Work Text:
Having your own gym has its ups and downs. The pros? You knew a lot of people—and women. You could make your own schedule, choose your own staff, and stay fit as a personal trainer. Cons: You had to put up with clients complaining about the self-defense classes being too difficult, your colleagues flirting with their wives, and you being on call 24/7 with no holidays. So, four years surviving in Brooklyn seemed like a success to Steve. And he was enjoying his gym life, so far.
He and Bucky were co-owners, and they split profits and responsibilities 50/50. They tried to use their different skills to help the business. While he was handling the classes and the books, his friend was bringing in clients and keeping the gym’s image up to par. They were pretty busy and didn’t have much free time.
That Thursday, Steve had cleaned his apartment, gone to his mom’s house to help her with some water-related issues, gone for a run, and done grocery shopping. He could already hear Natasha and Sam saying that this wasn’t exactly a free day, and he knew Bucky would scoff and swear he’d never give him another day off, but looking at his now full fridge, he felt happy. So happy that he thought he could at least give his friends the satisfaction of a night off drinking. Maybe not until he got really drunk, because the next day was Friday and he had to open the gym, but still.
He called Bucky, but when he didn’t pick up, he tried Natasha.
“I can’t believe you wasted your first day off in months running errands. We are not friends anymore,” she said, and Steve could picture her sitting on her couch, the TV on a murder mystery, her eyes narrowed. “That’s not what Buck and I work our asses off for, Rogers!” she complained.
“Hey, I can do whatever I want with my free time. And, how do you know that?!” he asked, looking around for a hidden camera. His friends wouldn’t spy on him, would they?
“I know everything,” she whispered and Steve felt like hanging up and going off to read. “OK, what’s up? Are you taking off again tomorrow to help your neighbor redecorate?”
“I was thinking about grabbing a drink with my friends, since it’s not that late, but I’m rethinking my life choices right now and I’m not so sure anymore.”
“Don’t be a drama queen, Stevie. Give me five, the bar next to my place”.
“It’ll take me more than five minutes to get there, Nat”.
“Yeah, OK, you’ve got eight. Call the boys, I’ll call the girls?” She asked and didn’t need to elaborate. Natasha, Buck, Sam, and him were a team both in and out of the gym. Since graduating college and moving back to Brooklyn, Becca usually joined them with her roommate Y/n.
“I already called Buck, but he didn’t pick up. I’ll try again,” he replied, grabbing the keys and leaving his apartment. It wasn’t huge, but living alone was more than enough, and it was just a block away from the gym. That saved him the daily traffic jam.
“Let me know if he doesn’t pick up. I’ll try,” Natasha said, and Steve could hear her moving around her apartment, getting ready.
“Why do you think he’ll answer your call but not mine?” he joked, smirking. Bucky had been pretty insistent about hiring Natasha, and although they flirted sometimes, it had never gotten serious. Or so he thought.
“He will,” she said in a short reply. Steve rolled his eyes and turned the corner. His eyes automatically drifted to the gym, and he stopped, frowning. The lights on the second floor were on, but the gym was usually closed at this time. “Hey, gotta run. See you in ten.”
“Eight!” was the last thing he heard Natasha say before hanging up.
Steve crossed the street and tried the front door, breathing a sigh of relief when he found it locked. So Bucky wasn’t there and hadn’t left the gym open, he’d just forgotten to turn off the lights. He used the keys to get inside and went to his office to turn off all the lights from there, but stopped in the doorway when he saw Bucky’s jacket and helmet on the table. His friend was still there? Past closing time?
The blond left the office and went to the stairs, climbing them two at a time and heading for the only room where the lights were still on. Maybe Bucky had fallen and hurt himself, or maybe he had fainted, or maybe…
“That’s not the way to use it, doll.”
Doll. Doll. Steve narrowed his eyes, already annoyed with Bucky. When he offered to work the afternoon shift that Thursday too, saying he’d worked a lot and deserved a day off to rest, Steve wasn’t suspicious. It wasn’t the first time Bucky had suggested it, and he’d had to get his house in order and run a few errands, so he’d accepted without question. And Bucky just gave him a smirk. He hadn’t thought about it at the time, but now the smile had taken on a new meaning.
He thought of Emma right away, the student who started Natasha’s self-defense classes a month ago. Or maybe it was April, the woman who recently got divorced. She always laughed at his jokes, even when they weren’t that funny, and stroked his arm openly. Steve opened his eyes wide. It could also be Peggy, making good on his threat.
“If you don’t ask her out soon, I will,” he’d told him a few times when Steve’s eyes kept going to the door of the classroom Peggy had just entered. He took a deep breath, grabbed the doorknob, and looked at the ceiling. Please don’t let it be Peggy, he prayed.
“Then tell me how it works.”
Steve let go of the handle like it was on fire. He knew that voice. It wasn’t Peggy, but it might’ve been better if it had been.
“Yeah, I’ll pass. It’s funnier to watch you try.” Steve did not need to see his friend’s face to know that he was smirking.
“Is that why you wanted me to come, to laugh at me?” She didn’t mean it maliciously, because if there was one thing he knew about Y/N, it was that she wouldn’t say anything to offend.
Steve tried to remember if he had seen her at the gym before. She was at the opening, sure, and she visited from time to time, but had she tried a class? He remembered Bucky telling her to leave because she was against the dress code.
“I wanted you to come so I could be alone with you. I missed you.”
“We saw each other at Nat’s last Sunday,” she chuckled.
“Yes, but I couldn’t…”
Steve knew he shouldn’t, but curiosity got the better of him and he pushed the door just a little so he could see her. Y/N was standing next to the treadmill and Bucky was holding her cheeks as he kissed her. He couldn’t help but be surprised, because even though he knew what he would see, he hadn’t expected to see exactly that. His friend getting in trouble for kissing his younger sister’s best friend? Yes. Bucky pulling away from her just enough to reach down and wrap his arms around her waist, filling her face with kisses, both of them laughing and whispering words in each other’s ears? No. Because this didn’t look like an affair. The smile on his friend’s face as he listened intently to what she was telling him told him that this was anything but a simple affair.
The sound of a cell phone interrupted them and for a few seconds Steve thought it was his and he was going to get caught, but Bucky let go of Y/N and picked up his phone from the floor. “Hey Nat, what’s up?”
Bucky turned with his back to the door and Steve looked at Y/N. She had sat back down on the workbench and was trying to lift the weights without success. Bucky immediately gestured for her to let go and she obeyed, still smiling.
“I’d love to, but I’ve worked my ass off today and I’m dead. I’m going to bed,” Bucky said to Natasha, declining her offer to join them for a drink.
Y/N held out her hand and Bucky took it, intertwining his fingers with hers and letting her pull on it, trying not to laugh. “Hmm, tempting, but I’ll pass,” Bucky said again. “Night, Nat.”
He hung up and dropped the phone on the floor before standing over Y/N. Steve took that as a cue and stepped back, not wanting to see any more, and a low groan made him rush downstairs and out of the gym, carefully closing the door behind him. Bucky and Y/N. Y/N and Bucky. They were… what were they? Should he ask? He wanted to know and at the same time he didn’t.
He walked on until he reached the bar and forced a smile when Sam held up his hand and waved at him. Natasha was next to him and Becca in front of them, a beer in her hand and laughing at something the redhead was telling her. And a new fear hit him: did Becca know?
“Took you longer than ten minutes, Rogers! You’re paying next!” Natasha joked with her trademark smile. Steve nodded slowly as he sat down next to the younger Barnes.
“You all right? You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Sam chuckled, taking a sip of his beer. Steve ignored him and turned to Becca.
“Where’s Y/N? Is she coming?”
He wondered if he was being too direct. He could have made some small talk before asking about her, or maybe he should have asked about his brother first. But he had to know if Becca knew about her best friend and Bucky. The brunette rolled her eyes and shrugged her shoulders.
“She already had plans with her co-workers.”
“Why? They’re not as fun as us,” Sam complained.
“And your brother?” Steve asked again and Becca tilted her head. “I called him, but he didn’t pick up.”
“He said he was tired,” Natasha said, a smirk on her lips. “But from his tone, I bet he’s with a girl.”
“What?! He ditched us for a girl?” Sam complained again. “He deserves to work all weekend, Steve.”
“I don’t know, Sam,” Steve muttered, looking down at his hands. He remembered Bucky’s smile, Y/N’s laugh and them holding hands. His best friend saying how much he missed her. And then he remembered that Y/N didn’t work on weekends. “He’s been working a lot lately. I think he deserves a weekend off.”
“Whaaaat?”
His friends started talking at the same time. Sam was whining again, while Natasha and Becca were plotting how to ruin Bucky’s weekend. Steve stood up, smiling.
“OK, next round’s on me!”