It showed just how far gone he was when he didn’t even notice the man approach him until he was right there before him on the other side of the table. Steve looked up slowly, dirty blond hair in his face as he did so. He brushed the hair aside and met the man’s gaze, seeing the beers in his hands. His table is littered with shot glasses and other empty bottles but he slowly nods his head slowly.
“I guess you’ve earned that much,” he said quietly, “seeing as how you managed to track me down and find me.” He leaned back in his seat, waiting for Bucky to sit down.
Bucky managed a slight smile, his face barely curving up because of the mixed emotions. It was Steve sitting in front of him, but it wasn’t Steve at the same time. “Been tracking you for a few weeks. Finally figured it was time to approach.” he explained. He set the beer down across from him, helping clear away the mess so that they were seated across from each other comfortably. “Do you know me?”
Steve leaned back and took the offered journal, resting his head on Bucky’s shoulder as he looked through it. “I know it’s been hard for you, to try and remember everything, to find the answers you wanted. I’m just glad you’re back with me so I can help you find some of whatever it is you still need to find. I hated every moment of thinkin’ about you bein’ out there all alone, you know? I never knew what was gonna happen to you and it kept me awake more often than not at night. IT’s why I started doing the hotels and all. Figured maybe, after a while, you’d figure it out and find me on your own. Which… you did.”
It was natural to lean against the headboard with Steve in his arms. He knew there were all kinds of things in the journal, clippings and little letters that spoke of the tiny little things he’d remembered while he’d been in hiding, living life as minimal as possible. He could still remember the night he’d woken to a very vivid memory – when he had realized he and Steve had been very intimate lovers. He pressed a kiss to Steve’s temple “I promised I would always find you, Stevie.” he murmured, relaxing into the warmth of his best friend and the one person he had loved. “I’m not going anywhere now. We’re together again, like we always knew we were s’pposed to be.” he replied, nuzzling into Steve.
Steve nodded slowly. “Then we hotel jump for a little while longer before we figure out a place to live,” he answered, leaning in to kiss Bucky in return. “I’m glad you’re back with me. It was starting to get lonely…”
“Sounds like a plan if we ever needed one.” Bucky nodded, smiling into that kiss and running a hand through his lover’s hair again. “I’m glad you waited for me once you knew I was alive.” he was quiet, not wanting to think about the idea he’d had for a long time about whether Steve would be waiting when he finally felt like he could go home. “I have something,” he said, moving to the small backpack he carried with him. Unzipping it, he opened it and pulled out a leather bound journal. “Bak in Bucharest…when you asked why I saved you, I wasn’t entirely lying when I told you I didn’t know. Back then, I didn’t. I just knew for whatever reason, I couldn’t stand you dying, it hurt deep, and I didn’t understand it. I went looking for answers. After that, well, things started coming back, so I wrote about it to you.” he explained, leaning back a little to drape an arm over Steve’s shoulders.
Steve nodded slowly. “I just didn’t know if you were okay with hotel jumping like I’ve been doing or if you were going to want to find an apartment or something where we can just… live quietly in hopes that no one bothers us.”
Bucky gave a soft smile, adjusting to look at Steve and reaching to run a hand through Steve’s hair. “The only difference between hotel jumping and always moving around in war is there isn’t a battle to fight anymore. All we need is each other, Steve. We can make anywhere home because of that.” he answered, leaning to kiss him. “You and me, Stevie, till the end of the line.”
themusechronicles 