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Disclaimer: I don’t own Marvel comics or characters or movies, and am making no money off of this fic.
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Surprise by luvsanime02
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Bucky Barnes is not hiding from everyone.
He’s just taking a break. Letting himself breathe for a few minutes. Enjoying a moment of solitude.
This is his apartment, though no one would ever know that from the way Bucky’s sitting in his bathroom perched on the toilet lid while everyone else is walking around freely. Not that Bucky’s hiding, of course.
At least he had enough foresight to get himself a glass of scotch to take with him before he ended up in there. Nothing’s worse than sitting around moping while being completely sober. Not that Bucky’s moping, either. No more than he’s hiding from his friends in his own bathroom.
He should have grabbed the vodka, but Bucky only has one good bottle in his apartment at the moment, and if he disappears with it, Natasha will be displeased. Not that Bucky’s afraid of her in any way, but she’s done nothing to deserve being forced to attend a party that doesn’t have any good vodka. That’s just cruel.
Well, whatever, the scotch is fine, and Bucky doesn’t care enough to leave his bathroom and find the vodka now, anyway. He’s just… in a mood. That’s understandable, seeing as how it’s his birthday, except that’s not why Bucky’s feeling so down right now.
It’s silly. Bucky has great friends who really care about him. They’d taken him out to a decent restaurant, one of his favorites, not letting him pay for anything, and then organized a party for him afterwards at his place. Bucky already knows that he won’t be expected to help clean up anything, either, and really, he’s very grateful for the chance to hang out with everyone.
There’s no reason why Bucky should be sitting in his bathroom instead of talking with everyone. He knows that his absence has been noticed, too. No reason at all, except for the fact that Bucky’s boyfriend is out on a job and Bucky hasn’t heard from him in a week.
This isn’t unusual, and Clint often goes out on jobs for a week or two. Bucky does the same. Usually, he’s not at all bothered by Clint’s schedule, and he doesn’t know why he cares so much right now. Just because it’s his birthday? That sounds ridiculous, even in his own head.
Never mind that this is the first birthday that Bucky or Clint’s had since they’ve started dating. Never mind that Clint was supposed to be on vacation when he got the call about the job. Bucky had plans to celebrate the occasion, ones that didn’t involve all of his well-meaning friends, thanks very much.
He sighs, and knocks back the rest of his scotch, and figures that it’s about time for him to leave his bathroom before someone actually comes looking for him. His attention is quickly captured, though, by a small object suddenly sliding along the floor towards him.
Bucky blinks at the phone that comes to a stop gently against his shoe. It’s not his phone, and it’s dialing a number that’s unknown, and he’s still stuck on the fact that someone just slid their phone into his bathroom like that when the line connects.
“Hello?” someone asks. A very familiar someone. Bucky reaches down and gently picks up the phone, and turns the speaker off before holding it to his ear. “Natasha? What’s wrong?”
Of course Natasha is the one who called him. Bucky owes her for this. “Hi, Clint,” he says, and enjoys the surprised silence that follows.
“Hey, Bucky,” Clint says after a moment, his voice soft. Bucky resists the urge to press the phone closer to his ear in a futile effort to hear Clint better. “Happy Birthday.”
It shouldn’t mean so much to him. It means everything.
Bucky grins helplessly. “Thanks,” he says, and settles in for a quick conversation with his boyfriend. It’s not the plans that he made last week, but that doesn’t matter when Clint’s warm chuckle echoes in his ear and Bucky relaxes for what feels like the first time all day.
This is more than enough.