Steve Rogers fell in love the same way he froze in the ice all those years ago; slowly, painfully, then all at once.
~
Look, Steve had never been in love. He cared for Peggy, he lusted after her. But the truth was, he hadn’t gotten to know her well enough to truly love her.
He loved Bucky, in a platonic sense. Hell, he considered Bucky a brother.
But true, romantic love? He never knew what that was like. How could he? After all, he’d never fallen for someone.
That is, until now.
~
Tony Stark was one helluva man, anyone who even heard of him had to admit to that. He was clever, clever as all get out, and he knew it too. He never apologized for being the smartest man in the room. He had created so much, and had the potential and ability to create so much more. He was pretty damn attractive too, to boot.
Him and Steve originally got along like cats and dogs - to say, not at all. Steve compared Tony to his father. Tony compared Steve to an ideation.
But they were forced to work together, and they fought together, and throughout all the head-butting and passive aggression, a begrudging friendship was born. Steve respected Tony’s mind, Tony respected Steve’s command. It was a truce they were willing to stick by.
Then, it got deeper than that.
And deeper.
And deeper.
Soon, the two were nearly inseparable. They had developed what Clint deemed a “true bromance”.
And that was the end of it, right? It couldn’t get bad from there?
Wrong.
For Steve, anything could always go wrong.
~
It all started when, in the colder months, Tony started wearing a new set of clothes under his suit. Something more insulated, more flexible for movement.
Something skin tight.
Now, Steve Rogers was nothing if not a gentleman, his Ma made sure of that. But if found his eyes wandering when Tony stepped out of the Iron Man suit for debriefings…
Well, it didn’t mean anything, right?
~
It only escalated from there.
Soon, Steve’s eyes were wandering every time Tony bent down, or sat a certain way, or stretched.
It was developing into a serious problem.
Steve knew he was bi. Always had known, just never told anybody, never felt a need to or safe enough to. But now? He was really beginning to wish he had Bucky back, just to give him someone to confide in.
And now, every time Tony walked into the room, Steve’s eyes were drawn to his...assets, and not in the way that he figured would be appreciated.
Then, it escalated further.
Steve started noticing Tony more and more, and not simply in a sexual sense. No, he started noticing the grease lining the older man’s jaw when he emerged from working in his shop. He started to notice when the light hit Tony’s dark eyes, they turned a remarkable shade of gold. He started to notice how Tony only ate and drank water when he was forced to, especially when Steve forced him too. He noticed how, sometimes, when Tony thought no one was watching, he’d drop his cocksure mask, just for a moment.
Just in time for Steve to get a glimpse of the man underneath.
It almost lead Steve to believe that maybe, maybe he had a chance.
But then, of course, all hell broke loose.
~
Chaos erupted in the Tower as Steve and Natasha came back from their mission in Russia, cleaning up the last of HYDRA agents, Steve carrying the body of an unconscious man over his shoulders. An unconscious man with long hair, in all black. An unconscious man with a metal arm.
“What the...” Tony started, but his words failed him as he took in Steve’s bloodshot eyes and pale face. Had he been...crying?
“It’s him, Tony.” Steve said, voice thick and exhausted and grieving, yet undeniably happy all at once. “It’s Bucky.”
~
Bucky became Steve’s priority for a long time. At first he was quiet, unresponsive, treating onlookers to a dirty glare that rattled even Natasha. Then, he would scream violently in Russian, struggling to get out of the cell designed to hold the Hulk himself. Then, he slumped in the corner and refused to look at anyone, seemingly confused.
It broke Steve’s heart, seeing his childhood best friend reduced to this, a thoughtless machine. But he knew he could break Bucky.
He had to.
~
On the rare occasions that Steve would leave the room containing Bucky, he’d often run into Tony. The genius seemed...distant, almost, not quite himself. As though he were wearing the same mask he wore when he first started working alongside Steve a few years ago.
But Steve couldn’t worry about that now, though, he had to get back to Bucky, back to fixing Bucky.
But he couldn’t help the pain of longing every time Tony flashed that press-conference smile at him. Longing for the real Tony.
~
After a while, things started looking up. Bucky was more responsive, allowing Steve to give him food and water. He murmured words under his breath, words that almost sounded like English again.
And when Bucky looked at Steve one day, and clear as day said, “I know you.”?
Steve broke down in the tears of a truly despondent man.
~
Once the initial breakthrough happened, it was all too easy to get Bucky back on his feet. He began remembering more and more about Steve, about his sister, about his parents and Steve’s Ma. He took to following Steve around like a lost puppy, glaring at anyone who he deemed a threat. He never, however, lost the habit of carrying at least two knives and one gun on his person at all times.
And one person he never seemed to deem a threat?
One Tony Stark.
~
“Hey Robocop!” Tony greeted Bucky cheerfully, one hand holding coffee and the other holding his cell phone. “Morning, Steve!”
Steve said his own greeting to Tony, smiling, and Bucky looked bemused.
When Tony wandered away, talking into his phone about security plans and other indecipherable technobabble, Bucky turned to Steve and raised an eyebrow, still not really willing to talk unless prompted.
Steve raised an eyebrow back. “What?”
Bucky sighed. “How long have you been sweet on the mini-Stark over there?” He said bluntly, sighing again when Steve choked on his juice. “Christ Stevie, always one for dramatics.”
“You...I...I’m not…” Steve said helplessly.
Bucky took pity on him after a few minutes of his aimless stammering. “Pal, you look at the guy like he hung the stars. Hell, you look at him like he is a damn star.” Steve still didn’t respond, and Bucky’s eyebrows slowly creeped towards his hairline. “My God, you didn’t even realize ‘til now, did you?” When Steve remained silent once more, he guffawed, slapping the counter they sat at. “Oh hell, that’s priceless pal, that’s priceless. C’mon, what did you think it was, friendship?”
Steve glared at him. “It doesn’t matter anyway.” He said tersley, inwardly revelling at Bucky acting like his old self. “He’s straight.”
Bucky rolled his eyes. “That boy’s as straight as a slinky. He was moonin’ over you just the same as you were to him. Go talk to him, you great dumbass.”
~
And so there Steve was, outside of Tony’s workshop, flowers getting crushed in his hand as he paced back and forth.
“Hey Tony, I want to tell you something...no no, that sounds dumb. Hey Tony, long time no see, eh?...no, what the hell Steve, that's just weird. Tony, I love you. There, nice and straightforward, right? Tony…” He sighed to himself, leaning back against the door. “Tony.”
Then, the door he had leaned against opened, and he just barely caught himself before he fell through the door and crushed...Tony.
“Hey Cap.” The genius said, looking confused. “You alright? And what...what are those…?” His eyebrows drew together as he saw the flowers, and Steve immediately regretted all the actions in his life that led him to this exact moment.
“Flowers?” Steve offered hesitantly, shoving the offending plants into Tony’s chest.
“Why?” Tony drawled, taking them, still looking very lost. He was so cute. Like a little lost puppy.
Steve took a large breath. “Because me and Buck were talking and we got to talking about you and he made me realize I’m kinda in love with you and I have been for a very long time and I’ve just been so remarkably stupid about it and didn’t even realize it was love until now because I’ve never been in love before so I had no idea what it was like and I just-”
Tony cut Steve off in what very well might have been the best way possible.
He kissed him.
“I love you too, you gigantic loser.” Tony muttered when they finally parted, stars hanging in his eyes. “Always have.”
Steve grinned, and they kissed again, and everything was perfect.
That is, until Bucky wolf-whistled from the entrance to the hallway and ruined the damn moment. Steve laughed.
He really did have everything, huh? His best friend, his first love.
First love.
Had a nice ring to it, eh?
He looked down at Tony and smiled.
First love.