Chapter Text
Bucky blinked at the man across from him. What else could he do besides blink? It was awkward.
The man looked...
Well, if Bucky were being honest, he looked sweaty.
Yes, that was the most accurate way to describe him: sweaty. And maybe a little green.
Bucky’s head tilted ever so slightly to the left as he waited for the man to say something else.
Since he was being honest, Bucky could acknowledge that this wasn’t exactly how he expected his interview to go.
Luckily, his teacher was fine with excusing him from class for Thursday afternoon to allow him to take an interview at Stark Industries. Hey, Bucky was not giving up attendance points if he didn’t have to, and besides, he was pretty sure his professor’s eyes were lighting up at the idea of ‘Stark employees’ and ‘alumni’, but Bucky wasn’t getting ahead of himself.
He was pretty nervous, but knew he looked fly as hell in the suit Steve had gifted him. How Steve found someone to show up at his tiny apartment Wednesday morning to measure him and take his suit to get it tailored, Bucky had no idea. Regardless, Bucky had it back in his hands late Wednesday evening (along with a kiss on the cheek from Steve), perfectly ready for his interview today.
The suit fit him like a glove and did an amazing job of making him look like a professional adult-type person. That, and the jacket hid his nervous armpit sweat.
Actually, he might be as sweaty as the man sitting across from him.
To be fair though, Bucky highly doubted that either himself or the interviewer expected Tony fucking Stark to breeze into the tiny conference room and drop his weight down into a generic office chair like he was just a regular guy.
Tony Stark was not a regular guy.
And, shit, Bucky was pretty sure he watched sweat literally drip down the side of the man’s face. It was only one drop, but still. It wasn’t even that warm in here, and Bucky was wearing a jacket.
“What?” TONY STARK (!!!) asked, using a hand to pull off his blue tinted sunglasses and then gesture between Bucky and the interviewer. “Don’t let me stop you. Continue.” He moved his hand back towards his face, chewed on the arm of his sunglasses for a minute (sunglasses that were probably bananas expensive, and Bucky had been wearing a pair that cost $200), before smoothly sliding them back on his face.
Double shit.
“Uhh,” Sweaty stammered at Bucky before taking an uncomfortably loud breath and gulping audibly. “Mr. Stark doesn’t typically sit in on interviews.”
“What?” Tony gasped like he was affronted and Bucky could swear that Sweaty’s hands trembled, seeing as Bucky’s resume between them certainly shook. “I cannot take an interest in the interns being hired for my company? I care about the future, you know, the youth and all that, etcetera etcetera.”
Sweaty nodded awkwardly, looking at Tony then back to Bucky.
“Speaking of youth,” Tony pulled his sunglasses back off with a dramatic flourish, and turned his whole body so that it was squared towards Bucky. “Bucky? Can I call you Bucky? How old are you exactly?”
“Um actually you can’t -”
Sweaty looked really uncomfortable with telling Tony Stark that he couldn’t do something, but Bucky waved it off. He was applying for an internship and his resume spelled out that all his previous employments happened on campus and that he was still a year from graduation. His age was fairly obvious.
“I’m 21, sir.”
“Sir? Sir!” Tony looked delighted, and turned back to Sweaty with a big smile. “Did you hear that? He called me Sir! Also, 21? Let’s talk about that for a second.”
“Umm, maybe you shouldn’t -”
Sweaty was cut off again as Tony Stark plucked Bucky’s resume out of his hands.
Tony Stark (!!!) was looking at Bucky’s resume.
Tony Stark was looking at Bucky’s resume for the open internship position.
If he hadn’t given Steve road head before, Bucky would have labeled this as the single most intense and satisfying experience of his life.
“Don’t mind me,” Tony added distractedly, eyes clearly focused on the paper in front of him, “Do what you were doing.”
“Uhh,” Sweaty cleared his throat, and even though his eyes were still as big as dinner plates, he turned back to Bucky. He cleared his throat a second time as he continued. “As I was about to say, my name is John and I’m here to conduct your interview for a summer internship with Stark Industries. You can feel free to interrupt with questions at any time.”
Bucky nodded, enthusiastically, as he made an effort to pull his eyes off of Tony Stark (!!!) who was still reading his resume.
“As I’m sure you know,” Sweaty John continued, seeming more comfortable and slightly less sweaty as he spoke words he’d clearly spoken many times before, “internships at Stark Tech are very competitive. Stark Tech is currently leading the research and innovation behind renewal and clean energy sources, but that’s not all we do. We have research divisions covering everything from medical technology to personal computers and mobile phones. Stark Tech only hires the best and brightest, from our leading engineers down to our interns. That’s where you might come in.”
“Did you tell him about our benefits?” Tony asked, like he wasn’t the CEO of a major company, like it was just a normal interview process. Without waiting for an answer, Tony looked over at Bucky. “We offer subsidized medical insurance for students hired into our summer program.”
“Uh,” Sweaty John nodded again and continued awkwardly, “I was just about to do so, Mr. Stark. But yes, that’s true.”
“Are we moving on yet?” Tony Stark/Mr. Stark/OMG-is-this-really-happening asked and continued before John could answer, “Okay, we’re moving on.”
Bucky watched as Tony Stark looked up from his resume and directly at him.
If Bucky didn't move, maybe this moment could go on forever.
“Here's the thing Buckaroo - Can I call you Buckaroo?”
“Actually, you probably -” John had made a valiant effort at answering that question, but Tony continued like he hadn't said a thing.
Like it mattered. Tony Stark could call Bucky whatever the hell he wanted to.
“The thing is that we have a mutual acquaintance, you and I.”
And Bucky, despite trying to remain still and enjoy this moment for the rest of forever, blinked in response and barely managed to hold back a snort. Who the hell did he know that knew Tony Stark?
“I'm sure your beefcake of a boyfriend has mentioned me 60 to 75 times.”
“My boy…” Bucky trailed off in surprise, his eyes widening. That was certainly unexpected.
Steve knew Tony Stark (!!!) and never bothered to mention it?! Bucky knew that Steve's company had done work for SI, but he never anticipated a connection between the two. Tony Stark was CEO and busiest/coolest guy ever. He didn't have time to hang out with the people who did his marketing.
What good was having a boyfriend who knew Tony Stark (!!!) if said dumb boyfriend didn't even mention it!?
“Wait,” Bucky paused, eyes probably as big as dinner plates, “you're that Tony? Poker night Tony is Tony fucking Stark?”
And, okay, maybe he exclaimed that much louder than he should have. And maybe that wasn't professional at all. But come on. How was he supposed to play it cool when he was sitting in front of a literal genius?
“Oh, so ol’ Steve ol’ boy has mentioned me?” Tony looked absolutely delighted by this. “Tony fucking Stark, eh? I like that even better than Sir! Did you hear that John?!”
“Yes, Mr. Stark.” John was still looking green.
“So Buckaroo - we’ve established that I'm calling you Buckaroo, right? - I'm gonna level with you.”
Bucky nodded, because again, he was sitting across from Tony Stark and he should've been acting his most professional, when in reality, all he wanted to do was take a selfie with the guy. Bucky had long arms, he could easily take a great selfie of them.
“As often as Steve waxes poetically about what I can only assume is your winning personality-”
Steve would. He was the best.
“- your slice of beef also continuously blathers on about how intelligent you are. I'm not sure if you're quite as cute as Steve described -”
“Uhh, Mr. Stark -” John attempted to interrupt but was entirely unsuccessful.
“But you have the resume to back up what he says about your interest in robotics and engineering.” Tony glanced down at his watch before looking back to Bucky and debating what it'd be like to have Bucky as his best friend, Bucky figured.
“I don't have much more time free so I'm going to make this quick. Jobs are who you know and so on and so on. Whatever. We got thousands of resumes for this position, and while I'm sure that John here will be going through all of them, you're just as qualified as anyone else. Provided no one better comes along, which they won't because they don't have a blond hunk singing their praises, we’ll be calling you.”
John coughed and turned even greener.
“Technically, our people will call your people. Not me specifically. I'm much too busy. Didn't you see the size of the building? I have a giant company to run!”
And with that, not even waiting for Bucky to respond, Tony fucking Stark stood up and breezed out of the interview room, taking all of Bucky's chill with him.
It didn't appear that John appreciated the cartwheel he did in the office, but the poor guy didn't say anything.
He was ridiculously excited about what was happening. This could end up being the best day of his life. If he knew that Steve knew Tony, Bucky would've mentioned where he was interviewing. It hadn't even occurred to him! He didn't even mind that Steve had inadvertently helped him potentially get the internship. Steve was so nice, and he had talked up how much Bucky loved robotics. That could only mean good things for Bucky.
Steve was the best.
John dismissed him, and Bucky had to call Steve and yell all kinds of excited words at his boyfriend, but first, he had one more important stop on his to do list.
Of course, he had plenty of time to send Steve a text message saying it went well, before he headed back to campus.
…
Bucky straightened his tie, because he was a tie wearing adult-type person. He looked official and legit and he was going to walk into the Student Accounts office and they were going to know he meant business because of said tie and the fact that he had a collar on his shirt.
(And because this suit looked fly as hell and he was pretty sure that the barista in the Stark lobby winked at him.)
He was going to get this figured out once and for all.
He was going to defer payment on everything and he could just worry about the sky high interest rates when he paid his student loans off at like 40. Or 80.
Either way though, it was fine.
His biggest concern was his stupid $539 lab fee because he needed that settled to move forward to Inner Working of Robotics II this summer. If he didn't settle the fee for the first class, he wouldn't get credit and he wouldn't be able to move onto the second one.
And, as per usual, his life would be over.
He figured that having a campus job meant the university could see he was making money, even if was only $108 a week before stupid taxes got pulled, and maybe they could work something out? Maybe they could take it directly out of his paycheck next semester? Or maybe they'd believe him if he said he was pretty sure he'd awkwardly nailed an internship interview an hour and a half before? Or that his roommate's friend's lab partner mentioned that he could probably hook Bucky up with a bartending job this summer that made crappy money but occasionally tipped well? Maybe NYU could see that Future Bucky had money to pay off his fees?
Whatever. He was ready to handle this like the respectable adult-type person he was. When he stopped at the Student Center for a post-interview snack, he ate his cheesy puffs with a spoon to keep the neon orange fake-cheese dust off of his fancy suit.
If that wasn't being responsible, then what was?
Really, what was? Because it'd probably be good for Bucky to know.
He straightened his tie for a second time, and grinned to himself as he thought about how good he looked in the suit. He'd sent Steve a picture message that morning, after having gotten dressed, and had been pretty happy with his boyfriend’s response.
It took a minute, but his phone had beeped, and Bucky blinked in surprise. Steve had a mouth on him, and dirty talk was easily his boyfriend’s fourth best skill, but Bucky was still surprised because so far, the dirty talk had not translated into texting. Steve only ran his mouth once the two of them got into it, so seeing ‘Suit looks great on you, Baby. I’ll make sure to keep it nice when I blow you in it tonight.’ really heated him up and went straight to his dick.
He and Steve were…
Well, they were okay. They were good?
Yeah, they were good; being all boyfriends and stuff.
Bucky could admit he was pretty bummed when he and Steve had been apart last week, but things were better. Steve had come over on Tuesday and they patched things up.
There were sweet words and compromising and a lot of face-to-face sex. Things were good, and things worked out.
And that face-to-face sex had been the best, most intense sexual experience of his life; and he had had sex on Steve Big Dick Rogers’ kitchen table.
And, contrary to what Bucky thought, nothing changed after all the sex and emotions and intensity. Steve was still Steve and he had still smiled at Bucky and wrapped a towel around Bucky’s waist before doing the same to his own so they could shower together and bask in their schmoopy insides and satisfied outsides.
Although, Bucky thought Steve looked surprised when he pulled open the door to Bucky’s bedroom, and Clint and Pete were literally dancing around the hallway directly in front of the door. Bucky had no idea where they got those party blowers, but he found the honking noise pretty charming.
Steve seemed fine with it, even gave a flat look towards Bucky, but then he noticed that Pete had the Third Base Jar in one hand and there was new duct tape covering the label. Bucky recognized Clint’s sloppy handwriting spelling “DADDY” in capital letters.
That had Steve’s cheeks warming quickly to a bright red, but Bucky shot him a look right back and explained, “It’s your fault I was moaning that at all. You’re the one that has to pay up,” he then added a cheeky grin and finished with, “Daddy.”
Steve had wordlessly shuffled back into Bucky’s bedroom, face as red as a tomato, and one hand tight on the towel at his waist. He pulled his wallet from the pile of clothing on the floor and grabbed a couple of bills.
Pete had squeezed Steve’s naked bicep as his boyfriend dropped two fifties into the jar.
Clint had honked his blower in a vaguely accusatory manner, and narrowed his eyes. Steve sighed in response and grabbed a twenty to drop into the jar as well.
As Bucky had followed his blushing boyfriend into the bathroom, his boys continued their dancing. He was pretty sure Clint cheered out, “Atta boy, Buck!” as the door closed.
So, yeah, he and Steve were doing alright. It was pretty great, being boyfriends, and Steve had texted him that morning to wish him luck on his interview. Steve was just so nice and Bucky was sure his meatball sub level of affection was pretty accurate.
Life was good.
Well, except for this whole owing college a bajillion dollars thing. But he was an adult-type person, and he was going to figure it out. Trying to project the same kind of confidence his suit wanted him to, Bucky reached out and grabbed the door handle of the Students Accounts office and let himself inside.
“Hi, can I help you?” Bucky was immediately greeted by a smiling middle aged woman wearing a nametag that read ‘Linda’. Her small desk was directly across from the door, and Bucky was 45 percent sure she was impressed by his suit.
Well, on second thought, if he took her bored-looking eyebrows into account, he was only 37 percent sure.
“I hope so,” He responded, leaning on the counter in front of the desk, smiling with his utmost Barnes charm. “I need to talk with someone about this semester’s lab fees, and setting up a payment plan for summer classes. Uh, particularly something with the smallest payments possible, or deferred payments if you have it.”
Or no payments, really. But Bucky wasn’t sure Linda or her NYU overlords would go for that.
“Alright, let’s see here.” Linda’s eyes drifted down toward the computer screen in front of her and begin tapping at the keyboard. “Name?”
“James Buchanan Barnes.”
“Okay James,” She addressed Bucky without looking back up at him and he attempted not to grimace at the use of his first name. Pretty much only Freddi and George could get away with that one, and he wasn’t a big fan of that either but he let them get away with it because he was obviously their favorite child. “I’ll need your student ID and driver’s license.”
Bucky pulled the cards out of his wallet, assuming Linda would notice the good hair day he was having in his Student ID photo, and passed them over the counter.
“Mmm hmm,” Linda hummed as she tapped more buttons, and she lifted an eyebrow before tapping a few more keys. She handed Bucky’s ID cards back to him with a smile. “Alright, looks like your account fees have been settled, including the fees for summer courses. Anything else I can help you with today?”
Bucky sighed and did his best not to pull a face. He was looking forward to having an afternoon free since he was already excused from class. He had planned on going to watch Clint’s practice with Nat, but now he was going to be stuck in the Accounts office trying to figure out how his account got screwed up. He was pretty sure that it happened last semester to that exchange student Mora was always hanging out with.
“Can you check again?” He frowned, but tried not to look annoyed.
Linda looked up, "James Buchanan Barnes, Student ID number 32557038?"
Bucky nodded, he'd had to memorize that number back freshman year when he continuously forget to carry his ID with him and needed it to pay for pizza rolls in the Campus Dining center.
"It says right here that your bill was settled Friday of last week. Did you not get an email confirmation?"
"Uhh," he thought it over but couldn't recall if he had. All he knew was he had that rude email telling him to pay or his life would be over.
"I don't think so," he continued with a shrug, "I know I got a bill in the mail but I think I misplaced that."
Linda looked marginally annoyed at Bucky's misplaced bill, probably because that's all anyone ever came to her about, he figured, but she continued on anyway. "Would you like me to pull up the receipt?"
"Yes please," he added with a grateful smile. The sooner he could point out that there was no way he'd paid any of his bills, the sooner they could set him up on the world's tiniest payment plan, and then he could be cheering on Clint, wearing the home made tshirts that he and Nat decorated last semester.
"Okay," she hummed as she tapped on the keyboard once more. Bucky heard the whirring of the printer at the back of the desk as Linda continued, "It looks like lab fees and summer courses were paid by bank transfer on Friday. The name listed on the bank account is Steven G. Rogers."
Shit.
"It appears that the courses for first semester of the following school year have been pre-paid in advance as well, although these class payments are on a separate receipt because they will be billed separately." Linda was looking up at Bucky, clearly waiting for a response. "Is this not correct?"
Double shit.
"Blemph." Bucky responded weakly and stepped back from the desk, stumbling a little, until he could plop his body into one of the empty plastic chairs off to the side.
Bucky's heart was beating a little too fast and he didn't think he could identify this feeling if he wanted to.
It's not like he did a good job at identifying his emotions on a good day; how was he supposed to do it when he was caught totally off guard.
It wasn't panic, at least. Not like before. Well, maybe there was a smidgen of panic in there. Why else would his heart beat so quickly and his hands get so sweaty?
This was too much. It was like that time Aunt Joyce bought new bicycles for him and all his brothers and sisters. They'd been sharing three hand me down bikes between the five of them, and despite how excited he'd been, his parents had insisted it was too much, too big of a gift.
There was a compromise and Bucky got his new bike at Christmas, but how the heck was he going to compromise his way out of this one?
Moreover, what if he didn't want to compromise?
This was...
Well, it was pretty fucking unbelievable is what it was.
And the worst part was, the biggest thing he felt was relief. And maybe a little sick to his stomach.
Bucky'd been terrified about paying this semester's fees. He'd devoted most of his time to worrying about those fees and how he'd pay for summer school, and Steve had paid for both? And for next semester?
How the hell...
He couldn't believe it.
Well, of course he could believe it because it was Steve and Steve was always so nice, but this was completely unexpected.
He could cry. Come to think of it, his eyes were threatening almost more than an acceptable level of wetness right now.
Steve Rogers, his meatball sub of a boyfriend, just changed his life. And hadn't even bothered to mention it.
"James?" Linda questioned, looking over at Bucky in concern, "Are you alright?"
He nodded, still fighting the shock of such a bombshell.
"Is that not correct?"
"No, no," He shook his head a little dazedly, "I'm pretty sure that's exactly correct."
He was going to give Steve the best fucking blow job of his old man life.
"Is there anything else I can help you with?" Linda was still watching Bucky with narrowed eyes, but he ignored it.
"Nope," he answered quickly, because suddenly he had somewhere to be.
Bucky stood up again, admittedly not completely steady on his feet and took the papers that Linda passed to him over the counter.
He looked at the dollar signs followed by zeros and he looked at Steve's name and his stomach flipped upside down.
Steve must care about him a whole hell of a lot to do something like this. Still, he should've told Bucky.
Bucky wasn't sure when Steve could've said something, but they had been face to face for a long time on Tuesday. Bucky was reasonably sure that he would've taken the news better if Steve had been balls deep inside of him.
Come to think of it, that was the way he wanted to receive any news, good or bad, in the future.
He folded the papers and slid them into the inside pocket of his jacket before pulling out his phone, and hitting the button to grab an Uber.
He thanked Linda and stepped back outside, appreciative of the fresh air since he was clearly breathing more heavily than normal.
When his ride showed up a few minutes later, Bucky settled in for the 25-minute drive to Steve's office.
As per what was becoming his usual, he was all mixed up inside.
The thing was, maybe this was unexpected and maybe it wasn't normal, but Bucky was happy.
Sure, he was shocked and confused and oh wait, there's some more shock, but he didn't think he'd ever been more appreciative of anything in his whole damn life.
College was important to him, his classes and his grades and his work all meant something to him. The reason he couldn't work more than 12 hours a week was because it cut into his studying time, and that was so not happening.
He liked engineering and electronics and he was super fucking passionate about the field of robotics and what it could do for the future.
All of this was important to him.
And if Steve was willing to pay the bill for it all? Well, he clearly believed in Bucky a hell of a lot.
Maybe he shouldn't be feeling so relieved - maybe he should tell Steve not to do something so mega giant huge, but he didn't exactly want to. Not having to worry about money for the next semester sounded nearly impossible, but he certainly wanted to try it out.
And, well, Bucky had always told Steve that he liked getting presents.
Actually, he really loved getting presents. He was really good at it.
Bucky was so lost in that thought that he almost didn't notice when the car stopped.
He entered the building and checked in like usual as he stepped into the elevator, still not sure what he was going to say to Steve.
Stepping into Shield was as familiar as the look he received when Pietro glanced up from the reception desk.
"Can I help you?" Pietro looked fairly surprised to see Bucky. Or, perhaps, he was surprised to see Fancy Bucky seeing as Bucky was typically in skinny jeans and neon sneakers.
"I'm here to see Steve," Bucky answered with a smile before adding a "Rogers" just in case.
"Do you have an appointment?"
Oh hell, here we go again.
"No," Bucky sighed, "but he's expecting me."
That part wasn't exactly a lie, seeing as technically Steve could expect him at any time. They were boyfriends and all that.
Pietro seemed unconvinced and Bucky didn't want to overstep, but eventually the guy waved him back and Bucky moved around the reception desk to head down to Steve's office.
Luckily, he had paid attention the last time Sam walked him back.
The door to Steve's big office was propped open and his heart skipped a beat as he heard Steve's voice. His boyfriend was saying something about 'custom analytics' and 'phase 3' and even though Bucky had no idea what he was talking about, Steve's voice sounded strong and confident and it made the butterflies in Bucky's stomach wake up.
"Steven G. Rogers," he announced as he leaned against the doorframe, attempting to look more casual than he felt.
Steve's head snapped up at the sound of Bucky's voice. He was sitting in the chair behind his desk, and Peggy was writing something on the big whiteboard mounted on Steve's wall.
"Buck," Steve's voice betrayed his surprise at seeing Bucky, but his face softened and he smiled as soon as they made eye contact, "what are you doing here?"
"I'm here," he straightened his tie, "because we're having words."
"Oh, we are?" Steve chuckled, seemingly not at all intimidated by Bucky's tie adjusting, and stood up from his chair. "Peggy, can you give us a moment?"
Peggy nodded and patted Bucky on the shoulder as she headed out of the office.
“Nice to see you again, Bucky.” Her voice was kind and Bucky gave her a nod in return.
Steve waited until Peggy shut the door, and then he was moving towards Bucky, his long strides getting him there in a few steps.
Before Bucky could do anything, Steve was on him.
An arm wrapped around Bucky's body, and he squeaked in surprise at the hand groping his ass - that was unexpected, but not unwelcome. Steve's other arm wrapped around his back, Steve's meaty hand scratching lightly at Bucky’s hairline.
Bucky felt completely surrounded by Steve and melted into the embrace. It was hard to find a place for his hands, with Steve all wrapped around him, but he eventually got his arms around Steve's tiny waist.
How had he ever even considered letting this go? Steve was fucking everything.
Steve was kissing him, hot and wet and open-mouthed, and Bucky started to kiss back once he recovered from the surprise of it. They'd never kissed like this in Steve's office before.
Oh well. First time for everything. Atta boy, Barnes!
Steve pulled back slightly and pressed a kiss to the side of Bucky's mouth. His wandering hand moved from Bucky's ass and settled on a more-respectable but less-enjoyable location at the small of Bucky's back.
“Baby,” He sighed tiredly, but gave Bucky a wide smile, “it must be my lucky day.”
He kissed Bucky on the neck and Bucky shivered in response. “First, you surprise me at the office.”
Another kiss, followed by Steve's tongue lapping at the skin of Bucky's neck for a moment. And wasn't that a wonderful feeling? “Second, you look hot as hell.”
Bucky’s eyes fluttered closed as he enjoyed the feeling of Steve's lips back at his neck. After a tiny nip, he responded but couldn't quite bring his voice to sound anything other than breathless. “‘M always lookin’ that hot, Stevie.”
“Ah, I guess you're right about that,” Steve's words were warm and cozy and he pressed a kiss below Bucky's ear, easy to do with Bucky's hair pulled back into a tight bun. “I guess I should say, it's my lucky day because I get to see you all dressed up in that suit, looking damn fine.”
“That's better,” Bucky murmured quietly, tilting his chin upwards. Steve took the hint and kissed him again.
This time Steve's mouth was closed, but his lips were still soft and he kissed Bucky again and again.
“So,” Steve smiled as he pressed their foreheads together, and Bucky felt his insides melt into that warm, schmoopy feeling in response to the open affection displayed on Steve's face. “I apologize for interrupting you. If I'm being honest, I couldn't keep my hands off you, dressed like that.”
“Huh?” He questioned dumbly, his hands now on Steve's biceps, squeezing the hard, delicious muscle there. He had no idea what Steve was talking about. He also had no idea what Steve could bench, but it wasn’t like he hadn't thought about it before; with arms built like this, Steve could probably bench Bucky.
“You said,” Steve's breath came out with a puff of laughter as he nuzzled his nose against the side of Bucky's neck, “that we were having words?”
Oh, right. That mega giant important, life changing thing. Despite being as big as a fucking planet, it was easy to forget about when he had been distracted by Steve's hands and mouth.
Bucky disentangled from Steve's embrace, taking a step backwards. Steve let him go, of course, but cocked an eyebrow at Bucky along with his smile.
Bucky wasn't sure how Steve expected him to respond to this whole thing, so he figured he'd just be honest about it. He looked as unsure as he felt and he swallowed dryly. When did his throat get so dry?
“You,” he pointed one finger at Steve, in a vaguely accusatory way, “you paid my college tuition.”
“Oh,” he watched Steve's eyes widen in surprise, which should have been damn near hilarious, since Bucky was sure he looked that surprised himself back in the Accounts office. Steve had made the payment; there was no reason for him to look so shocked.
“What do you mean ‘oh’?” Bucky stopped pointing because it seemed rude, but he continued on. “I went to try and set up a payment plan for my account, only to find out that it'd already been settled.”
Steve leaned back so his ass was partially perched on the edge of his desk as Bucky continued.
“And you,” he pointed again, “didn't even bother to tell me about it!”
“You're right,” Steve agreed and reached for Bucky's arms. He grabbed Bucky's shoulders and squeezed before pulling Bucky a few steps closer to him.
Bucky went easily because he was a sucker and because, as he laid both hands flat on Steve's chest, it gave him a chance to cop a small feel.
“And I am so sorry I didn't tell you.”
“You should be,” Bucky responded stubbornly, “I had a heck of a surprise finding out.”
“Would you believe me if I told you that I forgot?”
If it were anyone else, the answer would be a big fat no, but he knew that Steve was always honest with him.
“Steve,” he started incredulously, “how do you forget something as ginormous as that? I got a copy of the receipt; most people seem to notice if 50 grand just goes missing out of their bank account!”
Why was his voice this loud? And squeaky? Was he always this loud?
Steve shushed him soothingly and squeezed Bucky's shoulders again.
“Bucky, it's okay.” Steve's voice was gentle and he shrugged. “Tuesday of last week, when you rushed out of my apartment, you left a pile of the clothes you'd borrowed from me behind. When I picked it up, I found your bill from NYU.”
That's where it went! Of course! He knew he'd shoved it in his bag at some point, but thanks to denial, he hadn't realized that it could've ended up at Steve's.
Steve's hands slid down from Bucky's shoulders to his biceps and then forearms, giving them a squeeze.
“I know it's a gross invasion of privacy to open someone else’s mail,” and his boyfriend legit sounded contrite about it because of course he did, “but it was crumpled up and ripped in one place, so I thought it might be trash.”
Nope. Bucky had just been avoiding it and letting it get crushed under the textbooks in his bag.
“I figured it must not be important if you were able to overlook it like that, but it had a bright red stamp on it indicating that it was an upcoming bill.” He shrugged again, unsurely, “So I figured I should open it and make sure it actually was garbage.”
“And then what?” Bucky asked curiously, because seriously, what made Steve decide to fork over a bunch of cash for his boyfriend? His boyfriend who had been ghosting him at the time, even. This was ridiculous. It didn't make sense.
“Well,” Steve squeezed his forearms again, “then I saw that it was a bill, and with the date due marked as this week, I figured it still needed to be paid.”
“Steve,” he started and then paused because how could he respond to that? “Why?”
Steve seemed to know that Bucky was struggling so he leaned forward and pressed a warm kiss to Bucky's forehead.
“Well, I knew you were grappling with some pretty big feelings and fears revolving around me being in love with you.”
Yeah; biggest understatement of the year. Move it along, Steve.
“And I knew you were already nervous about your upcoming interview.” Another squeeze. “I wanted to do anything I could to help, and if paying your tuition was one less thing for you to worry about, then I was happy to do it.”
“Steve,” he stepped forward and moved his hands from Steve's biceps, to his neck, so that he could hug his boyfriend tighter. “You didn't have to do that.”
“I wanted to help you, Baby.” He rested his hands gently on Bucky's hips. “I didn't want you worrying.”
“‘One less thing to worry about’ would be you washing my sheets again,” he laid his head on Steve's shoulder as he talked, so that he didn't have to let go of the hug. “This is a mega gigantic Something.”
“Bucky, sweetheart, I would do anything I could to help you.” Steve's words were said so earnestly and sincerely that Bucky felt wrapped in schmoop. His heart squeezed and he squeezed Steve in turn.
“Steve,” he paused again because what was he supposed to say? “I feel like I should tell you no or something. I mean, I can hear my ma’s voice in my head saying this is too much and I gotta turn you down.”
Steve's smile was gentle, and his hands slid from Bucky's hips to his back, pulling Bucky forward and closing the small distance that had been left between them.
The hug was even nicer now and Bucky enjoyed the feeling of Steve's arms around him.
“But?” Steve hedged, and even though Bucky was sure Steve should've sounded serious, he could easily hear amusement in his boyfriend’s voice.
What was so amusing about turning someone's life upside down?
“But,” Bucky continued, lips twisted a bit, “I don't want to. This would do so much for me, more than you even know. Life would be so much easier and I'd have so much more money for pizza.”
“So don't,” Steve answered with a smile, dropping a kiss to the top of Bucky's head, being completely blasé about how monumental this was.
“Steve,” Bucky sighed, his head still resting comfortably on Steve's shoulder, “it's a double-shit-ton of money.”
“And it’s for you, for your education,” Steve countered gently, affection falling from his soft words. “Bucky, I like taking care of you.”
“I know, Daddy.” He responded automatically, not even thinking about it, and Steve's arms tightened slightly around his body.
“So let me do this,” Steve’s voice was quiet, but comfortable and Bucky found himself wanting to wrap all that warmth around him like a blanket.
“You already did it,” Bucky pulled back so Steve could see the teasing grin on his face and he snarked back.
Steve chuckled, “Well, yeah, I suppose you're right about that. But I am sorry that I forgot to tell you.”
Bucky bit down on his lower lip until he was sure he wasn't going to sound 17 percent hysterical. “I can't believe you're doing this. You're crazy.”
“Crazy about you,” Steve added, and OMG.
It didn't matter how fucking sincere his boyfriend just sounded, that was the dumbest line he'd ever heard. Steve huffed in response to Bucky's over dramatic eyeroll.
“That was terrible, Stevie.”
“Yeah yeah,” and there was Bucky's favorite out of all of Steve's expressions, all exasperated and fond and sugar sweet.
“So you're really doing this for me?” He questioned it one last time. It seemed like the kind of thing you should confirm.
Steve kissed his forehead again. “Anything for you, Baby.”
And at that moment, Bucky realized four very important things.
Number one - He had his boys, his family, and his classes. Those all made for a pretty awesome life. But as of the last few months, he had Steve too. And that made him very, very happy.
Number two - Going out and getting drunk on his 21st birthday was probably the best decision he'd ever made.
Number three - He was going to stay with Steve this summer, and maybe get an awesome internship. The summer before his senior year was shaping up to be the best one yet, and he was really looking forward to it.
And, most importantly, Number four - He may not love Steve Rogers, not yet, not this soon. All these emotions were as terrifying as they were exciting and confusing. But Bucky could tell you one thing for certain: although he didn't love Steve yet, one day, he was going to. He was sure of it.
“Hey,” Steve continued with an easy smile, his hands moving back to their comfortable spot at Bucky's hips, and pulling Bucky out of his thoughts and back into the present. “Now that we've got that settled, what do you want to do?”
Steve may have been referring to their current conversation, but Bucky had a much better idea.
A much, much better idea.
“Well,” he cooed out, in that playful pitchy tone he knew Steve loved. He looked up at Steve through his eyelashes, eyes bright, and pushed out his bottom lip to give the full effect of his patented pout.
Bucky ran the tip of his tongue along his bottom lip before continuing in the same tone of voice, “You could spank me, Daddy?”
“Damn it, Buck.”
