A Place to Fall: Falling Series 1 (skinny!Steve x Bucky Barnes College AU)

Twenty-One

If someone had told Steve a week ago that he would be attending a Delta Beta Beta Phi party -- especially their Halloween mixer -- Steve would've laughed right in their face. It was the furthest thing from Steve's comfort zone and as Steve stood on his toes to search the crowd for Bucky, Steve doubted that he'd attend another.

See, somewhere around midnight, Steve had lost Bucky. Which Steve didn't even recognize as a possibility beforehand, let alone something that would actually happen. And even though Steve knew that Bucky didn't purposely ditch him, the anxiety grew in his chest. With all the people in various degrees of drunk crowded and pressed in, Steve could feel an asthma attack on the rise.

Just when Steve was about to panic, someone patted him on the shoulder. Relieved, Steve assumed to find Bucky. Instead, he found Clint, and wasn't any less relieved by the revelation.

Clint had a welcoming smile on his face as he leaned in close to yell over the music, "I didn't know you were coming!"

"Bucky," Steve simply, loudly, replied. Clint nodded as though that explained everything and Steve wondered if Bucky was capable of persuading everyone around him to do as he wanted. Or if it was just Steve's pathetic crush that caused him to do everything in his power to please the brunet.

Looking over Clint's black long sleeve tee and tan gray pants, Steve leaned in close and asked, "Who are you supposed to be?"

Only seemingly mildly, playfully offended, Clint exclaimed, "Ron Stoppable, dude!"

"Oh!" Steve declared, it finally clicking for him. Steve couldn't help but smile as he complimented, "It's perfect! I can't believe I didn't get it before!"

"It's okay," Clint smirked and returned the compliment by waving his finger in the air in a gesture to Steve's face, "That is so fucking cool! No way you'll be leaving alone!"

Steve rolled his eyes at that and started glancing around for Bucky again. Leaning in, Steve asked, "Have you seen Bucky?"

"Oh, yeah! His makeup is amazing too!" Clint answered.

"No," Steve scoffed and clarified, "Where's Bucky?"

"Oh!" Clint understood and looked around. Clint wasn't the tallest guy, but he was taller than Steve. Finally, Clint shrugged and suggested, "Maybe outside."

"Thanks," Steve told Clint before squeezing his way through the crowd to head out of the fraternity house.

Small groups of people were dotted around the lawn and Steve used the porch to his advantage as he looked for Bucky. However, Steve didn't see him there either. Steve's heart was starting to feel heavy with the realization that Bucky could possibly be hooking up with someone in one of the many rooms in the fraternity house.

"Steve?" A familiar raspy voice called out.

Turning in the direction that the voice came from, Steve spotted the plucky redhead and momentarily relaxed as he greeted, "Hi, Nat!"

Natasha approached Steve and gazed at Steve's makeup job. Approvingly, she said, "That's really good. You do it yourself?"

"I did," Steve confessed and told her, "Thank you."

"I'm surprised to see you here," Natasha admitted then tried to explain herself, "Not that you're not... I'm just... Delta-double-Beta-Phi is just very exclusive."

"Don't worry, I figured as much," Steve chuckled. "I came with Bucky."

"Barnes?" Natasha questioned, cocking her head to the side.

Steve quirked a brow, "Is there more than one?"

"True," Natasha smirked. Looking over Natasha's black long sleeve crop top and tan cargo pants, Steve smirked to himself. Never able to get anything past the redhead, she asked, "What?"