Adagio

Bucky Barnes was one of the best people Steve had ever met. He was always kind, caring, sweet, funny, generous, and just overall amazing. That’s how Steve knew he had fucked up. It wasn’t like Bucky to be bitter or rude. Steve didn’t even realize he had the capacity for that. He had genuinely believed that the reason Bucky didn’t show up on Saturday was that he was either sick or some family issue had come up. He didn’t think Bucky would be the type to actually stand him up.

“Yeah, I stood you up,” Bucky said as he walked out of his dressing room.

The fact that Bucky would admit that he purposely stood Steve up was a major red flag that he had done something wrong. Sam was right all along. He had to apologize. He did go into Bucky’s dressing room with the intention of apologizing, that just wasn’t what happened. When he saw Bucky come in, he suddenly got super nervous. And it wasn’t like Bucky was acting friendly towards him, either. The blame couldn’t all be put on Steve. The situation was overall a whole lot worse than Steve had expected.

He knew it was wrong, but Steve decided to snoop around Bucky’s dressing room. There could be something there that would give him some details into Bucky’s current life. Other than a cabinet with some snacks and athletic tape and a vanity with makeup and hair supplies, the room was pretty much empty. Compared to how Steve remembered Bucky’s rooms during their school years, this was insanely bland. Bucky had always been the one with the funky colored things and random thrifted pieces. Even Steve’s boring bedroom was more unique than this.

The only thing in the dressing room that wasn’t incredibly boring was the wall of photos. More than half of the photos featured Nat, with a lot of them even being her alone. Not to mention how many were of Nat and Matt. Man, Steve was really jealous of their relationship. Seeing the pictures of Bucky on the wall made Steve smile: he looked like the Bucky he used to know. Just looking at those photos, he could tell how guarded Bucky became around Steve. It never used to be that way.

As Steve walked along the wall to see the rest of the photos, he noticed there was something on the floor. It was a flipped over photo. Steve picked up the photo and turned it over to look at it. That was the moment his heart stopped. Steve was in the photo. With Bucky, of course. It was taken when they were in middle school at Bucky’s first Nutcracker performance. Steve remembered that day and how happy Bucky was when Steve showed up with a bouquet, and how surprised he was. He never expected to see that photo here, now. The fact that it was ever in Bucky’s dressing room felt like a win, even if it was discarded onto the floor. That’s what Steve needed to do: recreate that feeling for Bucky.

Steve didn’t listen to music on his way home from the company like he usually would. He felt like it would distract him from thinking clearly. He had to come up with a way to apologize to Bucky, and it couldn’t be lame.

Sam was sitting on the couch and watching tv when Steve came home, which was exactly what he was hoping for.

Steve plopped down on the couch beside Sam. “Hey, man. How was your day?”

“Fine. A lotta work. Yours?” Sam responded.

Steve hesitated a moment before saying, “It was okay. Rehearsal was good. But then I saw Bucky after and that didn’t go too well. It’s pretty obvious that he hates me still.”

“I mean, he’s got reason. At least you’ve tried now,” Sam said.

“I’ve tried but I think I need to actually apologize. If I don’t apologize, I don’t think he’ll give me a chance at all.”

“I don’t want to say I told you so, but I did.”

“The problem is that he’s not gonna listen to me long enough to let me apologize. I honestly don’t know what to do at this point. Maybe I should just text him an apology, then he can’t ignore it.”

“This situation is a little more serious than just a texted apology, Steve. Just go to his place or talk to him at rehearsal again. If you just give up like this, you’ll be proving his point.”

So, Steve had no idea where to go from here. Text was too informal and made it seem like he wasn’t even sorry. But Bucky wouldn’t give him the time of day to actually apologize. He’d have to somehow con Bucky into allowing him to apologize. Maybe with the help of Natasha? He just wanted the relationship to return to the way it once was. Steve missed his childhood best friend.

“It just sucks, you know?” Steve said. “I used to be his favorite person. I used to make him happy. Now I just make him upset.”

“Just don’t give up, Steve. Just keep trying and it’ll work,” Sam said.

“I’ve been trying and nothing has worked,” Steve sighed. “I’m just gonna have to go over there or somehow, like, trap him. Obviously not trap him in a scary way, but in a way that he has to confront our issues.”

Sam rolled his eyes. “Or just go up to him and apologize, then start moving on. If he doesn’t accept it, there’s nothing you can do about it.”
“Oh, I’ll make sure he will accept it.”

Steve spent all night trying to plan a way to get Bucky to forgive him. He had to prove that he was still the same person Bucky fell in love with so many years ago. While the idea of asking Nat for help seemed like it would make his life a lot easier, Steve knew it would be the wrong decision. This had to be something that he did on his own, otherwise it would be much less meaningful. Well, maybe it would be good to use Nat to confirm his plan with, just to make sure Bucky wouldn’t have him for it.

The current plan involved Bucky’s dressing room. Steve had noticed how bland it was, and he also knew how uniquely Bucky used to decorate his bedroom. A quick trip to a few local vintage stores could provide Steve with exactly what he needed to make it seem like a place Bucky would want to be. He could even include plants, snacks, and pictures from their childhood. He knew reminding Bucky of the good times they used to have would make him more willing to forgive Steve. Because this all could be interpreted as a massive invasion of privacy, Steve knew he had to consult Natasha first.

Natasha and Matt lived in an apartment complex a few blocks away from Bucky’s, and a hell of a lot nicer than his. Matt was really making his way up in his legal career, so they could afford something a little bougier. Not to mention the fact that Natasha was a company favorite. Their apartment was on the sixth floor, but they actually had an elevator, so it wasn’t long before Steve arrived at their door.

“Hey,” Matt said, smiling at Steve, opening the door quickly after the first knock. He was still wearing his button down and pants, so Steve could see he’d just gotten off of work. Shit, he was probably imposing on Matt and Nat’s alone time.

“Sorry if this is a bad time. I can go, it isn’t that important,” Steve stated.

“Nah, it’s alright. Come on in,” Matt said, moving from the door so Steve could step in.

God, even the inside of their apartment was bougie. Much like Steve’s own bedroom, everything looked very nice and clean. Unlike Steve’s room, however, the apartment was mainly grey instead of white. And not just grey, varying shades of grey. They had a light grey couch covered in dark gray pillows. Both the rug and dining room chairs were also dark gray. Most of the decorations around were light gray, but those were mainly just candles and books. It looked like a house on the market that was staged for a showing. Despite this, it still had a homey feel. Steve walked past the grey couch and into the kitchen, where he knew he could find Natasha.

Nat was cutting up a lime to add to her and Matt’s drinks when Steve walked in. Yes, she was doing so on her dark grey countertops.

“Hi, Steve. I wasn’t expecting to see you tonight,” Nat said, never looking up from her drinks.

Steve blushed. It really felt like he was intruding on their lives. “Yeah, I needed some advice on something,” he said, sitting down on one of their chairs.

“Let me guess, on Bucky?” Natasha asked. “He told me about what happened today already. It was a really nice touch to insult our past performances, may I say. That really undid half of the work you’ve already done.”

Nat handed Steve one of the drinks she had made before turning to make a third one. The mix of her being a good hostess and him being a bad guest really elevated the situation. It was very likely that Nat was made at him for what happened with Bucky, as they were best friends. This was really not Steve’s best decision.

“I really wasn’t trying to insult you guys,” Steve explained. “It was a compliment that came out wrong. I was trying to apologize and I thought complimenting him was a good place to start. I just meant that there was visible improvement. You guys are super good.”

Nat nodded and sipped on her drink. “Thank you. We’ve been working hard. So, now you want to know how to fix all this?”

“No, I have a plan. I just need you to tell me if it’s good,” Steve answered.

“Shoot,” Nat said.

“Well, I want to do something to wow him; make him feel special,” Steve started. “When I went into his dressing room today, I noticed how boring it was. During all the time I’ve known him, he’s never had a living space like that. He loves having all these bright colors and funky pieces and just making his spaces really unique. Soooo, I was thinking that I could make his dressing room like that.”

Natasha thought for a moment before speaking, chewing on a lime wedge. “Well, it would be cute. And if he sees it and is mad, we can just say I did it. He’ll either love it or hate it, but it’s worth the shot. Just make sure that it’s still a really comfortable space, you know? That’s where he goes to relax after long rehearsal hours. And keep lots of floor space, he tends to stretch before class or cool down after class in there.”

Steve smiled at her. “You are the best ever. We’re totally gonna get him to forgive me.”

Natasha snorted. “We? Nah, I’m not that involved. Wanna stay for dinner? Or is Sam cooking something good?”

Matt walked into the kitchen, wrapping his arms around Nat from behind. “Sam’s always making something good for dinner,” he said.

That was the type of relationship Steve wanted. He’d never really been in a serious relationship since, well, high school, and that didn’t really count. Matt and Natasha just had this effortless relationship. They clicked so well and just always seemed so in love. They supported each other through anything. Not to mention the fact that, physically, they looked perfect for each other.

Matt said, “You should stay for dinner, I was going to pick up something good. I think we all deserve it after all this drama.”

Steve laughed a little. “All this drama? This drama has been going on forever and it’s called Bucky. He brings drama with him wherever he goes.”

“No offense, Steve, but Bucky didn’t have any drama until you came back,” Natasha said.

It seemed like all the drama in Bucky’s life revolved around Steve, but not all the drama in Steve’s life revolved around Bucky. While he was in the army, Steve still had a lot of drama while Bucky was doing better than ever. Something clicked in Steve’s mind that he was the “bad guy” in their relationship. It suddenly became more important than ever to fix their relationship.

That night, Steve stayed up for hours on their grey couch. Matt had so many interesting stories from his college days, Natasha had so many interesting stories from her Vaganova days, and Steve had so many interesting stories from his army days. They were all easy people to have conversation with, so they were unstoppable together. Despite staying up all night talking, Steve still got up early in the morning to search for things for Bucky’s dressing room.

Molly Hayes was the youngest player in the pit, but also the sweetest and bubbliest. Due to her young age, she lived with a bunch of young company members. This included Natasha and Elektra’s direct competition, Karolina Dean, as well as stage manager Gert Yorkes. The house was extremely chaotic, so Bucky had no issue bringing Molly to do things frequently.

Because Molly had such a unique style, she was the perfect person to pick things out for Bucky. The first stop of the day was to one of the local vintage stores.

“Wow, Steve, come look at this!” Molly yelled, running over to a rug as soon as they entered the store. The rug was rhombuses that were each varying colors of magenta, and appeared to be handmade. This was exactly why Steve had decided to bring Molly.

“I think that’ll be perfect for the room, Molly. Good eye,” Steve complimented. He added the rug to his mental shopping cart and continued to look around the store.

“So, you think Bucky would like all the things I like?” Molly asked, poking around a pile of vases.

Steve smiled. “Oh, he’d love all of it. He loves things that are bright and fun. You should totally hang out with him sometime. I’m sure his apartment looks very similar to your room. He’s very into the eclectic style.”

Molly moved on to look at the furniture pieces. “Well, in that case, I think he’d love this chair. I sure know I do.”

The chair in question was a mustard yellow, velvet armchair with a tufted back. It would compliment the magenta rug very well. And Steve was sure he could find a nice little end table to put next to it.

“You’re really hitting the jackpot today, Molly. This’ll go perfect in the room. Let’s go buy it,” Steve said.

They only went to one more store before Molly wanted to take a smoothie break. Also they had found pretty much everything Steve had been looking for. They had the armchair, the rug, an end table, an old clock, two paintings, and a few potted plants. The room was going to come out just as Steve had envisioned.

“Was Steve your boyfriend?” Molly asked, sipping on her smoothie as Steve drove her back to her house.

Steve’s face flushed. “Uhhh, I wouldn’t say that. He was my best friend, though.”

“Well, I think he wants to date you. He looks at you in that way someone does when they love you. He at least thinks you’re pretty, I think,” Molly said.

“We’ll see how he reacts after my apology and the surprise of his room,” Steve stated. “I’m hoping that he’s going to be willing to let me back into his life.”

“If he’s not, you can give me all the stuff we just bought. It would look soooo awesome in my bedroom,” Molly said.

Steve smiled. God, Molly was so sweet and adorable. She reminded him a lot of the Bucky he knew in high school. He wondered if he had changed or if he was just guarded from Steve.

Molly snuck into the company with Steve the next night and helped him set up Bucky’s dressing room. They only really decorated one corner, wanting to leave a lot of open floor space for him. They put the rug down with the chair and end table on top of it. One plant and a potted plant found their home on top of the end table. They added another plant to his vanity, as well as a bunch of protein bars and fruit leathers. Steve added a few pictures of them as kids onto the wall, hoping Bucky would notice. After hanging up the paintings, they were done.

Now all that was left was for Bucky to see it.