An Unexpected Christmas

Part 2

Surprisingly, you weren't terribly worried about this whole thing not working. You were pretty confident you could pull it off.

Until you met Bucky's family.

His mother was a sweetheart. His father was unimposing.

Oh God, Steve. Steve was here. Oh shit.

You locked eyes, and you felt Bucky freeze beside you.

"You finally brought someone home!" His mother exclaimed.

Bucky threw an arm around your shoulders, pulling you close, and you put your arm his waist.

"This is my fiancé," he said.

You froze. Silence filled the room.

Fiancé?

You were going to kill him.

His mother clapped her hands, and they shouted with joy. They hugged you both, not seeming to question that none of them had ever met you before now. Except Steve, of course, but Bucky's parents didn't seem to know that. His mother glanced down at your hand.

"Where's your ring?" She asked.

"Don't have one," you blurted. "Not yet, anyway. He's letting me pick it."

His father picked up your bag, ignoring your protests. "Let's get you two settled."

He showed you to your room. You hadn't accounted for sharing one, or a bed either. Once his dad left, closing the door behind him, you turned to Bucky, hands on your hips.

"Hey, fiancé, what the fuck?" You hissed.

Bucky winced. "Sorry! I panicked."

"You panicked?! This was your idea! We were supposed to be dating, not engaged!"

"I know, I know! Look, I'll owe you even more now."

"Yeah, you will."

You started unpacking your bag. "So, uh, how're we gonna do the breakup?"

He blinked. "Uh...good question."

"I mean, I don't think we should do it here," you said.

"Yeah, no, that would be bad if we did. We need a reason."

"Yeah, especially since we're engaged."

"You're not gonna let go of that one, are you?"

"Not today. Tomorrow you'll get a break."

"Tomorrow can't come fast enough."

You threw one of your shirts at him. Bucky caught with ease, chuckling. You grinned.

"How about we do it after we leave?" He suggested. "We don't have to fake one in front of people, and it'll be easier to move on afterwards."

You pursed your lips as you thought about it. Slowly, you nodded your head. "Alright. Breakup after."

"Less messy."

"A lot less messy. Hey, did you know Steve was gonna be here?"

"Yeah."

You gaped at him. "And you didn't think to give me a heads up? Does he know? Did you tell him?"

He stared at you. "Aw, shit."

"You didn't fucking tell him?"

"I forgot!"

"Oh my God, Bucky." You pointed to the door. "Go tell him. Now. He already knows, he's not stupid, go explain before we're fucked."

"Yeah, okay."

He kissed your temple as he passed you and left, closing the door behind him. You stood frozen for a minute. Bucky hadn't done that before, not like that. When you were sad, and he was comforting you, yeah, but never just out of the blue like that.

You wondered if he even realized he'd done it.