This one is bad.

////

Bucky stumbles home late one night, his jacket slung over his shoulder and his short brown hair a tossled mess. He digs around in his pocket for his keys to his and his boyfriend's apartment. He staggers to the side and the key scratches around the key hole as he tries to unlock the door. After the fourth attempt the key slides into the lock, he wiggles it around and it finally opens.

"'M back," he slurs, arcing his arm and casually tossing the keys onto the table and they land with a chink. He stumbles again and staggers into the fridge.

Steve comes down the stairs and looks at him, his brow furrowed with worry.

"You sure were out late," he sighs, walking over and swinging Bucky's arm over his own. The brunette's head falls onto his shoulder.

"Pietro and me, we were at a bar," Bucky slurs and Steve sighs as he leads him upstairs. The brunette stumbles into him and his hand falls onto Steve's chest. "Oops," He mumbles, not bothering to move his hand.

"So with Pietro, nothing happened, right?" Steve asks suspiciously, there was something about Pietro he just didn't trust. Maybe he was over protective; maybe he was just plain hateful of the Sokovian blonde. He wasn't sure what it was.

Bucky looks up at him with a smirk. "Jealous, Stevie?" He purrs as they reach their bedroom. Steve sets him on the bed and doesn't answer. Bucky yawns and pulls his shirt over his head then slides his shoes off.

"G'night, Bucky," Steve sighs, brushing the brunette's hair back, and Bucky smiles sleepily at him.

"Night, Steve," Bucky replies with a yawn before closing his eyes. He quickly fell asleep and Steve sighed.

////

"Hey, Buck?" Steve asks the next morning and the brunette looks at him. "So... You and Pietro, you didn't do anything?" He asks uncertainly. He didn't trust the other blonde.

"No, we didn't. I thought I told you last night," Bucky frowns, crossing his arms and looking at him.

"Okay... I'm sorry, I just don't trust that guy," he sighs and the brunette nods a little, slowly.

"Trust me, alright? We just hung out last night, nothing happened," he assures and the blonde nods.

////

Bucky was invited over to Pietro's and Wanda's two days later.

"What time will you be back?" Steve asks, looking at him.

"Uhm, I don't know. Three ish?" He guesses and Steve nods.

"Okay. Love you, Buck," Steve says. The brunette smiles at him.

"Love you too, Steve," he hums, he winks at him before stepping out the door. Steve smiles a little and goes back to his painting.

////

"Hello, James," Pietro smiles, pulling him into a hug. Bucky smiles and hugs back. Wanda smiles at him and kisses his cheek.

They hung out for hours, chatting pleasantly, until Wanda slipped on a puddle from a recent rain. Her drink splashed onto Bucky's shirt, staining it with deep red. She stutters out apologies and he shakes his head.

"No, that's fine, Wanda. It'll dry out," he assures.

"James, I probably have a shirt that should fit you," Pietro invites.

"I'd hate to impose, Pietro," he says and the Sokovian shakes his head.

"It would be no problem," Pietro replies. He leads the brunette into his room and starts digging through his drawers. He pulls out a shirt and hands it to Bucky.

"Thanks," the brunette says gratefully, accepting the shirt. Pietro nods.

"You're welcome," he replies with a small smile before walking out and closing the door behind him. The brunette slips his shirt off and takes a glance at the clock, then curses. It was almost four thirty; time really flew by. He yanks on Pietro's shirt then opens the door.

"Thank you again. I, uh, I have to go now," he sighs and Pietro nods. "I'll give your shirt back."

"No, you keep it. I don't need it back for a while, just stop by one day I guess," he replies and Bucky nods.

"Okay. Thank you," he says, giving him a quick hug then hugging Wanda and kissing her cheek lightly.

"Goodbye, James," Wanda says. He smiles and waves before walking out.

////

"I know I'm late but I lost track of time," Bucky says as he bursts through the door. Steve looks up.

"What were you doing?" He asks, looking back down at his sketchbook and drawing something in. Bucky sighs and sits in a chair at the table.

"I don't know, we were just chatting and I lost track of time," he mumbles, scratching a line into the table with his fingernail. Steve sighs softly and draws a little more. "And I had to change my shirt," He adds and the blonde looks up again. "Wanda accidentally spilt her drink on it," he explains quickly, pulling his shirt into view.

"Huh," Steve replies, closing hs sketchbook shut.

"Pietro let me borrow his shirt but I need to go return it," he sighs. The blonde shakes his head a little. "What?"

"Just... Nothing," Steve mumbles, getting up and putting his sketchbook away. Bucky frowns a little and crosses his arms.

"Tell me," Bucky says then narrows his eyes a little. "You aren't jealous, are you?" He says and the blonde quickly shakes his head.

"What? No," he protests, copying Bucky and folding his arms across his chest, almost defensively.

"Then what is it?" He asks, watching him.

"I don't know, maybe the fact you're wearing his clothes?" He replies and Bucky raises an eyebrow.

"You think...? Do you actually think he and I...?" Bucky doesn't finish his sentence and then he rolls his eyes. "Steve, I told you nothing happened."

"Just sayin' it is a little suspicious," Steve defends and Bucky scoffs.

"I told you to trust me," he says.

"And I have. Is it wrong to raise suspicion when I don't see my own boyfriend because he's at someone else's house?"

"Yes, when your boyfriend is loyal and you're just overreacting," he snaps, starting to get annoyed.

"Who's overreacting? I'm calm, you're the one raising your voice," Steve retorts.

"You're such a child," Bucky mutters.

"Uh huh. How is that?" He asks, watching him.

"'I'm Steve Rogers and I don't trust my boyfriend because I'm not the only person he has, because he actually has friends,'" he says in a mock voice of Steve's.

"Are you saying I don't have any friends?"

"So?" Bucky shrugs. He was getting angry now, he tried explaining but Steve wasn't dropping it.

"This from the Winter Soldier?" Steve mutters under his breath in the heat of the moment and he cringed inside. Stupid.

Bucky's mouth falls open.

"Excuse you? I can't believe you just said that!" Bucky says loudly, clenching his jaw. Steve remains silent, curling his hands into fists then releasing them. "You know what? Maybe I should go to Pietro's right now," He says, growing hostile.

"Yeah, go run to him, you two get along perfectly fine anyways."

"Yeah, we do. At least he's not a faithless d**k," Bucky snaps.

"At least I'm not the one on his," he retorts and Bucky's face reddens.

"I can't believe you, Steve," he shouts, getting up from his seat and walking closer to him. "You're such a-"

"D**k? Yep, heard that one, what else do you have in your pathetic weaponry?"

"You're just - ugh," Bucky huffs, turning away from him and clenching his hands into fists. "I'm going to Pietro's."

"Fine. Get outta' here then, Bucky. Before you go, d'you wanna take another crack at killing me? You missed the first time you tried," he taunts and Bucky freezes. He turns around to face him, his jaw clenched.

"Wouldn't have had to try to kill you if the world went how it was supposed to go and you died in that f****** ocean!" He yells and Steve freezes.

"There's the Winter Soldier again. I was wondering when he'd make an appearance," Steve growls after a moment of silence and Bucky glares at him.

"F*** you, Steve," he spits, yanking the door open.

"Why me when we both know you'd rather do Pietro?"

Bucky fingers him before stepping out and slamming the door hard behind him. The glass shatters but he storms off. He makes it halfway down the street before realising he had nowhere to go, no way was he going back to Steve, and he wasn't ready to see Pietro after that. He'd forgotten his shoes and jacket, his wallet was back in their place, and it was just starting to rain. He yanks the ring he always wore off. They'd gotten each other promise rings, a promise to be there for each other, no matter what. It was their end of the line promise.

As he walked down the street and it started to pour, he thought hard and the more he thought the more angry he became. He was absolutely fuming and felt grateful for the cold rain on his burning face.

D'you wanna take another crack at killing me? You missed the first time you tried.

Steve's words echoed in his mind and he growled low in his throat. He couldn't believe he'd said that. Though the brunette himself thought he said some pretty nasty things. He tried to shoved it to the back of his mind but their fight would not go away. So he dwelt on it. He shoves his hands into his pockets and feels something round and cool in his right pocket. He pulls it out to find his ring and his heart dropped into his stomach.

He swallows the lump in his throat and slides the ring back into his pocket. He wasn't going to cry, he wasn't going to cry, he wasn't going to- a sob burst forth and he shoved his fist into his mouth and bit down on his knuckle. Blinking hard, he continued on his way, trying to breathe evenly. He was not going to cry.

////

Steve paces around the living room, his hands curled into fists. His mind was whirling, did he really just lose Bucky? Again? He... he just lost him. He looks down at his promise ring and swallows. They'd promised. He'd promised him.

"Steve you piece of-" he cuts himself short and clenches his jaw. He curses and looks out the window at the storm. There was a knot in his stomach that wasn't going away. He lost Bucky and there was no getting him back. He'd lost him again. He couldn't believe it. He'd lost his only friend in the world.

He curses again and heads upstairs.

////

Bucky sits with a thump onto a park bench, he was soaked through and shivering but he didn't care. He figured if he was lucky he'd die of pneumonia before morning. He curls up, wrapping his arms around his torso and tucking his legs up close. He closes his eyes tightly and shivers. It was going to be a very long night.

////

Steve couldn't sleep. His mind wouldn't let him. He sits up in the living room, staring down at the floor. He fiddled with his ring, running his fingers over it, and cursed himself. Before he knew it, the time was seven in the morning and Sam was knocking at the door. Steve sighs and gets up then pulls the door open, rubbing his face with his free hand.

"Ready for our run?" Sam asks, looking at him with a grin ready on his face, but it quickly turns into a look of worry. Steve looked exhausted, he had tried to sleep but it just wasn't gonna happen. "Cap? What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm just- tired, is all," he mumbles, stepping aside to let Sam in. He watches the blonde carefully, concern clear on his face.

"Dude, you look done. What kept you up?" Sam frowns, crossing his arms. Steve doesn't respond and pulls the fridge door open. Sam closes it and stands in the blondes' way.

"Bucky-" Steve pauses for a second, sighing. "We, uh, got into a fight and... He left."

"No way, man," Sam says quietly, watching him.

"It was my fault, I-" his voice cracks and he swallows.

"You should try to get some rest, okay?" Sam sighs, he takes him by the shoulders and guides him upstairs.

"I did," Steve replies.

"Just try again. I'll see you later, man. Feel free to call me whenever, alright?"

"Right," Steve sighs. "Thanks."

"I'm right here for you, pal," Sam assures before heading back downstairs and out his door. Steve sighs heavily and stares up at the ceiling, a lump slowly closed his throat shut and he swallowed hard.

////

Months pass by and Bucky still hadn't found himself a place to live. He tried sleeping around outside; everybody took him as a hobo. He supposed he was a hobo, now, sleeping on park benches, his clothes dirty and dank.

His stomach rumbles and he sighs softly, running his fingers over the smooth metal ring in his hand. He gets up off of the park bench and his legs nearly give out beneath him, he stumbles then pushes himself up. He stumbles down the street, his hands shoved into his pockets. He'd managed to find some ratty old sneakers in a garbage bin, riddled with holes and the soles peeling from them. It was better than nothing, though.

He still thought about their fight and many times considered going back and apologising, but he figured either Steve hated him or he'd moved on by now. He thought either was totally plausible.

"James?" A voice asks incredulously and the brunette raises his head, then his eyes widen.

"P-Pietro?" He stutters, his cheeks growing red knowing what a sight he must look. The Sokovian looked distressed.

"What happened to you, where have you been?" He asks and Bucky lowers his gaze again, anxiously forming fists with his hands. He doesn't bother answering, the answer was pretty obvious anyway. Pietro wraps an arm around his shoulders and leads him down the street to his place. Bucky slides his ring back into his pocket.

////

Bucky was partially right; Steve had moved on. Well, he was trying to. He didn't find anyone else, of course not, but he was trying to convince himself it wasn't all his fault, he didn't make the worst mistake of his life, he was right in his ways. Didn't work so well.

"Hey, Steve, I'm gonna go visit a friend in a while. She'd be totally fine with it if you tagged along," Sam invites, looking at the blonde.

"She wouldn't mind?" Steve double checks and Sam nods.

"Of course not. She lives with her brother, but, I don't think he'll mind either," Sam assures and Steve nods slowly.

"Alright," Steve agrees, just for the fact that he knew he needed to get out of the house. Sam grins and the blonde smiles slightly back at him.

Twenty minutes later they were on their way over to her house. Steve instantly got anxious when he saw that it was indeed the Maximoff's place.

"I can't be here," Steve says, and Sam looks at him.

"Why not?"

"I just- I can't." He couldn't think of  way to tell him why it would just be... just horrible. Before he could leave, the door opened and they were being ushered inside, he didn't wanna be there, that was the last place he wanted to be.

Bucky stares at Steve, silent, wondering what he should do. Panic, break down? Shrug it off, pretend they'd never fought? Go change out of Pietro's pajama bottoms and shirt? He was contemplating all of these but before he could settle on one he and Steve made eye contact. Bucky holds his gaze and swallows.

Sam, Wanda and Pietro all backtracked out of the tense situation. Wanda excused herself to make some drinks and Pietro accompanied her, Sam tagged along.

"Uhm. Hi," Steve says just to break the silence, Bucky noticed how he was doing the fist thing again, curling and uncurling, like he'd always done. He doesn't answer. "So, uh."

"So," Bucky repeats, looking down at the floor. "Uh, how's life been?" He asks then cringes. Probably not smart. Indeed, Steve looked a little flustered.

"It's been-" he considers telling the truth, but that wasn't quite an option. "Fine. It's been fine."

"I know when you're lying," Bucky reminds him quietly and Steve fiddles with his hands. "If it makes you feel any better it's been hard on the Winter Soldier, too," He adds, forcing some venom back into his voice, because he could not let his guard down or let Steve back in.

"Buck-"

"Save me from your crap, Rogers. I don't wanna hear it." Yes, he did want to hear it. He wanted an apology so he could apologise and so they could at least be friends again. Steve fell silent so Bucky huffed a breath. "Pietro and I, are, uh," he pauses, watching the blonde's face, gauging his reaction. "We're together," He says finally, and Steve seemed to slump a little. Nothing noticeable unless you were looking for the small things. Which Bucky, at the time, was.

"Oh. Well, that's uh, fine."

"It's... Fine?" Bucky repeats slowly, raising an eyebrow. A part of him wanted it not to be okay, a selfish part of him that wanted Steve to be jealous. He told himself that was bad, though.

Steve nods his head. You idiot! Tell him the truth! He scolded himself mentally.

"So why are you here?" Bucky asks, fiddling with the ring in his pocket.

"Sam invited me," Steve sighs and the brunette nods a little.

"Oh," he replies just to fill the silence. It was too awkward, too formal between them. Bucky thought maybe he'd be fine after several months, but, here it proved he wasn't. Part of him wanted to shout at Steve, shake him, tell him just how much he messed up, and the other part just wanted to go over, hug him as hard as he could, apologise and make everything fine. He knew that would never happen, however, and had accepted the fact months ago.

"I got drinks!" Wanda announces a little too loudly, coming in with a few then placing them on the table. Bucky stepped back a little as the rest filed in and Steve started absently chatting with Sam.

"James? Are you okay?" Pietro asks and the brunette turns to look at him. He sighs and half heartedly wraps his arms around him, then relaxes when he feels Pietro hug him back. Pietro kisses his head and Bucky closes his eyes, willing the memory of being with Steve to fade. How ironic, the Winter Soldier finally made a memory he had to keep forever.

////

"I'm sorry, man. I had no idea," Sam pipes up in the silence of the car ride home. Steve says nothing, just keeps his gaze out the window. He saw Pietro and Bucky together, and he didn't know either to be a little jealous of the brunettes' ability to move on when he couldn't, or be disgusted by watching them together. He figured the first one was probably more accurate.

"Thanks for the ride, Sam," Steve says as the car stops in front of his place. He unbuckles then climbs out.

"Don't worry 'bout it," Sam assures, giving him a small smile, though it didn't reach his eyes. Steve smiles slightly back at him before disappearing into his own place.

////

Bucky lies awake that night, staring up at the plain white ceiling and counting the little blemishes. Over three thousand and he still couldn't get his mind to turn off. It was particularly annoying when a certain someone stuck around.

He picks his ring up from the bedside table and runs it through his fingers, and he sighs softly. He recalled the words they said, and their fight seemed so stupid now that he was looking back on it. He groans when he realises what a jerk he must've looked like today in front of Steve. 'No, no, I'm not sleeping with Pietro. Really. But now that you're out of the picture, surprise! I am!' He was terrible.

He flops a pillow over his face and feels Pietro stir beside him. He was clinging to his waist, none too gently, as if he would slip from his grasp at any given moment. Bucky sighs again against the pillow.

////

Steve picks up his phone when it rings and answers it, pressing it to his ear.

"Hello?"

"New mission, Cap," Fury replies. Steve paces a little around his living room. "It's just downtown, a couple Hydra agents have crawled out of their caves and decided to cause some trouble. You up for it?"

"I'll be there," Steve informs, already heading upstairs to grab his shield and get into his uniform.

"Good." Fury hangs up and Steve tosses his phone onto the bed. He picks his shield up from beside the bedside table and notices his ring. He pauses for a second before grabbing it and sliding it onto his finger. He gets ready to go and heads out the door.

////

Steve ducks beneath his shield as debris rains down, dust whirling through the air. He rolls to avoid an attack then throws his shield at the enemies, knocking them to the ground in one swoop. It boomerangs back to him and he grabs it then ducks behind it.

He hears cursing and tries to see where it's coming from. His heart both dropped and rose when he saw Bucky, decked out in his Winter Soldier gear, fighting enemies hand to hand. With a small sigh Steve jogs over to him and the source of the fighting. Bucky uses his metal arm as a shield when the agents fire at him, the bullets ping off of his arm. When he sees the shield go flying past his head he turns and sees the blonde.

He opens his mouth but Steve beats him to it.

"What the h*** are you doing here?"

"Fighting, like the Winter Soldier in me told me to do," he snarls back, grabbing an agent and tossing him over to Steve, who kicks him in the chest then the agent falls over but goes to shoot him so Steve kicks him in the head.

"You're not supposed to be here," Steve answers, tossing him the shield when he's fired at. Bucky quickly ducks behind it and fires around it, taking out the agents.

"I don't care. Take your stupid shield back." He scowls, whipping it at the blonde, who catches it easily.

"That stupid shield just saved your *ss," Steve growls, pulling it onto his arm. Bucky tosses a grenade at the oncoming agents then Steve grabs his arm and pulls him behind the shield as the grenade detonates. It explodes, sending dirt and debris flying around them, and Steve pulls Bucky a little closer. The brunette doesn't seem to mind, huddled close against him.

After a second or two Bucky pushes himself away from the blonde, then looks down at the ground. Steve fixes his shield onto his arm, looking around to avoid eye contact with Bucky.

The brunette notices a drop of blood drip to the ground and looks at Steve, whose side was dripping red.

"You're hurt," Bucky informs quietly, gesturing to his side, and Steve looks down at his side briefly. He shrugs and looks up at Bucky, making eye contact for the first time in a while.

"I'll be fine," he dismisses, slinging his shield onto his back. Bucky nods a little, looking around. Now was the time.

"Right," he says awkwardly. Steve rubs his neck and looks around again.
"I gotta go," Steve says and Bucky nods a little. The blonde turns and starts walking off and Bucky shakes his head to himself before stepping forward and grabbing his arm.

"I'm sorry," he blurts and Steve pauses, turning back to look at him. "I was upset and I said some God awful things." He pauses for a second. "I swear, Pietro and I really hadn't done anything," he adds quietly and winces a little, he'd just got back from doing exactly that.

"It's not your fault. I overreacted and acted like an *ss to you. I'm really sorry, Bucky," Steve mumbles, cheeks starting to burn red from shame. "I was jealous, I was upset. There's no good excuse though."

"You were kind of a jerk," Bucky agrees quietly.

"Please, you can use stronger language than that. I sort of deserve it," Steve mumbles. Bucky shakes his head a little.

"Punk," he retorts and Steve smiles a little and looks down. Bucky does a quick glance around then sighs.

"Hey. I, uh, I don't actually wish you'd died in that ocean," Bucky mumbles, looking back at him.

"I know you aren't the Winter Soldier anymore," Steve sighs, he still felt terrible about saying that.

"D**n right, Captain," Bucky replies with a small smile. Steve smiles shyly back then before he can stop himself, wraps his arms around the brunette. Bucky hugs him tightly.

"I'm sorry," Steve repeats and Bucky buries his face in his chest.

"No problem, big guy," Bucky says softly. He pulls back a little and pulls his ring out of his pocket.

"You kept it?" Steve asks incredulously, and Bucky nods.

"Of course," he nods as he puts his ring back on. He smiles bashfully at Steve, who smiles back.

////

It was finally resolved. Steve still apologised randomly about it and Bucky just told him to drop it. Telling Pietro was going to be hard for Bucky though.

"Hey, James," Pietro hums, smiling happily at him. Bucky smiles weakly back.

"Hey, Pietro. Uh, I'm sorry, but -" he hesitates and Pietro smiles sadly at him. Bucky goes to open his mouth again but quickly closes it.

"You and Steve," Pietro states and nods to himself. "I have been keeping an eye on you two, you know," he says quietly with a small smile. Bucky goes to apologise and Pietro shakes his head.

"Pietro -" Bucky starts but the Sokovian holds a hand up.

"Just make sure you're happy with whoever you choose," he instructs and Bucky nods, frankly flabbergasted. "Besides, I was always into blondes anyway," Pietro adds with a playful smirk and Bucky smiles a little.

"Alright. You take care of yourself," Bucky sighs as he gives him a hug. Pietro kisses his cheek lightly.

"You too," he hums before pulling away.

////

So, in the end, they were back together. Pietro did find a blonde - he had fallen for Sharon - and Bucky, along with Steve, moved on from their fight. They didn't talk about it. Of course, this wasn't their only fight, it's what couples do, but they had enough faith to stay together through the thick and thin. Till the end of the line.

////

Alright, so this one took me forever to do. I hope it makes sense... the swears might be a little confusing. Sorry about that.