Chapter 10
Saturday rolled around really fast. Bucky had spent the night at Steve’s, under Sarah Rogers’ very watchful eye.
“You will keep the door open at all times,” she said. Referring to Steve’s bedroom door, she did not want the two teenagers having sex so soon.
That was proving to be very challenging Saturday morning when Bucky woke up rock hard in his pajama pants. His beautiful boyfriend was sleeping right next to him. But while Sarah was up banging around in the kitchen Bucky did not dare to act on his urges.
Bucky shook Steve awake, the smell of eggs and bacon were calling his name.
“Steve,” Bucky whispered as he shook him.
“Wha?” Steve grumbled trying to escape Bucky’s touches.
“Your mom is making breakfast,” Steve’s head shot up. That certainly got his attention. Bucky watched Steve begrudgingly roll out of bed. He looked so adorable in his mismatched pajamas and wild bed head.
They made their way to the kitchen, Bucky a few steps behind Steve.
“Good morning boys,” Sarah greeted while scrambling eggs on the stove.
“Morning ma,” Steve said sitting down on the barstool at the kitchen’s counter.
“Good morning Mrs. Rogers,” Bucky smiled sitting next to Steve.
She smiled back at them as she stood in her scrubs hair tied in a loose bun. She was about to leave for her shift at the hospital. She worked in the ER as a trauma surgeon.
“So, What are you boys planning on doing today?” She asked sweetly.
“We’re going on Clint’s boat,” Steve told her as she placed a plate eggs in front of each of them.
“Will there be any adults?” She asked eyeing him with concern.
“Clint’s older brother,” Bucky responded digging into his eggs.
“How old is he?” She asked, which with Sarah felt more like an interrogation.
“I don’t know 24 maybe,” Steve said. “He owns his own snorkeling and scuba diving company.”
“Okay,” Sarah said content with her son’s safety. “Sounds fun,” she agreed.
Sarah kisses Steve on the head and picks up her purse. “Alright boys I’m off, have fun and be safe tonight,” she said.
“We will, Love you mom,” Steve said.
“Bye Mrs. Rogers.”
“Love you boys,” Sarah called out as she left through the garage door.
—
Natasha sat in the parking lot of Oahu Bay Marina with Clint. She had been in a constant state of anxiety since the conception of “operation get Bucky in the water”. She’s paranoid, it’s the Russian in her. She hopes she’s convinced Steve and Bucky that everything is normal between them.
“Tash,” Clint said from the drivers seat. “Calm down, I can feel your anxiety from here.”
Natasha looked at him with watery eyes, “I feel like a bad friend.”
“Why?” Clint asked. “He’s hiding something from us, we’re his best friends don’t we deserve to know. I mean Steve knows.”
“What if he’s not hiding something from us!” she snapped. “What if we get him in the water and he freaks out because he can’t swim or he’s actually terrified to be in water.”
“Yes that would be horrible,” Clint agreed. “But that’s the worst case scenario, he’d think it was an accident and we could still be friends with him Tash. He doesn’t have to know about this plan ever.”
Natasha nodded, she knew Clint was right. Even then it’s too late to back out anyway, Steve and Bucky had just pulled up to the marina. Their smiles excited and happy they made Natasha’s heart clench. The smiles would be gone soon.
“Let’s get this over with,” she said getting out of the car.
—
Bucky pulled up to the marina, Steve was in the passenger seat. He watched Natasha get out of Clint’s car and smile and wave at them.
Bucky smiled and waved back and got out of the car. He pulled his best friend into a hug, she felt tense.
“Are you okay?” he asked looking her in the eyes. She looked away and her smile fell.
“Clint and I are having a little disagreement,” she revealed with a sad smile.
“Do you wanna talk about it?” He asked with a look of concern, she couldn’t look him in the eyes.
“Maybe later,” she said meekly taking off in the direction of the boat.
Steve had grabbed their bag from the trunk of the car and walked up next to Bucky, “is she okay?” Steve asked referring to Natasha.
“I think so,” Bucky said with doubtful tone. Steve shrugged and they walked down to the dock to the boat.
But Bucky didn’t see Clint’s boat, instead he saw a decent size yacht with Tony fucking Stark at the helm.
Steve and Bucky looked at each other, they were under the impression they would be going on Clint’s brother’s boat.
“Hey!” Sam called from the end of the dock catching up with them.
“Hey Sam, I thought we were going on Clint’s boat,” Steve questioned.
“Um yeah,” Sam looked uncomfortable. “Change of plans, Tony volunteered one of his dad’s yachts.”
“Oh,” Steve said looking at Bucky skeptically.
“Don’t worry it’ll be fun,” Sam said trying to reassure them.
The boat was huge, it was sleek and white with black trim. It was multi story, with lower and upper levels. The windows were tinted black and it had LED lights on the bottom and tops of the boat illuminating the water below them with a variety of different colors.
Bucky walked up the ramp to the boat’s deck, so far it was only Tony and the captain stood on the boat.
Bucky, Steve, and Sam climbed aboard.
“Hello friends,” Tony called with an obnoxious sailors hat perched on his big head. Bucky rolled his eyes, he couldn’t stand this guy.
“Hey Tony,” Sam greeted with a smile, since when did those two get so close?
“Hi,” Steve said awkwardly, “thanks for inviting us on your boat,” he said rubbing the back of his neck.
“No! Thank you for coming,” Tony said obnoxiously already sounding a little intoxicated. “This is gonna be a fun night trust me,” he said with a conniving little wink.
“I’m sure it will be,” Bucky said with a sarcastic edge walking Steve away from that jackass and over to back of the boat with all the deck furniture.
They sat on one of the plush couches, Bucky wrapped up under Steve’s skinny arm. Sharing his warmth since Steve was starting to get chilly with the persistent sea breeze.
Natasha and Clint walked to the deck a couple minutes later. They seemed edgy, they’d been fighting after all.
“Hey,” Bucky waved at Clint.
“What’s up?” Clint nodded back.
“I’m good, you?” Bucky responded.
“Same old, same old,” Clint said with a cheeky smile as Nat and him plopped down on separate deck chairs.
Tony soon followed Clint and Nat, “we are now officially ready to set sail!” He announced stumbling on the deck. How can somebody already be drunk at 2pm?
The boat began to move slowly out of the marina, the further they sailed out into the ocean the calmer Bucky became. His limbs tingled with the salty ocean breeze, he wanted to shift. Sometimes it feels like he’s a junky in a room full of heroin. He felt itchy.
Steve noticed Bucky’s change in demeanor, “why are you so antsy?” Steve asked playfully, Bucky kept moving in his seat uncomfortably.
“My body thinks I’m about to shift,” Bucky told him. “So it’s preparing itself.”
“What does it feel like?” Steve asked quietly.
“Like a really intense craving,” Bucky confessed, “kinda like a drug addict, I feel kinda itchy.”
Steve laughed and cuddled into his side, “let me know if you need to go inside or anything,” he said more concerned. Bucky nodded and smiled.
“What are you love birds talking about over there?,” Nat asked taking a sip of her soda.
“Nothing, just how nice it feels outside,” Steve lied, he was getting better at this.
“It’s a beautiful day,” Nat agreed laying back on her deck chair and taking in the sun’s ray.
—
The boat sailed until it reached the open ocean, the Hawaiian coast barely visible on the horizon. It was beautiful. The captain released the anchors late in the afternoon after touring the coastlines and the most beautiful places it had to offer. Bucky had already swam to all of them of course, but it was still stunning from the boat’s vantage point.
When the sun began to fall in the sky is when Nat and Clint started breaking out the alcohol. Sam, Steve, and Bucky opted not drink. Tony had been wasted all day.
Before they got too drunk, Nat and Clint decided to get in the water. The yacht had a inflatable water slide, they blew it up and off into the water they went. Sam not far behind.
Tony came up to them, “not getting in the water?” He asked condescendingly.
“Nope,” Bucky said bluntly trying to ignore him.
“That’s too bad, I wish I could go but my dad says I’m not allowed to swim when I’m drunk anymore.”
“Smart man,” Bucky commented.
“Steve you don’t have a fake fear of water why don’t you join?” Tony asked, Bucky felt his heart raise rise and his fists clench. He fucking hated this guy.
“I can’t swim,” Steve mumbled looking embarrassed.
“You what?” Tony asked incredulously.
“I can’t swim,” Steve said louder looking ashamed.
“Why not?” Tony asked obnoxiously.
“Couldn’t because of my hearing aid,” Steve told him, “I only recently got it off so I never learned.”
“Man that’s a shame, well at least Bucky here has somebody to sit with when he lies to all his friends,” Tony said with a wicked smile.
Bucky stood up suddenly looming over Tony, he had at least 5 inches on him. “Why the fuck are you so obsessed with the fact I don’t want to get in the water?” Bucky yelled.
“I want to know the truth, simple as that,” Tony said. “It’s just a little fishy,” Tony said with a wink.
Bucky’s heart dropped, he knew. Tony fucking Stark had to know he was a merman why else would he say that.
“You don’t know anything,” Bucky growled storming off.
“I never said I did!” Tony called at Bucky.
—
“Bucky calm down,” Steve said as he watched his boyfriend hyperventilate in the bathroom. He rubbed his back in an attempt to calm him down. He’d worked himself into a panic after Tony’s comments.
“I can’t — I -I he knows Steve,” Bucky sobbed tears rolling down his cheeks. “He’s gonna tell someone and I’m gonna spend the rest of my life in a government lab.”
“Shhhh,” Steve comforted. “We don’t know that he knows for sure, it could be a coincidence.”
Bucky took several deep breaths, “I don’t want to die in a lab Steve. It’s happened before and it’ll happen again.”
“Bucky you’re not gonna die in a lab, I won’t let that happen,” Steve said sternly grabbing Bucky by the shoulders and looking him in his eyes. His were red from crying and some how the contrast made his eyes even more beautiful. “Now compose yourself and we’ll face that dickhead together, he’s not gonna prevent us from having a fun night.”
“Can we stand by the water? It might calm me down.”
“Of course,” Steve replied.
—
Bucky stood by the edge of the water, he had stopped crying and everything was starting to feel a lot less like the end of the world.
“You good?” Steve asked sweetly beside him, placing his hand on Bucky’s arm. They had sat in a comfortable silence and watched the sunset together. The sky faded into twilight, Bucky decided he needed to face Tony.
He took Steve’s hand and guided him to the back deck where he heard music and the voices of his three closest friends and Tony.
“Hey Bucky!” Nat called from her chair.
“Hi,” he waved.
Steve had wandered off to the edge of the boat where he looked into the deep waters. Bucky looked back at him with a smile.
The part of the railing the Steve had been leaning on happened to be a gate. So when a drunk Tony came stumbling around the corner accidentally bumping into Steve. The gate opens and Steve falls into the water.
“Steve!” Bucky yelled. All five of them ran to the edge of the boat.
Steve struggled to stay a float, “hel- help,” he struggled to call in between panicked breaths. He was illuminated by the boats lights.
“Is anybody gonna help him!” Bucky yelled panicked, they all took a step back. “Clint!” Bucky cried.
They just looked at him, they wanted him to get in the water. This was all a fucking ploy to get him in the water! They but Steve’s life in danger because they wanted to see why Bucky wouldn’t get in the water. Well fuck them.
“I can’t do this anymore,” Bucky whispered pulling off his shirt and kicking off his shoes. If they wanted to know so bad, they could know.
He took a running dive off the side of the boat. The water was cold, it knocked the breath out of Bucky’s lungs. He felt the shift take over.
He swam and grabbed Steve around his skinny waist, Steve was exhausted he collapsed against Bucky’s shoulder.
“Buck,” he whined.
It broke his heart, “I’m here Stevie, I’m here.” Steve slumped back on shoulder.
Bucky managed to get the two back on the deck of the boat. Only to be met with four pairs of wonderstruck eyes.
He thinks he actually heard Natasha gasp.