Bucky stared at him helplessly from his window. "The incident" had happened four days ago, and Bucky had barely seen him since. Apparently, he was talking to his parents about their attitudes, and their family in general was going through some changes.

Bucky sprang up as soon as Steve walked out onto the balcony. He had to tell him he liked him. He wasn't going to beat around the bush. He was confident - he had to keep reminding himself that.

"Hey, Steve baby," he sang as he landed beside him. Steve smiled at him, looking relaxed. Bucky stuck his legs between the bars, and Steve sat against the door, as usual. "How's it going?"

He listened to him rant, nodding along. Every so often Steve would roll his eyes, barely slightly, or he'd smile at something funny, share a dumb joke. Bucky was so pre-occupied he barely heard what he was saying.

There was a lull of silence after his last sentence and he thought on it hard, panicking if he'd said the wrong thing. Steve was looking at him, and Bucky was looking back.

"Okay, I'm gonna be honest here." He gave him a sheepish look. "I'm actually really tempted to kiss you right now."

Months earlier, Steve would have been a babbling, red-in-the-face mess. He would've attempted to say something witty only to have it fail miserably. Now, though, he was ready. So he smiled a confident smile and leaned forward.

"So what's stopping you?" he said softly.

Bucky blushed and slowly leaned in, and Steve sealed the gap, tilting his head. Bucky cupped his cheek with one hand, the other on the ground. Steve had his hands on his chest, warm and there.

They pulled away after a moment. Steve saw Bucky sitting there, frozen in place, eyes closed as he processed what had just happened.

God, Steve thought to himself. He's beautiful. That was so unfair to Steve's poor little heart.

"Not what I expected," Bucky finally murmured, shooting Steve his signature grin.

"Better?" Steve teased.

"Mm," Bucky hummed in agreement. They continued to kiss for as long as they wanted; they had all the time in the world. They were still hesitant, still worried of getting caught, but that would fade.

"Buck," Steve said quietly when they pulled away again to catch their breath. Steve couldn't look him in the eyes, so he leaned against him and buried his face in his neck. "I like you." His voice was muffled.

"Hmm?"

"You heard me," Steve said as he sat back and looked at him, chewing his lip. "I really like you. I don't know what I did to deserve you, but -- "

Bucky shook his head and smiled, looking down. "I like you too," he promised. The silence fell again and they looked at each other.

"So what do we do?"

Bucky swallowed. His parents didn't know. They were usually easy-going, yes, but... he was still scared.

"I don't know." He laughed a little, nervously. "I'm sure we'll figure it out."

"Yeah," Steve agreed, studying him quietly. After a moment, Bucky stood up and Steve watched him.

"We should do something," Bucky declared. "Are you free tonight?"

Steve made a face. "Wednesday. Soccer meet at seven," he explained. Bucky nodded a little.

"Well, you still need to practice, right?"

Steve smiled.

"Let's do it."

////

Bucky found a rubber ball they had in the house and he and Steve began to practice. Bucky tried not to focus on the fact that they had indeed kissed, and that now whenever he looked at Steve he felt a jolt in his stomach and couldn't help the stupid grin on his face.

"Hey, Buck! Buck--!"

And the blond barreled into him, slamming him into the ground. The ball bounced into their version of 'goal' - the gutter nearby.

Bucky stared up into his eyes as the blond pushed off of his chest. Both of them were red in the face.

"This seems to happen a lot," Steve finally laughed, sitting up properly, still somewhat sitting on Bucky's lap.

"Steve, will you join us for dinner tonight?" Winifred yelled out the window. Steve scrambled off of the brunet.

"Sorry, soccer practice. Thanks, though, Mrs. B," he replied, brushing himself off. Winifred shot Bucky a knowing smile as she pulled back into the house, shouting, "Friday night then!"

"Sounds good!" Bucky answered as he stood up as well, retrieving the ball and tossing it between his hands. "Friday?" He turned to Steve, who nodded. "Hey, before you go?"

He stepped closer and kissed him quickly, then smiled. "Sorry," he murmured. "But now that I can -- "

"No, please," Steve replied, blushing deep red. Bucky opened his mouth to retort but closed it again promptly.

God, he was in deep. He liked him. Steve liked him back. They were becoming a thing.

Bucky's first partner was a blond boy. He'd gotten his first kiss that day. He felt lighter than air, jittery, gleeful.

But he couldn't tell his parents. Could he?

////

"Mom, Dad," he started after Steve had gone to practice and he'd retreated inside. "Guys," he added, turning to the rest of his siblings. He clapped his hands together and rocked nervously.

All eyes were on him. He swallowed, butterflies in his stomach.

"So, ah..," He paused and swallowed again. "I think I'm... gay."

Charlie clapped once and pointed at him, grinning. Rebecca nodded and Emma raised her eyebrows. He turned to his parents: Winifred looked smug. George looked shocked, and slightly unimpressed.

"Well, yeah." Emma smirked at him. "Who blushes that much around their friend?"

"I knew it!" Charlie called, bouncing forward a little.

"Steve's nice," Teddy added, smiling as he doodled on the floor. Rebecca nodded her agreement.

"So you two kissed?" Christopher chimed in, only to be hushed by Emma.

He ignored their comments, eyes locked on his father. Winifred followed his gaze and hastily chimed in.

"Isn't that wonderful, George dear?" With no response, she looked to Bucky again and smiled her gentle smile. "I'm proud of you, honey. By the way, I knew from the very beginning."

Bucky smiled back. "Dad?" he prompted uneasily. George worked a smile onto his face - it didn't reach his eyes.

"I had no idea, son," he replied, slowly blowing out a breath. "Gay, that's... boys liking boys?"

"Well, yeah. I, uh -- " He wrung his hands nervously. "Like Steve. I like Steve."

George blinked once and nodded.

The silence that followed was awkward. Christopher oohed quietly, hiding behind his book and watching them with a grin on his face.

George got up, still nodding, and took Winifred by the hand. "I'm still unfamiliar with the terms, um... honey?" He looked at her uncertainly. Winifred got the message and smiled reassuringly at the kids.

"Go clean up dinner, okay?"

They scattered without another word.

Bucky was disappointed, to say the least.