Archive of Our Own

The music of the carnival game sped up and you refocused on your mission to win the stuffed duck as yours and another horse passed the three-quarters mark of the racetrack. Glancing down the line of players, you matched your opponent to a 12-year old kid, whose friends were whooping and hollering as he caught up to you. Gritting your teeth, you redoubled your efforts, keeping your concentration on ensuring the water from your gun didn’t stray from the mark.

But you couldn’t help noticing your friends were no longer cheering for you. Instead, Yelena giggled loudly, Kate’s echoing laughter an indication they’d gotten lost in their own little world. When you glanced back, you caught Nat stuffing some popcorn into Steve’s mouth as they stared into each other’s eyes adoringly. Before you knew it, the winner’s bell went off and the 12-year-old cheered in victory. Your horse was less than inch behind his, but he’d managed to win. The kid’s friends crowded around him, all yelling about what prize he should pick.

You turned away sharply, standing up and glancing around at your friends, realizing none of them even noticed you were done with your game. Kate and Yelena were wrapped up in each other, looking ridiculously cute as they giggled about something, and Steve and Nat had moved a little ways away sharing their popcorn and whispering together.

Wrapping your arms around yourself, you held back a shiver as the February wind whipped around your body, like even Mother Nature was determined to remind you that no one else wanted to hold you and protect you from the chill. It was actually quite warm for February, a false spring day that happened to line up perfectly with the weekend of the Valentine’s Day carnival. You’d forgone a coat, wearing a cream-colored chunky sweater tucked into the waist of a red velvet skirt. White tights and black ankle boots completed the look you’d been so excited about, but at that moment, it just reminded you how cold it could be to be alone.

Suddenly, Bucky appeared at your side, stepping up beside where you were standing awkwardly by the carnival game and debating whether you should get your friends’ attention or leave them to their canoodling. Back from his snack run, Bucky handed you your own stick of pink and red cotton candy—colored to fit the Valentine’s Day theme, of course. “How’d you do?” he asked, his blue eyes bright and intent on your face as he tore off some of his own cotton candy and stuffed it in his mouth. 

“Didn’t win the duck,” you said, shrugging like you weren’t disproportionately sad about losing out on the stuffed animal you’d wanted to take home. It was just a silly stuffed duck, you told yourself, there was no reason to be so sad. But even as you told yourself that, your heart squeezed and tears threatened when you watched the 12-year-old kid walk by holding a stuffed frog—one of the other prizes the booth offered besides the duck. 

“That’s okay,” Bucky said, throwing his arm around your shoulders and dragging you closer to your friends, who’d drifted away from the game and the crowd surrounding it. “The day’s young, we’ve got plenty of time to get you a new stuffie.” 

It was late afternoon, the sun still up but getting low in the sky, so Bucky wasn’t technically wrong, but you didn’t know how much longer you could endure the Valentine’s Day carnival when your friends were so obviously in love and you were stuck being the third—or, technically, fifth—wheel. Thankfully, you had Bucky. You didn’t know what you’d have done without him, and that thought made your heart beat faster.

You came to a stop in front of your friends, Nat and Yelena arguing over what carnival game to play next. The water gun game was the only one you liked, so you didn’t bother chiming in. Instead, you glanced up at Bucky and found him staring down at you, a small smile on his face, his blue eyes sparkling and reflecting all the bright, flashing lights of the carnival. Affection was clear in his gaze and it made a swarm of butterflies take flight in your belly, soaring up into your chest and making your heart flutter.

You’d never told anyone, not even Yelena and Nat, but you harbored a little crush on Bucky. It had started as friendly gratitude since he made sure you felt left out as little as possible, drawing you into conversations when Yelena and Nat were too focused on their significant others to see you sitting alone, not talking to anyone. But the more you got to know Bucky, the more impossible you found it not to have a crush on him. He was sweet and caring and attentive and a good listener. 

But you didn’t know if he felt the same way, so you kept your feelings hidden from everyone, even your best friends. You were too worried about what would happen if you screwed up your friendship with him. It would kill you to lose him as a friend and then again to be left alone with two very happy couples.

So when he looked at you like that, with so much affection it clogged your throat with how much you wanted him to want you, you did what you always did and looked away quickly. You pretended to be engrossed in Nat and Yelena’s argument while schooling your expression to make sure your feelings weren’t plain as day on your face. Your fingers stuffed cotton candy into your mouth mechanically, the sugary treat melting to nothing on your tongue while you barely tasted its sweetness.

Finally, Nat and Yelena came to some decision that you missed, but then they were leading the group away and Bucky was tugging you along with his arm still around your shoulders. The feel of him holding onto you, still steady and solid beside you, helped you escape the panic spiral you’d fallen into wondering what would happen if he ever discovered your little crush. Your brain liked to spin out the worst scenarios possible, like Bucky not wanting anything to do with you and your friends ditching you for good, so you were left truly alone.

“Tell me, peanut,” Bucky started, the nickname warming your heart and grounding you in the moment. All your anxious thoughts were pushed to the side and you let yourself enjoy being with your friend, your feet tromping over the frozen grass of the carnival grounds and your side warm where it was pressed into Bucky. “If I was a stuffie in one of these carnival games, would you try to win me?” he asked, glancing down at you with a playful grin on his face.

It was easy to throw your head back and laugh at the silly question, to pretend everything was normal and there wasn’t a sadness embedded deep in your heart threatening to swallow you up like a black hole. Bucky made it easy. Still, the reality was that if he was a stuffie, you would play carnival games until your fingers went numb and your lips turned blue to win him. But you couldn’t say that. So you scrunched up your face like you were thinking hard about his question, really considering it, even though you were just teasing him.

Bucky chuckled, tightening his arm around your neck and tugging you in close to his chest. You stumbled a little, your face pressed into the blue henley he wore under his dark gray jacket. “You’re gonna hurt my ego, peanut,” he said, more humor than hurt in his tone. 

Your giggle was muffled in his shirt, your face still pressed into his hard chest. You were content to stay buried against Bucky, the scent of him surrounding you. He smelled so nice and comforting, like quiet snowy nights when the air tasted fresh and the wind nipped at your nose pleasantly. 

You were about ready to make a home for yourself in Bucky’s chest, but he loosened his hold on your neck and tucked you back into his side. It felt like a loss, not to be so close to him, but you contented yourself with having his arm still around your shoulders as you continued following your friends through the crowded carnival grounds.

“I’d make a great stuffie,” Bucky went on, like you hadn’t just been nuzzling into his chest and sniffing his cologne. You hoped he hadn’t noticed, but if he had, he didn’t say anything. “I’m super cuddly.” He grinned, waggling his brown eyebrows at you. 

A surprised laugh fell from your lips and you smacked his chest lightly with the back of your hand, falling back into the easiness of your friendship where you could be goofy with each other. “You’re ridiculous, Buck,” you chided good-naturedly, returning his grin with one of your own. “Besides, you’re too big to be a stuffie,” you said, pointedly eying his over-six-foot stature and the broadness of his shoulders. 

Bucky hooted with laughter as your friends came to a stop at another carnival game stall. You and Bucky stood a little bit behind the rest of the group and he shifted behind you, his arms wrapping around your waist and holding you with your back pressed to his chest. His breath was warm against your cheek as he dropped his head to speak in your ear. 

“All the better for cuddling, peanut,” he murmured in a deep, quiet voice that sent heat shivering down your spine.

It felt a little bit like torture, standing there in Bucky’s arms like you were someone more special to him than just a friend, all the while knowing it was unlikely he felt the same as you. But you couldn’t seem to pull away. Instead, you leaned back against his chest, letting him hold you and pretending, just for the moment, that you were a real couple and not just the permanent third wheels of your friends. 

Once some of the crowd in front of the carnival stall cleared, you saw your friends had decided to play the balloon dart game. It wasn’t your favorite and none of the prizes caught your eye, so when Steve and Nat turned to you and Bucky, inviting you both to play, you hung back. Bucky dropped his arms and moved past you, accepting some of the darts his friend offered. With everyone else engrossed in the game, you finished your cotton candy and slipped away to find a trash can for the paper stick. 

While on your way back, you found another stall with much cuter prizes. There were a bunch of classic teddy bears strung up around the stall, all with soft-looking brown fur and cuddly bodies. They were a good size too, larger than a typical teddy bear, but not so big it would take two arms to hold one. Instantly, your heart yearned for one, knowing it’d be the perfect thing to cuddle when you inevitably went home alone. 

But then you saw the game and it looked hard. There were a bunch of small bowls floating around in slow-swirling water, and the goal was to throw a ping pong ball into a specific color bowl to win a prize. It would require landing a ball in one of the very few blue bowls in order to win one of the teddy bears and your heart sank. You weren’t good at those kinds of carnival games. Just as fast as you let yourself want the teddy bear, you resigned yourself to never winning it, and started to walk away, not even wanting to try.

“Something catch your eye, peanut?” Bucky asked, materializing out of the crowd in front of you, stopping you in your tracks. He had his hands shoved in the pockets of his jacket and he glanced at the stall you’d been eyeing.

Forcing a smile, you shook your head and said, “Nah.” You wrapped your arms around your friend’s bicep and tried to steer him back in the direction of the balloon dart game, but Bucky wouldn’t budge. “What’re you doing, Buck?” you asked, looking up at him with a confused frown.

His blue eyes were intent on your face and he glanced back up at the teddy bears you’d been admiring. You suddenly got the impression he’d caught you staring at the prizes. As you watched, Bucky’s gaze fell to the game and he got a determined look on his face. He stepped forward, pushing through the small crowd in front of the game and dragging you, still clinging to his arm, along with him. 

“Y’know, I think I’d like to try my hand at this game, peanut,” he said, handing some cash over to the carnival worker. “Wait for me while I play?” 

The charming grin Bucky turned on you was magic—it must’ve been, because in that moment you would’ve done anything your friend asked of you. So you nodded and smiled and stood patiently at his side while Bucky accepted the little basket of ping pong balls from the carnival worker. 

For the next few minutes, Bucky shot ball after ball at the bowls, and you could tell he was aiming for the blue ones, obviously trying to win one of the teddy bears. It warmed your heart and you started cheering him on. However, he kept missing the blue bowls and you found yourself hoping he’d hit his target—not so he’d win you a teddy bear but because you didn’t like seeing frustration bunch in his shoulders.

When Bucky was down to his last ball, he picked up and rolled it around in his hand for a moment, looking at it thoughtfully. Then he turned to you and held it up right in front of your mouth. “Blow on it for luck, peanut,” he murmured, his eyes dropping to your lips.

You could feel your friend’s gaze heavy on your mouth as you pursed your lips and blew on the ping pong ball gently, not believing for a second that it would give Bucky any luck at all. As you watched him, Bucky’s eyes darkened when your breath skated over his fingers, the look he gave you sending heat curling through your core. Before you could analyze the heat in his gaze, though, he turned and focused on lining up his shot, taking the warmth of his attention with him. 

You held your breath when Bucky threw the ball, and gasped when it landed in one of the blue bowls. 

Bucky raised his arms in triumph, letting out a loud whoop before turning and wrapping his strong arms around your waist, hauling you up against his chest and spinning you around until you got dizzy. Giggles tumbled freely from your lips, even after he set you down and turned to the slightly exasperated carnival worker. Bucky let you pick out which bear you wanted and the worker handed it over.

You hugged the bear tightly to your chest, burying a huge smile against its fur as Bucky led you away from the stall and back toward your friends. “Thanks, Bucky,” you mumbled, turning your face up to him to show him your big smile. “You didn’t have to win me anything, so thank you.” You wanted him to see how happy he’d made you and how much gratitude you felt for the teddy bear.

Something like shock froze on Bucky’s face when he got a look at you, and it seemed to take him a second before he could speak. “C’mon peanut,” he scoffed bashfully, a light pink tinging his cheeks as he wrapped his arm around the back of your neck and pulled you in close to him. The move made it so you couldn’t really look up at him anymore and you couldn’t help but think that was on purpose. “I couldn’t let you go home empty handed—not on Valentine’s Day.”

When you found your friends, they stood in a tight circle, showing off the prizes they’d won at the balloon dart game. Nat, Yelena and Steve each had a small toy, while Kate held a rather large stuffed penguin under her arm. She was boasting about her marksmanship as you and Bucky approached.

“Hey—nice bear!” Kate exclaimed, cutting herself off mid-sentence when she got a look at the prize you were holding.

You smiled and glanced up at Bucky, who was grinning proudly, his chest puffed up and everything. “Thanks, Bucky won it for me,” you said, letting Yelena and Kate draw you into a conversation. Your friends excitedly recounted exactly how many balloons they’d each hit to win their prizes.

Steve’s eyebrows raised at your remark and he shared a look with Nat before catching his best friend’s eye and tilting his head in your direction with a question in his eye. Bucky shook his head subtly so it wouldn’t draw your attention, returning his friend’s questioning look with a quelling one of his own. Steve and Nat both smirked.

The entire exchange escaped your notice since Yelena was busy showing you the little stuffed frog she’d won. It was about a tenth of the size of Kate’s penguin, but she was just as, if not more proud of it. You congratulated both your friends on their prizes, laughing as they started to squabble about where they would display the toys in the apartment they shared.

Once the conversation died down, you looked around at your friends and asked, “What’s next? Should we ride the swings—or the ferris wheel?” You bounced on the balls of your feet, excited for either. The sadness and disappointment over being the third wheel to your friends was momentarily forgotten and you were eager to spend more time with the group, enjoying everything the Valentine’s Day carnival had to offer.

But your enthusiasm was met with a weighted silence and sidelong glances. 

“Ah, Nat and I were gonna grab some food,” Steve said, rubbing the back of his neck with a hand, his eyes not meeting yours. He kept glancing at Bucky, though, you noticed. When you looked to Nat, she only offered an apologetic grimace and a shrug.

Your heart was dropping but Nat and Steve were only two of your friends. When you looked to Kate and Yelena, though, you could already tell from the looks on their faces that you weren’t going to like what they were about to say. 

“Kate and I were gonna check out the tunnel of love,” Yelena said. Her apologetic expression was so similar to her sister’s, for just a moment they looked like identical twins.

The eager excitement you’d felt just moments before drained out of you. “Oh,” you said, your voice hollow and your feet flat on the frozen ground. “That’s okay, you guys have fun,” you said, fixing a smile on your face. You clung harder to the teddy bear in your arms, unable to look at any of your friends for fear they might see the tears shining in your eyes. You tried to blink them away, not wanting to make your friends feel bad for wanting to spend some time alone with their partners.

Nat’s fingers circled your wrist and gave it a comforting squeeze before she and Steve disappeared into the crowd in the direction of the food trucks. Yelena wrapped you in a quick hug, kissing your cheek and telling you she’d catch up with you later. Then she grabbed Kate’s hand and tugged her girlfriend toward the tunnel of love attraction. It was a staple of the Valentine’s Day carnival, but you’d never gone through it since it was more of a couples thing.

The desire to cry was an incessant, pounding headache behind your temple and you had to fight it off with your face buried in your teddy bear, not wanting Bucky to see how sad you were to be left alone again. It wasn’t his fault you felt so abandoned by your friends—you didn’t even blame them, not really—and you didn’t want him to think you weren’t grateful that he was the one who stuck around. 

Somehow, Bucky knew exactly what you needed. Wrapping his arms around your shoulders, he pulled you into his chest, enveloping you in the warmest hug he had to offer. It was such a sweet gesture, you almost lost the battle you were fighting with yourself not to break down crying. Thankfully, you managed to stave off the tears for a little while longer, but you suspected you were going to go home that night and spend a long time sobbing into your new teddy bear’s soft fur.

“It’s just you and me again, peanut,” Bucky murmured, one of his hands finding your cheek and tilting it up so he could see you. When he saw the look on your face, his expression softened, everything about him gentling, his touch so tender it nearly broke your heart. “It’s not so bad, is it—just you and me?” he asked in such a quiet voice you almost didn’t hear him over the loud noises of the carnival.

Nuzzling into his warm palm, you let your eyes slide closed, the action giving you a momentary reprieve from the headache pounding in your head. Shaking your head, you pressed yourself closer to Bucky, shifting your teddy bear to the side so you could slip your other arm around his waist, curling into the warmth he offered. “No, Buck,” you said, opening your eyes and blinking to clear your vision of a few tears. Your lips curved in a small smile as you looked up at him. “Being with you isn’t bad at all.” 

You turned your head, brushing a kiss to his palm. It seemed the most natural thing in the world to do in that moment, but when you looked back at Bucky, his expression was stunned. He recovered quickly, but when he did, his gaze dropped to your mouth and your lips tingled with your desire to kiss him. Bucky’s eyes flicked back up to yours and you weren’t sure what he saw, but when he leaned in, it wasn’t your lips he kissed. Instead, he pressed a tender kiss to your cheek and you couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed.

“We’re gonna have a great time together, aren’t we, peanut?” Bucky asked in a rumbly voice that did things to your body. His blue eyes sparkled and his mouth was curled up at the edges in a tiny smile.

Nodding, you refocused on your friend and pushed aside all thought of kissing him. The sun was setting over the carnival grounds but you still had plenty of time before the workers began closing up for the night. “Yeah, Bucky, we’re gonna have fun,” you said, stepping back from your friend and putting some space between the two of you.

He let you go, his arms dropping by his sides. “Okay,” he said, clapping his hands and rubbing them together as he looked around. “So, swings or ferris wheel first?” His blue eyes sparked with excitement when they found yours, the bright lights of the carnival games playing over his handsome face. 

It was enough to take your breath away, but you forced air into your lungs and responded. “Swings, please,” you said, some of your excitement returning to your tone. 

Over the next few hours, Bucky kept you so busy, you forgot to feel sad about being left by your friends. He took you on the swings—not once or twice, but three times because you told him it was your favorite ride—then the Heart Flip, the Valentine’s Day carnival’s version of the typical teacups ride. Bucky even dragged you through the fun house, making silly faces in the distortion mirrors until you were laughing so hard, your stomach and cheeks hurt and tears of mirth were sliding down your face.

When your stomach growled, Bucky bought you all the junk food you could eat—popcorn, funnel cake, fried oreos. He even produced a heart-shaped lollipop from somewhere that you snacked on while waiting in line for the merry go ‘round. Then he helped you onto the unicorn you wanted to ride and took photos of you while you held your teddy bear and laughed.

It was turning out to be a great night, all thanks to Bucky. You knew you wouldn’t have had nearly as much fun at the Valentine’s Day carnival if it weren’t for him, and you couldn’t help but feel grateful to him. It may not have been the experience you’d always wished for—since you’d dreamed of going to the carnival with a significant other—but your friend was doing his damndest to give you everything you could ask for. And if you wanted a little more, to be more than friends with him, you’d resolved not to be greedy and just be happy with what he was willing to give.

“Ready for the ferris wheel, peanut?” Bucky asked, getting your attention and drawing you out of your thoughts. His nose was tipped in red and his cheeks were flushed, making the icy blue color of his eyes stand out against his fair skin and dark hair. A little smile curled just the edges of his lips as he looked at you expectantly, like he was waiting on you for more than just an answer about a carnival ride, though you couldn’t fathom what else he could be asking.

In that moment, all your thoughts of setting aside your selfishness fled and you knew you could love Bucky—you wanted to love him and be loved by him in return. You wanted it more than your next breath. But you’d been friends for so long and he’d never given you any hint he had feelings for you. The words you wanted to say stuck in your throat. 

You didn’t even know how to express the way you felt, how you could explain to him the way your crush had slowly bloomed over the years you’d known each other. How it had grown into these big, overwhelming feelings that were so all-encompassing it felt like trying to explain the process of your heart beating. And besides, was the middle of the Valentine’s Day carnival, surrounded by screaming children and harried parents and cutesy couples, really the place to confess such things? 

Closing your mouth against all the words threatening to tumble out, you swallowed and tried again. “Yep,” you said simply, mustering a smile and nodding for him to lead the way.

If Bucky noticed something was off about your voice or your expression, he didn’t say anything. He just wrapped an arm around your lower back and guided you in the direction of the ferris wheel. You leaned into his side as you waited your turn in line, still clutching the teddy bear he’d won you to your chest. You let yourself enjoy the moment, content to simply be with Bucky without stressing about your feelings for him.

It wasn’t a long line and soon you were climbing onto the bench of a gondola, tucking your bear between you and the side of the seat so you could be closer to Bucky. He sat beside you, not commenting on how your thighs brushed against each other while the carnival worker secured the safety rail.

As the gondola began to rise, Bucky slid his arm around your shoulders and tugged you in closer to his chest, making it feel like you were almost a real couple, taking a romantic ferris wheel ride together. The thought made your heart squeeze.

“So, peanut, are you having the Valentine’s Day carnival experience you always dreamed of?” Bucky asked.

If you didn’t know better, you would’ve thought he sounded a little bit hopeful, but that didn’t make sense. Since your head was resting on his chest, you couldn’t see his expression or gauge his mood. But if he was feeling hopeful, you didn’t want to squash it by telling him the night didn’t quite live up to your wildest dreams.

“Yeah,” you mumbled, your answer almost flitting away on the wind as you rose higher in the night sky. It was colder in the air and you cuddled deeper into Bucky’s warmth. You didn’t really mean to say anything else, but you were distracted by the comforting smell of Bucky and whispered, “Almost.”

Somehow, your friend managed to hear you and he grumbled, the sound vibrating in his chest and tickling your cheek. “‘Almost’?” he asked. “We’re not settling for almost—what would make it better, peanut?” 

Heaving a heavy sigh, you pushed away from Bucky, turning away from him and looking out over the carnival grounds. Everything seemed so far away, but you weren’t going to let the illusion of privacy lull you into having this conversation with your friend. “You can’t do anything else, Buck, you’re already doing everything you can,” you said.

Gentle fingers gripped your chin, turning you to face your friend, but you couldn’t bear to meet his eyes, instead staring at his stubble-covered jaw. He wouldn’t let you get away with that, though, ducking his head until he could look at you properly. “Tell me what I can do, peanut, I’d do anything to make you smile,” he said, sincerity in his voice and his gaze.

Closing your eyes against the rush of emotion those words stoked inside you, you had to take a minute, trying to talk yourself out of confessing anything to your friend. But the gondola came to stop at the very top of the ferris wheel and something about the way you felt so safe in Bucky’s arms, suspended so high up in the air, had words tumbling out of your mouth.

“I just—I always wanted to come to the carnival with someone special, someone I was dating, y’know?” you said, opening your eyes and watching Bucky’s face as he spoke. He looked like he wanted to interrupt, but you soldiered on. “It’s silly, but I just thought it would make the carnival that much more special to enjoy it with someone I love, someone who loves me, too.” You had to stop, your eyes dropping back to Bucky’s jaw, seeing it jump as he clenched his teeth. You didn’t want to think about what that meant, sure it was a bad sign. “Coming with my friends is fun, don’t get me wrong—I’ve gone to the carnival with Nat and Yelena almost every year of my life and I love them, but this year I don’t even have them.”

“You just have me,” Bucky said, a hollowness in his voice that made you glance up at him. He looked sad and defeated and you couldn’t stand the sight.

“Don’t say that like you’re a consolation prize, like you aren’t enough,” you said sharply. It was your turn to cup Bucky’s cheek and make him look at you so you could make sure he was hearing what you were saying.

He smiled sadly, his mouth curling up in the way you loved, but his blue eyes were so mournful, it made your heart crack a little. “But I’ve tried all night to show you how special you are to me, peanut, and it’s still not enough.”

The cold night air froze in your lungs and confusion made you frown. “What?” you asked, the question sounding dumb to your ears.

A breeze swept between your bodies, catching your hair and sending it swirling. Bucky tucked it behind your ear, looking down at you with a mixture of somberness and fondness in his gaze. “I wanted to make this the best Valentine’s Day carnival for you because I wanted to show you how good I could be for you,” he admitted. “So maybe you’d want me to be your valentine—your special someone.”

“Bucky,” said on a sharp exhale. Your brain was slow to process his words, too weighed down by the many emotions you’d felt that night. 

He seemed to misinterpret your reaction, looking away. His jaw flexed, the muscle jumping and making you want to soothe it with your touch. “If you don’t feel that way about me, I understand,” he said, his voice rough like gravel, the words sounding like he was wrenching them forcefully from the depths of his chest. “I’m happy to be your pal, your buddy, your fellow third wheel forever.” He wiped a hand down over his face, but you noticed he hadn’t tried to pull away. “Seriously, I don’t want you to feel pressured...” 

“I like you, too, Buck,” you blurted, cutting him off mid-sentence. 

Bucky’s head whipped around to look at you. The lights of the carnival lit up his face, tentative hope sparking in his eyes. “What?” he asked, echoing your earlier confusion.

“I’ve had a crush on you for ages,” you confessed, a blush rising in your cheeks even though he’d just admitted his own feelings for you. A weight lifted off your shoulders and you sat up, your hands pressing against Bucky’s chest, his pecs firm beneath your fingertips. “I like you, Bucky Barnes,” you said firmly.

For years after that night, you and Bucky would argue over what exactly caused the feeling of your stomach dropping and your heart soaring—whether it was the ferris wheel or his kiss. He, of course, would say it was the result of him finally, finally, kissing you, while you’d argue it was just the ferris wheel. Later, though, when he’d kissed all the giggles from your lips, you’d admit he was right. It had been all him. He’d grin arrogantly and smother you in even more kisses.

That night, when Bucky kissed you for the first time, his head ducking and his lips finding yours as the ferris wheel descended from its peak, you were briefly dizzy with all the sensations. Your stomach fluttered and your heart pounded excitedly in your chest, your whole body warming as Bucky wrapped you up in his arms and kissed you tenderly. It was the sweetest first kiss you’d ever had. Bucky’s lips were soft against yours, gentle with you like he always was—like you were something precious he was fearful of losing.

Slowly, his mouth grew more insistent, his tongue sliding against the seam of your lips and begging for entrance. You parted your lips, opening yourself to him and when he slid inside, you could taste the eagerness on his tongue. It matched the fervor that sang through your whole body. You kissed him back, matching his passion with every bit of your own. 

When Bucky finally pulled away, you were left breathless and a little bit stunned. Satisfaction made you smile when you got a look at Bucky’s face, seeing him looking a little stunned, too. He was quick to duck back down and kiss the smile from your face, his lips curling up in a grin and his teeth knocking against yours, making you both laugh. 

“Alright, lovebirds, let’s go,” a gruff voice broke into the little bubble of happiness that surrounded you and Bucky.

You looked up and found the carnival worker manning the ferris wheel looking at you expectantly as he held the safety rail open, some teenagers snickering behind him. You blushed, but grabbed your teddy bear, hiding half your face in the fur as Bucky helped you out of the gondola and led you to the exit. His fingers tangled in yours as he held your hand, walking with you through the carnival grounds.

“So peanut, you gonna put me out of misery already?” Bucky asked, glancing down at you with happiness clear on his face, his mouth spread in a grin like he couldn’t keep himself from smiling. His blue eyes were sparkling and you couldn’t stop staring at the man you knew you were falling for. When you didn’t respond, he went on. “Are you gonna be my valentine?”

Giggling happily, you nodded. “Of course I’ll be your valentine, Buck.”

Bucky twirled you around, pulling you off to the side of the crowd and ducked his head, capturing your lips in another kiss. You didn’t know if you’d ever get enough of his kiss, and you gripped greedy fingers in the front of his jacket, clinging to him while he kissed you senseless. After long moments, he pulled back, his eyes roving over your face like he still couldn’t believe it was real, that you were his to kiss.

You couldn’t really wrap your head around it either. It was a little unbelievable that the two of you, who had met and become friends because you were the third wheels of your group, would actually develop feelings for each other. But it was your reality, and you couldn’t wait to explore the new aspects of your relationship with Bucky. The fact that you were the forever third wheels no more was just a bonus.

“So, what’s next?” you asked Bucky excitedly, half hoping he’d suggest going home so you could kiss him more in the privacy of one of your homes. And maybe do more than kiss…

“Duh, peanut,” Bucky said, a teasing grin on his face as he started leading you through the crowd, seeming to know exactly where he was going. His blue eyes shone with affection and adoration as he looked down at you, dropping a kiss to your lips before continuing on. “The tunnel of love.”

For the rest of the night, Bucky made your Valentine’s Day dreams come true, helping you to enjoy the carnival with someone special—him. Then, he took you home and you made out on the couch like teenagers until neither of you could keep your eyes open. You left your teddy bear on the couch as you and Bucky headed to the bedroom and though you felt a little bad about leaving it behind, Bucky had been right, he was very good at cuddling. You fell asleep, curled up in Bucky’s arms, both of you smiling.

Every year after that, Bucky was your date to the Valentine’s Day carnival, and each year he endeavored to make it better than the last. Every year, he succeeded.