It had been three days since the three of you had decided to stay at Sam and Sarahs house for a while before figuring out how everything would work from now on. Everyone knew Sam would officially be Captain America from now on, but no one had contacted you or Bucky about your roles in this new superhero era yet. The both of you knew, that Sam would ask and you would help, but right now you were forced to wait for an official order from the government, that was busy with a lot of work to control the damage John Walker had caused. Even tho neither of you would ever voice these thoughts, you and Bucky enjoyed the quiet. Without any missions to go on or people to locate you were free to spend your time however you wanted. And right now you wanted to celebrate.
Sarah was well loved in their whole community and her birthday lead to a huge garden fest being thrown, with everyone from the little town coming together to celebrate the life of one of their own. As the night became longer and longer you subtly slipped away walking down one of the bridges. Admiring the calm dark ocean it took you a little longer than it usually would to notice someone sitting down next to you.
"You know I don’t think I've ever seen you look so calm. Him too." I didn’t look at Sam, even tho his eyes were burning themselves into the side of my head. "I am calm and so is he. That’s a good thing." My voice was quiet, matching his soft whisper, as he turned his gaze away from me. "Is it tho? I mean now you’re both calm. Together, you might even be happy." Those words made me sigh. Ever since we arrived, Sam wouldn’t shut up about this. "You don’t even have to deny it. I know you’re in love with him I mean I'm not blind. Yesterday, I saw you and Mr. Stareborg dancing in the gym."
The words of denial were burning on my tongue but i bit it, focusing on the sting that caused instead. After all, would I deny when I knew he was right. Bucky and I have been getting along great ever since we met but lately something changed. The look in his eyes was softer and I knew it was reflected in my own eyes just as much. His words were even more caring and his touches lingered longer than those of a friend should. And then there was the dancing.
"I can’t believe you never learned to slow dance!" His voice broke the quiet room that used to be filled wit heavy breathing and grunting from our workouts. "I can’t believe it’s been a week since i told you that and you still can’t let it go. It is what it is, Buck, I can’t dance. Let it go." Focusing on deciding how to start my routine today I didn’t notice how he came closer, taking off his shoes in the process. A hand on my wait turning me around finally made me aware of his presence, as he pulled my hand onto his shoulder and me closer to his chest. Surprised I looked up at him only to find him smiling down at my confused face.
"Don’t look so surprised. Someone’s gotta teach you how to dance, Dollface." As he started to step back it was easy to laugh the feeling the little nikname gave me off and focus on not stepping on his feet. "This is a gym, we don’t even have music." Continuing to dance he shushed me and started humming something, that I vaguely recognised as one of the songs Steve once showed me and Peter to educate us on the music of his time.
"You’re doing great, Doll." His tone made me scoff, as I kept letting him lead me. "Please, don’t sound so surprised, I'm a fast learner. I should be amazed that you aren’t more rusty, old man!" To not stop the "music" he simply smiled and suddenly started to spin me around, only to end of the manic turning by dipping me, lower than I would ever have imagined possible. As he pulled me up again I couldn’t tell whose smile was bigger and I truly couldn’t deny that that probably was one of the best moments of my life.
The longer I was quiet the larger Sam's grin grew, as he took my silence as a confession. "Girl, you should tell him. I mean it’s obvious he's totally into you I mean the look on his face when someone as much as mentions you. He’s got it bad!" His excitement actually made me laugh, as he offered his hand to help me up and lead me back to the party.
What neither of us noticed, was one metal-armed supersoldier standing quietly at the end of the bridge, his face confused and a bit sad, his eyes focused on our joined hands, as we walked back together, smiling and chatting quietly.