The Pink Ghost

Thirty-Seven

The three sat in the living room and watched a movie on Steve's streaming app. Steve glanced at them every once in a while, to find Bucky's arm around her and her head on his shoulder. It wasn't anything different than when he'd hold her any other time, but he knew that their dynamic had changed.

"Guys, I've got to ask, why did it take you so long?"

Bucky and Gwen looked over at him.

He gestured to the two of them, "This. You. Why did it take the two of you so long to admit these feelings?"

Bucky suddenly grew nervous when Gwen looked at him with a soft smile.

"I was terrified he didn't feel the same. I didn't want to confess my feelings back then and things change between the three of us."

Bucky removed his arm from around her and turned to face her more, "Back then?"

"Yeah. Why else do you think I reacted the way I did when you were leaving for the war?"

"Both of us left. You said you were losing us both."

"Yes. It killed me when Steve told me he was going. Then you told me you were going, too and well, I knew my chances of ever telling you were never going to happen."

Steve interrupted her, "So, why wouldn't you tell him right then, before we left?"

Gwen looked down at her hands, picking at her nails she thought back to the day Bucky left.

"What would the point be? It wouldn't have changed anything. He'd have still left. He'd have still disappeared and declared dead. I'd have still lost you both. Nothing would have changed."

"Maybe the reunion would have been different. Maybe if the two of you had known how the other felt you wouldn't have had to leave." Steve's tone was sad. "I'm sorry. None of that stuff matters anymore. What matters is that the two of you finally gave in. It took long enough."

"How long have you known?" Bucky asked him.

He laughed at his friend, "Really, Buck?"

"I'm curious, too." Gwen added.

"The first time I questioned Gwen was when Bucky was telling us about Janet Greene."

"Janet Greene," Bucky said in a nostalgic voice, "That's a name I haven't heard in such a long time."

Gwen immediately glared at Steve.

"See!" Steve exclaimed with a laugh.

"What gave it away?"

"You tried hard to hide it, but I saw the heartache on your face when he told us he was taking Janet out."

"That was in high school." Bucky looked at Gwen with shock and curiosity.

"I know. You were getting ready to graduate. I was just turning 16."

Steve could see the questions stirring between the two. Deciding to let his own curiosity go, he stood and said his goodnights.

"Night, Stevie." Gwen stood to hug him.

Sitting back on the couch with Bucky, the two talked more about when they knew they felt different.

"So, high school huh?" Bucky grinned.

"Actually, the crush was much earlier, but that was when I realized I wouldn't want anyone other than you."

Bucky blushed, looking away as he smiled.

"I might have had a crush on you a year or two after we all began hanging out every day."