#cap steve

‘Oh yeah?’ Steve laughs quietly, but still deep and rich, his voice like molasses, ‘I like you too, Bucky.’

Bucky smiles and then lowers his hand again to hold Steve’s against his waist, letting Steve’s warmth seep through his shirt and into his skin.

‘Okay, imagine this,’ he says, keeping his words clear, rounded - sounding deceptively sober, ‘Imagine that there are people in the world, not in a mystical or spiritual way or whatever, but just… with similar ideals, and they see something in their mannerisms, something in the way they hold themselves, see something in each other that they recognise… and they just… trust that feeling.’ Bucky threads his fingers through Steve’s.

Steve squeezes his fingers in response,

‘People have to be compatible, without that… I mean, sometimes you can spend years with a person trying to make them fit,’ Bucky shakes his head against sad memories, ‘but they never do. And then suddenly you meet someone and feel more in five minutes than you ever felt before.’

He doesn’t want to look back, in case Steve has changed his mind about him, has realised that Bucky is just a hopeless romantic. Emphasis on the hopeless.

But Steve surprises him, ‘It’s a good theory,’ he says, ‘I guess we would have to test it.’

‘Test it?’ Bucky asks, and does look back at Steve then.

Steve is looking down at him, unmistakable fondness in his expression. ‘Yeah, we’d need to test it to know for sure.’ And Bucky is struck anew by how beautiful he is. Long dark lashes framing perfectly blue eyes, no, not perfect. A little green in one, Bucky can see, as the shifting lights above them land just so. His bone structure is like something sculptured out of marble.

‘Are you… you don’t think I’m ridiculous?’

Steve’s brow furrows, ‘Far from,’ he says, voice sharper, ‘I think you’re wonderful.’

And Bucky’s chest swells at that praise. His heart beats faster, blood rushing into his cheeks.

He opens his mouth to... He doesn’t even know. Dispute it? Thank him? Ask Steve why? How he could possibly think that, when Bucky is a disaster. A disaster with the sum total of two hundred and thirty dollars in his checking account, a job he loves that will never be valued, a best friend who ditched him at the first chance to get laid, and the cheapest twin room in this fancy Vegas Casino that he and Darcy could afford.

‘Nobody’s ever called me wonderful before,’ he stammers out finally.

Steve’s eyebrows raise high and his eyes widen, ‘How is that possible?’ Steve asks, genuinely surprised.

Bucky shrugs, ‘I guess I never met anybody like you before.’

‘Well maybe that proves your theory,’ Steve says.

And Bucky has to swallow. Has to blink his eyes and breathe for a moment. Because, even if Steve is only half serious, this is such uncharted territory for Bucky he needs to pinch himself.

Even if Steve is only half serious, this is the closest to a perfect moment that Bucky has ever experienced.

Bucky is ready to agree, ready to leap into Steve’s arms and take a chance, when someone steps back - straight onto Bucky’s foot - and brings their surroundings back into focus. Between the noise and the press of bodies, the pain in his foot and the stuffy atmosphere, the moment is ruined.

Steve pulls Bucky backwards and looks menacingly at the guy who stepped on him and has turned around to apologise. The guy takes a step back from Steve, throwing his hands up in surrender and backs away.

‘I’m fine, I’m fine.’ Bucky says with a laugh. Steve’s menacing face is still absurdly appealing, and disappears entirely as soon as he turns back to Bucky. Maybe he needs to get them out of here and away from all this distraction. ‘But umm… maybe we could go somewhere and get a drink? Somewhere a bit more quiet?’

God, that sounds like the dumbest line.

Except that Steve is smiling again. Like sunshine. Like perfection.

‘I’d like that,’ he says, keeping hold of Bucky’s hand as Bucky reluctantly peels himself away from the warmth of Steve’s body. ‘Do you have somewhere in mind?’

And Bucky is feeling so reckless, he’s feeling like he’s riding the craziest wave. He wants to clutch at this moment so that it doesn’t slip through his fingers.

(He might have had too many cocktails, but even drunk Bucky can see that this is the kind of moment that happens once in a lifetime. This is the kind of man that you make grand gestures for, that you don’t take for granted).

‘Actually I have kind of a crazy idea,’ he says, pulling at Steve’s hand, gesturing for him to follow as he backs up towards the edge of the dancefloor, ‘it might be a way we can really test this theory.’

And the way Steve licks his lips, the way Steve looks down at him, like Bucky is something amazing… it just cements this crazy feeling. And he laughs at the idea, at the memory of Darcy joking that they should drink too much and get Elvis to walk him down the aisle to her. How they could get married in Vegas and have the stupidest story to tell their friends when they got back…

Only it doesn’t feel like a joke now. Looking back at a smiling Steve over his shoulder as he follows Bucky, lets him pull him through the people, through the crowd, towards the exits, towards the hotel chapel…

Steve passed the time by sneaking mini cupcakes and appetizers when no one was looking and luckily no one saw him, or if they did, they knew better than to approach him. If Steve were lucky, no one would even notice him, and he’d be able to leave soon. Just as Steve was checking his watch for the thousandth time that night, debating if he could finally go, he saw a shadow move in on his left.

“What are you hiding from? One person or just people in general?” the man said.

“Uhh, I guess people in general, these parties aren't really my scene,” As Steve turned to look at the man standing next to him, he realized what a big mistake he had just made. The man standing next to him was one of the most attractive men Steve had ever seen. He had beautifully styled dark brown hair, blue eyes that captured the depths of the ocean in them and a jawline that could cut glass.

“I don't know about that,” The man said. “You seem to blend in seamlessly, what with that riveting conversation you were engaging in with the senator….” the man chuckled as he bumped his shoulder jovially onto Steve’s.

“Oh….that’s who that was? I had no idea…” Steve smiled down at the man “Just between you and me pal...I was really only pretending to care.” The man threw his head back in a genuine laugh and Steve thought it was the best thing he’d ever seen.

“Oh man...don't worry, I do the exact same thing, your secret is safe with me.” Steve laughed at the confession, for once actually enjoying the conversation.

“I’m Steve, by the way, I don't think I introduced myself.” Steve offered his hand out to the man.

“James, but everyone calls me Bucky.” the man-Bucky took Steves hand and shook it firmly “It’s very nice to meet you, Steve,”

“Yea, uhm..what brings you here in the first place anyway? I’m sure you know who I am- thank you for being so calm about it though, I appreciate it.” Steve winces at his mistake, what if Bucky didn’t actually know who he was and Steve just made an idiot of himself? Oh god, that was so presumptuous. Just as he’s about to open his mouth and apologize Bucky Laughs again and waves his hands around in dismissal.

“Don’t strain yourself, Steve, yes I do know who you are, and there's no need to thank me for treating you like a human and not some government property.” Steve laughs at the statement and nods his thanks. Bucky continues, “Now, for your question about why I’m here, Tony knows my dad, who’s some big investment banker. He wants me to take over the business when he retires, so he's showing me around to all his big league friends, which includes Tony Stark.”

“Oh, well, that’s nice! Shouldn't you be out schmoozing then? I don't want to keep you..” Steve says, avoiding eye contact while trying to mask his disappointment at Bucky possibly leaving. Bucky lightly hip checks steve to get him to look at him and cups his hand under steves chin, making Steve swallow compulsively.

“Oh, hell no Steve! I’d much rather stay here and talk to you, or better yet, get the hell outta here before my dad finds me. I said my dad wants me to take over, I never said I wanted to do it. And I think we're both enjoying each others company, am I right?” Steve, completely losing the ability to speak,  just nods as his answer and continues to stare at Bucky. Bucky smiles at Steve and leans in close, whispering in Steve’s ear. “Whattaya say, Captain? Wanna get outta here and get to know each other better?” Steve tries to stop the whimper trying to escape but fails spectacularly when bucky bites his earlobe. Steve pulls back and grabs Bucky’s hand, pulling him through the crowd towards the exit as his answer. Bucky lets himself be pulled along, laughing the whole time. Steve gets lucky and is able to pull Bucky all the way to the parking lot before Bucky slows. “W-Bucky what's wrong? C’mon my car is just over there--” Steve gets cut off as bucky pushes him up against the side of the building and practically sticks his tongue down Steve’s throat. Steve reciprocates eagerly but has to pull back when he just can't stop smiling. “Sorry, I’ve just wanted to do that all night,” Bucky says with an equally big smile adorning his flushed face. “You don't see me complaining do you?” Steve replies. Bucky throws his head back into another genuine laugh, and Steve grabs his hand again, pulling him once again towards his car. “Think you can make it back to my place now Bucky?”