Bucky bustles about his shop, straightening and rearranging pots and bouquets of flowers. He wanted everything to look perfect. Bucky was usually a simple fellow; he loved nature, obviously, and he was a soft-spoken person. Though when it came to work, he was all business. He loved his work.

"Relax, man," Sam comments, watching Bucky dart back and forth frantically through his small shop. Bucky runs his fingers through his hair and sighs distractedly.

"You know I'm a perfectionist," he replies as he stops to straighten the brightly coloured flower pots lined neatly along the counter, decreasing evenly in size. Sam raises his eyebrows a little.

"I know," he agrees. "But the shop looks good, stop fussin' with it."

Bucky stops in the middle of the shop, tucking a strand of his brown hair behind his ear. He takes it all in and nods slightly to himself. Then he smiles apologetically at Sam.

"Sorry, I just want this to look great," Bucky sighs. He had just moved in to his flower shop and tomorrow would be the start of the business. Sam was going to help out at the counter, along with Bucky's other friend Nat, who had yet to show.

"It's great, trust me," Sam assures and smiles, putting Bucky at ease. Although he was the biggest troll in his life, Sam was his most trusted friend of three years.

"Thanks, man." Bucky walks behind the counter and looks around the shop. It was relatively small, but had a lot of large windows that let sunlight stream through. Various potted plants and flowers were bunched around the edges of the counter, while larger plants stood like guards by the door. The walls were covered with shelves, which held different supplies such as pots, bags of dirt and seeds, and several gardening tools.

By far, though, Bucky's favourite part of the building was the rooftop. In the backroom of the shop, hidden amongst the supplies, was a ladder and a trap door. This led to a patio, of a sort, with a large garden taking up half the space, partially covered by a greenhouse. There was an area for a fireplace; the brick was charred and dusty in a small circle. It was one of the reasons Bucky had chosen the place he'd chosen.

Sam looks down at his phone as it dings pleasantly to see a text from Nat. "She's on her way," he speaks, breaking Bucky's train of thought. The brunette looks up and nods.

"Alright, sounds good."

"I'll just be over next door, okay? Promised my friend I'd pop in and give him a visit," Sam continues and Bucky nods again.

"Have fun," Bucky speaks as he goes back to straightening up. Sam steps through the door and quickly crosses the street towards the brick building, covered in graffiti. As he steps through the door a bell chimes loudly and a blonde head pokes up from behind the counter.

"Hey, Sam," Steve speaks and offers him a small smile. Sam and Steve became recent friends, maybe a few months ago, and Sam learnt that Steve was a quiet character, hard to read, and had a very thick shell. Still, he was friendly and a generally good person.

"So my friend moved in today," Sam comments, tapping his hands against the counter. Steve raises an eyebrow at him as he checks over the inks.

"Oh? The floral one?"

"Yep." Sam nods. "You should go over sometime, maybe get to know him."

Steve merely shrugs as he returns to the counter.

////

The first week goes by slowly for Bucky; sending out deliveries, advising folks on proper gardening techniques, selling his goods. He gets a delivery request from the tattoo shop across the street.

Bucky fixes his flower crown - a blue one today, with soft shades - gathers the requested flowers, and heads across while Nat controls the shop.

He steps into the shop and takes a look around. A short brunette with a goatee was tattooing a young boy while his friends stood around and talked. Music filled the air, fast paced and loud, but strangely fitting. Bucky approaches the desk and dings the bell, humming quietly to himself. Steve steps out from the backroom, wiping his hands on a towel and muttering quietly to himself. He'd dropped a box of ink and it'd spilled down his shirt, also staining his hands.

"Hello, did you order a bushel of lilies and violets?" Bucky asks brightly, smiling his usual cheery smile. Steve looks up at him and stops short, then slowly finishes wiping his hands.

"Yeah, I need them to study for a new tattoo I'm doing," Steve answers after a moment. Bucky nods and hands him what to sign. Steve does so, hands over his pay, and accepts the flowers.

"That's cool," Bucky grins, tucking the paper away. He waves and wanders back out and Steve watches him go.

////

One day the blonde found himself headed over to the shop. He didn't need any more flowers, but he wanted to get to know Bucky, like Sam suggested.

Nat looks up from the counter and pops her bubblegum. "Looking for Barnes?"

Steve fidgets with his hands, unsure of what to do with them. He hadn't left his shop much. Almost never, in fact; he lived in an apartment above the building, a cozy little nook that was all his own. He nods a little and Nat grins.

She pokes her head into the back room and whistles to get Bucky's attention. He looks over at her, pausing in his organising. "What's up?" The brunette asks, straightening up. She flicks her eyes towards the front desk and he nods. They trade places and Bucky beams when he sees Steve.

"Oh, hello again. How can I help you?" he asks, smiling that same warm smile. Somehow this puts even Steve at ease, because he offers a smile back at him and rubs the back of his neck.

"I, uh, we've never been properly introduced." Steve fiddles with his hands a little then offers one to Bucky awkwardly, who smiles and shakes his hand. "I'm Steve, I run the tattoo parlour."

"I remember you. Lilies and violets," Bucky recalls and Steve smiles a little before tucking his hand back into his pocket. "I'm Bucky Barnes."

"Pleasure to meet you formally," Steve muses, nodding a little. They watch each other for a second longer before Steve glances away and clears his throat.

"Hey, could I buy some flowers?" He asks out of the blue. He wanted to keep talking to Bucky, get to know him a little, but of course, he needed a purpose. Bucky walks around the desk and nods.

"Of course. What would you want in particular?"

Steve looks around quietly, tapping his fingers against his thighs. He nods his head to the first bouquet he sees; an arrangement of white tulips, red roses and lavender.

"I grew those myself in my garden," Bucky says proudly as he hands him the bouquet. Steve looks over them and smiles softly then looks back at the brunette.

"I'll take 'em," Steve says. They step over to the desk and as Bucky is ringing up the price, he asks, "So, if I may, are they for any special occasion?"

Steve blanks completely. "Uhm, for my girlfriend," he responds quickly and for just a brief second - or maybe he was mistaken? - He swore a flash of disappointment was in Bucky's eyes. Then it was gone in a moment.

"Your girlfriend, that's lovely," Bucky speaks and smiles brightly as he hands him the flowers, all paid for. "She's a lucky girl," he comments off-handedly as he brings up the receipt. Steve looks at him quietly before looking down at the flowers.

"Thank you," he speaks, risking a glance up at the brunette again. Bucky smiles softly and nods.

"Have a good day, Steve," he replies as the blonde walks out.

////

"A girlfriend," Sam says, casting Steve a look. The blonde sighs and shakes his head.

"Why me."

"Because you're an idiot."

Steve groans and leans against his couch, running his hands through his hair.

"I mean, you'd have a problem if you liked him or something," Sam continues, opening the fridge to pull out a box of leftover cold pizza. He glances over when Steve doesn't respond to see him blushing a bright pink.

Sam stops with the slice halfway to his mouth before a silly grin spreads across his face. "You totally do! You like Bucky!"

"Stop it, you're acting like a child," Steve dismisses, but Sam giggles like a schoolgirl nonetheless.

"Ooh, I could totally ruin your life by telling him." Sam's eyes gleam with mischief and Steve shoots him a look.

"Don't you dare," he warns and Sam smirks as he finally takes a bite of his pizza.

"I'm only messing, man."

"Sam, what do I do?" Steve sighs, looking at him. Sam swallows his bite and shrugs casually.

"Tell him the truth."

Steve scoffs a little in response. Sam casts his eyes to the flowers that are resting in a vase in the middle of the table.

"Give them to him?"

Steve considers this. "I guess I could do that..."

"Then tell him the truth," Sam adds and Steve looks at him with disdain. "It never hurts to be honest," he continues and Steve sighs and nods reluctantly.

"Well, he'll think I'm a loser who can't word right, but sure."

Sam grins again. "Dude, that's the real you! I'm so proud of you, man."

Steve rolls his eyes at him. "Bite me, Sam."

Sam winks at him and hands him the flowers out of the vase. Steve smiles a little, despite being pestered by Sam, and he heads out.

////

Bucky tills to his garden quietly, humming a tune to a song he had frankly forgotten a while ago. He tries not to focus on the fact that Steve has a girlfriend; he didn't even know him, for God's sake. So really, he had nothing to be jealous about.

Bucky glances down at his ripening tomatoes and gives them a quick water before moving on to the next thing, which was a row of lavender in front of rows of newly growing white lilies. He sprinkles fertilizer and douses them with water before leaning back on his heels, wiping his brow and accidentally smearing dirt across his forehead.

The sun was beginning to set, and it was just starting to cool down. The sky had taken on an orange-pink colour. Bucky sits quietly, running his fingers over the warm dirt.

Steve crosses the street just as Nat's locking the place up. "D'you where I can find Bucky?"

Nat's eyes linger on the flowers and a small smirk crosses her face. "He's in his garden up top. I could let you up, on one condition."

Steve raises his eyebrows a little as Nat grabs his collar and brings him in close to her face. "Break his heart, I break your back," she growls before letting him go and smiling. "He's family. You hurt him, I hurt you. Simple." She shrugs and opens the shop again. Steve blinks, considers himself lucky, and scoots inside after Nat.

"It's up there," she comments, gesturing to the trapdoor. "Don't scare him."

"I won't," Steve promises. She gives him a scrutinizing look before heading to the door.

"Lock up when you're done."

Steve relaxes a little and starts climbing up, then carefully pushes the trapdoor open. He spots Bucky kneeling next to some flowers, watching the sun set.

Steve pulls himself up and checks the flowers, then curses mentally. They had been crushed in his climb to the top. Still, he takes a cautious step forward and quietly clears his throat. Bucky jumps and turns around, eyes wide and alarmed.

"S-Steve? You gave me a heart attack," he breathes, slowly relaxing.

"Sorry," Steve says sheepishly. Bucky puts his hands on his hips and sighs softly.

"So what's up? How'd you get up here?" He frowns a little.

"Uh, Nat let me up." Steve shuffles awkwardly, his face bright pink. He takes another step forward, and, not really knowing how to proceed in the proper manner, he simply holds the flowers out for Bucky and hopes he can't feel the heat radiating off of his face, red hot from embarrassment.

Bucky takes them slowly, looking a little confused. "Steve, your girlfriend..?"

"Doesn't exist," Steve mumbles sheepishly and Bucky smiles softly, looking down at the flowers and blushing slightly. Steve follows his gaze and scratches the back of his neck. "Sorry, they got a little squashed." He frowns at his own stupidity.

"I think they're still beautiful," Bucky comments and Steve smiles.

"Grown by the most experienced gardener I know," he adds and Bucky blushes and looks away, making Steve smile a goofy, love-drunk smile.

"Hey, can I show you my garden?" Bucky asks excitedly, a giddy light in his eyes. Steve smiles and nods.

"I'd love to see it."

Bucky beams and leads him around his garden, pointing out different flowers and explaining what type they are, their many herbal uses, discoveries about them, all sorts of things. He shows him the greenhouse, with all the largely growing plants, like fruit trees and potted rose bushes.

"It's beautiful up here," Steve comments as they sit beside each other along the edge of the roof. Bucky looks over and smiles warmly at him, and Steve smiles shyly back.

"It is," Bucky agrees and leans back on the palms of his hands. Steve watches him for a moment and smiles.

The sun dips beneath the horizon, washing the world in deep blues and indigoes. Steve stifles a yawn and leans back on his elbows. Bucky copies him, and within time, they end up lying on the roof side by side, and they watch the stars.

"So I hope this means you like me, or something," Bucky comments, looking over at the blonde, who had his eyes closed. Steve still smiles and nods.

"I do," he agrees. Bucky smiles, feeling giddy all over.

"I like you too, Steve."

The blonde opens an eye to peek at him and smiles. Bucky risks shuffling an inch closer, then Steve does the same, until they're pressed up against one another, feeling each other breathe in and out.

Bucky takes his hand gently and Steve blushes then rubs his thumb gently over the brunette's knuckles.

It was all peaceful, calming, and surely the start of something beautiful.

////

Two in one night. Sweet.