An Unexpected Christmas

Part 3

You almost hated how much Bucky's parents liked you. You felt bad about lying, especially to his mom.

It was her idea to go to the tree lighting ceremony in town. You used to go all the time when you were a kid, but you stopped when you got older. Same old story. In fact, you tried not to go, but she just wouldn't have it.

"I insist," she'd said. "You won't be out of the house too terribly long, dear. You'll be back inside keeping warm with James in no time."

Your response could be called elegant. Sputtering about how that's not what you meant, you just didn't wanna be out in the cold much, blah blah blah. She just smiled and patted your shoulder.

This trip was gonna be the death of you.

Steve, on the other hand, was a little shit.

"So you and Bucky," he'd said.

You had nodded. "Me and Bucky."

"Who made the first move?"

"He did. Practically begged me."

"Wonder why he never said anything."

This was the part you brought out your death glare--a look so intensely murderous it made gods tremble. Except Steve. No, Steve didn't tremble. Instead he grinned at you and raised his hands in surrender.

"You'd have to ask Bucky that one," you had said coolly. "I thought you knew."

"Well, obviously it turned out alright."

Feeling eyes on you, you had looked around until you saw Bucky. He was just across the room. He had smiled at you, and you'd smiled back. "Yeah, guess so."

---------------

You weren't exactly regretting agreeing to go to the ceremony. You just hadn't known there would be ice skating involved. Ice skating was a no go for you. Bucky, on the other hand, was eager to get skating.

"I wasn't sure what size you are," he said as he came up to you with two pairs of skates. He sat next to you on the bench.

You shook your head. "Don't worry about it, I'm not skating."

"What?"

"I don't skate."

"Since when?"

"Since ever." You picked up a pair and pointed to the blades. "Have you seen how thin these things are? My balance is practically non-existent, Bucky, if I tried to even stand in these things I would fall on my face."

"I won't let you. C'mon, doll, let me teach you."

Doll?

That was new.

Goddamit, he was doing the puppy eyes thing again. You groaned. "God, fine."

You were on the ice sooner than you would've liked. Bucky was on your left, holding on to your arm and guiding you. You were clinging to him with the arm he was holding, your other arm almost sticking straight out in an attempt at maintaining your balance.

"See?" He said. "You got this."

You let out a nervous laugh. "Okay, okay, this isn't so bad."

"You'll be doing spins before you know it."

"I'd like you to take a moment to imagine me trying to spin on ice."

"Okay, and while I do that, I'm gonna let go of you now."

You panicked. "Bucky, no, don't--"

Too late. He let go, yanking his arm out of your grip. Your feet started sliding apart as you stuck both your arms out for balance. You leaned forward a bit, hoping not to fall flat on your ass. The thought of falling face first on the ice crossed your mind, and you leaned back straight.

A little too quickly, it seemed.

You yelped as your right foot jerked forward faster than your left. Luckily for you, Bucky hadn't drifted too far away, and caught you before you fell. You found it miraculous that you didn't take him down with you.

"You okay?" He asked, clearly trying not to laugh lest he face your wrath. You, however, had no wrath to unleash.

You were cold, Bucky was warm, he was holding you really close, looking at you with those eyes of his, the ones you had never realized could probably most likely see right into your heart if you let him--

Wait, what the fuck were you thinking? This was Bucky. Your best friend. You're not supposed to go falling in love with your best friend, that's just not supposed to happen.

Whoa whoa whoa, where the hell did "falling in love" come in? You were faking being in love with Bucky. Clearly you were doing it a little too well.

You started laughing. Small, quiet giggles that quickly dissolved into loud chuckles that you tried to muffle by hiding your face in his shirt.

"Told you I would fall on my face," you said, voice still muffled.

"And I told you I wouldn't let you," he replied, huffing a laugh of his own.

You pulled back, about to say something, when you noticed a certain trio watching you. Bucky's parents and Steve were watching.

You quickly looked away from them and kissed Bucky's cheek. He seemed surprised for a moment before you whispered to him about your audience. You could've sworn you saw disappointment flash in his eyes.

Bucky led you off the ice and back to the bench you'd been at before. He left while you were changing out of your skates and came back with two steaming cups.

"Please make my Christmas wishes come true and tell me that's hot chocolate," you said as he sat down.

"Wouldn't be Christmas without it," he replied.

You took the cup gratefully. He wrapped an arm around you and pulled you closer. You leaned into him, sipping your chocolate.

Just as you were finishing your cup, his mother came up to you two. "You two are so cute together. Come on, it's time for the tree lighting."

The tree was fucking huge. As in, no one would believe it was that big unless they saw it themselves. Whoever had decorated it had clearly invested in the largest ornaments known to mankind, as well as strips on strips of tinsel. And up at the top of the tree was the largest star known to mankind. Its size outdid the ornaments without a doubt.

As the tree lit up, your heart warmed. A huge grin spread across your face, and youfelt giddy, like the cliché Christmas Magic was coursing through your veins atthe sight. You weren't complaining.