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Steve was in the middle of washing his face when there was a knock on the bathroom door.
“Steve, you ready yet?” Bucky’s voice demanded from outside. “I’ve been waiting all week for this--finish powdering your nose and let’s get a move on!”
Steve rolled his eyes slightly, though he was smiling to himself. “It’s not my fault it only takes you five minutes to get ready,” he retorted as he grabbed a towel and patted his face dry gently with it. “I have an appearance to maintain.”
“Yeah, the appearance of a lame-ass.”
Steve finally opened the bathroom door, letting the steamed up air out into the hallway. Bucky was standing in front of him, and Steve could see the open door to the room he and Bucky shared at the Avengers Compound across the hall.
“ Finally ,” Bucky said overdramatically. “I’ve had to piss for twenty minutes.” He shoved past him into the bathroom, and Steve rolled his eyes again, chuckling. He went into the bedroom for a jacket and his shoes, feeling a little bit of excitement stirring up in his stomach.
It was date night for the two of them, and although he and Bucky had been together for well over six months, he still got butterflies when it came to going on dates and doing romantic stuff with Bucky. It seemed as though the reality hadn’t quite sunk in--that his best friend, for whom he had been smitten for as long as he could remember, actually liked him back.
Bucky came back out of the bathroom a minute later, as Steve was pulling on his shoes.
Maybe a part of his nervousness could be attributed to the attention they always received whenever Steve and Bucky appeared in public together. One could only imagine all the press attention that sprouted up after it became public knowledge that Captain America was bisexual and dating a guy.
He and Bucky did their best to ignore it though. Steve had long since gotten used to having cameras flashing in his face, and Bucky was just glad they weren’t accusing him of an assassination.
Steve stood up, watching Bucky pull on his own shoes. “You ready?” he asked, smiling at his boyfriend slightly.
He nodded and stood as well, going over to Steve and taking his hand.
Together they left the room and went down to the elevator, walking past the little living room, where Sam was sitting watching a movie on the huge TV.
“Have fun you two,” Sam remarked cheerfully over his shoulder.
“We will,” Steve replied, smiling as he called the elevator. Sam often liked to tease the two of them, but Steve didn’t mind. That was sort of what friends were for, and it was largely because of Sam that Steve and Bucky managed to pull their heads out of their asses and get together.
As the elevator opened, the two stepped aside as Tony and Rhodey came through, greeting one another briefly before Steve brought Bucky into the elevator.
“You sure you know the way to this restaurant?” Bucky asked as they made their journey downwards in the quick-moving elevator. “Your sense of direction is notoriously bad.”
Steve rolled his eyes at him. “ Of course I know where it is, Buck, I’ve been there tons of times.”
Bucky snorted slightly. “It wouldn’t surprise me if you managed to get lost.”
“Besides,” Steve added pointedly, “this is what our smartphones are for.”
Bucky grinned and dropped his hand, slinging it around his shoulder for a moment in an over-enthusiastic, noncommittal hug. Steve laughed slightly and leaned into him, moving so he could kiss his cheek briefly.
As Steve pulled away, the elevator door opened, and he retook Bucky’s hand. He made his way across the quiet garage, their footsteps echoing in the big concrete space towards where their motorcycles stood.
“Are we taking separate bikes?” Steve asked, pausing for a moment.
“Come on, you telling me you don’t want my chest pressed up against your back?” Bucky asked, elbowing Steve jokingly, and forcing a blush to come to his cheeks.
After all this time, with all his muscles and his looks, Steve was still way too shy, especially when it came to the world of romance and sex.
“I don’t need to share a bike with you for that,” Steve muttered, trying to be playful in return, but pretty much just succeeding in embarrassing himself more.
Bucky just laughed, though, and kissed his cheek. “You’re right about that,” he said. He motioned to the bike. “You get on first then.”
Steve, still fighting a blush, got on his bike and put on his helmet, and Bucky got on after him, wrapping his arms around his waist and moving close. Steve felt a stir of warmth in his chest and he smiled, leaning into Bucky’s arms for the briefest of moments before starting his bike and revving its engine, peeling out of the garage at the Avengers Compound.
It wasn’t a long ride to the restaurant they were going to, and, Steve remarked smugly in his mind, he didn’t get lost.
As Steve pulled into the parking lot and turned off his bike, he looked up at the neon sign advertising the diner. It was a forties style greasy spoon, like the ones Steve and Bucky remembered from growing up in Brooklyn. It was a taste of home that Steve went to when he was feeling nostalgic, and it felt right to be going here with Bucky.
Bucky got off the bike as Steve was taking his helmet off. He set the helmets on the ground beside the bike and retook Bucky’s hand, not all that concerned about leaving their helmets outside.
He led him up the steps and into the diner. He made eye contact with the waitress as she looked up at them, and she smiled and gave them a nod, indicating she would get to them soon enough.
This diner wasn’t the nicest place Steve had ever taken Bucky to, but that wasn’t the point of this date. He knew his boyfriend didn’t care anyway, that he was just glad to be able to do something with him.
Steve pulled Bucky into a booth, sitting across from him and smiling at him. He opened up the menu, looking through the different dishes, though he already knew what he wanted.
The waitress, finishing with the group she had been talking to, approached their table. “Good evening, Steve,” she said.
Steve, at one point, came to this diner pretty much the same time every week for a while, and so the waitress knew him pretty well at this point. Of course, who wouldn’t recognize Captain America if he came into your cafe. She turned her attention to Steve’s date. “And you must be Bucky,” she said, smiling warmly at him. “Steve never stops talking about you. He’s about as smitten as a schoolgirl.”
Steve flushed again and he interrupted her before she could continue and further embarrass him. “Hey, uh, could I just get a water and a strawberry milkshake?” he asked. “And I’ll have a cheeseburger with the works.”
She nodded, writing the order down on the little notepad she was holding, before looking at Bucky expectantly. “Um, I’ll just get—” blanking, he looked at the menu again. “Fish and chips.”
“And to drink?”
“Oh.” Bucky smiled slightly. “Just a water, and add another straw to that milkshake.” He sent a winning smile to Steve, who looked at him with a look that could almost be described as betrayal.
The waitress--Bonny--chuckled slightly and turned to go place their orders. Steve watched her go for a moment before looking back at Bucky, the same expression on his face.
“Buck,” he groaned. “You’re killing me.”
“What? Can’t you handle a romantic gesture? I can’t imagine what happened when I sent you flowers.”
Steve buried his face in his hands for a moment. He didn’t know why exactly something as stereotypical and stupid as sharing a milkshake made him feel so bubbly, but he supposed it was the hopeless romantic in him, that little teenager who had always daydreamed about doing something like that with someone, being able to have cutesy moments like that, but never getting them.
The two of them talked for a little while, not about anything in particular--mostly gossip, or Bucky complaining about Sam, or something along those lines--until Bonny came back with their order.
“Here you go boys,” she said, setting down the plates in front of them. “A cheeseburger with the works, fish and chips, two waters, and I’ll be right back with that strawberry milkshake.”
They thanked her and set about eating. Bucky must have been hungry, because he ate like he had never seen food in his life.
When the milkshake came, Bucky grinned and started teasing Steve again, and, grumbling, Steve waved him off and started drinking the milkshake.
When they were both finished eating, and the last remnants of the milkshake had been scooped up, Steve paid the bill and started to lead Bucky from the diner, ignoring the stares from the other patrons.
Steve groaned when he saw out the window at the group of reporters who were waiting for them. Glancing at Bucky, Steve smiled ruefully and turned around. “Hey Bon?” he called to her.
“Yeah, Steve?”
“Mind if we go out the back way? It’ll be less conspicuous.”
“Go right ahead. It’s through the kitchen.” She smiled at them as Steve started that way.
“Thanks a billion, doll,” he said.
Barely bothering with their helmets, Steve and Bucky got on the bike and Steve peeled out of there, watching in his rearview at the train of confused and desperate paparazzi as they chased after them for a block or two.
Both of them laughed as they started back in the direction of the Avengers Compound. Steve didn’t usually mind it when people wanted to talk to him, especially since it gave him an opportunity to be vocal about certain things, but not on date night, not when all he wanted to do was go back home, curl up with Bucky in bed, and watch a movie.
It was late as they pulled back into the parking garage, and as Steve pulled off his helmet, he felt Bucky press a kiss to the nape of his neck before swinging off the bike himself.
“That was nice, Stevie,” Bucky said, going towards the elevator with their hands linked and their fingers laced together.
“I’m glad you enjoyed it,” Steve said, smiling slightly. “Was it worth waiting all week?”
Bucky rolled his eyes and shoved him lightly, calling the elevator. “I guess so , punk.”
“Jerk,” Steve retorted.
The living room was empty as Steve and Bucky came in, and it was dark. It seemed as though the others had likely gone to bed, or had retired to their rooms.
“Maybe tomorrow I’ll make you breakfast,” Bucky mused, smiling as they went towards their room. “Wouldn’t that be something? If a milkshake is enough to get you tousled.”
“Shut up,” Steve snapped, though their was no anger in his voice. He opened the door to their room and started to get undressed, watching Bucky cross the room and look for a movie they could fall asleep to.
“How about we watch The Godfather ?” Bucky suggested, surveying the case.
“Sure thing,” Steve said, pulling a pair of pajama pants on.
Bucky put it in and started to change himself, while Steve went to the bed and pulled back the sheets. He crawled in and waited for his boyfriend to join him, half watching the previews on the TV, and half watching Bucky change.
As Steve started the movie, Bucky joined him, and they played chicken for a moment over who would cuddle into whose arms, finally deciding on Steve doing the holding. As they settled down, propped up against a bunch of pillows, with Bucky wrapped up in Steve’s arms, Steve fet a smile come to his face.
“I love you, punk,” Bucky said quietly, running his fingers lightly over Steve’s arms.
“I love you too, Buck.” Steve leaned down and pressed a kiss to the top of Bucky’s head, and fell silent.