(Before I begin, I just want to thank you all who have given me ideas or requests! I appreciate it SO much and you all helped me so much. I'll try to do most of these, but you have sparked other ideas. Plus, if I save some, I can use them later if I do have ideas! So thanks again!)
Ever since it came out, you wanted to see the Captain America exhibit at the Smithsonian. And now because you were dating Bucky, it would be even better to see it now. He would be able to correct things they said, tell additional stories, and just see his reaction to it all.
So the two of you took the day to drive to DC and visit the museum. It took a little time with traffic and driving from NYC to DC, but it would all be worth it.
Once you finally found a spot to park, you helped Bucky get into a little disguise. Because he had a similar look to what he had, he was worried he might be recognize, and he didn't want that to ruin the day with you. It was kind of a stretch that he would be recognized, but his face was shown a lot, second to the Captain himself. So you gave him a baseball cap and a big sweatshirt to wear for the day.
Once in disguise and at the museum, you took his hand. A reassurance that you're there and that he will be fine to go through it. While you were excited, he was kind of anxious to see it, and was worried he'd get emotional. But you were there to help him through it and make it a good day for the both of you.
----
You finally made it to the exhibit and Bucky took a deep breath.
"You ready?"
"Yeah, I'll be good," he said, a little nervous but he knew he could handle it.
And you took the step inside.
----
It was beautiful. That might not be the best word for it, but the way it was set up was perfect. Starting with the "Welcome back, Cap," quote, going into his origin story, and continuing through in chronological order.
Once in a little farther, you saw what the old Steve was like.
"Oh my gosh, he was this small? He's so cute! So precious," you laughed at the pictures of him. Bucky couldn't help but laugh too.
"Yeah, I used to be so much bigger. I kind of hate it now. Now I'm the small one."
"You're not that much smaller than he is now, and I'll love you either way," you said, smiling at the end.
"I love you too, but come on, we gotta see the rest!" He said as he dragged you further into the exhibit.
----
He ended up stopping in front of the original outfits of the Howling Commandos. You both just stared at them for a while. They were amazing, classic, and yet so similar to what Steve has now.
Then, Bucky went up to touch his old outfit. As soon as his hand glided over the sleeve, he heard,
"Sir, please don't touch the pieces."
"Oh," he was about to say that it was his, but he realized he would have sounded crazy, so he just said, "sorry."
You giggled, "Eh, it happens. But I have to say, I quite like the outfit." You hit him with your elbow.
He smiled to you, "Yeah? Well, ah, maybe I could get Steve to get it for me," he then winked.
You blushed and got very embarrassed with yourself, but you wanted to keep going, so you pulled him along to his biography.
----
"Best friends since childhood, Bucky Barnes and Steven Rogers..." Is how the voice over began when you got there. You both spent a little bit of time reading the biography, watching the videos, and going through the photos. Every once in a while, one of you would nudge the other to show them something, or you would ask Bucky about something.
Once you were ready to move on, you turned to see Bucky tearing up. He was staring at a picture of him and Steve, smiling and laughing. You gave him some time to just let it out, but soon enough, you walked over, put your hand on his back and began to rub circles.
"You okay?"
"Yeah, it's just everything that has happened since this. It all just flooded back to me when I saw this. It was a happier time, followed by some really bad times. And it just hit me," he explained.
You kissed his cheek and wiped away the tear that had fallen down his face.
It took some time, but he then said,
"Okay, I'm okay. You wanna go through the rest now?" He asked.
You just nodded. He took your hand and squeezed it, as a sign he would be okay.
----
The rest of the time was just a stroll through it. You just walked past some of the biographies, stopping to read a few, or look at a photo every once in a while. You went to a few of the films they were showing, sitting in the back, cuddling with each other.
A few times Bucky would tell you something that the museum had gotten wrong. Some story that was stretched, or something they just messed up. It was kind of cute to you, seeing him like that. He was so passionate it about it, probably because it had so much attached to him.
But after you made it through the whole exhibit, you walked back through, just to check if there was anything you missed or something you wanted to see again.
Once finished, you both wanted to go through the rest of the museum. The trip was a longer one, so you wanted to make the most of it. So you walked through the rest of it, walked to some of the other museums, and up them just hung out in the park.
Sitting on a bench, he thanked you for the day.
"No need to thank me, I wanted to see it all too. I'm just glad you wanted to. It was perfect."
"Well, I was also thanking you for helping me through it. I wasn't sure if I'd get emotional, but I did, and I'm glad it was you would helped me."
You smiled, gently grabbed his face, and kissed him.
"Of course," you said as you pulled from the kiss.
----
The day ended with your head on his shoulder, watching the sunset begin. In the middle of the sunset, you both figured you should start to head back to the tower. So you got up, grabbed each other's hands, and headed to the car.
He thanked you again in the car, you kissed again, and drove off, back into the city.
A/N Hope you enjoyed! Feel free to request at anytime!
