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The entire city of New York was completely covered in Christmas spirit, even though it was only the beginning of December, but the bustling sounds of the city were muffled by the heavy layer of snow that had fallen the night before.
The small apartment on 14th Street was festive enough, but cozy. Steve had set up a small Christmas tree in the weeks leading up to December first, and had made Bucky help, in order to ‘get into the spirit” of the season.
Bucky had spent most of the past week curled up under fuzzy blankets with the heat in the apartment turned up, trying not to let the cold air and weather in. Cold weather was always harder for him to deal with, and the flashbacks of Hydra were always more intense in the cold. Plus, the frigid air would seep into his metal arm and freeze his entire body, which never helped with the memories.
While Steve was out doing some grocery shopping, Bucky was escaping the cold the best way he could. Burying himself under a mountain of thick blankets with a cup of tea beside him.
The quiet calm of the apartment was soothing, and Bucky quickly found himself falling into a restful sleep, this one peaceful, as most of his dreams were lately.
When he woke up, Bucky checked the time in his phone. Shit. He had been asleep for more than four hours. Well, there goes his sleep tonight.
As he became more aware of his surroundings, he could hear Steve moving around in the kitchen, presumably making cookies or something of the sort.
As Bucky slowly got up and wandered towards the kitchen, he realized that while he was asleep, Steve had put up mistletoe in every single doorway of the apartment. Every single doorway had a sprig of mistletoe hanging from it. Without fail.
“Hey, doll. What’s with all the mistletoe?” Bucky asked, voice slightly hoarse with sleep.
Steve turned around from what he was doing-it was cookies, Bucky noted, and grinned a cocky smirk. “It’s to help get you into the Christmas spirit. Not a fan?” Steve asked, cocky grin still on his face.
Bucky chuckled softly. “Not not a fan,” he said, walking across the kitchen to kiss Steve, who stopped what he was doing almost instantly to kiss his boyfriend back. Bucky’s fingers tangled in Steve’s hair as one of Steve’s hands reached up to cup Bucky’s cheek, his other hand wrapping around Bucky’s waist to pull him closer, but Bucky wouldn’t have moved away anyways.
Snow fell outside of the apartment as the lovers held each other into the night as the cold air settled across the city.