Adagio

Steve Rogers never did anything if it wouldn’t benefit him. Back in grade school, he’d always give Bucky gifts for no real reason. Well, no reason other than to get praise for being such a thoughtful and generous friend. That’s also why the gifts were always given in public, not private. Stopping being friends with Bucky after his amputation was also only for personal gain. He’d rather have a good reputation than stay friends with his best friend since childhood. This date to make up with Bucky was also only for his own personal gain. He wasn’t sorry or anything, he just didn’t want to deal with Bucky being mad at him anymore. It made him too uncomfortable.

Bucky kept all this in mind as he got ready for Steve to come pick him up. He wanted to look nice to make Steve regret leaving him and not making up with him sooner. He didn’t want to look nice in the sense of being dressed up, he wanted to look nice in the sense of looking hot. It wasn’t warm enough to break out the five inch inseams, so some jeans would have to work. Well, not just any jeans; skinny jeans. Skinny jeans were usually hotter than any other jeans, especially boot cut. In order for a shirt to be hot, it needs to show some arm. Bucky was extremely muscular (as he had to be to lift up women for a living), so he loved showing off the muscles he worked hard for. A red graphic tee from last year’s production of Raymonda was his shirt pick, seeing as it was tight enough to his skin to be sexy but not too tight that it would be weird. He’d also been told that wearing red made people like you more, and that was a risk he was willing to take. He sprayed on his new Burberry cologne and was ready to go. Only, there were still 15 minutes until Steve was scheduled to show up.

The situation was a little more complicated than he was used to, so Bucky was unsure if he was supposed to invite Steve inside or not. Usually he wouldn’t invite someone he didn’t know in, but he used to know Steve. This was an unprecedented situation for him. Just in case, he decided to pick up a little bit. He threw his takeout containers from the week into his trashcan and moved his dance bag into his room. That was pretty much all there was in his apartment. God, he really needed to get more things.

Seeing as there was almost nothing for him to clean up, Bucky didn’t know how to pass the time until Steve showed up. He sat down on the couch, his legs bouncing involuntarily. The last time Steve came to pick him up for a date was the same day he lost his arm. Junior year homecoming. Now that was a memory that Bucky tried to repress. That was all he could think about every time he saw Steve. That aggravatingly perfect face made him relive his most painful night over and over and over. Bucky decided to pull out his phone and aimlessly scroll through Instagram until it was time for Steve to pick him up.

Bucky wasn’t surprised when he saw that Elektra had made another post in one of Nat’s Swan Lake costumes. This time it was in her Odette costume instead of the Odile one. He couldn’t decide if it was better or worse, seeing as Nat would wear it for longer but it was also less unique. Honestly, it wasn’t too different from her own costume. The surprising thing about the post was that Natasha had actually commented, hey, nice costume.

Bucky smirked. “Good for her,” he thought.

Well, it looked like Nat’s fortune had come true. She was taking care of her own costumes instead of protecting Elektra. Although it was hard to say if the comment was her own idea or if she was influenced by Bucky’s anger. Or Matt could’ve even told her to tell Elektra off. That would be the most iconic option, seeing how obsessed with Matt Elektra was. It seemed like she would never recover from that rejection.

It wasn’t long before the first knock came at his door. Bucky had lost track of time, so he wasn’t completely ready yet. He pulled on his shoes and walked over to the door. Hand on the door knob, Bucky hesitated. This was the same guy who had shattered his heart, taken his arm from him, and left him completely alone to deal with the aftermath. Why should he go out with him before he even apologizes? It would basically be him saying that Steve didn’t do anything wrong. He stood there, listening to the next four knocks that came.

Then the killer came.

“Hey, Buck, are you ready to go?” Came Steve’s muffled voice from outside the door.

Bucky hadn’t talked to Steve since the first day Steve came to the company, and that wasn’t a pleasant conversation. He wasn’t expecting him to come in with his old nickname. Or sounding so nice. Bucky leaned up against the door and slid down to the floor. As much as it pained him, he knew he couldn’t go with Steve. He had to hold his ground: he couldn’t cave that easily.

His phone buzzed. It was a text from Steve. I’m outside. You ready?

Bucky didn’t dare open the text; he didn’t want Steve to see he was there. He was hoping Steve would assume he wasn’t home and would just leave. That wasn’t the case.

“Buck, it’s almost 7:30. I don’t even know if you’re home. I’m just gonna go.” Steve’s voice was a little louder this time and obviously hurt.

The nickname was really pulling at Bucky’s heartstrings. Even if he was the boy who abandoned him and caused him to lose an arm, he was also the boy who used to come to all of his showcases and competitions. He used to bring Bucky his favorite food when he was sad. He used to support everything Bucky did. He used to be Bucky’s best friend.
Bucky could feel the tears coming on, but he blinked them back. He was gonna open the door and he couldn’t let Steve see he was emotional. Bucky stood back up and cautiously opened his door. Steve didn’t lie: he had left.

Sunday was the one day of the week that Bucky didn’t have company practice. For the first time since he started his job, he was planning on spending his entire day off in bed. Normally Bucky’s Sundays would be spent with Natasha: pilates, brunch, yoga, and takeout. Natasha had, not surprisingly, called after he didn’t show up for their pilates class. 16 times, to be exact. And Steve had also called. And texted. Bucky felt like a shitty person for standing two people up in less than 24 hours, but he just couldn’t deal with it at the moment.

Hearing Steve’s voice triggered something inside Bucky, but it wasn’t what he’d expected. Steve sounded nice, not upset or rude. It made Bucky want to forgive him on sight. But with no apology, Bucky wouldn’t do anything. Caving in would just show Steve that not apologizing for so long was fine. He couldn’t let Steve get away that easily.
It didn’t take long for Natasha to walk into Bucky’s apartment. God, maybe it was time for him to change the locks.

“So, you stood up Steve and me?” Natasha asked, walking into Bucky’s bedroom.

He could tell that she had just come from the pilates class he had skipped based on her attire. She had a great sense of style, so there was no other reason she’d show up in leggings and a sports bra. Granted, it still looked cute and expensive.

Bucky buried his face in his pillow and groaned. “I’m not in the mood right now, Nat.”

Natasha pulled the pillow away from his face and sat on the edge of his bed. “Did something happen? What’s wrong? You’ve never stood me up before.”

“Hey, there’s a first time for everything,” Bucky said. “And besides, I just didn’t feel like going to workout on my day off. My muscles need a break. I’ll still get take out with you for dinner, though.”

“Are you sure this isn’t about Steve and not your muscles?” Nat asked.

“You wouldn’t get it,” Bucky stated.

“Hey, try me. Don’t forget about Dex. I know my relationship now is amazing, but I’ve had bad ones before, too.”

“This is the first time Steve has really talked to me since the first day he got here. And before that the last day he’d talked to me was the day I lost my arm. He doesn’t exactly bring back the most positive memories.”

“He should understand that. Steve’s a reasonable guy.”

“You don’t know him like I do. He’s not reasonable. He’s selfish.”

“Bucky, you don’t know him anymore. All that happened years ago. He isn’t the same person that you knew in high school. The army changed him. The company changed him. And he just grew up.”

“Well I’ve also grown up enough to realize that I don’t need to forgive him without an apology. If he’s changed so much, why hasn’t he apologized?”

“He was probably planning on doing that last night. But now that opportunity is gone.”

Bucky sighed and got out of bed. Steve probably was planning on apologizing last night. But in Bucky’s opinion, he should’ve apologized before trying to get together. He put on a sweatshirt and a pair of gym shorts, not caring about how he looked. God, his room really was boring. He needed a rug and some posters or something. Bucky sloppily made his bed and walked out to the kitchen to grab some breakfast.

Natasha trailed after him. “You can’t just ignore Steve forever, Bucky.”

Bucky grabbed out his Greek yogurt cup and started eating it, making sure not to make eye contact with Nat. “The thing is, I can. I can actually do whatever I want.” Bucky’s tone started getting louder and harsher, getting progressively angrier. “Nat, I love you, but this isn’t really your business. Steve changed my life for the worse and hasn’t apologized for it. So I can, and will, ignore Steve if I want to. He fucked things up.”

Nat sighed and sat on one of his barstools. “He’s trying, Bucky.”

“Well maybe he should try harder.”

Nat just sat and watched him as he ate his yogurt. There was tension in the air due to their differing opinions of Steve. Nat had already known who Steve was before he began with the company, as she and Bucky had been friends long before that. The Steve and Bucky drama didn’t prevent Natasha from becoming his friend, however. Part of Natasha’s plan to be at the top of the company was to make all the connections she could: leading her to hang out with everyone who worked for the company at least once. The immense charm that both Steve and Nat possessed led them to continue hanging out. They didn’t hang out as often as Nat and Bucky did, but it was still a relatively close relationship.

The friendship between Nat and Steve never bothered Bucky much. He understood what it was like to be captivated by Steve’s good looks and deceivingly generous personality. It was just hard for him to balance his best friend being friends with his worst enemy. Bucky did his best to not bash Steve too much around Natasha, but that was hard at the moment. He didn’t hate Steve, he was just pissed off that he was so prideful.

“So,” Bucky said, throwing his yogurt container in the trash. “I see that you commented on Elektra’s post this time.”

Natasha smiled and shook her head lightly. “I took your advice.”

“Just my advice, or did Matt encourage you to do it as well?” Bucky questioned.

“He may have had something to do with it. You know he’s not a fan of the way she treats me,” Nat answered.

Matt and Natasha had the cutest relationship, in Bucky’s opinion. They had met due to Matt being a season ticket holder. He was a known balletomane among the company. On her debuting night with the company, Matt met her after the show and they went from there. Of course, that was the same way he’d met Elektra and that didn’t end well. At least, it didn’t end well for her. Nat and Matt’s relationship had moved quite fast, with Natasha moving into his apartment only a month after meeting. It was a really sweet relationship.

“Matt is adorable,” Bucky said. “Well, adorable personality. I’d consider his looks hot.”

“Oh, he’s for sure hot. He’s really excited to see you in Swan Lake. I’m pretty sure Swan Lake is what introduced him to ballet, so it’s special to him,” Nat shared.

“I think Swan Lake is what introduced all of us to ballet. Specifically the Barbie movie. Although, personally, it’s not my favorite Tchaikovsky ballet, let alone my favorite ballet in general,” Bucky said.

Natasha nodded. “Fair. And I think the Barbie movie with the ballet sisters was just as good at introducing ballet as the Swan Lake one. Also there was the Nutcracker one. Oh, and the one based on the red shoes.”

Just like that, it was as if there had been no discussion of Steve between the two. The great thing about having a best friend was how nothing could come between them. Nat and Bucky often bickered, but it never became anything even remotely serious. It was almost like they were siblings. They often fought and didn’t always like each other, but they always loved each other.

Natasha ended up convincing Bucky that he’d start to feel better if he just went about his everyday life as normal. They made it to their yoga class and ended the night with take out. Bucky was thankful that she made him go to yoga: he’d feel terrible going a full day without any exercise. The normality of his Sunday was almost ironic considering what was awaiting him on Monday.

Monday morning Bucky woke up, showered, warmed up, stretched, and headed out to company class. After class, he had a lunch break, then a rehearsal until four. This was always his routine until it was time to perform. As per usual, Bucky went to his dressing room to change and cool down after rehearsal. What wasn’t usual was that there was someone waiting in his room when he got there; Steve.

“Um, excuse me,” Bucky said, walking into his room and setting his water bottle down on his vanity.

“You did a good job today,” Steve said. “The pas de deux is starting to look better.”

Bucky snorted. “Oh, wow, thanks. Your input is obviously very important and accurate on this topic.”

Steve blushed and quickly tried to cover his mistake. “Oh, I didn’t mean it like that. You know that.”

“I don’t think I know as much as you think I do,” Bucky said.

Steve didn’t even have a response for that one. Bucky loved being able to call him out and make him uncomfortable. Besides, Steve was being a dick for no reason. Bucky could do any pas de deux from Swan Lake in his sleep. He and Nat had great chemistry; there was no room for error. To really top off Steve's embarrassment, Bucky decided it would be a good idea to change into his street clothes with him in the room. Of course, he wouldn’t be fully nude, but Steve still wouldn’t like it.

As he took off his rehearsal clothes and put his street clothes on, Bucky made direct eye contact with Steve. Well, he did until Steve quickly blushed and looked away. Yeah, he’d definitely asserted his dominance.

“So, did you get sick Saturday night?” Steve asked, staring at his feet.

“Nope,” Bucky responded.

If Steve’s face could get anymore red, it would have at this point. “So then what happened?” Steve dug further, bringing his eyes up and looking at Bucky.

“Do you really need to ask?” Bucky inquired. “I thought you understood what happened.”

Bucky slipped on his tennis shoes and grabbed his duffle bag, pulling his keys out to leave ASAP with no further Steve interaction. He knew he was being a dick right now, but that’s all Steve would get until he apologized.

Bucky walked over to his dressing room door, pausing for a moment before heading home. Maybe he did need to clarify what happened on Saturday, to make it clear that Bucky was still pissed off.

“Yeah, I stood you up.”