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Steve wasn’t really sure what brought it on; maybe it had to do with the fact that Bucky was actually here, in front of him, clothes tattered with dirt and his skin a shade paler than it was the last time they had seen each other in Brooklyn. His usually well kept, slicked back, dark brown hair was now a knotted mess atop his head, grime no doubt covering the entirety of his head from being tied down in a lab for the better part of eight months. His usual blue eyes were now just a bit paler, looking just a tad bit devoid, but he was here.
His Bucky. His Buck. His best pal, directly in front of him with the most breathtaking smile dancing across his lips, --the one he has when he’s able to catch a particularly dashing dame-- as he trails his eyes over the crowd of soldiers gathered around them, applauding and cheering with victorious smiles over their own faces.
Steve was too distracted and in slight shock, (even it had been a few days since he had found Bucky and the rest of the soldiers locked up in the HYDRA base) to register that Bucky was looking back at him with an unknown glint in his eyes, his mouth opening to speak.
“Let’s hear it for Captain America!” Cheers erupt from all directions surrounding him, a light blush travelling up his face and onto his own pale skin, decorating his cheeks in a light pink as he looks down at the ground and smiles sheepishly. He averts his eyes to the side where Bucky stands next to him, one of the others’ hands coming to wrap themselves around his now broad and muscular shoulders, patting a spot directly under his left shoulder.
And Steve isn’t one-hundred percent sure why a little shiver travels throughout his body, nor why when the other male pulls his arm away, it leaves the trail Bucky’s hands took burning under his skin.
****************************************
It was strange, Steve thinks, seeing his best friend right there after he had been so convinced that the other had died in action. And the blonde boy is okay, for awhile, a wide smile permanently glued onto his attractive face throughout the rest of the night as he listens to the rescued soldiers retell the ways they took out all of the HYDRA agents at the base, the oddly powerful and glowing weapons taking them out like they had never even existed past a pile of black ash on the floor. He watches the other soldiers’ expressions at the slightly over exaggerated and over excited storytelling, shaking his head a bit at the thrown in parts that had never even happened, his hand coming to bury his face in his palm as his body shakes with light laughter at the survivors’ antics.
So of course the blonde man doesn’t register someone coming to sit themselves down next to him where he sits on the log that the camp had made even enough for a seat, until there's a small poke to his bicep. Steve turns his head around sharply, tensing slightly as if out of habit, before relaxing as he sees Bucky’s familiar face.
“Oh,” he breathes out, hanging his head down briefly before lifting it once more, the light blushing from earlier returning to his face. Steve blames it on the bonfire in front of him, and definitely not at the fact that Bucky’s face is so close to his. Definitely not.
Bucky smirks smugly, a perfect eyebrow lifting in suspicion. “Calm down there, Stevie. It’s just me.” The dark haired male says, a chuckle falling from his light pink lips and-
Wait, why is Steve looking at his lips? What the fuck?
“Yeah jeez, thanks Buck, I totally couldn’t have realized that for myself,” Steve mumbles, looking away from the other as his eyes wander around the camp. Steve smiles fondly at the murmured ‘punk’ that he catches from Bucky, before feeling a nudge to his arm. He averts his eyes back to the too-close male in front of him at the feeling, mirroring the older's earlier lifted eyebrow.
“So you gon’ tell me how ya got yourself like this, or you gon’ make me go digging myself?” Bucky asks, smiling lightly as he looks at Steve. The younger feels the light blush darken on his skin at the question, his hands coming to nervously wring themselves together in his lap for a few moments, before a tanned hand comes over them, causing him to stop. “It’ll be all good and well if you don’t feel like tellin’ me right now, pal,” Bucky assures softly. He always knew how to soothe Steve. The blonde hated it more than anything. It made him feel pathetic.
“Well uh, ya see, after we went to the…” Steve pauses for a moment, trying to recall what the event they went to was called, before Dr. Erskine approached him. “I don’t exactly remember what it was called, but it was the day or two before you got sent off to the 107th, when you beat that guy’s face in for cornering me in the alley,” He says, his foot beginning to tap subconsciously out of habit.
“After that I went to go get a checkup, and in the middle of it, this dude in a uniform comes in and whispers somethin’ in the doc’s ear,'' He pauses briefly, before going to continue again. “And the doc nodded and then left he the room. And then this man comes in, with a real heavy German accent, and starts talkin’ ta me about all of my forms. Can’t remember what he said word for word, but the next thing I know, I have my application form back in my hand with a stamped approval on it.” He says sheepishly, going to move his eyes anywhere else but Bucky.
“And?” The brown haired male says. “Cause I know damn well you didn’t get this big overnight.” He says, chuckling lightheartedly afterwards. Steve smiles, the feeling he’s had blooming in his chest since he had first seen Bucky again in the lab.
Steve nods to himself once, before going back to his explanation. “And then after that, they took me to the training camp, an’ we started doing all of our training. I failed almost all of them immediately, obviously,” Steve says, running his hand through his hair, resulting in some of the blonde strands to stick up in all random places. Bucky chuckles lightly, making the blonde smile a bit more.
“‘Til Erskine, as I later learned his name was, announced that one of’a us was gonna be chosen for ‘a new breed of super-soldiers’” Steve says, quoting around the last few words.
“And for some odd reason, I was chosen. Think it was ‘cause i planted myself on top’a grenade.” Steve adds as an afterthought, tilting his head slightly to the side in contemplation, oblivious to Bucky’s widening eyes at his words until the other speaks.
“I’m sorry, you did what?!” Bucky whisper yells, widened pale blue eyes filled with concealed worry as he stares at the male in front of him. “I thought you said I was the one takin’ the stupid with me. Sounds like it was the other way ‘round!” Bucky says, exasperated and desperately trying to get his point across. Steve scoffs.
“Did you forget the part where I said it was a training camp?” Steve asks. “It was a fake, Buck. But apparently Erskine viewed me as a good ‘nough person to get the serum, because he thought I was a good man. Said something the night before I got it about how someone else had had it before me, and it had some side effects ‘cause the man took it before it was ready. Said I was the best person to have it cause he knew I would use it for good.” Steve says, eyes staring blankly ahead as he retells the story.
“They took me into this secret place under an antique store, where they had the machine that I was put in. Injected some needles with the serum into all my major muscle points, closed me in, and then started it up. I ain’t remember much after that, though, but I know it was painful. I mean, I went in that thing as the skinniest, sickest kid in all’a Brooklyn and came out the perfect super-soldier.” Steve concludes, shrugging his right shoulder as if it was nothing big, before turning to look at Bucky, whose face looks dumbstruck.
“So...you’re all healed? No bad lungs, bad bones? Nothin’?” Bucky asks, tone echoing his shock. Steve nods in confirmation.
“Nothin’.”
“Well I’ll be damned, Stevie! I’m sure you ain’t gon’ have no issues getting any dames now, huh?” Bucky exclaims quietly between them, tone lilting in a tease as he wriggles his eyebrows suggestively. Steve isn’t sure why he flinches, or why he feels a sharp ping travel all through his chest and stomach at the others’ words.
“Yeah,” Steve says quietly, his baby blue eyes staring at the grass under his feet, his hands coming to pull and tug and twist at the halfway dead blades of green. “Guess not.” He mumbles, one hand coming to rest the side of his face on it, the other fidgeting with the grass, eyes staring determindly at the ground.
So, of course Steve doesn’t see the quick, barely there flash of pain and longing in Bucky’s pale blue eyes.
******************************
Steve and Bucky finally retire to their shared tent when the last few embers of the fire die out, leaving behind only black and gray ash in their wake for the ground to soak in. Steve lets a small bit of water go over the ashes after, just for extra measure. The last of the soldiers --minus Bucky and Steve-- had decided to call it a night just over twenty minutes ago, the oil lamps in their tents out, leaving the area they set camp up in bathed in a pitch black, with the full moon above their heads serving as their only light. Bucky stands up from where he’s been sitting on the log for the better part of the past few hours, reaching his arms up above his head to stretch out, his arms, neck, and back popping in protest to his sudden movements. And Steve totally, absolutely, does not stare at the sliver of skin that gets revealed due to Bucky’s actions, absolutely not.
“Much better,” Bucky mumbles to himself, before turning to Steve. “Lead the way to your oh-so-fancy tent, Captain,” Bucky teases the other, earning a scoff and a shoulder nudge in retaliation.
“It’s one of the more secluded ones, but it’s not too far away. Senator just insisted that I had to ‘have the very best, and most privacy’, whatever the hell that means. I tried to give it to the Lieutenant, but the senator insisted.” Steve explains as they move up a slight hill, ducking his head under a few branches before reaching their destination. He let’s Bucky into the tent with a quick mumbled ‘here we are’ before turning to close the flaps.
“You don’t mind if I get outta the suit, d’ya? It’s gettin’ uncomfortably sticky in here,” Steve complains, shucking off his jacket and throwing it down on his cot. Bucky shakes his head, swallowing shallowly. He’s fine with that. Steve had changed in front of him plenty of times already, but that still doesn’t mean Bucky didn’t sneak in the smallest of glances at the other small, skinny, lithe body before it was all covered again.
How could he not have, right?
But this; this is different, because now Steve has muscles and oh my fucking god thats Steve Rogers shirtless with the most prominent pair of abs and pecs that Bucky has ever seen and-
Fuck. This is not good, Bucky thinks to himself. Definitely not good.
He watches closely as Steve continues to strip himself of the ridiculously tight red, white, and blue suit that leaves little to nothing to the imagination, tossing it carelessly to the ground of the tent once it’s completely off. And Bucky-- Well, Bucky just stares, eyes slightly widened as he lets his eyes roam appreciatively over his best friend's now half nude body. He’s taking in the others’ strong, thick thighs, his now exposed biceps that are bending and straining against Steve’s pale skin as he wrestles a plain white shirt on.
Bucky can’t stop his monkey brain from doing it before it’s happening, and suddenly his eyes are roaming over his body, and immediately to where Steve’s boxers are. Bucky nearly chokes on his own spit at the bulge that lays there.
“Buck? Are you okay?” Steve asks out, snapping Bucky from his almost trance-like state of staring as his cheeks start to go a dark, dark red.
“Yeah, I’m fine pal. Just strange to see you so...different, that's all,” Bucky plays off. Yeah, different, that's why he was staring. One-hundred percent. Yep. Bucky tries his hardest to ignore the suspicious look that Steve gives him. The blonde tilts his head to the side slightly, baby blue eyes scanning over Bucky’s face, almost as if he was trying to dissect the situation further, before he stops. Steve nods, going to grab the tan cargo jeans that lay atop his cot, slipping one foot, than the other, through the holes in the clothing.
And Bucky totally does not stare openly at Steve’s thighs as they strain and work. Bucky almost feels a sense of disappointment when the others’ legs are suddenly covered again, averting his eyes to where his own bag of clothes lays, sighing silently.
“I suppose I should probably change inta my own pair of clothes, huh?” Bucky asks out quietly, humming lightly after he’s spoken. He hears Steve let out a quiet laugh at his words, so he turns his eyes from his bag back to Steve’s face.
“I mean, if you wanna sleep in your dirty ones, then by all means, leave ‘em in the bag.” He snickers out, shaking his head and muttering an ‘idiot’ under his breath. Bucky hears it and fixes him with a playful glare, before sitting up and grabbing his bag.
“No need to be a smartass now, Stevie,” Bucky says, rolling his eyes and scoffing.
“D’awe, did you not miss my smart mouth, Buck?” Steve teases, hitting his shoulder into Bucky’s playfully. Bucky rolls his eyes once more.
“No, I didn’t, you punk” Bucky lies. If anything, that was the one thing he had missed most about the other when he left; the way Steve wouldn’t hesitate to stand up for himself and others, or to do what he thought of as right, even if it did end up with him getting his scrawny face beat in. But in the end, it was okay, because Bucky was always there to take care of him afterwards.
The brown haired male winces a bit, though, at this thought. He turns his head slightly to look at the other male who sits in the tent with him, sitting down on the cot a few feet away, who was now distracted by folding and putting his own clothes into his bag to notice him. He glances his eyes over the others body once more, though this time just to observe. He was strong now, well built muscles covering every inch of his body. He didn’t look small and vulnerable anymore, didn’t look like he needed someone to protect him from the evils of the world any longer.
And for some odd reason, that thought makes Bucky feel...odd. He can’t quite explain what he feels, all he knows is that there's suddenly an unknown feeling tugging sharply at his heart, a feeling he doesn’t know pinging throughout his chest. But, the older male takes his eyes away from the other once again, now going to unzip his own clothing bag and tugging his clean ones out. He lays them on the bed beside his bag, before going to tug off his own shirt. He winces as he feels a pain shoot through his right shoulder, letting out a hiss of disdain.
“Fuck,” Bucky mumbles to himself as he slowly rolls his arm, gritting his teeth as the pain only get worse at the action.
“Fuck, ow,” he hisses out, tilting his head up to the ceiling, before taking in a deep breath. He breathes deeply for a few seconds before bringing his eyes down to his own torso to take in the damage HYDRA had done to him while he was strapped down to that godforsaken metal table, the leather of the straps tied far too tightly, digging far too deep into his own skin, leaving behind dark, angry red marks, followed closely behind by black and blue bruises that were slowly changing to a dark hue of purple. To Bucky, they served as ugly reminders of the past few months that felt like they were permanently etched and scarred into his own tan skin.
He hadn’t taken the time to look at the damage that being there had caused to him physically since Steve had rescued him, trying his damnedest to avoid the whole thing. He didn’t want to see them, didn’t want to be reminded constantly of everything that had happened. He trails his own eyes pitifully over the small holes in his forearm and shoulder that lay there due to the needle that had punctured him time and time again, his calloused hand coming to subconsciously touch over the identical wounds he knew laid on his neck. He shudders at the way the memories are suddenly flooding back to him then, the ones he tried so desperately to lock away in the furthest doors of his mind, never to be opened again, closed shut for the rest of his living, breathing days. The un-welcomed sensation that felt like being burnt from the inside out overwhelming his senses. He inhales deeply, trying to calm himself down. It works a bit, and Bucky sighs in relief.
The tanned skin had jaggedly healed over the older ones that lay on his body, the skin coming to stitch over the mark leaving behind white scars that Bucky felt stuck out like sore thumbs, even if he knew they were barely even visible to others.
“My god,” Comes Steve’s shocked voice, startling Bucky out of his head as he whips his head over to where the blonde sits. Bucky suddenly feels like he’s suffocating, his lungs feel stuffy and his breaths are coming out in sharp, jagged, hitched sounds. He brings his arms to cross across his torso defensively, as if he was trying to hide all the marks that lay there. Which, given, he was trying to do, even if he knew for a fact it was doing little to nothing.
“What did they do to you there, Bucky?” Steve whispers in disbelief, his baby blues widened as he stares at his best friend's body. The blonde trails his eyes up to the others’ face that holds a look of terror and defense. The look on Bucky’s face makes Steve’s heart seize up in his chest, the need to hold his best friend in his arms overwhelming him.
“I- I’m not so sure myself, Stevie,” Bucky says, his voice shaking slightly as he speaks, averting his eyes from Steve’s to his own cot. And it’s true, his memories are filled with large blank spaces, the only ones he remembers are the ones that were filled with the sounds of his own agonized screams, of needles and of serial numbers.
And Steve knows, he knows that the tone of his best friend's voice and the way he was trying his hardest not to look Steve in the eyes, means that he doesn’t want to stay on the topic any longer. Steve understood; they hadn’t been friends since they were children for no reason. Bucky lets out a sigh before he leans down to grab the shirt he had laid out a few minutes earlier, throwing the piece of cloth over his top half before going to remove his torn pants.
Steve tries his best not to stare as Bucky dresses himself, he truly does, because he knows he shouldn’t do that, not now at least, not after what just happened, but he just can’t. He lets his eyes wander down Bucky's body before they land on where the others’ hand is unbuttoning his own dirty pants, and Steve’s breath hitches silently at the sight. He lets his eyes linger for a few seconds more, before he tears them away as not to get caught. The blonde lets out a cut breath, shifting uncomfortably where he sits. Steve tries to put his train of thought down another path, thinking over possible things he could do to distract himself. He ponders over it for a few short moments before stretching over the cot to grab at his journal that lies on top of the table at the end of the cot.
He grabs the leather covered book and a pencil, shifting back once more so his back is pressed against his pillow and the metal frame. Steve blushes ever so lightly as he hears a snort come from his left, turning his head to glare at Bucky’s grinning face.
“Keepin’ diaries are ya now, Stevie?” Bucky asks, barely concealing his wide smile and the mirth that shakes his voice. “Whatcha write ‘bout in there huh? All the pretty dames you been seein’ since you got all buff?” The brown haired male teases, his hand coming to cover his mouth as he snorts out a laugh. Steve blushes darker, annoyance bubbling softly in his gut. He latches his hand onto the pillow that lays behind him, tugging it out from behind his back. He drops the journal onto his bed with a thud, before launching the pillow directly at Bucky’s face.
“Shut it, jerk!” Steve complains out loud, grasping at the pillow once more and hitting the other. He feels himself smiling widely, though, when he hears the sound of Bucky’s joyous laugh echoing around the tent they confide in.
“Am I wrong, punk?” Bucky laughs out, only making himself cackle more as he’s knocked down onto his own cot back first, his hands coming to grab at where he’s being assaulted with the pillow above him. He manages to sneak his own arm out, his hand feeling blindly around the small mattress, before grasping at his own pillow.
“Take that, kid,” Bucky struggles out, going to hit Steve’s head with his own pillow a few times before the blonde atop him calls out an ‘I yield, I yield!’ as a surrender.
Bucky’s smile is smug when Steve pulls the pillow away from in front of him, finally revealing the older’s face beneath him, his tanned skin flush and his hair askew where it lays on top of the cot, Bucky’s light pants from extortion filling the otherwise deadly silence air around them. Steve feels his cheeks go crimson at the sight, the thoughts from earlier he so desperately tried to chase away suddenly coming back into his consciousness at full force. He’s suddenly all too aware of the way his legs are straddling the man beneath him, how his backside is snug up against Bucky’s bent legs, and how his arms are holding himself up where they are by the others’ sides.
“I, uh….” Comes Steve’s brilliant response, his brain short-circuiting as he tries to think of the words to form together. “Good game?” He asks sheepishly. Steve feels his gut erupt into small little butterflies when, in response, he gets a breathtaking smile from Bucky, a light laugh coming from the man beneath him.
The blonde smiles sheepishly as he goes to remove himself from where he sits on top of the other, but stops abruptly when he feels a hesitant hand on his hip. Steve’s face darkens all the way down to his chest, the contact making his skin feel alight with heat. He lets out a clean cut breath at the feeling, the butterflies fluttering around inside of him furiously.
“Steve,” Bucky begins, trying his hardest to sound confident and mask the terror he’s feeling in his gut. Bucky lets out a small sigh when the other looks down to him, dark blue meeting a steel gray, colors clashing together. Bucky brings his other hand to trace over the blonde’s high cheekbones lightly, hesitantly. He smiles nervously when the other leans into the light touch gently. The brown haired man brings his hand down the others face, tracing Steve’s jawline before going to his lips.
“Can I just…”
“God, fuck, yes,”
And then suddenly their faces are closer than they’ve ever been, both of Bucky’s hands migrating to cup both sides of Steve’s face, letting their foreheads rest against each other briefly before he leans in. It takes a few seconds before Steve is responding, moving his lips against the others in a desperate dance, one of his own hands coming to cup the back of Bucky’s neck, pushing them closer. He lets his fingers run through the baby hairs that lay at the back of the others head before lacing them through the others’ hair fully. Steve doesn’t think he could try and describe how he’s feeling currently in any words if someone ever asked, no matter how hard he tried--there weren’t enough words to. All he knows is that he’s finally content here, even if it’s just for a few brief moments, before they have to pull away and reality has to come crashing down. He just wants to have it, just for a few moments longer.
Because here, he can pretend. He can pretend that this is okay, that this isn’t fucking illegal, that there isn’t a war going on around them. That it’s impossible for one of them to leave for a mission and never come back. That if anyone ever found out about them and ran their mouth that Captain fucking America is a fairy, they wouldn’t end up getting their faces smashed in black and blue. Steve is ripped from the dark path his mind was slowly spiraling into by Bucky pulling them apart and then speaking.
“Penny for your thoughts, Stevie?” He mumbles softly against Steve’s lips, breath ghosting over his mouth. Steve inhales shakily.
“‘M just...happy, Bucky. Just wish everything was okay,” He whispers quietly, nuzzling his face into the space between Bucky’s neck and collarbone, inhaling the others scent in silently. Steve wills the liquid building up behind his lashes away, shuts his eyes closed tightly. He hears the older inhale deeply beneath him, Bucky’s hand coming to run gently through his hair.
“I know, Stevie. I know.” Is all the brown haired man can say. There’s nothing else he can say, really. They would all be lies if he tried to. He couldn’t promise anything, he couldn’t say everything would be okay; that they would make it out of this war safe and unharmed. Because he couldn’t know, he doesn’t. “I’m sorry, baby,” he mumbles.
Bucky tilts the blondes head up with his finger, staring into the younger’s eyes fondly. He doesn’t say anything as he leans in, taking Steve's lips into a tender kiss, holding the side of Steve’s face softly. They stay like that for a while, with Steve clinging hard onto Bucky as if the other would disappear the moment he let go.
When they finally do part, though, to catch their breath and take everything in, it’s with their foreheads against each other as they breathe in each others’ air.
“Should’ve done that years ago, Stevie, if I knew you’d kiss like that. Makes a man feel real special,” Bucky teases, trying to lighten up the sudden gloomy feeling that had taken hold over the tent, hands coming to run through Steve’s outgrown dirty blonde locks gently once more. Steve smiles softly, leaning into the gentle touch needily, letting his eyes fall shut for a bit as he just takes in the feeling.
“I’ve been wanting to do that for so long,” Steve whispers out quietly, honestly, pressing a quick kiss to Bucky’s wrist with a small smile across his now red lips.
“How much you wanna bet I’ve wanted it longer,” Bucky mumbles out as he presses closer to Steve’s face.
“How long?” Steve asks, blue eyes peering at Bucky with curiosity. Bucky looks back at him, steel blue eyes holding nothing but fondness. Seeing that look in his best friend's eyes fills Steve with happiness, coming across the sudden realization that he never wants to stop gazing into those eyes; that he wants to fall asleep and wake up to them each day, to be greeted with them paired with the others’ award winning sleep induced smile. He feels himself smiling wide at the sappy, overly romantic thought.
“I wanna say maybe since we were fourteen? Fifteen maybe? I ain’t know exactly when, just that it’s been a long while.” Bucky answers honestly, averting his eyes from where he had laid them on the discarded pillow beside them up to Steve’s face.
The other boy's face is adorable like this, Bucky decides; blue eyes wide in surprise and a pair of supple, light pink lips opened in a slight o. The older man smiles wide, laughing softly before he leans up and kisses Steve again, a hand coming to cup a side of the others face as their lips move against each other. Bucky pulls away with a smile, grabbing one of the pillows and putting it behind his back, scooting up on the cot so his back is resting against the frame. Steve moves up with him, letting himself get back into his previous position with flustered cheeks. Bucky smiles, and then laughs, tugging the other male down by the metal dog tags that dangle from his neck, and kissing him once again.
The older man lets his hand trace down Steve’s side through the thin fabric of his white tee shirt, revealing in the slight shiver he feels travel through the blonde's body at the contact with a slight smirk against Steve’s lips. He lets his hand go to rest on Steve’s hip, gripping the area there slightly, smirking wider when he hears the hitched breath that the other lets out.
“Well ain’t you a sensitive boy, huh Stevie?” Bucky hums slowly against Steve’s red lips, causing the man in question to let out another shiver. The older chuckles low in his throat at the response, letting his grip tighten on Steve’s hip ever so slightly.
“S-serum,” Steve starts, inwardly groaning at his stuttered response. “Made me more sensitive, basically everywhere,” Steve admits bashfully, drawing his eyes away from Bucky’s, making the older tut and draw his face right back with his free hand, so that the other is looking directly at him once more. Steve feels hot inside at the deadly smirk that graces Bucky’s features. The blonde decides right then and there that the older’s smirk will be the death of him.
“Everywhere?” Bucky hums out, raising an attractive eyebrow, drawing attention to his now blown pupils, which makes Steve shudder. The younger nods, wordlessly answering the others’ question. Bucky’s smirk widens as the hand that rests on his hip goes down his leg, hand cupping Steve’s thick thighs, Bucky’s own eyes follow. Steve lets out a quiet gasp when he feels the tips of Bucky’s fingers ghost the sensitive area of his inner thigh over the fabric of his pants.
“What do you want, dollface?” Bucky mumbles out, the pet name slipping out from his throat before he can even register he did it. His eyes widen in a slight panic, thinking he might have overstepped a bit. As he’s going to open his mouth in an apology, he’s cut off by a small whimper that falls past Steve’s swollen lips. Bucky inhales sharply, hand tightening where it lays on the others thigh.
“You like that, Stevie? Hm? Like it when I call you that, dollface?” Bucky asks smugly, satisfaction shooting through his chest when he gets a nod from the man on top of him, followed by another whimper. He smirks wide, a finger coming to brush the strands of hair out of Steve’s face that had fallen down earlier. This was good, Bucky thinks. Him and Steve are communicating.
“And what would you like me to do, dollface, hm?” Bucky asks, reinforcing his question from moments before. Steve lets out a strangled noise that sounds like a mix between a whine and a groan, most likely due to him having to answer the question, and knowing damn well that Bucky wasn’t gonna do anything without it.
“Awe, c’mon Stevie, cut me some slack, huh? Get rid of that damned pride of yours for just a split second,” Bucky coos out, earning a glare in return from Steve. Bucky has to use his self-restraint to hold himself back from laughing obscenely at the cute display of defiance from the other male.
Steve lets out a groan once more, just for good measure, and to make obvious his dissatisfaction for what the other is making him do, before he speaks. He wants this, badly at that, and he’ll be damned if Bucky doesn’t give it to him.
“Want you. Want all’a you, want you to flip me over and make it sure that I know you love me,” Steve finally admits, his own baby blues blown wide, his skin from his chest up a cherry red as he speaks, his need outweighing his embarrassment by a load as he lets small, soft pants fall from his lips.
Bucky groans, loud enough for only him and Steve to hear. “You gonna be the death of me, baby,” Bucky says, leaning forward and latching his lips onto Steve’s once more. He nips at the younger's plump bottom lip, his tongue coming out to lightly trace at the blondes lips to ask for entrance as one of his hands goes up Steve’s body and laces itself into the others’ hair.
Bucky tugs softly at the blonde locks, causing the other to gasp and allowing Bucky’s tongue into the others’ warm mouth. Steve lets out a quiet moan at the feeling, letting one of his own hands to mirror Bucky’s and lay themselves in the older's hair as well. Steve pushes himself closer to Bucky’s body, letting out a quiet whine when his hips brush up against Bucky’s stomach. He can feel the others’ washboard abs through the thin fabric of his tee, and Steve lets out another whine, feeling Bucky’s own smirk against his lips.
“Enjoyin’ yourself here, doll?” Bucky whispers lowly in Steve’s ear, letting his mouth trail down the others jaw, over his prominent adams apple, licking over the bulge there before moving onto the side of Steve’s pale neck. He nips at the soft skin there, letting his lips close around a small piece of skin and suck, his tongue and teeth coming out to help.
The younger lets out a quiet moan at the feeling, using the hand he has tangled in Bucky’s dark brown locks as leverage to push the others face closer and keep him put as he enjoys the feeling of lips and teeth on his own delicate skin.
“Hey, dollface,” Bucky starts to murmur against Steve’s skin, taking his head out of the nook between the others neck and collarbone. “If I leave marks, will the serum have ‘em healed before sunrise?” He asks, to which Steve nods yes. Bucky grins, though it quickly transforms itself into a smirk. “Good,” is all he has left to say before he’s back at Steve’s neck, sucking and biting in a way he knows to leave marks.
Steve lets out a high, almost feminine whimper at the feeling of the other refusing to hold back, his hips bucking on their own accord against Bucky’s stomach. The blonde feels a low chuckle resonate against his throat at the action, one of Bucky’s hands coming to rest on Steve’s hip once more. Steve lets out a breath, opening his eyes that had previously been shut, before lightly tugging on Bucky’s hair.
“What is it, baby? Need somethin’?” Bucky asks once they’re looking at each other once more, to which Steve nods. “Yeah? An’ what's that?” Bucky asks, smiling. Steve lets out a tortured groan once more, a hand coming to jokingly hit Bucky's shoulder, light enough for it not to hurt.
Steve just waits, hoping that Bucky will just magically know what he wants so he won’t have to say it. When that doesn’t happen, Steve lets out an annoyed sigh, before speaking. “I fuckin’ hate you, jerk,” He grumbles, which makes Bucky let out a quiet laugh, unable to stop himself this time.
“I doubt that, punk. If you hated me, I’m almost one-hundred percent sure you wouldn’t be lettin’ me sit here, kissin’ the life outta you an’ leave all these marks, now would you?” Bucky asks, tone smug and cocky as he does so; because he knows that he’s right. Steve absolutely hates it when Bucky is right, which is usually 99.9% of the time, about nearly everything. Steve grumbles once more, before opening his mouth.
“Fine, I want you to kiss me again. Better?” Steve asks, fixing Bucky with a glare. He only gets a smug smile back as a response.
“Much,” Is all that is said before Bucky is leaning forward again. Steve lets himself get lost in his lips and mouth and tongue, hands tugging at hair, wandering hands everywhere. The only thing that the younger's mind is focused on is the assault to his lips, and the hands tugging at his hair, and the soft pants he can hear coming from Bucky.
So, of course he doesn’t pick up on the fact that Bucky’s hand is suddenly under the bottom of his shirt, his hands splaying over the hidden skin as they wander around the unseen territory, exploring. Bucky’s hands are running over his defined abs, over his small waist, moving and moving until suddenly Bucky’s fingers are ghosting over the over-sensitive nubs that lay on Steve’s chest. The blonde gasps loudly at the new sensation, arching his body towards more of the touch. Bucky pulls himself away from Steve’s mouth to breath, lips open in small pants as he pulls air back into his lungs.
“Fuck, doll. I bet you look so pretty under this; what d’ya say we get you outta it, hm?” Bucky asks, looking up at Steve’s flushed face to get confirmation. When the other male nods and mutters a soft and quiet ‘yes’ , Bucky tugs at the hem of the thin shirt, pulling it up and over Steve’s torso, before tossing it carelessly to the floor of the tent.
Bucky lets out an almost feral groan the moment Steve’s bare chest comes into full view, taking in the welcomed sight with hooded, lust blown eyes.
“Good god, look at those tits, darlin’” Bucky says, his breath coming out in light pants as he brings his hand from where they rest on Steve’s small waist, dragging it along the younger’s skin, making the man above him keen in delight at the feeling.
The blonde squirms around on top of Bucky at the feeling of the others’ wandering hands on his body, so unfamiliar with a feeling like this. He’d been used to his own hands, when he was small and scrawny, when no one in all of Brooklyn would pay him any attention, when the only attention he would ever get would be wolf-whistles from passing men on the streets calling him things like pretty, or comment on something on his body. He remembers how the comments like that would make him crawl inside of his own skin, remembers how pissed off Bucky would get when Steve would stumble in the door slightly shaken from the way a man had been following him, or the cat calls he received.
And most of all, he remembers how desperately he wanted to hear those words fall from Bucky’s mouth; how he would imagine what they would sound like, how they would look coming from Bucky’s perfect, kissable lips.
“Think ‘m pretty, Buck?” Steve pants out, keening high in his throat when the man below him twists one of his nipples, grabbing a hold on both of his pecs with his hands and pushing them together. Steve glances down at his chest, his face flushing a dark red at the way his chest pushed together honest to god looks like a pair of tits. Fuck.
“Yeah, darlin’. The prettiest boy I’ve ever seen, always have been, always will be,” Bucky answers, pushing himself up the bed from where he had slightly slid down and kissing Steve harshly.
It’s not really a kiss, though, more so of their teeth clacking together as they pant into each other's mouth. It’s messy, and rough, and uncoordinated, but Steve loves it. He doesn’t think there's anything that the older could do that he wouldn’t like, if he were completely honest. The blonde groans loudly when Bucky squeezes his pecs again, the other pulling away from Steve’s mouth to eagerly kiss his way down from Steve’s lips to his chest, biting and sucking at random places as he goes.
“Fuck dollface, I could fuck your tits if I really wanted to, y’know. Just look at ‘em,” Bucky groans out before latching his mouth over one of the taller’s nipples and swiping his tongue over the others sensitive bud.
Steve lets out a loud gasp at the sensation, his hands making their way into Bucky’s unruly hair and tugging roughly, earning a gravelly moan from deep within Bucky’s throat. The older man lets one of his free hands wander to Steve’s other pec, twisting the light pink nub and causing an electric shock to travel through the blonde's body. Steve lets out a desperate whimper, bucking his hips forward as his groin burns with arousal, the aching in his dick becoming harder to ignore as the minutes pass.
“Buck,” Steve whimpers out, the others' names trailing off into a gasp as the older runs his teeth over the nub.
“Buck please, ‘s starting to hurt, please touch me,” he begs out, his voice desperate as he pleads. He almost lets out a cry of relief when he feels Bucky’s other hand starting to tug harshly at his cargo jeans, unbuttoning the pants easily before roughly tugging down the zipper on them.
“It’s alright, doll, I’ve got you,” Bucky mumbles when he catches an impatient noise fall from Steve’s cherry red-bitten lips, tugging the fabric off of the others legs easily, lifting the others hips a bit in able to get them fully off, before tossing them to the ground to join Steve’s earlier discarded white shirt.
“Always got me, Buck, know you do,” Steve mumbles mostly to himself. But Bucky catches it, and it causes an eruption of fondness blossom inside of his chest, so many different emotions coming together into one to form it.
It makes Bucky smile pleasantly, suddenly feeling fuzzy and warm from the inside out. Except this time he wasn’t strapped down, he wasn’t screaming in pain, he wasn’t getting a needle shoved into his neck.
No--no, this time he was safe, he was with his Steve, he had the other man’s warmth underneath the palm of his hands, he was happy. He was here, surrounded by warmth and filled with what he could only assume was love; not by cold metal and screaming and pain.
He was home.
“‘Till the end of the line, Stevie,” Bucky whispers into Steve’s skin tenderly, a well of emotion clogging up his throat as he speaks.
Steve lets out a quiet noise that sounds like a cry, clinging on tighter to Bucky’s arms. Bucky blinks his eyes rapidly.
“Sshh, darlin’. It’s okay, I’m here,” Bucky soothes, running his hands gently over Steve’s legs. He presses a soft kiss to the others shoulder, letting his lips trail up from the others chest right back to his lips, frowning slightly at the small tears that are escaping from Steve’s gorgeous eyes.
Bucky wipes the droplets away softly with the pad of his thumbs, leaning his forehead against Steve’s.
“Look at me, doll,” Bucky whispers, waiting for the others eyes to open. When they do, it’s slow, the light blue shade looking directly into the others.
“I’m here, baby, no need for cryin’. Pretty little thing like you shouldn’t be sheddin’ tears anyways,” Bucky says, his tone gentle as he speaks, his own voice shaking with unveiled emotion as he tries to make the other smile. It was a successful attempt, and the older is met with a breathtakingly adorable pull of the lips that dances prettily across Steve’s features.
“Everythin’ is alright right now,” he soothes. “Think we were in the middle of something, don’t you?” Bucky asks, smiling one of his own, making Steve laugh quietly.
“Yeah, we were,” Steve mumbles, pressing a soft and quick kiss against Bucky’s lips. “Wanna switch, Buck. Want you on top of me,” the blonde admits shyly, his hands coming to wring together like they had earlier by the fire. He gets stopped when one of Bucky’s own hands come to lace them together with a small smile, the olders face holding a sort of fondness as he looks at their conjoined hands.
“That sounds alright, darlin’, wanna see you fall apart anyways,” Bucky says, his voice suddenly an octave lower than before as he speaks, causing a full body shiver to travel it’s way through Steve.
The blonde lets himself up from the cot, letting Bucky move around as well before he lays himself back down on the small bed, smiling a bit when Bucky grabs Steve’s own small cot and pushes them together, giving them more room before joining Steve back on the bed. Bucky gives Steve a smirk as he gets on top of him, his legs straddling the younger as he does so.
“Where’s your oil at, sweetheart?” Bucky mumbles against Steve’s flushed skin, grinning when Steve answers by reaching over and grabbing it, before handing it to the man now on top of him.
“Ready?” Bucky mumbles as he opens the container, going to spread some over a few of his fingers, before he gets stopped by Steve’s voice.
“Want you naked first,” Steve mumbles, a pout prominent on his perfect little mouth as he speaks. Bucky rolls his eyes affectionately, but abides. He starts with his shirt, tossing it to join Steve’s on the floor, before swiftly undoing his pants and pulling them off of his body.
He notices the way Steve is so openly staring as he strips himself, the others’ baby blues just as hooded and blown as Bucky’s own.
“Happy now, punk?” Bucky asks as he gets on top of the other once more.
Steve hums a bit before he answers. “I think I prefer dollface,” and Bucky is scoffing a bit before he leans down to kiss Steve, tugging at the others hair as he does. He pulls the others head back, baring the blondes now marked up neck for him to see.
He brings one of his fingers from his free hand to trace over all the love-bites and hickies that lay upon Steve’s pale skin, the brown, purple and blue marks sticking out like a sore thumb on the smooth skin.
“So gorgeous, dollface. All for me, ain’t that right?” Bucky asks lowly, silkily, voice dripping with sex.
“Mhm, all for you, Buck. Only you, always been you,” Steve admits, causing a low and possessive growl to bubble from deep within Bucky’s chest.
The brown haired male doesn’t say anything back, because then he’s dipping his fingers into the oil beside him, scooting down the bed, breath ghosting over the most sensitive places on the entirety of Steve’s body. Bucky looks up at Steve from between the blonde's legs as he spreads the others legs out further. He lets some of the oil drip down over Steve’s entrance, thoroughly enjoying the shudder it makes Steve have.
“Now we ready?” Bucky questions, raising an eyebrow as if to challenge Steve to interrupt this again. When what he gets in response is a head shake of no, he smirks in satisfaction.
“Good boy,” and Steve doesn’t really have time to react to the new pet name, because suddenly Bucky is rubbing a finger over his hole and he’s whining loudly, his body aflame with the new sensation.
“Be quiet, doll, can’t have anyone hearin’ us now can we?” The dark haired male asks, and Steve shakes his head.
Bucky waits for a few seconds, just to take in Steve’s body, the way he's almost shaking in anticipation, the way his body from his chest up is flushed a crimson and his hair a pretty mess atop his head, making it almost look like he had a halo. The way the top of his pretty tits are flushed and his nipples are swollen and dark and upright from the harsh way Bucky had played with them earlier.
“Such a pretty sight for me, angel, you look a wreck and I haven’t even fingered you yet,” Bucky tsks, circling his finger around Steve’s entrance teasingly.
“Bucky, I swear to fucking god if you don’t put a finger in me in the next ten seconds, I’ll-” and hes cut off because fuck that’s one of Bucky’s fingers, and he’s fucking keening.
“Or you’ll what now, darlin’? Too outta it to finish your sentence?” Bucky smarts, earning a half hearted glare from Steve, which melts away all too quickly the second that the older starts to move a finger inside of him.
Steve is panting softly now, squirming around on the cot as the feeling of Bucky’s digit moves inside of him.
“I-I can take another one, jerk,” Steve breathes out. Bucky nods at the words, coating his fingers in oil once more before slowly pressing another one of his digits inside of the other’s hole.
At the feeling, Steve lets out a loud gasp, pressing his head back into the pillow beneath his head. It was more of a stretch than the other, but not too much at the same time. It burned slightly, but Steve didn’t really mind, and almost welcomed the feeling. He bites down on his lip as he waits a few moments for his enhanced body to get used to the intrusion, which it does rather quickly, surprising Steve himself.
Bucky watches the others' expressions closely with a sharp eye, ready to stop at any given moment if Steve needed him to. He shifts his second finger slightly to gauge the reaction the other had. He watches as Steve furrows his eyebrows slightly, gasping quietly.
“This is when you need to talk, Stevie, no matter how much I dread hearin’ you,” Bucky teases, not serious in any way. In truth, he loves hearing Steve talk, finds comfort in the way his voice sounds, almost.
God, he was so gone, wasn’t he?
“I-I’m good,” Steve says, shifting himself slightly, causing the fingers inside of him to jostle as well, causing him to let out a sharp moan when he feels Bucky’s fingers brush up against something inside of him.
“Fuck, do that ‘gain Buck,” Steve moans out, biting down hard on his lip the moment Bucky starts moving his fingers inside of him. The older stretches them out, bending and rubbing against all of the right places as he does so.
Steve feels his own hand go to his hair and tug as he lets himself get lost in the pleasant feeling of having Bucky’s fingers inside of him. The blonde feels his body arch up the moment he feels Bucky brush against the spot again, white flashing briefly behind his closed eyes.
“There, Buck, fuck, there,” Steve babbles out, his mouth dropping open in a silent moan as Bucky rubs insistently against his prostate, balancening between pressing and massaging.
Steve is panting like a bitch in heat, so lost in his own pleasure that he doesn’t notice the moment Bucky easily slips in a third finger, stretching the younger out even more than he already was. He lets out a quiet sob at the feeling, rocking and pushing his hips back down against the digits inside of him.
“Buck, Buck please,” Steve starts.
“‘M ready, ‘m so ready please, need you,” He cries out, sweat building at his hairline and dripping down his neck.
“Yeah, darlin’? Need my cock?” Bucky growls out, his eyes blown out so wide only a small circle is shown of his steel gray-blue eyes. He stares directly up at Steve’s face, a light sheen of sweat already covering his own body as he grinds down on the cot below him subtly.
“Look at me when you answer, dollface,” Bucky says, smirk widening on his face when Steve meets his eye.
“Y-yes, want your cock, Buck,” Steve confirms, a darker blush settling on his face as he speaks out.
“Now that's a good boy,” The older mumbles, pushing himself further up onto his knees as he does so, grabbing at the thing of oil once more. He puts some into his palm before reaching down and grasping his erection, slicking himself up slowly so his Stevie can watch; he can tell he's enjoying it, if the way his mouth is hung open like he’s taking it down his throat and his eyes are hyper focused on the way he strokes himself are anything to go by, at least.
“You want me in your mouth, Stevie, hm?” Bucky hums, taking a stride in the eager nod Steve gives him in return.
“Maybe next time, I think you need help with somethin’ different as of now, ain’t that right?” He says, adjusting his stance before leaning down and over Steve.
He kisses the other passionately, tongue diving into his mouth almost immediately, tangling and sucking for a few short moments before pulling away and leaving a string of saliva between them. He grasps at the base of his cock, looking up at Steve for confirmation once more. When the answer he gets is a nod, followed by the blonde spreading his legs more to accommodate him, he smiles and presses a quick kiss to Steve’s forehead. He lines himself up with the others hole closely, grasping and then slowly, slowly pushing in, eyes trained on Steve’s face to be kept aware if he gets uncomfortable or wants to back out.
“Fuck Stevie, you’re so goddamn tight,” Bucky pants out heavily, the blondes body squeezing around him making him delerious and light headed with pleasure as he rests his forehead onto Steve’s bulky shoulder. He lets out a loud grunt into the others skin when he finally bottoms out, his hands gripping tightly onto Steve’s hips.
“S-so big,” Steve whimpers out, his fingers no doubt leaving angry red lines where they’re digging into the others shoulder and back.
“So full, Bucky, so full, love it so much,” Steve weeps out, unshed tears tugging at his lash line as he speaks. He’s panting and his tongue feels so heavy in his mouth, his throat so dry from inhaling the cold winter air surrounding them in the tent.
“You’re doin’ do good for me, doll, tell me when I can move, yeah?” Bucky asks, voice strained from trying his hardest to hold himself back, to not move until his boy is ready.
“You can move,” Steve pants out. Bucky nods against Steve’s shoulder, lifting his head away from it so he can see the blonde's face as he does his first thrust into the boy beneath him. The younger’s eyes immediately fall shut, his fingers tightening where they’re digging into Bucky’s tan skin.
Bucky continues to do slow, gentle and shallow thrusts for the first few minutes so Steve can have time to get used to the foreign feeling, until the feisty blonde underneath him is demanding that he move faster.
So he does, pulling out halfway and pushing himself in hard and rough, causing a cry to rip itself from Steve’s unexpecting body, causing an almost feral smile to take over Bucky’s face. He grabs tightly at one of Steve’s legs and pushes it up towards Steve’s chest, spreading him open more and more and causing him to go deeper into the others body.
“Fuck! Bucky, Bucky please, please, please,” Steve sobs out, dragging his nails down Bucky’s sweat slicked back as he does so.
“You want more, darlin’? So cock dumb you can’t even say what you want?” Bucky whispers hotly into Steve’s ear, his own voice shaking with pleasure as he does so.
The dark haired man shifts his hips the next time he pulls out, changing the angle of his thrusts in an attempt to find the others pleasure spot. He’s pulled out, the only part of his cock inside of Steve’s body is the head. Bucky grabs at Steve’s other leg as well, pushing it up to the same place as his other.
“Hold your legs up for me, dollface,” Bucky husks out, smirking in satisfaction as the other obeys wordlessly and grabs the back of his thighs, holding himself open for Bucky to see, even if he does have an embarrassed blush on his face as he does it.
The older grabs one of the previously discarded shirts from the floor and twists it up, shooting the blonde a wink at his confused expression. When he’s done, he brings the shirt up to Steve’s mouth, ordering him to open up and then bite down on the fabric. The other obeys, causing Bucky to shoot him a ‘good boy, Steveie’ before focusing on the task at hand.
Bucky adjusts himself once more, his grip on Steve’s hips tightening before he wordlessly slams himself back into the others body. And he’s very thankful for the shirt idea, because the noise Steve let’s out at the motion would’ve been enough to wake the whole camp. The older watches with a feral look in his eyes as he rails the man beneath him, Steve’s pretty little tits bouncing with the impact of his thrusts, the movements shoving Steve’s body roughly up the mattress.
There are tears falling freely from the younger's eyes now, clumping up his pretty eyelashes as they get released, decorating his face with a sheen of sweat and tears. His lips are bitten red raw from the shirt between them, and from trying to conceal his sounds earlier. His eyes are shut tightly, and his hands are tangled harshly in his own hair as he tugs at the strands every now and then. His cock is hung heavy between his legs, the ones Bucky is now holding in his hands as he pushes them upwards, bending him in half in the most pleasurable way ever.
Bucky is panting hard, letting out low moans and growls from deep within his chest as he thrusts hard into Steve’s body, the area where he’s holding tightly onto Steve’s legs to keep him open starting to turn a light red, no doubt leaving bruises there for them to see tomorrow, if they don’t heal before that.
“Lookin’ so fuckin’ sinful like this, darlin’, lookin’ so messy for me,” Bucky moans out, Brooklyn accent heavy in his words as he speaks them. Steve lets out a sob, more tears falling from his eyes as he does.
Bucky lets out a heavy breath as he takes in the sight beneath him, pounding his cock into Steve, relishing in the satisfying jiggle it makes his cheeks do every time his balls hit against his ass. He can feel himself getting closer to his climax, can feel that telltale coiling in his gut. He can feel the knot tying itself tighter and tighter in his gut, ready to snap at any moment.
So, naturally he decides he wants to hear Steve fully when he comes, so then he reaches for the now saliva soaked shirt that's hanging from Steve’s mouth and pulls it from the blondes mouth.
“Almost there, dollface, let me hear you,” Bucky groans into Steve’s ear.
“Bucky please, please,” Steve sobs out, pushing himself down onto the older
s dick, his moans and whimpers now falling freely from his sinful, sinful lips.
“‘M so close Bucky please!” Steve begs, bringing his hands behind Bucky’s back again, moaning at the way he can feel the muscles in his back straining to hold his legs up and move at the same time.
All it takes for Steve to fall to his climax is one singular re angle, and then suddenly Bucky is driving into his prostate head on. And Steve--Well, Steve is letting out a scream that is silenced somewhat by Bucky’s hand over his mouth as he bursts, his own dick pulsing as it releases. Steve’s back is arched up beautifully as he orgasms, his mouth open in an ‘o’ shape and his eyes wound shut tightly.
“That’s it, Stevie, that’s it,” Bucky groans out, hands tightening into a death grip as Steve’s inner walls clench around him impossibly tight, causing Bucky to come himself, the rubber band finally snapping and letting him fall over that cliff edge and join his boy.
He doesn’t know the noise of his own he let out as he came, because then he’s collapsed onto Steve’s chest, the younger's own mess on his stomach as they try to catch their breath.
“Well I’ll be damned, Stevie,” Bucky laughs out lightly, leaning up and kissing Steve slowly, brushing away the stray tears that lay upon Steve’s cheeks as he does so.
When he pulls away, he sees Steve with possibly the brightest smile he’s ever seen on the others face.
“That was amazing,” Steve mumbles before leaning forward and nuzzling himself into Bucky’s neck, running the pads of his fingers gently up and down Bucky’s sweaty back, inhaling his lover's natural scent happily.
“Sure was, doll,” Bucky hums back in agreement, his own hand going to lace itself into Steve’s hair, running his fingers through the strands calmingly, letting his fingernails lightly scratch at the others scalp like he knows the other enjoys--the way he would always do to calm the other down after an asthma attack or a fight; letting his chin rest softly against his head.
Steve purrs contently from where he lays in Bucky’s neck, letting his eyes fall shut when the pulling behind his eyelids becomes too strong. He could stay like this forever, he thinks to himself, even though he knows he will never be able to. They’ve got to go back and face reality soon enough.
But for now he just lets himself fall asleep, in the warm embrace of Bucky’s arms, the other humming a lullaby his ma used to sing to him when he got sick when he was younger and couldn’t sleep.
“I love you,” Steve mumbles tiredly. “‘Till the end of the line.”
Bucky smiles. “I love you, too. ‘Till the end of the line.”
And then Steve is asleep, the moon outside of the tent providing an unknown comfort.
They can stay like this, for now. Just until the sun comes back up. Then, it’s back to reality. Back to the war, back to the danger, to the possibility of never coming back.
Just until the sun comes back up, Steve thinks.
Just until the sun comes back up.
FIN.