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The rain had caught them by surprise. They'd been walking aimlessly around Brooklyn after a date night when it started, a sudden downpour that neither had been expecting. The night itself had been amazing- Bucky had surprised Steve by taking him to a nearby Italian place that reminded them both of a place they'd been a couple times as teens, and they'd enjoyed reminiscing over the past over huge servings of pasta.
"You know, this place reminds me of Gino's, used to be about a block from my apartment," Steve had said when they arrived there, a slight nostalgic smile on his face.
Bucky raised an eyebrow- he was getting fragments of memory back from his past, and Steve's little reminders had helped him a lot lately. The whole reason he'd chosen this place was because it felt familiar to him. He knew it reminded him of somewhere, and also knew that Steve would be able to fill in the gaps for him. "Was that the place we both got fired from?" he asked quietly.
Steve paused a second, thinking back, before shaking his head. "No, no, um... I got fired for missing three weeks, you quit because you thought that was unfair." The exact moment when Bucky remembered was clear on his face- Steve couldn't help but chuckle to himself as he watched realisation, followed by a slight narrowing of his eyebrows when he remembered why exactly Steve had missed three weeks of work... then indignation as he remembered his own resignation.
"They had no right to fire ya, Stevie, you couldn't help having pneumonia!" Bucky insisted, echoing the words he'd said to Steve back then. The couple both smiled at each other, and Bucky thought he saw a glint of relief in his boyfriend's eyes. Relief that he was remembering things, maybe? That memories seemed to be coming back to him faster now, with less prompting needed than before? He decided not to question it. He really didn't want to be treated any differently, which was why he kept his memory issues quiet most of the time- he didn't want to be known as the amnesiac ex-assassin, didn't want to be percieved as weak.
They'd spent the rest of the meal talking about the past, Steve being careful not to push certain topics or to ask Bucky if he remembered specific things. They talked about their trips to the fairground as kids, both determined to win each other the most prizes in that young competitive spirit. They talked about the night they came out to each other, on one of their regular nights sharing a bed while Steve's ma worked the night shift. Their first kiss a week later, during her next night shift. How, after that night, they'd sneak kisses as often as possible, with furtive looks around them to ensure they wouldn't get caught and punished.
"It feels a little strange now, you know?" Steve had admitted, nodding down at where his hand was entwined with Bucky's real one on the table. "That we can do this, out in the open, and... not get punished for it."
"Sometimes it still feels like we're gonna get beat if we get caught." Bucky agreed quietly.
"Yeah... It's nice, though, how things have progressed." Steve shrugged, pushing his now-empty plate aside and reaching for Bucky's other hand over the table.
"Nice that we can be open here."
Steve hummed in agreement, glacing through the window. "Wanna go for a walk?" he suggested. "Might be a nice end to a great night."
"Sure," Bucky agreed, humming softly. He paid the bill- leaving a generous tip- before taking Steve's hand again and leading him out of the restaurant. The soldiers walked together, hand in hand, for a while just savouring the fact that they were able to do that without fear of repurcussions. Everything was nice, perfect even.
Despite it catching them by surprise, they didn't actually mind all that much when it started to rain. It started slowly at first, a few drops here and there, nothing that bothered the couple enough to end their walk early. They ended up in a park not far from their apartment, taking a second to sit and admire the lake before them. They noticed the rain picking up when it actually began to ripple the lake, heavy drops hitting the surface of the water and creating little splashes. Steve was happy to call it a night and head home, but Bucky seemed entirely fascinated by the way the water moved. His eyes were fixed on the lake, and when Steve lightly tugged on his hand he didn’t respond.
“Buck, come on, it’s raining.” Steve said gently, laying one hand on his boyfriend’s shoulder.
“Do you remember the time we got caught in the rain as kids?” Bucky asked finally, his voice a little hoarse.
Steve didn’t quite know what to say to that, finally turning to properly take in the look on Bucky’s face. He’d remembered something new. That much was clear, but he never usually revealed that to Steve unless he was absolutely sure. But with this, he still seemed a little uncertain, like there were only pieces of the memory available to him. “Um, yeah. We did,” he confirmed.
“I didn’t want you to get sick- because of course you get sick if someone even looked at you funny- so I gave you my jacket. Right?”
“Exactly. And then in all your efforts to make sure I didn’t get sick…”
“I was the one who ended up sick.” Bucky finished, a little smile on his face. Steve couldn’t stop himself grinning at that point- usually he tried not to react too much to Bucky regaining memories, but this time just felt different, to the point where he couldn’t stop himself smiling.
Reaching out, Steve slipped his hand into Bucky’s. “Let’s go home,” he suggested gently, as the rain got heavier.
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By the time the couple returned to their apartment, the rain had really picked up, to the point that they could hear the water splatter against the windows rather loudly.
It felt rather soothing to Steve, as he remembered nights spent lay cuddled up in Bucky’s arms when they were younger, listening to the sound of rain against the windows as they talked or even just lay there in silence. Honestly, rain was his favourite weather, because it meant that he and Bucky could just stay in and cuddle, either in bed or on the couch watching movies. “Hey, if this continues tomorrow can we have a movie day?” Steve asked his boyfriend, who quickly agreed.
And continue it did. The rain stayed strong for the majority of that day, during which Steve and Bucky stayed in their apartment, watching their favourite movies and occasionally sharing memories of their past. It made Steve so happy that Bucky was remembering these things, that they could talk about them again.
And a lot of those memories had simply come from them being caught in the rain.