#congrats on the word count milestone b!!! 💕

[asgardwinter]

I Told You So

summary | The Howling Commandos went through so many obstacles to get to the stadium tour. So did you and your best friend, but you’d do it all again if needed.

pairing | rockstar!Bucky x fem!Reader

trope and prompt | friends to lovers (character A and B have been inseparable from the day they've become friends, what happens when character A suddenly realizes they love character B?) and prompt 23 (marry me?).

warnings | angst, fluff and the happy ending we all need (soft rockstar!Bucky is a whole warning himself, I wanna marry him)

word count | 2,2k

author’s note | this is my entry for @thefanbasewhore ’s 2k challenge (first time in a writing challenge, hope I don’t mess it up). Congrats on your milestone, Sky 💕💕!! Also, slightly inspired by Sk8ter Boi 🙃

Bucky Barnes Masterlist | Taglist | Main Masterlist

“Take care, you know I love you.” Bucky said to you as he drove away slowly, waving at you.

Your heart did something that was in the middle of a happy loop and a sad squeeze.

“I wouldn’t get in trouble every week if it wasn’t for you!” You shouted back in time to hear his loud laugh as he disappeared on the street.

Going up the stairs to get to your dorm room, your head started drowning in the mess you were used to these days. Every time he said those three words - that were pretty common between the both of you - you got in that place where you wanted to cry and smile at the same time. That wasn’t a good sign.

To realize that your feelings towards Bucky became romantic and not only pure friendship was an easy task. But what should you do after the realization?

There was no way you’d do anything to mess up your friendship. And with the band finally starting to get somewhere, you couldn’t be a good manager having your heart broken by the drummer who also happens to be your best friend. Steve would be pissed and with a reason.

In the end you should’ve seen this coming, Natasha would say “I told you so” with that older sister's look.

Well, she did tell you so.

…

After your realization it wasn’t long until Bucky decided to put an end to his fuckboy days. How lucky you were.

Seeing him with a different girl every time was no problem when you were still above all them. It might be a selfish thought but you tried to ignore the little angel in your shoulder telling you that.

Until one day he showed up with Dolores - or Dot as she insisted you to call her. She stayed for a week by his side and you didn’t notice anything different. Then it was a month and they were dating.

Officially dating. Bucky doesn’t date, or he changed that little thing for her.

The good student with a brilliant future and the boy with the dream of being a rockstar. What a damn cliche and it seemed to be working just fine.

She was completely different from all of you but still managed to be a good company. And you were the only one to blame for your heartbreak, you were too late. Couldn't be mad at Bucky for finding happiness without you, couldn’t be angry with Dolores because she was really nice.

All you could do was hide the sadness behind a happy face and say to him that you were happy he found someone.

Because, in the end, you really were happy to see his bright and passionate smile.

…

“Guess who is the best manager you guys could ever want?” You ran down the stairs that took you to the basement with the biggest smile on display.

Tripping over a loose board on the stairs you would’ve kissed the floor if it wasn’t for your best friend’s assistance. Bucky held you against his chest to support you and you could say anyone in the room could feel the heat radiating from you.

“How come you always forget about the little problem with the stairs?” He asked jokingly.

You cleared your throat before talking again. “I only do this when I’m excited. And you all would already know why I’m like this already if Barnes would just fix the fucking stairs.”

“Alright, start talking, manager. Or do you think we pay you to joke with Bucky’s laziness? I can do this myself.” Sam said, holding a laugh as you faked a surprised look.

“Oh, this is good news. Now I’m getting paid to solve everything out for you?”

“Please, just say what you were going to say!” Steve complained.

“You guys will open a big show tomorrow evening!” The three of them continued to look at you without words. “I was waiting for a better reaction, but okay.”

“How big are we talking about?” Sam asked carefully.

“Life changing big.” You explained. “This might be the chance.”

The room stayed in silence for some more minutes until the information settled into everyone. Steve was the first to speak.

“So what are we waiting for? We need to go over some songs and make sure everything is perfect. Where’s Nat by the way?” He asked you.

“She’s on her way, I already told her.” You explained.

“Hey! I’m feeling betrayed.” Bucky pouted.

“Sorry, Buck. Nat is also my assistant, didn’t you know?” You joked and he shook his shoulders turning to Steve and Sam.

“So let’s get to this. We have to be perfect tomorrow.” Bucky warned everyone. “This will be an awesome surprise for my six month aniversary.”

That statement smashed your heart a bit more, making you turn away from the guys that were just about to start. You walked towards the stair that’d led you out of the basement trying to hide your hurt face. Realizing that they were six months together and you weren’t even near getting over Bucky really did an extra damage. Going out of that small space was now the only thought in your head.

“Hey, doll.” Bucky called you from his seat at the drumms. “Not going to stay to give moral support? You always do.”

Everyone now looked at you and you decided to put to use your awful acting skills.

“I’d love to, but I still have some minor things to figure out before tomorrow. You guys have no idea how many favors I had to charge and offer to get this.” You forced a smile that didn’t reach your eyes. It wasn’t an actual lie, you almost sold your soul to get that job. But if you wanted you could’ve stayed to watch them as you used to.

You almost celebrated when no one tried to complain or ask you if you were okay. Because you weren’t even near it. Almost getting out of the house without a breakdown made you feel stronger, if it wasn’t from bumping on Natasha everything would be good.

Your night went that way, crying in your friend's warm embrace in front of your love’s house and knowing you couldn’t just go home and sleep the sadness away. It was still better than breaking down locked inside your car.

And Nat didn't say “I told you so” that night.

…

The following day was when everything blew up.

On the backstage you were pacing around making sure everything was ready and there were no misunderstandings. You wished you could be there with your friends and not losing your mind with the checklist.

The whole manager thing started as a joke because you were - and still are - the only one of the friend group with no musical talent. You never thought it would become reality but you could see this working out. The extra stress and excitement should be a first time thing.

Last time you verified, Sam and Natasha were sitting in silence while Steve was pacing around the room almost making everyone dizzy. You could see Natasha telling him to sit down for god's sake. But Bucky was nowhere to be seen. Steve told you he was getting here in a few minutes but you were still worried sick, they alway got there together. The only explanation that wasn’t even close to relieving you was Sam’s comment you overheard. “Miss Perfect wasn’t even near what we thought.”

You knew who ‘Miss Perfect’ was but you were afraid to make sense of Sam’s comment.

When you felt a hand on your shoulder you almost jumped because of the tension you were in.

“He’s here. He needs you.” Those were Natasha’s only words before guiding you to the room designated to the band.

Opening the door you entered looking for your best friend, the fact that it was empty only added to the fear. The situation was really serious if they all left you two alone minutes from the show. You spotted him sitting on the couch, looking to the wall with a reddened face and teary eyes.

“What happened, Buck?” You said startling him.

Bucky looked at your direction with almost no expression if it wasn’t from the remnants of sadness you already noticed.

“She thinks I’m not good enough.” He told you in a lower voice. “She said we're too… too different, that she can’t be with someone like me. We’ll never work.”

Now you truly understood Sam’s words. Smashing your friend's heart like that, there was no way you’d let it be. You walked in his direction and kneeled in front of him, Bucky’s face was resting on your hands that caressed his cheeks.

“This is the worst lie I’ve ever heard.” You started in a soft but determined tone. “You can’t believe her, Buck. You're James Barnes, the best person I know in this world.” He started to open his mouth to say something but you didn't give him the chance. “That’s a fact. Not open to discussion.”

The blush in his face was different than the red from crying on the ride to get there on time. But you didn’t stop there.

“You’re going there to do what you do best and have fun as always. Don’t let her take this from you, this is the opportunity you dreamed about! Can’t leave your two fanclubs waiting…” He laughed a bit and the sound made your heart jump in excitement. “Just go there and have fun, forget about her lying words. I’ll be here when you get back if you want to break down. We can do anything you want.”

“You’re right, doll.” Bucky kissed your forehead and got up going to the bathroom to make himself presentable. “ I need to do this for us and…”

“Hey! Not for us only, for you. You’re going on a huge tour some day, remember? And also pack me in your suitcase.”

His smile, even if it was small compared to the usual, was comforting. Bucky started looking around for his drumsticks and spotted them at your hand, pulling them out of your grip and leaning at the threshold.

“What would I do without you?” He asked, already waiting for a quick answer that you couldn’t deliver.

“Go talk to Steve before he freaks out.” You said with a smile seeing him disappear in the hall.

Soon, Nat appeared where Bucky was only seconds ago. When your eyes met, she smirked and you rolled your eyes.

“That’s what I call risk management.” You joked.

“I’d say it’s love.” She said nonchalantly.

“Yeah, I’ll go with your theory.” You knew better than to deny.

“I told you so.”

…

Five years later…

You were wrong when you thought that the job would get easier with practice. The same excitement you felt on that first big show you felt now in the second tour of The Howling Commandos. The stress of having everything figured out faded a bit when there was a chance to afford a real secretary and an actual staff.

There was no way you’d trade your life for anything different.

When the last chord was played, the drums stopped and the audience was screaming to the point you couldn’t hear anything else, the band went to the front of the stage to thank them.

As soon as they were off stage you jumped in Bucky’s embrace and slammed your lips on his. There was no way you would even realize that both of you were on the big screen with all those eyes watching you.

“Marry me?” He asked against your lips.

You loosened the grip on him, looking shocked and trying to make sense of his words. “Wait, what?”

Bucky got on his knees and grabbed a small velvet box out of nowhere. He was laughing at your confused expression but it was obvious how nervous he was.

“It took me more time than you to realize that the love of my life was by my side since I was a kid. But thanks to many signs” You could hear Steve and Sam fake coughing behind you and you laughed “I finally noticed, and loving you has been the greatest gift of my life. So will you marry me?” He said in an unsure tone. “Will you make me yours forever? Will…?”

You dropped on your knees too and kissed him as an answer.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” Bucky smirked but you could only nod and smile in response. Maybe even a small tear managed to escape. “I’m a bit mad you cutted a small part of my proposal, doll.”

“You can go back to that later.” You whispered against his mouth with a wide smile. “I’m too happy to let you talk.”

And before you could say anything more he kissed you passionately, one hand caressing the back of your neck and the other with a firm grip to your waist pulling your chest against his. Making sure you wouldn’t go anywhere else so soon and you had no complaint.

You could spend your whole life in that happy moment.

And Natasha would also say “I told you so” in her wedding speech, that you were certain.