Just Roommates

Chapter One

The two had been friends since their freshman year of college. Steve had an art class with Y/N in their second semester, and after asking for notes and getting to know each other through a group project, he invited her to hang out with his own friend group.

Right off the bat, she fit in as if she had grown up with them from the start. Bucky had coined the nickname "Sassy" after she had proven she wouldn't fall for his customary player-like charm. The only other girls who had successfully bypassed his tactics were the ones in the group, which made her fit in perfectly.

Nat had squeezed her arm with glee after his initial introduction was countered with a raised eyebrow and a prompt, "You do know the pickup line the douche uses in those teenage movies are examples of what not to say, right?"

Their group became one member bigger that day after she brushed Bucky off for the evening and jumped into conversation quickly with the rest. Yet somehow, over time, Bucky and Y/N had become one of the closest pairings in the group. So close that when Bucky wasn't with Steve, he was with Y/N.

Bucky had graduated college with a degree in business and a minor in mechanics and took over his father's company working with prosthetics.

Y/N graduated with a degree in Fine Arts and a second major in Exercise Science. Majoring in Art wasn't an ideal job for the world, but that's why she had mapped out her college transcript to help get work on the side doing private yoga sessions while her artwork attempted to take off on the side.

Right out of college, Bucky started his job immediately with his family and soared from there. No surprise to anyone. Y/N, on the other hand, Y/N took time to travel for a little over a year. With the little bit of money she had to her name, she backpacked Europe, hitchhiked across the US, and traveled to Italy for the art. She had found shelter couch-surfing with a few artist friends she met in school who were a little more well-off.

Bucky had given her a stern talking to, worried for her on the dangerous trips she was so excited for. Hitchhiking? In the US? Backpacking in a foreign country? He was convinced she was going to get picked up and murdered. Thankfully, as a small easement to his worries, years of martial arts and kickboxing were on her side. Her parents ensured she and her siblings were prepared for the worst-case scenario after some of the things they saw in their line of work...

Still, Bucky wasn't convinced she'd be safe, but in the end, Y/N followed her chosen path and, as usual, rarely asked permission from others. To keep the anxious friend from worrying about her nonstop, she promised she would stay in contact for the whole year and five months she traveled.

She sent postcards from tourist spots, as well as off-the-map places that were so small that most people didn't know they existed. The number of places she had gone to grew into insane numbers. She was living her life the way she had hoped to after college.

Bucky's heart eased with every card and phone call, knowing she was thriving. The ache of not seeing her in person and not knowing at all times if she was safe was still there, but what could you do when you cared about a person so much?

During the time she spent finding herself, Bucky had shadowed his father's position, preparing how to take on the empire that was his family business. He studied how the company worked, learned its purpose, discovered the skills of communicating with allied companies, and even traveled himself.

That time period was a learning process for both of the friends, but one was out of preparation for what was expected of him, and the other was out of excitement through something others were against.

When Y/N finally returned home, she was living off of the $52 that she had left in her pocket. She had made little to no money working over the past year, only surviving on what she had saved before her self-discovery journey. When she was ready to find her groundings in New York, settle, and find a job, $52 wasn't a great place to start.