Two Sides of The Same Coin: Grumpy x Sunshine

Long Live

Those next two months were absolutely perfect.

For the most part.

You and Bucky were attached at the hip, you'd agreed to keep things simple for the time being. You loved each other and you were both keen on keeping things simple between the two of you. Your lives had been, and were, complicated enough.

He doted on you, held your hand as stitches and staples were removed, helped change the dressing on your wound. While you weren't really allowed to do anything, Bucky stayed with you, choosing to ground himself from missions.

Even though you told him that you were more than capable of being alone, he wouldn't hear it. He wanted to be with you.

You two used this time to play board games- Bucky was great with card games, while you were better at the traditional board game.

You watched endless amounts of TV, catching up on shows and movies that the team recommended.

You taught Bucky how to cook, at least you tried to. It wasn't easy, you sitting at the kitchen island craning your neck to see everything Bucky was doing. He had a lot of skills and talents, apparently cooking wasn't one of them. You explained to him that cooking was one of those things that came naturally to you, it was why you liked doing it. It made you feel as capable as any other person. He kissed your forehead and told you that you were as capable as anyone else.

You spent hours laying by your little garden, after you'd cleaned up the mess he'd made while you were in the hospital. You'd lay in the sun on a blanket, resting your head on Bucky's chest while you sat in the sun for hours at a time. Sometimes he'd listen to you talk about the many different flowers and plants that you could conjure. How there was no conscious thought between any of the elements you could manipulate, similar to how there was no conscious thought to walking, it just happened. It was the feeling, the different energy that came from them, it was just there and you'd always been able to do it.

It was all happening beautifully, like pieces falling into place- even as the team teased you constantly.

There was no big announcement that you and Bucky were together, no big public display of affection. It was just a quiet afternoon, it was the first weeks after you were released from the hospital.

-

You were sitting on the couch, head resting Bucky's shoulder, tracing lines in his palm. He sighed, so at ease that now everything seemed like it was going to be okay. He pecked your lips once. "What was that for?"

"Because I wanted to," he quietly remarked, paying too much attention to you to have noticed several members of the team walking in.

"Well, it looks like I owe Steve 20 bucks," Tony chuckled, pulling out his wallet and placing a twenty in Steve's hand.

Bucky sighed, this time in annoyance than relief, "You've been betting on us?"

"Wait- you two haven't been together this whole time?" Clint questioned in shock.

"No," Bucky huffed.

"No shit, really? You're sure?" he continued.

"Did you all just think we were going to be together?" you asked the room.

Everyone in the room except you and Bucky all nodded and cohesively replied, "Yes."

"Huh," you nodded, turning back to Bucky and shrugging. "They knew before we did."

-

It was a beautiful summer.

The only problem was Sam.

More specifically the absence of Sam. Every time you saw him, he was brisking through the compound, like an urgent mission had arisen or there was something important you were being left out of. And sometimes, you'd catch him with a stern look on face, speaking short, clipped sentences into his phone.

You asked Steve, he shrugged and told you that there wasn't anything going on that he knew of. Then he told you that Sam was an honest guy, he'd tell you if there was a problem.

You agreed.

Sam never gave you any reason not to trust him. He was the very person that instilled that honesty in you, and always keeping that open line of communication was vital to your relationship, so there was no reason to worry.

He'd tell you what was bothering him when he was ready.

But it just kept getting worse.

The first week, he said he was just busy. There was a bunch of reports and briefs to be done after your injury. You smiled and thanked him for taking care of it- for taking care of you. You didn't see the way Sam's jaw clenched and his shoulders stiffened as he walked away from you.

The second week, he bustled around the Compound, always on his phone, always in meetings. You told Bucky your concerns and he agreed that Sam was acting strange, he didn't know why either, he seemed fine after you left the hospital. Neither you nor Bucky were able to catch Sam's attention long enough to ask him what was going on.

The third week, Nick Fury came to see you- to check on you he said. Sam was completely MIA that week. It seemed like no one was able to reach him that week. Not you, not Bucky, not Steve nor Tony- he vanished just to reappear the following week with a strange look in his eye.

The fourth and fifth week, when you did see Sam, he wouldn't even look at you. You finally caught him in the hall during that fifth week and demanded to know what was bothering him. Nothing, he said, just busy. Everything would be fine, he promised. You were going to be just fine, he cryptically commented. You prodded a little more, asking him if you and Bucky being kind-of, sort-of together bothered him. He smiled softly, squeezed your shoulder and told you that he just wanted you happy, safe. That, above all, was what was important to him. Then he offered another cryptic comment about holding on to happiness as long as you could because you never knew when it would be over. You looked at him strangely, but nodded and told him that you missed him, that with him gone things weren't the same and you couldn't be happy without him around. He had no response to that, he simply turned on his heels and walked away.

The sixth week, your doctors cleared you for travel, which you thought was strange considering you weren't cleared for field work- there was nowhere for you to travel to. Sam was nowhere to be found again.

You had no idea what awaited you the seventh week. 

-

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May these memories break our fall...