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That seems to be the thing that breaks the ice between them; Bucky's never really hung out with Sam before, past being jammed into a too-small car for six hours and then two uncomfortable months in a safehouse trying not to get on each other’s last nerve. Now they’re getting lunch or coffee every few days. Sam falls asleep on Bucky’s couch three more times. Bucky joins him and Steve a couple of times on their morning run.
He doesn’t notice, is the thing; doesn’t notice how ever since Sam slept on his couch that night he’s been letting Bucky closer bit by bit, that as Bucky’s been wondering about the boundaries and structures of friendship, Sam’s been drawing in.
“Shit,” Sam says, staring at the thin golden ring on his finger. He blinks quickly, like he’s pushing through it all: the hangover, the too-bright sunlight, the pure insanity of this moment. Bucky watches the dark curl of his eyelashes, staring for just a second too long.
Sam blinks again, then starts to laugh. “Shit. Well, I guess we’ll have to file for annulment.”
And maybe it’s the leftover buzz of the alcohol, or maybe it’s the way that Sam has started to feel like safety to him, but something makes Bucky blurt it out; he clears his throat and says, “Yeah, or we could just stay married.”
[Sam, Bucky, and a long road to peace.]
After being out in the field for a month, Sam accidentally calls Bucky "babe" during a debrief meeting in front of Rhodes, Fury, and several others. Naturally, Bucky doesn't let it go. Bucky starts calling Sam every stupid pet name he can think of whenever someone else is around. Sam tries to ignore it, but now people keep asking him if he and Bucky are a thing, and they're not, no matter what Belova tells you. Except... when one of Bucky's pet names strikes a chord, Sam starts to think that maybe he does want them to be a thing after all.