Love Grows: Love Series 1 (demon!Bucky and pre-serum!Steve omegaverse au)

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A DAY OR TWO later, Steve met up with Sam. The pair headed over to The White Wolf. It wasn't the nicest place, but it packed the perfect punch of nostalgia. Reminded Steve of college and how the pair would hustle the alphas at billiards who thought they were better because of their designation.

"So," Sam started, taking a seat at a booth. Wiping the table off as he sat, "Tell me about your... friend."

"Oh, c'mon," Steve rolled his eyes, even though his heart was racing. "He's a friend. Nothing else to really tell. Just a friend."

"As we've established," Sam took a drink of his pumpkin lager. It was a little early for Steve's liking to have the seasonal spice in his beverages, but Sam would drink it year round if he could. "But who is he?"

Steve shrugged, taking a drink of his electric lemonade. "I don't know. We're not... close... or anything."

"And yet you were strolling through Central Park together?" Sam quirked a brow, trying to suss Steve out.

"We just happened to be at the park at the same time," Steve rolled his eyes. "It wasn't planned or anything. And then we both just so happened to be going in the same direction. That's it."

Nodding, Sam rolled the beer bottle between his hands, "And what does Hodge think of him?"

Steve shrugged, "Bucky has connections and, well, y'know how Hodge is."

Sam nodded again, but didn't say anything. Instead, he took another drink of his lager.

"I'm not cheating," Steve assured, even though he didn't feel like he needed to. He loved his husband and wanted to be with him. That was why he married him, after all. "If that's what you're thinking."

Sighing, Sam said, "I know you're not like that. I've just been... forget it."

"What's going on?"

Running his hand over his buzz-cut, Sam admitted, "Riley's been distant."

"'You think he's cheating?"

Shrugging his broad shoulders, "It's crossed my mind."

Steve reached out to give Sam's hand a comforting squeeze. His heart hurt for his friend. Out of every couple that he knew, he would've thought that Sam and Riley would've outlasted all of them. The pair was practically glued at the hip. Sure, they had been young when they got together and hadn't known each other very long before then, but they were clearly compatible. Not very many people believed that was possible, but Steve did. He blamed his parents and their beliefs on soulmates for that though.

Still, Steve couldn't even imagine Riley so much as looking at another omega, let alone having an affair. Riley loved Sam, just as much as Sam loved him. If not more than Sam loved him.

"Maybe he's just worried about work," Steve offered. Knowing from personal experience how Hodge grew distant when his head was in a role. He couldn't even imagine what it would be like if Hodge was a pararescueman like Riley and was preparing to leave on another tour.

"Maybe," Sam half-heartedly agreed. Probably just trying to appease his friend so they can talk about something else. "Have you planned your next art show?"

Dramatically, Steve dropped his head onto the slightly sticky table. "I don't even want to think about it."

"That good, huh?"

Steve flipped him off, causing the other omega to laugh. Thankfully, that seemed to break the tension and now they could just have fun. They ordered a couple more drinks, messed with the younger alphas that challenged them to a game of billiards who – just like the ones they knew in college – thought they were better than two omegas simply because of their designation. Sam and Steve sure showed them.