Good At Falling - A Stucky Story

First time he kissed a boy [1]

God never intervened into the happenings on the earth. But sometimes He puts two souls into the world. Soulmates. Which He blessed with the destiny to be bound together. To find each other, no matter what. Look at Romeo and Juliet, Achilles and Patroclus. They were drawn to each other from the moment they met. In this story we meet Steven Grant Rogers and James Buchanan Barnes. Two souls, God has chosen to be bound together.

Epilogue

Steve was feeling sick. His asthma was bad today. He felt like throwing up. His mum told him that it was just nervousness. Because today was the big day. Today was Steve's first day at school.

"Every child is feeling like this before their first schoolday, Steve", Sarah Rogers said, when Steve refused to put on his jacket. She sighed. It has been a hard time. Steve's father had died when Steve was two years old. Sarah was a nurse and always had to take Steve to a neighbour before she left for her shift. And she worked until late the night, taking all day and half night shifts, making barely enough money for being a single mother. But she tried her best.

Steve was a sickly child. Dealing with ashtma, several kinds of fever, and general heart trouble, she had to stay home and take care of Steve more than earning money for a long time.

But that didn't stop her from teaching Steve some important things. Since he was too weak to stay out of bed longer than a few hours until he was seven, Sarah taught Steve how to write, to read and showed him basic mathematics. She brought him books, she got from the neighbours. She got money together to buy him a sign block and two pencils. Sarah had noticed his excitement about pictures in books and the newspapers, so she encouraged him to draw what he saw.

And Steve loved drawing. He loved how he could create a world, a world he imagined this world must be like. When he was six years old, he had pneumonia. It got him really really bad. The priest had been there, just in case, and his mum had been crying all the time. But Steve had a strong will to live. So he made it. He made it.

And now, Steve was seven years old, it was just after his birthday. His mum had told him he was strong enough now to go to school, like every kid his age. "You will meet many children your age, Steve. You are a smart little boy, you will make many friends."

Steve wasn't so sure about that. When he had been healthy enough to leave the house, he had tried to become friends with some neighbours kids. They had been playing football or catch on the streets. At first they had gladly let him be part of their group. But soon enough his asthma had gotten the best of him. His mum had told him to better not romp out that much.

Luckily his mum was walking with him to school today. Steve wanted to grab her hand, but he felt like he was too old for that now. And he didnt want her to worry more than she should. He didnt want to make that hard for her. For his young age, Steve was very empathetic with the people around him, especially his mum. She was all he had. So he was a good boy and never caused any trouble, because he felt like his health problems were trouble enough for her.

"Be friendly and polite and do what the teacher tells you. School is fun, you'll see", Sarah tried to cheer him up. She smiled but Steve saw the worry in her eyes.

He kissed her on the cheek and followed the crowd of pupils inside of the building. His mum had told him to go to the headmasters office and that was where he went. A friendly young woman was waiting for him.

"Steven Grant Rogers?"

"Yes, that's me, ma'am."

She smiled. "I am Miss Young, your teacher. How are you?"

Steve just shrugged. "Nervous, i guess", he mumbled.

She nodded. "That's normal, Steven. Follow me..."

"It's Steve"

"Excuse me?"

"Sorry, ma'am. I mean, everyone calls me Steve."

Miss Young smiled again. "Well, Steve it is then..."

Steve followed her to his classroom.

So far so good. Miss Young made him introduce himself. He had to repeat his name, because he was too silent, but it was alright. He hoped nobody noticed his shaky breathe and he was relieved when Miss Young told him to sit down. The only empty chair was next to a brunette boy. Steve put his bag on the floor and tripped over it before he sat down. Some kids were laughing, but everything was alright.

"Hello", the brunette boy said.

"Hi", Steve mumbled.

"My name is James, but my friends call me Bucky." He smiled.

"Nice to meet you, James." Steve smiled oddly and turned to face the teacher. He didnt mean to be rude, but he really didnt know what to say to James.

They were told to put out a pencil and write down the words Miss Young was dictating them.

That was easy. Steve knew most of the words Miss Young was saying, so he had no problem writing them down. But James seemed to struggle.

After the third word, when he was thinking too long about it, crossed it out two times, he struggled to write the following down.

James groaned and ruffled through his messy hair.

Steve jogged his elbow softly, so James would look at him.

"You can copy from my paper if you want", he whispered and moved his arm, so James could read his words.

James checked, if Miss Young was looking in their direction, she wasnt, and whispered a "Thank you, Steve" before he started copying.

For the rest of the day, Steve had listened to Miss Young talking, while he was scribbling down some sketches on his paper until the school bell rang and he could go home.

When he was walking down the streets, he noticed some kids following him. It shouldnt be weird, but Steve had a bad feeling.

And that feeling poved him right, because when he was turning around a corner, there were two more boys. "Look who that is. The new kid."

They pulled him on his jacket and dragged him into the next alley.