Modern Royalty

Password?

Chapter 40
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They go to the fourth floor and change into riding gear. "Buck?", Steve asks and hugs the brunet from behind. "Hm?", James hums and leans his head back onto Steve's shoulder. "I love you", Steve smiles. "I love you too, sunshine", Bucky answers, turns around in Steve's embrace and kisses him. He places his right hand on his boyfriend's chest and smiles. "What?", the blond asks. "I can feel your heartbeat. Are you nervous?", Bucky replies and grins faintly, when Steve avoids his gaze. "Steve? What is it?" The blond sighs deeply and puts on a smile. "Nothing", he says and pecks James' lips.

He thinks about the ring lying safely in his nightstand back in Lehigh. "Are you sure? If you're not feeling well, you don't have to ride out with us", Bucky says and pulls Steve into the bedroom. "I'm fine. I was just lost in my thoughts, Buck", Steve grins and grabs one of his jackets out of his bag. "Well, okay. Let's go outside, then", James says, puts on his coat and walks to the stables with Steve. They ready the horses and wait for Rebecca and Peter. Bucky leans onto one of the wooden gates and watches Steve pace up and down the hallway. "Stevie, are you cold?", he asks after a while.

"A little, yes", Steve chuckles and looks up. "Do you want a hug?", James grins and stretches his arms out. "Please", the blond says and they hug eachother tightly. "Better?", Bucky mumbles and hides his face on Steve's shoulder. "Yes, thank you", Steve answers silently. They move apart and take the horses outside just as the other two leave the castle. "Good timing", Steve compliments and lets them mount into the saddles before he hops on as well. "Go ahead. I'll catch up to you", Bucky says and goes back to close the gates to the stable. The other three ride towards the forest.

"James", Winifred says, hurrying to her son before he can leave. "What is it?", Bucky asks confusedly. "Here. It was May's idea", she says and hands him a backpack filled with tea, plastic cups and some cookies. "Thank you", James smiles and hugs her. "We'll be back in two hours or so." "We'll wait for you to come back, then we can eat dinner together", Hydra's queen says, smiling. She's happy to see Bucky feeling well again. "Okay", the prince answers and nods calmly. "I've got to catch up to them now. See you later", he adds and puts on the backpack. He whistles once and his horse walks over to him.

Winifred goes inside and Bucky mounts into the saddle, making the horse go a bit faster than he usually would. "As soon as we reach the others, we'll go slow again, Mickey", he whispers and grins. He takes a different path that crosses the one Steve, Rebecca and Peter took after less than a kilometer. Bucky can hear their conversation after a five minutes of riding in silence. He takes of his right glove and loudly whistles through his fingers. "Minnie, no!", Rebecca yells and Bucky gets his horse to gallopp, so he leans in to catch Rebecca's horse at the crossroad. "Sorry. Didn't intend that to happen", he says, when they stop.

Bucky jumps off and lifts Rebecca off her horse as well. "You okay?", he asks and hugs her apologetically, though he's still grinning faintly. "I'm fine. That was just a tad too sudden", Rebecca mumbles and sighs. "Are you alright?", Steve asks as he arrives with Peter in tow. "Yes, as fine as we can be", Bucky answers and helps his sister back into the saddle. "You whistled?", Peter asks, grinning. "Yes", James says and smiles. "But I didn't think that it would cause this situation to unfold..." "We're all fine, it's okay", Rebecca says and nudges Bucky's arm with her boot.

"How gentle of you", he chuckles and mounts into the saddle. "Poor you", Steve says, rides forward and kisses Bucky's cheek. "Thanks for the empathy", Bucky says and looks around. "Which way next?" "Let's go straight ahead, the path looks like it's out of a movie", Peter suggests and grins excitedly. He loves the landscape his father told him so much about. "Alright", Rebecca nods and they move on. "Can you go ahead a bit? Next to eachother? I want to take a picture", Peter asks. "If you send it to us later", James says. "Sure!", his cousin replies and they follow his instructions until he's satisfied with the pictures.