Another Cliché Love Story // S. Rogers & B. Barnes

one

tw: negative use of 'homo'

Bucky

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Tasha? I mean, I could just drop out and get my GED..." The brunet looked himself up and down in the mirror. His once long, shaggy hair was gone, replaced with a closer cut to his head. His body was huge compared to the beginning of the summer, so much so that he almost took up the entirety of the mirror. Tasha could barely see herself, but she saw his concerned and tired eyes dart up to meet her confident ones.

"Stop worrying so much, Bucky. Everything's gonna be fine. And even if it's not, if they do sat stuff, then either ignore them or punch the hell outta 'em. Personally I'd prefer the latter, but you know. 'Violence is bad' and all that." Tasha shrugged, her blonde hair moving with the motion. She reached up on her tip-toes and smoothed down Bucky's hair, making him shove her away playfully. "Besides, I'm not going to let you drop out just because you came out. Just...at least give it a try, yeah?"

"Yeah, but..." he sighed, running a hand through his hair and making Tasha frown at her good work being tousled. "I don't know. I'm just...scared," he admitted, causing Tasha's frown to drop into a sigh.

"Bucky..."

"My parents–" he started again, but Tasha shook her head violently, cutting him off.

"Not everyone is your parents, Bucky. You just have to take a leap of faith. Ignore them, focus on me, and Loki, and Peter, and Clint." By the end of her listing their friends, he was shaking his head and laughing. Tasha grinned and lightly punched his fleshy arm. "There's that smile."

"Come on, stupid. We're gonna be late." Bucky grabbed his backpack and shouldered it, tugging on Tasha's arm.

"Okay, asshole, race you to the car!"

~~~

Bucky stared at the doors leading into the large building. Tasha stared at Bucky, then the doors, then her phone, and back to Bucky.

"First period's gonna start in a couple minutes, so..." At the reminder of what's ahead, Bucky's grip tightened on the steering wheel. His metallic prosthetic arm almost crushed the right side of the object, making Tasha wince and internally pray for the survival of her car.

"Look, Bucky, they got over your arm, they're gonna get over this." She offered, reaching over to touch said arm. Bucky glanced down at her fingers wrapped around his wrist and sighed.

"This is a lot different than my arm, Tash." He closed his eyes, letting out a sharp breath. Tasha squeezed harder, wanting to take some of his anxiety away. He offered her a tight-lipped smile before slowly uncurling his fingers from around the steering wheel and popping open the door.

Tasha leaned over, running her finger over the top of the steering wheel to see if Bucky's ungodly strength had left any indents–he hadn't.

When she got out of the car, she was met with a raised eyebrow. She shrugged, slamming her door shut.

"What? I'm allowed to worry about my car, Bucky." Tasha started walking towards the school, leaving Bucky to catch up to her.

"Yeah, but don't you think you should have a little trust in me? I mean, it's my way around this damn town too–I'm not gonna destroy it," he argued, pushing open the door so Tasha could step in. She tossed her head back and laughed loudly, drawing the attention of almost everyone in the main hallway.

Well, either her laughing or Bucky's presence drew everyone's gaze to theirs.

It was quiet for a moment as the door slammed behind Bucky, and he winced. That's when the whispers started.