Archive of Our Own

Steve was irritated. Bucky had coerced him to come out on a double date, again, and it had ended just like all the others. Upon seeing him, Steve’s date did a double take, then frowned and spent the entire evening fawning over Bucky and literally every other guy in the dance hall. Steve was offended and exhausted and had told Bucky as much before flat-out informing him that he could stay with the girls on his own. Steve was going back to the apartment.

 

Tugging his threadbare coat tighter around his ribs in a vain attempt to stave off the chill of a clear April night, Steve moodily kicked at pebbles littering the sidewalk. Dating was supposed to be fun, but every date he went on ended in a disaster. He did appreciate that Bucky kept trying, but he was pretty sure they’d gone out with every dame in Brooklyn at this point and exactly none of them had wanted a second date with him. Of course, both would inevitably start hanging off of Bucky and beg for dates with him, but not Steve. Never Steve, because Steve was scrawny and short and coughed so hard it sounded like he might break a rib.

 

Huffing out a sigh, Steve turned into the ramshackle apartment building and slowly trudged up three flights of rickety stairs to his apartment door. He unlocked the door and stepped inside, carefully locking it behind him (some of the neighbors were not as trustworthy as he would like to believe). He tossed his keys onto the table and neatly hung his jacket on one of the rusting metal hooks Bucky had nailed to the wall. He toed off his shoes and placed them neatly on the floor beneath his jacket before heading to his bedroom.

 

Once there, he stripped out of his nice button down and into a rattier sleep shirt. He removed his belt and khakis and replaced them with looser and more comfortable sleep pants. Then he headed into the living room and settled onto the dilapidated couch with a copy of The Hobbit that Bucky had bought for him last Christmas. It was a bit battered, and most definitely well thumbed, but it was Steve’s favorite story. This may have had something to do with the fact that it was one of a very small number of books he actually owned.

 

Steve was so immersed in the story that he actually leapt off the couch in fright when the doorknob rattled to announce Bucky’s return. He took a few deep breaths and managed to compose himself and bookmark his page before the door opened and closed. He could hear Bucky moving around in the tiny entryway before his friend came around the corner into the living room. He grinned wide at the sight of Steve curled up on the couch under one of the thin blankets.

 

“Hey Stevie where’d ya run off to? The girls and I were missing your company, ‘specially when one of ‘em didn’t have a dance partner,” he said brightly as he settled down on the other side of the couch. Steve rolled his eyes but sat up a bit more so that he could see Bucky clearly over his own knees.

 

“I told you Buck, I came home. Those girls didn’t want nothing to do with me, just like all the others.”

 

“Aw, c’mon Steve! You gotta give ‘em a chance to get to know ya!” Steve rolled his eyes.

 

“No one wants to get to know me Bucky, I’m sickly and small and scrawny. And even if one tried, I haven’t got a clue what to do next.” Bucky blinked in surprise.

 

“Well that’s easy. You just keep her talking and then, if she sticks around long enough, you kiss her.” Steve, whose eyes had been wandering, turned to stare it his friend in amazement.

 

“Buck, what makes you think that I have any idea how to kiss?” Bucky looked at him with wide eyes, a grin starting to curl the corners of his mouth.

 

“Stevie, are you telling me that you ain’t never kissed before?” he asked gleefully. Steve flushed red and looked away.

 

“Come on Buck, it’s not like it’s a revelation or anything,” he muttered, embarrassed. Bucky threw his head back and laughed, loud and long. Steve huffed angrily and stood from the couch, drawing his blanket around him in an attempt to make a dramatic exit. He was stopped by Bucky grabbing a fold of the blanket.

 

“Aw, c’mon Stevie! I ain’t tryin’ to make fun of ya’, I just think it’s funny that you’re the sweet good boy and all the girls are too stupid to see.” Steve turned to glare at him.

 

“Flattery will get you nowhere James Barnes. Now let go of my blanket. I’m not sitting around and letting you make fun of me for hours.” Bucky rolled his eyes and tugged the blanket hard enough to pull Steve back onto the couch.

 

“Jesus Christ Steve, no need to get so defensive! I was jus’ teasing you is all. Relax!” Steve released his death grip on the blanket and reached over to smack Bucky in the chest.

 

“I said leave me alone Buck!” Steve snapped. Bucky grabbed his arm and pushed Steve down on the couch, pinning him with a grin.

 

“Give it up Steve, you know I’m bigger and stronger.” Steve wiggled back and forth for a second before flopping down in irritation.

 

“But I’m smarter,” he growled and kicked Bucky in the stomach so the bigger boy was flipped off the couch. Bucky managed to keep his hold on Steve’s wrist, however, and pulled the smaller boy down on top of him. Neither of them were ones to give up, so they rolled around on the floor for a while. Steve was fully aware that Bucky wasn’t using his full strength and was letting Steve flip him and shove him around, but he was so fed up with Bucky and his overwhelmingly successful dates that he didn’t care.

 

Finally, Bucky seemed to decide enough was enough and flipped Steve onto his back, pinning him completely to the floor. The bigger boy was grinning slightly, amusement written in every line of his face.

 

“Feel better now?” he teased gently. Steve huffed in irritation.

 

“You know what, screw you Barnes.” Bucky laughed.

 

“I don’t think you have the skill for that Stevie, especially if you’ve never kissed a dame before,” he mocked. Steve tried to punch him, but Bucky was holding his wrists down effectively, so he did the only thing he could think of: he leaned up and tried to bite Bucky’s nose. But his friend saw what he was doing and jerked his head away, or at least tried to. As it turned out he didn’t move quite fast enough – Steve did miss his nose, but instead connected with his mouth.

 

For a minute, the two friends were frozen, lips connected and staring at each other with wide eyes. Steve yanked away as soon as his senses came back to him, horror and alarm mixing across his face. Bucky moved back more slowly, eyes wide and a bit dazed. Steve stuttered out something vaguely resembling an apology and fled to the bedroom. He shut the door behind him and sat down with his head in his hands. Oh god, this was a disaster. He had kissed Bucky, Bucky, of all people, and even worse he had liked it. He pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes and tried to erase the kiss from his memory. Maybe if he could forget it, Bucky could too and they’d never have to think about it again. Well, Steve would have liked to think about it a lot, but Bucky definitely liked girls, judging from the amount of dates he’d been on.

 

Steve sat wallowing in self-pity until he heard a quiet knock on the door and Bucky’s hesitant voice.

 

“Uh, Steve? You mind if I come in?” Steve quickly swiped at his eyes, making sure there were no tears there before he replied.

 

“Um, sure, if you want.” The door creaked opened and Bucky slowly stepped inside. For a moment, they just looked at each other before Bucky sighed and came to sit beside Steve.

 

“Okay, let’s do this.” Steve looked at him in confusion.

 

“What are you talking about?” Bucky rolled his eyes.

 

“Steve, you kissed me, even if it was by accident. First of all, you are a terrible kisser, you should really work on that.” Steve smacked his arm at that, even as a slight grin tugged at his lips. Bucky grinned back before continuing.

 

“And second, you ran away like a bat out of hell. I mean, I know I’m hideous and all, but I don’t think my face earned that extreme of a response.” Steve outright laughed at that, and Bucky chuckled a bit too. Once he had himself under control, Steve did his best to explain.

 

“Look Buck, I’m sorry I kissed you and I’m sorry I ran away. I just didn’t know what to do and I figured it would be better if we just didn’t talk about it and moved on.” Bucky frowned.

 

“Why would you think that?” Steve blinked in surprise.

 

“Well you like girls Buck, and I’m certainly not one of those.” Bucky just looked at him for a long moment, before speaking.

 

“Steve, did you like kissing me? And I want an honest answer now, no lyin’ or avoidin’ the question.” Steve shifted uncomfortably and looked away.

 

“I dunno Buck, I mean it’s not like I have anything to compare it to,” he hedged.

 

“See look, you’re avoidin’ the question! Come on Steve, it’s an easy answer: yes or no?” Steve kept his eyes firmly on his knees as he answered.

 

“Well, yes, I suppose.” He heard Bucky let out a long breath before he spoke.

 

“Hey, look at me a sec?” Steve looked up nervously, and Bucky offered him a small smile.

 

“Well, if you liked it, you’re welcome to try again,” he said, grin becoming a smirk. Steve gaped at him.

 

“Excuse me?” Bucky’s smirk got a little bigger.

 

“I think you heard me just fine Rogers. So, go ahead, if you want to.” Steve searched Bucky’s face for any sign of teasing or a joke, and, to his great surprise, found none. He shifted so his body was facing Bucky and slowly leaned forward. Bucky didn’t move, just let him do what he wanted to. When Steve pressed his lips hesitantly to Bucky’s, Bucky’s hand gently came up to the side of his face and adjusted the angle of his head so that their noses weren’t awkwardly smashed together. Steve was unsure exactly what to do, but Bucky didn’t seem to be complaining so he just kept up the gentle lip on lip contact.

 

 

Eventually, Bucky pulled away and smiled warmly at him. Steve smiled shyly back, a slight blush coloring his cheeks. Bucky laughed softly, resting his forehead gently against Steve’s.

 

“What’s that blush for, huh? We haven’t even done anything yet!” Bucky teased softly. Steve only blushed more and looked down shyly, which made Bucky laugh quietly. He gently tugged Steve with him as he laid down on the bed. Steve settled with his head on Bucky’s chest as Bucky reached over and shut off the lamp. There was a long moment of awkward silence before Steve spoke up.

 

“Bucky?”

 

“Yes Steve?”

 

“Can I kiss you again?” There was a snort of laughter and Bucky moved to face him.

 

“Steve, babe, you can kiss me whenever you want.”