Hiding Winter | Stucky

Steve: Chapter 23 (fluff)

Steve and Bucky quickly rushed over to the Avengers tower to get right to work. As soon as they got there, Pepper greeted them at the entrance of the building.
"It's nice to see you again, Steve," she gave him a hug and let go. "I'm Pepper, I've heard a lot about you. It's finally nice to meet you in person though." She shook Bucky's hand.
"Charmed," He replied. They all walked inside and made their way up the floor levels in the elevator. As they entered the floor where everyone was, they were greeted by all of their colleagues. Tony emerged from another room with a phone up to his ear.
"Uh huh- alright- got it- okay-," he hung up then spoke.
"So the two war vets are finally here, well we don't have much time to discuss the plan, however, Wanda and Vision are staying here with Rhodey, and Clint is with the family, so it's just us." Natasha, Bucky, Steve, and Sam all looked around at each other.
Sam interrupted the silence.
"Alright well we might as well go if we aren't waiting for anyone else."
They all left in one of Tony's mirror reflection jets so that they could stay under the radar. They all had their own rooms in the jets since they would be staying over night. Around 10:15 P.M., Bucky snuck into Steve's cabin where he could stay with him. As he walked in, he saw Steve on his bed, sketching a flower that was across from him.
"You realize you don't need to sneak in here, right? It was all over the news that we were seen dancing together at the gala, they already know." Bucky walked in and sat with his legs criss crossed next to Steve.
"I guess I'll keep that in mind." He leaned his head onto Steve's shoulder and watched as he moved his pencil around. He looked up at Steve's face and stared at him for a moment, then looked back down. He turned over and laid down on his left side. Steve looked down at him, then up and his sketchbook, then sat it down to talk to Bucky. He laid a hand on Bucky's arm.
"Are you alright? You seem upset." Bucky turned back over and looked up at Steve.
"I guess I'm just a little confused... about us. I still feel like there isn't some stuff that's clear." Steve looked a little confused.
"Like what?" Bucky sat up and pulled one of his legs up to his chest and wrapped his arms around it.
"How long did you, I don't know, feel this way about me?" Bucky asked. Steve had to think about that for a second. How long did he feel this way?
"I think I always liked you, a lot. I mean, there were so many reasons really. I thought you were so kind, and you inspired me. I thought, you know, that you were my best friend so maybe we should've been together. I guess things just didn't work out that way...," Bucky had a bittersweet smile.
"I felt the same way about you, all I wanted to do was protect you and love on you." Bucky took a shallow breath. "Why didn't you ever tell me?" Steve furrowed his brow, but kept his composure and temper from imploding. Did he not understand what was going through my head or something? He thought.
"Why didn't I tell you? It was the '40s Buck. You brought girls over to your place every other night. You never even hinted that you felt the same way. How was I supposed to know? I didn't want to risk ruining what we already had...," Steve looked down and frowned. "I would've told you such a long time ago if I just would've known."
"Oh, babe," Bucky kissed his cheek and held the other side with his metal arm.
"I'm sorry, I guess I didn't want to ruin what we had either. Around the time you started falling for Peggy was when I wanted to tell you the most. Seeing you fall in love with her was one of the hardest things I had to go through...," Bucky let go and sat back. He saw that it hurt Steve when he mentioned Peggy. He still missed her. "I thought it was over, that we had no chance to be together anymore." Steve looked over to see Bucky looking at him with big eyes.
"Well we have each other now, that's all that matters," he took the sketchbook and pencil and put it on the nightstand and leaned over to kiss Bucky on the lips. As Steve kissed him, Bucky placed his arm around his back to pull him closer. Bucky pushed Steve down do that he was partially on top of him, but he could still move his legs. They sat there in peace, just loving on one another. Steve placed his hand around Bucky's jaw and cheek and placed his thumb on his cheekbone to pull his face closer to wrap up the kiss. Once they let go, Steve turned off the light and laid back down next to Bucky. They both faced each other and hugged as they lay there.
"I love you, James."
"I love you too."