Adagio

Bucky Barnes had a certain charm that Steve just couldn’t resist. In high school, Steve had a car and Bucky didn’t. Bucky always wanted something for lunch that he didn't have, be it some Chinese food or just a sparkling water. If he asked, Steve delivered. That’s what happened with Bucky’s apartment. It was obvious that Bucky was unhappy with his apartment, so the least Steve could do was bring him back to their hometown to recreate his old room. Any opportunity he had to spend time with Bucky, he would take advantage of.

Steve drove Sam’s huge, old SUV to rehearsal, as he and Bucky would go back to their hometown as soon as rehearsals were over. It felt weird to pull up in such a big car, but he parked it next to Molly and her crew’s big van. He hadn’t really had a chance to talk to Molly since Bucky told everyone about their high school experience. He had seen the way she looked at him after that, so he wanted to explain. She looked so hurt by the thought that Steve might not be a great guy. However, it wasn’t really like he had done something as terrible as Bucky made it seem. 

Most of the pit players were just beginning to assemble their instruments when Steve walked in, so he walked over to Molly and sat next to her.

“Hi,” she said, not looking up from her valves that she was oiling. 

“I didn’t really get a chance to talk to you after rehearsal yesterday,” Steve said. “You must’ve been in a hurry to get out of here.”

“Yeah, I had practice for my soccer rec league,” she answered.

Molly was incredibly busy, yet she always had so much energy. She played tuba in the pit full time, played for a recreational soccer team, hung out with her friends constantly, and still never acted tired. She was amazing

“Listen, about what Bucky said yesterday…” Steve started.

Molly just hummed in response. It seemed like she was more interested in polishing her tuba than talking to Steve. Yeah, she’d definitely taken what Bucky said to heart.

Steve continued, “That isn’t really the full story, Molly. I wasn’t really responsible for him losing his arm, but my friends were. And he’s always blamed me for not interfering. But I couldn’t really do that, given the situation. And after that he never wanted to talk to me again, so I never had the chance to apologize. Obviously I’ve now apologized.”

“I want to know the full story before I can decide what I believe. Tell me everything that happened,” Molly requested.

Steve hesitated. “I just don’t think right now is the best time for that. Way too much has happened. Our relationship started when we were very young. And I don’t intend on it ending until I die.”

Rehearsal with just the pit went relatively fast. Everyone was extremely talented, so the only thing they really had to practice was just making sure everyone was on the same page. Rehearsal with the company, however, went a little different. Today they were rehearsing mainly just the pas de deux. It was a pivotal scene, so it required a lot of work. Even though Natasha and Bucky were amazing, this was a moment that had to be exactly perfect. Today it wasn’t lining up.

All Bucky really had to do in the act II pas de deux was hold onto Nat. Yet, for some reason, he was having a hard time keeping her up on her penches. Steve was pretty sure even he would be capable of that. Natasha didn’t really need Bucky’s help with most of her steps, so he was the only person he was throwing off. To Steve, it looked like he was stuck in his own head. 

The only time Bucky really ever messed up was when he was psyching himself out. In high school, a bunch of boys thought it would be really funny to go see his production of The Nutcracker. Steve went with them. He was really there to support Bucky, but neither the boys he was with nor Bucky knew that. Ironically, it was a pas de deux where Bucky screwed up there, too. The Sugar Plum pas de deux. Steve still couldn’t hear the music without being reminded of how terrible that day was. No one got injured, of course, but it definitely damaged Bucky’s ego. Steve had had to give him a lot of reassurance after that performance. He just couldn’t figure out what was on his mind today.

“Hey, that was interesting,” Steve commented, walking into Bucky’s dressing room where both Bucky and Natasha were rolling out their legs on the floor.

Bucky rolled his eyes at him. “I thought we’d established that it isn’t your place to comment on my dancing.”

“That didn’t really seem like a dancing issue, that seemed like a you issue. What were you thinking?” Steve asked.

“Oh my god, Steve. It isn’t that big of a deal, I just got tripped up. It happens to everyone,” Bucky responded.

“Well it certainly never happens to your Vaganova trained partner,” Steve remarked.

Natasha scoffed from her straddle on the rug. “You should see me at recreational classes, Stevie. I promise I’m not as perfect as I look.”

“Doing classes flat instead of en pointe does not count as being not perfect. You have flawless technique and perfect lines, Nat. Not to mention your emotional execution,” Bucky gushed. 

“That’s why I love Vaganova,” Nat stated. “They gave me great technique as well as the emotional trauma to be able to emote from stage.”

“And I got all the emotional trauma needed from Steve,” Bucky added.

Steve blushed. “I promise I didn’t try.”

Bucky laughed, glancing up at Steve with a gorgeous smile. “I know, I just like giving you shit. You’re fun to mess with.”

Something about the sound of Bucky’s laugh gave Steve an immense amount of joy. It brought him back to the days when they would stay up all night, aimlessly driving around the suburbs with their soft drinks from KwikTrip. Back then, they were inseparable and laughed at everything the other said. Steve was doing his best to bring them back to that stage.

“You know what, fuck you Buck,” Steve teased. “Now, are you almost ready? I wanna get going so we can get home at a reasonable hour. Also we need enough time so that we can stop at the KwikTrip we used to terrorize.”

Natasha stood up from her position on the floor and put their foam rollers back with Bucky’s other items. She then lent a hand to Bucky, helping him off the floor. 

“I’ll see you guys later, have a good adventure,” Natasha said, walking out the door and into her own dressing room.

Bucky started gathering his bag that he brought to rehearsal everyday. Somehow he had managed to use every item and leave them all skewed around his room. Making a complete mess wasn’t too out of character for Bucky. It made Steve smile, seeing him get flustered while trying to find everything he needed. Everything was finally starting to feel domestic and normal.

“Okay, I’ve got it all ready to go,” Bucky said, slinging his bag over his shoulder. 

“Off to the SUV,” Steve announced.

They walked out to Sam’s SUV in a comfortable silence. Bucky threw his stuff into the trunk and hopped into the car. Steve got in and handed Bucky his phone.

“Here, it’s hooked up to the bluetooth,” Steve said. “I’ve got Spotify Premium, you can play whatever you want.”

Bucky took his phone and started scrolling and clicking. Steve was a little worried that he was snooping around. Shit, he did have Grindr still. He didn’t even ever use it anymore, but he wasn’t about to explain that to Bucky. Besides, why would Bucky care if he was hooking up with people. Steve was the one who wanted to go back to their old relationship, not Bucky.

The song Bucky chose to play felt oddly familiar. Steve glanced at the radio. It was the playlist Bucky had created for them the summer before junior year. Driving on the roads leading to their hometown and listening to the playlist brought Steve back to a better time. That summer marked the peak of their relationship. It was really when they started messing around and being completely honest with each other. Steve remembered the laughs as well as the tears. Highschool definitely had some highs, it wasn’t all lows.

“Well this is a little vintage by now,” Steve observed, tapping his fingers to the rhythm against the steering wheel. 

“I thought you might like it. I still like these songs,” Bucky said.

Steve smiled at him. “I like it a lot, Buck. It brings me back to the good old days. I haven’t heard this stuff in such a long time. You know, this playlist means we’re for sure gonna have to go to KwikTrip so we can really relive this time. Definitely gonna have to get some huge ass fountain sodas.”

“I try not to drink soda because of work, but I might be able to make an exception this time,” Bucky said, smiling.

“You’re so much better than me,” Steve commented. “I try to be good about all that, but it doesn’t work that well. At least Sam cooks dinners, otherwise I’d probably survive off PostMates alone.”

“Hey, I still survive mainly off of Chinese takeout,” Bucky protested.

“But you look good regardless,” Steve complimented.

As soon as he said it, he regretted it. He knew that it could be taken in such a wrong way. But maybe that wouldn’t be so bad. Steve did think he looked good in the sense that he was attracted to him. There was no way Bucky felt the same way. It was obvious that he barely wanted to be around him in the first place.

Steve blushed profusely. “Hey, I’m really sorry. I just mean that you have a good body.” Fuck, that was even worse. “I mean, like, I can tell you workout. Like, you have a really nice ballet look.”

Bucky laughed at his slip ups. “Steve, I understand what you were trying to say. It’s fine. And I also wouldn’t be mad about you telling me I look hot, so it’s really okay.”

“In that case, you do look hot,” Steve stated.

“Well you don’t look terrible either,” Bucky said, smiling at him.

“Speaking of looking hot, are you seeing anyone right now?” Steve asked.

“Please tell me you’re not trying to date me right now,” Bucky pleaded.

“I’m not, I’m just curious to know more about your social life.”

“I am not seeing anyone right now.”

“Well neither am I.”

“I’m not surprised by that. You got a Grindr notification when I was setting up the music.”

Steve blushed profusely. “I’m sorry about that. I should’ve deleted that a long time ago.”

“I’m glad I don’t use it. Otherwise we probably would’ve matched,” Bucky stated.

So Bucky would’ve swiped right on him? You can’t match with someone you don’t want to. Maybe this was going to develop into more than just a friendship. Maybe Steve wasn’t the only one who hoped it would. 

Steve cleared his throat, wanting to change the subject before anything even more embarrassing came up. “So, KwikTrip dinner? You getting hungry yet?”
“Oh, I’m always hungry after rehearsal,” Bucky stated. 

“Well we’re about to get to one right up here. I might need to stock up on food, I never get to go to KwikTrip anymore” Steve said.

“There isn’t really one in a convenient spot. Besides, I mainly just walk or order in for everything,” Bucky added.

“Maybe I need to move close to one,” Steve suggested.

“Wait, you’re planning on moving?” Bucky asked, turning to face Steve. 

Steve blushed. “I mean, eventually I will. I can’t imagine I’ll stay at this job forever.”

Bucky didn’t even respond to that. Maybe he didn’t want Steve to leave. But it wasn’t like he was planning to leave soon or anything. He just wanted to leave his future open for any possibilities. Ideally he would get offered a job somewhere more prestigious and with a higher pay. 

They listened to music in silence for a little while until they reached KwikTrip. It was the same one they frequented in high school, being that it was only half an hour from their hometown. There was one closer, but they preferred going further away. There was less of a chance that they would see someone they knew the further from home they got. 

The inside of the building looked the same as it did when they were in high school. Bucky went straight towards the pastries while Steve went straight towards the drinks and the chips. Assuming they had the same taste buds as they used to, splitting up to cover the entire store faster wouldn’t be a bad strategy. 

Steve knew that Bucky was trying to drink less soda for his job, so he picked up a few sparkling waters for him. Various flavors because he didn’t know what his current favorite was, of course. For himself, he filled up a Big Buddy with cherry Pepsi and five squirts of vanilla syrup. It was much better than an actual cherry vanilla Pepsi. Then he moved on to the salty snacks. This one was easy: Steve and Bucky were both obsessed with seasoned pretzels. Dot’s were good, but Old Dutch was even better.

Across the store, Bucky had secured a large amount of baked goods. Of course, pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting was a favorite for both of them. A pistachio muffin, brownie cookies, and a Bavarian pretzel for Bucky. Lemon cookies, an apple fritter, and a walnut brownie for Steve. Of course, two boxes of glazers donuts; one for each of their parents. With their divide and conquer, they were in and out of the store in under ten minutes. 

“Okay, I’m saving all the snacks other than my pretzel for the ride home,” Bucky announced. “This is no longer going to be a dinner.”

“I’m gonna do the same but obviously drink my drink. Night snacking hits different,” Steve said. 

“That’s why I save all my food until night. I love a good midnight snack,” Bucky said.

Steve laughed. “You drink sparkling water instead of soda to be healthier but you eat all your snacks at night? There’s no way that can be healthy. I’m pretty sure you gain more calories when you eat at night.”

“My diet isn’t perfect but cutting out soda is good. I’ll be good about everything eventually,” Bucky said.

“I think you’re good overall now,” Steve said, smiling at Bucky.

It was true: Steve thought Bucky was great. He was talented, he was kind (after the apology, of course), he was ambitious, and he was attractive. There were very few bad things about him, and Steve didn’t even want to think about those things. Steve made his positive thoughts very clear the rest of the way to Bucky’s house. He wanted him to know that he had no hard feelings for anything that happened and that he was ready to move on. 

Bucky’s reaction was hard to gauge. He didn’t deny any compliments, but he didn’t really return the gesture, either. It seemed that he had forgiven Steve for high school but didn’t want to move past this weird stage of friendship they were at. Steve was praying that all that would change from being back home, that Bucky would remember how great they used to be back then.

Before Steve knew it, they were back in the place they fell in love.