and Cass tug on the hem of Sam’s shirt as he walks around their orchard carrying a box of honey jars. He’s rolling his eyes at the persistence of his nephews, a smile making its way to his expression.
“I haven’t been in a dance for years,” Sam says, groaning after putting the box down. Cass sags his shoulders dramatically before taking the jars out to help. “Plus, I think you should go by yourselves. I didn’t go with any of my uncles back then, you know? You’re supposed to be with your friends all night.”
“But we already asked Mrs. Jackson about it! She said she’d love to see you!” AJ reassures as he pushes his glasses up. He hugs Sam from the back, tight and firm. “Please, nonc. Just this time, we promise we won’t drag you to our future dances.”
“We won’t?” Cass whispers to his brother, earning a chuckle from Sam.
He can’t say no to these boys, not at all. He missed too much of their lives when he was gone for a bit, so a part of him thinks that he should seize the moment.
Sam sighs and leans on the table. He pats AJ’s head and pulls Cass closer, rubbing his shoulder. “Okay.”
AJ and Cass immediately burst into a celebratory scream, high-fiving each other in excitement.
“But! I’m not wearing the uniform. Not even the cool wings from King T’challa.”
“Can I wear the wings from Uncle T’challa?” AJ pleads one more time. He has tried before.
“No.” Sam says pointedly. “And don’t get too comfortable calling him uncle, he’s still royalty.”
Cass scrunches his nose and arranges the jars. “He told us to call him uncle.”
“Any of you asked someone to the dance yet?” Sam derails the conversation a bit.
AJ suddenly looks flustered and looks away. Sam then looks at Cass who shrugs his shoulders.
“I asked my friend Jessie, but it’s not like I have a crush on her. We’re just really good friends.” Cass says as-a-matter-of-factly.
“That’s alright. I’m guessing AJ hasn’t asked his crush out though.” Sam teases with a grin and a nudge to AJ’s shoulder, making Cass laugh out loud.
AJ swats Sam’s hand away, so Sam tilts his head back as he chuckles. “C'mon, bud. What was her name, Amelie? You told us ‘bout her a while back.”
“It’s not that easy, uncle.” AJ replies as Sam whistles. He then raises his eyebrows at Sam, crossing his arms. “Because if it was... then you would ask Bucky to our school dance.”
Sam gets taken aback by his nephew’s idea. He looks at Cass who mutters a silent “ooh”. He starts feeling the heat creep up his cheeks as he chuckles nervously. Was he that obvious? Or are kids just too observant these days?
“I don’t think we should drag Bucky into this. He’s not— how do I put this… sociable. Sometimes.”
“He said he loved to dance back then.” Cass purses his lips. “You should totally get him to come.”
“Okay, well, you can ask him—”
“Noooo.” The boys say in unison. Sam swallows.
“Ask him to the school dance, uncle!” Cass grins.
“I’ll ask Amelie if you ask Bucky.” AJ holds up a hand confidently. “Deal?”
Sam takes a big breath in as he stares at AJ’s palm. He concedes anyway and sighs, grabbing and shaking it. “Deal.”
Right. Why did he agree to this again?
Now he’s polishing the plates nervously, glancing at his sister from time to time. When in doubt, ask your sister for help.
How does one ask the Winter Soldier to a school dance?
“Spill it out, you’re scaring me.” Sarah finally speaks up without looking at Sam, handing him another wet plate.
Sam clears his throat, hesitant. “The boys invited me to the school dance.”
“That’s nice. Why didn’t you invite Uncle Jason before?”
“Because you don’t really invite your uncles to the school dance, Sarah.” Sam smiles as Sarah does. “But the boys insist that the school would love to see me there, so why not.”
Sarah finishes her duty and wipes the counter dry before leaning on it to face Sam. “Okay, but what exactly is bothering you about that? You don’t wanna go?”
“I– well…” Sam sighs and stammers with his words a bit, in denial. He places the clean plates on the rack. “No. The boys… they uh, want to invite Bucky too.”
Sarah frowns in confusion, throwing a hand up. “Then invite him?”
“To the dance?” Sam asks, mirroring Sarah’s expression.
“What? Yes?” Sarah then pauses. She stares at Sam then straightens her back with a mischievous smile on her face, making Sam awkwardly shift in his position. “You’re too shy to ask Bucky to the school dance?”
Sam bites his lip down. He’s not necessarily shy. He’s just concerned that Bucky might turn him down. Bucky doesn’t even go to bars and party and dance with people closer to his visual age (which are late 30’s—Bucky doesn’t feel like he can dance with 80-somethings) so what more with literal kids.
And, maybe, he is a little shy.
“Aww, you’re such a boy.” Sarah teases with a giggle, playfully hitting Sam on the shoulder, making Sam faintly smile. “Just ask him casually. You don’t need to leave a note on his locker or anything.”
Sam huffs and shakes his head. “I just think he doesn’t like parties like that, is all. I don’t wanna waste the old man’s time.”
“You never know if you never try. Besides, Bucky’s real good with kids. I’m sure Clemente Middle School won’t mind having a living World War 2 hero around for a bit.” Sarah offers a smile to Sam before slinging a cloth on his shoulder. She turns and leaves the kitchen, leaving Sam to his thoughts about Bucky.
Sam stares at the small screen on his palm, mentally scolding himself. Why is he making small talk? He figured that asking him on text would be easier since he won’t have to see Bucky’s face and his distractingly beautiful bright blue eyes, and yet he’s not getting straight to the point. Sam purses his lips and puts his phone down for a second until there was a ping again.
Yeah, Sam? Why are you asking?
“You still haven’t done it yet?” Cass violently presses the keys of his controller, shoving his Uncle Sam for attacking his character in Tekken. “Even through text? Damn, nonc, that’s sad.”
“Shut up,” Sam laughs, leaning towards his nephew to distract him. “It was easy for you since you asked a friend.”
“Is Bucky not a friend?” Cass questions with a smirk, pulling impressive combos with his character. In no time, he finishes his final move and defeats Sam’s character, making Sam throw himself back to the couch with a groan.
Sam stares at the ceiling, letting his loss and Cass’s words sink in. After a moment, he takes a deep breath and nods his head. “Go and check if your brother’s done with his English homework.”
Cass smiles at Sam, accepting that his uncle doesn’t want to talk about his partner right now. He heaves himself upward and jogs upstairs.
Sam blinks and stares at the message, stopping in the middle of hanging a shirt back to its rack. Before he could type a message, Bucky texts back.
“You both look so handsome! Oh my babies, you look just like your dad.” Sarah caresses Cass and AJ’s cheeks, delicately tugging on the collars of their shirts to straighten them.
The school dance is tonight. AJ ended up asking Amelie to the dance anyway, even if Sam stubbornly decided to chicken out about Bucky. The boys constantly teased him about it, so Sam decided to buy them battle passes to one of the games they play just to quiet them down.
“Oh shoot, we should probably fetch Jessie by now.” Cass takes his jacket and fixes his already neat tie.
“Right, uh, the truck keys—” Sam turns to grab the keys from the countertop, but Sarah had already grabbed them.
“It’s fine. I’ll take the boys.” Sarah says, patting Sam’s arm. “Besides, you might wanna stay for a bit.”
Raising a concerned brow, Sam hears a knock on the door all of a sudden. He glances at Sarah and walks towards it, twisting the knob open.
Bucky turns around, his hair moussed into a neat hairstyle for the first time. He grins at Sam and the rest of the Wilsons, anxiously shoving his hands into his pockets. “Hey.”
“Hi?” Sam doesn’t understand why Bucky is here. “What are you doing here?”
“Excuse us, uncle, we gotta go fetch our dates too.” AJ sneaks beside Sam with a giggle, as Sam steps aside to let his family through.
Sam watches Sarah’s truck drive off as Bucky awkwardly stands there.
“You look great, by the way.” Bucky starts, pulling Sam back to the current situation in hand.
“Oh! Thanks. You too.” Sam smiles, “Your hair looks greasy, in a good way.”
Bucky laughs. “Fuck off.”
“What? It’s a compliment.” Sam laughs too as they fall back to their usual banter. “Seriously, man, what are you doing here?”
“What do you think?” Bucky tilts his head with a smile, the kind that makes Sam blush like a teenager with a crush. “I’m asking you to go with me to the school dance.”
Sam and Bucky’s eyes lock, as Sam huffs out a chuckle in disbelief. “I thought I was the one invited to the dance.”
“Nuh-uh, Samuel. I actually met the principal once. Helped her with her brand new couch about a month ago. She asked if I wanted to go to the dance, meet the kids if I wasn’t busy.”
“Huh, and I see that you’re not.” Sam crosses his arms and lifts his chin with a grin.
“I made sure to make time for a certain guest.” Bucky replies. Then, he pauses. “And uh… I know he told me that he doesn’t need a date tonight but… I wanted to know if he’d have me anyway.”
Sam stares at Bucky, but nods ultimately. “Since you asked nicely.”
Bucky crinkles his nose as he laughs. He holds out his metal hand for Sam to take. Sam grabs it and intertwines their fingers, pulling the door close as he lets himself get dragged by Bucky like an excited puppy. Sam regrets that he didn’t ask first, but it’s good to know that Bucky feels the same either way.
“You were gonna ask me through text, weren’t you?”
“What? No.”
“Yes, you were. I felt it in my bones.”
“Your bones are lying to you.”
“Come on, Sam.”
“Kidding. I was. I should’ve asked.”
“Ha. That’s what I’m here for, pal.”
“You calling your dates pals?”
“You wanna get called babe?”
“Shut up.”
“Is that a yes?”
“Nope.”