Roommates

Making up and whispered confessions

Making sure to ask FRIDAY where Steve was before trying to hunt him down in this maze of a building she went left towards his room. With a quick knock to warn him that she was coming in she opened his door and walked in. Seeing him seated in the chair by the wall of windows had Jamie smiling at the familiar scene. She had no idea how many times she'd come in to see him sitting in his apartment back at the Compound drawing or reading or even just listening to music. Setting her jacket and purse down on his coffee table as she made her way over to him. "What are you working on today, Rogers?"

Glancing up at her with a warm smile Steve held up his sketchbook for her to see the beginning of the view from his room of the buildings across from them along Broadway. He was such an amazing artist. Such attention to detail. There weren't many drawings of his from the past that had survived but his skill hadn't waned over the years. Only grown. Resting the book back on his lap he asked, "How'd it go?"

"Good, we're gonna give it a trial period of three months to see if we'll mesh well." At his smile she sat on the arm of his chair as he went back to his drawing. Uh-huh he didn't get to just sit there like she hadn't just found out something major he'd been keeping from her. Tugging on his hair to get him to look up at her she demanded to know why he'd kept a crucial bit of information from her. "How come you never told me Bucky's birthday is the same as mine?"

"Ow. Hey, let go!" His eyes flashed up at her as he reached for her wrist before his tone became quiet. He could see that while she was acting playful she was a little hurt that he hadn't shared that with her. They'd known each other for five years and had shared literally everything about themselves and the people they lost. So why wouldn't he share this?

His answer had her feeling marginally better and worse at the same time. "I didn't tell you because it was hard enough to deal with that day every year. I didn't want to bring the mood down on your birthday. Especially when those kinds of days were hard on all of us."

Her expression softened at his explanation, running her fingers through his hair she pulled him close to give him a hug. "Stevie, I would have understood. You know that. We could have done something for him just like we did for Peter and the others."

For every one of the people who'd been snapped they had done something they would have wanted to do. It kept their memories alive for those who'd been left behind. Bringing his arms up around her waist he tipped his head back to look into her eyes. "I know. I just couldn't though. I don't know why."

Moving his sketchbook out of the way she slid down to sit more comfortably on his lap. In the spirit of moving forward she changed the subject. "Well he's back now so what have you got planned for him?"

Steve frowned a little as he thought about it. "I'm not sure he'll want to do anything, but I was thinking maybe grabbing some food and some beer and hanging out or something simple like that. Buck's not overly fond of being out in public with me where he can be recognized." That was the curse of being Captain America, no anonymity.

Jamie hadn't really minded because for the most part once it had been established that they were just friends to the media, the press and Steve's fans pretty much left her alone. But Bucky was a completely different story. After the events of Washington DC came out back in 2014 and then what happened in 2016 all the way to now Buck's face had been plastered in the news. First to be villainized then clearing his name and finally announcing his joining the Avengers. She was sure there were people out there who were still angry for the unwitting part he'd played in their family members' deaths, so she didn't blame him for wanting to stay out of the public eye. Hopefully one day the public would see him how Steve saw him. A kind man who only wanted to help people instead of hurting them.