ashes, ashes - stucky

- nine -

It was the day before homecoming, and Bucky's heart had been pounding in his chest since he'd woken up. He'd noticed Steve take a Xanax before school, which he only did when he was very nervous. The blonde got the prescription after his parents died and he wasn't able to sleep for weeks. He'd stay up all night, worrying that something would happen to him as well. There were nights when Barnes had to sleep with him, Rogers curled into the brunette's chest for safety.

That seemed like such a long time ago.

"Let's ditch." Suddenly, and in the middle of English, Bucky whispered over to his best friend.

"What?" Steve's eyes widened, as if he'd never had the thought to leave class in his life. He tried to keep quiet, as they were supposed to be working on an essay.

Rolling his eyes, Barnes repeated himself. "Let's. Ditch." He waved his hands around wordlessly before elaborating. "I know you're 'having a day', and I dont feel great either. Let's just leave."

To Bucky's surprise, Steve didn't protest. He simply pinched the bridge of his nose in mild annoyance, then looked back up to sigh, "You're lucky I took a pill this morning, so I'm calm enough to deal with you." but he couldn't hide his excited smile. Rogers had never ditched class before. He'd never ditched anything. "But..." he began, holding a finger up. "We gotta do this my way."

Barnes almost laughed aloud, but stifled it with his hand when he saw the teacher's head perk up. "What's that supposed to mean? I haven't even told you my plan yet. It involves projectile vomit."

"Exactly!" Steve hissed, shaking his head with exasperation. "Psst, Tones." He poked the teen next to him, who gave him a pointed look.

"What, pipsqueak?" Stark was, if anything, an inch or two taller than Rogers. Even so, he needed a lighthearted insult.

Narrowing his eyes, Steve continued, "I need a distraction. Me an' Buck are trying to get outta here."

Suddenly interested in this endeavor, Tony perked up a bit. He assessed the situation, deducing in his head how he would pull this off. "Gotcha." He stood from his desk, paper in hand. As he made  his way to the teacher, Steve and Bucky prepared to make their escape.

"Ma'am," Stark began, taking a seat near the teacher, facing the door. If she kept her eyes on him, she wouldn't see the two friends making a break for it. "could you please explain something to me?"

"Of course, hon. What is it?" The teacher's tone almost made Tony sick. Of course he didn't need help understanding the basic principals of literacy, and this woman believing that he did made the prodigy want to throw a fit. So... he blanked a bit.

When the teacher gave him a quizzical look and began turning back around, Stark panicked. Bucky and Steve were halfway out the door, and they would be caught if he didn't think fast.

"Menopause! When does menopause start? Are you post-menopausal?"

The entire class turned to stare at him. Thankfully, Rogers and Barnes had made it out of the classroom and were headed for the nearest exit.

As Tony turned bright red, and his teacher stared at him in shock, only one sound echoed throughout the classroom: the proud, bubbly laughter of Stephen Strange. Both boys were sent to the office. 

.....

"We really did that!" Steve exclaimed, beaming. The two had made their way into some nearby woods and found a clearing. "What now? You gonna kill me?" The blonde joked, seating himself in the warm grass.

Bucky did the same, but then laid his head down as well. He was on his back, looking up at the sky. "I wouldn't dream of it." Barnes smiled, biting his lip as his friend laid his head of golden locks on his  chest, looking up at him. "And to answer your other question, we can do whatever we want now."

"What do we want to do?" The few rays of sunshine filtering in through tall trees reached Rogers' face, casting him in a beautiful glow.

Was it just Bucky, or did that seem like a really suggestive question?

"Disgusting creep. You can't even look at him without thinking awful things."

But they weren't awful. Barnes just wanted to kiss Steve, to pull him close. He wanted to run his fingers through his hair and protect him. Most of all, he wanted his best friend to love him back. If that wasn't good enough for some imaginary voice, then so be it.

"I think I just kinda wanna lay here for a while." The brunette responded, feeling pressure from all the feelings he was repressing building within him. He took a deep, silent breath, reaching a hand up and stroking Steve's hair gently. Hearing no protest, he continued. "Was there something you wanted to do?"

Leaning further into his friend's touch, Rogers hummed in thought. He could think of a few things, none of which he wanted to say out loud. Instead, he closed his eyes, relishing in the swirls of color behind his eyelids. "I wanna lay here for a while too."

It had been a long time since they were this physically close. The last instance where they'd even done anything remotely close to snuggling was when Steve's parents died, but that wasn't a memory they liked to bring up. While they both had accepted the reality of Mr. and Mrs. Rogers' death, it still wasn't a pleasant thought. Steve and Bucky had missed the feeling of each other, and how they always seemed to know how to hold the other.

"Bucky?" Steve whispered, not knowing if the other was asleep or not. When Barnes opened one eye to see what the problem was, Rogers continued. "I'm getting kinda chilly." The smaller of the two got cold very easily. His low amount of body fat and borderline anemia could be blamed.

Sitting up for a moment, Bucky shrugged his leather jacket off of his shoulders. He laid back down and brought Steve on top of him with almost no effort, laughing when he saw the other's flustered expression. Barnes covered Steve with the jacket and then wrapped his arms around the small of his back shamelessly. He buried his face in the crook of the blonde's neck, mumbling, "Better?"

"Much." Rogers managed, voice a bit hoarse from the effort of keeping composed. "One- one more thing..."

Barnes tightened his grip on his friend. "Hmm?" He didn't move his face from Steve's neck, and so the sound was muffled.

Rogers tensed in anticipation for his question. He prepared himself for the worst. "Go to homecoming with me."

Taking a deep breath and holding it for a moment, Bucky stayed silent. He had to control himself, otherwise he'd start celebrating. Maybe this was just a friend thing, though, and he shouldn't get so worked up. "Okay." He replied, placing a chaste kiss on Steve's jaw. When the other didn't complain, he added, "It's a date."

In a matter of minutes, they were both asleep, cradled by wildflowers and stray sunbeams.