“Why do you keep checking your phone?” Bucky asked.
Sam continued staring at his phone and chewing his thumb nail. Bucky snapped his finger but didn’t get a response from Sam.
“I’m gonna adopt a whole bunch of cats and they’re gonna sleep on your side of the bed,” Bucky said flatly.
“Huh?” Sam asked as he looked up from his phone.
“Oh, that gets your attention,” Bucky said flatly. “What’s going on with you, Sam? You’ve been staring at your phone for like two days straight. Are you cheating on me?”
“What?! No,” Sam said loudly. “Why would you think that?!”
“Jesus Christ, you’re loud,” Bucky said as he twitched. “I was joking, dumbass. Relax. But seriously, what’s going on with you? You can talk to me.”
“It’s nothing,” Sam said.
“You do realize staring at your phone for two days isn’t nothing, right?” Bucky said before going to grab Sam’s phone.
Sam turned his phone off and held it away from Bucky.
“I can make you give me the phone,” Bucky said with a smile.
“No, you can’t,” Sam said with a slight smile before Bucky got off the couch and sat on top of Sam’s legs. “Jesus, you’re heavy.”
Sam continued complaining as Bucky tried to grab the phone from Sam’s hand. Sam continued moving it away from Bucky before both of his wrists got grabbed and pinned above his head.
“Hey,” Sam said with a glare as Bucky grabbed the phone. “Not fair, using super soldier strength.”
Sam struggled against Bucky’s grip as Bucky went on Sam’s phone.
“Damn, I don’t know your password. Forgot about that,” Bucky said before letting go of Sam’s wrists.
“Paranoid much?” Sam asked as he put his phone in his back pocket as best he could with Bucky still on top of him.
“Yes, actually,” Bucky said flatly. “When you’ve been brainwashed with trauma for 70 years, you get paranoid thinking no one loves you.”
“Hey, hey, listen,” Sam said calmly as he gently grabbed Bucky’s hands. “I love you, with as much love as you can love a dumbass like yourself.”
Bucky glared at Sam, who smiled.
“I love you, and that will not change. Okay?” Sam said seriously. “I promise you that I still love you. I promise you that I am not cheating. I promise that it’s okay.”
“So why do you keep looking at your phone?” Bucky asked quietly. “You’re never like this.”
“I didn’t want to tell you, but I got you a gift. It’s being shipped so I’ve been waiting,” Sam said.
Bucky sighed and rested his forehead on Sam’s shoulder. He felt Sam rub his back.
“You okay?” Sam asked.
“All of this stress over a gift?” Bucky asked. “It better be good.”
“50/50 chance,” Sam said, Bucky looking at him weirdly. “What? Just being honest. You might hate it, I don’t know.”
“I feel better now actually,” Bucky said calmly.
“Because you might hate the gift?” Sam asked with a laugh.
“Yes,” Bucky said with a smile. “I don’t know why, but all this stress over a gift I might not even like is…I don’t know. I feel better. What is it though?”
“Absolutely not. I’m not telling you,” Sam said.
“I can make you talk,” Bucky said.
“No, you can’t,” Sam said before pushing Bucky off of him and onto the floor.
Sam got off of the chair and went into the kitchen. Bucky stuck his tongue out at Sam as he walked away.
“Asshole,” Bucky said as he got off of the floor. “You leave more bruises on me than Hydra did.”
“Don’t forget we’re going over Sarah’s later,” Sam called out from the kitchen.
“How could I forget? You’ve reminded me all week,” Bucky said.
——
“Hey, hey, hey,” Sam said quickly as he came into the house and slid into the wall by accident. “Ow. Sarah, did it come?”
“That looked like it hurt,” Sarah said with a laugh.
“It did. Now answer my question. Did it come?” Sam asked.
“Now answer my question. Did what come?” Sarah asked.
“The package I ordered and had mailed here so Bucky wouldn’t find out,” Sam said.
“Oh, AJ opened it,” Sarah said as she went back to cooking. “You know how much that kid loves opening packages.”
“He what?” Sam asked before the boys came down the stairs.
“Uncle Sam. Why did you get uncle Bucky a small box?” AJ asked awkwardly before Sam quickly took the box.
“Because Bucky likes boxes,” Sam said as he shoved the box into his pocket.
Sarah froze and stared at Sam with widened eyes.
“Oh, cool. I hope he likes his box,” AJ said with a smile before he went outside with Cass.
Sarah stared at Sam, who grabbed the box and opened it. He sighed and shoved it back into his pocket. Sam looked at Sarah, who smirked.
“What?” Sam asked.
“Is that what I think it is?” Sarah asked.
“Yes, it’s a box,” Sam said sarcastically. “Now keep this between us if you don’t mind.”
“Yeah,” Sarah said before Bucky walked into the house.
“Hey, Sarah,” Bucky said with a smile as he grabbed the spatula from the wall. “Carlos needs this.”
Bucky left the kitchen and went back outside. Sarah glanced out the window and noticed Bucky talking to Carlos by the grill.
“When are you giving that to him?” Sarah asked with a smile.
“Tonight, hopefully, if he doesn’t piss me off before then,” Sam said flatly.
“I hope he likes it,” Sarah said with a smile before hugging Sam.
“I hope he does too,” Sam said seriously. “Now I gotta go help outside, unless you need help in here.”
“No, I’m all good,” Sarah said with a nod.
Sam left and went outside. He sighed and put his hand over the box in his pocket.
“Please like this,” Sam said to himself quietly. “And don’t hate me.”
——
“You doing okay?” Bucky asked Sam as he leaned against his chest.
“I’m good,” Sam said quietly. “Just…too much going on right now.”
“Noise level wise?” Bucky asked.
Sam nodded. Bucky grabbed Sam’s hand and started playing thumb war.
“Your psycho nephews are really loud, I’ve noticed that,” Bucky said with a smile.
“Psycho nephews?” Sam asked with a laugh.
“Have you heard AJ when he gets hyper?” Bucky asked.
“Unfortunately,” Sam said as he closed his eyes.
“Are you sure you’re okay? Your heart rate is really high. Usually it’s not like this,” Bucky said seriously as he turned around and looked at Sam.
“Too much,” Sam mumbled. “Too much going on.”
“Hey, it’s okay. We can go-” Bucky said calmly.
“No,” Sam said. “I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not,” Bucky said seriously as he grabbed Sam’s hands. “We can go. Sarah will be fine with it if we leave.”
“I don’t wanna leave,” Sam mumbled. “I just…I wanna not stress out.”
“Stress out with what?” Bucky asked with a concerned tone.
Sam sighed and pulled the box out from his pocket. Bucky froze.
“Sam, we’ve only been dating barely a year,” Bucky said awkwardly.
“What?” Sam asked before looking at the box. “Oh my god! Now I know why Sarah was acting weird. It’s not a wedding ring. I’m a dumbass. Just…open it.”
Sam handed the box to Bucky before he rubbed his eyes. Bucky awkwardly opened it and froze.
“Like I said, 50/50 chance you’d like it. I wouldn’t know if it would be a good gift or a bad gift,” Sam said quickly.
“My dog tags,” Bucky said with a smile as he lifted them out of the box. “Where did you get them?”
“I have no fucking clue where the real ones are, so I had fakes ones made. There’s places where you can buy dog tags and customize them. And I got the information from you online and…yeah,” Sam said awkwardly as he rubbed the back of his neck. “Like I said before, you might hate the gift so no hard feelings if you don’t like it. It’s completely fine with me.”
“What? No. I love it,” Bucky said as he put the dog tags on. “Thank you.”
“Oh thank god you like it,” Sam said with a relived sigh.
Sam leaned against the tree behind him and closed his eyes.
“You were worried I’d hate it,” Bucky said. “That’s why your heart rate is going crazy.”
“Yes,” Sam said quietly. “I thought I’d accidentally trigger you by reminding you of the war or Hydra or something else entirely and…and I didn’t wanna be the cause of a panic attack or more trauma.”
“You give me enough trauma. It’s okay,” Bucky said sarcastically, Sam glaring at him. “I love this, thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” Sam said with a smile before freezing. “Oh my god.”
“What?” Bucky asked.
“Sarah thinks I’m proposing to you,” Sam said as he quickly got off the ground and ran towards the house.
Bucky started laughing as he watched Sam run away. He looked back at the dog tags and smiled.
“Thanks, pigeon,” Bucky said to himself quietly.