They´re the greatest match that Hell has ever seen
Bucky checked the time on his phone before looking over at the real estate agent and promising "I'm sure they'll be here any minute." In fact, he had no idea, the last information was a “running late” message that by now was over 20 minutes old.
The young Beta just shrugged and leaned back against the door of the apartment they were supposed to look at.
And wasn't that a kick? Just 3 days ago Sam had dragged Bucky to a small coffee shop down the street from the VA, had bought him a large Americano and a bear claw and then proceeded to ignore him as he argued on the phone for the next 10 minutes. Once that was done he'd finally let Bucky in on his "brilliant plan" - Sam´s words, Bucky would have gone with "harebrained scheme". But Bucky had been rather desperate at the time, so he had agreed without asking many questions (in fact he could think of several reasons why an Omega with a pup and a second one on the way would needed the help of a strange Alpha to get an apartment and none of them made for a good second-hand story).
Later that day he had gotten a message from an unknown number with a date and time and an address, followed a few minutes later by "This is Tony, Sam's friend, by the way."
And that was how Bucky found himself in a building that looked fancier than any place he'd ever stayed at, feeling more than slightly under-dressed in his second-best button up, simple black jeans and scuffed up work-boots, waiting for his new room-mate (with emphasis on the "mate" part).
Just as he wanted to check his phone again, the elevator door opened and a slightly haggard looking man pushing a stroller rushed out.
"Sorry, Peter wouldn't go down for his nap and then he was cranky, which made me cranky - hi Bucky-Bear..." he interrupted himself to press a quick kiss to Bucky's cheek and slide a diaper bag onto the Alpha's good shoulder before turning to the estate agent. "There might have been tears…and not just from the actual toddler."
Bucky had to actively stop himself from touching his face where it had met Tony's lips. He found it almost hard to believe that this chatty Omega, with eyes sparkling with mirth as he made a joke to the realtor, was the same person that Bucky had exchanged short, terse, almost rude in their to-the-point-ness messages with. But he looked exactly as he had on the picture he had send Bucky last night - taken in front of a mirror in what was unmistakingly a bathroom, left hand holding his pup, who had his face half hidden in his father's neck, the small baby bump only noticeable when you knew to look for it at the bottom of the frame - except for the fact that his scowl had apparently been replaced by an intoxicating smile.
"You coming, babe?" Tony´s voice brought Bucky back from his thoughts and he hurried to follow him into the apartment.
<<<>>>
The place was absolutely perfect. Bucky was sure that just the living room and kitchen alone had more square feet than the place he'd been raised in. It had three bedrooms - "perfect for a growing family like yours" - including a huge master bedroom with an en-suite bathroom, a small balcony and its own little laundry room, which meant no more trips to the laundromat. But the best thing was that it came fully furnished.
Tony seemed to like it to, as he was "oohing" and "aahing" at everything the realtor pointed out. And Bucky did his best to play the part of the indulgent Alpha that wasn't completely out of his depth and cared about things like crown moldings and storage systems. And who was used to, even comfortable with, Tony constantly touching him to point things out to him, at one point even taking his hand to drag him along.
Bucky knew that Tony was only doing it to sell the story, make them believable as a couple instead of people who had just met for the first time 10 minutes ago but he was harshly reminded of the fact that none of this was real when they ended their tour in the Master bedroom and the realtor left them alone with an "I'll prepare the paper work in the living room". The second the door closed behind the Beta, Tony's smile dropped from his face and he looked more like in the picture he had sent Bucky.
"I really appreciate you doing this, but there are gonna be some ground rules." Tony started, his stern tone in contrast to the gentleness with which he placed a now awake Peter on the king-sized bed that dominated the room. "Peter and I will be taking the master bedroom, you are free to take whichever one you prefer of the other 2 bedrooms. Kitchen and living room are obviously shared spaces, I'm not a neat-freak but please keep in mind that you're going to live with a toddler who pretty much groups things in as either 'toy' or 'food'." The Omega sat down on the bed next to the pup, taking a deep breath before continuing. "Also, I truly do not care about what you're doing on your own time, but please don't bring anybody back here. People will notice and it's just gonna draw unwanted attention." He sounded hurt and as if he was talking from experience, but Bucky knew better than to ask about it. They weren't really mates, they weren't even friends. They were just two strangers who needed each other's help to find a place to live.
So, Bucky just nodded and Tony took this as his cue to continue. "I set up a bank account in your name to cover rent. Everything else, food, toiletries, whatever is your responsibility."
"Oh, that's…Sam got me a job interview next week, so if that goes well, I can cover part of the rent.” Bucky hastened to add to that. “Eventually, I mean.” He really was one of the most pathetic Alpha´s out there.
Before the intrusive thought could really take hold this time though, Tony interrupted "You don´t need to. Money was never the issue, it´s all just about politics and biology. Just sign the contract and we're good.” He picked Peter up and headed for the door.
"Sure, you still wanna do this? Last chance to get out." the Omega asked, hand already on the doorknob, ready to head out and finish the paperwork.
Bucky stood in silence for a second, taking in the nicely decorated room and thinking of how much he didn't fit into a place like this, even on one of his better days. He thought of his meager belongings, stored in a locker at the VA. "Actually," he eventually replied, "it feels more like staying is my last chance."