To the end of the line - stucky

Happy New Year

Steve began opening his eyes, feeling a lot more groggy than he did most mornings. He tried to shift, but for some reason, there wasn't much room on his bed. He wiped at his tired eyes and tried to open them and sort through the confusing jumble in his head.

He slowly took in the stone walls, and the slight smell of smoke before his memories came crashing down on him. He had crashed only yesterday, and now he was stuck in a cave with two injured legs, unable to do anything.

Before his thoughts could spiral anymore and set him into a panic attack, he looked down to see a sleeping Bucky. He remembered Bucky looking after him and instantly relaxed again. He hated that He was lost with him but loved spending all the time he could with the man.

He couldn't help but stare, Bucky looked so peaceful in the shared sleeping bag, all squashed up like a child. The creases and lines on his face didn't exist when he slept, and smooth skin took their place.

It was perfect, a beautiful peach colour with slight hints of tan around the edges and red tints on his cheekbones and the top of his nose. Slight stubble had started to show under his nose and along the jaw, and Steve just wanted to run his hands along it.

His hair was also quite long and tied in a small messy bun. He also wanted to run his hands through that, but he couldn't with the band in, and he might wake Bucky. He had no idea what he'd say if he was caught doing that, Bucky wasn't as deep a sleeper as he used to be.

Steve used to wait for Bucky to fall asleep and then gently stroke along the line of his jaw and across his cheek, feeling the soft skin underneath. Now that he thinks about it, it was slightly weird, but he doesn't regret it. He can still feel the warmth of it under his fingertips when he recalls the memory, and he does so often. Sometimes when Bucky's sat next to him on the sofa in the sunlight, Steve will feel a need to reach over and hold his face in his hands. But since he can't ever bring himself to do it, he thinks of that memory again and it's enough to stop him from obsessing for a while longer.

He pictures the man's eyes and swoons. Bucky always talks about Steve's eyes, but they're just blue, he doesn't get it. Bucky's are the special ones, they seem to have this uncanny ability to change colour. Sometimes they're this beautiful, bright blue and radiate all his happy energy. Sometimes they appear grey, never losing their hint of the sky, just hiding it a little. Steve sees these eyes sometimes when Bucky looks intently at him after Steve's ramblings about something he loves, such as a tv series with a bad ending or a book character doing something that is so not in their character.

His eyes drifted down to Bucky's plump, red lips and lingered there. They were a little sore from the man's nervous habit of sliding his tongue across them but they still looked so soft.
Before Steve could get lost in his thoughts about Bucky's lips he started to stir. His eyes crunched as he hid his head further into the sleeping bag before yawning and waking up completely. His tired eyes looked around and glowed when they met Steve's.

"Mmm, always nice to see that face in the morning", he smiles making Steve close his eyes, thinking it'll hide his grin. He fidgets about a little more before settling back down.

"Happy New Year's Eve Stevie", he said softly.

"Happy New Year's Eve Buck", Steve smiled back before making a face. "I forgot that was today".

Bucky chuckled. "Yep, it's December 31st, and there's no one else I'd rather spend it with".

Steve leant forward and gently brushed his nose against the others, as usual, returning a comment without words.

After a while, Bucky began to move. "I need to get up and get the fire going again before you get too cold". But he was met by instant protests from Steve.