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You’d think College wouldn’t be able to steal Sam’s heart and squeeze it until he felt butterflies - it did. Here’s how it started: A summer morning with the clouds bright and fluffy - Sam Wilson was in science class and was paired up with Bucky Barnes. This was the first time they ever met, he noticed the other man had long hair, tied back and pretty blue eyes.
“Sam, right?”
He snapped out of his trance, focusing on the work. “Yeah, that’s my name.” he smiled shyly. Bucky really liked his smile, he’s seen Sam around - he’s taking a music course at the moment. Sam was doing psychology - his friend, Natasha teased him about the staring and: ‘You never met him, how did you develop a crush on him?’. Today he was meeting Sam Wilson.
“So uh, we gotta turn on the microscope, right?” Bucky stumbled on his words. Sam turned on the microscope and they slipped the cell underneath. (They didn’t have proper communication so they bumped onto one another when trying to use the microscope.)
“Sorry,” Sam said, blushing “you can go first.”
After that awkward incident, there were many to come. Like that time Bucky tripped over and fell on top of Sam in the hallway or Sam accidentally slammed the medbay door into Bucky’s face, (causing him to go to medbay).
It took them a while to get here. Where is here, you ask? Here is in a coffee shop downtown, the smell of freshly ground beans and the sound of chatter and the beautiful image of Sam’s smile.
“I’m sorry for those...awkward encounters.” Bucky apologised.
“No, no,” Sam laughed “it’s okay. I heard you were doing music?”
Bucky nodded “yeah, my mum was always a huge supporter. I’ve been playing the piano for a while...heard you were a psychologist?”
“Soon,” Sam smiled - the smile that would always bring warmth to Bucky’s heart. “I’m still doing practice and all that before I can start taking real patients.”
“I guess they’re watching your career with great interest,” Bucky said in his Darth Sidious voice. The first thing they did was do a Star Wars marathon because Sam just liked it a lot. They were connecting very well, it was such a blissful experience.
It was always a bit awkward with these two, like the first time they held hands. It was warm but Bucky’s hands were sweaty, they knocked over the popcorn on the cinema floor.
It was awkward on their first kiss - a College library isn’t ideal but it was a late night and the moonlight just made Sam look so kissable. They sat here for a while, in each other’s embrace…
“You’re so sweet,” Sam held Bucky by the waist.
Bucky smiled “I know.”
Then the librarian kicked them out. College was good for the next couple of years, walking hand-in-hand in the hallways. The soft kisses and the cute little gifts - Natasha made fun of them all the time - they were just so in love: in College(and they were broke so they worked at a local bookstore together).
Their love made each other senseless, almost so entranced in love - it was impossible to focus on work(not impossible). It was an afternoon and Sam was writing an essay on Anxiety and the mind. Bucky was strumming his guitar and singing a soft tune, it was like hearing an angel.
“You’re good at that,” Sam smiled.
“Thank you,” Bucky replied, “you’re a real sweetheart.” he walked over and kissed his forehead “hey, there’s some new books we gotta stack up in the shop.”
Sam pouted “there is?” he stroked his boyfriend’s cheek lovingly “I...wanted to spend time with you.”
“You are going to,” Bucky laughed, helping him get out of his chair “we work at the same place, remember?”
From having an awkward science interaction to smiling at each other through bookshelves of a local store - what a journey - and it still managed to give Sam butterflies.