Hershey Kisses and Cigarette Smoke (Stucky)

4 - Nightmares

One week later

Steve's POV

t/w: some homophobic slurs and a panic attack

The words, "Good morning honey. Ready for school?" woke me up that morning.

"BUCKY!!" I pulled my sheets over my chest, as if I weren't wearing a shirt, though I was. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?"

"Language Rogers. I was a little early so I thought I'd pay you a visit."

"How... how did you find my house?" I asked. I glanced around, an embarrassed feeling creeping in as I scanned the drab and dilapidated room.

"I followed you home yesterday. By the way, I caught your mother on the way out. She's a very nice woman."

"That's a little stalkerish Buck."

"I'd prefer thoughtful." I scoffed at him and rolled out of bed.

"Whoa, the big bad quarterback wears booty shorts." I looked down and immediately covered my lower half with a pillow.

"Goddammit. I occasionally steal clothes from Nat to wear when I sleep."

"That's a bit stalkerish don't you think."

"SHUT THE FUCK UP AND GET OUT!!"

"Language Rogers," he whispered as he shut the door. I took a deep breath to calm myself and began to get dressed.

"Stevie," Bucky whined from downstairs a few minutes later, "Hurry up!"

I blundered down the steps, eyes half closed with sleep while I dragged my backpack behind me. Bucky frisbeed a piece of toast at me, which bumped off my shoulder and fell to the floor. I picked it up and took a bite, too lazy and hungry to care about anything.

"Jesus Steven do you do anything with your hair." I shrugged, still rubbing sleep from my eyes. "It's hot," he added. I unsuccessfully tried to hide my wide grin.

We stumbled out to Bucky's car like the sleep-deprived zombies we were and began towards school.

For once in his life, Buck didn't demand music. The deadly silence kinda reminded me of everything said in Car Radio by Twenty One Pilots.

"You didn't have to lie about where you live," Bucky broke the stillness.

"Ok, we're doing this now," I mumbled.

"As good of a time as any." He pulled over to the side of the road.

"This... isn't necessary." I rested my forehead against the dashboard.

"Why'd you lie?" He asked while he put his hand on my back. I shot up at the sudden contact.

"Because I don't need anyone's sympathy," I choked out. "I don't want people to treat me differently." We sat in silence for a moment.

"I wouldn't have treated you any differently. You know me. I'm an asshole. I'm not capable of sympathy." I chuckled. "I just felt bad that you had to walk that far every day." We fell into silence again.

"Well now, this is weird. You know my big secret, and I barely know anything about you."

"Well... we'll have to fix that." He thought for a moment. I watched him intently.

I watched the way his hair fell in front of his face as he looked towards his feet. I watched the way his hand reached up to tuck it behind his ear. I watched as his eyes furrowed in concentration and his lips turned down into a frown. Then I watched as his face changed with his idea, though he didn't seem too content with the secret he chose to reveal. With only a moment of hesitation, he pulled off his glove. My mouth fell open as I made a grab for his hand.