Till the end of the line

A promise

Steve made his was outside, sitting down on the bench as his face fell into his hands and he broke down. He just lost it, tears streaming down his face and the whole deal. He didn't know how much time passed, but soon enough he heard a set of familiar voices. Looking up, his gaze landed on Bruce and Natasha who were making their way over, identical worried expressions on their face.

"Steve, hey, what happened?" The redhead sat down beside him, pulling him into a hug as he let another sob rack his body. "Where's James?"

"I... Oh God Nat what was I thinking!" She finally pulled back, taking a thumb to wipe the tears from his face.

"Shh... Tell me what happened, Steve."

"We have to go. Have to find him. I... I'm drunk Nat. Didn't mean to."

"What did you not mean to do?"

Steve met her gaze, getting to his feet. "I didn't mean to kiss Sharon."

Natasha's eyes widened, glancing from Steve to the building behind them.  It all seemed to click as she let out a groan. "Well done, Rogers. Great play."

"Nat..."

"I think you're on your own for this one, Cap." Bruce said, speaking up. "He probably went back to Starks. Why don't you go check back there."

"Oh God... How could I have screwed up this badly. He saw everything."

"Worrying about it isn't going to fix anything. Come on Steve, you've got a boyfriend to find and a relationship to save." Nat continued as they made their way to the car.

They reached Starks place in just a matter of minutes and Steve didn't even wait for the car to come to a complete stop before throwing himself out and racing in.

The entire tower was dark, showing that everyone has already gone to sleep. The blond ran to their bedroom, throwing open the door to reveal a dark, empty room. "God, what have I done." He croaked, staring into the darkness.

"No sign?" Steve turned around to see Natasha.  

"He's gone, Nat." his voice was hoarse, though he wasn't surprised. His chest felt like it was collapsing in on itself.

"He'll be back, Steve. Don't worry. I'm sure he just needs some time alone to think about what happened."

Letting out a heavy sigh he nodded.

"Go on and get to bed. When you wake up I'm sure he'll be right there."

Thanking Natasha, he waited until she'd gone to bed herself before walking into the den, falling back onto the couch. He planned on waiting the entire night if that's what it took until Bucky came home.

--
Several hours passed and still there was no sign of Bucky. It finally got to the point that he had to make himself a cup of coffee just to keep from falling asleep. Sure enough at about 3 am, the creak of a door opening snapped him to attention as the ex-assassin walked in. It was clear he'd been crying; eyes puffy and hair a mess. His jacket was hanging over his arm, and upon seeing Steve he stopped, just staring at him.

"I though you'd be in bed," he said simply, turning his face away.

Steve swallowed, knowing he had one chance to make this right again. "I wouldn't have been able to sleep knowing what I'd done. Either way, I would have waited until the end of time for you to come back. God, I would do anything to go back and fix that. I'm so sorry, Buck."

"You were drunk," The brunette guessed quietly, making his way over.

"That's not an excuse." He replied, keeping his gaze glued to Bucky. "And it won't happen again." With that said, Steve dropped down on one knee, hand moving to his coat pocket as he pulled out a small black box.

"Ste-"

"No Buck, just listen." Slowly he open up the box to reveal a silver band, the words 'Till the end of the line' scripted in neat cursive along the top. "This is a promise. A promise that no matter what I will always be loyal to you. That from now on you'll never have to worry about losing me because even when I had nothing, Buck, I had you." Throughout this, Bucky's face changed, showing several different emotions as Steve continued. "You are my everything. This life wouldn't be worth living if you weren't in it. So this is a promise. I promise that I will love you and be with you until the end of the line."

Bucky couldn't fight the smile that appeared on his face, nor the tears that slid down his cheeks. "Damnit Steve, you beat me to it," he replied with a small laugh, pulling out a similar box.

Steve's jaw gaped open, gaze settling on it.

"That's not it, though." The brunette continued, before opening the lid. In it was a gold band, the same words scripted across the top.

The blond could only laugh, wiping the tears that had returned to his eyes before standing up and pulling Bucky into a kiss. "So does that mean I'm forgiven?" He asked, pausing for a breath.

"You punk, I forgave you as soon as I saw you'd stayed up till 3 am for me." 

"Jerk," he whispered before pulling in again. "I love you, Buck." He added with a smirk.

"I love you too, Steve." With that he pulled out the golden band, taking the blondes hand and slipping it on his ring finger, followed by Steve doing the same with the silver one.

"You ready for bed?" He asked, meeting the brunettes gaze.

"No Steve, I was hoping we could stay up for just a few more hours." The ex- assassin rolled his eyes, sarcasm dripping from his words. "Yes I'm ready for bed, I'm fucking exhausted after spending the entire  evening wandering the streets, wondering where I'd messed up."

"Okay okay, I get it. I'm tired too." Steve smiled, pressing a kiss to Bucky's forehead as he lead him to their bedroom. He knew Bucky had forgiven him, and that's all that mattered. They could forget about what had happened that night and he knew the brunette wouldn't hold a grudge about it.

They quickly took of their suits, grabbing a pair of pajama pants and putting them on. Climbing into bed, Steve waited for Bucky before they fell into their usual position: Steve spooning Bucky, his back pressed against the blondes chest, legs entwined together with Steve's arm falling over Bucky's side, holding the brunette close. This was the only way either of them could fall sleep now, the feel of each other pulling them to sleep.