Life of the Party

You're drivin' me wild

The fleeting memories of his dreams had been the second thing Steve noticed upon waking up. He couldn't even begin to guess when he'd dreamed last, and he knew for a fact that he had never felt so rested before. Which brought him to the first thing he noticed: he wasn't alone in bed. He was wrapped in another person's embrace, with said person's arm securing him in a tight hold that he realized...he didn't really want to leave. He felt safe, like he didn't need to worry about anything ever again and all was going right in the world.

He knew the person was Bucky. They'd talked about it while getting ready for bed the previous night after their date...which had turned into an all-day event. Steve couldn't complain. He was getting a kick out of how seriously Bucky was taking his new role, even having gone to the extent of buying Steve a bouquet of roses which had been dramatically presented to him while Bucky got down on one knee and began to "confess" his undying love for him. They had laughed until their chests hurt, and as a 'thank you' to his amazing boyfriend, Steve had boldly kissed him on the lips, brief but meaningful.

He could feel each of Bucky's breaths against the back of his neck, warm and gentle. He felt himself sink into the feeling as he drifted back to sleep, wanting to put the world on pause so he could enjoy the moment for as long as possible. Just because he liked being held did not make him gay. He was still straight as he's ever been, and so far all he knew was that Tony would be sending a large sum of money into his bank account by the end of the week.

"Baby, hey. It's time to get up, doll."

Steve groaned, not realizing he'd fallen back asleep. He was no longer wrapped in Bucky's arms, instead opening his eyes to see the brunette looming over him, a sweet smile on his face.

Sweet? Come on, Rogers, get your head back on track. Straight guys do not call other men 'sweet'.

"You with me baby?"

"Bucky..." Steve could only groan, blinking up at the other man tiredly. He had never been a morning person. Never was, never would be. He attempted to roll over onto his other side in hopes of falling back asleep but Bucky was quick to put a stop to that, insisting that once he got up and moving he'd be wide awake.

"Once I get a cup of coffee I'll be wide awake," he retorted, reluctantly dragging himself out of bed as he followed Bucky to the kitchen.

"I was thinking we go out for lunch in about an hour or so. There's a cute cafe right outside the hotel that the concierge was telling me about," Bucky explained while pouring coffee into Steve's mug before doing the same for his own. "Thought we could go check it out. What do you think?"

Steve gratefully took the mug from Bucky, pulling it close to his face as he breathed in the rich scent. "Yeah, sure, but uh..." He rubbed his eyes, the heavy fog of sleep finally beginning to wear off. "Doesn't breakfast come first?"

"It's 11:00 am, Steve." Bucky walked around the counter, letting out a sigh as he sat down beside him. "Did you give Tony your update last night?"

How had he managed to sleep so long? Steve frowned, thinking back to the night before. "I think so," He murmured, already pulling out his phone to check. Tony had asked that at the end of each day Steve send him a short update on where he was with his sexuality. "So far nothing's changed," he read aloud, glancing up at Bucky whose face was expressionless. "Still as straight as ever and looking forward to you paying for my wedding."

Bucky cleared his throat, nodding as he quickly stood up. "Good."

The brunette set his coffee down, seeming to have changed with a flick of a switch. "I'm going to go get ready," he explained quickly. "I'll try not to use all the hot water when I shower." He flashed one of his signature smirks towards Steve before turning around and making his way into the bathroom. Steve knew better, though. It was just a mask. Something to give the illusion that everything was okay when everything was not. He was preparing to follow him when the soft sound of the door shutting warned him away, followed by the 'click' of the lock telling him something was very wrong.