The World Keeps Changing

Chapter 20

When I got back to the commons with Chuck after delivering breakfasts, Bucky was finishing his own.

"Good morning," I smiled.

"Morning," he smiled back, looking just a little let down. "You left."

"World doesn't stop because the bunk is warm, Sarge." I poured my coffee. "Though it is awful hard to leave when the soldier in it is all warm and snuggly." I gave him a playful wink, then I grabbed my laptop from the counter and took my coffee to the couch.

"Well, maybe next time I'll just wait for you to come back." He got up and followed me.

"You'd be waiting awhile." I smirked as I curled against the end of the big sectional, resting my laptop over my thigh and the armrest. "Though, I doubt you need an excuse to stay in bed all day, Mr. The Military Can't Make Me Run Anymore." I opened the laptop and went to my email.

He leaned down over me. "Not if it's your bed."

I chuckled. He sat, molding himself against my hip and side like he was spooning me, one hand across the back of the couch and the other on the armrest behind my laptop, bringing his face close. "I'm not playing with you, sweetheart. That was the first time I've slept worth a damn since the last time I held you."

My mouth went dry for a second at the weight of the silent longing in his gaze, the feeling of his warm bulk closing me in. I tried not to think about why it didn't feel threatening when he did it, why the unease in my gut didn't make me want to bolt, pushing it to the back of my mind. Then, I smiled good-naturedly and leaned up to peck his stubbled cheek, still denying the buzzing energy under my skin at his touch, the slide of his breath along my skin, with a playful quirk of my lips. "Glad I could help, Bucky."

He growled in frustration and dropped his head on my shoulder. "Mood killer."

I grinned mischievously. "I warned you."

"You did," he admitted ruefully. "Guess I'll just have to keep working on it." He settled along the couch with an air of mellow acceptance, using my hip and thigh as a pillow. I took a deep breath and purposefully pushed away the flutters under my skin. We had done this so many times before, just relaxing together and I never had to tell my heart to slow. Oh, I'm in trouble, aren't I? I shook my head and stroked my fingers through his hair as I read emails, and after a bit his breathing evened out into sleep again.

Steve came in a while later, moving considerably better than he had been the day before. Damn supersoldier resilience. He looked surprised, seeing Bucky stretched out asleep against me, my fingers lost in the waves of his hair. I looked up from my screen at him and smiled, mouthing a 'good morning'. He grinned at me like he'd somehow gotten a gift seeing the two of us comfortable again. He ate breakfast quietly and then came up behind me, leaning over the couch to kiss the top of my head before heading out to whatever he needed to do. Probably finishing the post-mission reports I'd torn him from yesterday.

That evening was movie night. Steve still kept his arm across the back of the couch, but his body felt relaxed and he pressed a kiss to my hair as I leaned into his side. Bucky gave us a look as he came into the commons to join us. It wasn't jealous or upset, but it was something else I couldn't read. He went to the fridge, grabbing a beer and then came over, looking down at us, seeming just a little unsure of what to do. I held a hand out to him and he took it with a little smile, settling on my other side, resting our clasped hands on my thigh. By the time the credits rolled, Steve's fingers were idly playing in the back of my curls, one of my hands resting on his knee, thumb rubbing back and forth in mindless comfort. Bucky's head was in my lap and my other hand rested on Bucky's chest with one of his covering it while his other casually stroked my forearm.