Steve takes a deep breath outside the door, feeling jittery. "Okay. Okay." He pulls it open and walks inside, and over to Nat who sits perched on the couch, eyes locked on the tv. Steve sits beside her and she looks up, raising an eyebrow.

"Hey, Steve, what's up?"

Steve plays with his hands nervously. "Hey, uh, how's it going?" he replies awkwardly. Nat shrugs, watching him. "I'm -- I'm just gonna say it." He shuffles where he sits and Nat leans forward a little.

"Go on."

"I... kinda like you. For a while, now, I guess."

Nat smiles and nods. "Really? Steve, I like you too. Have for years." Steve glances away, blushing. Nat tilts his head back to face hers and smiles encouragingly.

She begins to lean in for a kiss, she's inches away, pulling him closer, and Steve exhales as he pulls back before they make contact. Nat smirks at him and leans back.

"Nat, it's useless," Steve sighs. Nat raises an eyebrow.

"I'll say. Your flirting is just awkward," she states, crossing her arms. "I also don't think he'd be willing to kiss you if you had your eyes screwed shut like that."

Steve runs his hands through his hair and sighs. "What do I do?" he finally asks, frowning a little. Nat shrugs.

"Try for confidence," she suggests and Steve raises an eyebrow, not looking convinced. "Look, you sound like a schoolgirl confessing to a crush five years older than her. You can do better."

"Okay," Steve agrees.

////

They go through five more different techniques, none of them working.

"Would it help if I were more like Bucky?" Steve doesn't answer her, looking hopeless. Nat straightens up her posture and puts on a glare, crossing her arms.

"Hi, punk. I like blonds and I am gay," she says, trying to lower her voice. "Mrblergh, I'm an angsty assassin."

Steve tries not to smile, eventually breaking. "Oh, yeah. That's totally him."

"Your sarcasm escapes me. What is humour? All I know is the darkness of my soul."

Steve looks away, suppressing laughter, his lips pressed together tightly. "Go on," Nat says in her normal voice.

"Nat..."

"Where? All I see is two pals being dudes," she adds, resuming her Bucky voice. Steve takes a deep breath and twists to face her.

"Okay... Bucky," he begins. Nat makes a motion to keep going and whispers 'be fierce'. Steve swallows. "Buck, it's been a h*** of a couple years, and I'm just glad I haven't lost you yet. I mean -- not yet, that sounded bad. I'm glad you're just... you. Again. Um." He looks at Nat worriedly. "And... I really like you. You're my best friend, but I..," He trails off, slumping. Nat leans back.

"I can't do this."

"Yes, you can," Nat insists, grabbing his shoulders. "You can, because if you don't, you get no boyfriend."

"Look, can't I just be straight-forward about it?"

"You can try, Steve. At the end of it all, it's down to you two," she says. Steve nods a little.

"Thanks, Nat," he sighs and she smiles encouragingly.

"You've got this," she assures.

////

Steve, in fact, did not 'got this'.

He sits on the couch anxiously, playing with his hands. Waiting for Bucky to show up. All he'd told him was "be in the living room later, I wanna tell you something."

For Bucky, this set off a lot of alarm bells. Thoughts such as 'I'm being replaced', or 'did he figure out I'm gay?' Or even 'what if he knows where my candy stash is,' all floated through his head. Instead, he had smiled and said he'd be there.

So Steve waits anxiously, with Nat in the vents above, listening in. She wanted to make sure her blond did well. She wanted them to happen. She wanted them to be happy, preferably with each other.

"Oh, hey," Steve speaks as Bucky walks in, then sits beside him.

"Hey. So what's up?" Bucky asks, getting right to the point. Steve swallows nervously and shifts position, once or twice, before finally settling, his leg bouncing.

"So. Buck," Steve begins slowly, thinking over his words. Bucky folds his arms and mentally prepares himself for another Steve Rogers monologue. "I..." Steve looks at him and words fail. He couldn't think of a single thing to say. Bucky slowly raises his eyebrows, a teasing smile on his face.

"Cat got your tongue?"

"I - I -- gay," Steve blurts and claps a hand over his mouth, trying not to turn red. "More specifically, bisexual," he mutters. "I - I mean -- Buck, I really like you and you're just -- I can't speak around you, I'm not good with the words, and -- "

He pauses when he notices Bucky smiling. He goes to speak again, but Bucky leans forward and kisses him, his arms about his neck.

Steve is too stunned to pull away, and kisses back instead. Eventually they pull away and Bucky gives him a half-smirk.

"Not what I was expecting," he says and Steve looks confused.

"How so?"

"I thought you'd be a bad kisser," Bucky teases. Steve rolls his eyes before kissing him again. Bucky smiles against his lips.

////

Bucky found it humorous how awkward Steve was. They made it work, and Natasha couldn't have been prouder. They were happy until the end of the line - something they'd never suspect would happen.