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“A ‘date’?” Sam chuckled with a raised eyebrow. Bucky nodded and grinned. He wanted to do something special for Steve, to show him how much he loved him. Bucky couldn’t remember real good about the past, but Stevie had told him lots about what they used to do. James Buchanan Barnes liked dancing, and he was real good at it. Bucky likes dancing too. Steve always says that he’s no good at dancing, but Bucky doesn’t think that’s true. Steve’s the best at holding his hand and swaying with him, he doesn’t even mind when Bucky stumbles.
“Dancing, ‘nd - uh, kissing .” Bucky emphasized, he wanted to make sure Sam understood him clearly. The dark haired man laughed and chucked another pretzel in his mouth. They were hanging out today because Steve was at a charity event, that meant he was busy helping people. Bucky had made sure to tell everyone they bumped into how proud he was. Stevie always made him proud.
Sam helped Bucky pick out a nice shirt and some slacks with a special elastic waistband. Bucky was a bit nervous at first, because Sam had to help him get into his outfit and do the buttons up for him. That made his cheeks hot and his bottom lip all wobbly because he felt upset. No - embarrassed . He didn’t want Sam to think he was no good, or couldn’t do things everyone else could. But Sam just smiled and told him it was fine and that he was really proud of Bucky for asking for help.
Sam even helped Bucky pick out some flowers on a special app and they were delivered to the apartment in half an hour. That had really impressed Bucky, because he’d never ordered flowers that way before. He thinks he can remember James Buchanan Barnes buying a bunch of flowers and telling the lady in the shop they were for his ‘best girl’. But then he can remember them sitting in an old jar by the window in his and Steve’s flat. So maybe he doesn't remember it quite right. There’s lots of things Bucky doesn’t remember right. Sam offered to write a special message in the card for Bucky, but he decided he wanted to write it himself. Steve always smiled and his eyes got wet when Bucky wrote things down. It didn’t matter that Bucky’s writing was a little too big, or that he could only fit ‘LOV’ on the card. He knew Stevie would understand.
Once the dining room was set up, with dinner laid out from Steve’s favorite Thai place, Bucky asked J.A.R.V.I.S to play something from the ‘40’s’. Steve liked lots of old music and apparently Bucky did once too. The brunette fiddled with his collar nervously, standing on wobbly legs as he awaited Steve’s return home. He wanted to greet him properly, with a kiss and his flowers. He’d even asked Nat to help him with his hair. Bucky wasn’t wearing his soft helmet, his head hitting hadn’t been so bad recently and he wanted to look extra handsome. Nat had smiled a bit sadly when he said that and told him that he always looked handsome, helmet or not. Bucky’s floppy hair curled at the nape of his neck and was parted neatly to one side.
Steve opened the door real slowly, he always tried to be quiet when he came in, just in case Bucky was sleeping. Bucky’s medicine made him real tired and he ended up napping a lot nowadays. The blond looked surprised to see Bucky standing there, his look of shock quickly morphing into a grin. The Captain put down his work bag and took in the romantic scene before him.
“Hey, dove. What’s all this?” Steve smiled, his eyes soft and bright. Bucky smiled bashfully and stumbled over to Steve without the aid of his walker. He had to pause at the dining table to steady himself, before continuing the walk the rest of the way over to Steve. He thrust the bouquet of flowers out towards his love and grinned. Steve took them carefully and helped Bucky steady himself with a strong arm.
“Date. Surprise .” Bucky blushed, suddenly intensely shy under the man he loves attention. Steve chuckled in disbelief, reading the attached card with wet eyes and shuddering breath. The brunette stumbled forward to lay a wet kiss against Steve’s cheek, giggling when the bigger man moved at the last minute to catch his lips instead. Bucky liked kissing on the lips, it made the butterflies in his stomach flutter.
“These are beautiful, Bucky. Thank you.” He grinned, moving them to a vase of water. Bucky beamed, Stevie looked beautiful. His blonde hair was newly trimmed, darker now than it had been in The Before. His beard was neat and tickled Bucky’s chin when they kissed. “You look very handsome, dove.” Steve’s lips tugged up into a smile and he moved to hold Bucky around the waist. Bucky lay his head on Steve’s chest and allowed himself to be carefully swayed from side to side.
“Steve?” Bucky whispered after a while, nerves building in his chest. Steve pulled back and gazed down at him with a gentle face reserved for the brunette. Bucky got a bit distracted by the sight of Steve’s rose pink lips and the press of his hard body against him. Steve chuckled when he noticed Bucky staring. “We-uh. Will we be - um…” Bucky’s nerves got the better of him, his shoulder’s rising quickly to his ears and his body seizing up against the sway of the music. Steve rubbed up and down his arm, looking worried by Bucky’s sudden anxiety. The smaller man thought back to his session with Miss Lisa. Miss Lisa was really nice and always smiled at Bucky, even when his mouth couldn’t make the words good. She always said it’s okay to take your time, and that Bucky’s brain had to work much harder than other people’s because there was a big wall in front of all the words. Bucky squeezed his eyes shut and concentrated on what he wanted to say. “Will-be-boyfriends?” He blurted out eventually, daring to open one eye and glance up at the blonde’s reaction.
Steve’s panicked face very quickly gave way to a shining grin, his eyes twinkling brightly. The larger man chuckled before dipping his head to meet Bucky’s slouched posture. “I’d like that very much, Bucky.” He rumbled, pressing a flutter of kisses across his shy face. Bucky screeched with laughter and thrashed his face to escape the tickling. “So, what does my boyfriend have planned for dinner?”