Serendipity

Bucky sat on the couch watching baseball with his roommate Steve when his phone went off. He frowned crawling over Steve and grabbing it. "Hello?" He asked sleepily, it was 11pm and he had gotten up pretty early.

"Is this James Barnes?" a familiar female voice asked.

"Aunt Elaine?" he asked confused. Elaine Barrish was on the other end of the line, she wasn't really his aunt, but he'd been around her since he was two and it's all he knew her by.

"Hello James, How are you?" she asked, her voice becoming less political.

"M fine.. just a little sleepy, how about you? There has to be a reason you called" He said trying to be as polite as possible. Steve looked at him giving him a questioning look and he muted the tv so Bucky could hear better.

"I'm good. You're right, there is a reason I called you.. it's about Tj, I need a favor" She said clearing her throat slightly. In the background Bucky could hear TJ and Doug talking.

Bucky sat up to where he was on the edge of the couch. "What about him? Is everything okay?" he asked worried. He pictured his small brunet friend that looked remarkably like him, they hadn't talked in years, but he still cared deeply about him.

"He's not well James" she whispered so Tj and Doug couldn't hear her. "I was wondering if he could stay with you for a while in Brooklyn? I'd pay for all of his expenses of course, but the rest of us will be traveling for my campaign and I need someone to.. keep an eye on him".

Bucky was confused "what do you mean not well? Aunt Elaine, hes twenty five... I think he can take care of himself" Bucky chuckled, she always did overreact when it came to Tj.

Elaine sighed "I know James.. it's just... Can he please come stay with you for a little while?" she nervously looked at her two sons that were currently in a playful argument with each other "He needs a friend right now".

Bucky sighed pushing his hair back and looked at Steve who was watching him curiously. "Yeah sure, I could use some time to hang out with him anyways" he smiled thinking back to the last time he and seen the younger male.

Elaine smiled clapping her hands slightly and smiled softly. "Great! Is tomorrow too early for me to send him? The sooner I do it the better" she chuckled nervously.

Bucky gulped "I mean.. I guess tomorrow's fine... are you okay Aunt Elaine? You seem a little off" He asked raising his eyebrow, he never in his life heard Elaine nervous.

"Oh yes, I'm fine" she smiled and jumped up as Tj walked past "I've really got to go darling, here's Tj! tell him about your plans" she said quickly, passing the phone off.

Bucky tried to stop her but it was too late, before he knew it the soft voice he'd forgotten he loved hearing answered the phone. "Hello?" Tj asked confused. Bucky frowned, that didn't sound like the Tj he would spend hours on the phone with, This Tj sound less... hopefull.

"Hiya TJ" Bucky smiled motioning at Steve to unmute the tv as he got up and headed to his room "It's Bucky" he smiled sitting on his bed.

Tj's mouth fell open and he sat down on the couch. "B-Bucky? I haven't talked to you in forever!" he exclaimed smiling.

"I know.. we haven't interacted in so long I'm starting to forget how short you are!" he laughed "Which is why you're coming to visit me in Brooklyn tomorrow, I miss you" Bucky admitted sheepishly, every time he saw Tj it made him want to see him more.

"Wait what? Seriously?" he asked smiling wide. He'd been wanting to leave his house ever since he got out of the hospital two weeks ago. He was shocked his mother was allowing him to go stay in Brooklyn.

"Yeah, your mom thought it was a good idea, and I haven't seen you in years so why not" he chuckled "I'm gonna go to bed now Teej, I've gotta meet ya at the airport pretty early" he yawned flicking his bedroom light off.

"Okay" Tj smiled goofily "Goodnight Bucky" he whispered hanging up his phone. He went into his room to get packed, once he was finished, he packed in some 'necessities' that he had hidden and shoved them in the bottom of the bag. He walked out of his room shutting the door quietly and went to his mom’s office.

"Hey mom?" Tj called knocking on the cracked door "What time is my flight to Brooklyn?" he asked walking in and sitting in front of his mom's desk.

"Hey Tommy" Elaine smiled. "Actually, a car should be here in ten minutes to pick you up" she said walking towards her son and wrapping him in a tight hug. "Promise me you'll be safe?" She asked looking up at him.

"I promise mom" he smiled sadly, feeling his mood crashing already. "I'm gonna go say bye to Nana and Dougie" he said with a forced smile, and walked out of her office with his bag close to his side.

****************

Bucky waited at the airport gate tapping his foot nervously. He was in such a rush this morning that he completely forgot to mention to Steve that Tj would be staying with them for a while. He paced at the gate for about thirty minutes until he saw Tj's curly brown hair. He quickly walked towards him, but frowned as he took in his appearance. His eyes had red rings around them, his cheeks were more hollow, and he honestly looked like he could fall asleep at any moment. Was this what Elaine meant when she said Tj wasn't well?

"Tj!" Bucky called happily, brushing off his drained appearance and pulling him in a hug. Tj was only about two inches shorter than Bucky, but he always joked saying Tj was tiny. Which, compared to their difference in muscle mass, he was tiny.

"Hey Bucky!" He said loudly, hugging Bucky as tight as he could. He rested his chin on Bucky's shoulder, sighing happily.

"You ready to go?" Bucky asked looking down at Tj, paying close attention to the way he acted, trying to understand what Elaine meant.

"Yes please, I'm so tired" he chuckled wrapping an arm around Bucky's waist as they walked out of the airport and got into Bucky's car.

Tj ended up falling asleep in the car. When they got to Bucky's apartment, he carried Tj out of the car and up the stairs into his apartment, hoping Steve was still asleep.

He sadly had no luck, Steve was sitting on the couch when he came in, now struggling to carry Tj since he had to open the door. Steve's head shot up and his eyes widened "Who the hell is that Bucky?!" he whisper yelled not sure if the man his best friend was carrying was asleep or knocked out.

"This is Tj.. I'm sorry i forgot to tell you he was coming, but his mom called last night and asked if he could stay here while she was gone" Bucky explained sheepishly, laying Tj on the couch.

"He looks old enough to watch himself Buck" he sighed crossing his arms, he wasn't good with new people. Steve stepped closer and got a better look at him "Is he.. your brother or something? He looks a lot like you" he asked, his mouth slightly agape.

Bucky chuckled "No, he's just a friend of mine.. I've known him since I was four, I met him right after he was born" Bucky smiled fondly. "I guess you're right though Steve, he's twenty five and can take care of himself for the most part. His mom just said he's not well at the moment" Bucky sighed pushing his hair back.

Steve crouched next to Tj and looked over his face "Drugs" he said sighing. He knew Bucky was going to try with all of his power to help this Tj kid, but he dreaded the day that would come when Bucky realized he couldn't help Tj.

"What?" Bucky asked confused. He tilted his head sideways letting it sink in. "No, Tj is a good kid... a-and Doug wouldn't let this happen" he said denying what Steve was trying to say.

“I’ve seen this a lot Buck… the red eyelids, hollow face, and god… has he always been this skinny?” Steve said actually concerned for the young stranger.

At this, Tj jumped up breathing rapidly. He had had a nightmare, and Steve’s deep voice scared him awake.

“Hey Teej” Bucky whispered pulling Tj onto his lap. “It’s okay you’re in Brooklyn remember?” he said soothingly, rubbing his back.

Steve crossed his arms, not trusting Tj just yet. “How long will you be here?” he asked bluntly, getting a glare from Bucky. “I’m Steve Rogers by the way, Bucky’s roommate” he said dropping his arms to the side.

“Tj Hammond” he nodded biting his lip nervously. “I’m not really sure how long I’ll be here, my mom thought it was a good idea while she finished up her Presidential campaign. They don’t really trust me to be alone” he said quietly, spitting the last sentence.

“I wonder why” Steve mumbled under his breath re-crossing his arms. He’d heard of Tj in the tabloids, he was the former president’s wayward son, how could he not? “Well” Steve sighed thinking a bit. Maybe he was being too hard on the kid, Bucky seemed to trust him, and Steve was just going off of gossip and the newspaper. “Welcome to Brooklyn” he said forcing a smile. He had decided to give Tj a chance, and if he did anything stupid they could just send him back to D.C.

Tj smiled up at Steve, relaxing a little. He climbed away from Bucky to the other end of the couch, patting the spot next to him. “If you want, we could get to know each other? I’m sure what you’ve heard about me isn’t too great” he sighed giving a weak smile.

Steve frowned, mentally scolding himself for judging Tj so quickly, it’d obviously happened to him many times before. “Yeah sure, and don’t worry… I try not to listen to the media” he reassured chuckling slightly. He sat in between Bucky and Tj, Bucky smiled at him nervously, silently praying that Steve and Tj got along. He couldn’t see how they couldn’t.

“Why not believe them? Most of it’s true” he said bitterly, hating how political his family was. It had stripped him off all privacy.

Steve frowned laying a hand on Tj’s shoulder gently. “I think I’ll decide that for myself” he smiled making Tj look up at him, his mouth open in shock. Nobody had ever said that to him before, his own family believed the tabloids over him, and now some guy he just met said he didn’t believe his bad reputation.
“Well then” he smiled sighing and holding out his hand “I’m Thomas Hammond, I go by Tj, I came out as gay while my dad was President and I was 15, and I’m a pretty good pianist” he chuckled smiling even wider.

Steve shook Tj’s hand smiling down at him. “Nice to meet you Tj, I’m Steve Rogers. I joined the army right when I turned 18 but got discharged a few years ago, I’ve been best friends with Bucky since kindergarten, I’m bisexual, and uh I really like animals” he said chuckling nervously. He’d just came out to his best friend and the president’s son.

Bucky’s mouth fell open. “Wait, what?’ he asked shaking his head and chuckling. “I really didn’t see that coming” he chuckled reaching around Tj and patting Steve’s back.

Steve let out a relieved breath. “That went a lot smoother than I thought it would” he chuckled softly, running a hand through his short hair.

Bucky sighed. “Steve, Why would you think it wouldn’t go smoothly? You’ve known me forever, and hell, I’ve had boyfriends before” he chuckled running a hand through his hair.

Steve blushed. “I-I didn’t think about that” he chuckled rubbing the back of his neck. “Now I feel stupid for worrying” Steve admitted sheepishly.

“You should feel stupid for being scared to tell me” Bucky chuckled “Your common sense flies out the window when it comes to stuff like this” he laughed nudging his arm. He rested his hand on Tj’s shoulder and sighed, frowning. “So.. I hate to be blunt, but are you okay? You...You’re so much smaller than you were, a-and your mom said you aren’t well. What’s wrong?” he asked hating that he sounded so pushy, but he needed to know so he could take care of the younger man. He wanted to protect him.

Tj sighed pulling his knees to his chest. He knew this conversation was going to pop up. It was obvious that something was up with him, how could he expect Bucky to not be worried? “Well” he started, letting out a shaky breath. “You haven't seen me in person in what? Five or Six years? Last time you saw me was actually the last time I was sober for longer than six months” he sighed disappointed in himself. “I’ve been sober for two weeks now though” he smiled weakly.

Bucky pulled Tj into a tight hug, rubbing his back. “Tj, Two weeks is good” he smiled. “One step at a time yeah?” he said looking over at Steve.

Steve smiled nodding his head in agreement. “It’s really good! You’re so strong” he whispered laying a hand on Tj’s shoulder and squeezing lightly.

“Did you bring any with you?” Bucky asked softly, pulling away to look Tj in his tear-filled eyes.

Tj nodded pointing at his duffle bag. “T-take it… I’m sorry Buck” He whispered dropping his head in shame.

Bucky motioned for Steve to hold Tj and he got up. Steve wrapped his arms around Tj tightly and Bucky smiled at his best friends sadly. He crouched in front of Tj’s duffle bag and opened it hesitantly. He dug around in it and gasped when he got to the bottom the kept about six or seven baggies of cocaine. He held it up showing Steve, and sighed getting up and taking it all to the bathroom. He opened every baggie and poured their contents into the toilet, flushing it.

He threw the baggies away and walked back into the living room where Tj was curled up on Steve sobbing quietly. He sighed sitting next them on the couch and rubbed Tj’s back. “It’s okay Teej, I’ll help you get through this. We’ll help you get through this” He assured, looking up at Steve smiling sadly.

“Yeah, we’ll help you. No matter what” Steve agreed smiling at the other two men. Even though he had just met Tj an hour ago, he already felt the need to protect him.

Tj didn’t respond. He fell asleep curled up to Steve, feeling like things might actually get better.