On, Wisconsin!

Sleep was essentially impossible after the nightmare, like usual. You had woken up screaming around 4:30 a.m. and Bucky stayed up with you for the rest of the night after he reassured Steve about a hundred times that he’ll be able to take care of you.

You and Bucky sat on the bed, leaning against the headboard, talking about nothing for a good hour. The only interaction between you two was Bucky rubbing slow, gentle circles on the top of your hand while unspoken words hung in the air. Crickets chirp a quiet symphony just outside the window above the bed.

“How you doin’, doll?” His voice was as light and gentle as the touch of a feather.

You shrug in response.  

He exhales a long, deep sigh, then puts your hand down, moving to slide off the bed.

“I’m gonna go make some coffee,” Bucky stretches, his shirt lifting up to reveal just how low his flannel pants were hanging on his body. “You want some?”

“Yeah, that’d be great,” you muster up the best smile you could manage. Bucky nods and pushes the curtains back to reveal the rest of the room, then turns out of view into the kitchen. A few minutes later, the smell of coffee drifts into the air. Steve walks up the steps and stands in the doorway of the sunroom, stretching his body upwards, his hands brushing the top of the frame. Bucky walks back in with two white mugs of steaming coffee.

“G’mornin’, Stevie,” Bucky beams at him, handing him one of the mugs.

“Thanks, Buck,” Steve yawns, smiling tiredly, rubbing at his eyes with the back of his free hand. Bucky turns around, handing the other mug to you.

“Thanks,” you mutter. Bucky hums in response, taking a seat on the end of the bed near your feet. It almost seems instinctive and natural when Bucky lays a hand over the top of your foot, rubbing more soft circles over the blanket.

“So,” Steve pulls out a chair from the table. He sits down and uses the empty seat next to him as a footrest. “What’s on the agenda for today?”

Bucky turns his head from Steve to you, raising an eyebrow as he asks a silent question.

“Um…,” you blink. “I was thinking that we could check out Copper Falls. I’ve been there before, the hiking trails are really cool, and I think the weather should be perfect for some hiking today.”

“Sounds great to me,” Bucky smiles. Steve shoots a thumbs-up as he downs more coffee.

The hiking trails were absolutely beautiful. The weather was perfect, the views were breathtaking, and the hours flew by all too quickly. The waterfalls were serene and calming, diminishing the haunting remnants of the nightmare that was tainting your conscience. The boys especially loved the trip. They would have races up and down the trails, which were (thankfully) nearly empty, but they spent most of their time wading through the shallower water and stacking rock towers near the second bridge on the trail.

At one point Bucky asked you to take his picture as he posed on the top of a huge rock. Before you snapped the shot, you saw Steve’s head pop up from behind the rock, holding a single finger up to his mouth to tell you not to say anything.

“Alright, Buck, 1…2…,” you snap the picture just as Steve pushes Bucky to the side. He flails off the rock, landing in a deeper pool of water.

“DAMMIT STEVE,” he growls as he sits up in the water. He’s completely soaked, backpack and all. “Were you in on this?” He points an accusatory finger in your direction.

“Me?” You dramatically clutch your chest with your free hand, blinking at him with baby doll eyes. “Now why would I ever be in on such a thing?”

Bucky glares at you, seemingly not amused by your sarcastic tone.

“That’s it,” he pulls himself up, water trickling down his face from his hair and dripping off his thoroughly wet clothing. “Come heeeere, Stevie,” he holds out his arms, pouting. “Come give your old pal a hug.”

“No thanks,” Steve laughs, taking a few steps back. Bucky makes up for the distance by moving forward.

“Oh, come on,” Bucky’s goofy smile lights up his face. “You don’t want to break my heart, do you?” He starts sprinting towards Steve, arms still outstretched. Steve takes off, doing his best to escape from Bucky’s grab.

The sight unfolding before you truly is one for the record books. This is fucking golden.

You dig your phone back out of your pocket, ready to take capture this moment forever when you look up from your screen to see Steve diving behind you, grabbing both of your arms, and using you as a human shield. Bucky stops a few feet away and grins.

“STEVE NO,” you try to wriggle out of his hold, but his grip on you is insanely strong and sturdy.

“Sorry, Y/N, but I’m gonna need you to take one for the tEAM, SHIT,” his voice cracks as he giggles like a child, pushing you forward as Bucky takes another step closer.

“AWW, C’mere, doll!” Bucky squeals like a child getting a puppy on Christmas. The water from his still-soaked clothing seeps into yours.

“BUCKY, LET ME GO,” you protest, muffled by his chest. You can smell Bucky’s body wash and cologne through the earthly smell of the water.

“Fiiine,” he huffs, releasing you from his strong bear-like hug. The whole front of you shirt is soaked, sticking to your skin. Some of your loose hair sticks to the side of your face, making flat, wiggly patterns. Bucky does his best to stifle his laugh, but breaks into a fit of uncontrollable laughter.

“I’m actually going to kill both of you,” you groan, arms hanging away from your body.

“Ya know, you always say that, but never actually do anything,” Bucky puts his hands on his hips, taking a strong stance, recovering from his fit.

“Don’t test me, Barnes.”

You spent the rest of the hike fanning your shirt with your hat, hoping the cold water would evaporate quickly. By the time you got back to the cabin, you were completely dry, but the urge to go swimming burned in your mind.

“Let’s go swimming,” you blurt out. Steve looks over at you from the driver’s seat as he shifts the car into park. You two mutually agreed to force Bucky to sit in the back seats because he was still wet even after you finished the hike.

“I’d love to go swimming,” Steve agrees. He looks at Bucky in the rearview mirror.

“I’m already soaked, so, why not,” Bucky shrugs. After changing into the same suit from the day before, you meet Steve and Bucky down at the dock. You carried down three towels, a bluetooth speaker that could float, a pack of cold beer fresh from the fridge, and some sandwiches. Steve was already sitting in one of the back seats, the edge of the boat tipping towards the water at a sharp angle. Bucky smiles, his eyes hidden behind a pair of dark sunglasses.

“There she is,” he tosses the rope into the boat, holding it to the dock with his right hand. He motions with his metal hand from you to the boat.

“Thanks,” you mumble as you carefully stagger onto the boat, handing off the food and beers to Steve, trying not to drop the towels and the speaker into the water. Bucky lowers himself in after you, the boat balancing out between your weights. You and Bucky work together to paddle out towards the middle of the lake. Once the anchor was thrown down, you stand up, taking in the beautiful views of the sun hanging lower in the sky and the swaying trees around you.

“Wow,” Steve gasps behind you. A thought suddenly pops into your head. You look up at Bucky and see that he’s wearing a shit-eating grin, already thinking the same thing. After a quick nod, you both turn around and climb over the seats behind you. Steve was standing at the edge of the boat, gazing out over the lake. “This is beaut- SHIT!” His voice cracks through the silence as your hands push against his warm skin, Bucky’s right next to yours, sending Steve flying into the dark water. He quickly bobs back up, his blonde hair sticking to the sides of his head and face.

“So that’s how it’s gonna be?”

You can Bucky simultaneously accuse each other. You turn and face him.

“Bucky, don’t you dare,” you shake your head, taking a big step back.

“Don’t dare to do what?” A large smirk creeps up one side of his face.

“Stop messin’ with me,” you can’t help but giggle. Just as Bucky creeps closer, Steve pops up, grabbing his legs and tossing him over his shoulder, landing in the water on his back. When Bucky comes back up, he launches at Steve, pushing him under the water. While the boys were wrestling in the water, you turn back to the front of the boat, grabbing the speaker and turning on one of your playlists. Glorious by Macklemore began blaring through the speaker, the music bursting into the quiet air over the sounds of Bucky and Steve trying to drown each other.

You sat on the edge of the boat, feet in the cool water, laughing to yourself as Bucky slips through Steve’s chokehold.

“Don’t think you can escape this so easily,” Bucky swims over to you, but is yanked back by Steve grabbing his leg. He chokes on some water, and twists his body in the water, glaring through Steve. “Dammit, Steve.”

Steve somehow dodges Bucky’s grab and swims around him to ladder on the boat. The boat tips and sways under his weight, sending little waves into the water.

“Why don’t you join us?” Steve asks you, using his hand to push back his wet hair from his face.

“Because you too are being - STEVE, PUT ME DOWN,” you squeal as Steve lifts you from the edge of the boat, carrying you bridal style in his arms.

“What do you say, Buck? Don’t you think she should join us?”

“I sure think so,” Bucky laughs. “This was her idea in the first place.”

The last thing you heard before you hit the water was your squeals of displeasure mixed with the chorus of the song.

About two hours later, the sun had begun to set. Steve and Bucky blew through three sandwiches each, and you and Bucky were on the last two beers. Steve had fallen asleep on the back of boat some time ago, his snoring carrying out over the now-calm waters, masked by the music softly pumping from the speaker. Light oranges and pinks had started to hungrily consume the pale blue sky as the sun sunk further towards the horizon behind the trees.

“This trip has been fantastic,” Bucky comments quietly. You’re both sitting on the edge of the front part of the boat, feet dangling in the water below you.

“Has it been worth all of your groaning and whining about the ride up here?” You tease him.

“Totally,” he chuckles, looking off towards the trees lining the lake. “How are you feeling?”

“What do you mean?” You slightly turn your head towards him, giving him a questioning glance.

“After last night,” he continues softly. “I just want to make sure you’re okay.”

“O-Oh, yeah, that…It was just a nightmare, Buck. Don’t worry about it.”

“Do you have them a lot?” He takes a drink of his beer.

“Not as much as I used to,” you copy him.

“Sometimes when I can’t sleep at the compound, I head to the gym. You’re there every time,” he adds.

“Yeah, I, uh, just blow off steam after I have ‘em. Helps with the anxiety, calms me down.” You bring up a foot, splashing a little bit of water into the air.

“I get it,” Bucky nods. “What was your nightmare about? If you, uh, don’t mind me asking.”

“I don’t mind,” you sigh. You’ve never confided in anyone like this before, but something about being around Bucky makes you feel safe, like you can trust him with anything, even your biggest secrets. “I was running through these woods in the winter time. Someone was chasing after me, and I tripped. Then a heavy boot stepped on my chest, but the person was wearing a mask, pointing a gun directly at my forehead. When they took off the mask, it…it was me. The other me asked if I could ‘handle what I dish out’, then everything went black after a shot rang out.”

You release a shaky breath as you sit in silence for a few long seconds.

“What does that mean?” Bucky’s voice is tender and hesitant as if he doesn’t want to pry too deep, but also can’t contain his curiosity. “The whole ‘can’t handle what you dish out’ part?”

“Um, I, uh…,” you stop yourself before you could spill any other information. A deep pit of resentment and loathing begins to grow in your stomach.

“You don’t have to talk about it anymore, doll. We can talk about it when you’re ready to,” Bucky brushes the side of his hand against yours. The boat begins to sway as Steve rolls over in his sleep. You think nothing of it until you hear something large drop into the water. You bolt to your feet, straddling the small divider between the sets of seats, and watch as Steve’s head bobs above the surface of the water, choking on lake water.

“What the hell just happened,” he groggily asks, dribbles of water running into his eyes from his hair.

“Let’s get you back to the cabin,” Bucky chuckles. “C’mon.” He groans as he hauls Steve up from the ladder. He hands Steve his towel and climbs back over the divider, pulling up the anchor. Instead of sitting, Steve spreads his body over the back seats, his feet hanging over the edge of the boat, resting inches above the water. You’re surely convinced this man can sleep anywhere and at any time if he’s tired enough, because as soon as his head hits his makeshift pillow of towels, he’s out again. As you settle back into your seat, Bucky touches your shoulder.

“I want to tell you something later, once we get Steve in bed.”