"We're presenting our drama skit today," Bucky said to Peggy. For once, Steve was sitting at Tony's table. Bucky didn't know whether to be disappointed or relieved.

"Hmm." Peggy looked off in the distance to a group of senior girls that Bucky had never talked to. She was clearly distracted. "Oh! Right. Steve told me that. He's super nervous."

"Really?" said Bucky, incredulous. "Steve Rogers, nervous?"

Peggy rolled her eyes. "He's afraid of stuff too, you know."

The girls were giggling, loud enough to cause many heads to turn, Peggy's included. She abruptly turned her head back to Bucky. He was surprised she didn't get whiplash.

"Why'd he take drama if he's so scared to present?" Bucky was genuinely curious.

Peggy shrugged. "Easy class? I dunno. I think he likes it, he just gets stage fright."

Pietro leaned over from across the table. "Are you guys going to Tony's party tonight?"

Peggy said, "of course we are" at the same time Bucky said, "wasn't planning on it."

They both looked at each other and frowned.

"Weren't you the one asking about the party in the first place?" Peggy asked. "You were talking about it last week, with Bruce."

"I—" Bucky started, but realized he didn't have much of an excuse. He couldn't very well tell Peggy why he had brought it up in the first place. "I just changed my mind. I have a bunch of homework."

Peggy sighed, exasperated. "You can do your homework when you get home, the party's not until later. Besides, Steve wants you to go."

Bucky narrowed his eyes. "He said that?"

"Well, no, but—"

"I can't go."

"Fine. Don't. I won't make you, but you're going to be missing out."

Bucky could hardly believe that. Parties weren't his thing. Sweaty teenagers making out at parties weren't his thing. Peggy and Steve making out definitely wasn't his thing. He couldn't express that last part, though.

Bucky just stayed silent and started talking to Pietro instead.

**

Bucky didn't know exactly how it happened, but somehow he was currently at Tony's house for some dumb Halloween party. He was dressed as the eleventh Doctor, which was super nerdy but he didn't really care.

He watched Peggy and Steve, dressed as superman and supergirl. It was so cheesy that he had to look away.

Bruce had even come. Bruce. He was standing there so awkwardly that Bucky felt bad for him. While everyone had glasses of god knows what, Bruce just had water. If anyone asked, he would've said it was vodka, but everyone knew it wasn't.

"Hey Banner!" Tony, of all people, approached Bruce and clapped him on the shoulder. "I didn't think you'd come."

Bucky didn't think anyone ever looked like they wanted to get out of a situation more than Bruce. "Honestly, neither did I."

He caught Bucky's eye and began to mouth something, but all Bucky caught was 'I do—' before Bruce was being dragged away with Tony's arm thrown around his shoulder. Tony had led him to where a group of people were sitting in a circle. Bucky thought they were going to play a game of truth or dare until he saw the bottle on the floor in the middle of the circle.

Bucky groaned. Really, weren't games like truth or dare and spin the bottle only supposed to happen in movies?

Apparently not, because now only a few people remained, all of which were either latecomers to the circle or were heading into another room. In the room next to them, laughter reverberated against the walls. The sound of pool balls smashing into each other was a loud echo. And yet, more footsteps upstairs. The place was huge, and there were people everywhere, many of which Bucky had never seen before.

All of his friends were sitting in that circle. He didn't have much of a choice. He sat down, squeezing himself between Pietro and Clint. Pietro had his arm slung around the shoulders of a girl Bucky thought was a sophomore at his school, and on Clint's other side Natasha was leaning heavily against him.

"Alright!"

Tony stood up and raised his red solo cup. An unidentifiable liquid sloshed about inside, some slipping out and falling onto Steve's head. Steve drunkenly protested loudly, getting a few laughs. Bucky's mouth tightened and he couldn't look Steve directly in the eyes.

"Now that we are all here, the rules are simple," Tony continued. "Whoever it lands on, you have to kiss. For at least 30 seconds. Anything too intense, please, take it upstairs."

Looks and snickers were exchanged, clearly from a memory resurfaced. Bucky took a deep breathed and prepared himself for the hell that was to come. What the hell was he doing here?

Tony looked directly at Bucky. "How 'bout we start with the new kid."

Bucky immediately began to protest. First of all, he wasn't exactly 'new'. Second, he didn't even want to play this game in the first place, let alone be first up.

"C'mon Barnes," Tony persisted. "Don't be a wuss."

Finally, Bucky obliged. He reached his arm out, taking care that it wasn't the metal one, and spun the bottle.

Time was moving in slow motion as everyone stared at him, no doubt praying that it wouldn't land on them. Even Steve had finally gotten the guts to look Bucky in the eye, and he wasn't looking away. The two stared at each other, up until a voice brought both of their heads to turn.

"Alright, Hill!"

Bucky hadn't even realized that the bottle had stopped. Maria was already approaching him, a slight frown on her face. Bucky did his best not to groan. Really, it could have been anyone else. Anyone. Instead, it had to be the one person who rejected him. This couldn't get any more awkward.

"What are you, a bunch of middle schoolers?" Pietro said from beside him. "Just kiss already!"

There were a few 'yeahs', and then one of Maria's friends stepped forward to shove her into Bucky. Bucky, without thinking, pressed his lips against hers. He heard her sharp intake of breath, then she began to kiss back. It wasn't that she was a bad kisser, but Bucky didn't want to kiss someone he didn't even like. No amount of alcohol could ever make this game fun, at least in his opinion.

Their kiss lasted no more than thirty seconds. In fact, it was probably a lot shorter than it felt like it was, and only closer to ten seconds. Fortunately, Tony said nothing. It wasn't like anyone was counting, anyhow.

Bucky had the temptation to wipe his mouth, but thought that might be rude. He sat back down, Pietro patting him on the shoulder and saying something that Bucky wasn't listening to.

They went around in a circle, nothing too interesting happening until it was Natasha's turn.

Clint wasn't too happy about Natasha having to kiss Pietro. Bucky didn't understand, as Natasha having to kiss someone was inevitable. Was Clint really that insecure about their relationship? Either way, Natasha didn't look to happy about how protective her boyfriend was being.

Finally, Tony had enough.

"It's just a game, Barton," he said. Nearly everyone made noises of agreement, Bucky included. He just wanted to get this game over with.

When it was Peggy's turn, the bottle landed on Sharon. Peggy had to spin again, with this being the only exception to the rules. Someone got all angry, thinking this one some act of homophobia, but was silenced after realizing that Peggy and Sharon were sisters.

The bottle landed on Bucky. So, Bucky kissed her. It was a nice kiss, he couldn't lie. Her lips were soft and they tasted like strawberries, but he had to remind himself that he couldn't have feelings for her. When he stepped away, Steve was staring at him, jealous. Bucky could still feel Peggy's lips, but looking at Steve's blue eyes made any tingling feelings disappear.

And again, the game continued on being relatively boring. It was when it was Bruce's turn that Bucky finally decided to pay attention. Bruce, he could imagine, didn't want to kiss any of these people.

Bucky's eyes widened when the bottle landed on Tony. Tony, too, looked surprised. Did he really think he was safe in this game that he insisted everyone should play?

Bruce looked extremely uncomfortable. Even with the lights dimmed, Bucky could see that his face was bright red.

"I—I really don't think—"

"It's just a game, Stark," Clint interrupted. Pietro laughed, along with a few others.

"Of course it's just a game," Tony grumbled.

Then he grabbed both sides of Bruce's face and smashed his lips against his. It was like he was purposely making a show out of it; Bucky swore he saw tongue. Bruce's hands were held in tight fists at his side.

Pepper looked furious. Everyone 'oooooed'. It was like they all knew something that Bucky didn't.

"Get a room!" Rhodey shouted.

It was then that Bruce finally pushed Tony away. Though Bucky wasn't counting, he was sure that must've been more than thirty seconds. Tony was breaking his own rules, though Bucky wasn't surprised.

Bruce said something, but it was lost in the loud chatter, then he was gone. Bucky contemplated going after him but in the end stayed behind. He could've just been going to the washroom, for all he knew.

After Tony and Bruce's kiss, everyone decided to consider this as the epic finale and the game was over. Bucky thought he was glad about this, until Natasha approached him. He stayed put this time. He couldn't run forever, after all.

"Bucky!" She was clearly drunk. She wobbled over to him, the contents of her glass dripping onto the floor.

She put a hand on his shoulder. "I've been trying to talk to you all week!"

Bucky took a sip of his water. Yes, he was drinking water. After one beer, he'd had enough. The last time he got drunk it was horrible. He was afraid that if he did tonight, he might do something stupid. Something stupid that would undoubtedly involve Steve. Besides, he had to drive himself home, and probably a few others who were too drunk to do it themselves.

"I've noticed," Bucky said.

"How come you've been avoiding me?" She pouted.

"Nat, I really didn't want to talk about Steve." But if he talked about Steve now, at least Natasha would be too drunk to remember anything the next day, including their conversation.

Natasha rolled her eyes. "But Bucky, I'm just trying to warn you!"

Bucky looked at her, surprised. "Warn me? About what?"

"I know about your secret crush!"

"My crush? What—"

"On Steve, of course!" Bucky knew he couldn't just play dumb. Natasha, even drunk, wasn't stupid and could see right through him.

"Right."

"Maybe you need to tone it down, before everyone finds out. I'm sure, like, ninety percent of the school already knows," she said. Bucky shrugged off her hand, as if just realizing that it had been on his shoulder. "You know, you don't want the other twelve percent to figure it out. Between you and me, I think Steve's included in that twelve percent. Just be careful."

Bucky took a step back from her. "And why are you telling me this?"

"I'm just saying, you should move on." She reached out to grab his shoulder again, but he swatted her hand away. "If Steve finds out. . . You don't have any chance with him. He's straight. Trust me on this."

Even though Bucky already knew this, the words stung. Somehow, hearing them from Natasha made everyone worse, and more real. It was like a part of him had hope that in the future Steve and him could be a possibility. And despite Natasha being drunk, he knew that she meant what she said. Realistically, he had no chance with Steve and he needed to move on.

Lost in his own thoughts, Bucky didn't even notice when Natasha disappeared back into the crowd. The next time he saw her she was pressed up against a wall, lips locked with Clint's. Apparently, after the spin the bottle game she wasn't that mad at him.

Of course, he always knew that he couldn't let what he felt for Steve go on forever. In the end, he was only hurting himself. It was ridiculous, anyhow. If Steve continued to avoid talking to him he should've had no reason to like him. However, it wasn't that easy.

Bucky would try to move on from Steve, but the thought was almost laughable. He knew it as he watched Steve from across the room, laughing at something that Tony had said. His smile was like a star, making the whole room a little brighter.

There would be no moving on from Steve.

**

A/n: I'm sorry that these chapters keep getting sloppier and shorter.

Thank you to all of you who continuously vote and comment! It means so much to me. I don't know why you stay, but I won't complain. I'm very grateful for this support. It's what motivates me to update every Tuesday. I'm surprised that I've made it this far without missing a week.

What's your favourite book series? Mine's Harry Potter for sure, but I also love the Raven Cycle.