Reassurance
“You’re going to catch your death out here, Steve.” Bucky complained, trudging up the stairs of the outside fire escape.
“Great, now you sound like her, too.” Steve grumbled. He was sitting on the top platform, his chest against the railing and his feet dangling over the edge. It was no more than ten degrees Fahrenheit, and a thin sheet of snow had already fallen. Bucky stood five steps down from where Steve was sitting.
“Are you going to quit sulking and come down anytime soon? I’m freezing my ass off down here.” Bucky called to him.
Steve didn’t say anything, just stared ahead, lost in thought.
“Steve, what’s gotten into you?” Bucky asked, chuckling.
“Christ, Buck, this isn’t a damn joke.” Steve snapped, briefly shooting him a look that was colder than the snow falling around them.
Bucky’s heart skipped a beat, then his voice became soft. He gently made his way to sitting beside his friend. “Hey, man, what’s wrong?” he asked, putting his coat around Steve’s shoulders.
Steve shrugged the jacket off, “I don’t need your coat, I’m fine.”
“No, you’re anemic, so put the damn thing on. What did I do, what’s wrong?”
“What’s wrong? Bucky, I asked you to do onething, to not feel sympathy for my mom. She can take care of herself. You don’t have to…lie about how we met. I mean, she already knows I get my butt kicked practically every day, it’s not gonna give her a heart attack.”
“Is that what this is about?” Bucky sighed. “Just because I pulled out a chair, and complimented her food doesn’t mean I pity her. Your mother is an amazing woman.”
“You only say she’s amazing because you think she’s weak, and is exceeding expectations.”
Bucky turned Steve towards him by the shoulders, and looked deep into his eyes. “No, I say she’s an amazing woman because she’s a single parent, working two jobs, juggling her life and yours, bills, food, shelter, all by herself. Dealing with your hospital bills, and constant illness, and still managing to be kind and considerate, along with raising the greatest man I have ever met. That’s why she is amazing, Steven Grant Rogers. That’s why.”
Steve was quiet.
“You honestly don’t think that I would treat your mother with decency if she was in perfect health?”
Steve was silent.
“Goes to show how much you really know about me, Rogers.” Bucky stood, brushing off his clothes and turned towards the entrance.
“Buck, wait.” Steve scrambled to his feet.
“I don’t see you as my inferior.” Bucky said, swiveling on his heel.
Steve swallowed, but his mouth was dry. He could feel the stinging warmth of shame rise to his cheeks, knowing his face was turning bright red.
“I-I know, I just…it’s hard. It’s just…we’re the same, my mom and I. And when you feel bad for her, it’s like you’re feeling bad for me, and I hate it when people do that.”
Bucky’s face dropped, finally realizing what this was about.
“Steve, I’m not your friend because I feel bad for you,” he breathed, taking a step towards him.
Steve rubbed his arms and shivered.
“I’m your friend because you’re important to me, and I care about you.” Bucky reassured, taking hold of Steve’s shoulders once more.
Steve blushed, but a grin crept across his face, “Yeah, alright.”
Bucky opened his arms, “C’mere.”
Steve, still hugging himself, walked right into Bucky’s embrace, feeling the body warmth send a pulse down his entire body.
“You’re going to be okay, alright? You and your mom.” Bucky said, his face buried in Steve’s blond hair.
“Mhm.” Steve’s face was buried in Bucky’s shirt.
After a few moments, the embrace ceased, and the boys stepped back, and began to make their way down to the entrance.
“Thanks…I mean, thank you, Buck.”
“Just don’t lash out at the fricken dinner table, that was a really dick move.” Bucky chuckled, patting Steve on the back.
“And Steve?”
“Yeah?”
“Put the damn coat on. You’re shivering like a leaf in a hurricane.”