Steve opened his eyes, he felt a warmth in his chest that he was beginning to get used to. Bucky's arm was firmly around his waist, pressing Steve's back to his chest.

"Good morning." Steve turned his head whispering it in Bucky's direction. He knew better then to expect Bucky to wake up, but his boyfriend did stir. He slowly moved away from Bucky, for a moment Bucky's grip tightened. Steve held his breath and waited for the grip to loosen. Steve pulled more until Bucky's grip gave and let him go. Steve slipped out of his grasp and stood up, he stretched out and looked back at his him.

Bucky's arm searched for a moment until he found a pillow that he pulled to his chest. Some mornings Bucky's grip only ever tightened until Steve almost a hard time moving away from him at all. Steve neverminded, and opted to try and fall back asleep with him.

Steve quietly gathered clothes and supplies for his shower. He knew Bucky wouldn't wake up until sometime around when Steve began to run the water. Sounds Steve made never bothered him so much as sounds made by other things. He stepped out of the room and headed to the showers.

Fifteen minutes later Steve was showered and dressed. He re-entered the bedroom and smiled. Bucky had woken up, his shirt was off and the blankets were slipping off his shoulder. His eyes were half closed and he was rubbing the side of his face with the back of his palm.

"You're so cute when you wake up." Steve said in an overly cheery voice. Bucky made a grunting noise in response and pushed the rest of the blankets off. He slowly stood up and grabbed his shirt off of the night stand. He pulled up his overly loose sweatpants retying the string. "You have to be the latest light sleeper I have ever met." Bucky tugged his shirt on, and let out one long yawn.

"I only ever get up because of you." He yawned again. Steve resisted yawning and walked over to him.

"Good morning," Steve said, he walked over to Bucky ready to hug him. Bucky beat him to it he wrapped his arms around him resting his head against Steve's.

"Morning." He said and moved his arms from Steve's shoulders to his waist.

"How did you sleep?" Steve asked and swaying his hips left and right. Bucky moved with him and pressed a kiss to the side of his head instead of answering. "You're only ever awake and functioning after we...do...stuff the night before." Bucky shrugged and leaned into him.

"Breakfast?"

"Whatever you feel like making. I can clean up around the house if you want."

"Help me in the kitchen." Steve knew it was open-ended and he could say no if he wanted to, but Bucky was too sleepy to be as courteous as he usually was.

"Don't blame me if I burn all the food," Steve warned wiggling his hips slightly. Bucky moved away, he had a smirk on his face.

"Just sit, look pretty, and occasionally mix something for me. I think even you can do that." He smiled and pressed a kiss to Steve's forehead, he let go of Steve's waist and walked passed him.

"I might manage to burn whatever I'm mixing. There's no guarantees with me in the kitchen." Steve followed Bucky closely behind, he poked Bucky's back occasionally as they walked. Bucky ignored him until they finally reached the kitchen. He turned around and grabbed Steve's hands, not violently but enough to restrain him.

"Keep poking me like that and I'll poke you somewhere else." Bucky moved his face closer to Steve's. Steve moved playfully away from him, lightly pulling his hands.

"Too bad I don't know where you're going to be poking. So that threat won't work on me." Bucky got closer, Steve would have fallen if his hands weren't being held.

"Lucky I don't want you blushing like a bride when I'm trying to cook." He smirked and leaned in for a kiss. Steve moved their intertwined hands in front of his face. Blocking Bucky from a kiss.

"Have you taken a shower, or have you at least brushed your teeth?" Bucky raised an eyebrow, he looked surprised but amused.

"Yes?" His voice was unsure, but he smiled anyway.

"Smiling won't turn a truth into a lie Bucky." Bucky tried moving the hands to kiss Steve.

"Nope!" Steve pushed his hand right in front of Bucky's mouth, he began laughing at Bucky's attempts.

"Steve you're foiling my plan!" Bucky whined, he let go of Steve's hand and for a split second he was falling. Steve's eyes widened and he tried to grip onto the counter for support. Bucky quickly wrapped his arms around Steve's waist still keeping him in a reclined position. Steve pouted lightly and tried giving Bucky his best annoyed look. Bucky only found it cute and chuckled at him.

"You're so not getting a kiss now." Steve didn't notice that his hands were gripping onto the sides of Bucky's arms. He considered letting go of Bucky entirely, but he enjoyed feeling Bucky's muscles too much to follow through with it.

"You love me." Bucky hummed and pulled Steve back up towards his chest. Steve hummed, trying to seem like he was debating it.

"Maybe too much." He looked away from Bucky, who was obviously trying to pull a face to enchant him. "What was your plan?"

"Well, I was going to act like I needed your help in the kitchen, then instead of actually using you to help. I'd just steal kisses."

"Well, you won't have to steal them if you brush your teeth." Bucky ducked his head and planted a quick kiss on the corner of Steve's mouth. Steve chuckled his cheeks turning a light pink. He took one of his hands off of Bucky's arm and put his hand on Bucky's chest.

"You're awful." He leaned in trying to get closer to him. Bucky followed Steve's lead and brought him to his chest, their faces were close together.

"It's a habit." He tilted his head and pressed a soft kiss to Steve's lips. They had kissed several times since Steve had woken up but it still stole his breath away. When he Bucky pulled away again Steve's cheeks were flushed. Bucky laughed softly under his breath. He took one hand off of Steve's waist and pressed a hand to his cheek. "I'm not sure why you still blush when we kiss, but I assure you I thoroughly enjoy it." He looked to the clock then back at Steve. "I'll shower and brush my teeth after breakfast okay?"

"Deal, as long as you brush your teeth I can deal with the body odor." Steve teased, he pressed a small kiss to Bucky's cheek.

"I'd take a much shorter amount of time if you joined me." Bucky raised and lowered his eyebrows expectantly.
"Uh uh, nope. That trick only works when we get up the same time in the morning."

"Oh, that's so not fair. Whenever we get up the same time I've either had a nightmare, you had a nightmare, or we had sex the previous night." Steve's face got redder and he lightly hit the center of Bucky's chest.

"We do...that plenty of times at night. So we get up the same time a decent amount of times a day. So..."

"So...you'll humor your poor pathetic boyfriend and take a shower with him?"

"So...I'll catch up on some Professor Vision, while my boyfriend takes care of his hygiene," Steve said with finality. Bucky attempted to pull the puppy dog eyes on him but Steve had already made up his mind. And his eyes were firmly shut.

"Fine, but tomorrow you better expect that I'll have an alarm set." He slowly let go of Steve and stepped into the kitchen. Steve opened his eyes and smiled, he was proud that he stood his ground when it came to Bucky. He'd probably cave into something else Bucky offered to do later that day, but for then he felt like a winner.

"Bucky you're as light of a sleeper as me. You choose to ignore me when I wake you up." Steve went behind the island and sat on one of the chairs. He watched as Bucky pulled out the various pots, pans, and other ingredients he needed.

"So wake me up," Bucky said like it was as simple as that.

"How do you suggest that I do that?"

"With loving kisses peppering my face," He said with an air of whimsicality. Steve rolled his eyes and rested his head on his upturned palm.

"So with a marching band? I can have that arranged." He watched as Bucky cracked over eggs whipping them up the same time he was monitoring bacon. It was pretty clear Bucky didn't need Steve's help, especially not with mixing things.

"Or you could say that you're wearing something revealing." Bucky looked over his shoulder and winked at Steve. Steve looked away just in time to miss it, already knowing what would accompany a sentence like that.

"And then I'll actually just be wearing a turtleneck."

"With no pants?..."

"With long Johns on, which would be underneath a pair of sweatpants."

"Would the sweatpants at least be fitted?"

"They'd be a pair of yours." Bucky put something in the oven and pulled out soft tortilla wraps.

"You're so cruel to me." Steve shrugged nonchalantly and ripped a piece of paper towel off of the roll. "Why must you be such a tease?"

"I still don't know how I tease you."

"It's...you're just..." Bucky paused his cooking searching his brain for the right words.

"I'm just..." Steve began folding his paper towel.

"You remind me a little like those girls from the '40s. Being so damn cute, but always blushing, an' giggling, an' never mentioning sex but making you think of it so damn much." The tips of Steve's ears reddened but he didn't look up from his folded paper wad.

"So me just existing is enough to tease you?" He finally looked up to see Bucky mostly done. He was pressing the wrap closed and stuffing another one with cheese, eggs, hashbrown, and bacon. His stomach grumbled as his nose was enchanted by the wonderful smells. Steve closed his eyes and took deep breaths.

"Pretty much," Bucky said honestly, the stove clicked as the buttons were turned off. It was thankfully a gas cooker so Steve at least knew vaguely how it worked. He took out plates and placed two breakfast wraps on each one. "Hey what choice did you want?" Steve hummed, he already knew what was in the kitchen. He was the one who stocked the fridge on the weekends.

"Surprise me," The answer was genuine, he knew that Bucky was considerate enough to know his likes and dislikes. Steve was worried by the face Bucky had made at first, it was mischievous and he doubted anything good could come of it. The look slowly dissipated, like he thought better of it. He opened the door of the fridge and pulled out apple juice, pouring into both cups.

He came to Steve with a plate of food and the cup of juice. He put the plate slightly next to him, but the juice was directly in front of him.

"Surprise, it's apple juice." There were hints of sarcasm in his words but it was mostly teasing. Steve looked at the cup, the breakfast wrap, then at Bucky.

"The breakfast wrap looks and smells amazing, but I think it's being upstaged by the apple juice," Bucky smirked and shook his head.

"Can't disagree with you there." He kissed the top of Steve's head and turned to get his food. Bucky grabbed his food and drink, then went to sit next to Steve. "I think we should set up the tree today." Steve looked towards Bucky he had a bite of the wrap in his mouth. He nodded in agreement, it had taken him to orient what time of the year that they were in. It had still been in the summertime when he was in the other world. He swallowed his bite and wiped the edges of his mouth with a paper towel.

"Where did you say that you got the tree from." He took another bite chewing slowly. He savored every bite. It was delicious, warm, and melted just the right way in his mouth.

"Work had a few extra ones. They know you like to get the tree up and set by the latest first of December. And the early trees are always the most expensive." Steve nodded along with him but he was only half paying attention. "You're not listening to me much, are you?" Steve turned to look at Bucky a blush on his face.

"Sorry, you're food is just really good." Bucky chuckled, he put his flesh hand to touch Steve's knee.

"It's a wonder what I can do with an actual ingredient," He laughed as he said that. He used his metal arm to pick up his food and continue to eat. He left his flesh hands resting on Steve's knee.

"I'll have to get Bucky some ingredients then." Steve smiled to himself but didn't realize his mistake. Bucky raised his eyebrow giving him a strange look.

"What do you mean? I'm right here."

"I uh meant Barney...he's a guy I work with at my job. He seems like he has a lot of potential...in cooking." Bucky's face searched Steves, obviously picking up the lie but he wasn't sure where or in which part.

"One of your students?"

"Yes! One of them." Steve was surprised he was a teacher, he always knew his Captain America personification could teach any moral situation to anyone. But just him being Steve didn't feel like the type of person who would teach anyone anything.

"Oh. Okay, well if I ever meet him I'll give him some tips." Steve was nodding before Bucky even finished speaking.

"Sounds great Buck." He smiled at Bucky then stuffed his mouth with breakfast wrap. He didn't want to risk saying anything else stupid.

******

Steve had finished washing the dishes from breakfast and was flipping through the channels, trying to find Vision's show again. He cursed himself for not recording the channel number, then remembered he wouldn't know how to find the channel number in the first place. He took a deep breath and rubbed his face with his hands. He only had so long before Bucky was finished with his shower. Steve had already done all the cram studying of this time period he could, but five hours isn't enough to make up for five years of missing knowledge. He put his face in his hands and took a deep breath.

"Bucky I really don't think this is the time to be setting up a Christmas Tree," Steve said, his arms were crossed and he watched as Bucky took another set of ornaments out of his plastic shopping bag.

"What do you mean Steve? It's Christmas time. You always loved finding some beat old tree thrown away in one of the dumpsters. Remember? We'd just put any crappy ornaments we found on the tree."

"Yeah I remember...we'd always find a way to take a picture together and then we'd put it on the tree."

"Take a picture? Do you mean we sat in front of a mirror long enough for you to sketch the two of us?" Bucky laughed and put the last box on the couch. He had about five laid out side by side. There were different assortments, and ones he specifically picked out for himself and Steve.

"Yeah, that was fun." Steve began to smile but he stopped himself and bit his lip. "But there is no time for Christmas, Bucky I scheduled a training meeting and if we start to decorate now then we'll never get to it." He said all of this in one breath. Bucky's serene face seemed unchanged by Steve's excuses.

"Steve, what do you mean there's no time for Christmas? We haven't had a single, even slightly above average attack on Earth ever since we beat Thanos. Why are you always so on edge?"

"That's exactly why I'm on edge Bucky. They're probably all plotting and planning against the Earth. If we let ourselves get out of practise and out of sync, there takeover will be easy." Bucky swayed as he walked towards Steve, he took one of Steve's hands.

"Or...they saw us kick the ass of this supposedly all-powerful being. And now they're too afraid of bothering Earth, that's even more plausible than your idea." He lifted Steve's hand up and put his metal arm on Steve's waist. "Baby relax, listen to the Christmas music." Steve blushed, they had only recently began together often enough for him to warrant dating in his head.

"This isn't Christmas music this is Frank Sinatra," Steve pointed out, "You have been listening to them all week." Bucky smiled and leaned in closer to Steve. Steve put both of his hands on Bucky's neck letting himself be lead by him.

"What can I say? He has a voice like butter, thick enough to slice a butter knife through." Steve let out a chuckle at that and tried to hide that with a cough. "Come on Steve, you can't force yourself to be miserable and call it responsibility." He leaned in close his lip by Steve's ear. "I've watched you be miserable enough, especially when I didn't know if you'd make it through." It was a dirty trick to get Steve to give in to what he wanted, but Bucky felt no qualms about using it.

"I'm not going to apologize for what I did Bucky. It was the only way we were going to win."

"I'm not asking you to apologize, I'm asking you to be happy. That's one of the billion reasons I was terrified of you leaving the world. I've always been afraid that you were never happy." He said it softly but the impact still his Steve. "I know two years without action could make anyone antsy, especially a workaholic like you. But the people don't need saving right now. The people want the occasional autograph signing, show up to schools, talk about puberty, Captain America. Maybe it's time you put your shield away." Steve's body stiffened against Bucky's and he almost let go of him completely.

"I'm not putting my shield away Bucky." Bucky immediate saw his misstep.

"Sorry, not put away. But maybe push it into the background. It shouldn't be in the front of your life anymore."

"Then what do you suggest I do with the empty space the Shield will leave?" Steve's voice was soft, it was open, raw. Like Bucky was seeing Steve near his breaking point.

"Fill me with it?" Bucky's voice held a tangent of unsurity. "I know I'm not good enough to be part of your life, and you'd probably be better o--"

"Shut it Bucky, we've already been over this. My life would be a thousand times worse without you in it." He squeezed Bucky's shoulders lightly. "I would love to put you in the front of my life. But...maybe you can co-exist with the shield..." Even Steve didn't sound entirely sure of what he was saying or what he wanted. Bucky saw the indecisiveness in Steve's eyes, he leaned forward and kissed Steve's lips gently. Steve's cheeks heated up and he closed his eyes, he tried to savor the moment. He wasn't sure how many of those he'd have left before Bucky got sick of him.

Bucky pulled away only when he was sure he couldn't hold his breath any longer. He continued swaying with Steve, he looked at Steve's eyes hoping he could make the doubt go away. He didn't mind sharing a place next to Steve's duty and responsibility, but he knew that that much pressure wasn't healthy.

"So...are we going to put the ornaments on the tree?" Steve asked shyly, he glanced over at the ornaments lined up on the couch then back at Bucky. Bucky's face broke into a smile and he nodded. He let go of Steve's waist but continued holding on to his hands.

"I wasn't sure what to get, you didn't want to go with me so I just got whatever seemed interesting." Steve was lead to the couch. He looked at the different ornaments, he of course tried to look for color patterns and themes. The bunch Bucky picked out followed no themes or color patterns, it was just a group of mismatched plastic ornaments. Steve hummed to himself and picked on up. It was a purple circle covered in glitter, it was pretty but there was a problem with them all.

"They don't mean anything." He said finally after an extended period of silence. Bucky looked at him strangely.

"What do you mean?" He asked he watched as Steve put the plastic ball back.

"Well, all these are great. They really are. But they're just boxes and boxes of random shapes with glitter and tinfoil. Each ornament should mean something, we should pick out individual ornaments together. Even if this year it's only a few of them, each year they'll be more and more. And every year we'll top it with a star, and add a picture of us near the top." The meaning of Steve's words seemed to dawn on Bucky. He nodded finally understand, he let go of Steve's hands and closed the box.

"We can still return all of these, then we can go to a different store and we can pick out a couple individual ornaments that we really like." Steve smiled and nodded.

"And...I heard Tony said there was a place we could go to get our pictures taken...maybe we could...wear some sweaters and go there?" Steve wasn't much of a photographer at all, but the art fascinated him. Bucky could already see the excitement in Steve's eyes, there was no way he'd do anything to stop that.

"Course, I'll go get my wallet." He leaned over to Steve and planted a firm kiss on his lips. Steve blushed but didn't stop smiling. Bucky disappeared into the next room. Steve looked to their bare tree-like and saw it as challenge. A challenge to fill it with as many memories as possible.

"Steve? Steve, are you sleeping or something?" Steve removed his hands from his face. He had to blink several times until he was certain he wasn't still in his memory. He looked at Bucky who held a box of their ornaments inside.

"Uh, no. Sorry I just had a slight headache." It wasn't true then but he could already feel one coming along. With the memory, most of the holiday season of that year came crawling back to him.

"Oh, we can go hang out in the bedroom, lower the shades, and hang out there until you're feeling better." As much as he wanted to troop on and continue setting up the tree, he felt himself nod. It was hard for his mind to take in that much information at once. Even if it did make his chest feel warmer, and his love for Bucky deepen. He stood up and Bucky was immediately at his side, his hand firmly behind Steve's back.

"I can walk you know." Steve reminded him, he didn't move away from him. Instead, he leaned into the touch.

"I know, but I know you will only let me carry you so often." Bucky pressed a kiss to Steve's cheek and began leading him to the bedroom.

As they walked Steve saw five picture frames scattered on the kitchen table. Each one held a picture of Steve and Bucky in different attire. Steve guessed that those had to be their Christmas pictures that were put on the tree.

"Hey, Bucky?" Steve asked as they reached the bedroom door. Bucky opened it up for Steve and looked at him.

"Yeah?"

"You know how we take a Christmas picture every year?"

"Yeah, we took us already. The Christmas package that you like will be ready for this weekend. I know you worry sometimes." Bucky said quickly. Steve smiled, he loved how considerate he always was of Steve's various anxieties.

"It's not that. I was just thinking...maybe we could keep that picture on the mantle this year. I was thinking of maybe drawing one of us...you know like old times. And we could frame that and put it on the tree." He bit his lip after he finished, he was unsure how Bucky would feel. There was a softness that was reflected in Bucky's eyes that made Steve's heart flutter.

"I really love you Steve." He whispered, more for himself then for Steve. "Yes, that sounds like an awesome idea. I'll get your charcoals after you relax." Steve smiled at that and leaned over to peck his lips. Bucky took Steve by the side of the face and deepen the kiss, he pushed Steve against the side of the doorway. Bucky pulled away and looked at Steve with hooded eyes.

"You're lucky you have a headache." Steve blushed deeply and painted like he was out of breath. He felt a stirring in his lower stomach.

"Maybe I don't anymore." He whispered, in his best attempt to seem seductive. A pang of pain hit the side of his head and he winced. Bucky saw the look of pain and gave him a soft smile

"Doubt that, come on. The least I can do is hug your headache away." He ushered Steve in and closed the door behind him. Bucky took Steve's hand and lead him to the bed.

"I feel like I was just here," Steve said teasingly. Bucky shrugged and wrapped Steve in his arms as he sunk into the bed.

"One of my favorite spots in the house."

"What are some of your other favorite spots?" Steve asked him innocently. Bucky raised and lowered his eyebrows.

"You know, you're pretty familiar with them yourself." There was a silence as Steve tried to think of any plausible reference Bucky was making.

"I hate when you tease me and I don't even know what about." Bucky laughed his whole body moving with him. He planted a kiss on the side of Steve's head.

"You're so cute." He mumbled, Steve, smiled and closed his eyes. He just enjoyed feeling Bucky so close to him.

"That's one way to describe Captain America."

"That's a better way to describe Steve." Steve wanted to say something in reply to that but a headache was blocking his thoughts. He let out a comfortable sigh and let Bucky's breathing calm him, soon they were exhaling and inhaling at the same time.