Avengers Imagines

Instead|Steve Rogers

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Word Count: 1892

Warnings: Lots of feels, angsty, as always

Pairing: Bucky x Reader

A/n: This is based off of one of my favorite songs of all time, Instead, by Ryan Amador. You should all give it a listen, it's amazing. Enjoy!

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He's not good enough for you, he won't don't the things that I would do

You and Steve had been friends since before the Avengers were a thing, before Loki, before Ultron, before any of it. Anytime you needed something, anything, you knew he was there to help you. Everyone on the team always thought someone more was going to happen between you, but Steve didn't have the guts to tell you how he felt. And you were oblivious to anything that hinted towards his real feelings. If an outsider had stumbled upon you two in the street, it would totally seem like there was something there. But he didn't say anything, so you didn't hear anything. That's the way things were, and he was happy with that.

That was up until recently. Lately, it felt like if he didn't say the words that had been in his heart forever they might explode out of him. He was trying his best not to let them out, but each day it was getting harder. Any time he was around he had to force himself not to say anything, for fear that might all spill out if he started talking about anything remotely related to the subject. Soon almost everyone around him could tell how much he was holding it back. Tony even tried to give him a pep talk about it but that just stressed him out all the more, so no one tried again after that.
But then, Steve found Bucky, and the split happened, and everything changed.

From the moment you and Bucky laid your eyes on each other there was an instant attraction neither of you could deny. Although Steve tried his hardest to do just that. The first time his name came up in a conversation during your weekly lunch date, his face turned into an unreadable layer of stone, and he just changed the subject. You were confused at to why, Bucky was Steve's only friend from back then, he should be happy he was back. You didn't try to bring him up again for awhile, but that didn't mean you didn't stop thinking about him. And nothing could stop him from thinking about you. The more you tried to stay away from each other, the closer you were brought together by everyone else.

It didn't long for anything to happen, after about a month you couldn't hide from the truth anymore. It started out so slow, but developed so quickly. You were by each other's sides almost every waking moment, but when you weren't with each other, you were with Steve. Neither of you wanted him to feel alone or left out. Steve seemed un bothered to you, but Bucky could something was up. Steve barely talked to him when they were alone, and even less when you were around. He noticed him staring at you when he thought Bucky wasn't paying attention, he heard all the inside jokes he would share with you when Bucky had his arm around you. He saw Steve flinch anytime she kissed Bucky's cheek or vice versa. He knew what was going on. As much as Steve tried to hide it, everyone could see. Everyone but you that is.

The team had noticed Steve was getting careless when it came to missions, reckless almost. No one could talk to him about it without him getting upset, not even you. Tony had started to not tell him about a mission when it risked anything, for fear Steve might make the problem worse than it already was. He rarely left his room anymore, just in case you and Bucky were cuddling on the sofa, or walking hand in hand around the hallways. He didn't want to see it anymore, it was getting to be too much for him. He cursed himself for waiting so long to even consider his feelings for you. And now you were going around with someone he knew was no good for you, he knew Bucky did not have a good track record for relationships. And now that his mind might slip back into winter soldier mode at any moment, he couldn't even trust you to be safe around him anymore.