Never Go To A Stark Party

Chapter 3

A cool breeze that had appeared suddenly and out of nowhere forced Bucky to retreat back inside. Taking his time once more to stroll around the building, the brunette hummed softly. The deep tone of his voice carried the melody out far along the empty halls and ended up landing on Steve's ears.

He stopped the dull task of brushing his teeth and listened to the hummed song. Instantly, he recognized the voice.

A smile rose to his face and he quickly pressed his ear to his bedroom door to hear it better.

Bucky continued to hum, unknowing of the blonde listening closely to him and added a few soft-spoken words of the song's lyrics.

"And I think to myself..." He tapped his metal hand's fingers on his left thigh to the beat of the song. "What a wonderful world..."

Gradually, the volume of his voice rose. The old tune had been introduced to him by Natasha and had instantly become one of his favorite songs.

The deepness of his voice had certainly done justice for the song in Steve's opinion, and as the brunette continued to hum and occasionally sing a few of the words, he found himself wanting to be closer to his friend so that he could hear it better.

Before he could even force himself to stop, he was opening his door and walking to the source of the beautiful humming.

Bucky stopped walking and humming when he came face to face with Steve, who was only a few feet in front of him. He cleared his throat, a bit embarrassed at the thought of Steve having heard him came to mind and tried forcing the blush in his cheeks to go away.

"Hey... You're still up?"

The blonde nodded slowly and scratched the back of his neck, feeling equally as awkward. "Yeah, just... Just lounging around in my room. Where were you earlier? I couldn't find you."

Changing the subject as smoothly as he could once he realized how sappy and humiliating it would have been to admit that he was strolling around the halls late at night solely for the purpose of hearing his singing better, Steve leaned against the hallway wall.

Bucky shrugged in response and started walking away. He kept his eyes averted from his friend and his head up. Just being alone with his longtime companion scared him, and for reasons unknown.

"Was out on the balcony... I'm gonna go to sleep, pal." Stopping when he was ahead of the blonde, and more than a few feet away from him, he looked back at Steve. "Goodnight, Stevie."

After waving slightly, Bucky resumed walking back to his room.

Steve watched his back as he retreated. Once the brunette was out of earshot, he released a heavy, sullen sigh.

The distance that had grown between him and his friend hurt more than any bullet could. For weeks, Bucky had been avoiding Steve. He'd share only a few words with him and then run away, choose to spend time with Natasha instead of him.

It wasn't like Steve was clingy or possessive, but he was Bucky's friend. He was the one was willing to give it all up for the man, the one who would go to hell and back just to see Bucky's face for a split second. He was the one who felt the strongest for Bucky. Why couldn't Bucky see that?

Muttering depressed words to himself, the blonde walked back to his room and locked the door. He didn't know what he did wrong--he had an idea, actually--, but he was going to fix it, even if it killed him.

He fell asleep determined to mend the distance between him and his friend.

When he woke up, it was to the sound of Sam banging on his door. He groaned groggily before getting up from his comfy bed and opening his door.