Bucky made his escape while Steve did the dishes. Outside on the porch with a cigarette between his lips and cold rain pelting his face every so often, he let himself break a little more. Sarah Rogers was gone. Sarah Rogers was gone and he’d lived his life for years without knowing that, lived his life just going through the motions while Steve’s foundation shifted.
The burn of nicotine helped. He blew out the acrid smoke and tried to forgive himself for not knowing.
“I thought you gave them up.”
Bucky wiped his face and looked around to see Steve standing in the doorway. “For the most part,” he said, and took another drag.
The door creaked when Steve came to join him. He sat against the opposite post, his stockinged feet sliding against the wood. “Got one more?”
Bucky reached into his pocket and grabbed his pack of Marlboro’s. Lighting it as it hung from Steve’s lips, it felt like nothing had changed.
“Don’t tell Ma,” he said, breathing out smoke and leaning his head back.
Bucky’s lips twitched while his heart ached. “Cross my heart.”
Beautiful, amazing art by: inflomora
Read the fic: Portland, Maine
