When Love Blooms || Bucky Barnes x OC

Prologue

Songs: It's Been A Long, Long Time; Mockingbird

Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes had been best friends since childhood. They grew up through their years of school together, Bucky four years younger than Steve, but they were as close as brothers. Steve stayed in New York for college, in part so he could be there for Bucky as he finished high school. The other reason, was Peggy Carter.

Peggy was a transfer from England, taking Steve's breath away the first time he saw her, when he went to the college to tour it, she was there for the same one. She had asked him out when it was clear he wasn't going to, and they dated continuously throughout their time at college. The night they graduated was the night Peggy told Steve she was pregnant. It was also the night Steve left for the army, Bucky on the bus with him.

Steve was on two year active duty, rising through the ranks quickly with Bucky by his side. They were stationed away from home, deployed right away when war broke out, and at first, Steve talked to Peggy as often as he could, coaching her through the pregnancy, miraculously there for the birth of their daughter, Veronica Marie. But eventually he called less often, Peggy having less time and patience to talk with a newborn. When his enlistment came to an end, he talked with Peggy, but his mind was already made up. He reenlisted and they were back to weekly, sometimes monthly calls.

After three more years of death and destruction, when an attack on their company left only Steve and Bucky alive, Steve knew he was done. Bucky refused to leave, adamant that he was doing good and needed to continue. They went their separate ways for the first time as Steve finished out his time on inactive duty, in therapy and living in a motel until he was sure his mind was right.

When Steve came home, it was to a woman he barely recognized and a child he hardly knew. He continued with therapy, sometimes wondering if it wouldn't have been easier to stay in the army with Bucky. But little by little, he and Veronica made progress, bonding and learning how to act around each other.

Peggy was a different story, growing more distant with every passing month. She had never wanted to be a mother, something Steve had never quite understood until the day she left, not fighting for custody. Veronica was eight years old, and Steve would never forget the heartbreak of watching his daughter sob at the window for her mother.

For the next ten years, Steve and Veronica went through life as normally as any single parent and child could, with ups and downs, arguments and conversations. Steve got a job at a sandwich shop and deli while Veronica was at school, the work keeping his hands busy, the customers keeping his spirits up.

When she was eighteen however, Veronica fell into a deep depression when her best friend committed suicide. The next year was a blur of pain and grief for her, Steve doing everything he could to keep her going. Veronica spent the next two years of her life in therapy, taking a variety of medications until one combination worked. Finally feeling like herself again, she was ready to get back to her life. She enrolled in college a few hours away, and moved into the dorms. A year later she was moving into a house with her new friends, acing school, and traveling in the summers.

Bucky had stayed in the army longer than Steve, nine more years, trying to fight for a world that he wasn't sure he wanted to be in any longer. When he finally voiced his feelings, he was sent to a psychiatrist, who told him he had PTSD. Bucky understood he didn't want to fight anymore, and he completed his inactive duty, going through a few rounds of therapy before he traveled the world for another seven years, searching for the good in it. He went all across the globe, meeting all kinds of people, staying in places for months at a time. He never cared how long he was there for because he had nowhere else to be, only everything to do, and all the time to do it. He felt free for the first time in his life, but there was still something missing.

Bucky returned home for the first time in twenty years, not having been back since before the army, when his mother died. He took care of her estate and arranged the funeral. It was there that he ran into his long ago best friend, Steve Rogers. They got to talking, reminiscing about the years. Bucky spoke about his travels, and Steve told him how he was working at a deli, had been for the last ten or so years, and he was planning on taking over it, if only he could find a partner. Steve grinned and Bucky matched it, something Steve hadn't seen in years but knew like the back of his hand.

Bucky moved back that month, buying the house next to Steve and settling in quickly. They bought out the sandwich shop, renaming it R&B's Eats. They fell into a rhythm easily, always having had a natural step with each other.

Veronica had been in college for two years at that point and always came home at holidays. Bucky usually made himself scarce, letting Steve have that time with his daughter. But they still saw each other around, and grew familiar with one another. Veronica's crush on Bucky started the first time she met him, the summer before her junior year of college. She had just turned twenty four and they were celebrating with a block party. Everyone was in swimsuits, kiddie pools were everywhere, drinks all around.

Veronica walked down the street, wearing a pair of shorts over her bikini bottoms, bikini top bright in the sun. She was staring at a guy in front of her, talking to her dad, when she heard someone yell 'Watch out!' She turned, looking up just in time to see a football come hurtling towards her.

Before it hit her, a hand snapped up and caught it, tucking the football into a chest, built, with a light dusting of hair on it. Veronica flicked her eyes upwards at her protector, getting lost in a sea of blue ice. He stepped back, looked her up and down from head to toe, and smirked, but before he could say anything, Steve was there, introducing them.

As soon as Bucky realized who Veronica was, he tried to distance himself. But he couldn't resist trying to make her laugh, feeling something bloom inside him when he succeeded that he had never felt before. He left the party as quickly as could, his heart beating rapidly inside his chest as he realized that what he had been missing, searching for in people throughout the world, he found in her.