For your love

Moving in

Bucky’s POV September 2014

Breakfast the morning after his first sleepover at the Madsen’s brownstone had been uncomfortable to say the least when he had to stare into Evie’s father’s knowing eyes. Nothing was actually said and nothing had to be for Buck to know that even though they had been as quiet as possible, Stellen had obviously still heard them. It was either that or Stellen just had that dad sense telling him that he’d had sex with his daughter under his roof. After a lot of avoidance the rest of breakfast Bucky had kissed Evie and headed back to the Compound, alone. She needed to talk to her father and brother about moving out and she’d requested to do it on her own. Needless to say the male Madsens hadn’t been his biggest fans for a couple of weeks.

In the initial days after Evie’s announcement that she was moving out, Sten’s usual genial attitude towards him had become increasingly hostile. Leading to loud tyraids blaming Bucky for talking Evie into leaving before she, or really he, was ready every time he came over. It came down to Sten only talking to Bucky when he couldn’t avoid it after his sister called him out for his rude behavior. Thankfully things calmed two weeks ago after her brother got reamed out by their dad to leave him alone. Telling him that while he wasn’t thrilled with her leaving so soon after she’d been returned to them, Evie was an adult who was smart enough to know her limits. That clearly she had put thought into her decision by how calmly she had sat them down to tell them about it and they should support her. 

He counted it a win that as they’d moved his girlfriend’s things into her new apartment a couple streets away from the Tower in a building situated across from Central Park, the most he got from Sten was the occasional eye roll. It probably helped that he had handed her brother his debit card and told him he was entrusting him to kit out her whole place with plants the way he’d done her bedroom at home. As he and Evie had lain in bed later that infamous night, she’d explained it was Sten who had researched the mental well-being benefits of having plants and how touched she was by his love for her. So in a complete show of kissing ass, he’d told the kid to go wild. And did he. 

Bucky was thankful that his settlement from the government for his military back pay had been so generous because Sten had put a healthy dent in his bank account. It was worth it though to see the happiness on Evie’s face when she’d come back from her storage unit for her furniture with her dad to see nearly every spare inch of space of her empty living room filled with lush greenery and a riot of brightly colored flowers. It was worth it even more to see the shocked surprise on Sten’s face when Buck told Evie to thank her brother since it was all his idea. His brown eyes had bored into Bucky’s with an assessing expression over his sister’s shoulder as he returned her tight embrace. 

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“I have to admit that that was a slick move, Barnes.” Sten muttered from the corner of his mouth as they put Evie’s new reinforced metal bed frame together in the master bedroom. When Bucky didn’t say anything he grunted as he moved out of the way for him to lift one of the heavy sides up for the younger man to bolt the other piece in place. 

Glancing over to the open doorway to make sure his sister wasn’t nearby, Sten hissed as quietly as he could, “I know what you’re up to. You’re trying to buy my forgiveness by way of Evie. It’s only gonna work so far and that’s because I love my sister!”

Neither one of them wanted Evie to hear them so Bucky waited until the teen was done doing what he needed to so his hands were free when he responded. But how did he say this without it blowing up into a fight? Figuring the best way was to just be honest, he huffs out a deep breath and speaks just as quietly. “I wasn’t buying anyone’s forgiveness, kid.” Buck held up a staying hand when Sten opened his mouth to argue. “What I know is that us at odds for the last month is upsetting Evie even if she hasn’t said anything. So instead of acting like a child, how about you admit that you weren’t ready for her to leave and stop blaming me. Because I can promise you I never told her that she needed to move out. That’s something Evie chose to do on her own. You know your sister, Sten. When has she ever done anything she didn’t want to do just cause someone told her to?”