Bucky doesn't know why he's here, not really. Steve had invited him back to Brooklyn to spend Christmas, but he had insisted on going to his gig in Albany. “No one should be alone on Christmas Eve,” Steve had said. Bucky enjoyed loneliness apparently. When he arrived at the hole in the wall record store, he found out the gig had been cancelled due to the snow. As he settled into a crappy motel room, he begrudgingly admitted to himself that he should have listened to Steve.
Pushing past his annoyance, he ventured out into the snow in search of food for the evening and found himself in a grocery store. Making his way through the aisles, there was nothing extraordinary, until he reached the frozen foods.
He thought his eyes were lying to him at first, that the exhaustion had finally made him delusional. Until you turned around and locked eyes with him.
"Y/N?"
You just looked at him until the recognition finally lit up your face. "Bucky!" As you went to hug him, you dropped your purse. Sighing you said, "Not much has changed huh? I'm still clumsy."
Bucky chuckled and moved to help you clean up the mess. Once everything was gathered again, you placed the bag in your cart before wrapping Bucky in a hug. "It's really good to see you Bucky."
"You too Y/N. Of all the coincidences."
You laughed. "Right? It's crazy."
"We should have a drink or something. Catch up."
"Yes! Definitely. Just let me check out first."
Bucky followed you to the checkout line and waited with you as your groceries were bagged. Leaving the store and putting your groceries in your car, you both climbed into your and went in search of alcohol. Driving around town, you discovered that no bars were still open. Bucky looked over at you. "It appears Christmas Eve isn't the time to go out drinking."
Chuckling you said, "It looks that way. Hang on, there's a liquor store near here."
Pulling into the parking lot, you sent Bucky in to find beverages. He came out shortly after carrying a six pack. Offering it to you when he got in the car he said, "There's no better way to spend Christmas Eve than drinking beer in your car right?"
Halfway through the six pack, the conversation began to veer into more personal territory. Small talk could only last for so long.
Bucky threw out a question he most definitely didn't want the answer to. "You seeing anybody?"
With a sigh you said, "Not right now. You?"
"No. The traveling thing doesn't leave much room for relationships, you know?"
You laughed. "Do I ever."
"Come on. You had any great loves?"
"Oh you know. I've dated a couple people." You chuckled. "There was this one guy- he really seemed like the one."
"What happened?"
"I found him in bed with my best friend."
"No! What an asshole."
"That's what I said!" The pair of you dissolved into laughter.
"Really though doll, you didn't deserve that."
You shrugged and took another drink. "The universe doesn't really care what we deserve does it?"
Bucky knew what you were talking about. At least, he was fairly certain he did. "Not usually."
"How is the music business anyway?" So he was right then. He wasn't really ready for the conversation to take that turn, but if he had no choice.
"Not as good as we were." Bucky was going for honesty. He knew you might still hate him, but he could at least try to get you back.
"Ha! Good try Buck. How is it really?"
Bucky ran a hand through his hair. "It's good. That's why I'm in town actually. I had a gig, but it was cancelled after all the snow."
You nodded. "Makes sense."
"Don't get me wrong, the audiences are amazing, but traveling like this is hell."
You took another drink and said, "I'm glad you enjoy it."
"Doll you know I had a reason for leaving when I did."
"Yes."
"I mean, I thought this was my dream."
Nodding you said, "Yes. I know."
"But it's just not."
You sighed and looked over at Bucky. "What are you getting at Bucky?"
"What we had, that's my dream. I just want that back."
Quietly you said, "Me too."
Bucky tried to quell his enthusiasm as he said, "Yeah?"
"Of course. But Bucky how do I know you're not going to take to the road again? How can I be sure you won't up and leave me again?"
"I'm quitting."
You scoffed. "Come on Bucky. Be serious."
"I am doll. I was going to anyway. I'm getting too old to travel around like this. I just wanna settle down. I'm ready now. I promise."
You were quiet for a long time before you said, "I don't know Bucky. Let me think about it?"
Bucky nodded. "Sure. Yeah, definitely."
The beer was empty and it was getting late. You drove him back to the grocery store so he could find his own car again.
"I'm really glad we ran into each other Bucky."
Bucky smiled. "Me too."
You exchanged phone numbers, in case you wanted to get in touch. As Bucky started to get out of your car, he felt your hand wrap around his arm and pull him back.
"Y/N?"
When your lips met, Bucky's heart didn't jump into his throat the way he had always imagined it would. Instead, the gentle press of your lips on his calmed him the way it always had. He felt like he had finally come home, after a long time away.
Pulling apart for air Bucky said, "Y/N…you've gotta know I've missed you."
You smiled. "I know. I've missed you too. It's been too long. This was really nice."
Bucky realized the goodbye for what it was and went to climb out of your car. Getting back into his own car, he watched you drive away. It took him a long time to pull out of that grocery store parking lot. If he never drove away, he could keep living in this moment forever. If he never drove away, you wouldn't be gone again.
Eventually, he made his way back to his motel. As he crawled into bed, he watched the clock turn from 11:59 to 12:00. The mattress was so hard it dug into his back. He sighed. "Merry Christmas to me." Just when he had, shockingly, almost fallen asleep, his phone rang with a text message. Pulling it off the nightstand he unlocked it to see it was from you.
Y/N: Merry Christmas Bucky! It was really nice to see you again. If you still don't have any plans, you're welcome to come over. There's no reason for two people to spend Christmas alone. Let me know.
A smile spread across Bucky's face. He typed a message back to you.
Bucky: Merry Christmas doll. It was great to see you too. I'd love that.
Placing his phone back on the nightstand, Bucky settled back in bed. It was easy to ignore the awful mattress with its scratchy sheets. After everything, you wanted to see him again. Nothing else seemed to matter.