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“Hey man. Is everything alright?”
Sam lifts his head up, and he looks over to see a brunette man staring at him with worry. “What?”
“Are you alright?” The man asks again, walking closer. “Sorry if I’m bothering you. I just happened to look over and… you seem kind of down, which I’m guessing you are kind of down considering the amount of alcoholic beverages you’ve had tonight. I’m not judging. Just a worried stranger.”
Sam huffs. “If you were in my position, you’d be drinking too,” he grumbles.
“Well, I’m a great listener if you need someone to talk to or listen to,” he says with a kind smile. “My name is Bucky, by the way, if that helps.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Sam. But, Why do you care? You don’t know me,” Sam says, frowning at the man.
“Like I said. I’m just a worried stranger. I really just can’t help myself when I see someone looking sad like the way you’ve been tonight. No one should be sad, especially when it’s the holiday’s,”
“Well-” Sam begins, and watches as the man slides into the seat next to him at the bar. “If you really want to know. My family is having our annual Christmas dinner in two weeks. I’m in a bit of a pickle.”
“Okay,” Bucky says. “What kind of pickle?”
Sam lets out a sigh. “Well for starters, I’m gay. My parents aren’t exactly… accepting of my sexuality. They kind of just ignore it. I think they would be accepting if I showed up with a partner. Problem is I don’t really know anyone to be my date and it’s kind of too late to find someone to connect with,” he says.
Bucky perks up slightly. “Well luckily for you I’m a lonely bisexual with no Christmas plans this year,”
Sam looks over at him with wide eyes. “What?” He asks.
“Come on, I just think-”
“No, I can’t drag you into my family mess. You seem too nice to deal with the disastrous Wilson family,” Sam says, shaking his head. “I’m just going to have to call my parents and tell them I’m not coming. They’re already disappointed in me. I’m just going to have to spend Christmas alone this year.”
Bucky scoffs. “Not on my watch you aren’t. Look, I’m single and really fucking lonely, especially around this time of year. I don’t really have a lot of friends, and you’re really attractive. I’m offering to help you, so take the fucking help. I mean, it’s just for a day right. We can pretend to be married,”
“ Married ?” Sam asks, his eyes widening. “Are you- how am I going to explain to my parents that I got married and didn’t tell them? Are you trying to start fights with my family on Christmas?”
Bucky laughs. “Oh, come on. It’ll make for good entertainment!”
Sam scowls. “Why do we have to be married ?”
Bucky shrugs his shoulders. “I don’t know. It’s the first thing that came to my mind,” he admits.
Sam also shrugs his shoulders. “Sure, we’ll go with that. Look, it’s kind of busy here. Do you… uh, do you wanna head back to my place and discuss this? We have a lot to talk about,”
Bucky nods, though he seems reluctant. “Yeah, we can do that. How much have you drunk tonight?”
“Not much. Just one drink. I promise. We can take my car,” Sam says, and stands from the stool that he’s been sitting on. He wobbles slightly, but he steadies himself. “I’m fine.”
“Yeah, I’m driving. Give me your keys,” Bucky says, holding his hand out.
“I’m-” Sam begins, and stops when he sees the scowl on Bucky’s face. He sighs, and fishes his keys out, and hands them over to Bucky. “You’re annoying.”
“You just met me,” Bucky laughs, following Sam outside.
“Well apparently that’s enough time for me to decide that you’re annoying,” Sam retorts.
“ You’re the one who needs a fake date to their family Christmas gathering,” Bucky argues.
“Is it too late to get a divorce?”
“We’re not even married!”
“We’re fake married, it counts!”
“And you call me annoying,” Bucky mumbles. They finally make it to Sam’s car, and Bucky makes sure Sam’s in safe before shutting the door. He walks around the car and gets in. As soon as Bucky’s turned on the car, Sam plays Christmas music. Bucky groans. “Really?”
“It’s Christmas,” Sam argues. “We’re listening to Christmas music.”
Finally, they make it to Sam’s apartment. It’s small, but Sam lives by himself so it’s perfect.
“Is this your family?” Bucky asks when he’s standing in the hall while Sam is taking off his shoes.
Sam looks over, and sees Bucky looking at a picture. He walks over to where Bucky stands, and nods. “Yeah, that’s my sister and her two boys. You’ll love them,” he says.
“What are their names?” Bucky asks as he stares at the picture.
“My sister’s name is Sarah. The two boys are AJ and Cass,” Sam says, pointing at each of them as he tells their name. “Sarah is my best friend.”
“She accepts your sexuality?” Bucky asks, looking over at Sam.
Sam nods. “Yeah, she’s the only reason I don’t have a break down every time I visit the family,”
“It’s terrible. All because you prefer men over women,” Bucky mumbles, shaking his head.
“Yeah well. Some people are still stuck in the old ways,” Sam says, before letting out a sigh. “Hey, maybe we should talk tomorrow. I’ve got a guest bedroom you can sleep in.”
Bucky looks over at Sam. “What? I mean, I can’t-”
“You’re helping me with my issue, so let me help you. I’m not gonna let you go out this late,” Sam says. “Come on. I’ll give you a little tour of the house,” Sam says.
Bucky gets a small tour of Sam’s apartment, and as soon as his head hits the pillow, he’s asleep.
When he’s woken up, he can smell breakfast being made.
Bucky groans, and stretches his arms out. He pushes himself up, and sits there for a moment. It takes him a moment to remember where he is, and he remembers last night’s event.
Bucky stands up from the bed, and then he slowly makes his way out of the bedroom. He finds Sam in the kitchen, making breakfast, which is certainly not what Bucky had been expecting. He’s humming along to the Christmas music that’s playing quietly in the background.
“Isn’t it a little early to be playing Christmas music?” Bucky asks as he walks into the kitchen.
Sam startles slightly, and he looks over to see Bucky standing in the doorway. “Oh, you scared me, and no, man. We’ve already been over this. It’s the damn holiday season, therefore I’m going to play Christmas music at any given day while I can before people judge me for listening to Christmas music because apparently it’s inappropriate to listen to Christmas music in the middle of summer.”
Bucky snorts. “It is inappropriate to listen to Christmas music in the middle of summer,”
Sam looks over at Bucky and glares at him. “You’re annoying,”
“Thank you,” Bucky says before walking into the kitchen.
“You don’t uh- you don’t have any plans today, do you? Because I kind of dragged you into this mess without actually checking that you didn’t have any plans,” Sam says.
“Dude, it’s fine. I literally have no plans,” Bucky is quick to assure him. “My best friend Steve is away with his husband and family and he’s the only one I hang out with, so.”
“Shit, that’s depressing,” Sam says. “Anyways. You like pancakes? I made a lot of them.”
“Anyone is crazy if they don’t like pancakes,” Bucky replies with a huff. He walks over to Sam and sniffs the air. “Smells delicious. You made bacon too? Maybe I should make you my real husband.”
Sam laughs. “You haven’t even tried it yet,”
“But you made it, and that’s all that matters, isn’t it?” Bucky asks, grinning.
Bucky and Sam spend most of their day talking about the Wilson family Christmas gathering. Sam gives Bucky a lengthy discussion on his family history so that Bucky’s not completely clueless when they arrive at the gathering. They also have to discuss how they met each other, because meeting at a gay bar would not go over well with Sam’s parents. But it’s not that hard for them to come up with an easy story.
Sam doesn’t expect Bucky to stick around after the first day, only expecting him to come back around when it’s time for the family gathering. But, Bucky does stick around. Sam doesn’t complain, because he likes having Bucky around. Bucky makes him laugh. He’s kind.
**
“Well, we’re here,”
“This seems like a lovely place, Sam,” Bucky says as he looks around. The house is fairly big, and there’s a big open yard. It’s right beside the water. Bucky would love to live in a place like this.
“Thanks. I’m sure Sarah would appreciate that comment. She’s worked hard for this,” Sam says. “Ready?”
“I suppose so,” Bucky says, nodding. “You do have your ring on, don’t you?”
Sam holds his hand up, wiggling his fingers to show off the wedding ring. He and Bucky had already gone out to buy cheap wedding rings a few days ago. Sam already knew that his parents would question where the rings were if they showed up without wearing any. “And you?”
“Of course,” Bucky says, nodding, gently brushing his finger against the ring.
Sam nods, and then he hesitates before reaching over and knocking on the door.
Sam’s sister, Sarah, opens the door a moment later. She smiles as soon as she sees Sam, and pulls him in for a comforting hug. “It’s so good to see you again, Sam,” she says. She pulls away.
“You too, Sarah. You’ve been doing alright?”
Sarah nods. “Yes, I’m been good, and you?” She asks.
“Just fine,” Sam replies. “Uh, Sarah. This is Bucky. The one I was telling you about before.”
Sarah looks over and perks when she sees Bucky. “You’re even more handsome in person,” she says, and reaches over to shake Bucky’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you. I can’t believe you let my idiot brother convince you to be his fake husband for this.”
Bucky huffs out a laugh. “Hey, it’s not like I had any other plans. Besides, he’s not too bad on the eye, so I’m not complaining about spending Christmas with an attractive man,” he says.
Sam blushes, and hits Bucky on the arm. “Save it for when you meet my parents. Which, speaking of. Uh, are they already here? Did you tell them?”
“They’re here. I told them what you wanted me to tell them. They were upset when I told them you went and found a husband and didn’t invite them to your wedding, despite them being so against your sexuality. But, they’re interested in meeting Bucky. They seemed… calm, about it,” she explains.
“Oh,” Sam says. “Well, that’s gotta be a positive… right?” He looks over at Bucky.
“I guess we’ll find out,” Bucky replies, shrugging his shoulders.
“Yes, come inside,” Sarah says, ushering the two boys inside. She shuts the door behind them. “Come on, they’re all in the living room. The boys have been playing with their new toys all day and waiting for Uncle Sam to help them unbox the big stuff.”
Sam rubs his hands together. “My speciality,” he turns to look at Bucky with a grin. “That’s how you get points with the nephews. You gotta be that uncle who does all the heavy lifting around here.”
“Excuse me. I could do it. I just… don’t want to,” Sarah mumbles.
Sam snorts, and then he leads the way into the living room, Bucky following behind him with Sarah.
“Samuel!”
Sam snaps his head up as soon as he hears the sound of his mother’s voice, and he takes a deep breath before plastering a fake smile on his face. “Mom, good to see you again,” he says, walking over to her, and bending down to hug her.
“It’s about time you got here,” his dad speaks up
Sam pulls away from the hug. “Yeah, sorry. Traffic was… traffic,” he says.
“Don’t lie to them, Sam. You took ages getting ready this morning,” Bucky says, grinning when Sam glares at him. “I told you we were going to be late, but you ignored me.”
“It’s Christmas. It’s not like I can just throw on sweats and a shirt,” Sam grumbles.
“Oh. You must be the man Sarah was telling us about earlier,” Darlene says, and stands up from her spot on the couch. Darlene looks over at Sam and whacks him on the arm.
“Ow! What was that for?” Sam asks, rubbing the spot on his arm where his mom hit.
“You got married and didn’t think to mention it to us? Didn’t think we’d want to be at your wedding?”
Sam rolls his eyes. “I’m sorry, mom, okay? We- We just didn’t want to plan a real wedding. We just… wanted to get it over with, really. Neither of us our big wedding people,” Sam lies quickly.
“You still could have mentioned it. Imagine our shock when Sarah casually brings up that you’re bringing a boy with you to the Wilson Christmas gathering,” Darlene argues.
“He’s more than just a boy, mom. We’re married now,” Sam mumbles.
“Are you going to introduce us?” Paul asks, walking beside Darlene and looking over at Bucky.
Sam motions for Bucky to walk over, and he gently places a hand on Bucky’s back. “Mom, dad… this is Bucky,” he says. “My husband.” He looks over at Bucky.
“Bucky?” Paul asks, raising his eyebrows. “That’s… an interesting name.”
“It’s a childhood name,” Bucky finally says. “Uh, my best friend started calling me that when we were little, and it kind of stuck. My real name is James.”
“That’s sweet. Are you still friends with him?” Darlene asks.
Bucky nods. “Yeah, we’re friends. He’s always been my best friend,” he says.
Sam is relieved that his parents seem to be getting along with Bucky, once they’re introduced. But, Sam has been to enough of these family gatherings to know that something’s bound to go wrong, because that’s how they always go. Especially when it comes to Sam’s sexuality and dating life.
It’s about two hours later when Sam is in the living room with his nephews when Sarah walks over to him, looking concerned. Bucky was off socializing with Sam’s family. Bucky didn’t seem to mind that he was the spotlight of the evening. His family members had all kinds of questions for the “new couple”.
“Sam,” she hisses, earning his attention. She waves him over.
Sam sighs, putting the toy down on the floor. “I’ll be right back, boys. You keep working on it,” he says, before standing up. He walks over to Sarah. “What? Can’t you see I’m busy?”
“Well, this is important,” she whispers. “I just saw Bucky talking to dad in the kitchen…”
Sam frowns. “Okay, and…?” His frown deepens when Sarah simply shakes her head, which can only mean one thing. “God dammit.” He pushes past Sarah and makes his way towards the kitchen. He stops when he does in fact see his dad talking to Bucky, and Bucky looks visibly upset.
“It started out as an interrogation, then they started yelling,” Sarah says beside Bucky.
“I knew it,” Sam grumbles before walking over to his dad and Bucky. “Dad, that’s enough.”
His dad is startled hearing Sam’s voice suddenly, and he looks over at Sam. “Sam-”
“No, you're not going to interrogate Bucky when I’m not around,” Sam warns, and grabs a hold of Bucky’s arm. “Honestly, when is this going to stop?”
“Sam-” Bucky tries to speak up, but is ignored.
“When you admit that this is all a phase!” Paul hisses.
“It’s not just a phase, dad!” Sam shouts, not caring that other people were starting to stare and listen. “This is my life! I thought maybe if I brought someone today you would see that! But you and mom are still hounding me and asking me about girls when that’s not what I’m interested in!”
“Actually, your mom has been lovely,” Bucky says.
Sam stops, and he looks over at Bucky. “Really?”
Bucky nods. “I was talking to her earlier, and she was asking a bunch of questions, but she was lovely,”
“Hm. Usually she’s the one who’s much harsher,” Sam says, and he glares at his dad. “But this is a whole new low. You really thought you could get away with cornering Bucky while I’m not around?”
“Sam, it’s really-”
“What else did you expect, Sam?” Paul asks, scoffing.
“I don’t know. That maybe you would respect me and my relationship, but how silly of me,” Sam snaps, and he looks over at Bucky. “I think we should get going, Bucky.”
“If- If you want to,” Bucky says.
Sam nods. “I want to. Let me say goodbye to Sarah first,” he says. He grabs Bucky’s hand and walks over to Sarah. He’s surprised when she immediately pulls him into a hug.
“I’m sorry, Sam. I really tried to get in their heads this year. I think I got through mom a little bit, but dad… well, as you can see dad’s views still haven't changed. I’m sorry,” she pulls away.
“It’s okay, Sarah. I knew you tried, and I appreciate it. I just can’t stick around when they act like this. Tell mom and the boys I say goodbye, and tell mom I’ll call her later?” Sam asks.
“Of course,” Sarah says, and she looks over at Bucky. “And Bucky? I know it’s not real, but… thanks for doing what you did. I know it means a lot to Sam, and it certainly means a lot to me.”
Bucky gives her a small smile. “It’s no problem. I’d want someone to help me if I were in this position,”
“We should get going. I’ll come visit soon,” Sam says, and gives Sarah one last hug before grabbing Bucky’s hand and leading the way out of the house. “Sorry about that.”
“You don’t have to apologize,” Bucky tries.
Sam shakes his head, and turns to look at Bucky. “I do, though. I didn’t think my dad would stoop so low and corner you like that. I hope he didn’t say anything too bad.”
“Nothing I haven’t heard before. Besides, I was handling it fine. I wasn’t going to let him talk to someone as good as you like that. We may have just met, but you’re an amazing person, Sam. Your family? They’re amazing. I mean, aside from occasional homophobic asshole comments,” Bucky says.
Sam snorts. “Well, Christmas is a bust, and you don’t have to pretend to be my husband anymore, so… uh, I guess you’re free to go? Thanks for giving it a try though,” he says.
“Now, hold on…” Bucky grabs a hold of Sam, turning him so that they’re facing each other. “Who says I want to be free to go?” He asks, raising his eyebrows at Sam.
“Wha-? You can’t possibly want to stick around after that disastrous-”
“Come on. Why do you think I’ve stuck around since we met at the bar? Like I said before, you’re an amazing person, Sam. If you’ll let me, I’d love to stick around even longer,” Bucky says.
Sam grabs Bucky and pulls him in for a passionate kiss, which surprises Bucky, but Bucky doesn’t hesitate to kiss him back. Sam pulls away after a moment, grinning at Bucky.
Bucky huffs out a laugh. “Steve is not going to believe me when I tell him about all this,”
“What? How a random stranger pulled you in his disaster family during Christmas and made you be a fake husband? Sounds pretty believable if you ask me,” Sam says.
Bucky rolls his eyes fondly. “Why don’t we head home, yeah? Maybe there'll be enough time left and you’ll let me take you out on a real date,” he says.
“That sounds nice,” Sam says, and he grabs Bucky’s hand, leading the way to their car.