Get Schooled

Chapter Nine: Just Chattin'

"Steve, are you okay?" Bucky repeats himself, shaking Steve's shoulder. The blonde swallows and nods quickly.

"I'm fine, I'm okay." He chokes out, mud smearing his- well, smearing his everything. Bucky lets out a sigh of relief and wraps his arms around Steve, hugging him tightly.

"You idiot." Bucky mutters. He pulls back and holds Steve by the shoulders, looking him up and down and assessing his injuries, then lets go. The brunette had a large gash bleeding into his eye from his forehead, several bruises and what felt like a bad rib, cracked at the worst. His stomach was covered in a wide, dark bruise from where he had been kicked and his right eye had a dark ring around it. Small nicks covered his face, his hands and knees, but somehow that made him seem that much hotter. In a rough and tough kind of way.

"Thanks." Steve breathes, looking at Bucky with sincerity. The brunette smirks and punches Steve on the arm.
"Anything to save your American ___, huh?" Bucky smirks, Steve rolls his eyes but smiles.

The rain was starting to slow, no more buckets but mere droplets splatting onto the ground. Sam watches the pair quietly, attempting to keep a smirk off his injured face. His lip was split in two places, leaking blood down his chin. One eye was shut and swollen from being punched there, treated like a punching bag. Steve's injuries were just a broken nose and a couple bruises, scratches of course. And, obviously, they were all soaked.

"And right back atcha, thanks for this. You didn't have to help me." Bucky says quietly, rubbing the back of his neck. Steve nods and stands up, deciding to no longer sit in the mud.

Sam checks his watch and his eyes widen.

"____!" He curses, yanking his bag up from the ground and shouldering it. Steve looks over at him, compelled as to the reason of random swearing.

"Sorry, guys, I gotta go. Mom's gonna kill me." He mutters, rooting through his bag and making sure nothing is damaged. He hurries away without another word, splashing through puddles and leaping over mud holes. They watch him leave quietly. After a while Steve raises a question that had been on his mind.

"Hey, Bucky? Why were they beating you up?" Steve frowns, looking over at the brunette. Bucky sighs and runs a hand through his muddy brown hair, avoiding eye contact.

"I, uh, forgot to pay them. For my smokes." He mumbles, eyes downcast. Steve stares at him.

"What?" He explodes, staring at Bucky. The brunette cringes at the outburst and sighs deeply, rubbing his face and smudging dirt onto his cheeks as he does so.

"Bucky, you really need to lay off the cigarettes. They're gonna be the death of you! In every literal sense." Steve stresses, his blue eyes big and staring at Bucky pleadingly, begging him to give up the habit.

"You think I haven't tried?" Bucky whispers, quite the opposite volume of Steve. The blonde sighs quietly and swallows.

"I'm sorry. But really, Buck. I could help you if you want." Steve suggests quietly, Bucky looks up at him with hope in his eyes.

"You would help me?" He repeats, eyes wide. Steve smiles and nods at his friend, who smiles back.

"Course I would. You're my best friend." Steve says, Bucky smiles.

"Thank you." Bucky hums, smiling and awash with gratitude and love. It was bubbling near his surface and he was so close to telling Steve his feelings for him, so close. He assumed that Steve could already tell, somehow.

"I gotta go back to the orphanage now, Buck." Steve sighs, looking at the brunette. Bucky nods and gives Steve a slight smile.

"Okay... well, see ya tomorrow at the dance, right?" Bucky checks, they had both agreed to go. Steve was going with Peggy and Bucky was going with Jessica. Steve nods and salutes Bucky with a smile before trudging back to his home, dripping muddy water as he walks. Bucky watches him go, sighing softly. Eventually he also heads home, not looking forward to his mothers' reaction of the state he's in. Bruised, bloody and certainly very dirty, his ma and her boyfriend wouldn't be too happy with him. But all that was shoved aside, his mind was only thinking about Steve.

Part of him thought it wasn't fair. How could the blonde turn his little brunette head, make him fall hopelessly in love with the other boy? So many others had tried and come close, but why did Steve strike a little something more into Bucky's heart? The brunette loved it the same, though. He loved Steve and was feeling almost ready to tell him. But what would he say, how would he say it?

Oh, well, I'll figure it out. Be cool about it, don't freak. Bucky thinks to himself, sighing.

Steve sits on his bed silently, sketching a detailed drawing of Bucky smoking one of his cigarettes, leaning against a shady wall. His facial features were extremely well defined, his eyes bright and lively with his signature smirk playing on his lips as he puffed on his cigarette. It was quite an impressive sketch, one Steve was really proud of.

He cocks his head to see it from another angle, checking if the perspective was all right, the shading matched up. He nods to himself and sighs softly, looking out the window, thinking when he should tell Bucky the truth; that he as a huge crush on him and frankly, fell in love with him.

Geez, Barnes, what have you done to me? Steve thinks to himself, running a hand through his messy blonde hair and sighing. He flops onto his bed and closes his eyes, humming contentedly. Tomorrow at school would be fun, he assumed. It was formal and everyone would look their best. Steve couldn't help but wonder what Bucky'll look like. Just very handsome, no doubt about that fact.