Hey You (Stucky)

A Realisation

"Good morning James," Colin greeted, sitting across from him at the table.

"Morning," Bucky replied, looking up from the book he was reading on his tablet.

"How are you feeling this morning?" Colin asked.

"Better...feels nice to be isolated from the other inmates, they were giving me a hard time anyway," the brunette sighed.

Colin smiled sympathetically.

"It's for the best James," he assured him.

"You don't need to call me that," Bucky murmured.

"I prefer to address my clients with their birth names," Colin mused. "Might I ask what you're reading?" he questioned.

"The Great Gatsby. Just somethin' Steve must have put on there," Bucky replied.

"Oh?" Colin crowed.

Bucky looked down at the book on the screen, before turning it around and pushing it over to Colin. He bit his lip gently and clasped his hands together tightly, feeling his heart race a little faster than usual.

"He has a line in there highlighted. And I dunno' if it's there from when he read the book or if he highlighted it on purpose. As if I was supposed to see it," he mumbled.

Colin hummed softly and picked up the tablet, before fishing out his glasses and propping them on his face. 

"He looked at her the way all women want to be looked at by a man," he spoke.

"But then, there's another little option here," Bucky continued, leaning over to swipe the screen. "There's changes to it," he added, swallowing thickly as he sat back.

"He looked at him the way he wanted to be looked at by his best friend, a sort of adoration, something forbidden, but something he wouldn't be willing to let go," Colin read.

The brunette felt his cheeks heat up as he fidgeting with the metal plating on his metal hand. 

"I don't-" he paused. "I know I should understand it, but...part of me doesn't," he breathed out. 

Colin chuckled softly and handed the tablet back to Bucky.

"James, my boy, it's quite clear this man is head over heels for you. Have you ever thought of that?" he asked.

"Steve wouldn't-no, Stevie wouldn't swing that way," the brunette scoffed.

"It's been a long time James. Times have changed, people's views have changed. Steve himself has changed," Colin explained.

"I just never thought that-" Bucky stopped, hanging his head.

The older man lent forward and crossed his arms, his gaze fixed on Bucky.

"Do you love him?" he queried.

"I guess I always have. I just haven't been allowed to express it. Those days, back then, it was tough. There we moments that I had, where I wouldn't go with a dame. I'd sneak away with a guy. Never told Stevie, ever. You get caught with another fella' you'd be convicted of indecency. You'd either pay the price by prison or-" Bucky choked, letting his eyes fall closed. "Chemical castration, at least that's what I found out later on in this modern world. I died in '43, they started using it in '44, so, I wouldn't know about it then," he added.

"I know...I taught history before I was a lawyer. A lot of people know the story of the great Alan Turing, British of course, but I taught it in an American school once," Colin answered.

Bucky nodded understandably. 

"But now that I know it's not so frowned upon, I s'ppose it's just seeping out now. Like I can't control it. Not that I really want to control it because-Steve-he...he's everything," he gushed. "I guess I always looked at him differently as each day went along. Always wondered if I'd ever get a chance to tell him how I feel. Look how that turned out," he chuckled, weakly.