"Hey, I brought food," Steve calls and Bucky pokes his head out of the bedroom.

"Hallelujah," he declares, trotting over and taking the bag from his arms. He digs through it eagerly, searching for some food. Steve steps into their small, shabby room.

He and his friend Bucky shared an apartment. It was in poor shape; the taps were drippy all the time, there was rarely any hot water, they could barely afford anything and they had to share a small bed. It was a tight fit, especially with them -- they were both in fairly good shape -- but they made it work.

"Right, I'm gonna shower," Steve muses and Bucky looks at him and wiggles his eyebrows. "And no, you may not come in," he quips and Bucky pouts.

"Spoilsport," he teases and Steve rolls his eyes. They often joked around like that. "Save me some hot water," he continues. Steve gives his head a nod before closing the door behind him. Bucky flops onto the couch and it creaks beneath him, then a spring pokes up through the fabric. The brunette flicks it and huffs.

"We need a new couch," he calls.

"We need a new everything," Steve replies before the water starts running and Bucky sighs to himself. It was very true.

He flicks through the channels on their small tv, which often showed no picture at all, but springs to his feet when he hears Steve let out a manly high-pitched yelp.

"It's freezing!" Steve yelps, poking his soaking wet head out.

"Heater's down again, I guess," Bucky sighs and Steve grumbles, running a hand over his wet hair. Bucky quietly looks him over then clears his throat and steps into the kitchen and leans against the counter.

"We'll just have to deal with the cold water," Steve sighs and Bucky nods.

////

They couldn't afford to hire someone to fix it, so they just dealt with it however they could. They both agreed showering together was a no - it's not like they were totally gay or anything. So they just accepted the cold, though they really hated it.

Bucky dries himself off and pulls on the softest, warmest pajamas he owns, then shuffles towards their room. It was late at night already and Steve was already in bed.

"Move over, I'm frozen," he huffs and Steve scooches over as far as he can without falling off the bed. Bucky crawls in and sinks beneath the comforter, sighing in relief. Steve gets himself comfortable and they end up almost spooning, Bucky's back pressed up against Steve's chest. Though, this was normal for them both.

"'Night, Punk," Bucky yawns, closing his eyes. They had specific nicknames for one another.

"G'Night, Jerk."

////

"Get your butt up, we are going to dinner," Bucky announces and Steve raises his head from his sketchbook and furrows his eyebrows.

"Why?"

"Because I got myself a job and we're gonna celebrate. Duh," Bucky replies and Steve smirks and swings himself up.

"Sounds fair."

They arrived half an hour later to the least romantic restaurant they had ever been to: McDonald's. They didn't dress fancy, but ordered a bunch of food and Bucky explained that the reason was because now he could support them, which he felt proud of. And Steve, of course, was proud of him.

"So you sure everything's fine with you?" Steve checks once more. He asked once or twice every month. Bucky rolls his eyes and looks over at him.

"It's all good. I got my pal, got a job, we got food. I'm all good," he assures once more. As long as they were together, Bucky thought, he was good wherever they were.

In a completely platonic, friendship way.

So he didn't understand why he felt a rush of jealousy when Steve brought somebody else over to the apartment.

"Buck, this is Michael," Steve introduces the fellow beside him. He was short, had short black hair combed to the side, and a thin face. He offers Bucky a polite smile which Bucky returns, filled with venom.

"Pleased to meet you," he quips with a sugary smile and Michael nods.

"He's just here to work on a project with me," Steve explains, watching the brunette closely. He could tell when something was off. Bucky simply nods and grabs his phone off the table.

"Cool. Steve, I've got work in half an hour," he comments, pulling his shoes on. Steve nods slowly, watching him.

"D'you wanna see what we're working on?" Michael offers with a wide grin, obviously not noticing anything out of the norm. Bucky glances at him and Steve was almost startled to see that dangerous look in his eyes. He only saw that look when Bucky was really, really bothered by something. Still, he smiles his ready smile and shakes his head.

"No, thanks. Bye, you two. Have fun," he comments with a stab of venom clear in his voice before walking out and closing the door none too gently behind him. Steve frowns.

////

When Bucky comes back in after work Steve takes him by the shoulders.

"What'd I do?" He asks and Bucky frowns up at him.

"What? Nothing, I had work," he dismisses, trying half-heartedly to squirm. Steve had a good grip though.

"What's wrong with Michael?" He frowns, watching the smaller brunette beneath him. Bucky huffs and looks down to the side, pouting out his bottom lip.

"I don't like him," he grumbles, Steve sighs and drops his hands from his shoulders. "He looks like a punk and I don't trust him and - " Bucky huffs and bites his lip to shut himself up.

"Bucky Barnes, are you jealous?" Steve asks incredulously. He'd never seen his friend jealous before. Bucky scoffs and folds his arms across his chest.

"What? No, pfft," he replies, giving his head a firm shake. "I don't get jealous, Steve," he adds, looking at the blonde. Steve didn't look convinced.

"Okay, well, he's coming over tomorrow to work on that project," Steve mentions and Bucky nods.

"Great!" He chirps brightly and smiles sweetly before wandering back off. Then his smile drops and he scowls.

////

Sure enough, Michael comes over and Bucky does his best to ignore him. It kept itching at him though. It really shouldn't be bugging him, right? Steve and he were just friends, and Steve could be with whoever he wanted to be with, right? He hated it all the same.

Eventually, he just couldn't stand it.

"How much longer is this project?" Bucky asks Steve, eyeing Michael out of the corner of his eye.

"Not much longer," Steve replies off-handedly, not looking up from his computer from where he was doing some research. Michael meets Bucky's eyes for a moment, and he offers a light smirk.

Bucky's blood boils and he grabs Steve's arm then drags him into the hall.

Steve shrugs himself out of his grasp, frowning at him. "What's going on?"

"The punk smirked at me," Bucky growls and Steve sighs.

"Why is he annoying you so much? What did he do?"

Bucky leans against the wall and runs a hand through his hair as he sighs. "It was just you and me before he waltzed in," he confesses and bites his lip.

Steve hides a small smile and clears his throat. "So, you are jealous," he muses and Bucky turns red and huffs impatiently.

"Fine. Okay, yes. It's just, you're my Stevie," he whines. Steve looks down at the floor, smiling softly.

"You think Michael is replacing you? Honestly, Buck, you think I want another you toddling around?" Steve pauses, a teasing smile on his face, obviously kidding. "Nah, you're my Bucky, nothing or anyone could ever replace you."

Bucky blushes lightly and smiles dorkily, rubbing a hand over his face to try to hide it. Steve smiles and puts a hand on his shoulder then squeezes it briefly.

"C'mon. We're almost done the project."

Bucky sighs softly and nods. "Fine."

////

The project was finally finished when Michael extended a hand to Bucky.

"Pleasure doin' business with you," he chuckles and Bucky resists rolling his eyes.

"Glad to have the project out of the way?" Bucky responds, staring him down. Michael nods vigorously and brushes his hair out of his eye. Probably greasy, Bucky thinks to himself, watching him.

"Yeah, it was pretty easy though. Like, Steve's a great guy," Michael rambles and Bucky nods tightly. "I mean, I see why you like him so much, if you know what I mean." He sends Bucky a quick wink.

Bucky, positively fuming, swallows his anger. "Sorry?"

Michael chuckles again - Bucky hated that sound - and nods. "You know, you two seem like a great pair," he adds. Bucky smiles forcefully and nods.

"Yeah, that's my Stevie all right. Real stand-up guy," Bucky answers and Michael smirks.

"Right." He steps out of the apartment and waves. Bucky smiles cheekily before closing the door roughly.

He sinks onto the couch, a satisfied smirk on his face. That greaseball was finally gone.

Steve returns to the apartment with a new sketchbook tucked under his arm. He raises an eyebrow at Bucky's face and shakes his head as he sits beside him, careful of the spring still poking out.

"Michael's gone," Bucky speaks, his tone cheerful. Steve rolls his eyes as he flips the sketchbook to the first blank page.

"So protective, Buck," he sighs and Bucky smiles a little.

"Well, of course. Only for you, Stevie."

Steve merely shakes his head as he starts drawing.

Bucky relaxes in their broken-down apartment with his best friend, who felt like more than that, now. They were close, thick as thieves; nothing could separate them. Bucky didn't want to lose Steve, and vice versa.

They stayed together many years later.

////

Hey, folks, sorry I haven't been updating. It feels like I've had no inspiration lately and I've been very busy with work. I hope you guys like this one, though. :)