eyes of the world

"Sam, I know everybody loves you, but I'm sure they have better things to do than try to trick you into dating someone. How would that even work? Do they just bring someone along to any event that they think you'll be at, just in case?"

"It's usually more collaborative than that," says Sam, matter-of-fact, and Bucky feels his eyebrows go up. "Back in the summer, a bunch of my aunties guilted me into taking my name off the on-call roster and coming to Sarah's Fourth of July party, and then all fifteen of them brought along someone they 'just wanted to introduce me to'. The only reason we didn't run low on food is because Sarah suspected something."

"Did she warn you?"

Sam pulls a face. "Only when I was walking into the backyard and about to get pounced on."

Bucky can't help it; he laughs. "I knew she was my favorite Wilson for a reason."

He feels Sam lightly cuff him on the shoulder. "Keep talking, Barnes, and I'll tell my aunties to find you someone to settle down with, too."

"Might put a damper on your pretend-to-be-soulmates plan though, huh?"

"Annoy me enough and I might just be willing to make the sacrifice," says Sam. He holds out his hand. "Now give me your phone; I have to fix your lockscreen."

"What? What's wrong with my lockscreen?"

"You literally just use the default screen, Buck."

"And somehow that's going to make your family believe we're not telling the truth? A gray gradient?"

"Of course it is! And you say I'm the one who's bad at undercover work."

"You are bad at undercover work," says Bucky. "You really think your family is going to be checking what's on my phone screen? I'm sure they're committed, Sam, but they can't be that committed."

Sam is quiet for a moment. Then, out of nowhere, he says, "Hey, I wanted to call Sarah and the boys before they go to bed. What time is it right now?"

Bucky goes to look at his watch, but remembers that he took it off so he could apply the tattoo, so he changes course and slips his phone out of his pocket, pressing the button on the side to light up the screen. "It's a quarter to--"

"See?" says Sam, cutting him off and plucking Bucky's phone out of his hands. "Plenty of ways for someone to end up seeing the screen of your phone without even trying."

Privately, he admits to himself that Sam has a point. Out loud, he just huffs. "And what's the magical background that's going to make your family believe that we're deeply in love?"

"This," says Sam, and holds up Bucky's phone, the camera already open and switched to selfie mode. Before Bucky knows it, Sam has an arm slung around his shoulders, and then he's leaning in to press a kiss to Bucky's cheek and taking the picture right as he does it.

Bucky's eyes go wide, all the input from his senses going dull except for the feeling of Sam beside him: solid muscle pressed up against his arm, the heat of his breath ghosting along Bucky's neck, the sound of his laugh as he taps at the screen to see how the picture turned out.

They'd ironed out the details for this days ago, when Sam had first come to Bucky to pitch this pretend relationship plan and Bucky had found himself agreeing. They're already plenty physical in the field, so hugs and hand-holding didn't seem like they needed to be a question, but Sam had asked about them anyway. When he'd asked if Bucky might be okay with a kiss on the cheek or forehead, Bucky had shrugged and said it would be fine, and until this moment, he'd fully believed that it would be. How was he supposed to know that getting Sam in his space like this would feel like a thousand things all at once, like the swoop in his belly from riding the Cyclone but also like the fluttering of something delicate and precious somewhere in the center of his chest?

At the feeling of an elbow nudging his side, Bucky feels the world rushing back up to meet him again.

"Buck?" says Sam, and from the look on his face, it's clear that it's not the first time. He holds the phone up so the picture is in Bucky's line of sight. "What do you think?"

The photo is a little bit blurry, its lighting not quite flattering for either of them. Bucky's expression is just lifting into surprise, eyes wide even as his mouth is still curved into a frown. Beside him, Sam's eyes are closed as he kisses Bucky's cheek, his free hand resting against Bucky's chest, right over his heart. Looking down at the screen, Bucky feels his stomach do the swooping thing again, and for the first time, he starts to wonder just what he's gotten himself into.

"It's fine," he says, clearing his throat when it comes out hoarse. "Did, um- are you going to use the same one for your phone? Are we supposed to take a different one?"

"Nah," says Sam. "I've got that covered."

He gives Bucky's phone back and pulls his own out of his pocket, tapping it to make the screen light up. There, under the time and a stack of notifications that he swipes away, is a picture of Bucky sprawled on the couch in the afternoon light, with a baby Alpine perched on his chest and peering into his face. He's clearly in the middle of a conversation with her, one hand gesticulating while the other is gently braced behind her so she doesn't fall.

Bucky glances over at the other side of the room then, towards the now-grown Alpine who's busy batting around the new toy that Sam bought her. Sam takes pictures of Alpine all the time, and he's always sending them to Bucky and to the Wilson family group chat, but Bucky has never seen this one. For almost a year, Sam just...had this picture of Alpine and Bucky saved on his phone? What does it mean, that Sam had it and never shared it? What does it mean that he picked it now, when he needed a picture to prove that he was in love with Bucky?

He's so caught up in thinking about it that he doesn't even realize when Sam heads for the door to the apartment, shrugging on his jacket as he looks back towards where Bucky is frozen to the floor. He's saying something about food, about the shawarma place on the corner, but Bucky's heart is pounding too loudly for him to really hear it.

He takes a few steadying breaths to clear his head, eyes still on Sam, and the thudding quiets just in time for him to hear Sam ask, "You ready, Buck?"

Bucky looks at his phone again, at the picture of him and Sam pressed close to each other and looking like they belong there.

✪ THIS IS A NO-PRESSURE EVENT!

Do one prompt, do ten prompts or do all thirty if you're super fired up. We're just happy to have you celebrating Sam with us. You can also combine multiple prompts into one work, and mix and match them as you want.

✪ ALL KINDS OF FANWORKS ARE WELCOME!

Fanfic, gifsets, moodboards, fan art, fan videos, graphics, edits. If it's celebrating Sam, we'll take it.

✪ DON'T FORGET TO TAG US!

Tag samsseptember and/or use #samtember2026 so we can find and reblog your work.

✪ ALSO TAG THE DAY(S) OR PROMPT(S) YOU'RE FILLING.

For example, if you're doing the Day 5 prompt, "Mentor," you can use #day5 or #mentor.

⊹ POSTING TO AO3?

Please include which prompt you’re filling in your notes.

We'd also love it if you'd add your work to our Samtember 2026 collection! You can find it here.

⊹ A FEW IMPORTANT THINGS TO BE MINDFUL OF:

✪ KEEP YOUR WORK SAM-CENTRIC

Please avoid framing Sam solely as a caretaker or emotional support for other characters.

We also encourage avoiding AO3 tags like "Sam Wilson Is a Gift" or "Sam Wilson Is a Saint," as they reinforce this harmful trope.

While ships and dynamics including other characters are absolutely welcome, this is a Sam Wilson event, and he should remain the focus of your work.

✪ NO RACISM OR BIGOTRY WILL BE TOLERATED

Please be thoughtful about how race shapes Sam's experiences and his interactions with other characters, law enforcement, and the government in his role as Captain America.

Avoid writing Sam in ways that rely on harmful racist stereotypes, including the "angry/sassy Black man" trope.

If you're creating fan art, please avoid whitewashing Sam's skin or depicting him with exaggerated features that reinforce harmful stereotypes about Black men.

We want Samtember to be a welcoming, respectful, and joyful space to celebrate Sam Wilson together. ♥︎