Chapter 12
Coming to the party had been a mistake.
Luckily for Steve, his fever broke the night before and he had the pleasure of seeing Bucky in a three piece suit (courtesy of Sam). The man had his hair up in a neat bun, face clean shaven, and Steve's mouth had actually hung open when he first saw him all dressed up.
Honestly, no one should look that irresistible- it just wasn't fair to the rest of the human race. Awestruck, Steve's brain couldn't get his mouth to move and Bucky, the jerk, had simply put his finger under the aliens jaw to shut his mouth with a 'click'.
Cheeks burning, Steve stuttered out some kind of compliment and wished for the ground to swallow him whole.
"Thanks, babydoll. You don't look too bad yourself," Bucky smiled back before they left for the party. And Steve, just for a second, considered staying home and drawing Bucky in that form fitting suit but let himself get dragged into Sam's car instead.
He should've talked himself into staying home.
Because he wasn't the only person that noticed how insanely attractive Bucky was.
When they arrived to Stark Tower, where the party was being held, it was already crowded. Bodies were pressed tightly against each other and music pulsed through the large, open room.
Steve winced and reached up to turn off his hearing aid, he didn't see Thor or Loki anywhere. In fact, he didn't see anyone he recognized at all and when he turned around to talk to Bucky, he was gone.
Grumbling, Steve pushed his way out of the sea of bodies concentrated in the middle of the room and breathed in relief when he saw Clint near the tables of food.
He didn't try to yell to him, sure that his hearing aids were off too and instead tapped on his shoulder lightly.
"Hey, man, I didn't know you were here already," the blonde man said while stuffing some kind of pastry in his mouth. "Great party, right?"
"There's a lot more people here than last year," Steve said clearly, keeping his mouth in Clint's view so he could lip read what he was saying. "I already lost Buck! And I can't find Loki or Thor to congratulate them."
Clint chewed, speaking loudly, "Thor was getting more Asgardian beer and Loki was ignoring everyone so," he shrugged. "Can't believe you lost Bucky though."
Steve ran both hands down his face and looked out at the crowd on the dance floor but he didn't see Bucky.
"He was right behind me and then he was gone!"
"That sucks, man," Clint then pouted, watching his brownie break off and drop to the floor. "Aw, brownie no..."
Waving goodbye to Clint, Steve started to walk around in search of Bucky. Servers walked around with all kinds of drinks and light snacks but Steve declined them politely, making his way through the many people again.
He had been looking forward to hanging out with Bucky tonight and now he couldn't even find him.
"Is that Steve Rogers, I see?" A large beefy hand came down on his shoulder and he just about jumped out of his skin. "Where have you been, friend? The celebration started hours ago!"
Looking up, Steve had to crane his neck to see Thor looming over him with a toothy smile. The god was dressed in his usual armor and his hair was longer than it had been last time Steve saw him.
"Thor, this place is a two hour drive from my cabin," he said distractedly, eyes combing the crowd for any sign of Bucky.
"But you arrived safe, yes?" Steve sighed, pulling his eyes away from the crowd. "Tony of the Starks told me you had a very handsome date tonight, where is he? I can tell you if he's worthy."
A low, awkward cough broke into their conversation as Bucky appeared at Steve's side, "Stevie? I thought I lost ya."
Steve couldn't believe how relieved he was to find Bucky standing beside him but it was, sadly, short lived when he realized there was a smiling woman hanging off Bucky's arm.
She was unquestionably pretty, dark hair piled on her head stylishly and blue dress clinging to every curve of her body. Her eyes were a dark brown and they positively glittered when she looked at Bucky.
It made Steve feel sick.
"I couldn't find you," Steve weakly gestured to Thor next to him. "This is Thor and Thor, this is Bucky."
Bucky stuck out his free hand and only cringed a little when Thor shook it tightly. The woman at his side lit up when Bucky turned to introduce her and Steve could feel the dread circling in his gut.
"This is Stella, she was helping me find you guys," he explained while giving Steve a sheepish grin. "Lovely event, though. This party is packed!"
Stella pulled at Bucky's arm, whispering something to him before dragging him back out onto the floor without so much as a goodbye. Frowning, Thor squeezed his shoulder gently.
"Was that tall man your date?" Steve shrugged. Was Bucky his date? He agreed to be his 'plus one' but not anything more than that… Yet, it had been implied, right? "Ah, I see you are still in the first stages of young love. A truly magnificent time."
Love? Is that what he kept feeling when Bucky would flash him that carefree smile and ruffle his hair? Is that what filled his chest and burned his cheeks when Bucky called him doll?
Is that what was causing this horribly nasty feeling right now?
"Thor-"
"No, do not worry, " Thor said with a large smile. "If you are meant to be then you will be together no matter what, the universe will help you. Look at me and my brother, we have never been happier!"
Steve sighed, "You really have to stop calling him your brother."
"But he is," the god said bluntly.
"Yes but," he paused, trying to find the right words. "Humans don't mate with their brothers. It's looked down on and illegal in the United States-"
"But he's adopted," Thor interrupted with a booming laugh. "Humans are so cute and small and you should enjoy the party! Do not let unworthy men steal your smile, Steve Rogers!"
In a whirlwind of movement that should've been impossible for the bulky god, Thor was gone and dancing in the crowd.
Steve wasn't interested in dancing and now that Bucky was off somewhere with someone else, all he wanted to do was go home. Every year the parties had a longer invite list and maybe it was just him, but the room was getting too stuffy to breathe.
Laughter and music pounded in his ears, the excitement from earlier was long gone now.
He escaped from the room in a hurry, desperate for fresh air and a clear mind. As Bucky's friend, he should be happy that he's comfortable enough to talk to other people.
So why did he want to punch a damn wall when he saw Stella glued to his side?
Outside, the air was cool and refreshing. His lungs filled easily now, his throat stinging a little from the freezing air and his skin was already starting to get goosebumps.
"Leaving the party so soon?" Steve whipped his head around at the sound of Bucky's voice, no Stella in sight. "We just arrived."
"Had to get away for a bit, you know how my hearing aid acts up," he said with a pained smile. "What happened to Stella?"
The human squinted at him, "What do you mean? She helped me find you guys and then I walked her back to her friends. But when I came back, you were gone and I was getting a death glare from Nat."
Huh. He hadn't seen Natasha when he was in there. Steve was selfishly happy to know that Bucky wasn't interested in Stella though.
"C'mon, what are you really doing out here in the cold again?" Bucky asked, rubbing his arms to keep warm. "I know I'm a great nurse but that doesn't mean you should keep trying to get sick."
"I'm really just out here for fresh air, " Steve muttered with a pout.
Bucky didn't look convinced and stepped closer to pull Steve into a tight hug. His metal hand rubbed slow circles into his back and the other came down to pet his hair.
"I can tell when you're fibbing, Stevie," he whispered. Steve lifted his head to look up into Bucky's clear, beautiful eyes. "If you want to go home, we can."
He buried his face into the human's chest and tightened his arms around Bucky's waist. The temperature was below zero and even though he was cold, Steve didn't want to step out of the embrace yet.
"I want to stay like this for a bit," he admitted quietly.
And they did.
They had enjoyed the rest of the party. Steve got around to introducing Bucky to Loki as well and Bucky managed to get Steve to dance towards the end of the night. All of it was rather nice and Steve was amazed by Bucky's ability to disarm anyone with a smile.
He had been giving Natasha a goodbye kiss on the cheek when Tony and Pepper appeared.
"I told you we were going to be late," Pepper said behind a forced smile. She gave them a tiny wave and left to give the gods the gift she brought.
Tony shrugged, slipping his sunglasses off, "Never hurts to be fashionably late."
"No, you're past fashionably anything, " Sam snorted. "Now you're just late late and Loki's pissed."
"He doesn't even like me," Tony grumbled with a short eye roll. He turned, smiling brightly at Steve and Bucky. "My two favorite emotionally constipated friends, how are you?"
"What did you just-"
"You heard me, Bucko," the alien interrupted lightly. "Did you guys talk about what I offered? I have to go back to my home planet soon and I'd prefer we get those tests done before that."
Sam crossed his arms, mouth twisting in confusion and Steve jumped into the conversation before Sam could ask any questions.
"Yeah, we talked about it," he replied while snaking an arm around Bucky's waist. Steve could feel the tension bleeding out of him as he leaned into Steve's touch.
"Wonderful," Tony clapped, eyes gleaming. "Jarvis can run the scans in like, three seconds. A quick mouth swab and we'll be done."
Bucky leaned forward, "It's that easy?"
"Well… yeah," the alien looked around at their friends. "Jarvis is an efficient artificial intelligence system I created, he'll be doing most of the work."
Steve shot Bucky a worried glance but quickly realized that the human was fine. In fact, he flashed Tony a full smile, pearly whites and all.
"You're serious? No needles or anything?"
Tony crossed his arms, "What were you expecting? This isn't open heart surgery, Buckaroo. Alien technology is light years ahead of anything you humans have. The most invasive part would be the mouth swab and Steve can be right there to hold your hand through it."
Natasha punched the alien's arm, "Don't be an ass."
"I...," Bucky went quiet, staring at Tony as if he just offered him a million dollars. "I can do that."
"Wait, Buck, are you sure?" He asked in surprise.
"Yeah. I didn't know it would be that easy, I thought it was going to be lots of physical examinations and blood tests-" Bucky looked down at Steve, smoothing his thumb across Steve's jaw. "I can do this."
His eyes dropped to Bucky's lips and he tilted his head slightly, inviting Bucky to move closer and it was the most natural thing for him to do.
Until Tony started gagging obnoxiously, "Please stop doing that."
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Sam asked the alien, gripping the back of his space suit to steer him away from Steve and Bucky. "We're going to have a long talk about what the words 'confidential' and 'top secret' mean."
Tony groaned, "But you just left the files on your desk!"
"Not for your grubby little alien fingers to take," the agent shot back, pulling Tony out of the room.
Bucky shook his head, bumping his hip against Steve with a shy smile, "I can't believe I thought you liked him."
"You're the one that thinks he's handsome," he teased, laughing when Bucky instantly scowled.
"I never said that."
"Yes you did," Steve quipped back with a grin, straightening Bucky's tie. "Should I be worried, Buck?"
Bucky looked down into his eyes warmly, leaning in to press a kiss to Steve's cheek. His breath caught when he felt the gentle whisper of Bucky's lips against his skin and his entire face flushed hotly when Bucky straightened back up.
"You ain't got a single thing to worry about, Stevie," he whispered, trailing his index finger across the blush on Steve's face. "Not one thing."