you & me. legal. forever.

9. Some Scary Blonde Girl

They excitedly cuddled and tried not to interrupt the rest of the planetarium show. As soon as the lights came back on, someone recognized him and a few people gathered at the exit. Bucky slipped the extremely star-struck projectionist another $100 to keep the crowd at bay on their way out. Just because it's LA, it's still something to see an Avenger. Hand in hand, they walked out of the building, back out into the warm southern California sun. As they headed back to the car, she was the first to speak.

"So, who do we tell first?" She smiled up at him. "Think Sam's gonna cry?"

"Hopefully, I mean, that was my actual goal here today..." he grinned at her. "How about we just enjoy the moment for ourselves, at least until we get home?"

"Sounds perfect." She sighed, then squeezed his hand. "I still can't believe you thought I'd say no..."

"What? I've never done this sort of thing before! What if I fucked something up? What if I did something to offend you? What if you were secretly just waiting for the right time to tell me you're leaving?"

"Is this what goes on in that head of yours?" she laughed. "Really? How might you have offended me? Are you serious about me leaving you? Didn't I just tell you I'd go back to the snow for you less than a month ago? Come on, James. Do I really make you that insecure? Insecurity is my thing, tough guy. You've got nothing to worry about. Honestly, look at you! How in the world did you pick me?"

"Hold on, me?! I'm a busted science experiment who's over 100 years old! You, you're the funniest, coolest girl in the world!" He pulled her in to hold her close and brushed his hand over her cheek. "And I mean every word when I say that I'm the lucky one that you even gave my broken ass a chance. You're everything to me, Zoe." He kissed her sweetly. "And now, I get to tell the world that you're mine forever! So there!" He laughed and kissed her hand.

"I love you so fucking much, you giant weirdo." she laughed and got into the car. "And now you're stuck with me..."

"I can't fucking wait." he grinned.

As they drove home, Bucky purposely stopped for gas. While he was filling the tank, he took a moment to send a quick message to Sam, letting him know their ETA and which playlist to put on when they got in. Sam texted him back immediately to congratulate him and asked if there was anything else they needed.

The guests were in the yard or the house, the food was set, and all that was left was their arrival. Bucky had talked Zoe into leaving the dog in the garage while they were out to prevent stink bombs in the house from the flower eating incident, to which Zoe reluctantly agreed, as long as all the windows were open. This way, Bucky could guide her into the yard through the garage, instead of going through the house and seeing people hiding.

When they arrived, Sam and Wanda corralled all the guests and waited.

"I still can't believe you did all this for me." Zoe laughed. "That poor kid at the observatory looked like he'd seen a ghost when the lights came on and he saw who you were, love."

"Still got it." Bucky joked. "Let's hope the dog hasn't redecorated, huh?" He led her through the garage, then opened the side door to the yard. As the dog ran through, he elbowed Zoe to look up from where she was checking for dog damage.

"CONGRATS!!!!!" all their friends yelled.

"You guys are the absolute worst..." Zoe covered her red face with her hands and hid behind Bucky. "All of you."

"Happy birthday, love." Bucky whispered in her ear. "Please don't kill me..."

"No one's doing any murdering here today, lovebirds!" Sam laughed. "Where's the damn ring?"