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The warmth of the library washes over Steves icy fingers as he attempts to shove them further into his pockets. You'd think with all his body mass the cold wouldn't affect him as much but thats a lie. A complete and utter lie, Steves a baby.
A shiver runs up his spine as he greets Suzan the librarian with a smile and a nod.
"Afternoon Steven, study hard!" Suzan greets as she clanks away on her keyboard with long nails.
"Always do!" Steve says making a b line for the elevator.
He pushes number three and the round button lights up. Floor three is his favorite floor to study on, not only does it have all the ancient history books he needs for his major and a quiet atmosphere it has the comfiest chairs in the building. What more could you ask for?
Steve walks through the cramped shelves to the other side where the tables and chairs have been meticulously set up in rows.
He throws his back pack on the table when he hears an odd noise, looking around he realizes what it is.
At the very end of the aisle, a man is standing there sobbing, like full blown ugly crying. Steve looks around trying to figure out a game plan, but he's never good in these situations so he sits down. Welcoming the comfort of the plush seat, assuming the man probably doesn't need an awkward Steve to make things worse.
He unzips his bag and pulls out his highlighters. A loud sniff makes him yank his head back up.
Shit.
The guys crouching now, he's glaring at an empty Starbucks cup lying on the floor as tears continue to stream down his face. And oh...in a puddle of the coffee thats most likely suppose to be in that cup, now that he thinks about it, it did smell overwhelmingly of coffee when he walked in.
Steve stares at the man incredulously, is he really crying over spilling some coffee? Yeah that sucks but, come on, its just coffee.
Suddenly he locks eyes with watery bloodshot ones, a glare overcoming the mans face. Steve thinks that minus the puffy eyes and snot the guy would be pretty attractive.
"What!" A deep voice bellows. Steve's eyes widen, immediately breaking contact and turning back to his backpack. He didn't mean to stare, and now he feels guilty. With a sigh Steve continues to unpack his back pack, lugging out his ten pound history text book and his spiral notepad, trying to ignore the quieter, but still audible sobs coming from the man.
He's attempting to read about Roman warfare when he see's the man stand back up in his peripheral. He glances over quickly, not wanting to get caught staring again but weirdly curious as to what this crying guys doing. He rakes a shaky hand through his slightly greasy almost shoulder length hair and wipes his nose with the sleeve of his other arm. Gross, but kind of adorable. Then the hand tumbles out of his hair releasing it to lay back over his face and he covers his eyes, another sob wracking his body, stomach quivering along. Steves eyes travel down, theres a wet spot at the bottom of his blue hoody, and ah... a very large wet spot over his crotch traveling down his right leg. Damn...
Steves hand twitches towards his bag, he has his favorite gym shorts in it for his work out later.
Rip it off like a bandaid Steve, the worst that can happen is he'll bite your head off right? Yeah.
Steve clears his throat and scoots back in his chair, an obnoxious squeak on the hardwood floor.
He leans over quickly, diving his hand to the bottom of his bag where his red shorts lay. He looks over the the man, hand still securely placed per his eyes.
Slowly Steve takes a couple cautious steps towards him, already he can tell the other man is shorter by a few inches, the desk next to him overflowing with loose papers and pens scattered half hazzardly around. He sees the same text book he's using peeking out from under a specifically high pile of papers. Huh, he wonders if this guy is a history major too. He's never really seen him around before.
As he pries his eyes away from the messy desk he successfully jumps a foot in the air.
Bloodshot blue eyes stare back at him, this time they're more scared than angry, looking Steve up and down with curiosity, like a scared cat ready to bolt.
"H-Hey. U-uhm, are you, uhm, okay?" Dammit why does he have to be so awkward.
The pretty face of the man contorts into pain and a new bucket of tears starts to stream down his face.
Good job Steve, you fucked it up.
"No no don't cry, its-its okay." Steve says reaching a hand out and cautiously putting it on the broad shoulder of the other man.
He hiccups and looks over at Steves hand then in a flash he has a warm coffee scented body wrapped around him shaking with sobs, tears soaking through his thin jacket. Shaking out of his initial shock he warily brings his hand up to rub circles on the distraut mans back, letting his other hand holding the shorts hang limply at his side.
"I-I have an extra pair of shorts i-if you want them." Steve says quietly, voice slightly muffled by brown hair.
He hears a sniff close to his ear, and can feel the deep rise and fall of the man in his arms.
"Really?" The man croaks out, voice muffled by Steves jacket.
Steve nods, knowing he can feel the movement.
"Here." Steve says, pulling back a bit and holding up the shorts. The brunette looks down and shakily takes the shorts in his hand.
"Thanks," He sniffs, "I'll just, go change." He says softly. Then just like that the mystery man detaches himself from Steve and turns around towards the bathroom.
Steve stands there stunned, admiring the wet foot prints adorning the ground leading to the bathroom, the other man probably didn't even know he was making them. He glances outside, the tall leafless trees sway harshly with the wind as numerous hooded students run to their destination to get out of the cold.
A door creaks and his attention draws back to the brunette, he flushes. Why does this stranger look so good in Steves clothes. Its not fair. They're obviously to big for him having to tighten the drawstring all the way. He took off his hoody to reveal a thin black V-neck, putting his perfect collarbone on display. Steve has to bite back his smile at the heavy black combat boots so out of place with the red gym shorts, clanking along on the floor. It might be the cutest thing he's ever seen.
He sets the pile of soiled coffee clothes in the chair closest to the window and turns back to Steve. He obviously wiped his face, no moisture in sight, just puffy eyes and a red face.
"Thanks," He croaks out. "Again." The man says looking at the floor.
Steve smiles. "Its no problem. Were you really that upset at the coffee?" It slips out before he could stop it, probably the worst thing he could have said.
The brunette looks up sharply, then deflates.
"No, it was just the cherry on top of my shitty day. Sorry you had to witness the breakdown." He says, nervously rubbing his arm.
"Do you, uhm, want to talk about it?" Steve asks cautiously. An almost laugh escapes the other, just a little huff of air with a slight upturn at the corners of his mouth.
"I wouldn't put you through that. But just because you gave me your shorts I'll give you the simple version so you don't think Im some crazy person that hugs random people." He says taking a deep breath then continues.
"I havent slept in three days, Ive worked two double shifts and had to write three papers, two people walked out with out tipping me at work today, so I got yelled at by my boss which made me late to my first class which made my teacher yell at me which made me yell at her then as retaliation she deducted five points off my grade for misconduct and I had to pay rent and I had four dollars left, FOUR DOLLARS and all I wanted was that god damn carmel macchiato. The ONE thing I wanted to make myself feel better then I get here and deliriously misjudge the desk and spill it all over myself. And yeah. Thats where you showed up." He finishes breathing heavily, given that he said all that in about two breaths. Impressive.
Steves eyes are wide, this poor man, he just wants to wrap him in a blanket and rock him to sleep.
"Come on. I'll buy you a coffee." Steve says, sudden confidence in wanting to make this guy feel better. But the brunette shakes his head.
"I-I still have to finish my paper on why Pompeii is a pivotal institution in the Graeco-Roman world and I still have no idea what to write. " He says pointing at his mess of papers scattered on the desk. Steve smiles, earning a confused look in return.
"Well good thing your wearing a Roman History minors gym shorts. Come on I'll get us some coffee then I can help you with it. Im all caught up on my work anyways."
The other mans mouth is hanging open, obviously at a lost on what to do.
"N-no.. Its okay. I-I don't even know you, you already gave me your shorts and let me cry all over you. I won't make you spend money on me."
Steve huffs at the shy nature of the other man and steps forward grabbing the limp hand of the other man. He startles with a jolt meeting Steves eyes at the sudden contact.
"Steve Rogers from Brooklyn. Ancient History Major. Nice to meet cha." A small smile crosses over the other mans face, light jumping back into the once sad eyes and he squeezes Steves hand back.
"Bucky Barnes, also from Brooklyn. Modern History Major." Steves face cracks into a grin.
"Now we know each other. Us Brooklyn boys have to stick together no? Specifically in a coffee shop, come on." Steve exclaims a mischievous smile on his lips. Bucky smiles back trotting behind Steve as he drags him along through the puddle of coffee with their hands still interlocked.