Standing in the Odinsons' family room now felt... odd. Sure, the Odinson house had always been stranger than his own and definitely weirder than Sam's. But now Bucky was wondering if he had purposely turned a blind eye. Or if he had blamed the off-balance situation on the collection of antiques. Or if it was because of the warm, fuzzy feeling that stirred up in him from his infatuation. Even now his heart stuttered in his chest when Steve joined them in the family room.
Steve's eyes landed on Bucky first, before falling to the fireplace. Since Steve was looking there, and Bucky really didn't want to look at Natasha who stood just to the right of him, Bucky glanced over to the fireplace too. There, an unlit log sat. The smoke was floating up and out of the fireplace, as though someone had recently put it out.
"I can't believe that you would go to the lengths of putting out the log so you could show off and speak to some random spirit," Loki chastised as he bent down to relight the fire.
So you could show off, repeated in Bucky's mind and he glanced back at Steve and Natasha. Steve had that angry set to his jaw that Bucky recognized as him about to stand his ground. It had led them both into many fights with Steve -- despite being the little guy -- sticking up for those who couldn't stick up for themselves and Bucky blindly following his lead.
He'd follow Steve anywhere.
Even now, with the obvious attraction between Steve and his school friend bounced off each other and rippled out to the rest of the room. His mouth went dry and his throat tightened as though he decided to chug a container of kitty litter. Bucky wondered if there was anything more painful than watching the person you love falling for someone else.
Heart clenching, Bucky attempted to pay attention to what was going on in the room. Loki was still criticizing Steve as he relit the log using only a glance in log's direction. All the while, Bucky tried to keep his personal crisis at bay because they had bigger issues. Namely, where in the hell Sharon was.
From beside him, Sam cleared his throat. Gaining the attention of the room, he started, "As much as I love seeing Steve being ripped a new one for being a dumbass --" Sam glanced at Bucky, showing his allegiance to him "-- you know where Sharon is?"
Sighing, Loki pinched the bridge of his narrow nose while placing the other hand on his hip as he asked, "You said she's working with Grýla?"
"Yeah," Sam confirmed. When he amended, "Well, at, not sure if it's an actual person," Bucky's gaze drifted back to Steve.
Discovering that he wasn't the only watching Steve, and that Natasha was as well, with possibly even more concern than Bucky had, his stomach churned. It was bad enough for Steve to be making googly eyes at the admittedly gorgeous redhead. But to see that the feelings might actually be returned caused Bucky's stomach to completely drop. Almost like when he would ride the Gyro Drop at the amusement park. Of course, whenever he did that, Steve was right there by his side, holding his hand because Bucky was terrified of heights but he'd do anything to see that large, excited grin on Stevie's --
"Oh, trust me," Loki fixed his gaze on Sam as he confirmed, "Grýla is definitely an actual person, and if Sharon is with her. We need to get to her quickly."
A chill shot down Bucky's spine at the gravity of the situation. Sure, he was already worried, but hearing that tone coming from one of the most apathetic individuals he had ever met, made his own concern spike. It was absolutely terrifying.
"So, where is she?" Natasha questioned, her raspy voice alluring and confident. Ready to get down to business and save someone that she's never met. No wonder Steve likes her.
As Sam gave the vague directions to the diner, Bucky attempted to distract himself. Of course, it wasn't as easy as he had hoped. What with his eyes unseeingly moved towards Steve like a magnet before Bucky caught himself and forced himself to look elsewhere. All he wanted to do was to look at Steve. It wasn't a surprise considering that was all Bucky had ever wanted to do. Even before they got together, Bucky would catch himself gazing dreamily at Steve like he held the universe's secrets in his green speckled blue eyes.
Steve's brows furrowed and -- SHIT! -- how long had Bucky been staring at him? Harshly biting down on his lip, he dropped his gaze to the floor while his cheeks burned in his embarrassment. It felt entirely too familiar and Bucky would kick his own ass if he could for being so stupid. He knew that this would be difficult, but not this difficult.
"Hold up," Sam raised his hands as if he could pause the moment and possibly stop all of time, itself. His face furrowed in thought and he confessed, "I don't think I heard you right."
"Which part?" Loki asked, as he removed the towel from his hair.
"All of it," Steve commented, locking eyes with Sam and nodding in unison as Sam confirmed, "Definitely all of it."
Slipping on his boots, Loki repeated what Bucky had missed, "Grýla feasts on misbehaving children. It's what she's been doing for centuries and I suspect that if Sharon is missing, we don't exactly want to be too long."
The situation seeming even more bleak than Bucky had imagined, he felt dizzy and grabbed onto the antique sofa to better balance himself. Steve delayed putting on his own winter gear and tenderly grabbed onto his arm to help. Steve had always had big hands, and the fact that they had remained the same despite his transition and larger frame, caused Bucky's heart to ache.
Longingly wishing that when he glanced up, it would be his Stevie. The mouthy fucker with courage taller than his petite frame. But alas, when Bucky looked up, it wasn't his Stevie. It was a new Steve. With a new clench to his strong jaw. One with more mature eyes that had seen things that Bucky couldn't imagine. One with a curious that was studying things that Bucky wouldn't dare to even think about. A Steve with a darkness just underneath the surface of his smooth pale skin that Bucky couldn't quite understand that was building like a storm. Which hurt Bucky more than being possessed had.
YOU ARE READING
The Chilling Adventures of Steve Rogers: Book 2 (Magical Hydra Horror AU)
Fanfiction"Steve turned, pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose before he looked up at Bucky. The way that Bucky looked at him sent a chill down his spine. Completely taken every time that Bucky looked at him like that. And the thing that surprise...
