The fifth one onwards.

////

Bucky had never wanted to spend so much time outside of a flower shop than when he realised that the guy who lived in the apartment above, who also owned said flower shop, was incredibly handsome.

His name was Steve, he was relatively new to town, and he was, as Bucky's best friend put it, the only exception to dating someone in town. She even had to agree that he was attractive.

Bucky tries finding a good, appropriate time to talk to him. As he was always busy running the shop, he didn't see him much, and was too nervous to go up during work.

One day, he decides. He was going to "bump into him", casually, because Bucky wasn't weird or anything, and strike up a conversation.

He casually walks over to the flower shop and actually takes a look around. It was well lit by natural sunlight. The doors were open and potted plants were littered about, in a cozy, messy way. Bucky liked it.

"Hi, how can I help you today?"

Bucky turns to the front desk to see him standing there, smiling politely. Bucky smiles back and walks over, opening his mouth to strike up conversation, as practiced.

"I'd like a plant," is the sentence that comes out next. Steve smiles and nods, dismissing his awkward introduction.

"Well, I happen to have a lot of those." He walks out and Bucky steps back a little, noticing how much taller he is. Steve guides him around the store, explaining exactly what types of plants he has. Then comes the expected "So who are you buying for?"

"Girlfriend," Bucky says automatically and inwardly facepalms. Steve nods, a look of polite interest on his face. "I have a picture, if you want." Shut up! Shuuut uuuup. Shut! Up! He screams internally. Steve's polite smile grows and he nods.

Bucky hastily scrolls through his phone and pulls up a picture of him and Natasha, pulling dorky faces. Steve nods politely. Bucky tries not to go red in the face.

"Yeah, that's her. So plants," he speaks.

"Well, were you looking for a bouquet? I've got these," he mentions, gesturing. Bucky spots one with red roses, white lilies and yellow daffodils, and points.

"Those look great, I really love the yellow," he rambles again. Ohh, my God. Shut up. Just this once, Buck, shut. Up. Please. He continues an inner monologue consisting of berating himself and dying on the inside.

"I'm sure your girlfriend will really love these," Steve assures, smiling softly.

"Oh, yeah. She's gonna hit the roof," he agrees, laughing awkwardly as he pays for the bouquet. He waves as he exits and Steve watches him go, looking amused by his awkward behavior.

"We're dating now," Bucky says simply as he walks in, silently handing her the bouquet. She watches him, an amused smirk on her face as he tries to appear calm.

"You failed hard."

He groans and hides his face. "Nat..."

She sniffs the flowers and puts them in a vase, then crosses her legs. "Well, you know what you need to do."

Bucky makes a face.

So he ends up going back, each time intent on coming clean and really telling Steve how he feels, and each time only extending the lie.

"You're pregnant with our eighth child," Bucky gripes as he collapses beside her. She whacks his arm, rolls her eyes, and gets to her feet.

"Fine. I'm going to make a scene. Shut up and stay put."

"'Tasha, no," he warns, but the front door swings closed. He growls in his throat and springs after her.

"How could you?" Natasha cries, staring at Steve, who looks shocked. "My husband of thirteen years leaves me... for you?" She takes a huge breath. "And when I'm pregnant, too. What shall I tell my seven children, James, Natalia, Natalie, Nat, Tasha, Bucky Jr., and Jamie?"

She steps closer, sniffing. "He said you're considerate and attractive and polite," she scoffs, flipping her hair. "Well, it's a good thing I cheated on him first so he has nothing to feel ashamed about and is actually a really good person," she sniffs, turning around abruptly, whapping him in the face with her hair.

"I hope you two are happy together. Our marriage was already falling apart, I suppose, so don't waste my time by feeling guilty and apologetic." She fixes him with a cold look. "Bucky's an idiot, and this is all his fault, but truly, he's a good man. You would be lucky to have him." That was the closest to the truth she could get.

And with that, she swept out of the room.

Steve stares after her. "Um..."

Bucky bursts in, breathless. "I can explain."

So he does, ashamed of it all. Steve starts laughing and doesn't stop. Bucky looks up incredulously.

Steve found it funny, and Bucky was glad. Natasha didn't dare show her face again, and Bucky owed her big time. He and Steve did end up together, thanks to Natasha's quick thinking.

////

Steve was short, but he made it up with what he had in anger.

There was a lot of righteous anger in that skinny guy.

It decided to make an appearance when his neighbor decided to blast loud classic rock at 3:00 am.

Steve crawls out of bed, jaw clenched. He was going to give whoever it was a piece of his mind.

He formulates his speech in his head before storming over and knocking loudly on the door, arms crossed.

It takes a couple minutes before the door creaks open to reveal an exhausted looking brunet, who stood about a foot taller than him. Steve bristles at that. How dare he be inconsiderate and taller.

"Care to keep it down? Is everyone else's sleep interrupting your music?" Steve frowns up at him.

Bucky leans against his door frame, rubbing his eyes. "Trust me. This is a lot better than the alternative."

"How 'bout the alternative is you don't be an *ss, and let everyone sleep?"

Bucky rolls his eyes as he steps away from the door. The music shuts off and Steve pauses.

Bucky meets his eyes again. Steve could see dark circles underneath his eyes from lack of sleep.

"My roommate is... busy," he says in a hollow voice. Steve makes a face.

"Fiancée?"

"Girlfriend." Bucky winces, hanging his head. "Every. Night. I used earbuds but that didn't work, so..." He gestures back to his radio. "Sorry, I lost track of time. I'll, uh, turn it off." He doesn't look thrilled at the prospect of hearing the noises of the apartment instead.

Steve shuffles awkwardly, cheeks red. He clears his throat loudly. Bucky closes the door a little, so only his head is poking through.

"Hey -- why don't you stay over at my place for the night? Might give you some rest," Steve speaks. Bucky looks relieved that he's offered, but still shakes his head no.

"I'd hate to be a bother..."

"I'm sure you'd make less noise," Steve says dryly and Bucky smirks a little, nodding.

"Yeah. Sorry," he sighs, rubbing his eyes. "You wouldn't mind?"

Steve softens and he waves a hand. "I'm just across the hall when you're good to come over."

"Hey, thanks...?"

"Steve."

"Bucky."

Steve nods and offers a quick grin before retreating to his place, cleaning up some and getting the couch ready.

"Thank you," Bucky says again as he walks in, carrying a thick blanket with him. Steve smiles a little at that.

"No problem. If you need anything, come wake me or something," he muses, saying goodnight and retreating to his room.

It becomes a nightly thing, their hanging out, and on the weekends they rival Bucky's roommate for sound, with what they got up to in Steve's small apartment.

Because of course they did intense video gaming on weekends.

They became fast friends, then something more. Bucky stopped returning to his old apartment, only coming back to gather his things. He moves in with Steve and they were the most quiet couple in the building.

Except on weekends.

////

Bucky had always wanted a golden retriever. Yet, he didn't expect a golden retriever to be ringing his doorbell at ten at night, with wide eyes and a heart-wrenching face.

He hadn't expected the golden retriever to be a human version of said dog, but there he was, opening his door to a blond he was kind of friends with -- an adorable blond named Steve, who fit the description of an excitable golden retriever down to a t.

"Hey, what's up?" Bucky tilts his head at him, furrowing his brows.

"The season premiere of a show I'm watching is on tonight, and Sam ruined our tv, and I am seriously out of options." He got right to the point.

Bucky raises an eyebrow, smirking a little. "You want to catch a show. Here."

"I tried on my laptop, nothing was connecting." Steve frowns, biting his lip a little. Bucky smiles at the gesture, sighs and opens the door wider.

"Yeah. Yeah, come on in, I guess."

Steve beams and that makes Bucky smile back. "Thank you, I'll be out of your hair as soon as it's done, promise."

Sure, Bucky thinks, slouching onto the couch. Steve joins him, finds the show, and instantly settles in. Bucky can't help but be amused by his commitment and intensity.

"Want anything to eat? Drink?" he offers, like a good host. Steve shakes his head.

"I'm good, thank you."

Bucky leans back into the couch, crossing his arms, occasionally side-eyeing the blond.

Steve's eyes remained glued to the tv, and Bucky notices how he catches his breath at every cliff-hanger, how he tries not to show any emotion at anything that pulls at his heart strings, how he gets so devoted to these characters.

Bucky had liked shows, sure, but never to that extent.

The premiere ends and Steve leans back, considering what he'd witnessed, and Bucky smirks in amusement.

"I'd love to know the show," he muses and Steve lights up. Bucky relishes the sight, realising he genuinely likes Steve, his passion for something that seems so mundane.

"Okay, I have to introduce you to this." Steve finds the first episode and Bucky tries getting into it, and quickly finds himself hooked.

"And then they travelled to a dimension where angels were basically demons and in another episode, they're put inside this tv commercial and have to act their way out," Steve explains two seasons later. It was almost 1:00 in the morning.

Bucky was fascinated.

They continue watching and soon Steve finds himself falling asleep, snapping awake at the last moment, before finally drifting off, his head on Bucky's legs.

The brunet doesn't dare move, because you don't move if a puppy falls asleep on you, and Steve was no exception.

After that night, they hung out more and more, and after one time when Steve hugged him accidentally -- too excited over that same show -- Bucky looked at him and kissed him.

Well, they ended up making out on Bucky's bed. He was fine with that. And then of course, they started dating. Neither could be happier about that.

////

Steve was really tired of plaster raining down on his face whenever he tried to go to sleep.

The ceiling creaked above him, and it annoyed him to no end. He knew it would give way one day and he'd be crushed underneath.

What an embarrassing way to go: bed broke barrier and crushed local small blond boy; the thrilling story at seven.

Yeah... not the way he wanted to go.

"God," Steve groans, draping an arm over his eyes as more plaster pelts him. He rolls out of bed, shakes the hair from his face, and marches upstairs to confront his neighbor.

He knocks impatiently and gets no response. He knocks again, louder, and still, nothing. He goes to ring the doorbell when he hears the elevator ding, and a brunet steps out, a pack of cigarettes in his hand.

He stares at Steve, who clears his throat and shuffles. "Why are you in front of my apartment?" The brunet asks cautiously, stepping out towards him. Confusion flickers across Steve's face.

"You mean you aren't..?"

"Aren't what?" He frowns and presses an ear to the door, listening.

"Roommate? Whoever it is, you're raining plaster onto my bed..."

"Sorry," the brunet says, eyes still focused on the door. "I don't have a roommate. Just a girlfriend."

Steve's heart sinks and he feels a horrible awkwardness settle over him. "Oh," he manages. The brunet storms inside and the noise stops.

Steve hears talking, then shouting, then crashing and thuds. He jumps at the sounds, heart beating faster.

Seconds later, a furious blonde woman storms out, leading behind an awkward brunet, only half-dressed.

Burning with awkwardness and a sense of invading someone's privacy, Steve slowly steps forward and peers his head through the door.

The brunet stalks out and hesitates outside the door, then crumples against it, ducking his head down.

Steve stands there uncertainly for a second before hastily sitting next to him, a foot or two away.

Bucky buries his face in his hands, his lip trembling, eyes pricking with tears. "Well, that sucks," he murmurs shakily and clears his throat.

"I'm sorry," Steve speaks up. Bucky slumps.

"S'okay. Sorry you heard that, won't happen again." Bucky scoffs a little, sniffing. Steve hesitantly scooches over.

"F****** Brian," Bucky mutters, lifting his head. "We had a couple of fights and she decides Brian of all people is who -- " He cuts himself short, looking down at his knuckles. Raw from punching the wall out of anger. She had thrown his things around. He would have a couple new bruises from her.

He runs a hand slowly through his hair, blinking back tears. He wanted to just talk, but Steve was right there. He didn't know Steve, only knew him as another student who seemed like a smart guy who kept to himself. Bucky envied guys like that.

"I'm sorry you went though that." Steve pauses. "I... should probably go."

Bucky doesn't say anything at first, and Steve gets up to leave.

"You got Arknell in the morning, too?" His voice cracks. "Um -- if you could tell him I'm sick or something tomorrow..."

"Sure," Steve agrees. He slowly sits down again. "Hey -- if you need to rant or something, I'll have no idea who you're talking about, so I couldn't possibly spread rumours. If you need someone to talk to."

Bucky smirks a little. "Yeah?"

He doesn't mean to, but that's what he ends up doing. He rants for hours about how she mistreated him, abused him, ridiculed him and cheated on him, and Steve listens.

He listens silently for almost two hours, until Bucky has worn himself to exhaustion and Steve is half asleep himself.

"Thanks," Bucky mutters, trying to make himself sound genuinely grateful. Because he was, he really was, but he was too tired to sound the part.

"Don't worry about it." Steve leans back against the wall and closes his eyes. Bucky does the same, sighing quietly.

They drop off quickly. Steve never told a soul and Bucky and he became close friends, there to support each other through the thick or thin.

////

Woo! I got carried away with the first one. I think all of these were pretty good. Any favourites out of the bunch?