The Grumpy Sunshine Series

Defining The Relationship

Originally Posted: 05/18/2022

The way this conversation began stewing in your head was strange.

It wasn't even a conversation that you thought you needed to have or had ever really crossed your mind, but here you were thinking about it.

Relentlessly thinking about it.

Compulsively thinking about it.

All because of your friends and their endless curiosity.

It was only a few days after you'd returned back to the Compound and the team welcomed you back with open arms. It was great, you were home again and the everything was right with the world. You were content to just sit in the peace of being home again.

And then Nat and Wanda asked a question that opened a can of worms that you had no idea even existed:

"So you and Bucky?" Wanda playfully chuckles, the three of you sitting around the common room.

"Why'd you say it like that?" you ask.

"I don't know. Just curious, I guess."

"That means she's being nosey," Nat corrects.

"Not nosey, just curious," Wanda retorts.

"About?"

"Like I know you're together, but are you together?" Wanda says, adding extra emphasis. "Or are you guys going slow after everything that happened?"

"Err...what?" you forcefully exhale.

"You haven't talked to him about it? What you are? What this means for you guys? Don't think I didn't notice you leave Bucky's room the other morning."

"No, I didn't know this was something you had to talk about!"

"Sometimes I forget you've only been in society for like five seconds."

"It's been almost two years," you correct.

"I know, I know. But still, you're new to this kind of thing, and Bucky's...Bucky."

They weren't wrong, you had a blindspot when it came to these types of things. Being in a relationship and dealing with real life romance was completely new to you, and this was not something that cropped up in any movie or book you'd ever seen.

It was completely uncharted territory.

And Bucky was very patient with your lack of knowledge about these things. He didn't judge or push you, and took the time to make sure you felt safe and comfortable at every step. He accepted the slow pace of your relationship and took it all in stride. This was just another step, no matter how awkward it felt. It was just another step, you kept reminding yourself. So it was best to just ask. Right?

"Can I ask you something?" you ask, laying in bed, curled into Bucky's side.

"Shoot."

"What are we?"

"Huh?" he asks, abruptly sitting up.

"I mean you and me, what are we?" you re-emphasize.

"Uh..." he falters, hoping you can't see the startled, confused expression on his face.

"Now, just thinking out loud here, but we love each other, right?"

"Right," he nods definitively, because while he may not know what spurred this question on or have the even the vaguest idea on how to answer, he does know that he loves you.