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1: Tree
"So what if we did the holidays at my place?" asks Clint from a few branches above Bucky.
Barnes doesn't look up, keeps his eyes on their mark: another damn HYDRA base. But his mind is allowed to drift even though his gaze is not. "Why?"
Clint shifts and the branches of the tree sway slightly under his weight. "Wanna be with Katie. With Lucky. And you, of course." He sighs. "Kinda just don't wanna get swept up into one of Tony's huge holiday parties again."
Bucky smiles and snorts a laugh. "Fair enough." He watches as HYDRA agents spill out of the base, heading out somewhere. "Guess we're doin' the holidays at your place then, Barton." And he goes to radio Steve about the troop movements.
"Awesome," breathes the archer from above as he nocks an arrow and waits for orders.
2: Snowman
"That thing's fuckin' creepy," says Bucky as he watches Clint drag a giant, plastic, light-up snowman through the living room.
"It's decorative!" Clint insists enthusiastically as he settles it right by the window. But it's not pointed to be staring out the window. It's pointed to be staring at Bucky where he sits with his beer on the couch. And when Clint plugs the damn thing in and it lights up, it only gets creepier.
Ten seconds later, Clint is on the couch and curled up against Bucky for warmth.
Bucky downs a swig of beer. "Did it occur to you that if we ever wanna fuck on the couch, it'll be watchin' us?"
Clint pops off the couch immediately to resolve the situation.
3: Snowball Fight
"Oh my god," giggles Clint, "what happened to you, Barnes?"
Bucky stands on the mat by the front door and shakes his head, chunks of snow and ice falling from his hair. His entire jacket has been assaulted by the white shit as well. "Got caught in a snowball fight ‘tween Simone's kids." He tosses Clint the bag of bagels he picked up from the coffee shop down the street. "They both’ve got real good aim."
Clint's still laughing while Bucky shrugs out of his coat one arm at a time while also balancing two coffees in a drink tray. He eventually hangs up his coat. Then he kicks off his boots and pads towards the couch in just his holey socks.
When he leans into Clint, he feels his boyfriend shiver and whine, "Barnes, you're cold as fuck!"
"Then you go on the next coffee run, asshole." And Bucky drapes his wet hair across Clint's shoulder and smirks when Clint whines even louder.
4: Skating
"Barton, you're skatin' on thin ice here."
Barney stands there with his hands up like he's ready to surrender. "I'm just here to see my baby brother. No harm, no foul. Plain an' simple." His smile is like Clint's, and it twists Bucky's heart a little bit.
Bucky's heard the stories. Barney trying to kill Clint. Barney being a common criminal. Barney hurting Clint a thousand times over again. And Bucky won't let that happen again.
"Get the hell out," the soldier growls. He stares unrelentingly at Barney, still pointing his gun at the elder Barton brother. Because he has to protect Clint.
Barney leaves, and Bucky never tells Clint.
5: Presents
Bucky eyes Clint as the archer puts a few gifts wrapped in newspaper at the base of the creepy ass snowman. "What're you doin'?" he asks after Clint has risen to his feet and brushed off his jeans.
"I got you some shit ‘cause I'm a decent boyfriend," justifies Clint before he drifts past Bucky and kisses his temple.
"Wow, you're just radiatin’ kindness. I can feel it all the way over here." He reaches out in some vain attempt to touch Clint, but it's too late because the archer is already in the kitchen. Still, he turns in his position on the couch and watches Clint snag a beer from the fridge. "I was actually wonderin' why you put the presents by the snowman."
Clint scoffs. "Not enough room in here for a tree anymore. Not since you practically half moved in."
Bucky turns to sit on the couch again and stare at the things that are technically his in the room: the old record player, the little wall of rifles, a couple of Steve's paintings that they haven't hung up yet. He wonders aloud, "What would you think if I moved in fully?"
6: Mall Santa
"Hey there, sexy," snarks Bucky as he drops some change in the bucket.
"Don't call Santa 'sexy', Barnes. It's weird." Clint readjusts his fake beard and his fake belly, clearly uncomfortable with it all. "It's just 'cause Rand got called in with Luke. He only called me 'cause-"
"’cause he doesn't think you have a life?" Bucky quirks an eyebrow, and Clint groans in response, still ringing the little bell he's holding.
"Fuck the Salvation Army." Clint huffs his frustration. "They don't even like the queer community. Danny doesn't know that. Probably just wanted to give back and shit." He purses his lips and rings his hell some more. "He's too nice a person to say no to. Fuck him."
Bucky rolls his eyes, drops more change into the bucket, and says lowly, "I know it's a fuckin' politics thing, but remember that it's for more than just us. It's for kids like Stevie and me used to be."
7: Blizzard
"One motherfuckin' kid thinks it's a good idea to ask for a white Christmas and Bobby decides to ruin this shit for us."
Bucky yanks a door off a car to free the people inside. "Started a motherfuckin' blizzard."
Clint spots the next car, one over in a ditch, nose-down in the snow. And he shoots a blunt-tipped arrow at the back window, which shatters, everyone inside unharmed as they start to crawl out. "A motherfuckin' blizzard," Clint parrots.
Bucky hops back off the side of the car and offers a hand to the people climbing out of the car like any proper gentleman would, but his attention is on Clint. "How many more?"
Brow furrowing, Clint stares out at the white highway ahead of them. "Fifty, maybe?" He pulls out another arrow and starts to trudge through the snow, mumbling, "A motherfuckin' blizzard."
8: Stockings
Clint pulls push-pins from a kitchen drawer. He heads towards the window that the creepy snowman is peering out. "Got you a stocking, Barnes."
Bucky raises an eyebrow and continues to pet Lucky from where he sits next to the one-eyed mutt on the floor. "Yeah?"
"Uh-huh." Clint hangs it on the window sill next to his own stocking and the one for Kate and the one for Lucky. "Figured if you're gonna live here, you'll need your own." And he stares at his handiwork quietly before asking, "Have you told Steve yet?"
Bucky eyes the grey stocking with the red star on it. He doesn't snort a laugh, despite how funny the damn thing is, because the point of telling Steve sits uncomfortably in the pit of his stomach. "Not yet."
"You gotta tell him before New Year's Eve if you wanna move the last of your stuff in on the first," reminds Clint gently before going to sit on the other side of Bucky. "Can't blindside the poor guy."
9: Mistletoe
An arrow embeds itself into the wall right above the stove where they're both huddled to simultaneously cook.
"Katie Kate, is that fuckin' mistletoe?" hollers Clint after a quick glance up.
"You're welcome!"
Clint looks to Bucky with a somewhat stifled grin. "Hey, so-"
"I know how it works," Bucky interrupts before cutting Clint off completely with a kiss.
10: Tony throws a holiday party
They got swept up in a Stark party, despite their best efforts to avoid this situation at all costs. Too many people, too much alcohol, too much Christmas.
"Y'kno, this'd be real awkward if someone were Jewish at this thing," comments Clint lowly just before he catches a sharp elbow in the ribcage from Bucky. "Wha-"
"Steve."
Clint has to take a breath because he knows Bucky has been dreading this. Bucky doesn't want to leave Steve after all they've been through but he also wants to be with Clint. More permanently than just shifting between the tower and Clint's apartment. So, seeing Steve heading this way, Clint tiptoes to give Bucky a kiss on the cheek before saying softly, "Good luck." And he ducks away to find Tash.
Behind him, Clint hears Bucky: "Hey, Stevie. Mind if we talk for a minute?"
11: Avengers family dinner
"Thanks for bringing the yams, you two," says Pepper as she kisses each man on both cheeks as they come into the kitchen.
"Thank Bucky," corrects Clint quickly as he hands the glass pan over to Pepper, who hustles her way back to the kitchen. "He's the one who can cook, not me," he continues while laughing, which comes with a quick affirmation from Bucky, "He shouldn't even be allowed in the kitchen."
Clint groans and crashes at the kitchen table and shrugs his jacket off and hangs it on the back of his chair before slumping down and watching Steve, Pepper, and Tony still whipping up food. Figures no one else would show up.
"You guys aren't going to help cook?" asks Steve with a pointed look towards the two.
Bucky flops down into the seat beside Clint. "I already made your damn yams, Stevie. An' like I said, Clint shouldn't even be allowed in the kitchen."
12: Freebie!
They managed to stay away from Tony's New Year's Eve party at least, and the quiet in the apartment is perfect for laying on the couch and kissing like teenagers at the start of a new love.
"How long 'til midnight?" Bucky asks as Clint leans away to catch his breath.
Clint's face is practically blissed out: he's smiling and blinking slowly and breathing deeply. Eventually, he says, "It was a half hour ago."
Bucky blinks for a minute. "Well, we rang in the new year with a kiss. Just didn't know it." And he leans back and takes his beer from the coffee table before downing a swig. "Happy new year, Clint," he laughs softly.
Clint tilts so that he's leaning on Bucky again, still grinning. "Happy new year, Buck.”