pairing: bucky barnes x fem!reader; steve rogers x fem!reader (former); steve rogers x peggy carter
summary: steve pushed you away, and you fell into the arms of his best friend.
word count: 3,239
warnings?: insecure reader, mention of steve's emotional cheating, steve's just a dick, not proofread
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Life after Steve didn't feel right. You hadn't realized how much of your life he had touched until he was gone. He was everywhere in your home. His smell lingered. His side of the closet was empty. The jack side of the jack and jill sinks was without his razor, his aftershave, his hair product. You still left him space in the driveway. You still left out dinner on the counter, absentmindedly thinking that he would coming home from the office late. His presence remained in your life. He was like a parasite you couldn't get rid of.
Even outside of your home, he was everywhere you went. All of your friends were Steve's friends. And it didn't feel right to still spend time with them. It felt like you'd be forcing them to take sides. They reached out in the aftermath of the break up, but you slowly unraveled yourself from the, dodging texts and calls until it all eventually...stopped.
You would make a life without Steve, you'd decided. It was the only way you thought that you could mend your broken heart. But, that left you without so much. Where were you to go to eat, when your favorite restaurant was one you always went to with Steve? Would you go to another grocery store in hopes that you wouldn't run into him or Peggy when you were picking up a carton of milk? Did you have to abandon all of your favorite places, your usual routes? Is that what you had to give up to know peace?
It was a lonely life, to live like that. And, at the end of the day, you realized that you could never truly avoid Steve.
Six months post-Steve, you'd found yourself at a bar downtown. It wasn't your usual scene, but your co-workers constantly raved about it. They usually headed down there after work on Fridays to blow off steam. You had always avoided those when you were with Steve—at the end of the night, all you wanted to do was to go home and relax with your love. But, he wasn't part of your life now. And you needed a new social life, so what harm could be had in going to the bar?
Apparently, a lot.
You were nursing a beer, listening as Yasmine talked about her crazy roommate who'd been trying to poison her cat, when you saw them. You saw Nat first, a flash of red hair in the corner of your eye. You turned, seeing her lean her head against Sam's shoulder, his arm wrapped around her waist. Were they together now? That was cute, if they were. Sam had been head-over-heels in love with Nat for as long as you could remember, and Nat had always said that he was hottest of all the guys. You saw Bucky next, him looking over at you at the same time. His face went ghostly white, and he looked off to the side...Leading you to see Peggy and Steve.
