Chapter 2
From the day he learned about soulmates he hated his. Every person in his life had one that would respond to them. Hell, when his sister Becca was three she got her first drawing from her soulmate. It was nothing more than scribbles, but it was proof that there was someone out there. Bucky's soulmate, on the other hand, never responded to him. It didn't seem to matter what he drew or wrote, they never did anything back.
So he did what any rational person would do and took to the internet. He read stories from people who desperately tried to reach their soulmates to no avail. He read stories from people who saw messages from their soulmates but couldn’t bring themselves to respond. They just let their soulmate think there was no one out there for them. When he read those stores, Bucky would end up seething.
He didn’t understand why someone would actively ignore their soulmate who was desperately trying to reach them. He knew his soulmate was one of those assholes, but it didn’t stop him from trying.
He wrote them pleading messages on his thighs, begging them to reply in some sort of way just so he would know they were out there. It didn’t matter what he said or did, his soulmate refused to respond.
By the time he got to college he had given up. If his jackass of a soulmate didn’t want to talk to him then they could go fuck themself.
He finished his degree, he opened up his own bakery, and he started to wear exclusively long sleeves to hide his blank arms from himself and the world.
The bakery, very appropriately named Barnes’ Buns, was flourishing. Due to his kindness -or more likely stupidity- Tony Stark owned all the storefronts in the block surrounding Avengers tower and rented them out pretty cheap to small businesses. Not only did it make it easy for small business owners like Bucky to afford rent, it also increased the likelihood of success due to a constant flow of tourists and the occasional avenger.
As a result, he had befriended a few of the avengers. Everyday Bucky could count on Clint Barton walking through the doors, occasionally followed by Natasha Romanov. He had become friends with the two Avengers since they started coming into the shop.
At 8 a.m. on the dot Clint would walk in and order the same thing, a large black coffee with two shots of espresso. Natasha on the other hand, would always get a cappuccino and roll her eyes at Clint’s order.
Some of the other Avengers made their way to his little shop. Bruce Banner was in love with his croissants. At least once a week the doctor would come in and order a few of them and a cup of tea. Tony Stark always went for the cinnamon buns, though Bucky always thought he didn’t need the sugar. Pepper Potts, while not an avenger, usually came in with Tony. She would always get a scone, trying whatever Bucky’s newest flavor combination was. It was very odd for Bucky to go longer than 48 hours without seeing an Avenger.
Captain America was the only one who never came back. He came in one afternoon, baseball cap and fake glasses on, and ordered a slice of Bucky’s famous apple pie. He sat down in a booth towards the back and took a bite. Not that he would ever admit it to anyone, but Bucky watched to see the Captain’s reaction. He had had a crush on him ever since he learned about him in history class, so this was a big deal to him.
When Cap took his first bite of the pie he cocked his head and furrowed his brow as if trying to recall something. By the time he swallowed his second bite, Bucky could tell the Captain had figured out what he was trying to place. He looked down at the slice of pie with so much sorrow in his eyes that it took all of Bucky’s willpower not to go over and give him the hug he so clearly needed.
After ten minutes of the Captain sitting and staring at the pie, Bucky brought him a to-go box, silently packed the slice up for him, and took the plate and utensils back to the kitchen. Without a word of thanks, the Captain got up from his seat and walked out the door. It wasn’t until the door shut behind him that Bucky realized he left the box of pie behind.
Bucky never expected the Captain to return to his shop, just like he never expected his soulmate to try to write to him. So naturally, both events would happen on the same day.