"Hey," Natasha said, coming over to Bucky with Clint at her side. "Why didn't you come to Tony's party?"

Bucky shrugged. He didn't really feel like talking to her at that moment. Or to anyone, for that matter. It was the first day back at school, which was self-explanatory.

"C'mon," Nat said. Bucky looked to Clint for some help, but he only shrugged helplessly. "Even Bruce was there. And you know Bruce hates parties."

"Bruce went to that Halloween party," Bucky pointed out.

"Ah, well. My point is, you should have come."

In truth, parties weren't exactly Bucky's thing. They could be, depending on who was there and where it was. However, any party that ever took place with his friends was always at Tony's house which meant there was going to be a shit ton of people there. Majority being people he had never seen before.

There was that, and the fact that Steve and Peggy would be there together. Bucky knew he was probably making a bigger deal out of it than he should, but things were just going so good with Steve lately, and he was afraid by seeing the couple together, it was all go down the toilet. It was bound to happen now that school started again, but Bucky just wanted to preserve whatever they had for as long as possible.

"Maybe I was sick," Bucky said. It was clear Natasha didn't believe him one bit. "Why do you care so much if I was there?"

"I don't," Natasha said. "But Steve was driving my crazy all night, asking where you were. I told him to ask your other friends, but to no avail. That man is determined. And stubborn."

Steve had left him plenty of missed calls and messages, all of which Bucky had ignored. Maybe Bucky was a little stubborn, too. His mind was set on not going to that party, so he didn't go. He didn't see why so many people were concerned whether he did. Steve had Peggy there, after all.

"I just didn't want to go," Bucky finally admitted. "Okay?"

"Well, next time tell Steve that." Nat turned on her heel and stalked off. Clint sent Bucky one last apologetic look before following her.

And speaking of Steve, Bucky could see him in the distance walking down the hall with Tony and Pepper. Pepper. Maybe the two had gotten back together. Or they really were just going to be friends now, but Bucky doubted that. But Tony's love life that the least of his concerns.

Bucky had this premonition — just this bad feeling that things weren't going to go well. Maybe it was the way that Steve was blatantly avoiding looking Bucky's way, or just his intuition, but Bucky could already feel the dread spreading all the way down to his toes, rolling like a wave.

"Steve!" Bicky called out. He saw Steve's head turn back in acknowledgment, but other than that, Steve just ignored Bucky.

It was always bound to happen, he supposed. Did he really expect things to go back to the way they were, when they were kids? Regardless of whether or not Steve wanted to be his friend, it could just never be the same when Bucky's feelings for Steve were this ever persistent thing on the forefront of his mind. This thing that made his heart skip a beat and his stomach flutter. No matter how much Bucky tried to ignore it, he just couldn't.

"Steve!" Bucky tried again. "I know you're ignoring me. . . You're not the half deaf one."

And finally, Steve said something to Tony and Pepper and then doubled back to meet Bucky. His expression was unreadable, though it was obvious that Steve did not want to be there.

"What is it, Bucky?" Steve asked, staring at some spot on Bucky's forehead.

"That's what I should be asking you," Bucky said. "What's going on?"

"Nothing." Bucky raised a brow. "Nothing! I swear! Anyway, I should get back to Tony and Pepper."

"Yeah, because they need the third wheel."

Maybe Bucky shouldn't have said it, but he was slightly pissed off. And anyway, there were worse things to say. He was just glad that Steve's back was already turned so that he didn't have to catch Steve's reaction. And Steve certainly didn't turn around, either.

Whatever had suddenly happened between Bucky and Steve, it certainly wasn't nothing.

**

It carried like this for the rest of the week. Bucky tried to just let it go, but his emotions toward Steve were inevitable. Despite Steve being an asshole, he still had a nice ass, and Bucky also had a hard time not smiling when Steve did.

After a very long and nearly unbearable week, they had reached Friday. Bucky and his friends were all sitting at their usual table, with Steve and his friends at their's.

Bucky would be lying if he said he wasn't slightly pissed off that Steve hardly talked to him all week. He had expected at least a hello, or. How was your Christmas? But so far the only interaction they had had was that awkward one on the first day.

But surely, Steve would have to come around to their lunch table at some point. It became a routine after him and Peggy started dating. More often than not, he spent his whole lunch with Bucky and his friends. It wasn't like Steve was ditching his friends, because half the time they all joined anyway.

But lunch was nearing an end and Steve still sat across the cafeteria with his friends, and he never even looked their way. Just as it had been all week. Bucky would know, because he spent more time staring at Steve than he'd like to admit. Really, he just wanted to know what was wrong with him.

"Is Steve mad at me?" Bucky asked Peggy, who looked taken aback. "Or you? Because he always sits with us at lunch. But it's probably me, because he hasn't said a word to me all week. And—"

"Woah, Bucky," Peggy interrupted. "Slow down. Steve hasn't said anything to me about being mad at you, and he usually tells me everything. He's probably just been busy."

But this didn't relax Bucky. He didn't see how Steve could be too busy for even a simple hello. All week. It only took two seconds. It wasn't like Bucky was asking for a lot.

Then again, maybe Peggy was right. Maybe he was just overthinking things. But then again. . .the way that Steve treated Bucky on the first day spoke volumes. But Bucky wasn't going to play around, especially after Steve had given him that photo album. Surely, that had to mean something.

"Bucky," Peggy said, drawing Bucky away from his thoughts. He turned toward her, and she opened her mouth mouth, but hesitated, a slightly worried look on her face.

"What's wrong?" Bucky asked.

"Do you—" a pause. "Do you like Steve?"

"Of course. He's my friend. Aren't I—"

"You know that's not what I mean," she interrupted. Bucky froze, his hand hovering just above to table, holding his fry. "I really hate to pry. But I just. . . I just want to know."

"I—" But Bucky found he was unable to continue, and dropped his fry. He knew Peggy had always suspected it, but she had never directly asked him about it before. Despite everything, Bucky didn't think he could lie to her. Albeit, his silence told Peggy more than his words ever could.

Peggy pinches the bridge of her nose. "We really got ourselves into a mess, didn't we?"

"Peggy, it's not your fault. I—"

"How long?" Peggy interrupted yet again.

"What?"

"How long have you liked him?"

Bucky thought for a moment. He wasn't exactly sure when he had started to like Steve. Maybe he always did. Maybe he liked Steve before he even realized it himself. It was hard to say.

"I don't know," Bucky said. "I think after you guys started dating, but I don't know."

"Look, Bucky," Peggy started, a serious look on her face. "I made a mistake. None of this should have ever happened."

"What are you talking about?" Bucky asked, confused, while Peggy anxiously glanced around. But nobody at their table was paying them any attention.

"I want to tell you the whole story, but it's not really my place," she said, leaning closer to Bucky. "And even if I could tell you, I don't know how I could explain it in a way that even makes sense. Me and Steve— we were both stupid."

"C'mon Peggy, you can't leave me hanging."

Peggy sighed. "It's probably better of you talk to Steve about it, anyway."

"And how am I supposed to do that?" Bucky huffed. "He's been avoiding me like he thinks he's going to catch the gay or something."

Peggy frowned. "I'll talk to him. It's going to work out."

"Is it?"

Bucky didn't see how any of this could ever really work out in the end.

**

It had taken a lot of work to get their friendship to where it was, and Bucky wasn't about to just let that go. Then again, what choice did he really have?

With a week going by, and Steve still ignoring him, Bucky wasn't even sure what more could be done. It was obvious that the problem lied with him, when Steve was acting normal around everyone else but him.  Bucky didn't know what possibly could've happen to their friendship on those days leading up until the first day back at school. Everything seemed to be going good. They seemed like two regular, good friends. Bucky just didn't get it.

Truly, their friendship was now just a memory. Whatever they had could no longer be reclaimed.

Bucky didn't want this to bother him so much, but it did. It was much easier said than done to just forget about Steve. He didn't think there could ever be a world that existed in which Steve was his past, present, and future all at once, as much as he wished it were true.

Steve could never be his future. And right now, Steve wasn't even his present.

Not to mention, his conversation with Peggy just left him even more confused. What could Peggy not tell him, and why did she think it was so important that Steve told Bucky himself?

Steve was an enigma. One that Bucky had just about given up on trying to solve.

**

A/n: I'm sorry this chapter is such a mess. I had a really hard time writing it and had to just write random chunks of text and put together and hope for the best. It was the only thing I could do to avoid writers block. I'd like to finish this book before the start of school (beginning of September for me).

Just something random, but one of my biggest pet peeves in fanfiction is when the writer uses a characters dialogue from the existing book and has their own character say it. It's not really a big deal, and I've probably even done it before, but for some reason it just annoys me.

One last thing, this book has 10k reads! Thank you so much guys!