ashes, ashes - stucky

- furnace -

High school had been mostly uneventful. Everyone said that the real fun came during senior year, and Bucky was determined to make that a reality. He and Steve stayed best friends through everything; through girls and heartbreak, friends and bullies.

Bucky's condition worsened over the years. The voice in his head evolved from a whisper to what acted like its own sentient creature. He still refused to seek help. Repressing abnormal brain activity was bad, and he knew it. However, the alternative option was allowing his parents to spend money that he knew they didn't have.

Steve's parents had died as well. He'd been staying with the Barnes, and gotten a job at a custard stand during the summer to help pay bills. The grief was overwhelming, but with the help of his best friend, he learned to accept it.

The first day of senior year came much too fast. Steve woke his friend by shaking his shoulders furiously, which worked like a charm.

"What the hell?" Bucky yawned, rubbing his eyes to meet Roger's excited gaze.

The smaller boy shoved some clothes into his friend's chest, exaggerating a sigh. "School, Buck! We gotta start walking in ten minutes!" By the looks of it, Steve was already set to leave. He wore jeans, cuffed at the bottom, with a dark green sweatshirt semi-tucked into the hem. His striped socks peeked over his Converse, red, white and blue.

"I'm dressed." Barnes shrugged, pulling a shirt over his head. It was faded, with a few small rips from repeated use.

"Just wear what I brought you, please. You can't show up looking like a drug addict." Steve left Bucky to change, pouring them both Ziplock bags of Cookie Crisps. He also poured coffee into a thermos for the other, who had a caffeine addiction.

Bucky looked at the clothes he was given. Dark jeans, and a less-faded Radiohead t-shirt. It would do, he supposed.

Mrs. Barnes gave each boy a hug as they left, waving excitedly. She called, "Have a good day, you two!" before heading in and closing the door behind her.

Steve walked with an odd spring in his step while Bucky kicked a rock around. "Why aren't you excited?" The smaller of the two questioned, slowing his pace to meet that of his friend. "It's our last year, put some pep in your step."

Bucky scoffed playfully, throwing an arm around Steve's shoulders. "You're right, Stevie. Gotta look at the positives."

"This time next year, we'll be servin'." Rogers lifted his gaze to the sky, relishing in the cool breeze. It had been their dream to be in the US army for quite some time, even if Steve was sickly and small.

Barnes frowned suddenly, shrugging. "I'm not gonna pass the psychological evaluation. I'll just... I don't know. I'll figure out some other way to be helpful, y'know?"

Sighing, Steve shook his head. He looked back down at the sidewalk. "I know. I won't grow enough by then either. We'll face it together though, right?"

"Of course." Bucky reassured his friend, giving his shoulder a squeeze. "Besides, you got your art to fall back on. I have a feeling that's gonna take you places."

Rogers felt his face heat up at the compliment. He'd never been one to accept praise. "What about film?"

Bucky barked out a laugh. "That's a hobby. I can't write for shit." He suddenly felt a thud in his side. Steve had hit him.

"Hey, don't say that. I like your scripts." He smiled sheepishly, meeting the other's skeptical glare. "Maybe I'll act in one of your movies one day."

In the mornings, before first period, students gathered in the cafeteria. That being said, Steve and Bucky didn't walk into school like kings, like most of the other seniors. Tony Stark, for example, commanded the attention of most underclassmen. Those freshmen and sophomores were met with a glare that could turn Medusa to stone. While Tony loved the attention, his boyfriend wasn't so amused. Although a nice guy when one got to know him, Stephen Strange was intimidating... and tall.

Others, like Bruce Banner and Loki Laufeyson, preferred to stay in their respective friend groups. Barnes and Rogers didn't conform to a singular clique. They tended to move around, the only constant being one another.

Bucky, while surveying where they would sit, accidentally locked eyes with Strange. He gave a short wave and a polite smile, which Stephen replied to with a playful scowl. They were friends, but Bucky and Tony didn't exactly get along.

Steve called Bucky's name, having found seats with his friends Thor Odinson, Natasha Romanoff, Clint Barton, and Sam Wilson. Sam shared the dream of wanting to serve in the military, but was much more fit to do so than Rogers or Barnes.

Upon seeing Bucky, Thor gave him a friendly punch on the arm. Natasha hugged him before he sat down next to Steve. They were all quiet until their giddiness got to them. The next ten minutes overflowed with excited conversation about how their summer had went and what they had planned for the school year.

First period, for a good chunk of the seniors, was Calculus - with the exception of prodigies like Tony and Bruce. The class was going to be difficult, but the first day was mostly establishing a syllabus. That's how it was in most classes, actually.

Lunch seemed to come fairly early. Knowing better than younger students, Bucky and Steve rushed to the lunch line as soon as the bell rang to dismiss them from their previous class. Arms interlocked as to not lose each other, they pushed through a crowd of students, laughing hysterically. Usually, a large mass of people would have Barnes panicking, but something about how carefree and high-spirited Rogers seemed calmed him considerably. Having contact with another, trusted human being did wonders for Steve's anxiety as well.

Being some of the first to enter the cafeteria, they were able to select a fairly decent lunch table. Later in the year, when it was warm, they'd eat outside. For the time being, they settled for a table in the corner of the room, near the exits.

A few seniors sat with them at their table. These students were Thor, Bruce, Sam, and Natasha. Throughout the year, they'd come and go and be replaced by others, but that was okay. Steve and Bucky could make friends with anyone. Well... Steve could force Bucky to be friends with almost anyone. He'd tried to get Barnes and Tony to get along, but not even he could make that happen.

"You got independent drawing and painting next, Rogers?" Sam nodded at the other's schedule. They had all flattened their papers out in front of then to let their friends know where they would be. "I hear that teachers a real bitch an' a half."

Steve shook his head, chuckling. "I'll be okay, bird brain. Besides, Buck'll come get me from his fancy shmancy video class if someone needs to get roughed up."

"Like hell I will." Barnes joked. He elbowed his friend gently. "You're on your own, kid." Biting into his cheese stick, Bucky shrank into himself a bit. Everyone was staring at him. "What?..."

Natasha was the first to speak. She slammed a hand on the table, blinking rapidly. "I swear to all things holy, if you ever eat a cheese stick like that again, I will slaughter your firstborn."