Bucky's Roommate

Chapter 1

Matthias Adelson doesn't need sleep. He functions on coffee, sheer willpower, and spite. The fact that he's been awake for forty plus hours means nothing in the face of biology projects and eight page essays. That being said, he was making his way to a 24/7 café to steal their Wi-Fi so he could finish his homework for his demon of a college teacher, intent on having it done early for once. He doubted that he would get another extension after the last three times for the other projects.

The streets were cold and the sidewalks were slick with barely-formed ice, people ducking into shops to get away from the frigid air that was taking the streets. Adel quickly made his way along the path he had long-since memorized and he did not go out of his way to crunch every leaf he came across. He had his laptop clutched against his chest as he dashed as quickly as he could across the pavement, the café just in his sights.

Just when he was near the corner of the street, he passed a bus stop and saw his life flash before his eyes. Well, more like he witnessed the death of his laptop as some guy slammed a fist into it, sending it careening to the ground like a frisbee. He thought that was the end of everything, that the essay worth thirty percent of his grade was lost, and he couldn't help but just cry.

Adel hadn't slept in so long, staying up and drinking copious amounts of caffeine, working on that essay only for his laptop to get destroyed before he could submit it. In that exact moment, everything seemed hopeless and he just couldn't stop his erratic breathing as he sobbed his eyes out. He was dimly aware of the man looking at him from a few feet away but he couldn't focus on him as he desperately tried to pick up the pieces of his laptop.

"My-My essay!" Adel tried to put them together in some semblance of order as he blubbered about his work being ruined. "My- Oh, wait, I used Google Docs," His tears dried and his anxiety went away a bit knowing that his work was at least saved. "That really scared me for a moment."

That exact moment at two in the morning was the day Matthias Adelson met the man that would become his roommate.

Or, he would if he could convince him to agree to share the bills.

"You don't even know me," Bucky frowned, clutching his coffee cup with glove-covered hands.

"I kind of know you," Adel said, not looking at the man as he typed rapidly on the laptop he borrowed from the tired café owner. He owed her big time as always. "I mean, I read comics of you. Lots of them. Had a Bucky Bear."

The soldier tilted his head, "Comics?"

The brown-haired man nodded his head, "Oh, yeah. Captain America and the Howling Commandos. Great series. God damn autocorrect." His eyes flicked up to Bucky, squinting, "Speaking of, how do you... Look so young? Moisturizer?"

"Sure," Bucky agreed because he did not want to think about the truth. He took a sip of his coffee, looking around the area. "Why do you want me as a roommate?"

Adel practically slammed his finger down on the backspace button before beginning to type again, "Not gonna lie, I'm probably about to get kicked out. There's only so many times I can pay my landlord in cookies and rum before he starts expecting actual money. My credit score is shot to shit too, so I won't be able to get a new place even if I wanted to. So, the only solution I can see is getting a roommate."

"But why me? Isn't there other people you know that could room with you?"

The brown-haired man gave him a Look over the top of the laptop, "Do I look like someone that knows people? Look, I'm desperate, alright? You have to have, like, a shit-ton of backpay or something, right?"

"I guess?" Bucky shrugged, finishing off his cup of coffee. "Nobody really knows I'm alive, so I don't think I can claim the money."

Adel tilted his head, his glasses reflecting the stream of words he was typing, "No problem, I can work around that. I just need someone to split the rent with."