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You were lying on your bed, head resting on Steve’s chest and a book in hand. Steve was reading as well, and running his hand up and down your side. So yeah, all in all, a great position to be in. The two of you had been resting in silence for about an hour, Steve had just gotten back from a mission somewhere in Africa (“it’s classified, darling” “I don’t care, tell me, Steve” “I can’t” “you told me last time” “I’ll tell you as soon as I can”) and were happy to be in each other’s company.
As you turned the page your eyes drifted to your forearm. Three outlines of triangles stacked on top of each other. Such a small little thing that controlled everyone’s lives. Such a small little thing that meant the absolute world to you. With a smile on your face you turned back to your book.
The peace was ruined when the doors slammed open, something you didn’t know they could do, Jarvis usually just slid them open for you. Bucky was there, a piece of paper in his hand and was staring at the both of you. Waving the paper around he let out a, you could only describe it as a, squeak. Then he was on top of you, straddling your waist and hitting Steve over the head with the paper. Steve grunted and started hitting him back with his book, meaning you were now laying under two super soldiers having a paper-hitting contest.
“Did you know!?” Bucky was yelling as he hit Steve.
“Know what!”
“They celebrate -” he faulted for a moment “-US!”
“How did you not know that?” You asked, “you have a museum.”
He looked down at you in confusion, “what?”
“You okay Bucky,” Steve asked, his playful tone gone and he was suddenly a lot tenser under you. “What’s going on?”
“No. Y/N’s lost her mind, not me. This time anyway.”
“What’d I do?”
“There’s no museum for this.”
Steve sat up, pushing Bucky’s hands off his chest causing him to fall and collapse beside you. He kissed your temple before sitting up as well, pulling you up after him. “What’s the letter about?” Steve asked when you were all sitting. “Clearly it’s important and I think we’re all on different pages here.”
“Obviously,” Bucky said shooting you an annoyed look that held no heat. “The letter’s from the New York City Pride Association. You never told me this was a thing!”
“I said we didn’t have to hide anymore, I totally told you.”
“I thought you meant because people weren’t going to punch you anymore!”
“You guys are real bad at communication,” you muttered lightheartedly.
Bucky hit you over the head with the letter, both of you laughing. “Seriously, there’s a whole month dedicated to being queer now. How amazing is that!?” He didn’t let you answer him, continuing on instantly. “And the people who organize the pride PARADE, there’s a parade Steve! Can you believe it! Anyway, they want to know if we’ll be IN the parade. They want us on a float, said we’re making it easier for queer soulmates. Did you know about the parade?”
“Yeah,” Steve nodded. “It’s on every year. The first year I heard about it I punched a wall and everyone in the tower thought I was just, really, really homophobic for a while.”
“Why’d you punch a wall?” Bucky asked.
“I was angry.”
“Obviously. You punched a wall.”
Steve kind of shrugged and got this sad look on his face. You and Bucky both moved closer to him. “It had only been a few months since I woke up and I kept thinking ‘it’s not fair’. We didn’t get to celebrate who we were. We couldn’t even tell people.”
“That sucks,” you whispered, kissing both their cheeks.
“Doesn’t matter anymore,” Steve replied. “So, they want us in the parade?”
Bucky watched Steve for a moment before nodding, his grin reappearing. “Yup. They want us to lead the parade. First float. We even get to wear flags. Plus they want us to talk on camera about being queer and a threesome. They said we don’t have to do that if we don’t want to though.”
“Oh wow,” Steve muttered. “That’s a lot. Don’t know what we did to warrant that much attention.”
You shook your head, “a couple came up to me the other day and thanked me. They said it was easier to come out to their parents because they could point to Captain America and say ‘look, he’s like me’. You do more than you realize. Are you going to say yes?”
“Yeah,” Bucky nodded. “I’m in. Steve?” Steve nodded in response. “Doll?”
“What?”
He frowned at you, “you in?”
“What?”
“Do you want us to say yes to them?” Bucky said slowly.
“I didn’t even realize that I was invited to be honest, I thought you just meant you and Steve.”
“Why would I just mean and Steve?” He asked, still frowning at you. “You do know that you’re apart of this relationship, right? Like, we’re,” he motioned between the three of you in a big sweep of his arm “ altogether.”
Smacking his chest lightly you rolled your eyes, “I am aware. It’s just that I’m not, you know, a superhero. I’m just dating two. And also, for me, this relationship is pretty straight. I’m not exactly the person want heading the parade.”
Both of them scoffed, and you rolled your eyes at that. “Don’t be ridiculous,” Bucky replied.
“People love you,” Steve said. “You’re America’s sweetheart-” Steve ignored Bucky saying ‘literally’ and continued “-and poly relationships still aren’t recognized. You’re just as important as we are.”
“So, you in?” Bucky asked, and with a big smile, you nodded.
~~
Two months later and you were standing in between Steve and Bucky being briefed on what was happening. They had called your float the ‘Heroes of LGBT+’. It was the three of you and other people who had done great for the LGBT+ movement. You and Bucky were in tactical gear while Steve was wearing his suit.
Plus your flags. Everyone on your float had a flag tied around their necks like a cape. Really embracing the whole ‘hero’ thing. Bucky was wearing his Pan and Steve his Bi, while you had yours. All of yours were split diagonally as well, the poly flag on the bottom left. Then everyone had flags painted on their cheeks and ‘PRIDE’ written across their forehead. It was awesome.
“Just smile and wave,” the volunteer (who kept giving Steve side long glances that you and Bucky had definitely picked up on) said. “There’s a stereo at the back of your float that’s going to be playing music loudly, so please take some ear plugs if you need them. When you get to the end stay on the float for security reasons. There are going to be interviewers, and you’re welcome to answer any questions but you all have interviews set up already. And have fun.”
Everyone dispersed, heading to the float. The volunteer - Matt apparently, stopped the three of you. He looked very awkward so you could tell where this was going. “Um, there’s been rumours that protesters are going to be here, we have security working to keep them out but I was told to let you know.”
“Thanks Matt,” Steve said, and Matt basically melted. “We’ll keep it in mind.”
Then the three of you were heading to the float. You chatted with a few of the people up there with you before you were being told to get ready. “Oh damn,” you muttered as they told you were to stand. The float was a rectangle and the three of you were up the very front, across the short end.
“We’re really leading this,” Bucky muttered back. He looked behind the float, at all the different people. A goofy smile appeared on his face as he watched. People were already waving flags around and music was playing from somewhere. The energy was high and happy. Everyone happy to be there. You could even hear the crowds cheering from around the corner. “I never thought I’d see the day.”
“Could you imagine if Mr. O'Reilly was here right now,” Steve said.
“He’d have a heart attack at the sight of one flag.”
“He’d be dead as soon as someone told him pride was a thing,” Steve replied with a light laugh. One of the other heroes, an older lady, smiled as she listened in.
Bucky laughed as well, wrapping his arm around your shoulders. “You excited, doll?”
“Yeah,” you smiled. “And Mr. O’Reilly sounds like a prick.”
Both of them smiled, leaning down to kiss you on your cheeks. The wind picked up as they did, your flag-capes blowing all around the place causing you to laugh. It was the perfect comic-book look and the perfect relationship and, really, just the perfect day. A click went off just as they pulled back with their smiles even bigger than before.
“Love you,” you whispered to them as the police escort in front of you started moving.
“Love you too,” both of them replied. “More than anything.”
~~
Later, back in the tower, the other Avengers and you were watching the news. The main story of the night was the parade, clips played over and over again. Different interviews and statements being shown and pictures of the different people. Steve and Bucky, and you guessed you as well, were happily smiling at the screen. They had their arms around your shoulder, and you could tell they were playing with each other hair as well. A clip of the New York LGBT+ teen association played and there was click behind. You turned around to see Nat holding a camera and smirking.
When you turned back, a picture of the three of you was on screen. It was of when they had kissed you and your capes had blown around. The caption of the photo read ‘Princes and Princess of Pride’. Bucky chuckled at the name, kissing both you and Steve.
You really like the photo. But you liked the men in the photo even more.