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“So, I talked to Steve yesterday.” This catches Bucky’s attention. Nat talks to Steve every day, so why would she make a big deal out of it? He tries to come up with reasons why she would need to tell him this, but he comes up empty handed.
“Okay?” He asks, looking at her with furrowed brows and a small smile. She’s standing in the middle of the room, as if she was on her way over to him but stopped halfway there. Her hands are twitching at her sides, probably holding back nervous fidgeting, if her face is any indication to what she’s feeling.
“We were talking about some things that has changed since, you know, the 40’s.” She looks at him expectantly, as if he’ll be able to tell what she’s trying to say just by looking at her. He might be a super soldier, but he is not a mind reader. He’s starting to get a bit concerned. It’s not like Nat to be beating around the bush like this, so whatever it is, must be serious.
“And?” He urges on, wanting her to just say it already. He can feel anxiety pooling in his stomach. Nat talked to Steve about something that’s apparently very important for Bucky to know, but it’s something Steve hadn’t told him himself. The possibilities are limited, and most of them are not things he ever wants to hear.
“Well, somehow we ended up talking about being gay.” Nat looks scared and exited when she says it. And Bucky wants to be relieved, maybe that was all she wanted to say. But then he remembers how nervous she had been, so maybe there was something more.
“Nat, I can’t read your mind. Just tell me.” He’s getting a bit annoyed. He just wants her to come out and say it, like ripping a band aid off. He sighs and leans back on the couch, prepared for whatever she is going to say.
“He said that if someone he cares about is gay, he wouldn’t mind.” Her face turns into a huge grin as she talks, her eyes wide in excitement.
“And why are you telling me?” Bucky is confused, did Nat not know that he already knew that? He can’t for the life of him figure out why Nat would think this is big news to him.
“You should tell him you’re gay. There’s nothing holding you back now that you know he’ll support you.” Bucky can only imagine how confused he looks; he has probably just morphed into a huge question mark. He has no idea what she’s on about.
“Why would I need to tell him that?” He asks just as a realization hits him. She doesn’t know, oh my god, she doesn’t know. And suddenly he has to hold back a laugh. This is unbelievable. Natasha, who always knows everything, nothing gets past her, hasn’t figured this out.
“It’s important for you to be yourself, telling the people you care about could help you feel more comfortable with your identity.” She has a point, the problem is just that there is no point telling Steve.
“I don’t need anyone’s confirmation to be comfortable with my identity.” He decides to play along, to see how long it takes before she realizes.
“That’s great, but you should still feel comfortable sharing it with the people who matters.” She presses on. Her voice is calm, but he can see the annoyance in her eyes.
“I don’t need to tell Steve.” He tells her, pretending to be annoyed at her.
“You should.” There’s an edge to her voice now, she thinks he’s avoiding ‘the conversation’ with Steve.
“Why?” He says flatly, looking at her with what he hopes is some sort of fear. He shouldn’t be fucking with her like this, but how many opportunities like this is he going to have? He’s pretty sure this is the first time Nat has missed out on something so big.
“He’s your best friend Bucky. He should know.” He has to look away from her in order not to laugh. He’s not going to be able to pretend for much longer. So, he simply says ‘no’, not wanting to risk the laughter that’s sitting in his chest, just waiting to be let out.
“Wouldn’t you want him to tell you if the situation was reversed?” She’s starting to look a little sad for him. He figures maybe it’s time to let her in on the ‘secret’ they hadn’t even tried to keep from her.
“Trust me, he’s already figured it out. I don’t need to tell him.” He says with a little laugh. She seems to interpret it as nervousness as the crease between her brows deepens. She doesn’t catch on like he’d hoped she would, so he shrugs and decides to keep going.
“If you don’t tell him, I will.” She closes her arms over her chest. He can see how done she is with his shit, so he sighs and picks his phone up from the table in front of him.
“I’ll tell him to come here right now, you happy?” She gives him a satisfied nod and he quickly sends Steve a text. They sit in silence for a while as they wait. Nat asks him if he’s nervous to which he replies ‘nah’ and she looks at him like she doesn’t believe him.
When Steve enters the room five minutes later Nat doesn’t leave the room. She told him she’d stay for emotional support if he wanted and Bucky being the little shit he is said please and pretended to be scared.
“What’s going on?” Steve asks as he sits down next to Bucky on the couch. Bucky is ‘nervously’ fiddling with his hands in his lap and quickly glances at Nat before he speaks.
“Nat wanted me to-” Nat clears her throat and he rolls his eyes. “I wanted to tell you something.” He looks at Steve with a look he hopes says ‘play along’.
“Okay. What did you want to tell me?” Bucky has to take a deep breath to keep from laughing again, it helps with his performance as Nat nods encouragingly at him.
“I’m gay.” He says, making his voice sound shaky and weak.
“Okay. Thanks for telling me.” Steve says in a serious voice, clearly trying to hide his own laughter. That’s what breaks Bucky and he bursts out laughing, Steve following close behind.
“Sorry… I just… I can’t.” He wheezes out between fits of laughter. When he looks at Nat, her face makes him laugh even harder. This is so stupid, of course Steve knows, they’ve been a couple since ’34.
When they’ve calmed down a little, he wipes his eyes and looks at Nat again. She looks more confused than ever.
“What just happened?” She asks, now it’s her turn to look like a huge question mark. Bucky glances at Steve, not sure how to put it into words. He hadn’t thought this far when he decided to do this.
“I knew.” Steve helpfully supplies. “Since like ’34, was it?” He looks over at Bucky who nods. He decides that now is a good time as any as he leans in and gives Steve a deep kiss.
When they pull apart, Nat is looking at them in shock. He can practically see the wheels turning in her head. He starts laughing again as he stands up and drags Steve out of the room. They got Nat so good, he’s never seen anyone put that expression on her face before. This needs to be celebrated.