1925 words
The next day, with three days left, they were going to get the wedding rings, deciding to go fifty/fifty on the matching pair, so they would be paying for the other’s and not their own. Steve thought that was a good idea, but they had some trouble finding a place that would sell two men’s gold bands together.
“Gay marriage wasn’t invented yesterday, so why are there no matching men’s rings sold together?” Bucky growled at the saleslady of the third jewelry store they had tried.
She blinked at him, gaping, her bewildered eyes falling to his outfit, which was, indeed, very gay. It was the dress with the asymmetrical hemline he’d mentioned to Steve. It was multicolored, a little bit like Piet Mondrian, all reds, blues, yellows, whites, and bold black lines and ending mid-thigh. It was very stylish, the sleeves coming to his elbow. Bucky had paired it with a large brimmed black hat, Ray Ban sunglasses, and black elbow gloves.
(He had said he was channeling Audrey Hepburn, and when had Steve wondered who that was, Bucky told him they were going to watch a movie of hers later that night, something that Steve was looking forward to.)
“Don’t you think that gay people might want to get married during Gay Pride Month? Don’t you think that at least someone at Zale’s headquarters would have thought, ‘Gee, gay people are customers too. Why don’t we fucking create some matching bands for them so we can get their money?’ because I’ve been to three stores now and nothing is forthcoming. No matching rings for men or women if they’re the same sex. This is homophobia,” Bucky howled with outrage, and that was Steve’s cue to gently grab his arms and pull him away, out of the store, where they had caused quite a scene.
Behind him, he heard a meek, “I’m sorry, we must have sold out,” but continued dragging Bucky away, who went, grumbling to himself.
“They probably all sold out and you just left before they could explain, Buck,” Steve told him soothingly, gentle.
Bucky scowled at him, but softened, pouting. He dug around in the Birkin for probably his cigarettes, and Steve blinked in surprise when he took out Punk and handed him to Steve. He took him automatically and was further surprised when the dog didn’t growl at him at all.
“I can't find my cigarettes,” Bucky told him, sounding miserable. Steve’s heart broke for him.
“Come on, we’ll find some at the nearest store,” Steve consoled as he wound an arm around his waist, clutching Punk more securely to his chest.
“Hey, he hasn’t growled at you,” Bucky pointed out, sounding pleased.
Steve beamed, pleased and proud of them both. Punk looked up, saw it, and snarled at him then, and his smile dropped as he drooped in disappointment. He didn’t give Punk back, however.
Bucky laughed at him, which was a win, at least.
After Bucky had acquired some more cigarettes – Newport this time, which were even more putrid than the Marlboro special gold blend that he usually preferred, Steve discovered after Bucky offered him one – he sighed and gave Steve an apologetic look.
“I didn’t wanna hafta do this to ya wallet, but we should go back to Tiffany’s. They’ll probably still have some there, if that’s the shortage problem, them actually sellin’ out.”
Steve took another drag of his cigarette, thinking about it. Bucky flicked his ashes away, seeming disinterested, but Steve could hear how his heart rate had sped up. He was nervous.
“Okay,” he said easily.
Their wedding bands would probably be way less expensive than Bucky’s engagement ring had been. Probably.
Luckily, they were. The same saleslady as before greeted them happily and shook Bucky’s hand with a huge smile, noticing the ring he’d crammed on over the thick dress glove. He had to put it on his pinky finger so it’d fit, but he was wearing it and he showed it off to her as she oohed and ahhed over it.
“Oh yes, we definitely have a few matching pairs of men’s bands in stock,” she told them when they asked, much to their relief.
When it came time to actually choose one, however, Steve hesitated. He wanted them to match, which was the whole point of finding matching rings, but Bucky had once mentioned that he was cool toned and therefore, silver was his metallic shade, not gold. The sole exception was his Steven necklace. So, it left Steve torn, wanting to make Bucky happy but also wanting to wear a yellow gold ring like he always imagined wearing.
At Bucky’s curious look, Steve quietly explained.
“It’s stupid, I know. We can just get whatever you’d be happy with,” he concluded, blushing in embarrassment.
Bucky turned him towards him, making him look at Bucky. “It’s not stupid. Nothing you want is stupid. No matter what I might say in jest, Steve, okay? Now, go on, pick some you like. I’ll be fine with whatever.” He gestured to the bands under the display case that were glittering wildly.
Steve obeyed, peering down at them more closely, trying to figure out something that still looked good on them both.
After about an hour of deliberation, he’d finally narrowed it down between two: a pair of white gold rings that had little diamonds around the middle, and a pair of yellow ones that were inlayed with a ring of silver around the middle and had a bigger solitaire diamond.
Bucky’s reaction to the two choices as he also tried them on let Steve settle on one. He went with the white gold, and gave them to the saleslady, who set them aside and returned the others to the case.
“What made you pick those?” Bucky wondered as she rang up their purchase and sent them into the back to get engraved, along with his engagement ring, which wouldn’t take very long at all, she reassured them.
Steve shrugged. “Your reaction to them.”
Bucky raised an eyebrow over his glasses, half hidden by his hat. “My reaction? And what did it tell you?”
Steve smiled at him. “That you liked them more for some reason. What was it?”
Bucky shrugged. “I just thought that I already had a pretty big diamond already, I didn’t need another solitaire trying to unsuccessfully outshine it. Thanks for that, by the way,” he suddenly grouched, making Steve blink in amusement at the sudden mood change. “Now I’ll never be able to wear any of my other rings for fear of them outshining my engagement ring, a symbol of your love or whatever.”
Steve smirked. “How terribly inconvenient for you. Poor baby. Whatever will you do?”
Bucky’s nostrils flared with irritation, and Steve wound his hand around Bucky’s back and grabbed him by his upper arm, leaning in to plant a kiss on his scratchy cheek that was pinking up with embarrassment.
“Get off me, you oaf,” Bucky grumbled as he shrugged him off, but Steve caught a glimpse of a fond smile before it disappeared behind Bucky’s hat as he ducked his head.
They paid, splitting the amount between them and then left after the engraving was completed, Bucky’s engagement ring back in place on his finger and their matching rings stowed away in Bucky’s Birkin, not to be worn until they slipped them on each other’s fingers at the wedding when they got married. Just the thought still made him smile giddily.
“What’s next?” Steve asked as they hopped into the Cadillac.
Bucky took his hat off, and set it under his purse next to Steve before he answered. “Suit shopping for you. Which is going to be hard, since you have no sense of fashion but I can't see you in your suit just like you can't see me in my dress, so I can't help you. Which means I’ll have to show someone the picture I took of what my dress looks like.” He let out a loud groan at the thought, cursing, and Steve blinked.
“Is that bad?” he wondered, his eyebrows furrowing in worry.
Bucky gave him a look as he backed out of the parking space. “Yeah, it’s a fucking problem because my glove wasn’t quite long enough to hide my wrist or the sleeve was too short or whatever the fuck. I managed to do it for the fitting, but not for the pictures I took while alone because I wasn’t on guard then. It’s totally visible, even if it is a small sliver.”
“Oh.”
“Fucking yeah.”
Despite that, they seemed to find a suit that suited (ha) him well. Bucky didn’t have to show the salesmen any pictures at all, since the suit was more determined by the theme and color scheme of the wedding than the bride’s dress.
It was much easier than dress shopping.
Keeping in mind how much Bucky loved the color, Steve chose a pink three-piece suit that had black trousers, to his mild relief. He wasn’t sure he could pull of an entirely pink outfit like Bucky could. It had black lapels on the blazer and waistcoat, and black buttons. He also chose a black bow tie and pink rose cuff links from their vast selection.
Now he’d really have to commit to those pink roses he planned on getting for Bucky’s bouquet. At least he’d match Punk.
With some horror, he thought about what would happen if Bucky didn’t want the roses and thought Steve had just made the stupidest decision ever, getting a pink suit.
He shot Bucky a smile that felt stiff and probably failed to be reassuring as Bucky handed the clerk the money. Bucky squinted at him suspiciously.
“Fuck’s wrong with you?”
Steve cringed slightly. “Nothing,” he tried to reassure, answering too quickly. “Nothing, I swear. Just nervous for the big day, I guess.” It was three days away and it couldn’t come fast enough, something that he was more excited by.
Bucky looked even more suspicious then, and Steve didn’t blame him.
“Now all that’s left is the bouquet and making the reservation at the chapel. And getting the license, of course,” Bucky told him as they left, having bought a trench coat for Steve so Bucky wouldn’t see him on their big day.
Steve blinked, still dazed by the bomb Bucky had just dropped on him. He would blindfold Steve with the sex blindfold he bought a couple days ago so he couldn’t see Bucky as they drove to the chapel.
“Uh, yeah. Bouquet. Flowers. Pink roses, I was thinking.”
Bucky softened, giving him a fond look. “Steve, that’s so nice. I love pink roses. You're so sweet,” he said as he leaned up to kiss Steve’s cheek that flushed bright red under the attention. “I’ll wear some pink lipstick to match.”
Steve bobbed his head. “Yeah, that’s – that’s good. Very, um, cute.” He swallowed, the picture of Bucky standing at the alter waiting for him coming together in his mind. Wait no, Bucky would be walking down the aisle to meet Steve, who’d be the one standing at the altar.
Steve’s cheeks heated up more and Bucky smiled, obviously noticing it.
They went back to the RV and watched three Audrey Hepburn movies, went to the Sonic drive-in for dinner, and had a fuckton of hot, sweaty sex that was sure to have received some complaints, given how loud they were, not that they noticed.
Steve fell asleep that night, smiling and sated and so in love.