#Thor’s living on small jobs around campus so he’s not going to be earning as much at all

[worstloki]

now i want an au where thor and loki two brothers are forced into a fake sugar daddy - sugarbaby relationship because Thor's lie blew up and he has to save his reputation in college lol

Ok ok so AU where Thor gets his allowance scrapped bc he was irresponsible with it and then a while later Loki gets ‘disowned’ and his name is removed from the company due to scandalous adoption reasons (still living in the same house tho, the parents just don’t want to see him) so the next time Loki shows to pick Thor the brother status is arguable and it’s less explaining to go ‘this is my sugar daddy’ as a joke than ‘this is my younger half-brother who is also in the process of getting kicked out of the house but it hasn’t happened yet’

[lozzypoz321]

Word count: 3.8k!

A/N: this is one of my favourite things I’ve ever written and I’m super proud of it, also the biggest word count I’ve ever done, hope you enjoy and pretty please leave feedback!! <3

Warnings: brief mentions of underage sex, calling of child services, brief mentions of an anxiety attack

Avengers college AU

-

Bucky: Guys I’m really desperate

Bruce: what?

Steve: wdym?

Bucky: does anyone have the first period free tomorrow? Can’t afford a babysitter for Riley :/

Tony: nah can’t, I’ve got a busy schedule

Clint: economics man

Bruce: science m8

Nat: same as Clint I’m afraid Jamesy

Clint: wbu Steve?

Steve: library club and I can’t skip

Bucky: >: I

Bucky: I think I may be having a midlife crisis.

Tony: okay 1. You’re 20 and 2. You shouldn’t have gone an’ knocked up a woman at 17

Nat: Tony!

Bucky: You’re acting like you didn’t get some at 17 Tony

Bruce: he has a fair point.

Nat: and anyway Riley’s too pure for your insults Tony

Bucky: uwu

Tony: you have officially turned into every teenage girl Barnes

Nat: anywayyyyyyy, Thor how’re you coping with your brother’s “phase”

Tony: I am starting to think Loki’s goth phase isn’t just a phase Natalie, I caught him walking around in a skull T-shirt with chains this morning

Clint: oh daym

Steve: what are you going to do?

Thor: I am going to show that I respect him by buying him some flowers!

Clint: What abt a chain tho?

Nat: wait, does anyone wanna go to laser tag at some point?

Tony: oooh yes!

Bruce: yeah I’m down! :)

Steve: I’ve got time yeah thanks

Bucky: I never back down from a laser tag game

Nat: great! I’ll book it with Tony’s card

Tony: wait what?

Bucky: oh shit, I’ve gotta go, Riley’s just run away somewhere brb

Clint: oh damn.

Bucky shoved his phone hastily into his pocket and looked around, desperation filling his eyes as they searched for any sign of his daughter. The bushes swayed with the evening breeze and very few people strolled around campus, either going on a walk, meeting up early with friends or getting food. The young adult heavily sighed out of relief when he caught sight of Riley, excitedly chatting to a man, who James quickly identified him as one of his other friends, Sam.

Braking out into a light jog, he made his way across campus to the pair while also trying to avoid bumping into the other students that were now staring at him, in college he was basically known as the fuck boy. Not that he was, the only reason behind it was that he had a daughter at 17 and everyone apart from his friends never saw past that.

“What’re you doing here munchkin?” He asked the small girl who was now shyly smiling at her father. Sam chuckled at the duo and turning his attention away from Riley, “wasn’t her fault dude, just telling me how she’s going to chemistry class tomorrow, can’t wait to see that” he said with a sly smirk on his face.

Bucky mentally sighed, yes it was going to be very tough tomorrow. Not only was she very restless, but she also was very talkative and wouldn’t put a filter on around people older than her, which most of the time could be very offensive. “Yeah! I promised him I’ll be good!”

“Oh really? Well I kinda hoped you’d have something to say to Professor Demon”

“Sam,” he groaned and ran a hand through his hair “his names Damon, if he caught you sayin’ that then we’d get suspended so quickly dude” Riley giggled and looked up at her dad innocently “and then we’d go poor because you suck at getting jobs”

“He sucks at everything” Sam mumbled, earning a glare from the other man. “We better go get some food now, there’s literally nothing in the fridge except a can of tuna, some ketchup and packets of sour sauce from takeout awhile ago”

“Oof man”

The walk to the diner that he had decided on going to after he couldn’t be bothered going grocery shopping was a long one. Riley insisted on stopping for every dog they saw, to ask to stroke it. “Ri’ baby, we can’t keep stopping, we gotta get back to the dorm before it’s your bedtime”

The pout she sent him instantly melted his heart before he realised she knew exactly what she was doing and he readjusted his grip on her hand so she didn’t end up running away again like she did earlier.

-

“Ri’ what do you want?” He asked the child once the waitress had come over asking for their orders. She gave a nonchalant shrug and turned her attention back to the video that was playing on Bucky’s phone that he had given her for the wait. “M’kay so, can we get a,” he took a pause to take a quick glance at the kid’s menu on the table “chicken nuggets and chips please with… chocolate milkshake?”

Riley nodded and the waitress, who from the name tag on her apron, was named Elizabeth, began to write down both his and her order but halfway through gave a quick glance up to Bucky, but when he caught her cheeks flooded red that made his daughter snort.

“Is that all sir?”

“Riley shut up” he quietly told the girl as Elizabeth walked away with her head down. “She was flirting with you dad” she laughed making him jokingly nudge her across the table “Oi, and anyway she’s not my type munchkin”

“Well don’t be too loud, the creeps staring at you dad”

He didn’t mean to, but without thinking his head whipped round to instantly make eye contact with the woman who was biting her lip, her eyes now as big as plates. His cheeks heated furiously as he immediately turned back around to face his adorable giggling daughter. “You better like those chicken nuggets munchkin cause I’ve got to go through this to get them”

“I will dad, I like chickens”

-

“Riley, come on you gotta get some sleep” he groaned once she’d slid onto the sofa where he was writing his assignment last minute for the fifth time that night.

“But dad,” She whined and pulled on the sleeve of the college logo sweater he had pulled on without even thinking about it once they’d got home as he had only just realised he had a paper to write, “I’m not tired and I don’t want to be alone”

His eyes softened at the pleading look on her face that would get him to do anything she wanted him to “m’kay baby, how about we go into into the bedroom and you try to get some sleep while I finish this up”

She nodded enthusiastically and he picked up the study books and paper in one hand and Riley in the other, deep eye bags could be found on his face from the lack of sleep that he had spent pulling all-nighters working on college work and began to make his way into the small room that had a single bed pressed up against the wall with a mattress next to it, an abundance of blankets on both.

He set the small girl onto the single bed and lowered himself down into the smaller one, using the bed frame to press his back against and using a hardback book underneath the paper to rest on.

“Why do people stare at you?” Bucky only just heard Riley mumble as her eyes struggled to keep open. He stopped writing but kept his hand in the same place while grinder his teeth, wondering what to say. “Cause baby… people don’t really think that I should have you this young,” he struggled to find the words as he felt his daughter roll onto her back to listen “but they don’t understand that I love you a lot, don’t I munchkin?”

Riley giggled behind him and uttered a small yes. “At least they haven’t tried to take me away again”

The young man's breath hitched in the back of his throat at the memory flashed through his mind. They’d been watching a movie with Steve after their classes and a knock had sounded on the door.Apparently, Child services had been called by one of the students and they tried to take her away but he wouldn’t let them, they had threatened to take him to court because the living settings were not meant for a child but 17-year-old Steve had calmly spoken to them outside the room while James had been on the edge of a panic attack inside.

“Yeah, scared me Ri’” his horse voice answered back making her eyebrows scrunch in confusion “I’m not going anywhere dad. Well, unless I die but y’know”

He sent her a bitch face look over his shoulder which made her uncontrollably giggle. Bucky chuckled and set his attention back to the essay while absent mindedly talking to her about random things.

“Is Loki gonna be at the laser tag place?” She asked and added on excitedly “oooh can I come dad?!”

“Sure doll, let me tell the guys”

Buck: we got plus ones on this laser tag thing?

Bruce: whyyyy??

Thor: oooh if that is the case I would very much like to take my brother!

Nat: oh are you bringing Riley then?

Buck: yup

Steve: I don’t see why not

Tony: I’m off to speak to this really hot girl

Clint: what that spice girl?

Buck: do you mean pepper?

Clint: ah yes!

He chuckled at the screen and chucked his phone to the side while looking up to his daughter on the bed above him, going to tell her they approved before stopping and smiling to himself as he caught sight of her peaceful, sleeping form.

Without waking her up, he got off the mattress and tucked in the blankets, quietly laughing as he retrieved the earbuds she had borrowed in the diner from her pocket. “Night munchkin”

-

Bucky groaned as the ringing of his phone awoke him, the technology next to his ear from when he had fallen asleep sat up. “Wha’?”

It was so early in the morning that he didn’t even have the energy to think of a proper sentence, never mind say one.

Steve: hey guys make sure your ready, it starts an hour after school

Clint: Steve. School. Finishes. At. 6. Pm. What. Tf. Do. You. Mean. It. Starts. In. An. hour. After.

Nat: we thought you could do with a late start

Tony: fuck you Romanoff

Clint: ten bucks says she’s smirking rn

Buck: ughhh

Bruce: I feel exactly the same way

Buck: no you don’t. I spent up until 6 am doing that English essay I forgot about

Tony: oof

Bucky: I will physically be running on caffeine this morning so be ready

He took a look around the messy room before deciding he would clean it another day and raised himself onto his feet before making sure Riley was still on the single bed asleep. He made his way to the tiny kitchen that held a mini-fridge, microwave, kettle and an oven with two counters on one side to make himself a cup of coffee that he was depending on if he had to spend an hour of his day running around in sweaty gear and a fake gun while making sure his daughter didn’t run away to get some sort of snack.

“Fuck” he mumbled as the loud whirring of the kettle started, sure to wake Riley up. “I’m tired” he heard a voice groan behind him, making the man whirl around, instantly making eye contact with his daughter. Sighing out of relief and returning back to the drink he was previously making. “So am I doll, yet you can’t have coffee”

He made her go get dressed and brush her teeth while he had a mental breakdown over what he was going to do about the paper he didn’t manage to finish before he fell asleep last night.

“Dad,” Bucky looked up to find Riley once again dressed in a pair of Joggers and a baggy T-shirt that she’d dragged out of the very few clean clothes in her draw “someone’s messaging your laptop”

She struggled to hold up the open device that showed multiple emails from one of his professors questioning his performance in class for the recent weeks. He inwardly cursed and took the laptop from her to begin emailing her back, choosing to ignore the insults she had thrown at him and his daughter in the middle of it.

“She is so full of-“ he stopped halfway through the sentence, noticing that Riley was sat next to him, quietly playing a YouTube video on his phone. “Whatcha watching Ri’?” He asked, his attention still focusing on trying to be professional in the email back. “c- c-“ she struggled to pronounce the word so she passed it to him.

“Commentary channels?” The man asked with a laugh, thinking about how most parents wouldn’t even let their 4 child near a video like that but yet again he wasn’t like most parents. He was 20 and had to do this alone.

“Oh yeah”

“Come on munchkin, we gotta get to first period before we’re late” he told her and grabbed his backpack to quickly shove his college things in before glancing at the digital clock on his phone and scooping Riley up so they could get there quicker.

Halfway through the panicked running across campus, the small girl decided she needed a nap and fell asleep against his shoulder, making Natalia laugh as they passed.

As soon as he arrived in the classroom he knew it was a bad idea when 11 pair of eyes fell to his, heavily panting and holding an asleep 4-year-old.

“Sir he’s late” a girl, younger than him moaned to the teacher who was now shrugging his shoulders “I don’t care”

“But professor, why’d he bring the baby?”

Bucky had enough of everyone staring at him, he readjusted the bag on his back before making his way to the back of the class, sitting in an empty seat in between Sam and Tony and placed Riley on his lap.

“That’s a good question Jaimee, Barnes?”

“Couldn’t find anyone to look after her professor” he mumbled in response, making sure to be loud enough to hear. “No babysitter?”

“Can’t afford it sir”

He didn’t once make eye contact with anyone in the room, instead putting his attention on the books that he was bringing out of his bag. “You alright man?” Tony whispered across the desk and flicked a pen at him, “Oi” Bucky hissed as the metal came in contact with the side of his head making Sam laugh loudly at him.

“Dad,” a mumble was heard quietly, making the older man look at his daughter, eyes that were previously closed were now looking up at his wide with pleading “I’m hungry”

If he was anywhere else in the world he would have sworn loudly, but right now he was in a class with 10 other students and his daughter. “Okay baby, but you're gonna have to wait for a while, we’re in my class but I’ll get you something after okay?”

She nodded and rested her hair back against his chest, making him smile slightly as he went back to taking notes of the class. “I’ve got skittles,” Sam held out the family-sized packet of sugary sweets making Riley do grabby hands towards it. Without asking Sam gave her it, earning a goofy smile from the girl. “Thank you dude but she’s literally gonna get the biggest sugar rush possible now”

“Aha, can’t wait to see that”

-

By halfway through the period Riley was already rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet, on the spot next to Bucky’s chair, his hand holding hers to make sure she didn’t run up to the front and distract everyone. “Dad, are you going to work tonight?”

“Yeah munchkin, not for long though, you can stay with Stevie. How about that?”

“Yeah, m’kay”

Suddenly the professor spoke up, directing his attention to Bucky “Barnes, the symbol Sb stands for stibium or stibnite. What is the modern name of this element?”

“That doesn’t sound like English dad” Riley loudly whispered to him, making the class laugh, “and what do you think the answer is?”

The girl pondered for a second and looked at her dad with seriousness drawn upon her features “...tell me,”

-

“Laser in the house!” Clint exclaimed in excitement once everyone had found their way to the front of campus where they’d agreed to meet.

“I like lasers,” Riley gushed while smiling brightly making most of the young adults chuckle, Loki however, did not. “Why did you have to bring me?” The man grumbled, sending a death glare towards his brother.

“Why are you dressed like that?”

“Riley no-“

“Did you go through childhood trauma to endure this?”

“Ri’ you can’t ask-“

“Why is there a child?” Loki asked as if he had only just noticed she was there. “She is Barnes’ daughter brother” Thor said and gently patted her head, making her scowl.

“You have a daughter?”

“I’ve had her for 4 years dude”

“Oh”

Steve grabbed his phone from his pocket and glanced at the time “guys we’ve gotta be there in half an hour we better get goin’”

“Alright Rogers, you really do like to keep track of time don’t you?” Tony asked and rolled his eyes making Nat nudge him in the ribs. “Tony, I’m not that old”

“You're 21, everyone else is 20 punk” Bucky teased him but stopped when he sent him a death glare. “Erm, I’m not 20.” The young girl pointed out while everyone else started making their way to the entertainment place. “Smart girl Ri’”

“Wait, do we need to decide the teams?” Bruce asked everyone once Bucky and Riley had caught up with the rest. “Ooooh,” Clint exclaimed with wide eyes “dibs on Natasha! She’s got good aim.”

“I’m gonna stick with you. Power team” Bucky whispered down to the stupidly smiling girl as she nodded furiously. By the time everyone had chosen their teammates and managed to agree, the group had arrived. “This’ll be great” Bruce sighed once they’d caught sight of the room of light-up vests with attached laser guns.

“Rules,” a middle-aged man who looked like he’d given up on life, walked into the room with a clipboard in hand “No Running, No Physical Contact, Hold Laser with Both Hands, No Climbing, Players must be careful when manoeuvring around interior arena walls, Please let us know if any of your guests suffer from the following: Asthma, epilepsy or suffer from seizures caused by fog or strobe lights.”

Everyone was quiet for a second before Steve quietly spoke up with a blush “I have asthma, sir.”

The worker took a pause and pondered for a moment, as though this had never happened in his whole 68 years of working there, “just… don’t start a fire alright?”

They all nodded in agreement, just happy that he’d been let in, and began to enter the massive room where the game was about to take place. “Right, so, let’s not rugby tackle people like you did last time,” Steve said and mostly directed it to Thor who smiled sheepishly “cause- err, there’s a kid, yeah, Riley, that’s it”

Bucky chuckled and picked up the fake laser gun as the lights began to darken, “let’s get this party started”

As soon as the words left his mouth, chaos ensured, young adults setting off running to find a place to set-up camp. As he wanted to be fast, Bucky quickly picked up Riley and began to run towards a pillar so he could hide behind it, so he’s able to get a good view of people.

“How does it work?” Riley whispered from the spot of her back pressed against his chest so she could also see and indicated towards the gun. “Gotta put your finger on the trigger” he instructed and took ahold of her index finger and brought it over to the weapon, placing the rest of her hand on the handle while her other one held the underneath of the top part, trying not to drop it.

The whole room was silent for a good 5 minutes before Bucky decided to make a move, taking hold of the collar of her jacket to gently pull her up with him. Not holding Riley’s hand as she would have ended up dropping the laser gun if she didn’t have two hands on it.

The two of them scouted out the place trying to be quiet so they didn’t get caught. Suddenly, making them jump, a loud zapping sounded in the distance, indicating that someone had found an enemy. He began to run away from the sound, after making sure his daughter was following and attempting to find somewhere to hide again but this time he didn’t find a deserted place.

“Aha!” Nat yelled and jumped out from behind a pillar while aiming the laser at Bucky’s chest. His panicked yelling and screaming filled the air as he made a run for it, completely forgetting about his teammate left behind and the rule “no running”. Suddenly, before he could brace himself his body went flying, his foot getting stuck on a stray shoe that belonged to Thor. At the same time Steve had jumped out, meaning to get the man in the chest, but instead Bucky had landed on him, using him to muffle the landing, earning an “ow man...” in return.

Bucky wanted to move, he really did, but he just couldn’t. He was in a trance, his and Steve’s baby blue eyes made eye contact, without knowing what he was doing, Steve’s body involuntarily leant up: closer to the younger man. His lips never looked more inviting, but all of a sudden a yell broke out in the room.

“Dad! Help! Nat nearly got me!”

The father scrambled up off the floor, his mind going a million miles an hour about what just happened and why it was wrong. He was his best friend. He should only see him as a friend.

Without meaning to, he ran away from him, not bothering to even spare Steve a second glance in search of his daughter, who was now cowered in one of the room's corners, trying not to get shot. Bucky chuckled slightly at the tactic and crossed the room, luckily not being noticed by Tony and Nat who were having a shoot off at each other from their opposite ends in the room.

“Nat nearly got you Ri’?”

“M’ yeah and you weren’t there.”

Guilt coursed through the mans veins as he remembered that he’d left her, but before his mind could go wondering to the events after it, he stopped himself, “sorry munchkin”

“Is’ okay, just don’t do it again dad”

He silently laughed at the sincerity in her voice and grabbed her hand to lead her away from the battle scene so they could get somebody else in the laser tag game. In quiet discussions they settled on Bruce, the one who was most likely to not be paying attention, and if he was it would still be easy to take aim without him seeing.

“Come on Ri, we got this.”

-

@donutloverxo @xolovegrace @rooskaya-yelena @deephideoutmilkshake @kidney9-9 @marvel-ous-hobbit @snarky--starky @rae-is-typing @stargazingfangirl18 @canadianhufflepuffavenger @herecomesthewriterwitch @every-marveler-ever

[shurisneakers]

espresso [1]

Summary: In which your best friend’s brother begins to set you up on dates when you mention that you haven’t been in a relationship in years, but things don’t go as expected.

Warning: a lot of swearing

A/N: hi :))) this is my entry for @bithors writing challenge! Thanks for the huge extension, k <33. Also, huge thanks to @samingtonwilson for being my beta reader and reading the same draft like 3 times. Unfortunately I love you, Taal.

here’s my ko-fi if you’d like to support my writing <333

Espresso Masterlist

College wasn’t easy.

It was actually pretty shit.

“A whorehouse full of caffeine zombies and nervous breakdowns.” As Rebecca once put it, the filter on her vernacular seemingly disappearing the moment she left her mother’s radar. “And you and I, friend, are in the smack middle of these hormonal beasts.”

Rebecca Barnes had no concern for her dressing sense or her family’s reputation of being polite and proper.

As she trudged beside you in her worn out sweatpants and a pink hoodie, her white converse dragging tiredly across the ground, she was a sharp contrast to your jeans and normal sweater.

It was a chilly morning, but there was a smile on your face because the beginning of autumn at college wasn’t actually that bad. The air was slightly cold, the trees looked beautiful and the warmth of coffee in the morning was something you’d come to love.

You weren’t exactly excited about college, but you would rather not have to write “Please” on the “Why should we give you this job?” part of your application. You were just as sleepy as Rebecca, but you handled it better seeing as you had one of the best roommates ever who let you sleep in for five more minutes.

“I just don’t see why I was forced to pick classes in the crack ass of dawn,” she grumbled, eye bags seeming to hold the weight of the world. 

“From what I remember, you only picked morning classes because you thought you had to compete with James to assert your dominance.” You quirked an eyebrow at her amusedly, as she groaned.

“Listen, first of all, it’s too fuckin’ early to diss you, so here’s a fuck you. Second of all, don’t call him James, it’s so weird. You’ve practically known him your whole life; just call him Bucky like everyone else.”

She tugged the hood of her hoodie over her head and pulled on the sleeves to cover her fingers. You already defended your choice of clothing in the morning, saying that you preferred to feel the sharp coolness of the air before it turned too cold.

You loved Rebecca. Honestly, you did. She was extra as hell, had the mouth of a sailor and quoted Vine references like an English major could quote Shakespeare. 

Too bad none of them could be used in her law course. 

“I know, but-” you began before you were cut off by a sudden push from Rebecca. You nearly tripped before her hand tugged you back into place, preventing you from hitting the tiled floors.

Jesus fucking Christ-

“Ah, here’s my favourite piss goblin and her best friend! Good morning, ladies. How’s the first week of the second year treating you?” Bucky’s cheerful grin as he ruffled his sister’s already messy ponytail made you laugh while she swatted his hand away.

“I’m the piss goblin? Remind me who was the one who peed their bed every day until they were 10?” She narrowed her eyes at him, shoving him away, only to earn a chuckle from him. “Egotistical ape-”

“The first week’s going okay, barista boy,” you interrupted her before she got more graphic, tearing his gaze away from her and to you. You noted the way his hair was sticking up slightly after being messed up by his cap, and the small stain on the corner of his sleeve that he didn’t seem to notice.

“I told you not to call me that,” he whined, removing his arm from around his sister’s shoulders as she squirmed furiously away from him. He sighed before ignoring her altogether.

“You called me Mario for six years straight,” you responded with a grin, sparing him a sideways glance. You wondered if he was feeling cold under that plain white full sleeved t-shirt because his nose and the tips of his ears were slightly pink. 

“Still does, sometimes,” Rebecca piped up, unable to keep the laugh out of her mouth at your indignation. You narrowed your eyes at Bucky who looked away quickly. 

“You promised you wouldn’t tell, snitch!” 

“Don’t you have some American McFrappegrande- or whatever they’re called- to make, barista boy?” she retaliated, earning a huff from him.

“Your face is a-”

“If you both don’t shut up right now I’ll cut off both your arms and beat you both to death with them.” You stepped in between them just as he opened his mouth to spit something equally senseless. 

“Geez, you’re full of fire today, Johnny Storm- ow, fuck, what was that for?! Have you seen that guy? It’s a compliment! He can flame on my ass anytime he’d like.” Bucky rubbed the part of his arm that you punched, glaring at you.

These were the people you willfully chose to hang out with on a daily basis.

“Anyways, you know Thor right? The one who got fuckin’ hammered and nearly lost an eye? He’s having a kick-back tonight at his apartment. Not a party, more low-key. I thought you both might want to come.”

“Is Natasha invited too?” Rebecca murmured, adjusting her bag straps over her shoulder.

“Of course. The more the merrier.” Bucky winked at her. She just rolled her eyes.

“I guess. You’ll drive me back to my dorm, right?”

“Do I fucking look like-”

“Alright, here are our respective stops. Please fuck off now,” you announced loudly. “Have a good day, infants.”

“I’ll see you there, right?” he asked hopefully, walking backwards while facing you both.

“Yes, you mosquito fucker, you’ll see us there.” Rebecca rolled her eyes again, shaking her head.

“Awesome.” He grinned before turning around and taking off in the opposite direction. “Have a great day, Mario! Go fuck an orange, sis!”

The both of you shared only English and while you personally enjoyed the class and the creative liberty it allowed you, Rebecca thought it was the next worst thing since Joss Whedon.

“What were we supposed to read for this class? I don’t even remember,” Rebecca asked drearily, stepping into the large room.

“We were supposed to read something?”

___

Thor was the exact opposite of what everyone expected him to be. With short cropped blonde hair, blue eyes and the impressive height of Wreck-It Ralph, he is the nicest human being on the campus.

His apartment ceilings often had fairy lights strung across it, he had numerous potted plants thanks to his shy roommate Bruce, and each wall was off-white in colour.

Thor and Bruce were fucking pure.

All of you were gathered in their living room, some a little tipsy and some who were sober. Sam, Thor, and Bruce were on one of the couches, Nat and Rebecca were on the floor where Rebecca’s head lay in Nat’s lap and Steve was draped across the armchair with Peggy half lying on him. Wanda and Bucky were the designated drivers for the evening, but Wanda took a grand total of fourteen minutes before she grabbed a beer as well. Having no other place, the three of you were shoved onto the last couch with you in the middle.

“Dude, Professor Cage was there today as a substitute. His biceps were bigger than all my hopes and dreams,” Sam groaned, dropping his head into his hand. “He could like, strangle me and I’d thank him.”

“Gamora, though,” Nat added, shaking her head. “She’s a fucking badass.”

“I swear, Professor Gamora owns my whole ass. I would literally die for her,” Rebecca declared to the raising of a couple of bottles. “It isn’t fuckin’ fair. “How can someone be so smart and good looking at the same time?”

“I think I’m best qualified to answer that, sis.” Bucky grinned, earning a snort from you and a few laughs.

“You are, without a doubt, the ugliest fucking thing I have laid my eyes on, James.”

“There is a mirror in your room for a reason, Rebecca. Use it sometime.” He took a swig of his beer, tipping his jaw up as a sign of smugness.

“I’ll shove that mirror up your ass so that maybe you can finally see how deep your head is in there, Bucky,” she grumbled, to which Nat laughed, continuing to thread her fingers through Rebecca’s hair.

It was around 11 and the earlier part of the evening had been spent in eating pizzas, or anything you could get your hands on really. There was a debate about whether the colour changing dress or the Yanny-Laurel shit was more annoying (which Sam ended up winning, for some godforsaken reason no one could remember) and the excitement had worn off so there was just a comfortable silence hanging in the air.

“Does anyone want to play truth or dare?” Steve asked from the couch, his voice muffled by his girlfriend.

“No.”

“Fuck you guys.”

“Been there, done that, wouldn’t recommend,” Peggy said, shrugging. He poked a finger into her side, making her jump and curse at him, but retreating back to her original position with the hint of a smile playing at her lips.

You stared at them, head tilted. “You guys are disgusting. Feel like ’m going to vomit glitter.”

“Just for that comment, truth or dare?”

“Oh, fuck me in the ass- dare.” You threw your hands up, spilling some of your drink onto Bucky who winced. You immediately mouthed an apology that he shrugged off with a smile, an amused expression on his face.

Everything was hazy and little funnier and happy. You liked it.

“I dare you to eat that bug on the wall over there.”

“Truth.” You ignored his statement, nodding your head at him.

“Fine, would you eat that bug on the wall over there?”

“Never have I ever.”

“That’s not how this fucking game works-“ Steve shot up as loud laughter cut him off. “I hate you.”

“I can live with that,” you said, shrugging.

“Bucky, truth or dare?” Bruce offered, shooting Steve a half smile who instead returned an appreciative nod.

“Truth,” he said lazily but smiling albeit.

“Most embarrassing moment of high school?”

“Um,” he paused, eyebrows furrowing, “I-I’m not sure-“

“Oh, how about the time Y/N walked in on you writing a love letter?” Rebecca raised her hand helpfully, only to be met with a glare.

“Jesus, Becks!”

“That was a love letter?! To who?!” you exclaimed, twisting your body to look at him.

“Nobody!”

“Liar! I remember that day! You nearly jumped out the window so that I wouldn’t see it.”

“I am not answering the question.” Bucky huffed, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Spoilsport,” Thor called out only to receive a middle finger.

“Tell us who the special person was, James,” you sang, leaning your head on his chest, laughing.

“You tell us the guy you were hung up on the entirety of high school,” Steve fired back in defence of his friend, a smile on his face. Your body immediately stiffened up before you forced yourself to relax.

“It was no one,” you mumbled, sitting up straight. “I’ve been single all through high school.”

“Didn’t you date-“

“I’ve been single all throughout high school,” you say loudly, hoping to get your point across. Fuck, one of the reasons you joined Becka as she moved across half the country was to avoid this exact scenario.

“Well, shit-“ Sam’s eyes widened “-we need to get you laid.”

“Who said I’ve been lacking in that department?” You raised your eyebrows, feeling Bucky shift under you before returning back to normal, except wrapping an arm around your shoulder.

“Damn.” Peggy whistled, chuckling to herself. “How about a boyfriend?”

“What about one?”

“Don’t you want someone to have that cheesy college romance with?”

“I gotta say it isn’t on my top 3.” You shrugged, downing the rest of your drink before standing up. “Besides, there isn’t anyone on this campus who is dateable. Maybe if there was someone, I wouldn’t mind. It’s getting pretty late, so we should probably get moving.”

You avoided everyone’s gazes, and instead offered your hand to Nat who waited until Rebecca moved to pull herself up and dust herself off. Wanda had already fallen asleep, so Sam offered to help carry her back to Bucky’s car, which Bucky accepted.

After a round of quick goodbyes, the five of you got into Bucky’s car. Sam and he were roommates, as were Rebecca and Wanda.

“Bucky. Play Africa by Toto.”

“I will not play that godless song in this car.”

“Lil’ bitch.”

After fifteen minutes of ridiculous arguments, he finally dropped Rebecca and a half dead Wanda to their dorm building and rounded the corner to yours and Nat’s.

As Nat got out and you stepped out behind her, you turned to say goodnight to Bucky and Sam, finding them finger wrestling over the radio controls.

“Bye, guys. Drive home safe.” You nodded, shutting the door behind you.

“Mario, wait!” Bucky called out, making you spin on your heel to look at him. He had half his body out of the car window, looking at you over the roof of his car.

“I can- I can help you out if you want,” he said loudly, half shrugging.

“With what?” you asked, confused.

“F-finding someone who’s- you know- dateable. If you want.”

You stared at him blankly. You hadn’t considered this possibility when you said that.

“Why do you want to help me?”

“Because I care about you?” he said incredulously. “You’re like my little sister. Of course I’d help if you wanted it.”

That made sense. You’ve known Bucky as long as you’ve known Rebecca, including through his teenage emo phase, his high school jock phase, and his mature college phase and in that time you both helped each other equally, even though your only common link was his sister.

“I don’t want you to feel like I'm forcing you or anything, I just thought-“

“How?” you interjected, tilting your head.

“What?” His eyes widened comically as he leaned forward slightly.

“How are you planning to help?”

“Oh. Oh. Oh okay, yeah, um, I’ll tell you tomorrow. Meet me at the coffee shop?”

“Alright barista boy,” you agreed, giving him a half smile that he reciprocated. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Awesome,” he breathed out, a grin growing on his face. “Awesome. Yeah, I’ll see you tomorrow. Night Mario.”

You waved at him as he popped back into the car and started up the engine before turning around to walk back into your building.

“Is that such a good idea- you know- considering the circumstances?” Nat’s voice broke the silence. She had her hands wrapped around her torso with a small look of concern on her face, her red hair slightly out of place because of the wind.

“What circumstances?” You knew what she was talking about, you just didn’t know how to answer it.

“High school. With him. Shit, Y/N, you were torn up for over a year-“

“It’s fine. I’m over it. It doesn’t matter now,” you interrupted her, shaking your head. You began walking towards the building, ignoring the beating of your heart.

“Are you sure?”

“Postive.”

Part 2