In which Peggy tells a story and Bucky is still unsure of everything, but not as much as before.

**

Bucky's brain felt as if it were about to explode.

Even exams had never gotten him to this point.

It was just something so unexpected yet he felt as if he should have known all along. There was an odd sort of dynamic between Steve and Peggy that Bucky was only just beginning to piece together.

For starters, they always seemed like more of friends than anything else. This alone got Bucky jealous enough to shape the friendship into something entirely different, the exact roles that they were trying to play. And when they did act all couple-like and kiss, and was almost too forced, to the point where it was awkward. But Bucky only ever saw one thing: Steve kissing someone else.

Still, regardless of the circumstances, Bucky didn't see why the two had to put on a show for so long. It was almost cruel, if they did know about Bucky's feelings. He just wished he knew what the circumstances were, and sooner or later he'd make someone explain.

He was left with a million questions for the rest of the day until school was out. Every time he saw Peggy or Steve he wanted to ask about this whole fake dating thing, but his courage seemed to have still been left behind at Steve's doorstep from the day that Bucky confronted him. The day that Steve kissed him.

It wasn't until Bucky got home that he finally decided that he couldn't wait any longer for the answers to come to him. He would have to get them himself.

Talking to Steve was probably a bad idea, and Bucky was almost positive that he'd have a difficult time getting straight answers from him anyway. So he called up Peggy, who said that she'd be over within the next fifteen minutes. It worked out perfectly because his parents weren't around and neither was Rebecca, after Winifred and George had insisted on taking her out for some 'family bonding'. Bucky really didn't want anyone else to overhear whatever Peggy had to say.

Bucky was already beginning to feel nervous before Peggy arrived. He wasn't even sure why. Surely, whatever Peggy told him couldn't be that bad. If anything, he hoped that after today he would feel relieved to finally have some answers. He had been confused for a while, especially since the day that Peggy had asked him if he liked Steve. She had told him that she made a mistake, which at the time Bucky never took too seriously, but still left him pondering.

When Peggy came through the door Bucky felt his stomach drop to the floor. Peggy looked a little nervous, too, which wasn't helping the situation.

"We better sit," she said. "This story is a long one."

So they sat. And to be specific, they sat in the living room where Bob Saget's voice served as background noise.

"So am I going to get the truth about this whole fake dating thing?" Bucky asked.

"Yes," Peggy said, looking down at her lap. Then she lifted her head and met his eyes, and her expression was unreadable.

Bucky was sure that in some other reality, one that existed without Steve Rogers, he must have been attracted to her. Peggy truly was beautiful, in a way that almost physically hurt. But it didn't mean anything, not when there was a blond boy named Steve breathing the same air as him. Because Steve could've had one eye, and hairy warts all over his face and Bucky's feelings for him would still rage like a dancing fire.

"Bucky?" Peggy said, drawing Bucky back into the moment. "I just want to say, before I start, that I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize. How bad can it be?" But he was really saying that for his own benefit.

Peggy took a deep breath and shrugged. "Like I said awhile back, we got ourselves into a mess."

But she was still hesitating.

"C'mon," Bucky urged. "I just want the truth already."

There was that, and he really didn't want his parents and Rebecca to get home before Peggy finished. He had the feeling that this would take a while.

"Well, alright," Peggy said. She wouldn't meet his eyes, and Bucky saw for the first time that her lipstick was smudged. He wasn't sure if this just happened, or if it had always been smudged and he had failed to notice until now.

And then Peggy's story's began.

"This all started before you even came back," she said. "With me. Do you remember Celia?" Bucky nodded. "Well, we used to be best friends. Just like you and Steve. Not for as long, though. It was only since the start of high school. Then, just last year, things happened. . .

"We were at a party together, at Tony's place like always. She was drunk, and me? Not so much. I barely remember how it happened, but we kissed. No one else must've seen, or else the whole school would know. But she wasn't drunk enough to forget it, and she knew I wasn't drunk. She still liked to use her drunkenness as an excuse for why it happened, though I could never say the same.

See, I had liked Celia for a long time. I chose not to act upon it because I always knew Celia didn't feel the same way, and it would only ruin our friendship. When she kissed me at that party I wasn't really thinking, and hoped that it meant that she actually liked me back. But after she told me it meant nothing, I believed her and was crushed. There was no going back.

She ignored me after that. I tried talking to her, to tell her that I didn't mean any of it either. I see girls kiss when they're friends and it never means anything. But it always meant a lot to Celia, so after that we stopped being friends. That's when I started talking to all of our friends now."

Peggy paused, allowing Bucky time to take it all in. He had always known that something had went on between Peggy and that girl, he just never thought it was anything like this. He thought he knew Peggy fairly well, but he was beginning to realize that he didn't know her at all.

It looked like Peggy was bracing herself for Bucky to say something, but Bucky had nothing to say and was only idly tapping his feet on the carpet. He kept glancing out the window, though it wasn't even four o'clock yet and the rest of his family wasn't due for at least another hour, he figured.

It was easier now to see where this story might be going. Celia must have had something to do with this whole fake dating thing as well, and Bucky was beginning to worry that this had nothing to do with Steve. Steve could've still been lying about liking Bucky, and the kiss might've not meant anything to him.

It was unlikely at this point, but Bucky was still feeling particularly pessimistic. He didn't want to get his hopes up for them to only be swept from under him. It would be like dangling a treat in front of a dog only to yank it away.

"And then you came," Peggy began again, after realizing that Bucky was going to remain silent. "Steve started talking to me almost right away, which I found a little bit odd. I did like Steve at one point, so I went along with it. I figured it was a perfect opportunity to forget about Celia. I could tell even then that there was something between you two. It was just the way that Steve looked at you when he thought that no one else was looking."

Bucky realized with a start that surely Steve wouldn't want Peggy explaining all of this. If he really wanted Bucky to know, wouldn't he have told him himself? As if Peggy could read Bucky's thoughts, she quickly said that Steve told her it was okay to finally tell the story. And somehow, Bucky had the feeling he wasn't the first to know anyway.

"And then Steve asked me out," Peggy said. "I said no. He was surprised, so I had to explain it to him. I didn't know exactly why he wanted to date me, but I knew it had something to do with you. I thought that maybe he was trying to make you jealous.

"Surprisingly, he told me a lot that day. He said that he was worried he was gay, and that for a while it was something he could usually put off to the side. And then you came, and he couldn't ignore it anymore. I felt really bad for him. He sounded so scared. He wanted to date me so that at least he could say he did like girls, and he was bi. He hoped that he could just ignore the part of him that liked boys and only date girls.

If I was head over heels for him I would've been pissed. It was obvious from the start that he wanted to use me. The thing is, I was fully prepared to date him for nearly the same reasons. While I wasn't denying my sexuality, I was still trying to forget Celia. Since I did once like Steve, I thought it would be easy to like him again. So I agreed to date him.

Clearly, it went on for a while. The longer we didn't like each other for the longer we wanted it to go on. We both hoped that over time we would learn to love each other, but it just never happened. I still liked Celia, and Steve never liked girls at all. It got to a point in the relationship where we didn't tell each other how we actually felt. I knew that he didn't actually like me, but I think he always thought that I liked him. He never wanted to break up because of that, and I had no idea what to do.

It was only just a while ago that Steve finally admitted he was gay and I told him I still wasn't over Celia. Steve never told me what happened between you two after that, but I had a few theories. I thought that maybe he was just giving it some time, and didn't want to rush into another relationship no matter how fake his last one might have been. And then when nearly a month passed I knew that wasn't the case, and I thought he might've tried to talk to you about it and it didn't work out."

"He never said a word," Bucky cut in. "Everyone else seemed to know the truth about you guys but me."

"Look, Bucky, this whole time I thought you knew we broke up," Peggy said. "I could've slapped some sense into Steve and saved everyone a whole month of misery. I just assumed that he didn't want to talk about it and left it at that."

And Bucky didn't know how or why, but he was suddenly laughing. Peggy stared back at him, confused, and she didn't join in his laughter. She didn't look as tense as before, and seemed glad to finally have this off her shoulders, but it was obvious that she never really expected it to go well.

"This is so stupid," Bucky said after he caught his breath. "If Steve really has liked me this whole time, just a few simple words could've saved us all a lot of trouble."

Peggy frowned. "I'd like to think so, but I have the feeling if you ever told him you liked him it might've ended even worse. He was literally scared of being gay, Bucky. I don't exactly understand it and I probably never will, but he hated that he might be gay. If he knew that being with you was on option, he would've tried even harder to be straight. Who knows what he might've done. . ."

Bucky sighed. "I kind of get it. I didn't want to be bi, but I never actually. . ." He trailed off, not really sure where he was going with his statement.

He had also once thought that since he was bi he would only ever act on the part of him that liked girls, but clearly that wasn't working out too well. By the sounds of it, Steve was dealing with even bigger issues.

"Does Steve still feel the same?" Bucky asked. "About his sexuality?"

"He's accepted it, for the most part," Peggy said. "He kissed you, and was mostly troubled that it didn't work out."

"He tried to tell me about you guys," Bucky said.

"He told me about that," she said. "But he thought you were only using me as an excuse. He didn't think that you actually like him. I tried to tell him otherwise, but I don't think he believes it. It's why I'm here instead of him. He did agree to let me tell you about his feelings, but he'd never do it himself."

It was just then that Bucky saw headlights in the driveway. He had been a little off, and while Peggy's story was long, the rest of it certainly hadn't taken another hour to tell.

"Peggy," Bucky said, turning back toward her to get the last word before his family came in the door.

She, too, turned back to him after following his gaze to where his sister was getting out of the car, a sour look on her face. "Yes?"

"I really appreciate you telling me all of this, but right now I need to talk to Steve."

**

A/n: I always found it funny that everyone thought Bucky was gay and Steve  bi when really it's the other way around.

Part of me wants to rewrite this because I know I could do a way better job, and it this point I've given up and don't try nearly as hard as I should, but it will never happen. I'd rather focus my time on original works rather than fanfiction. I do still care about this story, and I hope you guys do as well!