The Best Friends to More Meme

[disassembling]

the best friends to more meme

There's nothing in this world quite like a true, blue best friend that you can rely on. They've been with you through thick and thin, good and bad. You want to have fun? They're the first person you look for, because they always know how to bring the best out in you. You need a shoulder to cry on? Don't worry, they're already here. You need to bury a body? ...you should probably reconsider your priorities, but you know your best friend will be there with a shovel and a smile. You'd never ruin this friendship for ANYTHING in the world.

Something's brewing that may do just that, though. One of you has feelings, has for a long time, and that spells trouble. Unless you keep that to yourself and remain platonic, of course. Repression in this case might be a good thing.

Only it's too late. The cat's out of the bag, whether it's by confession or by accident. What to do, what to do? If feelings aren't returned, can you turn down a friend, or will you force something that isn't there just to make them happy? If feelings are returned, will you risk changing the perfect thing you have?

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For eleutheria

[disassembling]

When he hadn't heard from Stephanie as the battling became more fierce and the higher the potential to die, he had decided he wasn't going to die with regrets. He had written her a letter telling her of the hard times, the good times he had with her, and ending with the fact that he had feelings for her. He hadn't minced his words, aware that it was important to them both that he be honest because he didn't expect to come through this alive and reality was better to accept in the face of this war. He had left the note with the officer who sent mail home, though he advised the man to only send it if he was dead.

He hadn't expected to live too long once they were captured, especially when he was chosen at random for the isolation room. It had been one of the more painful moments, but it had also faded to a coldness that numbed his body and stretched his mind to where he thought it easy to lose himself.

Stephanie had come for them all, had come for him. The letter was long forgotten in the face of the escape, the fighting and the march back to the US military base of operations. He had not been any worse than most of the other officers, so he had walked the distance without complaint despite fatigue and dehydration. They were all in need of a little medical patch-work aside from Stephanie who had seemed to thrive in the opportunity, and he knew then that he loved her more than anyone else. He probably always would.

Once the wounded were taken care of, they were all forced to be examined and patched up, though most of his injuries were simply bruises and shallow cuts. He was forced to drink a vile liquid to rehydrate him more quickly, and he managed to sweet talk his way out of staying in the medical tent to go and stay in another that was empty. There he slept as long and deeply as could be allowed a man in the middle of a potentially life-ending war. There were not actual real sleeps, but he got by.

Sleeping on the cot was like sleeping in heaven after all. No rocks pushing into his back, not cramped quarters like in the Hydra nest, no straps across his body holding him down. It was wonderful. He was almost sad to wake up feeling more well-rested than he had in weeks.

[eleutheria]

There had a prickle of guilt when she hadn’t been able to write to Bucky since what happened to Erskine and then the tours Senator Brandt had decided to send her on, which made her feeling a bit detached and not really useful to the war effort at all, and well she had wanted to write him and tell him all that had happened but she wasn’t sure how she was supposed to do that, it was supposed to still be classified after all.

Suffice to say Stephanie had gotten his letter, right from Colonel Phillips when she had demanded to know about Bucky’s unit, it was so strange to get it and especially knowing that they were going to send the letter with the condolence letter from the military since they had already give up on him, but she refused to believe he was dead and had set off, breaking God’s know how many rules, to try to bring him back or die trying.

It was rather sheer dumb luck that it had paid off and it really had, despite the new information about Hydra’s bases and other things, the best thing for her had been bringing her friend back and making sure he was alright, and she had really tried, so hard not to hover over him and bother him. Though once she was done with her talk with the colonel and Peggy and being told that Bucky had been taken care of and sleeping, well, there was no reason to stop.

And then she had remembered his letter, so there she was sitting at the side of his cot and reading the letter that he had instructed to be sent to her in case…she really didn’t wanted to think about it and maybe she shouldn’t have read it but she was curious about its contents and the further she read…oh…OH…

...So that was probably the first thing Bucky was going to see when he woke up, Stephanie at his side –as always, maybe a small flush on her cheeks while holding his letter.

[disassembling]

He shifted slightly on the bunk, long hours of training keeping him mostly still as he turned his head a little and slowly opened his eyes. Funny, it was strange to wake up to the normal hustle and bustle of a military camp that didn't have bombs dropping or gun fire right close. It was an oddity that only made the situation seem all the more strange when his eyes dropped down the bed to sight Stephanie sitting close to him reading a letter.

Odd, she shouldn't have gotten too many letters out here, unless it was fan mail or some important... that looked like his hand-writing. He sat bolt upright when he realized it was his scrawl on the paper, but then he froze when he realized that it would be far too obvious if he grabbed it out of her hands to stuffed it into his shirt.

No, no, play it cool, Barnes. Sweet talk it out of her hands instead, that was what he was good at. The love part was near the end, and he hoped that blush was just about how he described some of the events of childhood. "So... you probably don't need to read that. I'm not dead, right? Here, I can toss it out. Nothing really pressing in it."

[eleutheria]

It probably said a lot about how engrossed she was on reading his letter, knowing all the things that had gone through his mind in the field, certain details of their childhood that he randomly tossed here and there, other little things that well it had made her smile a bit since it was just so him, and well she was ignoring the usual sounds and bustle from the camp around them, probably she might even be unaware if someone attacked them or was probably going to react slower than expected.

She didn’t even noticed Bucky’s sudden movement, but then maybe that was because she had reached the part about coming to clean to her and doing it to go without regrets, which had only reminded her of how close she had been to lose him, and the further she got…oh dear Lord…her fingers tightened a bit on the paper as she read and maybe even re-read the love confession, and really she hadn’t thought Bucky could be this mix of poetic and his usual self when it came to it.

His voice snapped her back and she looked up at him, for a long moment –one that probably felt a bit uncomfortable, and she shifted a bit on her seat. “Ah uhh…no, I…” She looked down, trying to hide her expression. “It’s my letter and I don’t want you to destroy it.”

[disassembling]

Oh crap, she had gotten to the love part. He knew it instantly the way she was distracted, the way she remained in some kind of daze as her fingers gripped the paper like it was some kind of lifeline to a different sort of life. He knew that look; he had seen officers doing much the same thing with letters from home just before they shipped out to volatile territory, how they folded it up neatly, tucked it in their uniforms like those letters were the most precious thing in the world. He knew the look and he saw it reflected in the protectiveness of Stephanie to his letter.

There was no talking his way out of that. He shifted on his bunk, drawing his knees up a bit so he could rest his chest on them and grasp his ankles. "Ah well, I did address it to you, though... I didn't know where you were living so I left it with the clerk," he said lamely, shrugging his shoulders a bit. Why did he feel like he was about to be lead to the firing squad for dishonourable discharge punishment?

"It seems to me you probably read it all," he intoned softly, offering her a small smile, harder to come by now that he had seen so much combat. "I won't lie about it. What I wrote in there was true and accurate, but we're friends until the very end, Stephanie. I would never sacrifice our friendship based on my feelings, and I would never pressure you to feel like you had to feel the same for me. Friends until the end of the line, no matter what."

[eleutheria]

It was rather strange for her to be on the end of these kind of words, written or not, from anyone. Of course, she had heard this kind of declarations before and had even heard him saying it to another girl once, but well, she was who she was or who she had been and getting love confessions wasn’t something that happened to her.

When he shifted, she took another moment to read the declaration again since she still wasn’t sure it was there or not, maybe she was imagining this. There was a small wince at the subtle hint of not knowing where to actually send the letter. “I am sorry…I’m sorry that I wasn’t able to tell you where I was or what happened, I…I wasn’t allowed even though I wanted to tell you everything.”

She looked up at him, it was quite clear she had read it all and four times already, and she just looked at him. Bucky had always been the better one of the two of them and she always knew that one day he was going to find a good woman. “…You love me…and it’s not about pressure or our friendship, it’s just…” She took a deep breath and focused on carefully folding the letter, she was going to keep it after all. “…I never thought…you were always so wonderful and everything, I knew you were going to find a woman that was worthy enough to have you…and I knew I was not going to be that woman.”

[disassembling]

James really didn't mind that she hadn't sent him word about what was going on or that she had even had such an experimentation done in the first place. He suspected he would have shaken his head if he had had to read it anyway, so he preferred the way that he had found out about her induction into the army and history. If anyone deserved that sort of nomination, it was Stephanie. She was the most stubborn but the best of them as well, and the military had been a fool to keep her out before this. He had always known it.

"You already know you don't have to apologize about anything," he replied with a soft chuckle. "I know how big government operations work by now, Stevie." He could never hold anything like that against her, and really, he was just pleased that she was here with him. She had saved his life; there was nothing to forgive.

He knew what she was going to say before she even said it because he knew better than most her low opinion of herself when it came to romance or courting those kinds of warm feelings. "You do know our parents have been gunning for us to get together for years, right?" He raised an eyebrow at her. "I could never say it before the war; we had so many other things to focus on and being friends was so important to me. You were always important to me."

[eleutheria]

“I still feel the need to do so, Buck, you’re my best friend and I felt awful lying to you by omission, government or not.” And it had been lying by omission, since that was the only thing she could manage since lying right off the bat was something she couldn’t do, it just wasn’t in her heart to be able to lie to anyone and much less to him, it always felt wrong to do so. “And I know you do, but still I should have told you or hinted it, you’re smart enough to have figured it out.”

But then she wasn’t that sure about how good she would have been trying to come up with a code to hint him to things and maybe she could have asked Peggy to help her, but then the woman might have tried to discourage her from doing so, but that didn’t matter now. Bucky knew now and had seen the results, she was just thankful he hadn’t seen her in the choir girl outfit (on the few times she donned it) since she wouldn’t have been able to live that one down.

“Yes, but well I could never tell if my mom and your parents were teasing us due to how close we were and still are, I mean…many of the neighborhood kids did as well and people on your work.” Which explained why she had tried to avoid dropping by his work a lot since, well, some of the things his co-workers had said had pissed her off enough and she didn’t wanted him to lose his job, a small smile appeared on her face. “You know you’re important to me as well, Buck, you’re probably the most important person in my life and it was always enough to be at your side for as long as I was able to be.”

[waypastasking]

Steve just let himself into Bucky's apartment, because that is what friends, well best friends do. Steve, however was having a crisis at the moment. The feeling had been building for a while now, but Steve had a feeling that his feelings for his best friend went beyond that of friendship.

He just wasn't sure what to do about it.

"Buck? You here?" Steve called out.

[disassembling]

James was a man who knew how to pick up when someone liked him because it happened to be a lot with the cute dames around and the slowly depleting men thanks to the war starting. He knew the looks, the little smiles, the body language and normally he played it up because the attention was always nice. Who wouldn't enjoy it? Of course, he always made certain his dates had cute friends so Steve never felt left out. He always had his friend's back, hoping to encourage the shy violet out into the open, though Steve apparently liked being punched in alleys instead of interacting with women. Oh well, there were ever the opportunities for growth in his friend.

He tugged on his shirt over his shoulders and began to button it up, the familiar sound of Steve's voice drawing him from his small bedroom as his fingers worked on the buttons. "Of course, I said I'd be here, remember?" He glanced up and smiled. "Oh wow, look at you... no new bruises today? What is it, my birthday?"

[waypastasking]

Steve followed the sound of Bucky's voice, but he may have stopped breathing for a moment when he realized that his friend was not completely dressed, and Steve just stopped.

"Um..." Steve said, as he looked at his shoes. "Yeah of course, and Ha ha... I don't get my ass kicked everyday, just most days."

Steve laughed at his own joke. "It's not my fault that no one can appreciate my inner beauty right?

[disassembling]

He raised an eyebrow at the reaction, his finger pausing on the top four buttons for a moment. That wasn't normally how Steve reacted around him; that was how those young blushing women did when there was even a hint of skin beneath his neckline shown. Yet, his concern was more for a possible asthma attack than because he was almost half naked.

He walked over to Steve to make certain his friend was alright, abandoning his buttons in the process. No, breathing looked normal to him. "Skipping days now? That's smart, letting the bruises heal before you get more. You breathing alright, Steve?"

He smirked and nudged his friend's shoulder with a hand. "I always appreciate your inner beauty, but you like to show off the awkward kid when I try to display it for others."

[waypastasking]

He looked up at his friend slightly stunned. He realized that he was being spoken to, and shook his head, clearing those traitorous thoughts from his head.

Maybe if he was bigger.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" He asked, with a small grin. He nudged back a little. "You do know that I can take care of myself right? 'sides I've been working out some."

[disassembling]

Geez, what was that look for? He was only concerned that Steve was going to drop on his floor, not that he minded. He had dealt with his friend's illnesses for years and knew a calm and level head was the way to get through them. However, something else seemed to be up by his perceptions, and he was determined to find out what. He hoped it was a girl; oh, he really wanted Steve crushing on someone.

"You looked like you tried to swallow a duck or something," he replied with a skeptical look. He took the nudge and pretended to look around like he was supposed to have felt something. He then look at Steve and pretended to startle. "I'm completely aware of your ability to take care of yourself." He reached out and grabbed Steve's upper arm, feeling it. "Hmm, yep, think I feel a muscle growing. You'll have anyone you take on the ropes in no time."

[waypastasking]

Steve really wished that Bucky would stop touching him like her wanted to or something. Steve knew that couldn't be true, what with the number of dames he has seen flocking around Bucky. He couldn't be anything but straight.

Even if he wasn't straight, there is no way that he could be interested in him.

Steve blushed, because how could he not. Bucky was touching him after all. "Yeah Yeah. I thought that best friends weren't supposed to mock?"

[disassembling]

When he was around Steve or even around people he knew well, James was a touchy person. He didn't care about getting in close with other people because there was a simple and sheer joy of hugging someone close to him. Steve especially because the guy was just the right height and build to tuck in against his side where he could drag his friend around and not expect much resistance.

The blush had him pausing and leaning in close to examine it. His friend was so pale it stood out in stark contrast to the usual skin colouration. "Blushing? For me? Awww, Steve, you shouldn't," he commented jokingly. "Also, you happen to know I cheer every time you land a hit on anyone picking on you. No mocking then."

[waypastasking]

"Shut up," Steve said with as much force as he could, but it was laughable really.

"Thanks," Steve said soft, as he put his hand on the other's arms. He thought that maybe, just maybe..... But the moment was just as fleeting as when he came.

"So any plans for us today?"

[disassembling]

He chuckled at the snapped reply, aware that aside from poking him or giving him those little shoves, Steve was not actually putting up resistance. He quickly snapped an arm around his friend's shoulders, gathering Steve to his side in a manly hug. "Don't be lippy, my friend. You don't last in tickle torture now any more than you did then."

Plans? Well, he wasn't fully dressed for one, but Steve was here so his state of half dress didn't matter to him anymore. "Probably keeping you out of trouble," he said as he finally let the other man go to wander back to his small bathroom to comb his hair. "Oh and I plan on interrogating you on what's up. No secrets between us, remember?"

[eleutheria]

There might or might not be a small flush at his clear remembrance of that day, of course he was going to remember she didn’t expected otherwise from him, just like she hadn’t forgotten her reaction to that. It had been the first time someone, asides from her mother, had called her cute and she had been just too shocked to stop him from wiping the blood from her face and then telling him not to walk her home later that day, since he wanted to make sure she didn’t got into more trouble. “God, I am sure that was going to be one of the stories you’re going were going to tell our respective grandchildren to amuse them or something.”

She rolled her eyes just a bit. “You’re way too cocky sometimes, Buck.” But she didn’t wanted to admit that yes, his charm sometimes worked with her as well, he didn’t needed to have that confirmed. She was quiet for a bit while she listened to him, she knew there was probably more to the experience, things he will rather not talk about and will probably never be ready to say. “They are going to question you.” It left her lips before she could stop it. “They are going to ask you what happened and maybe sent you back home, I am not sure yet.”

[disassembling]

James knew that he had seen her transfer into school, had been curious enough about her small size to see who took her in. Well, her attitude had certainly made everyone turn a head, but not all of them for a good reason. He was popular, a friendly smile and a good looking kid who helped out but could be tough and rugged. He had taken her in that day and never regretted it for a moment. "It probably will be actually. It's a pretty memorable first meeting, you have to admit."

Well that wasn't a very nice thing to say after she had just agreed to date him for real and not those funny double-dates he arranged. He would treat her right after all, show her the ropes and ease her into the whole love thing. "You never complained about my cockiness before, you know," he muttered, though that wasn't necessarily true. She had called him on it a few times. Yet, the idea of being asked questions didn't bother him. "They won't send me home. I have no injuries and I can still shoot a gun. That's what a man needs to be in this war."

[eleutheria]

Well she probably hadn’t cause much of a good impression that day when she had picked a fight right from the start, but another girl was being teased and she just couldn’t stand there, it was then, strangely enough, that she remembered that girl had also turned into a sort of a friend for her –not as close as Bucky, but she was the other person she could call close friend and it was another girl that had kind of…well understood certain things Bucky couldn’t. “It was but I don’t think our grandchildren or anyone for that matter needs to know I was a crazy kid back then, you know.”

The rather pointed look she gave him about that cocky comment was enough to prove that statement false, she had mentioned before though it had never really been heartfelt. She bit her lip again and looked down at his chest, she really didn’t wanted to tell him it was more likely due to the fact of whatever Hydra might have done to him and they might be interested to know, she took a deep breath and looked at him with as much of a calm expression as she could manage. “I suppose you’re right, I am not sure where they might be sending your unit though.”

[disassembling]

He was probably more amused than he should be over the fact that they had been dating less than an hour and she was already talking about grandchildren. Those usually involved having children first, and he had only had one kiss with her and it hadn't entirely been serious. Certainly nothing that would lead to him bedding her, and certainly not here in an open military camp. "Well, they might like to know to realize where their own sense of craziness comes in? That will be a trait passed down through you."

He simply smirked in the face of the look that she gave him, but his cockiness was apart of him as her sense of justice was part of her. He knew she didn't mind it. His hand swept between her shoulders to soothe her, having caught the downcast look to his chest. He knew what she was thinking, but he wasn't going home. He was able-bodied regardless of his sting to his muscles. "Wherever they deem us most useful. I'm a soldier, and I know I have to go where I'm ordered. I'll fight harder knowing I have you to come back to like this."

[eleutheria]

Well the talk about grandchildren wasn’t exactly meant of any possible grandchildren coming from any possible children they might have together, that thought hadn’t particularly crossed her mind, the one that had thought and was kind of the base thought for this was the fact that she had no figured their friendship was going to last up till that point, when they had both grown old and made their own families and were still close friends, she hadn’t dared to consider the possibility of them going beyond the friendship sphere. “No, you’re not allowed to say that to my grandchildren.”

The inherent cockiness of his was something she had learned and adapted herself to live with; she accepted it as part of him just like he accepted her need to defend others that needed it, even if she lacked the means to do it effectively. “Yeah, I know they are going to wait a bit to make sure you’re all ready.” She smiled at him at that and she was probably going to have the same motivation once she was out there as well. “Then I will do the same, I will try my hardest to stay alive and come back to you then.”

[disassembling]

James knew they were dating, and his mind had already shifted over to that mentality because he was used to working that way when women that he asked out. He suspected Stephanie was just plain clueless and had no idea what to do with the whole dating aspect of their relationship. He was definitely going to have to ease her into it. "Your grandchildren will probably be my grandchildren too," he pointed out with a smirk. "Unless you plan on dumping me after the war?"

He was prepared to be shipped out again soon, knew that he would be ready and didn't question it. He was still angry about the war and his role in it, but he learned to not ask questions about they were all hear. He knew freedom, but why did anyone have to fight so hard for something so basic? "Like I said, a good sleep and a meal, and I'll be good to go," he said, trying to ease the painful fact that they might not go out into the field together. "Do you have your orders on where they are pushing you next?"

[eleutheria]

And yes that’s Stephanie doing a bit of a double take and looking like a deer caught in highlights, clearly the thought of them having children and then grandchildren together hadn’t crossed her mind, God, she was already failing at this dating thing, was it the normal thing to think about that kind of things? Dammit, she should have tried a bit harder to get more experience, maybe if she had been a bit more open and less prone to fighting, someone might have been interested long enough for her to learn the basics. “Well then, we can say the crazy is from you then.”

She didn’t exactly look convinced, maybe physically he was going to be ready, but shouldn’t his mind be in the same state? She thought it should be, but then she didn’t make the rules here and she will have nothing more to do but to accept them. “…Yes, they are using some information I got from the base and it was enough to bring forth some action.” And she knew they were still trying to figure out who to send with her and God, how she had wanted to ask them to allow Bucky to go with her, but she doesn’t wants to force him going after Hydra after what happened. “So…I guess I am officially in the military now.”