Chapter Text
October 1942
Brooklyn, New York
“I can do this all-“ followed by a loud thunk was all he heard as he approached the alleyway. Looking down past the garbage cans he saw a group of men standing around a lump of blonde hair.
“Hey! Get outta here! The man’s down leave ‘im be!” He shouted as the cluster of guys ran away. “You really oughta come up with a new catchphrase Stevie, cause no offense but ya really can’t do this all day.” He reached out to grab the smaller man’s hand and lift him off the ground.
“I coulda gotten myself outta that Buck,” Steve muttered.
“Oh! You’re welcome, Steve! It really was no problem you don’t gotta be so grateful!” Bucky mocked. “C’mon pal, let’s get you a beer.”
Bucky threw his arm around the smaller man's shoulder and walked down the alley and into the bar next door. The young men sat themselves down at their regular spot at the bar and that’s when he spotted her. The woman standing behind the bar had Bucky convinced the world had stopped spinning. She was stunning and eerily familiar.
“Stevie. Look at her. That’s gotta be the prettiest dame I’ve ever seen.” Bucky was practically drooling staring her down.
“Buck, you know who that is right?” Steve looked at his friend dumbfounded. How had he not recognized her? Sure she was older and he was right she was a real looker now but it was still her.
“No?” Before Steve got a chance to respond the woman walked up to the two men from her side of the bar.
“Well, I’ll be damned if it ain’t James Barnes alive and in the flesh. Becca said you were handsome now but not this handsome.” Bucky looked back at the girl dumbfounded. Of course, he knew who she was. It was Y/N. Becca’s best friend. He hadn’t been around the house in so long that it's no wonder he forgot who she was. “Hi Steve, you look handsome as always.” She shot a wink towards the smaller man before turning her focus back towards Bucky. “Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten me, Barnes”
Bucky realized he’d been staring so long he’d forgotten to speak, snapping himself out of it he tried to recover the best he could. “How could I forget the prettiest of Bec’s friends, Y/N. Just confused why a looker like you is working in a joint like this. You oughta be sitting on your pretty little hands in a castle upstate somewhere.”
“Maybe I don’t wanna sit on my hands, James."
“Why do ya insist on callin’ me that when you know its Bucky, doll.”
“Cause it’s the name your mama gave ya, James.” She lingered on his name and Bucky swore her lips were designed by God himself to say it.
“She hasn’t called me James since I was ten years old and you know that as fact.”
“Maybe it’s just the reaction it gets outta you then.” She smirked back at him, leaning over the bar that separated them.
“Well Y/N if ya don’t want a castle, then what do ya want?”
“I wanna act.” As she smiled the world around Bucky seemed brighter, as if she was the sun shining on him.
“Well, you seem to be doin' a pretty damn good job acting like ya like this lug.” Steve finally chirped up, earning him an elbow to the ribs.
“Sorry seems like Steve here lost his manners when he had the shit beat outta him, maybe a beer would help him find them again doll,” Bucky smirked up at the girl and slid a bill across the bar at her. She poured both Steve and Bucky beers and placed them in front of the two boys while Steve muttered one apology after another.
“So Y/N, what’s that Bible thumpin’ daddy of yours gotta say about your acting career?” Bucky looked up at her from behind his beer.
“Daddy kicked me out the day of my first audition. That’s why I’m workin’ here. I’ve gotta tiny little apartment ten blocks north and gotta pay rent somehow. You’re not still living at home are ya Barnes?” Every word she said sounded like honey pouring from her mouth. How had he never noticed this about her now? Something about her was so soft and warm yet simultaneously rough and worn. “Barnes?” Steve kicked his shin snapping him back into reality, it was just so damn hard to focus when his heart felt like it was about to jump out of his chest and into his beer.
“Oh yeah uh Steve and I have a place of our own now, I’m working on the docks and Stevie’s in art school. Little buddy’s gonna be the next Mozart or somethin.”
“Buck, Mozart was a pianist, I paint.” Steve groaned at his best friend. He had thought they’d go for one quick beer and head home but he knew this would be more than a quick drink. Steve saw the way Bucky’s eyes lit up when he looked at her and he knew that Bucky no longer gave a damn that Steve’s ribs were probably bruised and that both of them had to be up early in the morning. Steve knew that all that mattered to Bucky right now was the pretty bartender standing in front of them.
“Oh yeah, well you get the idea. You should see his art Y/N, its amazing. He painted this one of Ma that looked just like her, down to the twinkle in her eye. Kids goin’ places.”
Bucky and Y/N talked all night, to the displeasure of Steve, until Steve began falling asleep on the bar.
“I should probably get him home.” Bucky smiled at her, “But we should catch up again sometime. It was nice to see you Y/N.” And with that Bucky pulled a very tired Steve from his spot on the barstool and headed in the direction of home.