The Roommate

Lunch

"Good afternoon!" Steve strolled into your room at 1pm. You checked the time and groaned, throwing a pillow at the chirpy man who just jumped on the bed, "how are we feeling?" He handed you a cup of coffee. You shrugged but smiled at the scent of coffee.

"Super tired, my stomach hurts. Am I wearing-who's shirt is this?"

"Mine. You waltzed into my room last night and crashed on me. Scaring the absolute shit out of my body and demanded a shirt because yours ' don't fit right'"

"I have no words for my drunken self. She's a different person, don't associate me with her," you joked, "I don't really remember much but sorry for scaring you awake,"

"It's alright," Steve was so giddy to see you in his shirt he couldn't keep his eyes off you, "breakfast? Or should I say lunch?"

"Yeah, did you want to go out? There's  this great place about 2 blocks away. So cute," you offered a lunch date. Steve grinned with delight. But he had to remember he was just getting lunch with a friend, nothing more. Which means Bucky can't get jealous.

"Sounds good, put on some sunglasses it's a bright one out there!" Steve reached your door before you called him back in.

"Is Bucky home?"

"Nope, he's out...on a date," Steve felt a little guilty for telling you a little white lie but there's always the chance that you're not interested in Bucky.

"Bucky doesn't date," you snorted. Steve chuckled in agreement.

"Oh you know, just one of those Tinder dates probably,"

"Oh," you nodded, "yeah I saw his profile on there last night," you stretched, not looking at him so you wouldn't be able to tell if he was fibbing.

"You have tinder?" Steve gulped.

"Yeah but I'm too scared to actually meet anyone," you admitted nervously. He smiled, hopeful for his chances.

"Well, I'll let you get changed," Steve closed the door. When you emerged a few minutes later Steve honestly couldn't believe how radiant you looked in your sundress.

"Ready?" You asked the staring man. Suddenly becoming a little self conscious.

"Yeah. Yeah, walking?" Steve cleared his throat. You noticed he had changed his shirt, a tighter white tee. It looked really good on him.

"Yep. It's not too far," your smile couldn't bright up a room. You grabbed your purse and lead the way. For the past few weeks you had feeling so much better without your ex. Not being around him helped. But to say you were horny was an understatement, especially surrounded by your two very handsome and very single housemates. But it seems that you can't get lucky, every person you hit it off with seems to just leave or you back out, too afraid of the next step.

"So how did you find out about this place?" Steve asked, hands in pockets.

"It's along my running route," you responded, happy and chirpy, "it's a pretty small bookshop and cafe, I'm genuinely not sure if you'll even fit in the doorway," you nudged him.

"Oh shut it," Steve grinned at the teasing.

"Here we are," you announced. Stopping in front of a small baby blue and yellow building.

"It's really old,"

"It's called 'character'," you defended, "if you're a Realtor," you added. Then you spotted someone, "is that Bucky on his date?" You gripped Steve's arm and peered into the cafe.

"We should leave-" Steve began, feeling guilty for being out with you, he didn't want to get caught by Bucky.

"Don't be silly. We'll just sit over here. He won't notice," you dragged him to a table outside. Steve was curious as to why you would want to hide. The truth was that you didn't know how you were feeling, you felt some sort of.. protection over Bucky and Steve. That must be it. The plan didn't work though. Bucky pretty much noticed Steve straight away.

"Steve?" Bucky didn't spot you behind the menu, "you on a date?" Bucky ditched the girl he was with to grill his best friend.

"No! No, of course not, no. No. No-no...no,"

"Really? 7 no's." You joked. Bucky's mood shifted after he realised you were there.

"Oh hey. You two having lunch?" Bucky cleared his throat to rid himself of the voice break on 'lunch'.

"Late lunch. What about you? Enjoying your date?" You asked, coolly.

"Date?" Bucky did a double take and frowned, "No! I'm here with my sister. Bec! Come meet my new roommate!" He called over his sister. You slyly got a glimpse of his lower torso, catching the slightest bit of v. Steve noticed this but kept quiet.

"Hi! So you're the famous roommate! Mind if we join you?" The auburn haired woman asked. You grinned back, a lot happier now that...now that you knew Bucky wasn't on a date. But it's none of your business, it shouldn't bother you.

"Sure, pull up a chair," you invited them. Steve sat opposite you which meant Bucky could have the seat next to you. Why did Steve lie about Bucky? Was he worried you were interested in him and why would that bother anyone?

"How did you know about this place, punk?" Steve asked Bucky who seemed very familiar with when everything was.

"Oh I uh introduced y/n to it on our run the other day," Bucky's arm went to the back of your chair. Not touching you but Steve certainly knew what it meant.

"You run with this guy? Ugh, he must be impossible to keep up with. One time we agreed to run and he just kept meeting me at certain places just because he was fast," Rebecca seemed to be complimenting and complaining about her brother. Steve's eyes widened, she was Bucky's wing-woman.

"Yeah it's happened a few times," you admitted, "we stop here a lot but I don't really get to eat lunch."

"The coffee here is so good," Bucky bragged, "this one keeps getting iced tea though,"

"It's warm! I'm not going to drink a hot drink on a hot day," you responded and took your jacket off. Steve wasn't kidding about that sun. Seeing Bucky help you out of your clothes made Steve punch the table.

"You alright there Rogers?" Bucky arched his eyebrow knowingly.

"Just a bug," Steve swept the table to cover his tracks.

The rest of lunch was a little tense. Rebecca had to leave early so it was just you and the guys. You felt like you'd done most of the talking and kind of shyed away for a minute hoping someone else would.

"So, you guys work together right?" You asked. They nodded, "Don't you ever get tired of each other? Having to work and live together?"

"All the time," Steve joked.

"Hate the punk," Bucky smiled at Steve. He felt guilty for constantly flirting but there was something about you. The chemistry between you two, the conversations flowed naturally it was like you could tell each other anything and neither would judge because you both understand every one has their story.

"Work isn't so bad. We're not joined at the hip so we still have stuff to talk about at the end of the day," Steve explained.

"And seeing me everyday isn't it tiring?" You joked but the boys didn't laugh.

"I can't speak for Buck but I personally uh..."

"The man can't even speak for himself," Bucky playfully pushed Steve's shoulder, "we love having you as a roomie. Don't sweat it," Bucky assured you. You smiled yet again at the two friends you've made. Blissfully unaware of the war going on between them.