Lies and Empty Promises

can-do

A/N: words: 3777. so. last chapter before the epilogue. love this story with my whole heart. this series as a whole is really special to me,  i've gotten to create my own little canon of the mcu and i love it. anyway, enjoy!

"This used to be a nice apartment, you know." Sam said as he walked into his old apartment. Bucky rolled his eyes, peeling his jacket off.

"I realize that." Bucky retorted with a glare.

"That your nest?" Sam questioned playfully, pointing at the bundle of blankets in the living room.

"If you keep this up, then you'll be sleeping there. Kinda fitting, you know, with the wings and stuff." Bucky quipped back, his face serious, but Sam knew he was biting back a smile. After Sam took care of the whole Flagsmasher mess, he was exhausted. So, Bucky being Bucky (meaning: Bucky being so goddamn in love with Sam that he can barely function) he let Sam stay in his apartment instead of a hotel, or have him fly back to Delacroix. Slowly, Bucky started to regret this decision.

"Funny." Sam said, his tone flat. Bucky snickered as he poured two glasses of water. Wordlessly, he handed it to Sam, who nodded in thanks. He drank it in one go, feeling the water cool his burning lungs. Sam sighed as he set the glass down, and Bucky stared at him, worried.

"You look tired. Take the b- actually, hold on, I'll be right back." Sam was about to protest, but Bucky zipped down the hall before he could get a word out. Sam didn't even wanna know.

~~~~~~

Sam didn't need to know that Bucky was petty and threw stuff in boxes, that were thrown around the room haphazardly. He didn't to know that he never used this room after Sam left.

"Okay, I have to ask." Bucky turned around to the doorway, finding the owner of the voice, Sam, who had taken off the suit, only wearing the black t-shirt and shorts he wears underneath. "What." Sam added, gesturing to the room filled with boxes, that were filled with memories of him. Bucky would respond, if he wasn't so busy staring at Sam. He was bathed in the moonlight, looking like something out of a dream. His eyes sparkled in the light, brown eyes looking like stars. Dark skin that was probably coated in sweat didn't stop the fact that it looked as if it was glowing.

"Buck?"

"Huh?" Bucky snapped out of his daze and refocused. Sam smirked, shaking his head as he walked into the room.

"Anyway, I was going to tell you that you can take the bed, and I'll take the nest." Yeah, no, Bucky was not settling for that.

"Um, no." Bucky retorted simply, and Sam rolled his eyes.

"Oh for the love of god." Sam muttered before adding, "Don't make this difficult, alright?"

Bucky rolled his eyes this time. "You take the bed, you're obviously tired, it's fine, it's not like I've slept in it much."

"Okay, still, that's unreasonable." Sam wasn't letting this go easy, and Bucky planned to make it as simple as he could.

"You really gonna make me do this? Okay." Bucky mumbled, shaking his head, "you take the bed, I take the bed, nothing we haven't done before." Actually, the situations could not be more different. And Bucky knew that, his heart was beating 1000 beats a minute, he knows. But, if Sam is about to be stubborn, then so be it.

Sam stared at him with wide eyes and nodded his head slowly, as if trying to take in what Bucky just said. "Okay." He said slowly, and Bucky knew this was a horrible idea.

~~~~~~~

They had both showered and Bucky tossed Sam a pair of pyjamas (aka two articles of clothing that probably belong to Sam in the first place), and not to mention Bucky staring at Sam for a good 5 minutes after he got out of the shower. Professional, always staying professional. Anyway, point is that Sam was laying in a bed he hasn't seen in months, and it's clearly never seen the daylight for the months he was gone. Bucky was doing god knows what so Sam was left alone, staring at the ceiling with his thoughts.