Chapter Text
The past two years were, without a doubt, the happiest of Bucky’s life.
They finally felt like they knew what their place was in the world, and were happy .
Maybe happiness at the way things were, was the reason why they hadn’t thought to the future.
Everything in the now is perfect, why would I want it to change?
Of course, it was Clint who put the idea into their head.
It was a normal Thursday night; Clint typing up reports ( or pretending to, more like. Probably working on his novel that I know absolutely nothing about ), Bucky playing a video game.
“Tax benefits,” Clint had muttered, seemingly out of nowhere. He had continued typing, not even looking up.
“Tax benefits?” Bucky, pausing their game, turned to face Clint.
Clint looked up briefly from his laptop, before looking back down. “Just looking at some things. Did you know married couples enjoy tax benefits?”
“Never really thought about it.”
“Neither have I, but it’s all here,” Clint gestured to his laptop. “There’s actually a lot of benefits.”
“Why are you looking at that?” Bucky asked, before their eyes widened. “You’re not…”
Clint almost dropped his laptop in his rush to close it, shaking his head and his hands. “No, no! No, I’m not.”
“Okay.”
“Not yet.”
“ What ?”
Clint put his laptop down on the floor, underneath the couch so that he wouldn’t stand on it. (It had happened. Too many times. Hence the ‘under the couch’ thing.)
Clint then turned to face Bucky, face open in a way that it rarely got. “Bucky, I can’t, I won’t imagine a life without you with me. And maybe one day that included a wedding, maybe it doesn’t. But if I did ask, you would know that I’m asking. I wouldn’t go with a terrible segway like tax benefits.”
“I was gonna say,” Bucky spoke, with a smile on their lips. “If that was a proposal? It wasn’t a very good one.”
“Aww, Bucky,” Clint put a hand to his heart, feigning shock. “You wound me.”
“Uh huh,” Bucky nodded, before turning back to their game. Clint laughed, dropping his head onto Bucky’s shoulder.
“You know that makes it hard for me to play?”
Clint shrugged, making himself comfortable on Bucky’s shoulder.
“Don’t you have work to do?”
“Nah, I’m pretty comfortable right where I am.”
~
Bucky didn’t think much about the incident until a week later, when they made an impromptu stop at Steve’s apartment.
“How are you?” Steve asked after letting Bucky into the apartment.
Bucky shrugged, making their way straight to the couch and dropping down face first onto it.
“That bad, huh?” Bucky heard Steve say, sitting on the floor in front of the couch.
Bucky shrugged as best they could. “Maybe,” they mumbled into the couch.
“You wanna share with the class?”
“No…”
Bucky could hear Steve’s laugh, and felt his hand on their back. “That bad?”
The thing was, it wasn’t that bad. Not really. Like the time last week, it had hit Bucky out of nowhere.
An innocuous overheard comment at work- a colleague talking about tax benefits- had reminded Bucky of what Clint had said. And got Bucky thinking again.
Marriage… the thought’s never really crossed my mind. And yet, the idea isn’t completely ridiculous.
But marriage ?
Do you see a future with Clint?
Of course. That’s not in doubt here.
So what’s the problem?
Bucky couldn’t come up with an answer to that. Which was why they were now lying face down on Steve’s couch.
“Don’t know what to do,” Bucky eventually said, in answer to Steve’s question.
“About what?”
Bucky rolled their head so that they could stare at Steve.
Steve held up his hands, smiling slightly. “Fine, fine. Tea?”
“Please.”
Steve nodded, standing up to go and make some tea. Bucky closed their eyes, waiting for Steve to bring over the tea.
When Steve came over, Bucky sat up, taking the cup of tea in their hand. They were halfway through their tea before they spoke to Steve.
“Do I want to marry Clint?”
Steve, to his credit, didn’t react to the question. He’s been asked weirder. Steve put down his tea, crossing his legs on the couch. “Am I the one you should be asking?”
“No,” Bucky sighed, looking down into their tea. “But I need to talk to someone about it that’s not in my head.”
“And not Clint.”
“And not Clint.” Bucky blew out a breath, turning to Steve. “What do I do?”
“You ask the man to marry you.”
Bucky turned around, frowning at Sam. “How long have you been there?”
“Since you said the first question,” Sam walked into the room, taking a seat on the spare chair. He leant forward, looking at Bucky. “Well?”
“Well what?”
“Well, why is this a question?”
“Because I don’t know what to do.”
“Well then,” Steve said, a smile on his face. “I think you actually do.”
Bucky turned the frown onto Steve. “What?”
“I’ve known you a really long time, Bucky. And I know you; you never worry about things unless you actually want them.”
“Really?”
“Why don’t you trust yourself on this?”
Bucky looked down at their tea again, looking for answers. “For the past two years, I’ve been happier than I ever have been. And I don’t want that to change.”
“And you think that proposing will change that?”
Bucky shrugged, looking up again. “This is why I wanted to talk to someone. Cause it sounds stupid when you say it, but when I say it?”
“It festers in your head until it’s all you can think about,” Sam answered. “And never a good result.”
“You’re being remarkably insightful for once,” Bucky pointed at Sam. “You feeling okay?”
“Oh ha ha,” Sam shook his head. “So, you know what you’re going to do?”
“Yeah,” Bucky sighed, putting their tea down on the table so that they could rest their head on Steve’s shoulder. “I think I do.”
“That’s great,” Steve said, putting an arm around Bucky’s shoulders. “You’ll have to let us know how it goes.”
“Of course.”
~
Bucky might have made a decision, but that didn’t necessarily mean that they were going to act on said decision.
Because why act, when you can do recon first?
With that very simple piece of logic in mind, Bucky made their way to a small flower shop in the middle of a street of tattoo parlours, a pub, and a motorcycle repair place.
(Bucky was 89% sure that Natasha had a hand in every business on the street in one form or another. Only 89%, because sometimes Sharon through in bits of information that made Bucky question the fact. Though, Sharon was probably doing that in order to stop Bucky from knowing the truth.)
( Barton has some strange friends. )
Pushing the door to the flower shop open, Bucky made their way to the front counter, where Pepper was working.
Pepper is nice, calming. She fits into the place, like she’s a flower herself. She knows her way around the world, but always knows just how to make you feel at home.
“Bucky!” Pepper smiled wide when she saw Bucky. “Come to see our new arrivals?”
That was another thing Bucky liked about Pepper; she never asked how you were. It’s such a stupid question, and not using it is just another reason to like Pepper.
Bucky shook their head. “I’m here to see Natasha. Or Sharon. Either or.”
“You look nervous.”
Bucky tried to school their features. “Do I?”
Pepper gave Bucky a small smile. “Alright, they’re both in, actually. In the office, follow me.”
Bucky followed Pepper, who knocked on the open door, sticking her head inside.
“You have a visitor.”
“Send them in!” Sharon called out. Pepper waved into the room.
“All yours.”
“Thanks Pepper,” Bucky smiled at her, before entering the room, closing the door behind them.
“Closing the door? Must be serious,” Natasha observed, gesturing to one of the ( many, many, so many ) chairs in the room. She sat behind her desk, while Sharon was leaning against the desk. She gave Bucky a curious look. “What’s the matter?”
Bucky sat down, putting their bag on their lap. “Something Clint said to me got me thinking.”
“Something Clint said?” Sharon, sitting next to Bucky, prompted when Bucky fell silent.
Bucky looked down at their lap, right hand running over a leather-covered left hand. “Tax benefits.”
“Clint was talking about tax benefits ?” Sharon sounded surprised; Bucky didn’t blame her.
“Yeah, I know how it sounds.” Bucky looked up then, noting the expectant looks on the two women’s faces. “Married couples get tax benefits apparently.”
“Clint dropping hints?” Sharon asked, while Natasha shook her head.
“Not hints, probably Clint researching something else,” Natasha said, watching Bucky for a reaction. “This lead to a talk?”
Bucky nodded.
“And Clint isn’t opposed to the idea.”
“No, and neither am I. I’ve… I’ve been thinking about it, and I would like to propose to Clint.”
“That’s wonderful!” Sharon said, smiling.
“You’re here for advice?” Natasha asked, ever the pragmatist.
Bucky shook their head, turning to face Natasha fully. “No? Yes? I don’t want to mess up.”
“Oh, Bucky,” Natasha came around the desk to sit in front of Bucky, taking hold of their hands. “You could do nothing more than ask Clint, anywhere, anytime, and he’d say yes.”
“I know,” Bucky laughed a little, looking up at Natasha. “I’d like to make it a little bit nicer than that.”
“Of course,” Natasha smiled, that smile that Clint had been very quick to explain to Bucky.
“That smile is dangerous, Bucky. It never bodes well; usually means Tasha is about to do something absolutely mischievous. And you probably won’t like the idea of it at the beginning, but once she does whatever it is that brought the smile to her face? You’ll wonder why you ever doubted her.”
So Bucky sat there, listening to Natasha’s plan, with input from Sharon. And a similar smile began to form on Bucky’s face.
This might just work.
~
“Oh, and before you go,” Natasha said when Bucky stood to leave. They paused, tilting their head at Natasha. “As the closest thing Clint has to family, I approve of you asking him to marry you.”
“Thank you Natasha.”
Bucky knew that that would mean a lot to Clint, though he’d never outright say it; the way that Bucky had been accepted into Clint’s family had made him happy, Bucky knew. Could see it in the way Clint would always smile when Bucky was sharing a story with Sharon, or talking to Natasha about bikes, or offering Wanda advice on her clothes, or listening to Pietro explain his latest training that was going to take him to the Olympics.
Clint’s family had accepted Bucky, welcomed him, and that meant everything to the both of them.
~
The next part of Bucky’s quest involved a visit to the Maximoff’s.
“Bucky!” Lorna, answering the door, reacted to Bucky the same way she always did: open arms, and a wide smile. Her hair was a bright green today; she’s recently dyed it. Probably yesterday. Looks good.
Bucky returned the smile, bending down to hug her.
(Though not as much as they had had to bend when they first met Lorna; she had grown .)
“Lorna, your hair is looking great.”
“Thank you.”
“I hear you got a perfect score on your last history test.”
“Yeah,” Lorna smiled as she closed the door, walking with Bucky into the main room of the house. “All thanks to your tutoring.”
“Nah,” Bucky waved a hand, sitting down next to Lorna on the couch.On the coffee table, textbooks lay strewn across; a mixture of Lorna’s high school reading, the twins’ various university readings, and Eric’s readings for work.
It’s a mess; there’s no organisation to it. And yet, they manage to make it work.
“You’re the brains of the operation.”
“Thanks,” Lorna smiled. “What brings you by?”
“Actually wanted to talk to Wanda.”
“Oh, she’s in her room; want me to go and get her?”
Bucky shook their head, standing up. “She won’t mind if I do, will she?”
Lorna shook her head. “Nah, not a chance. She loves you. Want anything to eat or drink?”
Bucky shook their head. “Thanks for the offer, I’ll make sure to see you before I go.”
“You better.”
Bucky nodded, waving over their shoulder as they made their way up the staircase, down the hall, to the second door on the right.
Bucky knocked on the door, and stood back. They heard rustling in the room.
“Lorna, I swear, if you’re hear to steal another -” Wanda paused when she opened the door and saw Bucky. “You’re not Lorna.”
“Not the last time I checked,” Bucky answered, coming in at Wanda’s waved hand. “What is Lorna stealing today?”
“Highlighters,” Wanda answered, taking a seat on her bed, while Bucky took a seat on her desk chair. “She keeps losing hers.”
“Well that’s no good.”
“No, it is not,” Wanda agreed. “So what brings you by?”
“I have a scenario to discuss with you.”
“Oh?”
“I’m going to ask Clint to marry me.”
Wanda acted much in the way that Bucky thought she would; with a lot of smiling, and clapping.
“That is awesome! When?”
“Soon, I hope.”
“You will let me do the hair and makeup for the wedding, right?”
Haven’t even proposed, and she’s already planning the wedding. Bucky smiled at Wanda’s confidence in what Clint’s answer would be.
“Wanda, I would dream of asking no one else.”
“Good.” Wanda tilted her head slightly, eyeing Bucky. “Why are you telling me?”
“I want to hear how you think I should propose.”
As they suspected, Wanda was more than willing to share her ideas.
Bucky spent the afternoon talking with Wanda (and Pietro, who showed up after his training).
Both gave him many ideas, which combined with what Natasha and Sharon had said, left Bucky with a lot to think about.
And a lot of confidence. This is going to work.
~
Bucky might have a plan, Bucky might have confidence, but that did not mean that Bucky was going to rush into asking Clint to marry them. No, Bucky was going to take their time, and wait for the most appropriate moment.
That night, was not the most appropriate moment.
Bucky came home that night to see Clint asleep on the couch, Lucky asleep on his legs and Kot sleeping on his chest.
“Adorable,” Bucky muttered under their breath, making sure not to wake any of the sleeping residents. Bucky went and got a blanket for Clint, covering his legs where Lucky wasn’t, and moving Clint’s half-full coffee cup from the floor. Clint hummed in his sleep, causing a smile to form on Bucky’s face.
Bucky decided to do their work from the bedroom, unwilling to wake Clint.
~
It was a week before Bucky decided to enact their plan.
“Plan” was probably too strong a word; Bucky had an idea of what they were going to do, as well as all of the ideas given to them last week.
Yet even with such a nebulous “plan”, it went wrong.
“Where are you?” Bucky frowned, phone to their ear; the sound was distorted, and Clint was meant to be home an hour ago.
“ Stuck ,” was Clint’s answer.
“Stuck?”
“ In traffic. ”
“Where?”
“ Other side of town. ”
“Really?”
“ I’m sorry; I’ve been looking forward to lasagne all week. It’s not burnt is it? ”
Bucky turned to look at the lasagne, which was just going golden in the oven. “It’ll be fine; when do you think you’ll be home?”
There was the sound of a muffled conversation on the other end of the phone. “ Yeah, let’s not guess. I’ll be home soon. Love you. ”
“Love you too,” Bucky replied, hanging up the phone when Clint disconnected, Bucky turned off the oven, before walking over and collapsing onto the couch.
It’s a good thing I don’t plan my life to the minute, Bucky thought, rolling their head to the side as they felt Kot make her way up their back.
“You comfortable?”
All Bucky received in response was the sound of a sleeping Kot.
Looks like I’m stuck here now.
~
The next thing Bucky knew, Clint was kneeling in front of them, smiling.
“Hey there sleepy head.”
Bucky frowned, rolling over. “Where’s Kot?”
“Hanging out with Lucky,” Clint answered, helping Bucky to sit up. He sounds out of breath . “Sorry I’m late.”
“What time is it?”
“Eleven thirty seven.”
“Why are you out of breath?”
Clint looked up at Bucky sheepishly. “So I might have gotten out of the cab and run home?”
“How far?”
“Ten kilometres? Give or take a mile.”
Bucky shook their head, laughing. “Why?”
“Because the traffic was stuck , Bucky! Stuck!” Clint raised his hands in the air. “I was going nowhere. And I wanted to get home to see you. So I ran.”
Bucky was still shaking their head, their laughter dimming to a smile. “I can’t believe I want to marry you.”
“I know it was stu- what ?”
Watching Clint’s entire face change in an instant was interesting, to say the least. His arms dropped, jaw slack, eyes wide. He’s shocked.
“You heard me,” Bucky smiled, sliding forward in order to sit on the edge of the couch.
Clint shook his head, moving forward so that he was between Bucky’s legs, resting his hands on Bucky’s thighs. “No, I didn’t, because I’m deaf. You’ll have to say it again, clearly .”
Bucky shook their head, before putting their hand on the side of Clint’s face, leaning forward to kiss his forehead. Bucky then pulled back, and raised their hand to sign along with their words. The two had come up with a way for Bucky to sign one handed, while still being understood by Clint; the process was ever evolving, but was worth every moment as Bucky watched Clint’s face.
“I want to marry you, Clint Barton. Marry me?”
“Oh good, I wasn’t hearing things,” Clint smiled, putting his arms around Bucky’s neck. “Of course I’ll marry you.”
As if sensing the momentous occasion, both Kot and Lucky made their presence known; Kot was chasing Lucky through the house. Lucky jumped up onto the couch, somehow getting his head in between Clint and Bucky, while Kot climbed up onto Clint’s shoulders, watching Lucky.
Clint and Bucky shared a look, before bursting out laughing.
~
Their life together didn’t change, not really.
Bucky just got to say that he was engaged to the best person in the world, a sentiment that Clint also shared.
They had a party, inviting their respective families over. Turns out, their families were more connected than they had known.
Steve knew Natasha from university, and Sam knew Sharon through frequently the same cafe. Sam also knew Rhodey, who was friends with Clint, and whose husband was the one to give Wanda her first job. It turned out that Steve and Pietro often ran together at the park, a bit of friendly competition between two runners. Wanda and Lorna were dazzling everyone they talked to; Wanda with tales from both university and work, and Lorna with her wide range of knowledge on everything. And Pepper and her girlfriend, a mysterious woman named Maria, knew just about everyone somehow ; Bucky had honestly lost track.
(Never having met Maria before, never even knowing Pepper was dating someone, Bucky could only deem Maria mysterious; the woman gives away nothing, except a deep adoration for Pepper. They are happy together .)
Kate, over a video call from the other side of the world, started off by expressing her disappointment about not being consulted in the planning. She did congratulate the pair, reminding Clint not to mess up. Clint had smiled, telling Kate to enjoy her semester abroad, and not to miss him too much. Kate had stuck her tongue out at him, but ended the call with a smile.
Somehow their families, both found and forged over years of trials and joy, fit together perfectly , almost as though it was meant to be.
Everyone was beyond happy for the couple, everyone making sure to take a moment to congratulate the pair.
Admittedly, it got to be a bit too much for Bucky, so they subtly made their way to the open window leading to the fire escape, and climbed to the rooftop.
The night air was warm enough to not need a jacket, but not too warm as to be unbearable. Bucky made their way to one of the sides, leaning on the railing. They were not surprised to find Kot dancing along the railing, coming to curl up between Bucky’s arms.
“You like it up here, huh?” Bucky muttered, running a finger through Kot’s fur. Kot was still tiny, much smaller than what a cat of her age should be; the vets reassured Bucky that it was nothing they were doing, but a result of her unfortunate start to life.
“Thought I’d find you up here.”
Bucky turned to look over their shoulder, smiling at Clint coming over to lean beside them. Bucky looped their arm through Clint’s, resting their head on his shoulder.
“Bit too noisy,” Bucky admitted.
Clint nodded. “Don’t I know it. It’s great, don’t get me wrong. But so many people, in our small apartment?”
“Recipe for disaster,” Bucky answered, smiling as Clint pressed a kiss to the top of their head.
“Exactly,” Clint breathed against Bucky’s head, before turning to look out at the night sky. “Hey, look, the Southern Cross!”
Bucky shared Clint’s laugh. “It’s even more impossible here than the last time you said you could see it.”
“Oh well,” Clint sighed, lifting their head. “Look at me?”
When Bucky did, Clint shone them a brilliant smile. “We’re engaged.”
“Yes, yes we are.”
“Do we need to set a date?”
Bucky shook their head. “Not tonight. No rush, right?”
“No rush,” Clint agreed, leaning forward to kiss Bucky’s cheek. “Though we should probably go back inside at some point. It is our party, after all.”
“Yeah, I know,” Bucky said, before looking up at the stars. “Just a little longer?”
Clint answered by wrapping his arms around Bucky’s neck, leaning his head on Bucky’s shoulder. “Love watching you watch the stars.”
“Love you.”
“Love you too, you giant sap.”
“Takes one to know one Clint.”
“You are so lucky I love you.”
Bucky’s reply was interrupted by Kot jumping onto their shoulder, causing Clint to jump back.
“Looks like someone disapproves of how long I was hogging you,” Clint said, staring at Kot.
Bucky laughed, reaching up to scratch behind Kot’s ears. “Don’t listen to Clint, you’re important too.”
Clint responded by going to Bucky’s other side, looping his arm through Bucky’s. “Come on, let’s return before they realise we’re gone.”
“Clint, if the people in that room haven’t noticed that we’re gone, I’d be concerned.”
Clint considered that for a moment as they walked down the stairwell. (Not the fire escape this time.)
“I guess you’re right. There are some crazy observant people in that room.”
“How did we manage to be friends with so many spies?”
“I don’t know!” Clint shook his head. Reaching their front door, Clint paused, moving to stand in front of Bucky. Clint moved one hand to Bucky’s shoulder, the other on Bucky’s waist.
(Kot was still on Bucky’s left shoulder, and Clint wasn’t going to try and fight Kot.)
“I love you so damn much.”
“You know how much I love you; why are you saying that now?”
Clint nodded at the door. “Because I’m almost a hundred percent sure that once we open that door, there’ll be a cake, and yelling, and a general surprise atmosphere.”
And you’re warning me so I won’t be shocked, Bucky thought, smiling at Clint. “Thank you.”
“I know you’ll like it, but you might not like the yelling. Everyone asked me to ask you if you’re okay with it.”
Everyone was willing to make sure I was comfortable? “I can’t believe I was lucky enough to have met you.”
“The feeling’s mutual,” Clint assured Bucky, squeezing their hands. “You ready?”
Bucky nodded; Clint let go of one hand in order to open the door.
As the door opened, it felt like the door was being opened to the next part of Bucky’s life, and it filled them with joy more than anything.
With Clint by my side, how can I go wrong? I love Clint, and trust him so, so , much. Our future together is as bright as the stars.
(Yes, Bucky gets poetical sometimes. If they keep it to themselves, who will ever know?)