Across the Room
Sam could feel the heat of someone’s gaze upon him. He looked over his shoulder to find Bucky watching him while taking a sip from his whiskey glass. Sam gulped as Bucky smirked at him. He tore his gaze away from his ex-husband, instead focusing on the hand of his friend Matt resting on his arm. They were at an Avengers party and Sam and Matt were currently talking to Hope and Scott. Well, Matt was the one talking, while Sam was busy squirming under the look Bucky was sending his way.
“You okay?” Matt asked in his ear.
Sam cleared his throat and nodded. ‘Yeah, I’m good. I need a drink. I’ll be right back.” Before Matt could say anything, Sam walked away. As he waited for this beer at the bar, he felt a hand on the small of his back, followed by a voice in his ear. “Hey, baby.”
“Bucky, what are you doing?” Sam asked, turning to look at his former husband.
“You look so good tonight,” Bucky whispered in his ear, making Sam shudder in return. “Come with me,” he added.
“No, I’m not going anywhere with you,” Sam told him. But Bucky refused to listen. He took Sam’s hand and pulled him behind him to a secluded campus area. Bucky pressed Sam against the wall and put his hands on either side of his head as he stared at him. “I missed you,” he said.
Sam felt his heart ache at Bucky’s admission. “Bucky, don’t.”
“Why was Matt all over you?” Bucky continued to ask, jealousy obvious in his voice.
“What’s it to you?” Sam asked.
“No one else can touch you,” Bucky told him.
“Why not? We’re not together anymore.”
Bucky pressed his whole body against Sam. Sam could feel his hard-on pressing against him through his pants. Bucky leaned in to kiss Sam but Sam turned his head. “Buck, I can’t. We broke up for a reason.”
Bucky rested his forehead against the wall and sighed. “I miss you. Riley misses you.”
“I miss you too,” Sam admitted.
“Then come back.” Bucky moved his head away from the wall and looked at Sam.
“I can’t, Buck. Nothing has changed between us. I will still be going out there and putting my life in danger. You will still be at home worrying about me…” Sam trailed off.
“I can come out of retirement and be by your side again.”
“I don’t need your protection. Besides, you got out for a good reason. Our little girl needs at least one of us around,” Sam told him.
“Sam, please, let me do this. I need you back in my life.” There was desperation in Bucky’s voice, which broke Sam’s heart.
Suddenly, Bucky was being pulled away from Sam. Sam then noticed Matt standing there behind Bucky.
“Sam, you okay?” Matt asked Sam.
“How did you find me?” Sam asked him, confused.
“That’s not important,” Matt replied, still holding onto Bucky’s right arm. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m okay. Bucky would never hurt me.”
Bucky pulled his arm out of Matt’s grip and glared at the lawyer.
“How about you leave us alone?” Bucky growled at Matt.
“How about you leave Sam alone? He clearly doesn’t want to talk to you.”
“He’s my husband!” Bucky argued.
“He’s my friend,” Matt threw back. “And he’s your ex-husband. He is seeking a divorce from you.”
Sam’s heart skipped a beat and his mouth fell open a little when Matt revealed that to Bucky. Sam hadn’t told Bucky that he was seeking a divorce.
Bucky turned around to look at Sam with hurt written all over his face. “Is that true? You want to divorce me?"
“Bucky- I-” Sam started to say but he didn’t know how to finish that sentence.
Tears formed in Bucky’s eyes and he huffed. “Right. So that answers everything.” With that he walked away, leaving Sam to call after him.
Bucky didn’t stop.
***
Sam gave Matt an earful for breaking the news to Bucky without asking him first. He then left the party early and made his way to the house he once shared with Bucky. When he reached there, he could hear Riley’s cries and it put him on alert. He rang the doorbell and waited for Bucky to answer it. When he did, he had their 2-year-old in his arms, rocking her, as he tried to quiet her down.
“What are you doing here?” Bucky frowned at him.
Sam got into his papa mode immediately and reached out towards Bucky. “Give her to me. I’ll quiet her down.”
“No, it’s okay. I got it,” Bucky huffed. “Besides, I’ll have to do this on my own anyway, once we get a divorce.”
“Bucky-” Sam said exasperated.
Riley’s screams got louder and Sam reached out and took her from Bucky’s arms despite Bucky’s protests.
Sam rocked the little girl in his arms and thumped her on the back to get her to quiet down. When that didn’t work, he started to sing to her while pacing the room, as that’s something that worked in the past. It worked this time too and Riley soon fell quiet and her breathing evened out. Her tiny fist grabbed onto Sam’s dinner jacket as she fell asleep against him.
Bucky watched them and then shook his head. “She needs both of us, you know.”
Sam didn’t respond to that. Instead he took Riley to her nursery and put her down. She stirred in her sleep and Sam whispered “Shhh…” before tucking her in. He then kissed her forehead and watched her for a few minutes. “I miss her too,” he said to Bucky who was there beside him the whole time. “Its hurts being away from her.”
“Then why won’t you give us another chance?” Bucky asked.
Sam took Bucky’s hand and led him out of the nursery and back to the living room. “I’m sorry about tonight. Matt had no right telling you that.”
“Well, it was bound to come out sometime.” Bucky shrugged. “So you’re giving me a divorce?” He asked sadly.
“I don’t know,” Sam answered honestly. “I never stopped loving you and I never will.”
He heard Bucky gasp and he came closer to him. “Really?”
“Like you didn’t know that already,” Sam scoffed. “The only reason I left is because I didn’t want you to always worry about losing me.”
“I know,” Bucky replied. “I am willing to come out of retirement and have your back like before.”
“What about Riley then?” Sam asked.
“We can always hire a babysitter.” Bucky replied. “And I won’t go on every mission. Just the more dangerous ones.”
“What if we both lose our lives, Buck? What happens to Riley then?” Sam asked, worry lacing his voice.
“We can’t think like that, baby.” Bucky reached out to touch Sam’s face. “We’ll be okay.”
Sam leaned into his former husband’s touch and let himself relax.
“Stay the night,” Bucky said to break the silence that had fallen between them.
Sam’s eyes widened slightly. “What?”
“Spend the night… with me,” Bucky got even closer and leaned in to kiss Sam but stopped at the last second. “Are you and Matt together?” He asked.
“No!” Sam replied quickly. “He’s just a friend.”
“Okay,” Bucky smiled and finally kissed Sam. Sam wrapped his arms around the other man’s neck and pulled him even closer to deepen the kiss. They kissed for what seemed like hours before Bucky pulled away to catch a breath. He then took Sam’s hand and led him to their previously shared bedroom and closed the door behind them.
