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Bingo Square Fill: Jealousy - i will make you happier
Bucky Barnes wasn’t a jealous type, in fact, he would say he was a gentleman. When it came down to Sam Wilson? Was he a gentleman or a stumbling fool? Only God knows.
Bucky didn’t notice he was jealous until Joaquin Torres showed up on Sunday with the biggest dopey grin. Because why else would he be smiling like that?
“This is really cool,” the kid runs his hands over the metal wings that Sam used to own.
“Yeah,” Sam agrees. It’s not like Bucky is against training Torres, he’s completely for it. It’s the way he acts around Sam that makes him want to punch a wall or worse. The thing was, it's the way Torres acted around Sam that made Bucky’s blood boil.
Then, Sam smiles as Bucky watches from afar and suddenly he can’t take it anymore. He walked up to him and placed a protective hand on his shoulder. Sam’s eyelashes were severely pretty and his smile felt like heaven.
“Hey,” he tried to stay casual, his stern gaze focused on Torres “what’s happening here?”
“I’m showing Joaquin the wings, we might do another flight test today.”
He raised an eyebrow “another?”
Sam smiled and leaned into Bucky’s touch “yeah, we did one last week whilst you were with Cass and AJ, remember?”
“Oh,” his face went square “right.” he turned his head to Joaquin and tried his best to smile “how are you going, kid?”
“Stop calling him kid,” Sam laughed and nudged him “he’s like twenty seven,”
“Well to me, he’s a kid,” he huffed and folded his arms. Sam did find it cute when Bucky was grumpy, sort of like a little angry cat.
Sam did pick up on Bucky’s jealousy, at first he thought it was one of those ‘no he’s MY best friend’ kind of behaviours but, he soon figured out it was more than platonic. It was when they were out on the docks, the water was calm and the air was salty. Everything felt right. Bucky drained his beer as he swayed his legs lightly.
“Sam?” he asked and he turned to him.
“Yeah?”
“What’s going on with this Torres guy? He, uh, seems pretty close to you.” he nudged him playfully.
“Yeah, he’s a friend,” Sam said slowly as he noticed his tone.
“Well, I’m a better friend,” he watched him intently as Sam finished off his beer and his eyes flickered to his lips. Sam almost spat out his drink as the realisation set in. Bucky likes him, he likes him and…
And Sam has no idea what to do with that information. Bucky thinks of Sam highly, like he’s the only thing worth living for. Bucky’s reason to get up in the morning is to see messages from Sam, to see him at work and to see him smile. Sam doesn’t know how gone Bucky is for him, it’s almost insane.
He swallowed and turned back to his friend and let the feeling set in because, yeah, Sam likes him too.
It’s present day and he’s watching Joaquin do loops in the air as he cheers him on. Bucky stared at him carefully. He was half-scared for the kid but he didn’t like the way Sam smiled at him, he wished it was him.
He wished Sam would smile at him like that. Joaquin would be a good boyfriend for Sam though, they both fly, they’re funny and...Bucky is – close to Sam. Closer than anyone else on this earth yet he’s still so jealous. How could he ever be with Sam, when there’s so many options out there that’s better than him?
The second time Bucky was jealous, it was weirder for Sam’s point of view. They were lined up at the cash register and the cashier was very smiley and friendly. He asked for a photo and Sam obliged happily, the cashier went on about how Sam looked so badass in the suit and dear God, Bucky was developing a headache already just from hearing all that nonsense.
That’s the obvious shit, of course Sam looks badass in the suit. What does the cashier know? The cashier doesn’t know Sam’s pain, or Sam’s anguish or nightmares. What does anyone know about Sam?
God, why is Sam smiling back? They were outside of the store when Bucky cleared his throat “he seems nice,”
“The cashier? Yeah, Emmett was pretty nice,” Sam agreed.
“Well why don’t you talk to him then?” he snapped and realise how childish he sounded “shit,” he mumbled “sorry, just–”
“You know, you don’t need to be a mother hen for me.”
“I’m not being a mother hen,” he quipped back “just looking out for you.”
Sam noticed the softness in his eyes and the small tug of his own heart. Huh, Sam thinks to himself, amused, Bucky’s jealousy is more severe than I thought.
The third time Bucky was jealous was when Sharon began to flirt. Sharon Carter. She’s incredibly talented, smart and all of those good qualities anybody would want. But she’s flirting with Sam, the Sam who he’s so gone for, the Sam who he thinks about before he goes to bed. The Sam he wants to spend the rest of his life with.
Sharon put a hand on his shoulder and laughed. “Sam, I bet you’re pretty strong,” she winked and looked up and down. “I mean, I’ve seen you shirtless. You’re pretty fine,”
Sam was taken aback by the compliment a little “uh,” he swallowed “thank you–”
“Oh please,” Bucky huffed from his side and rolled his eyes. “Anyone can see that Sam has a fine chest and arms.”
She raised an eyebrow “you jealous?”
He stepped forward “what if I am?”
Sam shouldn’t find it so attractive, this whole jealousy thing. Yet, the way Bucky knitted his eyebrows together, the way he licked his lips and the way his piercing glare drilled into the back of his mind. Bucky was protective of him. He understands, he always does.
Bucky began to be jealous of Redwing, as insane as that sounds. The red little droid followed Sam around like a lost puppy. Sam even called Redwing “good boy” after a mission and that made his blood boil. He swallowed as the droid started to poke at him whilst he flipped through his phone for options for dinner.
“Redwing,” Bucky huffed, “leave a man be, okay?” He leaned back on one of the couch pillows.
“What have I said about being nice to my droid?” Sam called from the kitchen.
Bucky grumbled a reply and eventually ordered Thai take-out as the droid kept on pestering him. Not to mention, it was getting Sam’s attention.
“What’s wrong Red, what’s all this beeping about?” He walked over and he had a towel on his shoulder. It felt oddly domestic to be with Sam, to be living with him made Bucky feel butterflies.
Redwing beeped and Sam sighed “I know Bucky isn’t much of a talker but you gotta stop poking him with your wings.”
The droid beeped in protest. Bucky swatted the droid away like a fly and he stood up angrily and walked over to the kitchen. Sam told Redwing to shut down and it landed on the floor softly as Sam walked over to where Bucky was sitting on the dining table.
“What's gotten you all riled up?” he asked.
“Why don’t you ask Redwing?”
Sam pulled out a chair and he sat down “Bucky, what are we talking about? Are you jealous?”
“Yes,” he admitted “Sam, I’m so jealous you have no idea and I feel selfish because I want you all to myself. I love and enjoy your company, you’re everything to me,” Bucky sighed and rubbed his forehead “you don’t need to hear this right now–”
Sam placed a hand on Bucky’s arm and he pulled himself closer “you can have me,”
Bucky looked up and he blushed “what?”
“I said you can have me,” Sam smiled “you’re kinda cute when you’re jealous though...sometimes scary, though–”
Bucky leaned forward and he kissed him. Because, yeah, every moment of jealousy was worth this. Sam kissed back and smiled against his lips. “Took you long enough,” Sam teased.
“I was jealous,” his eyes were soft and his touch was gentle “but, now I see. You were mine all along,”
“And I’m yours,” Sam smiled and brought him closer and kissed him again.